Oops, they did it again!

You know how I was having a go at the really bad service I got at Sportsgirl a couple of weeks ago?
Well, it turns out that the shoes I bought have broken. Yes that's right the $99 I spent on my flat silver shoes with the major bling have fallen apart. One of the blings has fallen off! I can't...well actually I can believe it and I am going to walk in there at lunchtime and demand an exchange! And if I don't get it...let’s just say you'll be hearing about it. Let's just say NW (the biggest gossip mag in my building) will be hearing about it.

It's not that I don’t like Sportsgirl, but from the bad service to the brakeage of the merchandise I am so not impressed!

Why do these chain stores continue to put their prices up when their product is so crap! Everyone is wearing it and it’s not even good quality!
The funny thing is I keep going back for more. I keep going to spend my hard earned cashola on the stuff.

Can someone please explain to me why and how we keep paying these prices for such bad quality product? I saw a dress in Sportsgirl the other day for $300! $300! And then I saw two people in the street wearing it and it wasn’t even a nice/hot dress!

Leave me your thoughts….please!

Girl Next Door x

New Hosts of Big Brother 2008....

It's time to go.... Gretel Killeen and time to welcome in Big Brother 2008 and its fresh new hosts…...Kyle and Jackie O!

That's right, the duo of my fave Sydney (2DayFM) radio show have just signed onto Channel Ten's biggest reality TV show. They’ll be giving the series a fresh and new take, Jackie O says, "There will be alot of changes especially in the contestants", sounds very exciting and I for one will be watching it just to get a taste of what the pair will be like together on the Queensland stage.

There’s still a lot of speculation as to whether or not Gretel resigned or was booted from the network.

A big congratulations to Kyle and Jackie, both doing so well at the moment, they just keep getting bigger and bigger.

Girl Next Door xx

Fashion news straight from the world of the fashionista’s themselves!

That’s right guys today we have a special guest on Thoughts. Meet Miss Phoebe Rathmell, Junior Fashion Editor of Girlfriend Magazine (pictured right) and (I’m not going to lie to you) just happened to be my gorgeous bestie.

I know I don’t have much on here about fashion so I have called in the help of Phoebe (coz she is an absolute expert) to keep you guys (my gorgeous readers who I want to be up-to-date as much as possible) on the latest fashions this week.
Take it away Phoebe!


“Trends I'm loving this second...
Experimental nail polish, different shade a day (fluro, white, black etc)
Hair accessories... turbans, scarves, bling clips, trilbies
Sunnies from 60s, 70s, 80s
High waisted anything (I'm still so obsessed)

Trends I’m SO over…
Fluro
Big loud slogan tees (aghhhhh)
Coloured tights (only coz I can't pull them off)
Baby doll dresses (excuse me but is half the female population pregnant, cause they look it!)”

And I second all of that!
Thanks Miss Phoebe!
Have a beautiful weekend!
Girl Next Door xx

Macro hits the shores of Sydney’s Northern Beaches

I have been waiting for this moment for quite some time now. Macro the wholefoods specialises in every kind of organic product possible. If it’s quality you’re after, then this is the place to do your shopping. Fresh produce and products are slightly more exxy than your average Coles/Woolies but if you have the mula then go for it. If you don’t (I’ll put my hand up and admit that I don’t) then you should just try and get half-half. Get the produce like all meat, all poultry and beauty products from Macro, for quality.

For fresh produce get half at Macro, you want to get your fruits and vegies that grow above the ground (these ones will be more susceptible to being full off pesticides and chemicals), for example; apples, pears, strawberries, tomatoes (this is major - have you seen how big our average strawberries are getting these days? It is not normal!), and things that grow under ground or have skins on them and you peel them off to eat them) you should buy at your local green grocer’s. For example; carrots, beetroot, pumpkin, sweet potato, etc. Mark my words you will taste the difference especially in the tomatoes.

The new Macro in Mona Vale was scheduled to open this Sunday but it turns out they will be opening on Tuesday of next week (30th of October, ‘07).

Still not convinced this place is the bomb? To promote the store opening they will be having a lot of ‘in-store product testing’. Good enough for me! Also you have to try the organic popcorn (BOOST juice bars also stock this product) it comes in sea salt or if you’re in more of a sweet mood they have it with a bit of sugarcane on the top. SOOO good, just enough to get your tastebuds going! And totally healthy.

Let me know how you go!

