LISTENING// If you’re a reader of Birdee or you’ve been following my blog and/or youtube channel for a while, you will probably know of my slightly sick, extremely embarrassing obsession with One Direction. There is something about their catchy super pop tunes and scrawny tattooed bods that gets my heart pumping. The British accents and larking about help too… Anyway, the boys have a new album, Midnight Melodies coming out today and I've had it on pre-order for months, being the hardcore fan that I am. I also went to their final concert in Melbourne, where they put on a surprisingly good performance. Their  vocals were great, plus I was seated 5 metres away from Harry Sex God Styles… and his amazingly tight-yet-somehow-loose jeans. Whhhhhy??!!!

WATCHING// The other day I was in Coles picking up a few dinner goods and I found myself in the DVD aisle. 10 minutes later, I was at the checkout with a stack of eighties classics, including The Princess Bride and Flight of the Navigator, to name a few. I absolutely love the poorly superimposed scenes, the forced dialogue, the freeze frames, and the giant puppet creatures. The spontaneous musical numbers in Labyrinth are always fun, too. What I learnt from watching 1986’s best movie? David Bowie = LEGEND.

READING// As I’ve mentioned, I recently finished my first year of university. As an English Literature student I was encouraged to read a number of books, including The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy. This novel is unlike anything I have ever read. Every sentence is written with the upmost care and precision… I frequently found myself pausing to reread yet another perfectly phrased description. I can’t explain how spectacular this book is, so I will just recommend it wholeheartedly. Seriously, READ IT!!

EATING// Summer is almost here and as a result I’ve found myself craving what I like to call “beach food”; food that makes you want to walk bare foot and swim and lie on the sand. For me, this means mangoes, pineapples, watermelon, and, lately, coconut water straight from the shell. YUM.

WEARING// This month I returned to the beloved surf stores of my 14-year-old wannabe surfer days to stock up on summer goodies. Every November I find myself craving beachside denim and tropical florals, both of which can be found in abundance at City Beach stores across the country. As the ultimate celebration of summer street wear, I decided to purchase my first pair of Vans sneakers… in Hawaiian print, of course. I’m ready for you, Ocean, and I’ve got the outfits to prove it!

Fake tans, satin gowns, hip flasks, limousine kisses, and scruffy, pimpled boys in awkward suits… just some of the things one might encounter on Prom night.  

Prom is a rite of passage for every high school graduate, a drunken goodbye to the six years spent navigating locker-lined hallways. It’s a night to embrace pop music, dance like a dork with your best friends, and consummate tenth grade romances. It is also a night of dressing up, of wearing the frockiest frock in your wardrobe, of putting on that extra layer of foundation and that extra spritz of Britney Spears Fantasy.

My prom, or ‘formal’ as we call it in Australia, was more about slideshows and speeches than plastic crowns and slow dancing. The girls were disappointingly sophisticated in their gown choices and there weren’t any leopard-print Hummers or cringey DJs. The punch wasn’t even spiked… a mediocre affair, really.

That doesn’t mean I can’t dream about the prom experience I never had. In a recent bout of creativity, I exploited my cousin’s modelling skills to put together two formal-inspired outfits for my imaginary ‘Class of 2013’, resulting in the images above.