Box of Tricks

Inspiration from Aneets.

2010-08-25T21:12:00.001+10:00

So, last weekend I actually met someone that reads my blog.
I won't go into how I met the lovely Aneets because quite frankly, it's a long story and a little bit unbelievable.
I will say though that it was an absolute pleasure to meet her and she said some nice things about 'Box of Tricks' - which was great too.

This is Carla Bruni (the song is called ' L'Amoureuse)
- first lady of France, super-model, ex of Mick Jagger.
She is also a great singer. I have had 2 of her albums on my Ipod for a while and I'm a bit of a fan. She sings perfect Sunday afternoon music. Perfect relaxing/pottering around music.

So, in a kind of Richard Mercer, Love Song Dedication way - this is for Aneets.

Thank you. xo

Guess who's back?

2010-08-10T19:25:00.002+10:00

Hi there,

I'm not sure if there is anyone actually out there anymore - and if not - that's fair enough. It's been ages.

J is nearly seven months old now and it seems like an eternity ago that I was talking to you about being pregnant and waiting for his arrival into the world.

As you would imagine, alot has happened since I last spoke to you. I will fill you in over the next few weeks. I kind of forgot about being here and how much I liked it.

I hope everything in your world is great!! My world currently consists of household chores, ABC 702 on the radio, trying to teach myself to cook, and also quite alot of learning how to be a mother.

On the whole, things are good.

xx

Song of the Week.

2010-06-07T17:36:00.004+10:00

Clap your hands - Sia

Love the song.
Love the video.
Love Sia.
Hope you do too.

This is from her new album 'We are Born' - out later this month. Can't wait! xx

Glee night!

2010-05-27T19:05:00.003+10:00

Hi all,

I've had a hard day at the office (aka home). J is going through a bit of an unsettled phase at the moment. He knows what he'd like to be doing but he's not sure how to make it happen. So he's a bit frustrated. And...I'm a bit tired.

Anyhoo, I'm eating Smiths Salt and Vinegar Chips and having a glass of wine and looking forward to watching 'Glee'. Sd is on baby duty - which he is happy to do because it's been a few days since they've been able to hang out together.
I only started watching this show 2 weeks ago when they had the Madonna special - and I love love love it.
It is exactly the right kind of escapism I need right now. I've never really appreciated escapism before. Now, I get it. I love my life, but I get it.
If you haven't watched it yet, give it one only episode. You'll be either enraptured or looking for the remote.
I was on the enraptured team in the first minute.

xx

Refresh.

2010-05-24T14:26:00.005+10:00

I've decided to hit the Refresh button on my life.

I have survived the first four months of motherhood and I'm ready to 'get on with it'. I feel like my life is a bit stagnant. Time to change things up a bit.

There is so much I want to do. Here is my list so far;

1) exercise daily - like I used to.
2) work one or two days a week
3) learn to use the sewing machine I got for Christmas
4) do a post here per day
5) learn how to use our coffee machine ( you know, in case of caffeine emergencies! I took one look at it when we got it and decided that coffee making was Sd's job.)
6) sort out our family budget
7) organise our holiday for the end of this year. 2 weeks at the beach - can't wait!
8) read regularly - I've done well in the last week or so because I started reading Oprah's unauthorised biography by Kitty Kelly and it's fascinating.
9) go and see someone about my anxiety. I really thought that I had gotten on top of it. But no.
The last thing J needs is an overly anxious mother.
10) decide what I want to do next - another baby? think about planning to open the store I've had in the back of my mind? something else?

There are about a million more things floating around in my head but I wont get carried away. I think these are more than enough for now!

Ps. Happy 4 months J - you're the best baby ever. xxxxxxxxxxxooooooooooo

xx

Tiny Dancer.

2010-05-17T19:32:00.005+10:00

How amazing is this little boy? What a gift he has!

His name is Luke Spring and he is seven. Bless!

I want to do 'over the tops' and wear orange tap shoes too.

Enjoy!

xx

Things I like on Saturday (on Sunday).

2010-05-16T20:18:00.010+10:00

This week I have spent the whole week 'on the road'. Sd went to Armidale, Tamworth and Narrabri for work so J and I went too. It was fun, but hard work, but fun. A three month old in a car or a hotel room for an extended period of time works for no one. Let me tell you!
I'm running a day late with this post because I have been wading around in all our dirty washing.Nice.
I haven't really been able to discover many new things this week...but I have managed to find a few;

* The Circle.

I love the women on this show. I watched this every day last week and I often watch it at home when I am feeding J. The hosts of this show - Chrissie Swan, Yumi Stynes, Denise Drysdale and Gorgi Coghlan - are all very natural, real and funny. That's what I want to see on daytime TV or any TV for that matter. It's not rocket science and it has infomercials galore but these people are authentic and it's a breath of fresh TV air. It's on Channel 10, 10 - 12 each morning.

* Addison Road/Marrickville Growers markets.

We went to these markets today for the second weekend in a row. You can get all kinds of organic fruit and vege, eggs, cheese, meat here. It's all really inexpensive and a relaxed environment to shop in - which is important on a sunny Sunday morning. We even saw Gary Meighan from Masterchef here today!
There are all kinds of beautiful muffins, rolls, malaysian and vietnamese food and great coffee ( the coffee stand as you walk in NOT the coffee stand in the middle of the markets). If you menu plan - as we have just started to - it is worth a try. So much cheaper than normal stores!
There are also stalls with clothes, furniture, and other bits and pieces for you to explore too.

* Silly Billyz bibs

This one is for all the mummies out there who go through 5 gazillion bibs per day. Silly Billyz. They have a layer of plastic on the back which means it takes a lot longer for moisture to soak through onto clothes. Saved my life and sanity this week.
Best.Bibs.Ever.

xx

Bloggers Without Makeup.

2010-05-16T13:48:00.005+10:00

These photos are of me at 10pm on a Saturday night - just after I have washed my face and am off to bed. This is what I look like at the moment without makeup.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank whoever it was who invented concealer. I love you. Thanks to you I look normal most days...

Having said that, this is me.

Mother of a 14 week old baby , amongst many other things...

Quite frankly, whatever I look like is fine by me.

The 'Bloggers Without Makeup' is the idea of Jodie from Mummy Mayhem. There are heaps of other lovely bloggers doing this so go and check them out here!

xx

Things I like on Saturday.

2010-05-08T08:01:00.001+10:00

Hi!

This is one of the posts I thought of doing while feeding in the middle of the night! What a multi-tasker I can be when I try!:)

Each Saturday, I will give you a little list of things I like at the moment.
I love reading other people's posts like this - because it gives me bright ideas and also introduces me to things that I otherwise may not have discovered...so if you have anything you like on Saturday, don't forget to let me know!

* Luxe Expresso ( Missenden Rd, Newtown)
This is a relatively new bakery/cafe in Newtown. We have eaten there a few times and it was nice but I am a fan of the bakery part myself. Their bread is superb - and so are their cakes and pastries. My favourite so far is the Crimson Grape bread which was a foccacia style loaf with grapes baked inside and on top of the loaf! So moist and delicious! And don't miss the Wagyu beef sandwich. OMG, it's good.

Their coffee is great too and the people there are lovely. It has a similar seating arrangement to 'Bills' in Surry Hills and Darlinghurst - with large tables to share with other people. There are tables for smaller parties too though.
I do like to share generally speaking ,but not so much my table in a cafe - so I like the option of your own table too!!

* Ebay
As you may have read elsewhere on this blog, I hadn't ever even looked at Ebay before I became pregnant with J. I decided one day to have a look when I realised that organising to buy baby stuff was very similar to organising a wedding! Everything seemed very overpriced so I decided to try Ebay to see what I could find.
Well folks, I was a changed woman after that day. I bought furniture for J's room, maternity clothes, maternity formal wear, and various baby bits and pieces (not all at the same time though!).
Everything except the furniture was new too!
This weekend will be exciting as I am actually going to try to MAKE money on Ebay. I cleaned out my wardrobe and I'm hoping that the proceeds from the sales will pay for a few baby-free nights out in the coming months!

*Moss

I like moss. That's a strange thing to say I know but I've seen a few gardens online and in magazines lately that have incorporated moss into their design. My favourite would be a tiny apartment in NYC that features a terrarium - complete with my gorgeous moss.
I haven't written about it here much but I am a bit of a gardener. I'm not a good one, but I love to try to be a good one. I think a garden ,no matter how small, is an essential part of a home. It's life-affirming to have beautiful greenery around you all the time and it's lovely to watch things grow and change with the seasons.
And of course, if everything dies because you forget to look after your garden, all you need to do is pop down to Flower Power and start again. Easy!

*Max
This is an online store I love for basics.
It is reasonably priced , good quality AND they have great sales.
Thought you might like to have a look.

*Seed femme
Another great place to shop for basics. I especially love their shoes.

*Mt Franklin sparkling mineral water.
I am a huge sparkling mineral water fan. I don't have a favourite brand ,however, I do like the Mount Franklin water because as the ad says - it's lightly sparkling. Which is nice - because sometimes you just don't want those big bubbles.

Wow, I sound like I need to get out more. And that's probably true, but mark my words, lightly sparkling? Thumbs up from me!

Hope you are having a lovely Saturday!

xx

My handy hint of the week.

2010-04-30T18:11:00.005+10:00

Hi there,

I read somewhere that Shannon Lush (cleaning lady extraordinaire)recommends putting a tennis ball and a dry tea-towel in the dryer with your wet washing to cut your drying time in half.

I tried it today and it works wonderfully! Just like Shannon said!

That is all.

Have a great weekend!

xx

Five Year Plan.

2010-04-30T08:32:00.003+10:00

Actually, I don't have one.
I'm not a planner.
Well, I'm not a long term planner.
I am a highly organised short term planner - but for the big picture?
I've got nothing.

I've always been this way. I hate the idea of my life being all mapped out. The element of surprise is very important to me...especially as I'm getting to be quite the old lady now and I do have responsibilities that mean I won't be popping off for an impromptu overseas trip or spending all my money on big trashy nights out. Been there, done that.
So, what's next?
That's what I've been thinking about this week.
Sd and I are relatively laid-back people. He moreso than I , but we are both 'go with the flow' type people. And we've gone with the flow and here we are! Sd is about to start studying at Uni again ( for the next 5 years) and I hope that I am looking after and having babies for a while yet ; so I think we've come to realise that it's time to make some plans for the future. Even if it goes against how we've liked to live so far...

Our life is just fine but I'm starting to see the necessity and value of having a concrete plan and a definite direction and putting our energies into getting there.

Now, we've just got to make that happen.

Do you have a five year plan?
How did you come up with it?
Any words of wisdom for me?

xx

It's back.

2010-04-24T08:42:00.006+10:00

As you may know if you have read this blog for a while, I have had major problems with anxiety in the past. In March 2008, I started going to see a (phenomenal & inspirational) acupuncturist because I wanted to do something to support my body and general health. I'd had two miscarriages and I was an overwraught, skinny, brittle person trying to keep it all together and get on with my life.
It wasn't working.
Jan - my acupuncturist/hero - told me in no uncertain terms that she felt that my anxiety was essentially crippling my body. I saw the anxiety and the miscarriages as two separate problems and after a few months of weekly treatments - the toll the anxiety had been having on me physically finally became obvious to me.
I achieved a kind of calm and comfort in my skin that I hadn't felt for a long long time. I realised that I had been internalising virtually all of my negative emotions and fear for quite a while and forcing myself to 'toughen up' whenever these feeling arose. So they just built up and festered away inside.
For me, acupuncture has been literally life-changing and I plan to have regular treatments forever! It might not be for everyone, but it works for me.
And no, the needles don't hurt!