Girl next Door xx

Today's Headlines

You know how I said to watch this spice, sorry space, for news on The Spice Girls? Well, here it is! Their first (new) single was released today and although it is a ballad and not quite what we all expected their first single (Headlines (Friendship never ends)) to be. My opinion? It is quite good. Not good as in, when you get home from work and your mum/boyfriend/significant other is cooking you your fave meal, but good as in, you’ve just found out that Britney has gone back into rehab. You’re satisfied but there’s still more to convince you it’s the best news you’ve heard all day. I think it’ll grow on us all coz come on, it is The Spice Girls we’re talking about here and these chicks don’t have comebacks tours everyday.

Speaking of The Spice Girls' comeback tour, there is still speculation as to how exactly we’re all getting tickets, but I'll keep you posted. Did I mention they are only coming to Sydney in Oz?

Anyways as soon as I find out what’s happening with it all I will let you know. In the meantime you can get addicted to their new song (fingers crossed they release a second single soon to make up for the disappointment of the first one) and keep me posted on any news you hear.


Lastly what is with this picture of Krystal from Big Bro (right) is it just me, or does she look waaayyy too plastic? It looks like she’s had work done on her entire face!! This is what happens when you become famous people, you morph into some strange creature that resembles E.T. Also just to clarify this chick is just 19 years old. 19!!!!!!!

Til next time,

Girl Next Door x

P.S I just checked The Spice Girls website and it seems you can buy tickets online now! that's right! The U.S.A's are on sale now and you can get them by clicking here. As for Oz watch this spice, I mean space!

Are you a health freak like moi?

As you know I am a little intolerant, allergic, whatever you want to call it to a lot of different foods. If you've forgotten or you’re a first time reader of thoughts I'll refresh your memory; wheat, gluten (found in wheat but when something says ‘gluten free’ it’s not always wheat free FYI), cocoa, soy, yellow food colouring (#102) and honey just to name a few.
Well didn’t I think my Christmases had all come at once when I discovered this little show? The Gluten Free & Allergy Show is being held on November 17th and 18th at Sydney Exhibition Centre, Darling Harbour. I’ll see you there!
And for all you obsessive health freak foodies out there Kings Cross now holds their Organic Food & Farmers Markets every Saturday! Head on down to Fitzroy Gardens on Macleay Street for fresh, organic fruit, veg, poultry and much more. Don’t worry if you’ve got a hangover from Friday night, they have the best bacon and egg rolls money can buy!
Do you know of any organic markets anywhere in Sydney or Australia?
Leave me a comment and let me know which ones are your faves!

Girl Next Door xx

P.S Due to popular demand my A.K.A name is back and here to stay! Thanks for all your feedback!

That, just destroyed my buzz

It's always the way isn't?
You know, you're having a lovely morning, walking to the bus stop, the birds are chirping, the mother ducks are quacking with their long line of baby ducklings trailing behind them and the rabbits and the cockatoos are all frolicking together in the park (just in case you’re wondering if I walk through a zoo in the morning I actually live near a lake, with lots of wildlife).

It was going to be a gorgeous day and I was happily listening to Kyle & Jackie O, how I start my day most mornings. I hopped onto the bus and sat down feeling quite happy with myself that I’d scored a seat. I shifted the volume on my i-pod a little higher as the bus started to move. 5 minutes later, I was in my own world. Until the woman sitting next to me decided to start waving her hands around like there was a bomb about to explode. I turned to look at her and realised she was actually waving her hands at me. I pulled my headphones out and all she could say (well almost yell) was ‘Can you turn the volume down? They’re leaking!” Leaking?!?! What the hell is 'leaking' supposed to mean? I looked around me and saw that no, my head phones were not leaking they were merely up a little louder as I was in such a great mood, ‘was’ being the operative word here.
I grunted a ‘Sure, no worries’ to her as I sat there in absolute disgust. Was she serious? There’s a civil war happening, there’s people dying every 3 minutes of starvation and she wants me to turn my volume down?

It got me wondering, why are people on public transport so damn anal? I mean this woman obviously had a stick shoved....well she was obviously annoyed but I mean how dare she, she totally destroyed my buzz!

What if I was a tattooed up, 10 piercings on my body and black make up kinda gal, do you think she would have even thought about asking me to turn my i-pod down?
I think not.

Have you ever encountered an anal public transporter? Has someone destroyed your buzz by rudely asking you to do something that’s totally (not illegal) and in your nature to do?

