10 things I can't live without

Ok so this post is inspired by the Oprah episode I just watched. The ep in question featured celebs such as Cindy Crawford and Ivanka Trump showing people the things that they cant live without, most of which seemed to be product placements but it was still interesting to look into the lives of the rich and famous. So I am inviting all you to see the 10 things I can't live without:


NUMBER 1: Family

My husband Henry and my dog Hachiko. This goes without saying really, but I love them both madly and even though both can drive me crazy I just couldnt live without them.



I also love my mum and my sister too.




NUMBER 2: Magazines

I am known by all my friends as the girl who buys too many magazines. It has driven my mum and my hubby crazy for many years because of the lengths I go to pay for my addiction....Food or a Mag? A mag wins every time.

It all started when I was a kid in my mums hairdressing salon. They had piles of amazing magazings full of 80's Chanel (I still can see the plastic bangles with CC on them in fluro colours in my mind) and African prints...I would spend hours looking at the clothes and coming up with my own designs for my barbie dolls. Then in Primary School I started buying Disney Adventures and Barbie Girl magazines which were full of comics and not much fashion, then I moved on to Smash Hits and cut out the picures of JTT and stuck them all over my walls...Then at 13 I got my 1st glimpse of a teen fashion mag called Girlfriend...Oh how excited I was and I begged my mum to buy it for me...which she did. I wish I still had that issue, I kept it for many years but moving house a few times taught me just how heavy piles of magazines can be. Everytime I move house I have to cull my collection. So all my old Dolly and Girlfriend mags have been thrown out sadly. Sometimes I really want to read through them again.

The worst was when I was in Japan...I desperatly wanted to keep every Japanese mag I had bought through the year but it was almost impossible as my suitcase was already 42kg and I was sending home a 20kg suitcase full of as many magazines that would fit (it cost me $200 but was so worth it) So I have all the Fruits and Cutie mags I bought but no So-en or Zipper or Soup or Vogue Nippon (that mag is heavy!)...My Female workmates (and gay too) loved me so much when I delivered not 1 but 2 FULL suitcases of English language fashion and gossip magazines to the staff room. I have never been so popular. I think I spent sooooo much money on mags in Japan because I was so desperate for English, any English.

This is part of my magazine collection:


All my Japanese magazines from when I lived there...in another shelf I keep the ones I have bought here or on holidays to Japan...for some reason I like to keep that seperate...I dont know why??? I had to keep all the Cutie mags cos the Spank girls feature in nearly every issue and below is 1 years worth of Fruits. I had to keep every issue becuase a friend was in every issue...



Like Tabuchi and her best friend who is an amazing singer but I forget her name.


And Aiko who helped orgainise my wedding and Gallermic my housemate and one of my best friends in Tokyo.


Yulia, who dj'd at our wedding.


I love teen vogue USA...Aus had 1 too for only 2 issues. I used to love Elle Girl as well and miss it...It launched in Japan just before I left so I wonder if it is still going there?


I no longer buy Australian Vogue. I prefer UK vogue...but I cant be bothered with it most of the time...UK mags are way better than USA ones (except teen vogue) USA mags are mostly ads and the fashion shoots are so tame.


You can see Lula and Russh here. I love Lula but I'm getting over the girly thing they do so I havent bought the recent issues...I have issues 1,2 and 3.


The only cheap and cheerful mag I still buy is Shop Til You Drop. An Aussie mag all about shopping. I like it cos most of the clothes are things I can actually buy.


Russh magazine is my fave Australian magazine. It also just launched in Japan which I am annoyed about because I cant get the issues here.

Other mags I buy are Yen and Oyster...pretty good Australian indie fashion mags....I also love LOOK the UK celeb fashion weekly. Much better than US style weeklies. I buy Nylon sometimes, and ID here and there. I also am addicted to home style mags like Real Living (Aus) and Living Ect (UK)...Maybe I spend $50 or more a week on magazines because in the mix I also get trashy mags like Mariclaire AUS, UK Glamour, Aus Madison and many many more ... My husband hates having piles of them everywhere and he makes me throw out the trashy ones. I know I am an addict but I dont need help (Henry does not agree) but really there is nothing wrong with reading. Is there?





NUMBER 3: My wedding ring


My engagment ring was a plastic ring Henry stole from a shop in Harajuku (Henry had no money at the time...and its easy to steal in Japan...shhhhh) So this is a step up from that. However I dont love it...I like chunkier rings and I actually prefer plastic...but I love what it means.





NUMBER 4: Shoes

My shoes are the loves of my life. I try to take good care of them and store them properly...but its a bit hard when sharing a wardrobe with a fashionable hubby... Most of my shoes are flats now...I have given up on ever working out how to walk in heels...Only 1 pair is designer (Marc Jacobs) the rest are either vintage and thrifted or from Big W. I do have a few pairs from Tokyo that I love (The silver shoes and the white pointy jelly shoes next to them which I now realise are fake Melissa's). OH and in my gumboot that is an umbrella shaped like a lipstick. I got it in New York.









NUMBER 5: Japanese doll

This was left to me from my Nana who died last May. I look at this every day and I think about her. She never went to Japan but she always was interested in Japanese gardens and Kimono's. Her front garden has some beautiful cherry blossom trees. So maybe my love of Japan comes from her?






NUMBER 6: My dressing gown

This is just sooooo comfy and cute. However it is a lil dirty with chocolate milk and pasta sauce stains...I live in it when I'm at home...In fact I'm wearing it right now.






NUMBER 7: Photos and Art

Photos are so important to me. I studied Photography at art school and I just couldnt imagine living without them around me.

Below are some new additions to our wall. The pink painting was a goodbye gift from the Spank girls and the Japanese writing spells out my name. The photo was my Xmas gift from Henry. It is my fave photo of us from our Wedding.


Henry made this art work a few years ago. As we both went to Art School our house has a lot of different pieces of ours around the place...but this is my favourite.




NUMBER 8: Vegemite

I actually did live without this for a year in Japan. Never again could I do that...I love it even more than ever now.





NUMBER 9: The internet

Can you imagine life without the internet? I love reading blogs, sending emails, checking myspace and facebook, online banking, youtube, wikipedia... ahhhh so many things. I could never ever live without the internet again.





NUMBER 10: My teddy bear

I cant actually find him right now which is scary as I have had him since I was a baby and he has come everwhere with me (except the year in Japan as I was scared I would loose him, but he has come on holidays to New York, Japan, the UK and all over Australia) I think he is under the bed...so as soon as I find him I will post a picture..but basically he is brown and really old and dirty, missing his nose and with a big hole in his arm. He Has also got a hole in his mouth (its meant to be there) so when I was young I used to feed him chocolates and lollies. He also has had a few sex changes over the years, with me dressing him up and calling him Mary and then back to Ted (not very original name) but yeah I love him and I hope I can find him!


Please tell me the 10 things you cant live without.