Anyhow, my anxiety even through IVF and pregnancy was at best - almost non-existent and at worst - easy for me to manage, and since J was born I have been virtually anxiety-free.
Great story isn't it?
Except that the anxiety is back. With a vengence.

Last night I had nightmares, couldn't sleep, woke up about 100 times, diagnosed myself with 3 ( yes 3!) different types of cancer, and this morning I am walking around with horrible feelings of dread and fear. I just went for a walk and that has helped a bit and I decided that it's probably best to write all this down and try to get it out of my system.

My anxiety is triggered by a fear of having some kind of serious illness that will impact on my family. I have been in the situation of being investigated for a serious illness in the past and after that situation was resolved - my anxiety began.
This time, I suspect it has been triggered by the article in last Sunday's paper about multi-vitamins impacting on breast cancer. But really, anything in that vein can do it.
Then it slowly grows till it comes on like a tidal wave.Or a tsunami.

That's the most annoying thing about it, you can understand it, recognise the triggers, acknowledge the irrationality of your thoughts, but still the anxiety is relentless.

I have an acupuncture appointment on Tuesday morning, so I guess I will just hang in there and try my best to be positive and calm till then.
Hopefully, that appointment will help me to stop climbing the walls!

Thanks for listening.

Have a lovely weekend!

xx

Starry starry night.

2010-04-16T20:36:00.006+10:00

I am currently reporting to you live! from a serviced apartment in Canberra.
That may not sound as exciting as I would like it to but I am actually quite thrilled to be here because it means I can write two whole posts in one day! ONE DAY!
TWO POSTS!
I am in Canberra because Sd has been here for work for the last two days and J and I tagged along in order to make our (my) life a bit more exciting. This afternoon we went to the French Masters exhibition at the National Gallery. It was absolutely fantastic. It was fabulous to see those paintings 'in the flesh' - so to speak. There was a crowd around all the Van Gogh paintings and a quietness in the room where they were hanging.
Except for the wailing coming from our pram.
Lovely J did not care about any bloody French Masters!!
Our visit to see this exhibition was a bit pear shaped actually but I hope we get some points for trying. I breastfed amongst the tapestries of the Ancient Middle East, I tried (and failed) to effortlessly move my pram out of the way of the record crowds who had come to see the Masters, I got my pass out and went outside to sit on a step and breast feed AGAIN because J just wasn't satisified with the one earlier. Yep. It was NOT a bundle of laughs I can assure you. It was exhausting. But well worth it.
'The Starry Night over the Rhone' was my favourite.
It was magical.

We then went out for dinner. I was really reluctant to go because I thought J was on a bit of a roll with the crying and screaming in public places. I was loving the idea of takeaway and Friday night TV in a serviced apartment. I think that gives you an indication of how traumatised I was at this point - that I actually wanted to do that rather than go out for dinner!
We went - to a great Chinese restaurant called 'The Chairman and Yip' which I loved and I am proud and relieved to say that my son slept through the entire event and as I type,continues to do so.
What a fantastic child!

So that's what I'm up to. I'm drinking a glass of red wine and typing this. Bliss!

We are off home tomorrow morning and I'm going to the movies with my friend tomorrow afternoon. How exciting! On Sunday we are catching up with some friends and their kids for lunch. Should be fun!

What are you up to this weekend? Whatever it is - Enjoy!

xx

Something lovely.

2010-04-16T10:59:00.005+10:00

One day a few weeks ago, I was walking down King St with J. And I saw something lovely.

An older lady who I'm guessing who was in her seventies (and she was definitely a Lady) was walking along the street alone. She was impeccably dressed. She was wearing a powder blue skirt ( falling politely under the knee), a matching powder blue long-sleeved jacket, a white blouse with a Peter Pan collar, stockings, white mary-janes with a low heel, a white hand bag and not a hair out of place. She looked like she had arrived straight from a church service circa 1971.

I noticed her because she stood out quite alot on King St. You do see all kinds of interesting people and outfits here - but you don't see this kind of lady and outfit very often. I also noticed her because she was wearing white gloves. You know, like the Queen. It reminded me of when I was at high-school and we had to wear gloves outside school grounds in winter. We were told it showed our good grooming! I hated it.
Anyhow, I noticed her gloves and also noted the 30 degree temperature - and my fascination with her grew.

She also looked very uncomfortable and a little bit afraid - not because of her attire on a 30 degree day - but because the usual crazy contingent on King St was hovering and the traffic was very loud and I'm guessing she wasn't a Newtown regular. All that stuff.

As I walked past her, another woman in her thirties approached her , touched her gently on the arm and said 'Excuse me, I just wanted to tell you that you look beautiful. You don't really see people dressed as immpecably as you are anymore and I just wanted to tell you that. You really look wonderful.'

Well, my lovely old lady's face just lit up. She was touched , proud , flattered, reassured and comforted all at the same time. She thanked her admirer and then continued on up the street with a large smile on her face.

Such a lovely moment.

It made my day.

Happy Friday everyone!!

xx

Happy Easter !

2010-04-04T07:33:00.005+10:00

Hello!

Obviously my routine for J is still a work in progress, so there has been no advancement in the time I can spend posting here. But I will keep trying.

This time last year, Sd and I were spending a beautiful long weekend in Orange. We went to lots of seriously gorgeous restaurants, stayed in a fantastic B&B with no TV, internet access or mobile reception. It did ,however, have a spa in our room and a big balcony overlooking miles and miles of bushland. Not bad huh?
Sd played golf, I read and then in the evenings we ate and ate and ate. And drank. Did I mention Orange is quite the destination for wine-tasting?
We returned from that trip away more relaxed than we had been in a long time. It is amazing how having no technology in your life can lead to a whole new kind of relaxed. A better kind if you asked me!
That Easter weekend I started to take the meds for our first round of IVF. The first step is easy - you take the contraceptive pill to basically get your hormone levels to a balanced low level - from which to begin the injections. I spent quite alot of time alone that weekend ( due to Sd's golf) which I needed - to get my head and heart into the right place to start the treatment.
I went into IVF with zero expectations. I was hopeful (otherwise I wouldn't have done it I guess) and I was afraid. I tried to put all those things aside and just do what was required of me each day in the IVF process and keeping thinking about it to a minimum.

As you all know, that cycle was a success and now we have beautiful baby J.
So, this long weekend, if you are dealing with things in your life that are difficult and scary and even beyond your control - look at my little Easter bunny and know that sometimes, even though may logic tell you otherwise, great and amazing things will come to you.

Happy Easter lovelies!

xx

White wine anyone?

2010-03-24T19:39:00.003+11:00

Hi there!

It's been a while hasn't it!
I don't actually have time to type a post really but I miss my blog and you all - so I just wanted to send you my fond regards!

J is 7 weeks old now and everything is great. I feel like everything is going as well as it could be. This week I am trying to start a bit of a routine - which includes time to write here - so please don't hold your breath or anything - but maybe by the end of the week I might be back! So wish me luck!

I have had quite the long day today - hence my white wine reference.
Quite frankly, I would drink pretty much anything alcoholic at this point. Except maybe methylated spirits. Got to draw the line somewhere haven't we?

No, it's not that bad...but if someone brought me an icy glass of sauvignon blanc, I reckon I would give them a pretty great reception!

Hope everything is going well for you all - out there in the real world!

Hope to talk to you soon!

xx

Short and sweet.

2010-02-22T09:34:00.003+11:00

Hi!

Just catching up on a few personal administration matters ( as Sd calls them) and although I don't consider my blog to be in the personal administration category - I thought I would check in quickly to say Hello! and also to tell you that I am getting my life back on track slowly - so soon will be able to post regularly and read your blogs regularly again. Yippee!!

I am getting the hang of being a mummy - the sleep interuptions are less than ideal(!!) but surprisingly I never feel too bad the next morning. Although, I must stress that I have gone from being a woman who is partial to one coffee a day to some kind of caffeine desperado who starts to climb the walls if no coffee has been had by 10am. There is now a compulsary afternoon coffee as well as the obligatory morning one.
A round of applause for the coffee bean please!
I can assure you our coffee machine has never worked harder...

So, as the 3.30am feeds continue to kick my arse, I want to assure you that I am using that time wisely to think up all kinds of lovely posts that once I find the time - I promise I will write for you.

Have a wonderful Monday! ( I'm pretty sure it's Monday... :)

xx

My Valentine.

2010-02-14T12:06:00.007+11:00

Happy Valentines Day!

Well, as you would be aware by now, my wonderful husband Sd is my Valentine.

Before I met him, I was not a February 14 fan.
I thought it was tacky.
But now, I kind of like the over-the-top romance of Valentines Day.
It's so bad that it's good - if you know what I mean!

Tonight we are having a romantic dinner at home.
We are having some beautiful French champagne, oysters and then an asian inspired salad that is our favourite at the moment - featuring unhealthy but very satisfying amounts of pork belly.
For dessert, we are having a summer pudding with creme anglaise.
Sd is preparing everything - I am supplying the candles and also I may get out of my track suit pants as a special treat!!

So - I'm excited!!

I might take some photos to show you if I am super-organised this evening!
Super-organised is not something that comes so easily to me at the moment - but you never know!!

I hope you all have a wonderful day and maybe even a bit of love and romance too!!

Ps. I love you Sd! xxooxxoo

xx

Good bye Alexander McQueen.

2010-02-12T06:52:00.013+11:00

A very sad start to the day today, when I woke up to hear that Alexander McQueen had been found dead in his London home.

He was an extremely gifted designer and a fantastically creative person.
His runway shows always looked like something from another planet and always seemed to have a bit of an ' Alice in Wonderland' quality about them ; lots of intricate detail , lots of colour , lots of interesting shapes , lines , and structure.
Most importantly, his shows ALWAYS featured the completely unexpected.

Probably not the most wearable designer but certainly one of the most inspiring and truly brilliant.

The world has lost a special person.

xx

Baby of the week.

2010-02-09T16:57:00.007+11:00

Hi there!

Thank you for the comments you left after I did the last post.
I honestly couldn't wait to tell you our news!

I'm not going to post about J very much because I want to keep this blog how it is - and that's not a blow by blow description of how wonderful my son is!!:)

He is indeed wonderful and also marvellous and superb, but I don't want to bang on about that here.

I will have a J blog - for the grand parents and other J fans and I'll let you know what it is at some stage.
Of course , I will still talk about J here but it won't be a running commentary of his life or anything! Having said that, because I haven't done a flowers or song of the week for a while, I thought I would get one gratuitous proud mother video in.

Here is the first and last 'Baby of the Week'! on Box of Tricks.
I think 'Baby of the Week' will be a regular feature on J's blog though...

Here's J - having a chat with his dad.

Hope you like it!

xx

It's a boy!

2010-02-04T17:48:00.006+11:00

He looks enormous!

Two of the happiest people you ever will see!

This photo was taken today - and I think it's hilarious! He looks very, well...intense.

Hi everyone,

This will be a very short post but I just wanted to let you all know that Sd and I are the very proud parents of a 3.94kg baby boy!
How exciting!
His name is Jay and his middle name is Orion (after the constellation).
I'll explain how we came up with the name later on.

