Melissa Seymour

Blog Archive: August 2009

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August 03: Astrology – The Awful Truth
August 06: On-line Shopping
August 10: If You Are Having A Bad Day...
August 12: Narae
August 13: Narae Again...
August 13: Forget Aspirational, Give Us The Ugly Truth
August 14: Quote Of The Week
August 14: Women's Health Magazine - Congratulations!
August 17: Fashion Girl Here!
August 17: Fashion girl
August 19: Patron Saint (!!!)
August 21: Have You Ever Written Defaming Comments On The Internet?
August 24: Hip hip hooray!
August 24: Beaut - i - licious
August 26: Melbourne!
August 27: Crown Towers Spa
August 28: Melbourne Today

August 28 2009 | [ Back to archive listing ]

Melbourne Today

Oh, you Mothers out there will love this - I woke up at 9:15am!!!! Whoa! Narae and I had breakfast in The Crystal Club- me strawberries, yoghurt and a latte, Narae, fruit and camomile tea (ok, we had some pastries too!). We set off for the day in our incredibly quiet Holden from Avis and made a stop over at Mecca Cosmetica for some Nars gold nail polish. But, alas - no Nars. Apparently they stopped stocking Nars a couple of years ago - gulp. The sales assistant was good though, very good. She managed to talk me into buying an awful colour from their own brand of nail varnish. Narae tried to tell me otherwise, but true to form, I couldn't be told and so purchased the offending colour. The Sales Assistant was so good that she even painted it on for me. It wasn't her fault that it was an god awful colour!

We then made our way to a meeting at Albert Park to see the gorgeous Alex from Sambag. They have some glorious fedora hats, which I coveted but couldn't afford. Our meeting was so interesting, that 2 hours flew by with it feeling more like 30 minutes. Afterwards, I had every intention of taking Narae past Sam Newmans house but totally forgot all about it. His house has a hologram of Pamela Anderson infused across the front, over two floors.

Being a fashion designer herself, I thought she would appreciate the artistic factor (a-hem). We're going to see the Dali exhibition tomorrow, she'll no doubt get the comparison.

We decided to park the car and walk around the city, which was hard to do in my Barbara Bui boots. But it was important because I was now hell bent on exchanging my nail polish, which, by this point had declared itself to be hideous. After about 20 minutes of walking around the stores, we reaffirmed our belief in the fact that both Australian and International fashion imports are ridiculously overpriced (compared to on-line shopping, of which we are big fans).

Back to the Hotel, new polish on board and we were back up to The Crystal Club for drinks and a chat with the breathtakingly beautiful Kate Hurst. A couple of glasses of Geisen later and we had to call it a night. Three days and nights of back to back Melbourne activity and we are feeling like we need the break of returning to our normal lives in Sydney. I just spoke with Brad and he is out on the town, taking full advantage of me being away. The children are safe and sound in their beds and I would give anything right now to be there, kissing them on their heads and watching their beautiful sleeping faces. Another 24 hours and I will.

Tomorrow we're headed off to the Trigeminal Neuralgia Australia Conference in the Yarra Valley, as you may know if you’ve read this blog before I am the patron of the association and so will have to give a speech. We'll say a sad farewell to Crown, pop in there for several hours of lectures on the illness and make our way back in our Avis Holden. Can't wait to be home.

That said, give me 12 hours back there and I'll be pinning for my fluffy bed, prompt room service and uninterrupted baths.

Lots of love, Mel (and Narae) xx

August 27 2009 | [ Back to archive listing ]

Crown Towers Spa

Today I have had the most wonderfully relaxing day that I've had in a very long time. As regular readers of this blog will know, the last 10 months have been about overcoming an illness, and so being treated to such a wonderfully blissful day was especially great. I woke up at the luxurious time of 8am (I usually wake at 5:30am because that's when Saskia wakes up), read the paper in bed and responded to a few inbound emails. I ordered strawberries with yogurt, a skim latte and took my time getting ready to head to the spa - what a morning! The biathlon I'm competing in, in February 2010 is a 300m swim and 4km run. Crown has a 25m pool in the Spa area and so - over my luxuriating breakfast - calculated that I'd need to swim 12 laps of the pool to at least make the distance. Thinking that at my current fitness levels, I'd be lucky to do half, I was so excited to do 300m with ease (!) Woo-hoo! I counted 12, jumped out of the pool and asked the attendant how many metres the pool was. thinking it must have been 15 because it was so easy. Not to be, it was indeed 25m! So it was a double Woo-hoo! And that's the sound of me tooting my own horn!

