NYC Summer: Evening 4 & Day 5

After the Bloomingdales event at FFFW I scurried off to the hotel in the horrors. "What a waste of time!" I complained. I was pissed off because I thought I had missed the chance to catch up with Deja. Deja was my first ever blogger buddy and a total sweet heart. We have met up every time I have been to New York. It's a personal tradition. Come to New York, visit Deja. This year was a little harder to coordinate because she had just graduated from college and was busy with her job schedule. We would text and try and tee things up but sometimes it just wouldn't work. I also didn't have internet on my phone so messages came through with every free wireless port I could find.Things seemed to work out okay because we managed to find a place and a time to meet up. To view our previous adventures

Mele & Deja 2012 CLICK HERE.

Mele & Deja 2011 CLICK HERE. 

Check out Deja's blog here: http://www.imjustdaisy.us/

We were so excited to talk about graduation and friends and family and future plans. Shake shack was okay. Not gross but I don't think I'll be dying to go there on my next visit. It all seemed to the one texture, just all weirdly soft and fluffy and I wasn't a fan of the fries. The shakes were yummy though.

After dinner we headed over to Crumbs to see the huge cupcakes. Sia turned her swag on to take pics and chat with the cutie behind the counter and I decided to jump on the subway with Deja while Sia and Theresa stayed to hang out in Times Square. It was great evening and I forgot all about the Bloomingdales disaster. All was right again in New York.

1)OOTD Friday 2) Bubba Gump Shrimp 3) Goodbye Pod Hotel we're off to Brooklyn

1) Shopping Soiree 2) Thursday Night OOTE 3) Lollies galore

Blazer Thrifted / Top Best and Less / Tights Target

Friday morning was our last day at the Pod Hotel. We woke up and packed up. We took some more photos of our view and doing things that had become our usual routines. We caught a cab through the rush hour to attend the shopping soiree. Wasn't really impressed with it at all. There wasn't anything I wanted to buy and there was no real atmosphere. People just wandered in and out. My sister bought a few pair of earrings but I left after about 30 minutes. Waste of money really. Vendors pay to sell and shoppers pay to shop. The whole FFFW was pretty disappointing. I missed tickets to Indie runway show and I didn't like the other 2 events I attended. The White Cruise was cool fun but if I was ever to attend again it would be to support my friend Jen sell her Seraphim label.

After we left we made our way into Times Square. My cousin wanted to eat at Bubba Gump Shrimp. I wasn't keen because I had it in Manila. It was nice but I felt it was the type of thing you only need to do once because it's quite expensive and there is so much better food around New York.

After we had lunch we organised a driver to take us to our new home in Brooklyn with Gabby and Candice. This is where our new adventures began. It was Candice's birthday and we celebrated by eating more at Dallas BBQ. The atmosphere was awesome. It was packed with families, graduation parties, birthdays and people on dates. Everyone was talking, eat and sipping on the signature frozen cocktails. We were full from lunch and decided to order one meal to share between the three of us. The meals are huge and we still had leftovers! It's definitely a place my family would love to go and eat at.

We ordered the Henney wings with corn bread and yellow rice. It's far from fine dining but that's why I loved it soooo much. Lots of hot crispy wings and rice and cornbread. The kind of food we grew up on. We drank virgin Pina Coladas and managed to pack two containers of leftovers to take home with us.

Big Love,

Falala Mele

NYC Summer: Day 4 (I think)

 Hi Falalas,

Just a quick post to share my ootd on my New York Summer Adventure.... Feels like an eternity ago now. My previous post said we had a pretty laid back day. After wondering around we came back and got changed to go to the Bloomingdales free event for FFFW. If you followed any of the FFFW events then you probably heard a lot of negative feedback for this one and that's because it wasn't really that good and the people who attended the event were mad.

I feel like the general public got the idea that we all weren't happy and even Gwen DeVoe responded to Jassifer's post on it HERE. Running a huge event like the FFFW is bound to have holes because there is just so much to do and I don't want to be negative and nit pick so I'm just gonna say that I didn't like this event and I wouldn't attend it again.

The best thing about being stuck in a small confined space was that I got to meet some awesome plus sized beauties. Some models, bloggers and of course regular people like me who just wanted to have a little look around.

This is what I wore. I thought it was about time I get out of my Chucks and after meeting Kiah from THE REZ TO THE CITY I was ready to roll outta there. On my way out I stumbled into the Magnolia bakery and picked up some ice tea and a peanut ice box. FROTH! Lol it was so nice but I couldn't finish it. Too rich and decedent but definitely worth it just to say I did.

