This year was the first year in quite a while where I felt like it was a really, really good year. I've had so many opportunities, met so many amazing people, and had so much fun! Here's a little bit of what I got up to...

♥ I got a job at Pigeonhole!
I'm not totally sure my boss remembers but I applied for a position at Pigeonhole about two and a half years ago, fumbled my way through the interview, and didn't get the job. Well, this year I got a casual job, which then turned into a full time job, which THEN turned into a manager position! I love my little store so much and I have met so many awesome people through my job. It really is like working with a big family.

♥ ...and celebrated their fifth birthday!
This was such a ridiculously fun night! Even vomiting the second I got out of my taxi home was totally worth it.

♥ I had my year anniversary with Aidan (and we moved in together!)
It is so nice to be able to spend every day with such a lovely, hilarious person.

♥ I took part in the Perth Fashion Festival's Restyle project...
This was definitely a highlight of the year. How many times do you get to partake in a photoshoot where you wear this amazing chillies and flowers headpiece and a beautiful vintage dress? Let's not mention the impossibly high heels that I literally could not walk in. Thanks so much to Renee for allowing me to take part in this!

♥ ...and walked on the runway!
Again, something I was incredibly lucky to get to do. I do kind of wish I hadn't scared myself into this way too relaxed, chilled out state where I put my outfits together at 11pm the night before, and actually managed to look up while I was strutting my stuff, but it was still a lot of fun.

♥ AND I got to go to some more amazing PFF shows.
I went to the Student Runway and the Designer Capsule shows and they were incredible! I was really so thankful for the opportunity.
♥ I turned 23!
I really wish I'd done more for my birthday this year. I went for a lovely dinner with my family but I didn't really celebrate it otherwise. So now I'm ALWAYS going to have at least one day where I demand everyone's attention and accept free drinks and gifts. TREAT YO SELF. But on the bright side, I did get this pretty sweet bike from Aidan.

♥ I dyed my hair purple.
I really wanted to write some kind of "How to care for your coloured hair" post but... I GOT NUTHIN'. My hair was so dry and brittle after I'd dyed it a couple of times and while I'd really like to dye my hair again in the future, I'll definitely take better care of it! CONDITION YO TRESSES, GURL!

♥ I went to Blues & Roots, Regina Spektor, Elton John, Ben Folds Five, Sigur Ros, Groovin' the Moo... phew!

♥ Ate some delicious food and actually started to cook stuff! 
And was pretty good at it (most of the time. Last week I tried to make a pasta salad and it turned out to be feta with a teeny bit of pepperoni, pasta and basil and... well... I don't really want to talk about it).
♥ Oh, and I bought a burger jumper. Obviously one of life's important events, you know how it is.

So thanks for reading Gin in a Teacup this year and see you in 2013!

I mostly listen to 1950s and 60s girl groups and so this song is a perfect Christmas song to me. Christmas? Heartbreak? Girl group harmonies? Sold. And can we please just talk about that red coat Darlene is wearing above? DIVA.



YOU KNOW I had to include this song. What else is there to say about it? It's not Christmas until I hear a bit of Mimi wailing on the radio. I refuse to believe anyone can not dance around when they hear this song.


Last time I went to the record fair I bought an Elvis Presley Christmas album and it is basically the raddest thing ever. I downloaded this song from a random '100 Greatest Christmas Songs' album last year and then DELETED IT by accident and have been trying to remember what it was for the past year. I only found it by googling 'Elvis Presley Christmas Cadillac' and SUCCESS!

I can't remember if Bob Dylan put out a whole Christmas album or just this song but it's so creepy and amazing at the same time. A gravel-voiced Bobby D trying to get in the holiday spirit? It's hilarious. But be warned, the first time I listened to it I looked like this: O_______O, which incidentally my reaction when searching for a Bob Dylan Christmas photo. So many photos of Bob with Santa hats photoshopped on. Is this a thing now?


One of my favourite Christmas songs ever. I have heard covers from Kylie Minogue (AWFUL, it tries so hard to be sexy that I just get embarrassed) and Michael Buble (I do have a soft spot for Boobs so he gets a pass) but nothing can measure up to this original. Let's not forget about the real meaning of Christmas - expensive presents (I kid).