He is a great feeder and sleeper (for the three days we've known him anyway!)and we are completely and utterly in love with him!

I'll post again after the weekend when I am back in the land of the living and out of hospital.

Thank you again to you all for all your lovely comments and the support you've given me. It's been absolutely wonderful!

Have a great weekend lovelies!

xx

Up E-A-R-L-Y.

2010-02-02T05:33:00.004+11:00

So it's 5.30am and I am off to the hospital now.

Just wanted to thank you all very much for your messages.

As you can guess - they made me cry.
I could cry for Australia in the Olympics I reckon!
I'm a gold medal crier!

Also, thank you for all your support all the way through this saga!!
It has helped me more than you'll ever know.

I'm feeling quite calm and I have all my anaesthetic patches on in preparation for the big needles I'm going to have! Yuk!

So without any further ado, I'm off to give birth!

Have a wonderful day everyone!

I think the 2/2/10 will be a very auspicious day.

I hope something magnificent happens to you too!

xx

Shopping in slippers.

2010-02-01T12:10:00.006+11:00

I just went super-market shopping in my slippers.

Yes I did.

I didn't forget I had them on or anything like that.
I did it intentionally. They are lovely and comfortable.

If you knew me, you would know that I WOULD NEVER NORMALLY GO SHOPPING IN SLIPPERS! EVER!

A sign of things to come?

Oh please NO!

Let's just hope it was a one-off and it won't happen again!

They were very comfortable though.

xx

I'm having a baby tomorrow.

2010-02-01T08:26:00.008+11:00

That's a nice post title isn't it!!!:)

As I mentioned a few months back, I am having a caesarean. And that will happen tomorrow.

I guess I am as ready as a first time mother can be - ie: not ready in any way , shape or form - but that's to be expected I suppose.

I'm ready to have no idea what I am doing.

Theoretically, I actually know quite alot about babies. I have been advising mothers about baby-related things for years now through my work. That seemed to go ok! However, it's funny how now I suddenly can't remember any of that stuff anymore!?
Hopefully, when I get home from hospital - slowly but surely it will come back to me.
That would be very helpful wouldn't it?!

So, the rest of today will be spent doing some last minute jobs and then alot of couch sitting.

So I'll talk to you later I expect!

Have a wonderful Monday lovelies!

xx

I won something.

2010-01-31T18:13:00.007+11:00

The lovely Kellyansapansa tagged me with this award and it was a very nice surprise indeed.

I need to list 7 interesting things about myself.

Not sure how interesting these things will be - but I'll give it my best shot :)

1) I am becoming much more creative as I get older. I'm also becoming happier and happier as I get older - so there could be some connection there...

2) I will be having botox (or something of that ilk)as a 40th birthday present to myself.
I never would have thought that I would do anything like that - but nothing like having your 36th birthday to get you REALLY thinking about stuff like that!
I might add that Sd is four years younger than me - and uses eye cream!
That may have contributed to my decision.

3) My birthday and my sister's birthday are one day apart. I am two years older than her.

4) I have zero idea about football (soccer) but I LOVE to get up in the middle of the night for a couple of weeks every 4 years to watch the World Cup.
Can't explain why - but I absolutely love it!!

5) I have a fully fledged love/hate relationship with working anywhere near customer service.
Can't live with the general public, can't live without them.

6) I did 4 years of my Naturopathy diploma ( it took 6 years back in the day) and although loved every minute of it - stopped at the end of the fourth year.
I realised though that I would always struggle to make a living and that the world ( at least the Australian 'world') was about to be flooded with Naturopaths. I took my career in a different direction and have never regretted it.

7) I used to believe in Astrology. I no longer do.

I tag these beautiful bloggers;

Anything Fits a Naked Man

Pink Patent Mary Janes

LolaConstanceEvelyn

Fleur Delice

The Truth about Mummy

A Day in the Life

Living my Life,whatever

They are all very different from one another but are all beautiful!!

xx

Song of the Week.

2010-01-29T15:25:00.007+11:00

Stand by Me - Leicester School Boys Choir

A while ago , I happened to see a documentary on the ABC I think or maybe SBS - about a choir master - Gareth Malone, who went into an English boys school in Leicester for a term and started a choir.
Success at this particular school was predominantly measured by how good you were at sport, as it is in many boys schools. The arts and (particularly music) were not a priority here.
It was also a school where there were some boys with quite difficult backgrounds and tricky behavioural problems. These boys were encouraged to be in the choir - and caused Gareth a fair bit of grief along the way!

In the end , he did manage to form a choir and at the end of term they performed at the Royal Albert Hall! How exciting!

It was so wonderful to watch them perform and to see all their hard work pay off. It was just a group of boys with no singing or performance experience who gave something a go and triumphed!
So beautiful to watch!

You might need some tissues at the end. Or maybe that's just me...

Enjoy and have a lovely weekend!

xx

The best eyelashes of 2010 go to...

2010-01-29T13:40:00.005+11:00

In honour of the birth of the CUTEST baby born this week
( obviously the cutest baby born next week will no doubt be mine!) - I give you Manzi.

She was born at Mogo Zoo earlier this week and I think she is possibly the most adorable animal I have ever seen.

That is all.

xx

Love it or hate it?

2010-01-27T19:18:00.005+11:00

I'm not sure.

This is a dress from the Givenchy show at Paris Fashion Week.
I love love love this dress ( or should I call it a gown?) - from the waist up. It's divine.

Now, from the waist down - I'm torn. I love the colour and I love the graduation of the shades of colour. I'm not sure about the puffy bits at all.
I like the mix of textures but maybe not the sequins, the puffy bits, the different colours,the split in the front, the geometric waistband juxtaposed against the organic curvy puffy bits...all in the same garment.

It's all a bit much.

Or is it?

Torn, I tell you!

xx

Week 38.

2010-01-25T19:11:00.002+11:00

Hello!

Good Lord - it's Week 38!
Well lovelies , if I thought it was surreal last week, Week 37 has nothing on Week 38!!
I now have virtually no body parts that I recognise as my own - except my head - occasionally.
I have also suddenly realised that I am not going to be sleeping for a very very long time and that has filled me with fear!
On a more positive note, Sd is reading some baby books - which has impressed me immensely. It's also lucky because despite having done quite a bit of reading myself, I can barely remember anything I have read. As my friend said, reading baby books is like reading a book on how to sail a boat - without the boat or the water.
Couldn't agree more.
Hopefully, Sd has a better memory than me!

Anyway, not much more to report because as per usual, I have been sitting on the couch for the best part of the day.
I can't begin to imagine how large my bum must be.
Oh well, hopefully anyone horrified by the size of my arse will be distracted by either the size of my stomach or the delightful heat rash working it's way down my body!

Beautiful! That's me!

xx

Magazines and me.

2010-01-21T15:22:00.008+11:00

I'm not a huge magazine lover. I suspect my impaired Gemini attention span has something to do with this. I'm the kind of person who goes shopping and is so overwhelmed by the amount of things to look at, the bright colours etc that I often forget why I have come to the shops , what I need and what already have at home. That's why I have 6 striped singlets. I am honestly shocked each time I come home with another one that there are any already in my wardrobe.

I expect that for similar reasons, I don't like to read magazines much. They overwhelm me. When I finish reading them I can't remember anything I've read about or seen and I feel a bit dizzy!!

As a result, I only read four magazines regularly; Vanity Fair, Notebook, Frankie and Real Living.
My brain seems to cope with these publications quite well!!

There are many many others I like but I don't buy them because I can't bring myself to. I think I have reached a certain age where I can tolerate very minimal amounts of 'celebrity' anything. I have an aversion to trying to emulate the 'style' of a particular famous person. Don't mind if someone else does it...it's just not for me.

Don't get me wrong, I have particular people that impress me when it comes to their fashion choices or how they decorate their home. You can read about that here.
However, I don't want to be like them or have a smaller bum than them , I just think they do what they do well.

I want to do a really good job of being me, dressing like me and decorating like me!
The afor mentioned magazines help me to do that and that's why I like them!

Which magazines inspire you?

xx

Week 37.

2010-01-20T10:21:00.005+11:00

How time flies!

Just went to the Ob and all was ok. Which is lovely.
I think that he thinks Sd and I are slightly strange because we do not appear particularly excited about the impending birth of our child. We're kind of not. I think we are slowly going into some kind of shock. Especially when our doctor says things like 'less than 2 weeks to go!' and we just smile and say 'Yes'.
Not really the reaction to that statement you'd look for in expectant parents!
Underwhelmed anyone?!

Like I keep saying, it is becoming more and more surreal each day that soon we will have a baby.

There is definitely a part of me that will not allow myself to contemplate our future because of what has come before.
When this baby is out of me and in the world then I will feel more able to comprehend what has happened.

Strange but true.

I am sounding more and more deranged as this post continues, so I might leave it at that for now - I think you get the picture!

Hope you are having a lovely week!
And thank you so much for your comments on my last couple of posts.
They were very very kind.

xx

Hip Hip Hooray for 100 posts!

2010-01-18T16:56:00.003+11:00

I couldn't just do the venting post today.

For those who could bring themselves to read the angry angry post I wrote earlier today, I am calming down now and I just want to clarify that of course I am so happy that my mum is well and that I do appreciate that she has been through a terrible time - alone. As per her choice.
I am just shocked and very disappointed that someone who has taught me and guided me as to 'how to be', used information she had hidden from me as a verbal 'slap in the face'.

Just wanted to make that clear. I do love my mum alot!

Anyway, moving on...

This is my 100th post. Not really the festive one I had hoped for but I guess sometimes things don't go exactly how you'd like them to - and that's life isn't it?

Here's to the next 100 posts and minimal amounts of venting!!

xx

Vent vent vent.

2010-01-18T10:18:00.007+11:00

You know how something can completely take the wind out of your sails? Well, that just happened to me. And this post will be me venting so feel free move on over to the next blog if me venting is not something you feel like reading on a Monday morning!! ( can't imagine why you wouldn't!)

Without going into the gory details, I just rang my mother and in my view she said some things that, to say the least, were extremely childish and hurtful and wrong.
Essentially, she told me that she 'didn't feel like' doing something and then when I asked why she told me that she wasn't well. I said to her that that was news to me and then she told me that recently she had been investigated for an extremely serious illness and has found out she does not have it.
In order to defend herself.
She also said that she didn't want to tell me about it because she didn't want to ruin the birth of my child!?
Because it would be so much better to reveal that she had a life-threatening illness AFTER I had a baby!!!!!
Sooooo much better - obviously.

Although , she felt it fine to suddenly reveal it all in a phone conversation a couple of weeks before the birth of this baby in order to bite back at me when I asked why she 'didn't feel like' doing something. Fantastic decision.

I guess it is her business what she decides to share with other family members however I am devastated that she would choose to keep this from me and my sister and moreso that she saw fit to reveal it in such a way - using it as ammunition in an argument.

I'm furious. Can you tell?

I would like to add that she is surprised that I am angry ( because everything is fine and she does not have a terminal illness). So what's the problem?

Oh, and also that when I got married 2 years ago, my (chronically ill) father had shingles and was extremely ill on the day. I was so stressed that day because I could clearly see that my dad was a million times sicker than usual and everyone kept telling me he was fine. After the event, his condition was revealed to me and I made it very clear that that kind of 'protecting' of me was to never happen again.I thought we were clear on that.
Apparently not.

Off to set something on fire now. See you later!

xx

Song of the Week.