Bella xx

P.S my A.K.A name, Girl Next Door will cease as of this blog. Readers of Thoughts, I'm Bella (the one who has been writing entertaining blog for you these past couple of months).

How much is that puppy in the window?

I went into a pet shop over the weekend (I was 'called in') by the cutest puppy I had ever seen. It was truly love at first sight.
When I walked in with my boyfriend and his mate they knew that there was no turning back. Standing and looking at the pup from outside the shop is one thing, but going into hold her is quite a decision. The little Pomeranian X Maltese was just a bundle of fluff waiting to be swept into a good home. I wanted so bad to just smuggle her into my bag and run out of there, Bionic Woman style. But unfortunately my current state of home isn't appropriate for a growing pup. In fact I spoke to someone the other day who had just bought a puppy with her boyfriend. They live together in a house but still it was bit of hassle having a pup there. "We want to get rid of him," she said, "I'll make sure I find him a good home but I just can't handle having a puppy right now, my boyfriend and I both work full time and we have to leave him at home all day by himself. I'd rather he be amused all day with a loving family than keeping him with us just because we 'want a puppy'. It’s just not practical right now. Just quietly it's like having a child."

So there are alot of things to take into consideration before purchasing a pet. I mean you've got to think about food, bowls, and toys. There goes all my hard earned cash, not to mention the time you have to spend in toilet training and trick training. Puppy School is a definite must as well and right now I really don't have the time to commit to that quality time. Puppies need a lot of TLC and although I would be fully prepared to give up all my spare time to nurse him into a beautiful dog it’s just not practical. My apartment being on the second floor would cause complications in toilet training her and taking her out every hour.

Oh well at least I know what puppy I want now. Pomeranian X Maltese = so cute.

Wonder if life would be easier if I could just walk into Louis Vuitton and choose the most exxy dog carrier there, Jessica Simpson style? Then I could take her everywhere with me. Work would love that!
Although when I was working at Girlfriend someone bought in their kitten and she just ran round the office all day. It was so cool.

What about you? Do you have a pet? Do you find it hard to take them for walks during the week and is general looking after quite hard?

Girl Next Door x

P.S This is my official 100th Post!
Thanks to everyone who has been reading Thoughts and all of you subscribers! Very exciting indeed!

Do you have a bestie? Do you want to star in your fave magazine?

Then you've come to the right place!

Has your friend been through something major, for example an eating disorder? A parental problem that has led them to moving out of home perhaps? Maybe they're addicted to drugs?
If you're between the age of 15-22 and you're interested (or you know someone who is) and you don't mind having your photo published in Girlfriend Magazine, then email me your name, email address and mobile number at bel.frizza@hotmail.com with Besties Story in the subject line.

Whether it happened to you yesterday, last week or last year I want to hear from you!

Thanks so much!!

Girl Next Door xx

In other celeb news...

Justin Timberlake, currently on his world tour, was performing earlier this week. Usually after Justin does a couple of songs he exits the stage for a bit of an intermission, Timbaland then gets on stage and keeps the crowd revved up while waiting for Justin’s return. During this time JT usually has just enough time to grab a drink, make a quick pit stop and then get back onto the stage. On this particular performance though JT was out for almost 45 minutes! “The fans were obviously getting annoyed” says Thoughts undercover spy, "They had no idea why he was taking so long to come back on stage".

Want to know what really happened? Apparently Justin was out in his dressing room with his latest flame Jessica Biel, let’s just say she showed him a good time for about half an hour, then once finished Justin walked out and announced to his road crew, “Well, that’s the best I’ve ever had!”
Go Jess and Justin!!

I just had to share that one!
Enjoy your weekend

Girl Next Door x

Talk of the town

Hot off the press this morning are the Madden twins Benji and Joel and their antics at the Nickelodeon Kids Choice Awards.

Both the boys invited The Veronica's twins, Lisa and Jess to their dressing room before the show. Perhaps for a friendly chat and warm up of their voices before their performances? Maybe not. One of our spies over heard the Origliasso twins leaving their dressing room and whispering, "I can't believe he just hit on you".



As Mr Joel Madden is expecting his first child we've got our money on Benji, who was flying solo this time round to Oz. His usual accessory, ex-Bardot pop star Sophie Monk was nowhere to be seen.

