Blog Refresh and New Site Coming Soon!

I've had my previous blog design for almost 3 years now and have been wanting to retire the old layout, give the blog a face-lift and take advantage of all the latest widget offerings.

I've also wanted to move to the Wordpress platform but it all seemed too complicated to migrate blog posts across and I rather spend what little time I had to work on writing blog posts than figuring out how to do blog setup and migration of posts to a new platform.

But the needs of this blog has truly out-grown what the current site design can provide for and I finally bit the bullet and did something about it.

You may have noticed some slight changes to the blog during your current visit. For one, you will notice that the site is now sitting its own domain. Yep, the web address is FINALLY reflecting our blog name Things I Love. I've also done a few quick tweaks to give the blog a much needed layout refresh.

This is just the first step though. I've got further exciting blog changes to share with you soon. It will be a complete new style and design on the blog - even a new logo to boot!

In the meantime, I ask all you readers to update your bookmarks/feeds to the new URL of www.thingsilove.com.au as this will be the address that the new site will launch in.

I can't wait to share and unviel the new site to you - it's all very exciting for me.  I'll leave you with a sneak peek of the new banner. What do you think?

x A

Google Reader Subbies: Update your feeds now!

You may have heard by now that Google reader is closing down this weekend.

As of 1st July, 2013, it will be no more. I'm assuming you are reading this post because you are a Things I Love (TIL) subscriber and I'd hate to not see you here when July 1st ticks over. So, if you haven't already, now is the time for to look for alternative RSS feed aggregatoers to get a fix of your favourite news and blog (including TIL) updates.

Image credit: Gizmodo

So what are the good alternatives out there? Well it depends on your personal preferences and how you like your news delivered (yes, even electronically, there are many device options to choose from!). Here's my picks of best RSS feed readers out there.

If you love accessing news on the go:
Feedly is undoubtedly the most popular and user-friendly for those who get their software in the form of an app. It has a beautiful and easy to use interface that can be tweaked to your liking - even to look like your old Google Reader. It is also multi-platform from mobile devices to web desktop views. 

If you like your products to be multi-platformed: 
A good alternative to the older text based feed is is Pulse, which presents the feeds in a pictorial format. So if you like your visuals, and like recommended feeds to be pushed to you, definitely take a look at this reader.

For a blog dedicated reader:
Finally if most of your feeds are from blogs or you just want a blog dedicated feed, then you can't go past BlogLovin. It is one of the more mature readers and many bloggers already have Bloglovin on their blogs so it's very easy for you to follow them.

So readers, get ready to subscribe to Things I Love via these new RSS readers. I'd hate to have you miss my blog posts after this Sunday. You can subscribe and follow TIL via:

BlogLovin (click through to subscribe)
Email Subscription

Of course, you'll also find me on social media channels Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

x A

Winners: Natio Mother's Day Orange Blossom Giveway

Happy Hump Day everyone!

I hope your week has been travelling well so far. I've had a busy week already at work and am counting down till the weekend again (it seems to be a vicious cycle these days).

As promised , I'd like to share with you the winners of the recent Natio Orange Blossom Mother's day competition today.

After reviewing all the great entries, there were two stand out responses that struck a chord with me. They were about the strength, determination and selfless giving of mothers to help those around them even when it disadvantages themselves.

So congratulations to the following ladies for the fabulous entries.

Sarah Butihen

Michelle Vamvas 

You have both won a fabulous Natio Home Spa Orange Blossom Kit and your prizes will be mailed out to your shortly. I hope you and/or your mothers enjoy the amazing products!

On another note, it's my birthday next week and I'll be hosting a few more giveaways to celebrate - so look out for the details on the blog over the coming week!

x A

News: A Royal Engagement

Congrats to Prince William and Princess-to-be Kate Middleton on announcing their engagement, after the Prince proposed in Kenya 3 weeks ago (about time too, given this has been over 8 years in the making now).

I love Kate's glossy hair and her flawless complexion in the interview with ITV News Editor Tom Bradby last night (and you'd think I'd be more envious about her incumbency - hah!).

Check out the interview below:


Welcome to the House of Windsor Kate and we can't wait to watch the Royal Wedding next year.

First Australian Zara store at Pitt St Mall

Spanish based Zara Clothing (part of the Inditex Group) is a global fashion powerhouse, famous for being able identify the latest fashion trends and have them for sale worldwide in as little as two weeks.

Zara has finally decided hit our shores and 3 weeks ago announce its intention to set up shop in Australia next year.

Now Westfield has confirmed that the first Australian store will open at Westfield's Pitt Street Mall shopping centre in Sydney. According to news reports, it will be 3 levels of retail spacing covering just over 1800 square metres. That's enough fashion to to suit every taste, especially when new styles come out every few weeks.

I don't yet own any Zara pieces yet, but look forward to being able to get into a shop and check the hype out all for myself, particularly when a store hits Melbourne.

Will you shop at Zara when it opens in 2011?


Image source: Zara Uk/ modernights.com; onlineclothingadvice.com

Inspirational Eternal Icon

So what would you do if you had a cool £100,000 lying around?
Some would go out and buy a pair of shoes, of course!

Forget Jimmy Choo or Manolos, the UK based House of Borgezie has created the ultimate pair of stilettos. Studded with over 2,200 brilliant cut diamonds that totals over 30 carats in weight and are welded onto solid sheets of gold with striking detailing, you are guaranteed to dazzle and shine with every step taken in these babies. Which woman wouldn't want that?

click for larger drool-worthy photo

Named The Eternal Bozegie Diamond Stilleto, it is a true work of art. Designed by Christopher Michael Shellis and featuring the patented stamen heal design, each pair takes just over 1000 hours and a team of goldsmiths to handcraft. It even comes with an eternal (that's 1 thousand years, if you must know) guarantee. For the price, I think that's only fair.

Five pairs have already been sold to the well heeled (quite literally!) and interest from celebrities are growing.  

click to enlarge and marvel at this gorgeous investment piece

Fancy ordering a pair yourself? - visit House of Borgezie today! (or just visit to see more drool worthy pictures and how this beautiful masterpiece was made)

So would you buy this if you had £100,000 to spare?

Image source: House of Borgezie