Conservatory at Crown

Let me just start this post with one simple word that pretty much describes my experience at Crown's Conservatory Buffet...
Wow.

Just, wow.

There is such a huge, successful reputation behind Crown and everything in it - including the Conservatory. They aim to deliver a great dining experience, from the food quality and variety, to the decor and atmosphere - and they do so effortlessly.

Choosing to come by public transport, it was an easy 5-10 minute walk over the Yarra River via Sandridge Bridge from Flinders Street Station. Though it was a wee bit wet, it was hard not to appreciate the beauty of Melbourne as I made my way over to Crown. So points for location.

Crown itself was also in a beautiful location, overlooking the Yarra. The Swanky Casino is somewhat overwhelming, but ultimately its allure draws you in. Inside, it looks like something out of a magazine or a movie. Personally, I'm not used to visiting places as lovely as Crown so I may sound pointlessly starry-eyed, but this was something special to me! The casino reminded me - rightfully so - of the many casino's I ventured into back in 2012 when I was on holiday in Las Vegas. I will admit that it still had nothing on Vegas casino's, but we're not in Vegas - we're in Melbourne. And with that in mind, it was amazing.

After a bit of a stroll around inside the casino, we made our way up to The Conservatory for our lunch time booking. We were still a bit early and the staff were setting up for the lunch sitting. I peered into the Conservatory full of excitement at what lay ahead (well and truly prepared and comfortable in my stretchy jeggings, FYI). At last, we were seated.

Now the real fun began! Once comfortably seated with our bags finally off of our shoulders and no need to worry about waiting for a good seat, we were ready to tackle the buffet. Making our way to the many food stations, we were spoilt for choice. There was a great selection of fresh seafood, sushi, salads, breads and cheeses, an Asian station, Indian station, and a carving station with the most delicious medium-rare beef I have ever tasted. Oh, and my all-time favourite food - a creamy, delicious potato bake!

Yes, I was in love.

If you're not frothing at the mouth at the sight of these pictures yet, you will be soon!

After consuming as much savoury lunch food as we could possibly manage, along with a glass of complimentary red wine, we were ready to approach the dessert station. Now, I'd 110% describe myself as a savoury kinda gal - however - .though I may not be physically capable of consuming too much sweet food, I certainly like to try.

This station had such an amazing variety of gorgeously presented and incredibly tasty desserts! There were all sorts of cakes, slices and puddings - all in single serving sizes and so pretty you almost didn't want to eat them! There were the cutest little mini macaroons, a selection of fresh fruits, multiple flavours of deliciously creamy ice-cream, and the highlight of the station - the chocolate fountains. Yes please.

To die for, really.

Honestly, I was sad when it was time to leave. We literally were seated right away when the Conservatory opened for lunch, and before we knew it, it was almost 2pm and they were letting guests know they were closing soon. We jumped up (slowly, very very slowly) and were on our way home, beyond satisfied with the food, atmosphere and experience we'd just had.

And yes, we will be back. After all, it's mum's birthday in a few weeks time! :P

What do you think of the Crown Conservatory? Love it? Hate it? Never been? Dying to visit? Let me know in the comments below!

xx Chontelle Louise

N I N E T E E N ♥︎

Another year has come and gone, and yesterday, on the 29th of July, I turned another year older! Nineteen years and counting, I've entered the last of my teenage years, before next years milestone of the big two-oh.

I spent the day at uni, a group of us - including a friend who also turned 19 on the same day - went to the Emporium for lunch, followed by a cheeky macaron-cookie style treat (with peanut butter filling, I was in love)! Then went to my favourite cafe with mum in the afternoon. It wasn't too eventful, as we'll be heading out to a buffet lunch at the Crown Conservatory next week (due to a last minute booking meaning we missed out on going for my birthday) - I'll definitely be posting about that!

Anyway. Nineteen years! It doesn't feel any different, however I feel more aware of the fact that I'm getting pretty close to my twenties and so have decided that for this post, I'll be doing a list!

A list of nineteen things I want to actively work towards doing/achieving over the next 12 months. I guess it's a sort of 'New Years Resolutions' style post, but for my birthday!

1. Learn to speak basic French. Je m'appelle Chontelle!

2. Get my P Plates.

3. Spend less money.

4. Spend more time with friends and family.

5. Visit Hobart, Tasmania.

6. Be more happy.

7. Achieve a Distinction average at uni.

8. See the 12 Apostles / Great Ocean Road.

9. Perfect my winged eyeliner.

10. Exercise more often.

11. Learn how to use highlighter/bronzer really well.

12. Visit Canberra, ACT.

13. Finish reading a book for the first time in a while.

14. Focus on buying mostly basics/neutrals for my wardrobe, rather than spending big on trends/colours I won't wear for long or often.