Girl Next Door x

Funny coz it's true

My employer, ACP Magazines put a message of a different kind on our intranet this morning. Read about it at Sydney Morning Herald.
Pretty funny stuff. It even made it to the Nova news bulletin!

Girl next Door xx

Picky, me? Never!

Being allergic to alot of today's modern convenience foods I find it hard to eat out. Any of my friends can vouch for me being one severely picky eater.
But it's not my fault, really, I'm allergic to:
• Wheat
• Cocoa - yes cocoa!!! I am allergic to chocolate! can you believe it?
• Honey
• Soy - commonly known as 'pretty good for you' but not really. This stuff is sooo evil! Especially soy milk! Stay away! Want proof of this? Think about every time you eat sushi and you smother your roll in soy sauce. Now think about how you feel after, what do you crave? Sugar? Lollies? Chocolate perhaps? Yep, I thought so.
• Dairy
• The colour Yellow, yes no yellow jellies for moi.

As you can see it’s all about the gluten/wheat/soy free food for me. But before you get the violin out, I have to let you in on a little secret… it really isn’t that hard.
I’ll admit to you that before I found out I was allergic to everything I was a full-on wheat addict. No joke, I loved pizza, pasta, soy capps, chocolate, yellow lollies (esp. pineapples), cakes and biscuits. But I started to realise how ill I felt after I had consumed any of the above.

After having one too many soy capps one day and an innocent wrap for lunch I had hit rock bottom. I had to stop. So from that day on I cut down on all wheat, soy and chocolate and you know what? I actually felt OK, you could even go as far as saying that I felt good. I felt good about my body and who I was.

Then I discovered some cool places that I could go to eat where I could actually eat the food. I didn’t have to sit there anymore and watch my friends gorge themselves on food I couldn’t eat. Want to know what these places are? OK:

1. My local sushi train – local to work, in HOYTS on George St is Sushi Train. Trust me you haven’t eaten sushi til you’ve tried this stuff, minus the soy sauce of course!!
2. Macro Wholefoods – supermarket yes, but a lot of these have a café attached to them. Talk about amazing! And most things are organic!
3. IKU – Another wholefoods (organic) place, but take away! Yay I can now get take away for lunch at work!

Are you a fan of healthy food chains? And I don’t mean Subway. NEWSFLASH: Subway is SO not good for you.
If you are a fan let me know what you like and don’t like and if you’re allergic to anything.

So you see I’m not really that fussy...just allergic!

Did I mention I only eat organic meat and chicken?

Girl Next Door x

P.S the latest addition to the Macro family, Macro Wholefoods @ Mona Vale will be opening Tuesday 30th of October!

Service with a smile, is it too much to ask these days?

A Sunday morning in October that isn’t so nice, my bestie and I head down to our local mall for a spot of window shopping. I was also after a pair of new flats as the pair I have been shamelessly living in for the past 3 months took a turn for the worst the other day and sliced on me (by sliced I mean totally let me down, but that’s a whole other blog).
We wound our way round the various shops, Wittner, Target, Cue, Diva, Equip and Sportsgirl. Having previously worked at Sportsgirl I feel a certain love for many things there – a closeness to the product that gets me into a bit of trouble with my savings card. Sportsgirl’s latest offering ‘FROCKTOBER’ is a collection that speaks for itself and definitely sells itself without a second glance. The only thing I think needs a bit of a kick-up-the-butt (so to speak) is their current staff quota.



My bestie and I did a loop of the store, ‘cute’, ‘nah’, ‘whatever’, ‘yep’ and ‘I am obsessed’ are the phrases we use to assess each item. After pretty much ‘whatever-ing’ through most of the store (mostly coz of the price, one dress was $299 – hello, no one told me that money grows on trees these days, and let’s face it, Sportsgirl is not Bettina Liano!) we got to the accessories wall. A gorgeous pair of flats caught my eye; sliver with some major bling on the toes. I was in love! ‘OMG I have to try these on I am obsessed!!’ I look around to ask someone for a size, looking, looking – I catch a girl’s eye who I assume is working there (as she is standing in the change rooms taking clothes from the two exiting people – the only two people in the change rooms). ‘Umm excuse me’, I ask ‘can I grab these in a 7’. ‘Sure’ she replies minus the fake smile, actually minus any personality at all.