2010-01-15T16:00:00.004+11:00

Miss Li - Dancing the whole way home

I found this song on the Perez Hilton website.
I just want to admit that straight up.
Please don't let that dissuade you from listening to the lovely Miss Li - she's great! She is Swedish and this particular performance of the song 'Dancing the whole way home' is live. I always prefer live performances. Much more interesting and exciting.

As I said, forget about Perez and enjoy this song!
I guarantee it will make you feel happy!

Have a wonderful weekend.

xx

Week 36.

2010-01-15T08:50:00.005+11:00

Well, as you can imagine, moving around and doing things is not my forte at the moment.

That would explain my frequent posting here, although I also am trying to get a few extra ones in before the baby comes.
Not sure there will be many posts in February...I will try though.

Due to my general lack of activity, I don't have much to report because I haven't done anything or been anywhere really.
I've said this before but I am constantly amazed by the amount of time that I can spend doing absolutely nothing!
One thing I have managed to do is get the baby's room sorted. I will take some photos today hopefully so you can see what I've done.

It's strange, even though the birth is drawing closer, the idea that we are going to have a baby we started trying to have in April 2007(!) is becoming more and more surreal! It is wholly unbelievable that after everything that has happened between then and now - that Sd, the baby and I are at Week 36.
It's amazing.

Guess I need to spend some time sorting THAT out in my head asap!
Poor child!

I'm going to do a post for each of the remaining weeks. Hope I don't bore you too much!

xx

Just lovely.

2010-01-15T08:23:00.004+11:00

Morning!

The other day I told you about a website that I love to visit
( and not buy anything from!)
I showed you some of their furniture and homewares but primarily they are a gorgeous fashion website.

Well, this morning I see on Jezabel that they have a new 2010 catalogue and it's stunning!

To take a look, click on the Jezabel link and you should find it easily. Look in the top left corner of the home page.

Enjoy!

xx

Something funny and yet scary at the same time.

2010-01-14T17:07:00.008+11:00

We watch 'The Jon Stewart Show' on the Comedy Channel most nights.
It's an American show featuring political satire.

The show is very funny and at times it can also be inspiring.
He has some very eloquent guests and although he does aim to make his audience laugh, Jon Stewart manages to inform as well.
Each night at the end of the show he has a 'Moment of Zen'. This usually involves a Republican or a die-hard Republican masquerading as a free-thinking journalist on Fox saying something ridiculous.
Last week, the 'Moment of Zen' was a bit different. Stewart played a part of an interview he did with Calvin Trillin in 2006. In the interview, Trillin is referring to Richard Reed - the man who tried to blow up a plane by putting explosives in his shoes. As you do.

This interview obviously took place a long long time before a Nigerian man attempted to blow up an aircraft over Detroit on December 25, 2009. By igniting explosives in his underwear.

Spooky.

xx

Look what I found!

2010-01-14T14:04:00.003+11:00

I love Frankie magazine. It has just the right measure of quirkiness and originality for yours truly.

I just saw on Facebook that they have have quite a few new wallpapers that are available to download - and they're lovely!

Here is the link - http://www.frankie.com.au/wallpapers

Maybe you'll find one you like!

The one above is my favourite.

xx

I miss Sparsley Kate.

2010-01-14T11:02:00.003+11:00

I miss Sparsley Kate.

I assume that some of you also followed her blog, but, if you are unfamiliar with the heart-felt, often hilarious and all-round superb writing of the one and only SK then I all I can say is that she was an awesome blogger and writer and hopefully one day you will get to sample some of the fabulousness of Sparsley Kate yourself.

Her blog disappeared towards the end of last year, then it was back and I was overjoyed! But now she's gone again.

One of the reasons I loved her blog so much was that she was completely honest with her reader and herself - which is difficult to do at the best of times - but when you are going through difficult times - it can be too too much.

I respect her wishes to have time to herself and also to maintain her privacy. I just miss her.

So, if you're out there Mel/Sparsley Kate - a big Hello from me.
Happy 2010 and hope to hear from you soon in whatever form that takes.

xxoo

Weird way to start the day.

2010-01-14T07:46:00.007+11:00

Disclaimer: I am a long time ( and I mean long) Dannii Minogue fan. I used to watch her every Saturday night on Young Talent Time and taped the episode so I could watch it again during the week. Just to make sure I didn't miss any Dannii details. I wanted to look like her, sing(!) like her, dance like her, do everything like her really.
Since she left YTT, about 500 years ago, I have not followed her career at all however I remain totally devoted to Dannii! Well, not devoted, but let's just say old habits die hard!

This morning I turned on the TV and apparently Dannii Minogue ( my life long friend!;) is pregnant. Usually when I hear this kind of celebrity information I generally have no reaction. However, this is Dannii we are talking about here and I have found myself feeling so happy for her and slightly in shock that this is the case!! And that now I am posting about it!

Anything for Dannii though.

So congrats to her and her partner Kris!! ( now I'm acting like he is my life-long friend too! Hilarious!)

Great news!

and now on with my day....

xx

People wearing sunglasses.

2010-01-13T14:57:00.004+11:00

In November we headed down to Melbourne for a wedding and at the beginning of the weekend we caught up with our lovely friend Dave. He is a photo-journalist and he literally has a camera with him at all times. We spent a lovely afternoon at the Belgian Beer Cafe on St Kilda Rd catching up and hearing about his plans for his next trip to far flung places...

He emailed us this photo recently - taken that afternoon - entitled 'People wearing sunglasses'.

The people are actually Sd and I. I really like this photo because it is simply a moment in time. Nothing more, nothing less. We really don't take enough photos and I'm really hoping that when the baby comes we get our act together and make photography a bit more of a regular occurrence.
Or we will just have to organise to see alot more of Dave!

xx

Lusting after homewares... and a fox.

2010-01-13T13:27:00.020+11:00

I have a website that I regularly drool over.
I discovered it a few years ago when I was working for an Australian designer who exported her clothes to the US and this site was one of her stockists.
You can buy clothes,accessories,furnishings,jewellery...lots of different things there. And it's all beautiful!
Ordinarily, this would be a very dangerous activity - the drooling - because it can lead to buying. However, this site - www.anthropologie.com does not ship to Australia. So it's actually an inexpensive and harmless pleasure and I thought I would show you some of the things I saw today that inspired me.

Grandiflora rug

This is Midsummer nights dream wallpaper. How divine is that? It's not very easy to see but it is the dialogue between Puck and one of the fairies. Sigh.

Gazelle wall art (made from vintage book pages)

said fox

shabby chic mirrored drawers

numbered drawers

beautiful bed linen

Enjoy!!

xx

A spot of decorating.

2010-01-06T17:33:00.011+11:00

Hi lovelies!

I have been doing a bit of home decorating in the last week. I've been actually DOING the things I've planned to do for ages.

We've transformed our spare room into a usable space - as opposed to a giant cupboard to dump things in if you don't want to think about them - with a desk and a fold out couch for guests. It looks great and now is a lovely place to spend time.
I've wanted to have a wall where I could hang all the pictures that I have accumulated - all together and I finally hung them on Friday in our new study/spare room. They are above the couch/spare bed. And I think they look wonderful! I keep going in there to have a look at my wall...it turned out better than I imagined.

They are a bit small to see any detail in these photos but all the pictures have sentimental value to me. The three down the left hand side are collages I made for Sd a couple of years ago - they are a collection of bits and pieces I collected when we went on a holiday to Italy, France and then to New York. The one in the middle at the top used to hang in my Nan's lounge room (she passed away in 2008) and it's an English village scene. It's pretty generic but I love that it's now in my house I can see it every day. The picture down the bottom with the red shoes in it is a wedding photo - I wore some bright red Terry Biviano satin shoes and they and one red David Austin Rose in my bouquet of off-white David Austin roses and succulents, were the only 'colour' in my wedding. Everything else was off white, cream or silver. They were and still are my pride and joy - so it's nice to see them every day too!

The other thing I did was to finally re-cover our four dining room chairs. I bought the fabric about 6 months ago and again - just didn't get around to it.
There are two chairs in the green and white polka-dot and two in the paisley-floral.
I am really happy with the way they turned out too.

And now for the nursery....

xx

The Lovely Bones - My Review.

2010-01-06T06:46:00.005+11:00

Like many other people, 'The Lovely Bones' by Alice Sebold is one of my all-time favourite novels. I read it about 5 years ago and LOVED it. Recommended it to all and sundry and waited to hear if they all loved it too. And they did!

Yesterday, I saw this newly released film and I liked it alot.
If you have read the book and loved it too, I would give you the all clear to go and see it. You know how sometimes the film does not do justice to the book? Well, although I feel like no film version of this book would ever be 'as good' as the book - I think that this interpretation is about as good as it could get.
Peter Jackson was the perfect director. He managed to combine the awful realism of Susie Salmon's destiny and it's impact on those who loved her with her new experiences in 'the in-between' and then in Heaven.
Something that worked seamlessly in Alice Sebold's book and a reader's imagination but may not have translated very well into film. He did a great great job.

All the performances are good. Some are great. Stanley Tucci and Saoirse Ronan are particularly impressive.
This is off topic but I have to say, Susan Sarandon looks absolutely amazing for 63.
Amazing!!

I don't really have anything negative to say about this movie except that it isn't as fantastic as the book. But, I didn't think it could/would be.

If you haven't read the book, I think you would like the film - the friend I saw it with hadn't and she really enjoyed it.

One other thing I particularly liked about the film was that although the subject matter is particularly gruesome,Peter Jackson has managed to get across what happened to Susie Salmon without any graphic scenes or violence and for that I was eternally grateful!! So, if you hate any kind of blood or violence on screen like me, you will be just fine if you go to see this movie!

I would love to hear your thoughts on 'The Lovely Bones' if you've seen it or even if you've read the book...

xx

Song of the Week.

2010-01-03T16:40:00.004+11:00

Duck Sauce - Anyway : Armand Van Helden and A-trak.

This week's song is as much about the music video as it is about the song.
The dancing in this video is AMAZING and I want to learn how to do it!
Armand Van Helden is a very talented DJ , as is A-trak and together they have created something great!

I hope this brightens up a rainy Sunday afternoon for you!

xx

ps. if you can dance like that - let me know if you will teach me!!

My bargain bag!

2010-01-03T12:55:00.004+11:00

What a beauty!

I saw this bag a while ago, but at $595 - I could not justify buying it - no matter how I tried to talk myself into it.

So, my search for a new everyday handbag - that was big enough for random baby stuff when called for, continued. And continued...
I can't believe how many vinyl bags are out there priced at $150 or more!! And how few nice and vaguely affordable leather bags there are!

But today, while wandering past an Oroton store, I noticed that 'my bag' was on sale. Reduced from $595 to $295!! Now THAT I could justify!

So the Oroton Fortuna Hobo bag in black now lives at my house!!

Can't believe how excited I am about my bargain!! (and how many exclamation marks I have used in this post).

Hope you are having a lovely weekend.

xx

Not what you want to be doing on New Years Day.

2010-01-01T16:28:00.005+11:00

Our cats escaped today.
They are inside cats and never go outside, except to go to the vet.
We were doing a bit of IKEA furniture construction in the spare room and because it was so humid - we opened the window. And then forgot about it.

So, while I was having a bit of pregnant-lady time on the couch after finishing our jobs, and Sd was getting ready to go to the airport - Renold and Franko escaped.