15. Get an internship in PR/Social Media/Marketing (a longer one this time, so I can really get involved).

16. Post videos on YouTube at least once a fortnight.

17. Get out more, and explore the city I live in.

18. Save up at least half of what I'll need to go back to Europe!

19. Be more confident.

7 Things I Miss About Brisbane!

So many of you may already be aware that at the beginning of this year I made the move down to Melbourne from Brisbane. I was born and raised in Brisbane, the Sunshine Coast, and every place in between. So as you can imagine, packing up my entire life and moving to a whole new city that I'd only been to once before (in 2005, at that!) was a big thing.

I've now been living in Melbourne for over 5 months (seriously, how did that happen!?) and lately, the nostalgic feelings towards the place I called home for more than 18 years of my life have been slowly creeping up on me.

So, as an attempt to move through my homesickness, I've created this list of 10 things that I really miss about living in Brisbane!


1. Being So Close to the Gold Coast's Theme Parks. I'm pretty sure that I spent just about every weekend of my childhood at one of the many theme parks on the Gold Coast. Coming from the North of Brisbane, it took a good 2-3 hours each way by bus-train-bus, but it was somewhat of a ritual and totally worth it. I was obsessed with theme parks and roller coaster and all of that stuff for the longest time.

2. Summer Storms. A lot of people, my own mother included, absolutely hate Queensland's Summer storms. Me on the other hand, I can't get enough. I love the smell of the rain, the sound of the thunder and how pretty that crazy-ass lightning is when it strikes down on the city. Growing up, I loved standing outside during the storms (which almost always caused a blackout where I lived) and just watching them.

3. The CBD. I mean, it's kinda boring and the surrounding suburbs are nothing compared to the likes of St Kilda, South Yarra, Fitzroy, Brunswick, Moonee Ponds etc here in Melbourne. But it's so simple, everything's pretty much centred around the one strip along Queen Street Mall making it easy to find your way around. No confusion there!

4. Friends. I'm not the most social person so I didn't actually leave too many friends behind up in Brisbane at all. But still, the few friends I did leave behind are some of the loveliest people and I miss seeing them more often!

5. Sushi. A weird one, I know. But sushi is my absolute favourite food and in Brisbane, you could find it literally everywhere. It seems to be a whole lot less popular here in Melbourne, which I personally find utterly depressing.

6. The Laid-Back Atmosphere. Okay, truthfully I think Brisbane is a bit too laid back for my liking. But at the same time, I really hate how uptight everyone is here in Melbourne, and sometimes I feel like taking a step back and relaxing a-la-Queenslander style.

7. Living by the Beach. I grew up living no more than a couple of blocks from the beach, and even when I moved further inland I was never more than 30mins from the closest beach. It was totally affordable and the beaches were lovely, but living close to the beach in Melbourne is rather expensive and since I'm not full of money... (Plus, the quality of the beaches was pretty great!)


xx Chontelle Louise

5 Reasons To Travel While You're Young!

You don't have any major responsibilities right now. As you get older, graduate, get a full time job, get married and have kids, or whatever path your life takes you - you're going to have a whole lot more responsibilities that'll tie you down. You won't have the same freedom you used to, to just take off and see the world and not have to worry about anything else.

You're never gonna have this much energy again. You're young and full of energy. You've got the freedom now, and you're only gonna get older from here on out. Why waste your youth sitting back home, following the daily grind, bored out of your mind? Take this opportunity to travel to every place on your bucket list. Hiking, swimming, skydiving - whatever it is, this is your chance to be able to do anything you'd like, while you still can!

You can see the world on a students budget. Even if you've recently graduated or aren't studying, you're still eligible for those fab student budget holiday deals on offer. STA Flights, Black Market, Contiki, they all have some amazing flight and tour deals all over the world and a huge portion of them have age restrictions, generally 18-25/30 years of age. Not to mention, you're in ripe condition to go to youth hostels and backpack your way around any continent you like!

You'll grow in ways you never could back home. Travelling is an incredible growth experience that you simply could not have by staying in the same one place. Seeing the world, discovering both yourself and whole new cultures, exploring cities and traditions... all of this will allow you to see the world in a new light. The experiences you have while travelling will change you as a person - for the better - and you'll come back with a refreshed perspective on life. Or maybe, you won't come back - you may fall in love with a new city or a new someone and carve out a new future you'd never have without travel!