Check out my sister's comprehensive post the Bloomingdales event HERE.

Shorts Avella (originally pants but I cut them) / Singlet Factory / Blazer Thrifted / Chain Gifted/ Shoes Target

Big Love,

Falala Mele

Aussie Curves: Feminine

Dress: Vintage Floral Australian Dress made in Melbourne. $2.50 at the Salvos

Hat from Cabramatta for $2

Boots: Target  /  Glasses: Cotton On

Hello my fellow Falalas,

I've finally made it back to the Aussie Curves challenge list. I'm so excited to be back and primarily because two of my girls have decided to join the challenge this year. I've been very fortunate to grow up around beautiful girls. Sally was my high school and we did everything together. Our love for music and food and Koori culture and all things ghetto brought us together. Our tastes and interests developed and our lives rolled out on different tracks but I still count her as one of my homegirls. She's been through a lot lately and I'm so happy that she's out there being bold and fierce not matter what. This is her contribution to the Aussie Curves Feminine week. I'm digging the floral dress. Nothing seems more feminine than a dress with a floral print. Sal's hair is freaking awesome too!

Then there's Lo. My curvaceous sister from another Mister and the first person I featured on my blog in the WHAT SHE'S WEARING POSTS see HERE. We met in college and pretty much became inseparable when she moved into dorms. She went off to Hong Kong when she graduated and moved to Mildura after that job. She is now the Deputy Principal of our little school. She is the main reason why I decided  to move here. I thought it's be awesome to be paid to work with your friend. The Mildura adventure has been great. I have loved settling into this town and know that I will miss it when I leave at the end of the year. I'm so happy Lo decided to join in with the Aussie Curves fun and she now has a blog of her own. Click here: CONFESSIONS OF A PLUS SIZED BEAUTY. Be sure to check her out and follow. This is a new adventure for her so why not share the journey with her.

How cute are my sister girls???

Big Love,


Falala Mele.

insta update

some of my instagram feed. Follow @mele2541

Big Love,

Falala Mele.

NYC Summer Day 4

Dress Thrifted Best & Less /  Shoes Converse / Bow found in Manila 

Day 4: NYC wanderings.

After the WHITE CRUISE and our late night after party at Pie Face we finally had our first sleep in. I can't remember exactly what time we woke up but after lazing about in our room and contacting everyone quickly at home via our online portals, by the time we walked out of the hotel it was lunch time.

Perfect time to get the 2 course $10 lunch special at the Thai place that was next door. I needed some fresh food so I got the green mango salad and a delicious eggplant curry. Pretty sure I have pics on my instagram feed @mele2541. The food was so fresh and delicious and since then eggplant has been my current obsession of late. I've recently made eggplant and quinoa lasagna and yesterday I made a sweet potato & eggplant curry for the week. YAYURR!

So we ate and we wandered around and chilled before we made our way back to the pod. We were going to the Bloomingdales FFFW event that evening. I'll post on that soon.

Big Love,

Falala Mele.

Sonsi FFFW White Cruise: NY Summer

Sia, Jen of Seraphim Clothing & I

After figuring out that we wouldn't be able to make it to Europe this summer, there was something that seemed to soften that blow. The thought of meeting up with fellow bloggers to party in NYC on the harbour excited me immensely. Ever since I first watched Honey Daniels all those years ago attend that deliciously cool black and white party I've always wanted to go to one (ha ha LAME I know). During my early college years I organised a black and white party for my friends; one was celebrating her 18th birthday and the other was celebrating her 21st birthday. It was a crazy night. We caught the train into the city with cases of those cheap vodka premixes....I think they were called "Voodoos" or something. We ran a muck through the city screaming our "Cheeeeeeehoooooooo" calls letting everybody know the Polynesians were out to play. But something was missing. Oh of course. NEW YORK CITY!

It's crazy to think that these Poly girls have grown up into young *coughs* ladies and that we dress in white and attend events in New York. No I'm not bragging. I'm legit just thinking "How the hell did that happen?"

Still being that proud Niuean & Australian girl that I am, I wanted to wear something that let everybody know who I am and where I'm from. My accent had the Australian heritage covered so I wore a fou-fou (a floral headpiece worn on special events or when one dances). My mother gave it to my sister and I. I also packed the other for our cousin Sia. My Mum brought them back from New Zealand after our family reunion last April. You didn't see this because I didn't post this up.