Unfortunately, we didn't realise they were gone till Sd was waiting for a cab and then had to leave while pregnantladyinherpyjamasandbarefeet roamed up and down the street forlornly calling her cats.

I found Franko wedged up in the underneath of someones car - too scared to come out and Renold was nowhere to be seen. I couldn't reach Franko because due to my enormous size I couldn't get far enough under the car.

I called my sister and she came over straight away to help me (Bless her!) and when she arrived she was simultaneously amused and appalled to see me lying on my back in the gutter trying in vain to squeeze myself under a car.

Two hours of trying to coax Franko out ended happily ( for us-not so much for Franko) with my sister squirting her with the Clove Oil and water mixture I use to clean the shower and then finally dragging her by the face out from under the car. About 10 minutes before this, Renold had strolled past us !!?? and I grabbed him and threw him inside the house.

So, now I am filthy from lying on the road and covered in grease from under the car ( as is Franko) but I am so relieved that we were able to find them and that they are back INSIDE!!! The back streets of Newtown are not the place for these particular cats. They have no survival instincts and zero idea about road safety!!

So a big THANKYOU to my lovely sister and a big THANKS FOR NOTHING to Renold and Franko!!

xx

Week 34.

2009-12-31T06:51:00.007+11:00

So it's Week 34.
Actually, it is 3 days till Week 35.

Scary stuff.

I am very grateful that my nervous system has brought me
( and the baby ) this far and not imploded from the cumulative stress!!!!
For an anxious kind of girl, I am quite proud of myself so far. On the whole I have managed to keep myself quite calm for the last 8 months and that is something I wouldn't have thought I would be able to achieve so easily.
It's nice to find I can make myself calm when I really try.
Good to know!!;)

I am feeling pretty good and my only 'problem' is that the customer service at Babies Galore ( in my experience) has been ridiculously bad.
Oh, and that I am finding it virtually impossible to believe that in a few weeks I will have a baby. I think because I haven't allowed myself to think that far ahead, now that it's kind of important to think about that fact, I'm having a bit of trouble.
I seem to have trained my mind a little bit too well!!

I'll go and work on that and you all go and have a fantastic NYE and a wonderful 2010!!
Have a champagne for me at midnight 'cause I'll be on the waters!!

Lots of love from me to you all for a great new decade!

xx

Thank you , Grazia ! ;)

2009-12-29T15:49:00.004+11:00

I used to buy Grazia magazine when it first came out a couple of years ago, but I started to like it less and less because it was a bit too tabloidy for me.
I don't want to read anything about Lindsay Lohan's life. I'm more than happy to know where she got her shoes but that's ALL I want to know...so , I stopped buying it.

I bought it for the first time in ages at the airport the other day and in this week's edition there is a celebrity fashion retrospective covering the last decade. Like I said, normally not my thing, but I was very happy to see this feature because it reminded me of two fashion moments that I LOVED and totally forgot about.

1)Michelle Williams in glorious yellow Vera Wang at the Oscars. Perfection.

2)Lily Allen unveils hot pink hair at UK Glamour awards. So wrong that it's right.

Now, I know these moments may not be to everyone's taste but personally, I found each lady's use of colour quite the inspiration and I wanted to record them here for posterity!

Hope you like!

xx

Merry Christmas lovelies!

2009-12-20T17:33:00.004+11:00

I'm off to Melbourne for Christmas so I wanted to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a wonderful 2010!!!!!

Thanks for reading for the last few months and thank you even more for all of your comments.
Reading each one of them makes me so happy!

See you soon!

xxoo

Blossom Dearie - A very special song of the week.

2009-12-11T17:11:00.008+11:00

Everything I've got belongs to you - Blossom Dearie.

Oh, how I love this woman. And her jacket in this video.

I've been a fan since my jazz-loving dad introduced me to her music when I was a child.
She was a very talented, smart and funny lady.
She was a New Yorker through and through and musically she was, well, awesome.

Of her songs, this is probably my favourite. I wanted to feature it somehow at our wedding, but as you will hear, the lyrics are a bit too irreverent for that particular occasion!

We went with;
The Beatles - Got to get you into my life ( played at the end of the ceremony),
Ray Charles - Deed I do ( for our wedding dance),
Louis Armstrong - La Vie en Rose ( for the signing of the registry)
and Chet Baker - Somewhere over the Rainbow ( when I walked down the aisle).

Those songs are all about love and romance (and no irreverence!!)

Enjoy and have a wonderful weekend! xx

Flowers of the week.

2009-12-11T16:27:00.004+11:00

Christmas bush.
Feeling Christmassy yet?

I'm still on the hydrangea hunt. There will be one. Potted. In this house by the end of the weekend.

Stand by for photos lovelies!

xx

I would like to go to an island resort please.

2009-12-10T18:30:00.004+11:00

It's generally not my kind of holiday.

I tend to prefer the type of holiday where you know where you are going but have not planned what you will be doing exactly. Where you could really end up doing anything and meeting anyone. Where you don't have to be any particular place on any particular day. Where you can see where the road takes you...

Today, I would do pretty much anything to be told that I am off to a 5 star resort in Fiji or Vanuatu or Bali or anywhere they have islands. I'm not fussy.

I want to be on an island , away from everything and everyone, except Sd.
I would be happy to do the same thing every day and go to the same restaurant every day. See the same people every day.
I would be happy to stay there and not go to or see anywhere else except the island resort for a few weeks.
All of these things are normally factors I avoid like the plague when I plan a trip away. But not this time!

I'd like to go swimming and sit under a tree and read my book. And that's all thank you.
I would not be taking any calls from anyone ( especially from people who are calling to tell me how I must prepare my nipples for breast-feeding ) or checking my emails or anything like that.
Sounds lovely doesn't it?

I don't think that is going to happen unfortunately. But I'll just keep looking at the picture at the top of the post and pretend.

xx

Song of the Week.

2009-12-04T14:17:00.007+11:00

Sweet Disposition - The Temper Trap.

Ok, so I know I haven't done a 'Flowers of the Week' post for a while.
Here's why.
I want to buy a hydrangea in a pot , to have in the house, for the festive season. When I was little, we always had hydrangeas in the house at Christmas time, from the bushes we had out in the garden or from my grandma's house in Concord West.
Blue, purple, white and pink ones.
Hydrangeas and Christmas bush get me in the Christmas spirit probably more than the Christmas tree does! It's a lovely Australian Christmas tradition isn't it?

I have had this plan for a while now...but none of the ones I have seen to buy reach my lofty standards!
I seem to be looking for the perfect botanical specimen and nothing I've seen so far comes close to that. Yet.
Rest assured, when I find that pesky perfect potted hydrangea, you'll be notified immediately!

Hence, no 'Flowers of the Week' at this time.

In order to compensate for that a little bit, I've decided to give you a 'Song of the Week' instead.

I think this song is as beautiful as any flower and although it has been around for a while, lately I have fallen in love with it all over again.

I hope you like it.

xx

Something funny.

2009-12-02T16:47:00.003+11:00

I would love it if you would read this.

2009-12-01T16:16:00.005+11:00

I was just reading Mia Freedman's blog - Mamamia , which I am sure many of you follow.

She just posted about the horrific murders of Nick Waterlow and Chloe Waterlow and most importantly, how we all can practically help this family through this truly terrible terrible time.

Here is the link ;
http://mamamia.com.au/weblog/2009/12/the-saddest-post-i-have-ever-written.html

I didn't know Nick or Chloe personally. I went to Sydney University many years ago when she was first there and I was friends with some of her friends from high school. I probably met her a few times but she wasn't my friend.

I have been thinking about her husband, her children and her brothers constantly since this happened and have wished that there was something I could do to help.

Well it appears there is. Actually, something we could all do.

A trust has been set up for her children and on Mamamia there are the details of how it all works, where the money will go and how to help.

Essentially, in the short term, the money will allow Chloe's husband to be with his children and help them deal with this horrendous situation.

If you have time, I would really appreciate it if you could go to Mia's blog and read her post and if you feel at all inclined, help this family deal with a loss so enormous I can't begin to get my head around it.

Thanks for reading.

xx

30 weeks.

2009-11-30T10:32:00.004+11:00

What an auspicious day! So grateful to have made it this far.
These are a little bunch of hydrangeas to mark the occasion.

Don't have much else to say on the pregnancy front except that I now know that I will be having a Caesarean. In about 9 weeks time.
Can't say I have any strong feelings either way on that one, except that I strongly feel that HOW this baby comes into the world is not my highest priority. That he/she comes into the world healthy IS.
Any tips on Caesar recovery would be greatly appreciated!

So this week is all about finishing this bloody course. I'm still not finished but I am persevering and hope that this week will be the last week that I'm doing it. I know I set the date of 30/11 for it to be finished but I lost a week out of my proposed 2 week study timetable because I was exhausted. Long story, but it involved late nights and interstate travelling. And it left me in the foetal position in bed or on the couch for the best part of a week.

So as you can see, I have run out of excuses and now it's off with the internet and on with the most boring course in the history of the universe!

Happy Days!

I hope the certificate they give me when I finish is very big and is gold plated.

Have a great day lovelies!

xx

This is awkward and I'm exhausted.

2009-11-27T11:52:00.008+11:00

I can't sleep.

It's been a problem for a while and while it is improving - I have encountered a few setbacks with the constant need to wee during the night.
Got to love the third trimester.
Anyway, to help me go back to sleep, I listen to the radio in the middle of the night.
Music doesn't work, it has to be talking. So I listen to random talk back radio. It is fascinating and quite confronting. Somehow, despite being fascinated and confronted - I fall asleep. So that's good.
So ANYWAY, the people who call and the people who host these kinds of shows in the early hours of the morning, have extremely conservative views. And that's being polite.
Currently, the subject of choice to discuss on these shows is climate change and the bizarre situation that has developed in Australian politics this week. These people don't believe in climate change. There's alot of talk of conspiracy theories, world government and global cooling. There are alot of raised voices and emotional tirades. In regard to the ETS currently being debated in our Senate, there are mentions of PM Rudd wanting to be the UN Secretary General and the fact that if it comes in - Australia will be a third world country. That 'working families' will go to the wall if they have to pay this 'tax on everything'.
So, in daylight hours and through more reliable sources, I have tried to educate myself more about this debate. Obviously it has ( in an Australian context) become quite complex and I'm not educated enough to go into all of that at the moment. But it has made me very interested in the climate change believers versus climate change non-believers battle of the wills going on all over the world at the moment.
I assume it has heated up recently ( no pun intended) because of Copenhagen at the end of the year...
It seems to me that no matter what your stance, it is a highly emotive topic.
In fact, I think it may be one of those topics like sex, politics and religion - that you either don't discuss with your nearest and dearest. Or if you do, do some deep breathing beforehand.
I had a brief conversation with Sd this morning and well, lets just say, there were some raised voices. We ended up still bffs , but it came close to someone storming out of the room. And I'm proud to say it wasn't just me considering it!
It strikes me that although the vast majority of us are not scientists specialising in the environment or climate change - we seem supremely confident that whatever it is we believe is correct and it is an outrage that someone could hold a different view. Which is a shame because, if you asked me, that kind of closedmindedness and anger, means that it will take longer for us (the world) to actually find out exactly what is going on here and what we can do to help.
I believe that climate change/global warming is real and is contributed to by humans. And I think we urgently need to do something about it. However, I am not 100% sure that the scientific explanation we have at this point shows us the entire picture and therefore I am not convinced that drastic changes need to be made now to the Australian economy in an attempt to solve this global problem.
Something has to be done though.
I've got no solutions. None. But think being open minded is a very good start.