The girl comes back over with a shoebox in her hand and drops it at my feet.
I open the box to get the shoes out and by this time I am astonished at the lack of help this girl has given me. The shoes are all wrapped up in white tissue paper and haven’t been touched before…OK last time I checked, it’s your job when working in retail to take the shoes out of the box for the customer and unwrap them, then give to them to the customer to try on.
After trying on the flats and deciding they were the wrong size I looked up again to see if I could catch someone else’s eye to get another size, (the original girl was no where to be seen). Do you think there was anyone around at all? No. Apart from one girl at the register who clearly was not serving anyone. ‘Where is everyone who works here?’ I asked my bestie with extra loudness to make sure the girl at the register heard me. Finally, the original girl who was in the change rooms flutters out of nowhere and I have to ask her for another size. That’s right she didn’t even ask ‘How did the 7’s go’ or anything!

Not to bitch about Sportsgirl coz I love the place. Seriously. I am obsessed! But when they have girls like this working there on the weekend (which is the most busy and crucial time for chicks with their plastic cards) it really puts the product down in a bad way. Let’s just say I won’t be running back to that Sportsgirl store any time soon. Call me old-fashioned but when I’m shopping I want service with a smile as much as I want to purchase the item, coz for me it comes hand in hand. What about you? Does service affect what you buy? I’d love to know if it’s all just me.

Girl Next Door xx

The Spirit of Breast Cancer

October, National Breast Cancer month. Pink hair dryers, pink straightening irons, pink chocolate, pink biscuits, pink clothes, pink shoes and now... just when you thought they couldn't possibly make ANYTHING else pink, we bring you.. the pink airplane. Well I did search high and low for a pic for you but unfortunately was unsuccessful. Just so you know there is one out there, so when you see a pink object flying over you on the weekend, that's what it is...just flying domestically.

I have to say I am loving the spirit of us Aussies, getting behind every aspect of the breast cancer campaign. Only thing that kind of annoys me is that there are ALOT more cancers out there, apart from breast cancer. We're not as well educated about them as breast cancer which is a bit sad. While breast cancer affects alot of Australian and worldwide families and is responsible for 2,600 deaths every year (in Oz) there are also alot of other cancers that are responsible for affecting our loved ones. For example, bone cancer, prostate cancer, skin cancer, throat cancer, lung cancer, etc. I'm not going to go into every single one right now but I think we must also spare a thought for those who are suffering any kind of cancer at all.

In the spirit of breast cancer month (October) which is now, why not invite your girlie pals over for a Pink Party and raise some much needed funds for a much needed cause. You can head down to your local Michel's Patisserie and purchase as many pink frosted cupcakes as you like, (and let me tell you they are yummy) coz I may have tried one or three - haha! They also have the cutest frosted pink ribbon on them (which is also extra tasty!)! Then you can head down to your local bottle-O and grab a couple of bottles of Pink champagne. When your down there (and while you're in the pink mood) why not pick up a new Bopo card (the new VISA for kids who want to have a credit card without having to mortgage your myspace profile for one), they come in pink too (pictured) head to for more details.


Please note: I do not work in advertising....just the creative department for advertising.

Enjoy the sunshine this weekend!

Girl Next Door xx

Big Day Out 2008 it's on its way

You know what my fave time of year is? Even more so than Christmas? Big Day out!!!!

Those of your who don't know me, BDO is something I start counting down the days from about now. Months of prep go into my outfit, how I'm getting there, who I'm going with. It's all quite an event for me and those around me. Just ask my boyfriend who has to deal with me jumping up and down during the last 2 weeks of counting down each morning when I get up.



Tickets go on sale October 10th, but if you're planning on getting some if you're not online by 9.30am I'd kiss your tickets goodbye as these days concerts and festivals sell out in a matter of minutes! It's actually quite ridiculous! Last year I didn't get a ticket to BDO. But you know where there's a will, there's a way and I ended up getting 2; one for my boy and one for me!

Wanna know the line up for this year? Rage Against The Machine (I'm not exactly sure who they are but my boyfriend assures me they're the best thing since Cold Chisel), Bjork will also be making her first appearance since 1994, one of the original brat packers, Grinspoon is back as hot as ever, Phil fresh out of rehab and looking pretty damn good. Then there's your standard Hilltop Hoods, Paul Kelly, Sarah Blasko, Faker, Midnight Juggernauts and Something With Numbers. More acts to come so watch this space! Are you keen yet? I am!! I so hope I get a ticket!!!

Peace out,

Girl Next Door xx

P.S Big Day Out is MA15+ only