Christina Hopgood

Trip to Melbourne!

April 16, 2013January 24, 2018 christinahopgood

We’ve been meaning to go to Melbourne for quite some time now, to visit family and friends and generally have a fun time. So last Friday we drove up to spend the weekend! We were staying at the Quality Downtoner on Lygon which I am thrilled to say is a beautiful hotel. We could park there and the hotel itself was fantastic. Not posh, but roomy and full of everything we needed.

On the way we made tea in a thermos. Charles took a nice photo!

On Friday evening we had dinner with the lovely Violet le Beaux and Jimmy America – two folk who I am happy to call my friends. James knows the Aquabats you guys. Violet loves Weird Al. BFF. (Big Friends Forever). We had some awesome Korean food and then got some bubble tea which I totally couldn’t finish.

Saturday was our first full day in town, and we filled it right up with stuff. First we headed down to Michael’s camera shop where Charles wanted to buy some fixer so he can develop his own black and white film. Then I went to Myers to visit the makeup counters. I wanted some new undereye concealer, but totally failed to buy any.

Then we drove out to see my great-aunt (my dad’s aunt), and her sons (my dad’s cousins). It was so lovely to have lunch with them! They live in an old beautiful house with gorgeous detailed ceilings and a big garden full of fruit trees.

Once we got back to the city it was around 3:30pm. We then walked all the way from our hotel down to ACCA, which is an artspace where our friend Benjamin had an exhibition. It was great! We haven’t seen Ben since our wedding since he lives in Perth (and he wasn’t at his exhibition), but weirdly one of Ben’s artworks had one of Charles’ lamps in it which he’d bought for a previous shared project. He wondered where that had gone!

Then we walked all the way back up to our hotel, via some cute shops. After a brief pizza, we were ready to go out to see Barry Morgan! For those of you who don’t know, Barry Morgan plays the organ and is amazing. We had a great time! It was part of the Melbourne Comedy Festival. As such, we laughed so much my face hurt by the end! We even got a photo together. He is so rad.

On Sunday we got up and took a tram to Violet and James’ place where we met the lovely Lottie! Seriously, no photos or videos can convey what a little bundle of joy she is! Lottie took to us immediately which I was really happy about. She licked us one billion times and had us throw her toy for her in turns.

Violet curled my hair 🙂

We went and got lunch together and then went our separate ways. At this point I was amazingly tired from the past two days of too much walking and excitement. So that’s why I look so drooby in the photos!

Charles and I then went back to our hotel to change into our… Collingwood gear! We took the train out to the MCG and went to the footy! My team lost… by a lot… but we still had heaps of fun! Charles even said “I would go again”!

At this point I was so tired I thought I was going to die, so when we got back to the hotel I needed a little lie down before I could muster up the energy to go and get dinner. We walked around Lygon st for a while and got some more pizza. Why not, when I’m on a street famous for its Italian restaurants!

Monday morning we went to visit my uncle and aunt, and then we drove home. The drive home was super boring and uneventful, but we were really happy to get home. It was such a fun trip! We want to go to Melbourne more often now to see our friends (there were heaps of friends we were too busy to see this time) and do more stuff.

At the Dog on the Tuckerbox, Gundagai

diy, mask, skin

DIY Bi-carb and honey mask!

April 10, 2013January 24, 2018 christinahopgood

Recently I’ve been getting into face masks. But… since I don’t like buying them from the shops, I’ve been making my own! And I’m really excited about the results. One in particular has been working wonders on my skin, so here I share with you the super-exfoliating bi-carb and honey face mask!

There are only three ingredients: bi-carb soda, honey, and either milk OR olive oil.

Bi-carb soda is a cleanser and also is a great exfoliant, and honey is full of goodness. It’s apparently an anti-bacterial so will help with any acne. The olive oil is moisturising and cleansing, and the milk is calming and soothing. I don’t put both in because then the mixture becomes too runny, but I have tried it with both. It’s smoother if you use milk.

