Melbourne Tea Festival - Review & Haul

Coming from Melbourne I'm a big fan of a good cup of coffee, but in recent years I've become partial to a good cup of tea as well, which is what drew me to the Melbourne Tea Festival! I spotted a mention of it on Facebook and marked it as something I'd love to attend, so at the end of May my husband and I hopped on a train into the city to see what the first ever Melbourne Tea Festival was all about! Keeping in mind that my husband doesn't really drink tea I knew I didn't want to spend the whole day at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre, and despite their being specialist workshops available I wasn't interested in spending the extra money on those this time around (entry was $15 at the door, and workshops ranged from $20-$44 each on top of that)

 

We ended up visiting every stall as they festival wasn't a big one, and I spent quite a bit loading up on lots of new tea brands to try. It was a little bit difficult to access each stall as there were people standing around each one drinking tea from the provided tasting cups, but it was still great to see so many Australian brands spruiking their wares. My favourite stall was the Madame Flavour one (they make my favourite choc mint rooibos tea!) because they had lots of different teas to sample, and had the owners daughter serving (seen here!) and she was an absolute star.

catching up with Mum after the festival
Melbourne CBD
Sliders on Tyres
Our sliders!
Tea Ceremony on show

Sliders on Tyres were a highlight of our day, I had The Fisherman which was fried tender calamari, crisp lettuce and lemon mayo, while Mr has The Boss with pork sausage, BBQ capsicum, double cheese, lettuce and aioli. The hand cut chips were way too thick though, next time I'd definitely get a few sliders each and omit the fries altogether. I thought it was clever to have a range of food trucks at the venue with a picnic area set up, as it gave another dimension to the event and provided much needed fuel after sampling so many tea flavours. The hauling was easily my favourite part of the day though...

I definitely didn't hold back when it came to buying new teas to try!
-Madame Flavour Afternoon in Paris tea + a stack of samplers
-Truly Tea Coconut Tea (Byron Bay)
-The Art of Tea Choc Mintea (Tasmania)
-The Dragon Tea Company Doublemint & Moroccan Berber (Bendigo)
It felt great to be supporting Australian companies and I can't wait to try all of these new blends. I love my tea sweet or minty, as evident in the flavours I chose.

Some new tea accessories I bought after attending the Tea Festival!

You can check out their facebook and website if you are interested in the next tea festival (they also hold one in Sydney!) I had a good time but wouldn't be able to spend a whole afternoon there - it was a nice part of a day in the city though, and I think I would go again if I had the chance.
Are you a tea or coffee drinker, or both? What is your favourite thing to sip?
Emma x


*Not a sponsored post, just my thoughts on an experience I paid for myself. Honesty, always.

City v Country Haul // Sephora, Op Shopping, Revlon & T2

Living a while away from a loved one can be so tricky sometimes, so I was elated to be able to enjoy a mid-week stay with my best friend Candice a few weeks ago in Barfold, Victoria. We wanted to just spend some chilled out time together so after a lovely dinner cooked by her hubby we snuggled with tea in front of the projector and watched The Bounty Hunter - Gerard Butler, need I say more?!

 

In the morning we wandered around her yard checking out all the plants and vegetables, it definitely made me envious as I've not got a green thumb in the slightest. I had cuddles with her adorable husky Kye, and we ate eggs and drank coffee with the morning sun streaming in through the window - definitely one of those moments to think back to when having a hard day at work! Sometimes life can get a bit hectic, but relaxing in such a beautiful part of Victoria helped me to sit back and think about how lovely life can be.

 

We drove into some country towns for a spot of shopping and I wanted to share what I bought at the op-shops and country stores, but I also hit up the shops in Melbourne CBD as I had to pass through to catch the V-Line train. Here is my modest haul, city v. country edition!

I hit up the cardigan and jumper section of the op shop pretty hard, coming home with 4 new knitted pieces to add to my wardrobe. Coral seemed to be the colour of the day but I must say I'm most enamoured with the bejewelled navy pullover I scored - nanna chic is my favourite style, for sure. Brand new pillowcases were a slightly less exciting purchase at Vinnie's, but I needed it! I also took advantage of my high spirits and finally picked up the Revlon Colorburst Matte Balm in Sultry, which I've seen on so many blogs I admire and I think it will be a great shade for those really cold days when I need to crack out my dark winter coats.

Another beauty purchase was my very first Sephora Australia pick - Formula X nail colour in Sparklebomb which is a champagne and gold glitter. I will have a full post up on this shade, I'm quite excited as I've always wanted to try Formula X and now it is so much easier to buy in Australia!

I just couldn't go to the CBD without hitting up T2, I wanted to get Candice a box of tea to go with her birthday gift and couldn't resist picking up this Red Choc Mint rooibos tisane to try out, I'm so obsessed with chocolate mint tea at the moment that I want to try any that I lay my eyes on! Candice also rifled through her tea cupboard and dished me out a few to take home and sample, how sweet is that?!

I had such a lovely time in Barfold with Candice, and I'm so happy to be heading up there for a party at her place this weekend with Mister in tow - nothing better than enjoying the company of a few of your favourite people at the same time!!

Hope you're all well!
Emma x

Collective Haul - Mid 2015

I've fallen off the wagon when it comes to posting hauls...not only have I neglected to post about my kinda recent Colourpop haul, I haven't even touched on the glorious U.S honeymoon haul that happened at the end of last year! I think I'm going to round up a post on that as a way to prepare you for some upcoming reviews (and because I want to share the pretties!) but for now, here is a collective haul of what I've bought recently.

 

My obsession with tea knows no bounds, and I was excited to find this new Kromland Farm Organic Rooibos Caramel Tea on our weekly grocery shop. I found out about the Madame Flavour Tea Treats Mint Choc Rooibos when a friend posted about it on Facebook - she was not joking when she said it tasted amazing!

Not only am I addicted to tea this winter, I'm also addicted to adorable mugs! Despite having an overflowing mug cupboard as it is, I couldn't resist these patterns at Kmart when I went out shopping with my sister. The black and white is so chic and the watermelon one makes me happy - because of both the print and the fact that it holds HUGE amounts of peppermint tea for me!

I've tried to stop myself from accumulating more polishes but am currently working one a 'one in, one out' policy which seems to alleviate guilt a wee bit. The W7 'Red Debris' glitter screamed Christmas to me, and the Essie Ruffles and Feathers is a back up of the bottle I received in a PR parcel - I love it enough to need a back-up, trust me on that one! I found the Sensationail Gel Polishes on sale for $5 at Target and couldn't help but pick them up to add to my gel nail stash. I chose the shades Coral Sunset, Pink Chiffon and Pink Daisy. I also picked up one of the new Rita Ora for Rimmel shades (not pictured); that collection is seriously stunning by the way!

On the makeup front I'm doing quite well at choosing quality over quantity - I picked up two new Chanel Joues Contraste Blushes from the new Fall/Autumn 2015 collection (post up soon!) along with the Covergirl Full Lash Bloom mascara. I also grabbed the new Fragrance Mist of Britney Spears Curious (seen here in my Favourites!) and my sister picked up a tube of my beloved La Roche-Posay Effaclar Duo + during the Priceline 40% sale.

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I've really been focusing on reducing my stash and seriously thinking about products before purchasing them and it seems to be working quite well for me. We have a few upcoming weekends away planned that we are saving for and it's a great excuse to shop my own stash more often which is more enjoyable now than it has ever been! We're also heading overseas in 6 months and my ideal plan is a big Bath & Body Works haul...a reasonable dream, right?!

 

What have you bought recently?

What tea should I buy next?

-Emma