This interview with Ed Begley ( an actor and environmentalist) on Fox ( an abomination of a 'media outlet' - just saying...) is , to me, indicative of the biggest problem we all have right now. Diametrically opposing views and no one is listening to each other.
Rant over.
Have a lovely weekend and don't hate me if you think I'm all wrong about this! Maybe I am. I'm learning as I go... xx

Very exciting 'Festival of Dangerous Ideas' update!

2009-11-25T15:27:00.008+11:00

In October, Sd and I went to the Festival of Dangerous Ideas at the Sydney Opera House.
I posted about it here.
We really enjoyed it and will definitely go again next year.

Anyway, I just got an email from the Opera House ( a close personal friend of mine) and some of the most popular lectures are now available to be viewed online.
These are the lectures you can see;

Christopher Hitchens: Religion Poisons Everything

Cardinal George Pell - Without God We Are Nothing

IQ2 Debate: Democracy Is Not For Everyone

Soapbox Final: Public Speaking Competition

Baroness Susan Greenfield: Does Online Networking Harm Children's Brains?

Keyser Trad: Polygamy Is Good For Australia

If you have time, I would recommend watching them.
Particulary the Soapbox Final winner. She was bloody fantastic!

You can go here to see them.

Enjoy!! (and let me know what you think)

xx

That Girl.

2009-11-25T12:41:00.006+11:00

More reminiscing.
I used to get up every morning at 5.30am when I was in primary school to watch this old TV show. It was on Channel 7 and I LOVED it.
More specifically, I loved Ann Marie. That was her( That Girl's) name.
I thought it was fantastic that her surname was Marie. So feminine. So lovely.
I wanted to be like her VERY BADLY.
I especially wanted her clothes and her hair. I would still love her clothes!! They were superb!
Could probably live without the hair though.
Ann Marie remains one of my style icons. If you want 'put together late 60's - early 70's chic' - look no further than Ann Marie. She was breath-taking.

Even though I watched episode after episode, I never really got how kitsch and corny the show was. It looked quite realistic to me! I just guessed that in the 60's and 70's that's how things were! In case you've never heard of this TV show ( ie; in case you didn't spend the best part of the early 80's getting up and making your way to the TV at 5.30am), it was similar to The Mary Tyler Moore Show.
Single girl living in the big city ( New York in fact) - loving life.
Very inspiring to a 9 year old indeed!!
Ann Marie was a bit disaster prone, had a grumpy father and always tried her hardest. She was a bit like me - even at 9! Although at that age, clearly I was nowhere near NYC and I didn't have a devoted boyfriend called Donald either. Bummer.
There was always hope for the future though!
I have seriously considered naming a future baby girl of mine 'Marlo' - after Marlo Thomas who played Ann Marie.We'll have to wait and see....

Here are the opening credits; just imagine a small girl sitting in the dark about 10 cms away from the TV screen with the volume turned down so I didn't wake anyone up, totally and utterly in awe of 'That Girl'.

Sigh.

xx

My Greta Garbo moment.

2009-11-25T07:17:00.002+11:00

As the big day approaches ( it's 10 weeks away) , I must say that more and more, my fears seem to be related not so much to the birth of this baby - but being swamped with people, namely our relatives, straight after the birth. And after as well.

It's making me feel sick.

I know I sound like a freak, but I have had quite a few conversations now with some relatives in particular ( who have been pregnant themselves but not for a long long time) - and I don't feel like they are listening to ANYTHING I am saying. It is not boding well for the future.

I know that everyone is excited and loves us but I feel like I am being railroaded into doing and being whatever it is that suits these people, or whatever these people 'remember' themselves to have been when they were pregnant.
I feel like any deviation from that on my behalf is met with a response that basically is that I am mistaken or weird or being too precious, or unreasonable....

It's pissing me off to say the least and I am feeling very uncomfortable about what's going to happen when I actually have this baby. I feel like I'm going to be suffocated by people that 'know best'.

I can stand up for myself. That's no problem at all. In this case though, I don't want to hurt anyone or offend anyone. Everyone's intentions are good. I'm just dealing with people who are not particularly great at picking up other people's feelings. Frankly, I don't think they are that interested in doing that - they don't have time; they're too excited and carried away with the thrill of it all!!

So, this morning Greta Garbo and her famous words 'I want to be alone' are springing to mind. Obviously, I don't want to be left completely alone but allowed a bit of space and also be recognised as the boss in this particular situation.

That'd be great.

Wish me luck!

xx

Musical interlude #2.

2009-11-18T10:41:00.006+11:00

Good afternoon!

I have wanted to post this for ages.

I am a huge Mia Farrow fan. Isn't she exquisite?

I have watched her in just about everything she's ever done, except 'Rosemary's Baby'. I don't/can't do horror movies...but I'm sure she's superb in that as well!!

When I was little, maybe about 4 or 5, I watched this TV movie - Peter Pan - and I adored it.
It was made in 1976 ( when Mia was 31 ) and she played Peter. It had a huge impact on me and I have never forgotten it.
Unfortunately, as far as I know, it isn't available on DVD, so I have to be happy with many many visits to Youtube for the time being.

Enjoy!!

xx

The real meaning of Christmas.

2009-11-10T15:34:00.010+11:00

Here is another Blog this challenge...

What does Xmas mean to you and your family?

It means being together.
Now that Sd and I are married it means one year in Sydney with my family and the next in Melbourne with Sd's family. My family is tiny and Sd's is much much bigger but overall the 'being together' theme is exactly the same.

Have you got some traditions?

Sd and I have one tradition which was actually started in my family a couple of years ago... it's called 'Christmas Bag'.
* please refer to post photo
It involves climbing into a ridiculously large Christmas gift bag and having your photo taken. We have decided to take the show on the road this year and introduce this tradition to Sd's unsuspecting family. Look out Mornington!

What will you cook?!

As regular readers will know I will not be cooking anything. I'm a cleaning person not a cooking person. Although, I must admit I have had fleeting thoughts of trying to bake a Christmas cake lately. We'll see what happens...
When we have Christmas in Sydney, Sd ( chef extraordinaire ) cooks the Christmas ham. We like to name it.
Last year's ham was called Richard.

Who will you spend it with?

This year is Melbourne year. I will spend it with Sd, his parents, his two brothers and their partners, and lots of their relations.

Got a favourite Christmas memory?

My favourite Christmas memory is when I was about 4. My sister and I used to believe that we were very special because Santa came to us twice. We woke up to lots of exciting presents that Santa had brought down the chimney and then later, when our grandparents arrived, we would go outside to play in the garden with them for a while. When we returned inside, there were more presents from Santa under the tree! It was incredible!
We couldn't get over how lucky we were that Santa came to us twice! No one in our family could work out how Santa had snuck back in. Our grandparents were all outside with my sister and I and Mum and Dad were in the kitchen making Christmas lunch the whole time...It couldn't have been anyone else BUT Santa could it?

How are you decorating??

I am decorating as much and as often as possible. Decorating begins next week actually. There will be fairy lights on the stairs, our gorgeous tree bought last year ( it's very hardy and cannot be 'killed' by cats - we have had a few trees destroyed by our lovely cats) and lashings of Christmas bush and holly.
Christmas bush and holly are vital for a well decorated Christmas as far as I'm concerned!

I'm getting merry just thinking about it!

xx

Is ignorance really bliss?

2009-11-09T17:30:00.006+11:00

I am an anxious person. No doubt about that.
I wasn't always though. I guess I was never a person who threw caution to the wind all the time but I was certainly never the anxious,worrying person I can be now.

About 7 years ago I had a very stressful job and a complicated personal life. I worked very very hard at both my job and my personal life and overall I had some great times.
It was difficult though and above all,very hard on my mind and body. At a time where things were their most stressful, and had been for quite a while, my body packed up and I had a number of weird symptoms like weight loss, rashes, and patches of numb skin. It really scared me and I was investigated for things like MS and brain tumours and that scared me even more. Terrified me , in fact.

Well, that was the start of anxious me.

Everything improved and I have been fine for ages and ages now. In retrospect, I did not look after myself in any way, shape or form for a very long time and...that was the end result.

So, that was in 2003 and here I am now.

As I said,I have suffered from anxiety since that time. I think I went to a place of fear and dread I had not been vaguely close to before and I thought about illness and death. I thought about my life and what I had not achieved and what it would mean to me and those I loved if I wasn't a well person. Or if I wasn't around.

Obviously, many many people have experiences like this and mine was quite miniscule in comparison to what others go through. All I'm saying is, that that experience brought me to where I am today.

I've never had physical anxiety attacks. No sweats or palpitations or any of that stuff. It's all in my head and from the outside no one would have any idea that I am struggling to stop my head from exploding!

I've become much much better at getting through the anxious moments and talking myself down from the giddy heights of sheer panic when it occurs. I've talked to my GP, I tried meds once for three weeks but I felt nothing. No anxiety but unfortunately nothing else either. Not a way to live really!
Acupuncture and a healthy lifestyle ( ie; not living on cigarettes, cheese on toast and alcohol as I did back then) seem to be the way to go.
Actually, I must write a post on how much I love acupuncture. It really has changed my life. But that's another post.

ANYWAY, back to my original question. Is ignorance bliss?
At this point, I am very much leaning towards a general answer of Yes.
Lately, my anxiety has been noticably worse and I feel sure that it is because I have been listening to the radio more,watching TV more, and reading more newspapers, internet etc. I don't go out as much ( due to being preggers) and I am quite a nosy person so I love current affairs, politics, any kind of news in fact.
I seem to have inadvertently bombarded myself with information and I think I might have overloaded my brain a bit. No, ALOT.

I'm now acutely aware of my breast cancer risk, ovarian cancer risk, and the risk of eating too much salt. I know that 1 in 20 Australians will get melanoma. After listening to ABC702 for a couple of hours, Helen Caldicott informed me that most of the imported food we eat from Europe is radioactive, eg - apricots from Turkey.It will be for another 600 years by the way. I know that our country is coming increasingly divided about climate change and the fact that there are desperate people sitting on an Australian boat waiting for our government to DO SOMETHING. I know my husband needs to checked for prostate cancer each year after he turns 40.I know that I must ensure I get enough folate while I'm pregnant, but if I have too much then I will give my baby asthma. Actually, that's what one study shows, they aren't 100% sure yet. They thought they'd put it on the news anyway.
I know that even though the economic crisis seems to be on the improve, unemployment is getting worse. I know I should not even entertain the idea of eating processed food and I need to make absolutely sure that I get enough Vitamin D because it is intrumental in prevention of a number of serious illnesses but I really should not go out in the sun. You know, because of the melanoma thing...

Could someone please pass me a paper bag to breathe into?!

I suppose I should be happy that I have made the connection between information and my anxiety but now I need to work out how to remain informed (because a true blue Gemini like me MUST know what is going on out there in the world at all times! )
while remaining sane.

Any tips?

xx

A musical interlude.

2009-11-08T16:53:00.004+11:00

I've been sitting on the couch this afternoon, rummaging around on Youtube. I've been reminiscing, watching bits of musicals I like and TV shows I used to watch on the ABC when I was in primary school.
It's scary how long ago that was!
I wanted to show you this clip from the film ' A Chorus Line' - one of my favourite musicals ever. It's a song called 'Nothing'. Quite a sad song really, but still entertaining for a rainy Sunday afternoon.