Headed to the Spa for some pure and unadulterated indulgence. I hope you appreciate the pic of me, post facial, without a scrap of makeup on. I would have only done this, having seen myself in the mirror without hardly any blemishes. That's a good facial.

I met Narae afterwards in the Crystal Club - exclusive members only type area on the 29th floor of Crown Towers for some High Tea. Wow! The desserts were amazing!

Sitting in the sitting area of our suite with Narae and planning for Friday, I'm wondering if I should plan to jump on the treadmill tomorrow morning and try to do the 4km run? What a great idea! Except, I don't have sneakers. Bummer. Not.

Heading to bed soon, after an indulgent dinner with Narae and Donna Campbell from Crown Marketing. Had drinks earlier with Greg Moore from Crown Promenade in the Crystal Bar. What a classy man.

Everyone here has been great - Amanda Wilson from the Spa who sent me packing with beautiful Aromatherapy Associates products, Donna for the drinks, dinner, good conversation and chocolates from Number8. So far so good- we've still got another two nights here.

xxMel

August 26 2009 | [ Back to archive listing ]

Melbourne!

Narae and I arrived safe and sound this afternoon in windy, cold Melbourne. For some inexplicable reason, I was warm in a flimsy, Chloe navy blue dress with black Hannah Marshall jacket and pony skin Terry Biviano mid calf boots. I say warm because by comparison, Narae was freezing in Cheap Monday's, Karen Walker top, Black Suede Boots and Hounds Tooth Farage Jacket.

Avis were so very kind to us - see the burnt orange Holden above. Davo, the mechanic who worked for Avis, helped us to open the bonnet to check for defects - how were we to know anything anyway?) commented that the colour of the car matched perfectly with my dress. We thought Davo was hero.

On the drive into Crown, we actually saw Cosco!! We were going to stop to buy some French, but did some math and it wasn't going to be economical. A good thing, because Crown sent us a bottle of bubbles that Narae barely touched.

As soon as we arrived in the room, Narae donned a Crown dressing gown and ensconced herself on the chase lounge. Work? Non. Room temp - it's at 26. I may die.

Our suite is just absolutely amazing - they've been renovated recently and what a fabulous job they've done!

Tomorrow is Spa Day - with a few meetings before and after. Am going to see how many laps of the pool I can do before my treatments! With the Biathlon coming up next February, will need to see just how much training I'll need to do before hand!

That's it for now. Lots of love xMel

August 24 2009 - Beaut - i - licious | [ Back to archive listing ]

Introducing – Beaut – i – licious…

Here we’re going to talk about our, our friends and extended network of friends experiences with beauty products and procedures. On Saturday night I had a good friend of mine over for dinner who is a young female doctor – Dr. Annie. I knew she had come off 7 gruelling night shifts working in emergency and her skin was positively glowing. I hadn’t seen such luminous skin since I used to be able to afford Crème de Lamer. So I asked her if that’s what she was using and to my amazement, she had been using a cream found in pharmacies – Cetaphil – Approx. $5.

Cheap doesn’t always mean nasty. I’ve been using St Ives Apricot Scrub for as long as I can remember and combine it with a more expensive toner and moisturiser. At the moment I’m into Ultraceuticals.

August 24 2009 | [ Back to archive listing ]

Hip hip hooray! My first travel column has come out in My Child Magazine. You can grab a copy from a newsagent near you. Although when we went to grab ours, our newsagent was sold out.

In it I talk about our family trip to Byron Bay. We stayed in an $8million private residence. The house was unbelievable. But to read more you are going to have to buy the mag (!)

August 21 2009 | [ Back to archive listing ]

Have You Ever Written Defaming Comments On The Internet?

Well BEWARE! A landmark case in the US has seen a model take Google to court to find out the details of a third party who posted defamatory comments about her on a blog. She was successful. Now she has the details, she is apparently going to sue. I think this is absolutely fantastic. As someone who is certainly not reluctant to commence court proceedings, I am inspired by this story and so wouldn't take much convincing to follow in her footsteps. It has been my experience that the majority of people who make comments on blogs, websites or emails, hide under pseudonyms and false names because they lack the guts to make the defamatory remarks under their own names. Such underhanded behavior reeks of cowardliness and I think it's about time these people are exposed for their real identities. I for one have been the subject of both an online press article comment that was so defamatory it was breathtaking and an email that was also defamatory and noxious (even insinuating that my illness was less than legitimate - how neurosurgery can be questioned is beyond comprehension). What this sort of communication says though, is a whole lot about the person writing it.