If you don't go now, you may never go. Because the truth is, quite often, life gets in the way. There's always a 'what if' or 'but' or 'later', but that's no excuse not to travel. If you can travel now, forget about the 'what if's' and just go. It's now or never!

xx Chontelle Louise

I've been nominated for The Liebster Award!

Hey everyone! So this is a bit of a delayed post seeing as though I was nominated almost a month ago when I was just under 200 followers, and I'm now sitting on almost 300 - but I've finally gotten around to doing my Liebster Award Tag post!

The Liebster Award Tag is basically a fun way to discover great new blogs with a following of 200 or less lovely readers, and get your blog noticed! I'd like to say a massive thankyou to Ema from All The Good Blog Names Were Taken (Everyone should check her blog out)! Thanks so much for the nomination, and I loved reading your blog and your Liebster post! <3

Anyway, let's get started.

If you're nominated - the rules are:
1. Thank and link the person who nominated you.
2. Answer the nominators 11 questions.
3. Nominate 11 small blogs who have less than 200 followers. You should believe that they deserve the award and include their link in your post.
4. Create 11 new questions for your nominees to answer. Notify these nominees via social media/blog.

QUESTIONS

♥ 1. What's the one thing you're most proud of?

This is actually a pretty difficult question. I guess the thing I'm most proud of right now anyway is that I've just been accepted into uni for mid-year entry this July, so yeah, I'm pretty proud about that!

♥ 2. What is your biggest fear and why?

Actually I have three big fears. Mirrors, water, and darkness. I've seen too many scary movies and learnt too much about ghosts and portals and other worlds and demons etc and mirrors and water having reflections/being pathways to the other side scares the shit out of me! And darkness, well, if I can't see what's around me then I can't feel safe!

♥ 3. Before you die what are the five things you HAVE to do/achieve?

Okay. 

1. I need to visit almost* all of the countries in the world - I say almost as obviously, there are several that are just not safe to visit unfortunately, some that you cannot visit, and some that I may not really want to get around to.

2. Write and publish my own novel. This has always been on my bucket list.

3. Live in London for at least a year, if not forever!

4. Learn to speak both French and Dutch!

5. Create my own fashion sleepwear label - it's a massive dream but who knows what can happen!

♥ 4. Do you have any scary/cool ghost stories?

Actually I have quite a few, in fact more than enough to create an entire post (or two) about them - which has given me that great idea! If you'd like me to make a post on my own ghost stories then mention that in the comments below and I'll get on to it! But anyway, one that stands out began around 10 years ago when we moved into a new house. It always felt like there was someone (or several someone elses) there with us. The most notable thing from that house is a 'magic fairy wand' I used to have, which was kept in the rumpus/back room of the house. It was battery operated but I hadn't used it since I was like, 6 or 7 (so 3 years before we moved in). Late at night, between midnight and 4am, it used to go off, making it's 'fairy ding' kinda sound. We couldn't find it for a while, but when we eventually did, it didn't work (despite going off the night before). We opened up the battery case and lo-and-behold - the batteries had exploded, long ago! That night, it went off again. And continued to do so for years.

Very creepy.

♥ 5. If you could go right now to anywhere in the world, where would it be and why?

I'd buy a one-way ticket to Paris, France! Paris is my absolute favourite place in the world, I just loved it there and miss it so much! Amazing atmosphere, people, food, scenery, architecture, culture - everything about Paris is perfect! 

♥ 6. Where would you like to be n 5 years time?

I'd love to be living and working somewhere in the UK or Europe, in an amazing job and earning a good income to be able to support myself and my mum too, travelling a lot and enjoying life!

♥ 7. What is your idea of the worst first date imaginable?

The worst first date.. hmm.. as far as location goes, they'd better not take me to Maccas or somewhere cheap and nasty. No, you don't have to spend heaps of money on my but you do need to respect me, take me somewhere decent please, even a walk in the park and a picnic (next to free to do) would be fab! And please, nobody rude or self-centred or mean. Deal breakers.

♥ 8. If you were sent to a deserted island, and could only bring 3 things, what would you bring?

My camera, my laptop, and a journal.

♥ 9. Sweet or savoury? 

I'm definitely more of a savoury kinda girl. Don't get me wrong, I love sweets and all but I can only handle it in small amounts. Savoury stuff on the other hand, I can't get enough!

♥ 10. What couldn't you live without?