Hope you like it!

xx

I am unemployed.

2009-11-07T11:17:00.005+11:00

I finished work yesterday.
It's a very strange feeling. I have had a job of some sort since I was 13 ,except for a few months here and there when I've been travelling.
I am a bit scared to not have a job but really I have to see this as a short holiday before I start my new job in February that I will have for the rest of my life!!!

I don't have any concrete plans for the next 13 weeks except to read as many books as I can and ALSO to finally finish the Certificate IV in Training and Assessment I have been doing for, oh , about the last 450 years.

I have set the date of November 30 as my due date for all my remaining assignments for the certificate. And I would like you all to hold me to it.

Don't accept any excuses from me please! I'm not much of a procrastinator - except for when it comes to this course. It makes watching paint dry seem exciting.

You can expect a triumphant post from me on November 30 , telling you that finally , I have finished. It's the bain of my life. Really.

Hope you all have a lovely Saturday!

xx

A small pleasure for a Wednesday morning.

2009-11-04T07:02:00.004+11:00

Morning all!

Sd( my lovely husband) is a big fan of pear and raspberry bread. I can usually take or leave anything of the sweet persuasion , however I must say that I also am partial to a slice or two of this bread! It's quite spectacular!

Sd and I decided to make some on the weekend and after finding a relatively healthy recipe, we set to work finding the ingredients.

Um, sadly I was unaware of the cost of fresh raspberries!!!!!!!!!!!
Oh my Lord, they're expensive.
I wanted to buy two punnets and after finding out that would cost me $22.00 - I decided to go with plan B.
This is where the small pleasure comes in.
I found some frozen organic rasperries. The brand is Viking Organic. $6.99 for 300g.
I got them at the local grocer. Nowhere fancy!
I am not a fan of frozen fruit generally speaking BUT these are divine!!!!
They were beautiful in the bread and they are beautiful on their own.
They thaw quickly and are still firm and normal raspberry consistency.
Can you tell I'm impressed!!?
These will be in my freezer from now on, pear and raspberry bread or not!

xx

Someone's found a little bit of inspiration...

2009-11-02T17:15:00.005+11:00

Hi there!

I went to the movies last weekend. Actually, being preggers I have been going alot lately. It's one of the few activities that suits a pregnant body like mine!
On Saturday, I saw the Michael Jackson movie - This is it.
He certainly was quite loopy but he was also an amazingly talented creative soul.
I'm not a huge fan but I was curious to see what his shows might have been like in London. The production looked fantastic and even when he wasn't trying - he was pretty damn fantastic.
The film didn't focus at all on his death. It was purely a record of the rehearsal process for the shows. There was no narration and I thought that Michael was portrayed fairly. I was a bit scared that it would a festival of love for MJ and not much more. Thankfully, I was wrong!
If you are at all interested, I would recommend it. We saw it at IMAX and if possible try and see it in that format. I think it's on for longer than the original two week season now - so there's still time!

The weekend before last I saw Julie and Julia.
And I LOVED it.
It was very inspiring - not so much the cooking side of things, although I will admit a mild interest in French cuisine since watching the film!
It's going to take a lot more than a movie to get this lady excited about cooking!!
This film inspired me for two reasons. Firstly, Julia Childs herself.
What a woman! She embraced life wholeheartedly and fearlessly. It was so great to be reminded of the importance of trying to live like that each day.
I left the cinema with a new hero!
Also, Julie Powell ( the blogger who took on the challenge of cooking Julia Child's entire book over the course of a year )reminded me how much I love to write and to blog and how being organised and disciplined in regards to your blog can be very rewarding indeed.
So, you can expect to hear alot more from me in the coming weeks.
I'm going to write a post every day for a month...hang onto your hats!!:)

If you've seen either of these films, I would love to know what you thought!

xx

Flowers of the week.

2009-10-20T16:52:00.004+11:00

These flowers make me happy.

I have never seen them before and I don't know what they're called.
I bought them at the local grocers for $6 a bunch (I bought 2 bunches) - so not only do these flowers make me happy but they also keep me well within flower budget for the week!

Happy days indeed!
Hope you like them and they make you happy too!

xx

Guilty Pleasures.

2009-10-20T15:07:00.010+11:00

The 'Blog This' challenge for this week is;

Come on! Everyone has at least one! Chocolate? Trashy TV? Magazines? Romance Novels? Designer brands? Maybe it's having a 20 minute shower? Tell us about your your guilty pleasure, why you love it so much, where, when, how and what!

I didn't have to think about this one for long at all!

My guilty pleasure at this time of the year, every year, is Australian Idol.
I will be the first to admit that it is an horrendous show at times! As my husband will testify, it can be very annoying and this year in particular, a little um, underwhelming in the talent department. Future idols seem few and far between in 2009 if you know what I mean... BUT that certainly doesn't mean I wont be watching every single episode. No, I won't miss a thing, even if it means giving the Foxtel IQ a workout each Sunday in order to maintain a happy and healthy relationship!!

I love love love Australian Idol because of the chance that each episode , and indeed each year, maybe someone amazing will be discovered. There is always the chance that one of the contestant's performances will be fantastic. That they will perform better than they have before, that they will sing better than they thought they could - or anyone else thought they could.
It is positively exhilarating when it happens.
I'm quite the cryer when I watch these moments actually.
Just picture it; grown woman, pyjamas, couch , Australian Idol moment , tears , sniffing , husband playing poker online lamenting the day he met her... sounds great huh?
Some weeks these moments can even happen more than once! Other weeks? Not so much.

But still I watch, waiting for THAT moment.

I have downloaded for your enjoyment ( if you are not my husband!) one of those very moments. Actually, I should call it my moment of moments - Guy Sebastian singing Climb Every Mountain in 2003.

Enjoy!.... or not! ;)

xx

24 weeks.

2009-10-19T10:32:00.004+11:00

Hello lovelies,

I haven't posted about being pregnant for a while.
It's intentional.
At the risk of sounding like a total lunatic, it's all been part of my quest for self-preservation and an even keel in the mental health department!
However, over time I have come to realise that I can't avoid the obvious too much or for too long because that is not very healthy at all. To say the least.
So this post is to report that I have begun to come to terms with the fact that I am actually having a baby.

I can hear you breathing a sigh of relief.

I am 24 weeks today. I think all is good. Baby is kicking alot and on Saturday night I think it may have been dancing to Michael Jackson in there.

Not much more to say really.
Yes, I have made progress but I have only just turned the corner - so I have a long way to go.

Thanks for listening and thank you also for your lovely comments along the way so far.

I'm sure they have all helped to get me here.

xx

Flowers of the week.

2009-10-13T18:02:00.006+11:00

These are not actually from this week but I just found the photo of these beauties and I forgot to post it at the time...
These are so beautiful because they look like wild flowers. They are from a florist in Leichhardt though.
Not so wild.
However, we can all pretend.
Lets say that rather than my lovely Sd picking them up after he went to the super-market , that , overwhelmed with love for me ( which he often is I hope) - he stopped and picked them from a field in the countryside somewhere.
Ah yes, that sounds so much nicer than bought in a shopping centre!

Can't wait for Sd to read this. If he didn't think I was nuts already...

Let's talk about something very dear to my heart . Concealer .

2009-10-13T16:51:00.009+11:00

I'm not really a make-up person as such, however, I can't tell you how much I love my concealer.
I wont bang on about the merits of concealer for too long I promise.
Just a few quick points;

* Liquid concealer is the way to go. If you have dry skin or heaven forbid, are 'older', ie; have any fine lines, then you can't go wrong with the liquid option.
If you have skin like a baby's bum then, by all means, choose whatever type you like!

* Always choose a concealer SLIGHTLY lighter than the skin tone ON YOUR FACE (not your hand). I have found that it blends much better.

* My brand of choice is , hands down , YSL Touche Eclat concealer. It lasts for ages, a little bit goes a long way, and the results are very impressive - on any redness, pigmentation or dark circles under your eyes.
I am the lucky owner of all three of these at various times.
Sometimes all three at once! Lovely!

* My motivation for writing this post is my latest discovery.
I wanted to buy another liquid concealer as a back-up for my rather pricey concealer of choice. I chose the new 'Maybelline Instant Age-Rewind Double Face Perfector'.
Once I got over the ridiculous name (!) and used it - I was VERY impressed.
This concealer is about an 1/8th of the price of the YSL one and although it is not quite as good, for the price, the results are awesome.
That is the second time I have used that word in my life and Lovelies, I really really mean it.
The tube has a highlighter at one end and the concealer at the other.
In a clunkier way, it achieves what the YSL one combines into one liquid.

If you are a concealer person, run, don't walk and go get yourself some. Give it a try.

You wont be disappointed!

Got anything you would like to extol the virtues of?
Let me know!

xx

Ten things.

2009-10-10T20:03:00.021+11:00

Another 'Blog this' challenge...

Tell us TEN things you want to do in your lifetime that you've yet to achieve.
It can be as simple as learning to knit, or bungee jump, skydive, maybe eat a whole lobster or travel somewhere, meet a penpal - anything!

1) I would like to live somewhere in Europe. I have never lived anywhere else other than Sydney and I really want to experience daily life somewhere else.

2) I would like to be able to cook a signature dish. Actually I would like to be able to cook a signature meal. An Entree, Main course and Dessert that I cook well and that other people love and look forward to eating.

3) I would like to learn to sew. I buy alot of clothes from vintage stores, thrift stores and markets and I want to be able to make the changes to them that I envisage but don't quite know how to achieve. At the moment I keep my lovely local dressmaker in business I think!

4) I would like to own a dog from a refuge. I have never had a dog. Just cats. I love love love my cats but there is an empty place for a dog in my heart.

5) I would like to be in a chorus line in a musical. I'm thinking that this particular one will happen in whatever retirement village I end up in!! You never know though...is 36 too old be discovered by a talent scout?

6) I would like to volunteer for a charitable organisation - as a full time job.

and now for a bit of juxtaposition for No.7...

7) I would like to own an Hermes bag (and anything else they have there at the Hermes store they would like to offer me thank you!)

8) I would like to eat a meal at El Bulli and at The Fat Duck. Two of the best restaurants in the world. Unfortunately, I may have to sell my Hermes bag to fund these meals.

9) I would like to be a better gardener. I am ok at it but I think that's in the genes in my family. I want to apply myself and become great at it. Like my mum is and my nan and grandad were.

10)I would like to conquer my problems with anxiety. I am well on the way to achieving that thankfully , but there is certainly room for improvement. I would forgo all the other nine things in a heartbeat to achieve this single one.

xx

Some people are rude.

2009-10-05T17:10:00.006+11:00

This weekend, Sd and I went to the 'Festival of Dangerous Ideas' at the Sydney Opera House. We saw three lectures. The first was given in the concert hall on Saturday night by Christopher Hitchens . It was called 'Religion Poisons Everything'. The second was yesterday afternoon. It was about whether or not drugs should be legalised. There were three speakers, a barrister, an American ex chief of police and a doctor from St Vincents Hospital. The third was given by Cardinal George Pell - ' Without God we are nothing.'
The latter two were in the studio at the Opera House - a much smaller venue where it was possible for the speakers to take questions after their lecture.

I should say that we chose these particular lectures because we both ( for vastly different reasons )are interested in theology and the particular debate that both Christopher Hitchens and Cardinal Pell presented opposing arguments for. We are not religious people. However, I am very much an 'each to their own' type of person. My lovely husband? Not so much. That's another story though...
The drugs lecture we chose because we both are interested in the development of a new and successful way to deal with 'the war on drugs' and all the social problems that come with it.

