Another month has passed and we’re getting so close to the end of the year! For November, I decided to change it up and call my monthly round-up as ‘Highlights’ instead of the previous ‘Instagram Snaps‘. Not every highlight of my month is shared on my Instagram so this way, I feel like I can share more. It’s still a similar post and style but it gives me flexibility.

Anyway, if you want to know what I did, loved, and experienced the past month, click below.

I can’t not mention that a big highlight not just for me but the whole of New Zealand is the All Blacks winning the Rugby World Cup final against Australia. That consumed our whole Sunday and it was a great start to November.

• On the left is a snap from the All Blacks Victory celebration at Victoria Park. There was a parade and a festivities to welcome the country’s champions home. It was close to my work so we checked it out around lunch time.
• It also started getting warmer this month and there has been a lot of clear skies. Unfortunately, it’s becoming humid too. Humidity and I don’t go well together and I foresee a very hot summer.
• I went to my sister‘s end of the year buffet for her Patisserie course at AUT. It was an afternoon of desserts and I can’t believe that he class made amazing-looking treats. I love dessert so this was an occasion I wouldn’t dare miss.

Here’s more photos from her buffet:

Her theme was musicals/theatre and she had pieces that reflected Cinderella, Phantom of the Opera, Wicked, Singin’ in the Rain etc.

Here’s a better look of her table of creations. They’re all edible even that Singin’ in the Rain set on the right which is made of sugar.

Her Phantom of the Opera cake was huge and I had carry it from her uni to the car along Queen St and it was a workout.

Some of the creations from her class. They all had different themes and created beautiful desserts.

If you want to see more baking/food photos, give my sister’s Instagram some love: joan_alyssa. I’ve been meaning to help her out with a fb page or website but she does take baking orders if you live in Auckland.

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Another highlight of the month was seeing Le Noir The Dark Side of Cirque.

We couldn’t take photos during the performance but I couldn’t anyway because I was too busy watching what was going on. It was an amazing show and exceeded all my expectations. If the show ever go to your city/country, I recommend watching it. It’s well worth it.

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• Shopping-wise, NYX is finally available in stores in Auckland. The new Farmers opened up in Queen Street which has a NYX stand. I haven’t bought anything from the brand yet though. I’m waiting for the hype to die down a bit before I got back to Farmers. It was so busy on their first week.
• I’ve also been shoe-crazy the past month. I bought heels from Kmart (see my full haul here) and some from Number One shoes. I’ll be featuring them in a separate post here on the blog soon.

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Going back to food, Instagram and hashtagging definitely has benefits because I won a box of macarons from Miann. Miann is a new dessert place in the city which I know I will be obsessed with.

Miann’s Instagram account reposted my photo to tell me I won! I was so happy when I found out. Firstly, I love desserts and who doesn’t like free treats?!

• I bought four gateaux to take home during my first visit to Miann. They survived my trip home and they were so good.
• I picked up a Mango and Coconut gelato stick after work which was perfect on a hot day.
• The 6 pack of macarons I won. I chose the flavours: oreo, lemon, chocolate, salted caramel, espresso and green tea & passionfruit.

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I also went to my partner’s brother’s 21st birthday party.

This is the outfit I wore which should appear on a proper outfit post here on the blog.

I don’t have photos of myself in the party as I was the one taking everyone’s photos but my sister made the cake which was a giant chocolate cake. People got excited and smudged it already as you can tell above.

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The other things in November were:

• My mum’s birthday. We had lunch at Thyme restaurant on Spencer on Byron hotel.
• I had dinner with friends at this little Italian restaurant in Milford and I wore this outfit.
• I experienced a really bad toothache and finally booked myself a dentist appointment. That’s not a highlight but it was something I needed to do.

I also reached 1000 followers on Instagram!

I’ve been waiting for it to tick over 1000 and it finally happened this month. That was a good blog achievement for me. There is a downside to it though because the past few days, I’ve been gaining lots of fake followers/spam accounts which I’ve been blocking. Apparently, I’m not the only one experiencing this problem but they’re weird accounts of mostly men with high number of followers but their photos are either selfies, cars, naked women and even children. Just NOPE.

I’ve blocked as much as I could but I’m still pretty stoked at finally reaching 1K and getting more engagement on there too. I love Instagram and besides my blog, it’s my second favourite place to share things on.

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This post is getting lengthy now so I’ll stop here. I hope you liked this new format of my monthly round-up. Let me know if you prefer the old one but I did enjoy putting this together. I like a bit of change around here.

If you missed any of my blog posts in November, here are my favourites:

• Melbourne Beauty Haul
• Kmart Home Decor Haul and DIY vase
• Schwarzkopf Hair Lightening Spray review
• Melbourne Part 2 Travel post
• Home Decorating on a budget (my living room home decor)

I hope you’re all having a wonderful weekend!

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