I spoke to a highly respected psychotherapist today who says that a person who hides behind such a pseudonym is "very childish, unable to take responsibility for their own emotions, feels quite powerless and is afraid of confrontation because they don't have the ability to handle things like a mature adult - which is why they opt for total secrecy in their communication.

The pseudonym they create is who they are incapable of being in real life - it's like a virtual personality. In real life they probably are very meak and mild."

Touche! Bring on transparency.

xMel

August 19 2009 | [ Back to archive listing ]

Patron Saint (!!!)

You might remember that I twittered about being the Patron of the Trigeminal Neuralgia Association? - I am so excited to announce that it's official! The Association is having a fantastic conference with leading Doctors from around the world who happen to know a thing or two about Trigeminal Neuralgia (!) Besides being there as the Patron, I'm keen to get their opinion on the brain surgery I had a few months ago because the Doctor who pioneered it is going to be there. Going along is such a treat for me as I have hardly left the house for months (except the 11 odd weeks I've spent in hospital this year). They've organised dinners and so I just may get to wear that dress (see Fashion Girl/Narae's post) that I purchased on-line about a year ago!

Let's hope I make it. With Trigeminal Neuralgia, you never know when an attack will occur, which makes you quite fearful of making too many plans. My chin is up though, and I am making plans to go. If you are interested in going along, please contact Irene at the Trigeminal Neuralgia Association - there are hardly any spaces though so you'd better be quick!

xMel

August 17 2009 - Fashion girl | [ Back to archive listing ]

My apologies! I have totally just realised how selfish I have been! I have only been recommending websites that are only really useful for females – There is a fantastic men’s section in my-wardrobe, I saw a Burberry coat in there for half of what you would usually pay in Australia. I called the Sydney store and they said that coats start from $1100.

So, for you metro’s out there here are two sites that come highly recommended:

revolveclothing.com

forwardforward.com

So update – I’m making an apple and rhubarb pie tonight! I should enter into CH7 new reality TV showMy Kitchen Rules…

P.S. Sizes work like this ladies – US2 - UK4 - AU6 or US6 - UK8 - AU10 – I hope this helps and makes sense.

August 17 2009 - Fashion Girl Here! | [ Back to archive listing ]

Good afternoon to you all on yet another beautiful day in Sydney!

Days like these inspire me – inspire me to pick up a couple of metres of calico and drape. When I was going to fashion school I use to HATE the word drape and HATE that I had to drape. But now that I’m out, I appreciate the art of draping and the ability to then turn a few pieces of fabric in to a pattern then tracing that pattern onto a fabric of your choice!

So, I’m signing off now to drape and sketch on this beautiful day… And maybe even bake a pie…

x N

August 14 2009 | [ Back to archive listing ]

Women's Health Magazine - Congratulations!

Defying the current climate of dwindling magazine sales, Women's Health Magazine - one of my favorite Australian mags - has just reported that its readership is up a whopping 36.2%. Great magazine with positive messages - isn't it great that that sells. Some other big swings in readership include NW down 31%, Harpers Bazaar down 19% (hopefully new editor Edwina McCann will turn this around) and Notebook down 23%. Looking at those figures, the Women's Health numbers even more amazing. What I think helps is that the editor Felicity Percival is a great spokesperson of the title, regularly appearing on the 7 networks 'The Morning Show'.

xMel

August 14 2009 | [ Back to archive listing ]

Quote Of The Week

Be not afraid of growing slowly, be afraid only of standing still.

Chinese Proverb

August 13 2009 | [ Back to archive listing ]

This interesting article just in from the Sydney Morning Herald -

"Forget Aspirational, Give Us The Ugly Truth" - smh.com.au

Apparently a survey conducted by PhD student Bianca Price found that younger women do not like buying cosmetics from better looking women. Funny, because I have been thinking the same thing about washing powder. There is an ad that I find doesn't connect with its target audience for the same reason. It goes like this: mother at home with young child/children, quite hassled and doing her laundry. When she fails to get a stain out of the clothes, a younger, brighter, fresher woman appears and shows her how to do it better with advertised product. I see it and am completely turned off the brand. If they had a grandmother type in place of the younger woman, I might be convinced. What mother at home schlepping about wants to be told how to do something better by a younger, less experienced woman? (Yes, I know I am assuming but it's an ad after all) The ads are a total disconnect for me so there might be something in this survey. Cosmetics though? Personally, I am influenced to buy cosmetics by beautiful women. I think this is because of the fantasy of it all - we hope that some of that beauty will rub off on us. Washing powder though? Give me a grandmother any day!

August 13 2009 - Narae - AGAIN... | [ Back to archive listing ]

Good afternoon!