So this is a fairly untraditional Christmas song but it gets thrashed by me for the month of December (except by December I mean all year round). It feels like such a traditional Irish song but features a couple calling each other "cheap slut on junk" and scumbags and maggots and even with all that, it's just so lovely. It also features one of my favourite lines in a song ever:


Well, there's my Christmas 2012 playlist! What songs did I miss out? Don't say 'Silver Bells' or 'The Christmas Song' as they are two of my most hated Christmas songs.

HELLO! Here's my second outfit post for Black Out. I maaay have phoned it in a little bit with the black tights, but trust me, if I put on coloured tights my legs just look like two kielbasas. And it has been COLD in Perth for the last couple of days! Yesterday it was insanely windy all day and I didn't think I'd make it through the day having to constantly keep holding my skirt down so I didn't have a Marilyn Monroe moment. So shorts and tights it was (I don't own a single pair of pants apart from some scungy harem pants from Target).

And yes, I pulled out my golf cardigan! I pretty much bought it just to be able to own it, if you know what I mean, but then I thought why not just wear it? It's actually ridiculously warm. Which is kind of negated by the little patch of torso that showed up when I decided to tie my top up like this.



My dad and I have a tradition where we go to the West Coast Blues & Roots together and next year's line-up looks incredible. Robert Plant, IGGY POP (*fans self*), Kitty, Daisy & Lewis, Wilco, PAUL SIMON?! AMAZING! Sorry for ALL THE CAPITALS in this post, I was drinking a massive Red Bull while I wrote it.

Hope your weeks are all going excellently, and if you're participating in Black Out too then send me your links gurl! I want to see how everyone else is handling it!

I had a girl come in for a trial in my store this week and she mentioned she'd read my blog (hi Caroline!) which reminded me that it's not only my family who reads this (hi Grandma!) and I thought I'd better put up a post.

So, here are some things I've bought recently! Sorry for the stock photos, but I haven't actually gotten them yet. Once they do they'll probably be on regular rotation in my wardrobe and you'll be sick of them (especially the pin! Oh my god!).


A while ago I was searching for novelty cardigans on Etsy and I found this gem. I don't know if I've mentioned before but my boyfriend is into golf in a major way. I don't really get it and I think my attention span is way too low to play such a game, but at least when I am dragged to the golf course I will be dressed appropriately, even when drinking wine out of a Coke can (has happened).


I found this shop while I was trawling old xoJane articles (in fact, this article inspired me to share MY weird Etsy finds with you). I have heard a lot of not-so-great things about that website but I LOVE it. I could read it all day. Anyway, I only just ordered this ring today, and I'm still not entirely sure why I thought I needed it in my collection. I don't even like babies! I'm kind of just fascinated by the weirdness of it.


Okay obviously this shop is full of strange and wonderful items. I mean, they sell Snoop Dogg prayer candles. SNOOP DOGG PRAYER CANDLES. You feel me? If the shipping for candles wasn't so expensive I would have a little Snoop shrine set up right about now. But this isn't about Snoop Dogg, it's all about Steve Buscemi. I am obsessed with Boardwalk Empire - can I just mention how amazing the latest episode was? Holy shit. I was on the edge of my seat watching through my fingers the entire time - so there's a lot of Buscemi love going on in our house. And now I can force people to look at his bug eyes every time I wear this badge.


I've seen this jumper on various blogs for years now, and this year I FINALLY managed to snap one up before they all sold out! Yay! I was tossing up between this one and one that was more about The Smiths, but the hilariously tacky Christmas jumper won out in the end. Obviously. I wonder what Morrissey would think of these jumpers? He would probably give me a withering glance and then stare off all melancholy into the distance. Oh, I do love him so.

What weird stuff have you bought recently? Send me links so I can spend my money!

Hello again! I thought it was time to do another Little Things post, since I have been doing a lot of stuff  and finding absolutely no time to blog about it. So here is a little snippet of what I've been up to...

We had a surprise picnic for my beautiful friend Grace and it was amazing! So much good food and wonderful people and it looked gorgeous too. The whole setup was based on this beach picnic shoot that was in Shop Til You Drop's latest issue. It ended up being a little cold for the beach (not that you can tell from these photos) so we took it to the park! I say "we" but my contribution was just providing chorizo and haloumi.



♥ Wearing: I have actually tried to cut back on spending (especially since Christmas is NEXT MONTH, eek) but I did go a bit Etsy crazy a while ago and bought a sequinned cardigan, golf-themed cardigan (WHY?!) and a beautiful 1950s fascinator. And then a really lovely olive 1950s dress. BUT THAT'S IT.