But ultimately I wanted to be comfortable and to feel pretty. At home (Australia) my hair was being good but in New York it was fizzy as hell. UGHH. Oh well. YOLOd that shit. I also wore my coconut earrings that my friend Malo got me when she went to Samoa and the bracelet I got from Ruth when she went to Samoa. I actually didn't realise this until now :) Wore my trusty Moda dress that I picked up like 3 years ago and my pearl cluster ring when I was in Broome. For the shoes I chose the comfy Rivers low-heeled sandals.

It was so weird because I had been looking forward to this event ever since I found out about it. When I arrived I met up with the Aussie girls I had been talking to on our own Facebook forum. It was nice to know some people there. It was also the first time I had caught up with Gabby and Candice since our arrival so we were all excited and had a million questions and things to catch up on.

I started to recognise many other bloggers and didn't really know to approach them. I was torn between excitement (and wanting to dance as soon as I got on the boat) and nerves. When I'm nervous I just talk too much. But I met Kellie B and Jassifer. Two bloggers whose style I admire. From then it was all sort of a blur. The boat was packed and almost impossible to mingle with everyone. I ultimately chose to hang out with my girls because I didn't want to waste a beautiful evening getting caught up trying to do 'everything' and have no real memories of the night.

Instead we danced, laughed and tried with all our might to win a door prize. I went off to find food and ended up dancing with another lady whom I met in the line outside and promised that I would dance with her when we got inside.

I met Bec (her dress was my favourite of the white party) and boogied with Olivia and pulled pretty ugly faces with Sam. I hugged Dani and chatted with Ashley and met Inez of Style Chic 360 and Sandra of La Precosa Preciosa. The overall night was not exactly what I expected, but it was still great. We had our own little after party and Pie Face so no complaints here. Check out my instragram account @mele2541 for more photos under #melenyc.

Inez of Style 360, Jen of Seraphim Clothing and my sister Theresa of He called her Siki-Lou.

The Curvy and Curly Closet, Fatshion Insider & my girls.

Curvy Sam, Plus Side of Me, Jassifer Lion's Club & Wait until the Sunset

Check my beautiful sister's post HERE. Don't these two look like mermaids?

Big Love,


Falala Mele.

Aussie Curves: Time Saver

Hi Ladies,


I'm back after the longest ever hiatus in history. So I'm back with the timesaver post and I have to say that this challenge IS my daily life!! I am ALWAYS busy. Throughout the school term I'm up Mon-Fri at 5:30am and I shower at get dressed at the gym. On the weekend I'm up trying to get ready for church and on Sunday I'm up cleaning the house before heading back into my classroom to prep for the week and then I pack my gym bag and I do it ALL OVER AGAIN!

During the holidays I always try to cram in so much when I'm at home so I'm often travelling from the south coast, to sydney, to new castle. Up and down the coast I go and I'm always throwing together whatever I pack (which is usually a night before-throw-together-whatever is clean type of deal).

My time saver is usually an oversized blouse with shorts or tights. It's quick and comfy. Makeup is a dust of bronzer and I will either do lips or eyes. Today I got ready for church in like 15 minutes because we were running late. So I went to cupboard and pulled out my sisters oversized black and white patterned blouse. I would normally wear it with short tights or a tube skirt because the blouse is really big but being church I decided to go with my sisters newly thrifted berry split skirt to keep it modest.

The blouse has a really long tail and it was a little too big and swallowed the skirt so I chucked on a contrasting blazer to pull it all in and tidy up the silhouette. Whenever I want to look clean and fresh faced I always dust my eyes with my gold Victoria Secrets eyeshadow. I chucked on my final contrasting colour (being the red lips) and I left my hair as is. It air dried like that. I like the look because it's not too polished and I seem to be opting towards that look lately.

Thrifted Wonders: Millers Blazer / Polkadot Blouse / Berry Skirt / Ken Done Bag 

So here are my tips for all you busy ladies out there:

1) Always have a bold staple piece that catches the eye. It could be a bold colour, tailored blazer or a patterned blouse. This will draw the eye and keep your overall look interesting even if the rest of your outfit is made up with your basic jean or tights.

2) Wear bronzer! Wear bronzer! Wear bronzer! This is my ONLY must have beauty item. Bronzer makes me feel fresh faced even if I don't get to do the rest of my face.

3) A lick of lipstick does the same for your face as your bold piece of clothing. Draws and attention and  interest and it is much quicker to apply than mascara and liner.

4) Finish the look with a pair of glasses. I have LOADS of glasses and even when I wear a basic black, I keep it interesting with a different pair of glasses. And instead of looking a little frazzled when you're marching out of the door late, you like a woman on a mission!



