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Monday, 23 September 2013

2013 Emmy's opened by Neil Patrick Harris

This year Neil Patrick Harris hosted the Emmy's. If you haven't seen it yet, here is his monologue, with a few interruptions from past hosts. Who doesn't love a good sketch with some of TV's funniest? 

Friday, 20 September 2013

The woes of being tall, part 1

Being tall can be a blessing and a curse. I'm 6ft/182cm tall. Yes, people think I am a model a lot, I'm not (they didn't want me) and yes, it is easy to reach things and yes, it helps a lot with my netball. But there are times where I just wish I were normal size.

Finding shoes when you are very picky and on a budget is hard. Imagine that, when you have big feet. Stores here don't always sell size 11, and of course all brands are different. For instance, today I managed to buy a pair of shoes (yay!) in size 10. Tried on another pair that I liked more in a size 11 and they were too small. Confused? Me too.

I was trying to replace a pair of black ankle boots that recently broke. I wore them all the time and finally  they've taken their last steps :( We went to two different malls today and didn't find anything comparable. I ended up buying something totally different, even though they aren't what I'm after, because they were really cheap.

If you are a fellow big foot out there, props to you. If you have tiny feet, I feel your pain too. At least you have kids shoes hehe.

These are next on my list, I can't buy them online because they don't have my size but I hear they have them near my Uni.


Saturday, 14 September 2013

Fashion Week hangover

Sorry if you missed NZ Fashion Week, it was awesome!

I started out my journey just as a volunteer. They gave us three roles to chose from; Dresser, Usher or Front Desk. I chose to be an Usher but during the interview I mentioned that I'd previously worked for 30 Days of Fashion and Beauty on their social media. She then emailed me asking if I'd like to help out at the office beforehand with their website so I said yes.

This is the volunteer T-shirt that I never wore :D

There's my first piece of advice - put your hands up for things, say yes for volunteer work and other opportunities. 

Then for the two/three weeks leading up to Fashion Week I went in a few times a week to help out. I did heaps, from uploading their sponsors logos, to writing up tickets to shows, to cutting ribbon. I sometimes felt like free labour, but it was so cool being there in the office.

Do anything they ask of you when you're volunteering. Sometimes it feels menial and pointless, but it shows your character and they will realise they can count on you and will call on you when they need help with the big stuff. 

Then Fashion Week came around. I was a little uncertain about what they wanted me to do, but it soon became clear. They had organised this service where the images from the show were uploaded instantly to their website. They had promised so much and were raving about it to the media, but hadn't checked if it was going to work or who was going to upload these images instantly.

There were many stressful moments trying to get this thing to work, many angry calls to the website company, but by mid-week it was up and running.

In the mean time, I was going to some amazing fashion shows and enjoying what Fashion Week had to offer.
I seized every opportunity I had to reap the rewards of my hard work. I went to 18 shows, 3 parties and 2 seminars over the course of the week and weekend, and came away with a decent amount of goodie bags, not to mention access to the Designer Garage Sale and free drinks at the parties. But there were a couple of times when I went to shows and came back to find people waiting for me with images to upload. Yikes!

Enjoy the perks, but make sure you're allowed to first!

By the end of it I was on first name basis with all the women in the office. I love mentioning that Dame Pieter Stewart, founder and head honcho, knows my name! I was pleasantly surprised by the people running the event. Though some got stressed and others were stress-inducing, they were very friendly and approachable, nobody treated my like I was a nameless nobody, as you might expect in the office of New Zealand's biggest event.

What was particularly inspiring was the amount of women in the office and running the event who had babies/kids/were pregnant. There was one who was doing her powerful job with a baby on her back and another who I think was the head of a PR company, heavily pregnant and having to lie down on her yoga mat all the time, but no big fuss was made at all.

Women - we can have our cake and eat it too now! Having a good career doesn't mean you can't have kids too. 

Overall it was such a great time, I saw some of New Zealand's top designer's new ranges, got lots of free stuff, bought a cute new dress from the DGS, met some amazing and inspiring people and made a few new friends.

My favourite show was Trelise Cooper's, but my favourite line was Twenty-Seven Names.

Twenty-Seven Names, image by Michael Ng

Me with my Delegate Pass

Trelise Cooper, image by Michael Ng

Annah Stretton's "Come on Oz, say I do!" same-sex wedding
Oh and how could I forget, I got to attend my very first same sex wedding! Both brides looked beautiful in Annah Stretton and the ceremony was lovely!

See you round :)

Friday, 13 September 2013

Letter from the Editor

Hello Internet! 

Thank you for sifting through the phenomenon of the world wide web to arrive at my blog. 


I'm Amber, a 90's kid, a.k.a a Generation Y kid. I'm in my last year of a Bachelor of Communications at AUT, majoring in Digital Media. I'm very interested in where the future of our media is going, interested in how my generation will shape the future and what part I'll play. 


I am on the verge of my adult life, soon to be thrust from the comfort of rent-free living and long holiday Uni life. Please follow me as I take this scary, thrilling journey into the unknown. I'm hoping this will reach people who can relate, and people who will benefit from hearing about my mistakes and successes. It may save you from embarrassing yourself in a similar situation, or encourage you to take a leap of faith :)


I'm not saying I have all the right answers, I'm just hoping someone will read this and take something from it. 



Join me for some Pavlova cookie!
Hope you stick around!
Amber