Honestly, there are several things I couldn't live without. Coffee, for example, is like the elixir of life for me. I need it, daily. Or else :') And then there's my baby girl Jasmine, my mum, and her girl Angel. <3

♥ 11. When do you think you'll be officially old?

I have no idea really, I think for me '30' feels like it'll be old. I mean there's a perceived change between twenties and thirties from fun and adventure to settling down

I really enjoyed answering these questions, so thankyou Ema! <3 

I have nominated the following blogs for the Leibster Award:

Manon

Elly

Eden
Nat

Okay, I know the rules call for 11 small blogs but honestly, I've never been that good with rules and all! I have seen so many blogs both big and small and so I'd like to nominate ALL of you with 200 or less followers reading this for the Liebster Award tag! <3

These are your questions:

1. If you could have any superpower, what would it be?

2. Why did you start your blog?

3. Cats or dogs (or both)?

4. What was your favourite subject in school?

5. All-time favourite movie?

6. Growing up, what was your ultimate dream job?

7. Have you ever been bullied? Share your experience (if you want).

8. Chocolate, vanilla, or strawberry?

9. What is your least favourite food?

10. What do you want to study or do when you leave school / what are you studying / what did you study?

11. Describe the qualities of your perfect match.

I hope you enjoyed this post! Thanks for reading <3

xx Chontelle Louise

8 Cities I Need To Visit

Lately my wanderlust has been scratching around in my head, taking over many of my thoughts to the point that I've caught myself researching flights and travel to different cities all over the world - predominantly Europe. So as a bit of a release for my wanderlust I've compiled a list of cities that I'm dying to visit!

1. Amsterdam, Holland (Netherlands)
I've wanted to visit Amsterdam for a long time. The beautiful buildings (including those crooked houses!), the cafe culture, the canals, the bridges, the food, the art culture, and the way everyone's riding around on cute bicycles all the time! Everything about Amsterdam is just me. I'm hoping to visit this amazing city in my next trip to Europe!

2. Cape Town, South Africa
Such. A Beautiful. City. It's not even the city itself that's beautiful, but it's natural beauty, the natural beauty of South Africa. I'm half South African on my mothers side, and have always wanted to visit the country but understandably mum isn't too sure after all of the issues this beautiful country has suffered. However Cape Town is one of the safest parts of SA and the most beautiful. It's got a lovely seaside village feel to it and so vibrant and interesting - also the cable cars up to Cable Mountain are a must.

3. Prague, Czech Republic
It's such a colourful and interesting city in a country with so much history. Previously under Communist control, the Czech Republic (prev. Czechoslovakia) is an amazing place to visit for those who are interested in communist and European history - or just history in general! And where better to do so than in the capital, Prague!

4. Warsaw, Poland
I think Warsaw, and in general Poland, is really underrated as far as 'list of cities to visit' go. I don't know where I first got the interest to visit Poland, but once I did it just got stronger and stronger. I still don't know much about the city or country but what I do know is that it looks absolutely gorgeous and I'd love to learn more!

5. Berlin, Germany
Berlin is to Germany what Melbourne is to Australia. It's an urban city full of fashion and graffiti and really good coffee. It could be seen as a little bit ugly what with all of the big city buildings, but that's part of the allure. It's fun, it's grunge, and it's a city I would really love to visit one day!

6. Marrakech, Morocco
I've always had an interest in visiting Morocco. I love new and different experiences, and Marrakech is an explosion of colourful, glorious difference! I can see myself draining the bank on all sorts of interesting colourful items from the rows and rows of stalls and having to purchase another suitcase to lug it all back home in!

7. Bruges, Belgium
From what I can gather, Bruges looks like the most beautiful, small old European city with a stunningly haunting look to it. My mum visited Bruges a long time ago and always said that we should visit, and pick up some of the lace and little trinkets that she wants to get for me to pass down in generations. So for me, visiting Bruges is more of a personal desire. It doesn't hurt that it's an absolutely gorgeous city, often referred to as the 'Venice of the North' due to its canals. I seem to have a thing for cities with canals, they're just so mystical and breathtaking!

8. Dublin, Ireland
I've got Irish blood on both sides of my family so I may be a little bit biased, but Ireland is somewhere I've wanted to go for a while now. I love that Dublin seems to be a bit quieter than many other major European cities, and it (along with the rest Ireland) seems like something out of a fairytale! So cute and quaint and beautiful greenery, Dublin is defintely a place I plan to visit!

I hope you've enjoyed this post! Let me know below, what cities do YOU need to visit?

xx Chontelle Louise

*please note images are not my own*