Big Love,


Falala Mele

Aussie Curves Sydney Meet

A few weeks ago I attended my first ever blogger meet......Is that even what you call them? I'm kinda decades behind everything in the blogger world. I just know what blogs I like and I share the things that I like with you all. 

I was really excited to meet some of the ladies that participate in the Aussie Curves weekly challenge. I had watched these ladies interpret themes, challenge themselves, encourage others and  confront social norms and expectations. It's really grown into a wonderful community of ladies who share everything from shopping tips and discount codes to personal advice on everyday trials and situations and I finally got to meet some of them in 'real-life'. 

I invited my cousin and my niece to attend. I wanted them to meet some fab ladies and experience one of the coolest things ever to come from the internet and blogging; the meeting of diverse, like-minded individuals who lives would never normally cross paths. When you share personal stories and experiences and read someone else's for an extended period of time, a openness and honesty develops and it's weird but you really do become friends without having met them. 

As I'm typing this my mind flips to that show Catfish when online lovers are excited to meet, usually only to be disappointed with lies and dishonesty. Don't get me wrong there are some crazy ass mofos out there but the difference between those people and the blogging community is that there is really nothing to gain from the lies okay so maybe people lie to get a gazillion followers and free shit and theres so many different blogs around you are really free to follow your tastes and interests.

Anyways we were late, we got caught in the rain (don't sweat it......we found some cardboard boxes and used them as umbrellas) and we were backwards in using our smart phones for accurate directions. To cut a long story short we found our way there EVENTUALLY and after a few quick hellos and some awkward moments thinking "I know them but I don't really know them" sorta deal.... I just decided to relax and chat. My sister and I did our usual tag-team story telling thing (we're famous for doing this amongst our friends) and we all started to relax and bust out laughing.

Back: Tay, Niva, Claire, Mele, Caitlin, Theresa Front: Dani & Jo

The glamorous Claire with my sissy and cousin Niva. Don't they look beautiful?

After we left the Aussie Curves meet up we walked to the casino to have a crazy buffet feed with my college girls. I miss them all the time. I was telling Dani that we all lived on the same floor in our dorm and it was the best ever. Rooms were always open. Clothes, food, dvds, shoes and harddrives were always mysteriously moved from room to room. We shared EVERYTHING and in all respects we became sisters. Try to imagine us reunited.
It was loud, and crazy with loads of mocking, giggles and food. Such a blessing.

Worn: Thrifted Polkadot Blazer $2 Thirfted Tie-Dyed Top $2 City Chic Skater Skirt $10

I just wanted to say a huge THANK YOU to all the cool cats who made it out to the city in the rain. It was honestly really cool to meet you all and put your personalities to your blogs. 
I can't wait to do it again.



Big love,


Falala Mele xo

USA Summer Outfits of 2012

Hello my lovely friends,

How are you all? I hope life is treating you well and that your banks are full and your bodies are strong. Today all Australians had a day off work to remember the fallen ANZACs (see my post from last year HERE ) and all those who have or are currently serving our country. It was so nice to have a day off work and to spend time with my sister and friends in the sunshine. We ate pastries and drank tea and I let the day roll on by without doing an ounce of work (even though I packed my to-do list with a million things to complete).

Another thing I did today was book my next trip! I was supposed to be heading over to Spain, Italy and France during the mid year school holidays but for a number of reasons I wont be able to make it this year :(
I admit I am disappointed that I won't be there to soak up the European sun and food this year but I plan to move to the UK for a few months next year. So I'm going to save the money that I would have spent on this trip and make an extended one next year.

Sooooo back to the tickets that I did book...... I'm soooooo very very very very very excited to be heading back to New York this summer with my sister and cousin. I'm also OVER THE MOON to be able to check out some of the FULL FIGURED FASHION WEEK 2013 events. Not only will I get to visit my friends like Deja from Just Daisy and Gabby and Candice but I'll also get to tee up with our Aussie blogger ladies like Danni from DANIMEZZA and Ashley from This is Ashley Rose and Olivia from Wait Until Sunset.

My bank may be empty but my head is full of all the exciting things to come.  So as I prepare to trawl through my cupboard and pack another New York wardrobe I thought I'd compile a set out outfits worn on my last US summer trip to New York and Vegas.

I still plan to wear a lot of colour and pattern this year but I also need to find something white for the White Cruise. For those of you that are going what are you excited to wear?






Big Love,


Falala Mele xo