If you're clicking here for the first time, WELCOME! Every Friday (well, today it's Monday. Oops!) we celebrate the fact that - ding, ding! - it's Friday, and our favourite things (vintage teacups? Empty cardboard boxes?! Okay, it's probably not the latter...) from the week that was. Here's what I'm currently loving!

x Attending The Girls Night In Curvy Clothes Swap - Goodness, where should I even start?! From the beginning? ALRIGHTY!

Last Saturday the ever-divine Danimezza (pictured on the left!) hosted a Girls Night In charity event for the Cancer Council, and jeez, what a shindig it was! As Dani explains:

''A few months ago I received a letter in the mail asking me if I would like to host a Girls Night In charity event for the Cancer Council to aid research into all women's cancers, so I got thinking about what sort of event I could host, who I would invite and how I could raise funds and still have fun. I’d met up with a few plus-size bloggers in Sydney and there had been a few mentions of having too many clothes and needing to sort out our wardrobes, so I thought a Curvy Clothes Swap Party would be PERFECT. Attendees would pay a set donation amount to attend the event which would go directly to charity, we’d all get together somewhere nice and swap our clothes and accessories… too easy!''

And when the girl says ''we’ll all get together somewhere nice'', she WASN'T joking around... check out the jaw-droppingly stunning view from the event's location, The Meriton World Square Apartments! (HI, Sydney!)

Melissa from Suger Coat It was our surprise guest (she'd flown in especially from Queensland to attend!), and honestly, she was every bit as delightful as her blog's title suggests. Gorgeous? Tick! Charming? Tick!  Down-to-earth, hilarious and generally l-o-v-e-l-y? Tick, tick, TICK!

With swoon-worthy accessories in a multitude of hues, there were pieces for everyone to fall in love with! (You better believe that I nabbed those silk faux flowers on the table!)

Mid-swap shenanigans! The girls (Hayley, Liz, Caitlin, Dani, Melissa and Laura) examining the goods on offer... 

Oh look, it's Fashion Hayley! Apart from the fact that Hayley was enormously sweet, do you know how brilliant it was to have a stylist in attendance? EXTREMELY! She co-erced me into trying numerous pieces that I typically would've avoided, literally flinging dresses at me and exclaiming ''Corrine, try this! No, it's not too orange. TRY IT!'' It was terrific to have someone there hoisting me out of my sartorial safety zones!

Piiizzzaaa! (HUGE thanks to the legends at Domino's for sponsoring our dinner!)

The adorable Caitlin and I showcasing our new favourite threads. (Nice finds, hey?! The belt actually came from Hayley herself, and the dresses courtesy of the wardrobe of Gisela Ramirez!)

It was such an excellent afternoon! (In fact, the whole thing was such a success that Dani's announced the Curvy Clothes Swap is now going to be an annual affair, so if you weren't able to make it this time around, for the love of clothes, next year, COME! I'd love to see you there!)

x Other Little Things - INSANE evenings at The Forbes Hotel (um, wow. Just... wow!); so-atrocious-it's-hilarious-television (last night my almost-brother-in-law introduced me to the madness that is Millionaire Matchmaker. Have you ever seen it?! Holy heck!); Sydney's Peace Harmony restaurant on Erskine Street (seriously, don't be fooled by the hippy-dippy sounding name, their Thai food is absolutely KILLER!); re-discovering old music (The Butterfly Effect, anyone?!); Crowded House's Distant Sun (because what's not to love about the lyrics ''seven worlds will collide... whenever I'm by your side''? Not a THING!); Sydney On A Shoestring (I'm adoring this new blog!); New Zealand anticipation (Auckland folk, come December the 1st, I'm headed your way! Let's meet up!); and finally, LIFE ITSELF, in all of its nutty, beautiful and perfectly imperfect glory. It's a constantly crazy, ever-changing rollercoaster ride... and I wouldn't change a thing!

Suggestion For The Week Ahead

x Attempt to connect with (or at least, seek to find the beauty in!) someone that you're convinced you dislike. Of course, there are massive exceptions here (look, if someone's just a bit of a jerk, that's fine... leave them to be a jerk!), but how often do we meet people that we lump into ridiculous categories/assume wouldn't understand us and/or have nothing in common with us? ALL THE TIME! You certainly don't have to be friends with everyone, but if there's one lesson that I've learned in 2011, it's this: Turkish bread is FLIPPING DIFFICULT TO SLICE. Wait! That's not it. (Although, IT IS!) It's that the world is far, far more enjoyable when you resolve to enjoy the people who inhabit it. Have a conversation with somebody from another culture. Enquire about the bank teller's day. Make the effort to appreciate others; it almost always comes backs to you!

♥

Happy, happy (belated!) weekend! How was your week? It's been a while, hasn't it? A-r-g-h! (And sheesh, without wanting to smother you with mushiness or anything... I've really, REALLY missed you!)

xoxo