Melissa kindly took a few pictures of me opening my beautiful present and has requested I share them with you!

Opening the package was like opening a babushka doll! In total there were 4 different boxes! For those of you who are environmentally conscious don’t worry, I will be re-using all of the boxes! It’s like Christmas every time a package arrives!

A lot of people are afraid of shopping online because of the whole size issue or the fear of the piece looking absolutely hideous. A lot of online stores now have a full refund policy, so do check if you are unsure about committing.

Melissa is also an avid online shopper – she now feels uncomfortable and awkward when walking into a store! Seeing as this is Melissa’s site I thought that you all might be interested in Melissa’s recent purchase. One of Mel’s all time fav brands is Malene Birger, a beautiful French designer. She snapped up this amazing dress for half price at My-Wardrobe.com.

Hey, on that note people there is an amazing documentary out TODAY the ‘September issue’. If you haven’t already seen it or haven’t PENNED it into your diaries do it now!! It is a must see for all that appreciate fashion and for those who are secretly in-love with Anna Wintour. It’s no secret that my friends and I love her evil-ness… We all wish we could be more like her…

The film is out on limited release so I have done the research for you - click here and scroll to the bottom and you will find the various locations the film is screening. Some of the theatres aren’t releasing the film till the 20th of August so do check the ‘coming soon’ section also.

Palace here I come!

See you there x

Don't forget I would love some feedback or if you have any questions or want feedback - Email me - narae@melissaseymour.com

August 12 2009 - Narae | [ Back to archive listing ]

Good afternoon Birdies (I believe that is what Melissa calls you all!)… First things first! For those of you who have been following Melissa’s daily blogs you may or may not have seen my name pop up every now and then – Narae!

For first time visitors, don’t be shy – this is my first blog too.

I’m going to be guest blogging every now and then. I hear you ask – about what? Is she qualified?? Well, I’ll be blogging about fashion and pop in every now and then to tell you about my latest ventures and sightings caught on my iphone!

My qualifications – I have studied fashion at both East Sydney Fashion College (when it was located in East Sydney!) and have completed a Bachelor in Fashion and Textile Design at University of Technology, Sydney (If anyone needs advice, feel free to write in your questions).

After fashion school I joined a company that designs beautiful men’s and women’s suiting and day wear. After 2 ever so insightful years there I jumped ship to join Melissa and next year we are going to be starting our own label together, keep your eyes peeled for Mel&Ko.

I’m a gen Y gal and have recently developed an addiction to online shopping (I have two people to thank for this – M and V, you know who you are!). I am probably the last person in the universe to have developed this addiction but be glad people, I have taste! Curious about my purchase this week? That just happened to arrive today! I first saw this item in David Jones (pointed out to me by my lovely shopping buddy) RRP was AUD$399 and in white. Convinced that I could find it online for cheaper I jumped on my trusty Net-A-Porter.com site. And boy was I right! Inclusive of the international delivery cost I paid a total of AUD$329.1401, yay for me! Oh and I ordered it on Monday and received it today – tell me that’s not impressive?!? Fellow Marc Jacob lovers here is the link - Net-A-Porter.com

On that note – Mr. Marc Jacobs we love you!

Till next time x

P.S. Need an honest opinion on an outfit then and there – email me a pic of your outfit and I’ll give my brutally honest fashion opinion!

August 10 2009 | [ Back to archive listing ]

If You Are Having A Bad Day....

Spare a thought for Silvia Rigamonti who lost her son, husband, her best friend and the entire family of her best friend when that helicopter collided with the airplane over the Hudson River in NY during the weekend. That poor woman. My heart goes out to her. No one should have to suffer so much.

August 6 2009 | [ Back to archive listing ]

On-line Shopping

I just have to tell you about the fantastic designer sale going on right now atwww.my-wardrobe.com. 85% off. So so good. If I shop on a Friday, I have my stuff by the following Tuesday - all beautifully boxed - and it comes from the UK. Special. Enjoy!

xMel

August 3 2009 | [ Back to archive listing ]

Astrology – The Awful Truth

Do you read your horoscopes for some uplifting news? I do, so you can imagine how this news about my September outlook went down this morning:

(Virgo – and sorry to my fellow uptight control freaks out there)

August will be a very busy and productive month, where you will have to make a number of decisions about your everyday work life in response to fast moving events. September on the other hand, will be slow, difficult, and confusing, with many events requiring that you backtrack and redo things.

That news from Astrologyzone.com. Now I just have to use my August productivity vibes to forget that I ever read the forecast for September!

xMel