We're off again, this time for a long weekend in Melbourne full of football games (for BB and the guys) and shopping and relaxing (for the wives). I've not had very pleasing reports on the Melbourne weather from my southern friends this week, so I've been begging and borrowing warm clothes to take with me. (But yes, the plan is to shop a lot shop a little while we're there.)

I'll be there with three lovely ladies who are all looking forward to the slightly more luxe life that Melbourne is famous for, and we've planned to fill pretty much all our time while the guys are at their football games with boutique shopping, coffee drinking, and chocolate tasting.

So far, my Twitter and Instagram friends have suggested the following as must-dos while in the victorian capital... do you have any other suggestions for me? (A few non-food-related ones would be great! I am already anticpating extra gym sessions next week to burn off the inevitable blowout!)

• Cafes and boutiques on Degreaves St
• Hollywood Costume Exhibition at ACMI, Federation Square
• Creme brulee at Hardware Lane
• Madamimadam cafe in CBD
• Macarons at Le Belle Miette
• Steak and beer at The Steer Bar
• and last, but definitely not least, a whole meal of desserts (three courses!) at Burch and Purchese Sweet Studio (pictured below... MMMM!)

Today I'm talking ankle boots. For such a long time, I avoided them like the plague, but it turns out I just didn't know how to wear them! They’re so darn adorable, but they can be hard to wear. They cut off your legs at the ankle (as you might have guessed), which can make you look shorter.The key to wearing ankle boots is elongating your legs as much as you can while still showing off the shape of the shoe.

I've decided that ankle boots can be worn almost any way you would wear regular old ballet flats or knee high boots in Winter. They’re a great option for Winter because they’re a little sturdier than flats and you get more ...

I blame Pretty Woman. For so so long, I've thought that leather skirts (and by extension, leather minidresses) were a little too hooker, and not enough Beverly Wilshire. Not anymore, folks!

When you see respectable grown-up women picking up their kids from school and childcare in leather pencil skirts, you know that change is in the air. I first noticed a few classy leather skirts late last year, but being a warm-weather-loving Queenslander, knew that I definitely couldn't try this trend until Winter. Well, until the six weeks that we get here that we call Winter. (And let it be known that I carry on like a two-bob watch as soon as the average temp drops below 20ºC. I know. It's freeeeeezing!)

Leather, like animal print, can be a little 'loud' which is why I wore it with a super-soft cosy knit, and light coloured boots. I can't even imagine how thick my ankles would look with a black ankle boot...!

Also, please note that this skirt is actually pleather. Faux is your friend, folks!

Country Road Rib Sleeve Knit  found at Trade Secret / Jacqui E pleather skirt / Country Road Brooklyn boots / Love From Venus tigerseye and suede lariat

I'd really love to wear this skirt during our F&F trip (that's footy and fashion) to Melbourne this weekend, but have no idea what to wear to cover my legs and shield them from the notorious Melbourne wind. I'm not the biggest fan of tights and pantihose, but I am a leggings girl. Maybe leggings with boots? But would a leather skirt and knee-high boots be way too Kit De Luca? Will a very polite and unshockable Barney escort me out of our hotel? Oh, the dilemma...

Take care of you.

Also, if you've stuck around until the end of this post, here are a few outtakes from my outfit photos. These are the silly faces and poses I pull when my mother takes my photograph. I can't help it. I feel ridiculous going all Blue Steel on my Mum.

PS My hair is getting really dark as my blonde grows out and my brunette roots become 15cm long. What to do with the hair next, guys? Suggestions?

Click here to check out the rest of the Aussie Curves posts!

There's a new weekly blog post in town.

In my random interwebs trawling, I often come across gorgeous quotes and pictures that I bookmark and want to share them with my fantastic and very good-looking readers. From now on, I will share them. Here. On the blog that you are reading right now. Lucky you!

Cute much? This William Makepeace Thackeray quote has been modernised by the cuties at The Mango Tree Project. The Mango Tree Project is a gorgeous Etsy store, featuring super-positive digital prints. It's a fusion of creativity, passion, respect, sharing and love, colliding in a remodeled 1969 Airstream, parked at the rivers edge in Sayulita, Nayarit Mexico. Sounds like quite the life, eh...?

Have you seen something wonderful and ...

Confession: I didn't actually send any postcards from Port Douglas. I meant to, but then... you know... I got caught up with not doing much, and then I was busy relaxing, and whaddya know? It was time to go home and no postcards had been sent. Ah well.

This is what I spent a lot of our holiday doing.

You want thrillingly glamorous holiday escapism?

Check out Tasmina Perry for the ultimate beach read.

And then I did it a bit more.

Now, I wasn't looking like a hobo while I lay around the pool, relaxing. I was doing what ...

Peppers Beach Club Spa, operated by the multi-award winning Exclusive Spas, offers luxurious pampering experiences based on ancient Aboriginal techniques and medicines fused with aromatherapy healing methods and Li’Tya natural spa products.

The spa is nestled beautifully within the Peppers Port Douglas grounds. The signature treatment is a Sapphire Sea Wrap - a 90 minute full-body rejuvenation during which guests are cleansed, revitalised, energised and exfoliated, followed by a gorgeous Vichy 'rain-shower' and a divinely dreamy SuSu massage. And when I say dreamy, I mean it.

I fell asleep.

See that palm frond...? It's actually a bed. A bed under a Vichy shower. Perfection.

We're back from Port Douglas, and slowly settling into home life again. Sigh.

Both BB and I had an amazing time, and our anniversary holiday was more than we had imagined. We got to be completely relaxed, very romantic (yep, husband is quite the romantic) and a little bit silly. There may have been some silly hats tried on at the markets. If I'm very good and ask BB nicely, there may even be photos of said husband in silly hats posted here.

We had a hire car (a Nissan X-Trail, which I drove for a day - WHOA Katy-driving-a-big-car alert!) and visited Mossman Gorge, Cairns and the Atherton Tablelands, as well as the lovely sugar cane field, old bridge and fishing pier where we had some of our wedding photos taken a year ago. But... my favourite moment was standing in the beautiful park where we held our ceremony, one year on, holding each other close. It was a time for remembering such a wonderful day, and a time for making more promises for the future. It was divine.

Today is my Mumsy's birthday. Happy Birthday, lady!

I'm taking her out for lunch today to Bohemian Bungalow in Eumundi, and I have heard AMAZING things about it, from people whose tastebuds I trust. Namely,Claire. (You can check out her very favourable review here.)

My mother and I have a different relationship from most of my girlfriends and their mums. Not better, not worse, just different. Ok, maybe sometimes it's worse, and mostly that's my fault. I'm fiercely independent and rarely like to ask Mumsy (or anyone!) for advice, but am pretty quick to call her one I make a mistake and need some sort of bail-out. (Yeah, I ...