Mix up 1 teaspoon of honey with 1.5 teaspoons of bi-carb soda, stir it up and then add enough milk or olive oil to make it a nice paste consistency. If it is still too thick, pop it in the microwave for 12 seconds to melt the honey a bit.

Like so.

Now remember to tie your hair back! Slap it on a clean face any old how and rub it in circular motions with your fingers. Now leave it for about 10 – 15 minutes.
Grab a face washer and run it under hot water. Put it on your face and just hold it there for a minute. Now rub in circular motions again, and really exfoliate your face. You should feel the little granules working against your skin. Just keep washing your face in this way until it’s all clean!

Classy!

This mask is quite drying, so make sure you moisturise with something delicious and luxurious. When I do this, my face always feels smooth and clean! It also has been helping with some nasty breakouts I’ve been having.

Let me know how you go with this lovely mask!

CIT, life

What have I been DOING???

April 9, 2013January 24, 2018 christinahopgood

It’s been a busy few weeks here at Christina HQ. As a result, I haven’t managed to upload a blog in over a week! Bad Chrissy!

Here’s what I’ve been up to:

Firstly, I had a big assignment due yesterday for my Fibres and Fabrics course at CIT. It was all of our work from the whole term. I’m not used to doing actual homework anymore so it took forever.
Here’s one of the things I had to do: create a *new* fabric! It was really hard to think of something original (and even now I’m not sure that I did)! I kind of developed a technique that everyone already knows – braiding! I was braiding my hair and thought “Why don’t I do this with 30 strands instead of three?” and so I did. The thing about this fabric is that it has no separate weft (the horizontal strands), only warp (the vertical strands). This is because the warp is drawn through the weft and left on the other side.

I tied all my strands to a coathanger to create the tension and braided it! Like a huge friendship bracelet.

Not sure how I’ll go on that part of the assignment. It’s a pass/fail course, so I probably won’t get much feedback either. I think I’ll pass.

Secondly, my parents have gone away to Europe for 5 weeks! They left on Sunday afternoon. For weeks they’ve been planning and booking and researching their trip, and I’ve been helping in any way I could. I gave them a bunch of things from when I went away (noise-cancelling headphones for plane, sleeping pills, Oyster cards for the Underground, etc.) and have been trying to calm their anxieties. I took them to the bus on Sunday and they arrived in London late late late last night. I think they’re going to have a ball!

Thirdly, I’ve been planning out my Autumn holidays. We’re going to Melbourne on Friday until Monday! We’re going to be doing SUCH FUN things! Will keep you posted on our trip as it happens.

Other than that, it’s been work as usual. We’ve been watching a lot of 30 Rock while doing our homework. Why did I not adore this show while it was actually on???

Uncategorized

New Sticks and Tones video!

April 1, 2013 christinahopgood

This video is from You Are Here last weekend. Enjoy!

beauty, diy, do it yourself, hair, haircut, Home

How to cut your own hair

March 29, 2013January 24, 2018 christinahopgood

Today I gave my hair a bit of a trim at home. I’ve been trimming my hair every few weeks recently to keep it healthy and nice. The last time I went to the hairdresser was in August when I was getting married! This haircut gives you some nice layers which are shorter at the front and longer in the back. Here’s how you can do it yourself!

Start with straight hair – either use a straightener or do this when your hair is wet. My hair was already straight enough for me.

Comb all your hair forwards, making sure it’s lying flat on your head. Comb out any knots and tangles.

Tie your hair in a ponytail at the centre top of your forehead, right in the middle of your hairline.

Make sure it’s tight and not bumpy.

Now tie another hair tie around your ponytail and slowly pull it down the hair, evenly. Pull it down to just above where you want to cut.

This acts as a guide for you and also keeps the hair all together. Snippy snip! Cut straight across and try to make it all the same length.

See? Like a horse’s tail.

Now take the whole thing out and repeat these previous steps. You’ll probably find that it’s a bit uneven when you look at it again.

Then I like to use a comb to double check the evenness again. Here’s where you can get a bit obsessive trying to make it completely even. My advice: know when to let go and say “it’s even!”