ANYWAY,

After Cardinal Pell gave his lecture, the audience were able to ask questions. Now, I know that he is not a popular man and certainly not with the type of people that may want to go to a 'Festival of Dangerous Ideas' but I have to say that although I would consider myself to be in the group of people who dislike Cardinal Pell and his beliefs - I was appalled by the behaviour of one particular person in the audience and I still haven't gotten over it so , here goes...

Catherine Deveny was in the front row of the lecture.
I am not a fan. Will say that straight up.
She took notes throughout the lecture and at the end she was one of the first audience members to want to ask a 'question'. When she got the microphone she firstly asked facetiously what the Cardinal wanted to be called. He told her he had been called many things and she could call him whatever she wanted. She said no, that she wanted an answer to her question and he said ' Cardinal'. She then said 'Right' and proceeded to ask her 'question'. She did not address him as Cardinal or anything else. She then said that she had had an abortion and where was the soul of her dead baby? Because the baby wasn't baptised so is it in heaven or hell?
She shouted all of this although she was in the front row and had a microphone.
The Cardinal appeared to take her question on face value. As a genuine question. He answered her with what seemed to be compassion and compassion alone.
He said that the baby would definitely be in heaven and that she should never think that the baby would be in hell and then tried to talk about how the church is about forgiveness...she interupted him and shouted that she did not want forgiveness. Another audience member who later demonstrated that he was most likely to be suffering from a mental illness, told her she would go to hell. She turned to the audience and shouted ' Who's coming with me?' She did get a response...from about a quarter of the audience. She then went on to say that she was holding the microphone and that she was in charge now.

I don't think she expected the compassionate and measured response from Cardinal Pell and I also don't think she was interested one iota in his response.

She was interested in getting as much attention as possible and having an anecdote to write about in her next column. She was also intent on being as 'controversial' and 'provocative' as she could be.
Very successful on the first two counts. Well done.
On the third? Meh.

The thing is though that the rest of the audience had actually come to hear what he had to say. Not so much the bile from an audience member.

I found her behaviour towards Cardinal Pell disrespectful,rude and offensive.
I found her behaviour towards the audience disrespectful,rude and offensive.
I did not find her question offensive.
I found the way she asked it and why she asked it disgusting.

My dislike for Cardinal George Pell has not changed since I heard him speak.If anything though, after Catherine Deveny's efforts - I now see him as surprisingly more 'human' than he comes across in the media.
I still disagree very much with many of his views and those of the Catholic church.
I was baptised and educated in the Catholic church and for a long time have considered myself not to be Catholic or religious. Just for the record.

xx

Life of Cat.

2009-09-29T17:04:00.005+10:00

What a wonderful life these cats of mine lead.
Swap lives anyone?
You don't have to do anything except eat, lie down on various surfaces and bask in the sun.
Any takers?

Maybe just for a week or two...

xx

Pearls of Wisdom.

2009-09-29T14:33:00.011+10:00

This is the latest Blog this challenge. I haven't done one for ages so I thought it was about time...

Pearls of Wisdom - what is the best life advice you've recieved? How did you use that advice and how has it impacted on your life's path? What pearl of wisdom have you passed on to others?

So, the best life advice I've received?

Well,I've received two pieces of advice in my life which I carry with me always. The first is from my dad and has kind of turned into our family creed ;
' Trust no one and wear two pairs of underpants.'
Now I will grant you that immediately you would be thinking that my lovely dad is (a bit) mad and (alot) Monty Python-esque. You would certainly be correct there and I have to say that from a young age I thought that this piece of advice was a bit silly, a bit funny and also quite a bit paranoid and 'cup half empty'.
But it has stayed with me.

The other piece of advice is from my grandad, although it was his daughter - my mum, who passed it onto me;
'Everything in moderation'
I always thought this was a good one, but when I was younger - of course I didn't feel that it applied to me. Other people? Sure. Just not to me!

How did you use that advice and how has it impacted on your life's path?

As I have gotten older I have come to find that for me, both pearls of wisdom are little messages that I like to have in the back of my mind from people I trust that help me to navigate the trials and tribulations of this complicated life.
Dad's sage advice now means to me as an adult, that in life you have to go your own way, whatever that may be. You cant do things you know aren't right for you to please other people. In short, follow your heart. You also need a back up plan! Things don't always turn out how you think or hope they will and that's ok and that happens.
Most importantly though, this piece of advice reminds me to not take myself too seriously. It's all about having a sense of humour. It is in my family anyway.
My mum's advice, now that I have reached the ripe old age of 36, is just a gentle reminder that too much of anything just might not be the best idea. I actually KNOW that now. Hello, 13 years of smoking , LOTS of late nights, crap eating habits, stressful private and work life...
That's all in the (fabulous) past now and I have mended my ways.I'm not a saint - my mum and especially my grandad would NOT approve of any saintly behaviour at all! But I'm much much more moderate now. Now that I am an older lady ;)!!!

Which leads me to the next question...What pearl of wisdom have you passed onto others?

I'm not really one for passing on advice to others. Not sure why. I guess I tend to think that I have so much more to learn in life that I feel like a bit of a wanker handing out advice unless I am 100% positive that what I am advising is 100% right for the other person.
However, hopefully, in February I will become a mother for the first time. It has taken me 3 years , 3 miscarriages, and a cycle of IVF to get to this point.
I am going to have to be supplying a few pearls of wisdom here and there to my son or daughter.
I will definitely pass on these ones that have meant something to me, and I will also pass on the one that I have come to know is true on the long journey I have been on to meet my child;

Have faith that if you try your hardest and never give up, you will never have regrets in life.
And if you're very lucky, what you need will come to you.

xx

Flowers of the week.

2009-09-29T10:25:00.002+10:00

I've been a bit remiss with the old blog here. I haven't posted anything for ages and I must apologise. I've been busy doing not much at all. Hence the lack of inspiration...
BUT, 'Flowers of the week' are always inspiring so I thought in order to 'get back on the horse' so to speak, I would post about these lovely orchids. My favourite flowers of all time. I must say that white ones are extra special aren't they?
I hope you like them.

I'm off to wrack my brain for something interesting to talk about!

Hope all is good with you.

xx

Hello lovelies!

2009-09-08T14:55:00.004+10:00

Like some of the other bloggers that I follow, recently I have become sick of the sound of my own voice. Strange that it is happening to a few of us at the same time. So, I've not posted for a while - I needed a bit of a break from hearing about and thinking about myself!!!

I've been thinking about what I'm doing here with my 'Box of Tricks' and I have decided what this is and has always been is my diary - for me. But you get to read it too.

I love love love hearing from you and reading your blogs and so I think I will continue with my/our diary and see how it goes.

Anyway, it would be a bit pathetic to give up after only 52 posts. Lets try for 100!

xx

Week 16.

2009-08-24T13:40:00.010+10:00

So, I am 16 weeks pregnant today.
I've been feeling a bit crap for the last couple of days, quite alot of fear, a bit of dread, and quite alot more fear is seeping into my life and I'm having trouble getting on top of it. So, I thought I would try and get some of it out of my system by writing here.

Please feel free to skip this post - it's a not-very-nice one.

As far as I know all is ok with the baby. But, as I have discussed here before, that means sweet FA to me due to my past experiences with pregnancy.
I've had about a month which I've spent mostly anxiety-free but as I said, over the weekend I started to think about how things might not be ok, that I don't really have any way of knowing until I see the OB next Monday and then after that the 18 week scan and then after that... you know how it goes...
Yesterday, I read the article in the Herald about Mia Freedman and her new book. I have been reading her blog Mamamia for about 2 years and I visit daily. If you don't visit already, I thoroughly recommend it!
I've thought before, from the way she has written about it, that she may have experienced miscarriage or something awful like that, and reading the interview yesterday it turns out that unfortunately she has. At 19 weeks she found out that her baby had died at 16 weeks. So sad and so so hard.
To be honest, reading that sent me RIGHT over the edge. Fear of God territory. And I don't think I am quite on the road to recovery just yet.

Anyway, I shall persevere and try to get the better of my own mind as soon as possible.

Thanks for listening.

xx

Flowers of the week.

2009-08-23T16:42:00.003+10:00

Never really liked carnations. They always seem to look a bit dried out and a bit, well, cheap and nasty.
However, I have been trying to keep an open mind about them and actually, they're not bad. Not bad at all!
I chose the carnations this week because I wanted to get my nan's old milk jug out again and use it as a vase. I love love love that shade of green!
So, I was looking for a colour for the flowers that would contrast perfectly with my beautiful green.
ANYWAY enough about the fascinating workings of my mind!?
I hope you like the end result and if you aren't a carnation fan, maybe you will give them a chance in the future.
They really are quite nice!

xx

Little shop of dreams come true.

2009-08-23T14:37:00.008+10:00

As I've mentioned, we moved last month. We now live about 10 minutes away from our old house and although it's not been a big change, we are having a lovely time exploring our new suburb and finding all its treasures.
We get our coffee most mornings from Black Star bakery on Australia St, in Newtown. On my way to Black Star that very first time I found , drum roll please , the shop of my dreams.
If it is possible to actually find a perfect representation of my aesthetic - then - this is it.

It's a little shop called 'Newspaper Taxi' and to describe what lies inside, in a word?
Wonderful.

I won't go on, because it's better if you click on the link and see it for yourself. In all it's glory!!

Enjoy! Happy weekend!

xx

Sweet sweet music.

2009-08-23T13:21:00.014+10:00

Yesterday afternoon I was doing a spot of lying in bed watching TV, and I happened on a documentary on the Ovation channel about a 13 year old Canadian jazz singer called Nikki Yanofsky.
It was such a beautiful film because her passion for music and singing (as opposed to a passion for attention and fame that seems so prevalent these days ) was so abundantly clear. She is one talented young lady! Nikki is actually 15 now and her career has well and truly begun. In the documentary, her first time in the recording studio was filmed and it was bliss to watch. Her voice is unique and she has cultivated a love for jazz music all on her own at such a young age. Her inspirations are Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, Stevie Wonder and Christina Aguilera.
Her parents are featured briefly in the film and they are obviously very proud but at the same time quite bemused as to how Nikki has become such a force of nature. Again, so nice to see 'non - stage parents', as opposed to the Lohans and Cyrus' of this world.
If you like jazz music and you love to see one of those rare creatures - a prodigy - you will be in awe of Nikki. A real and natural young girl, bursting with true talent.
Aaaah, sooo refreshing!!!
So exciting!!!

xx

My most beautiful shoes in the world.

2009-08-17T19:05:00.010+10:00

I first saw these little treasures on Saturday.
It was love at first sight. I had palpitations, my breathing was laboured. I had a rush of endorphins.
I think my sister, who I was shopping with, thought I was having some kind of turn.
After she witnessed the spiritual connection between the shoes and I, she told me to buy them. But I refused.
No, I was not going to jump into anything.
Even though they were on sale. Even though they were my size. No, I was going to be strong, mature, and I was going to remember that Alannah Hill shoes were not necessities.
Even if we were meant to be.
I walked away. There were no tears - I'm tough.

So, two days later, after obsessing over what life would be like without them , I went back to get my shoes.
We both bought shoes today , Sd bought running shoes - they were nice enough - but I bought the most beautiful shoes in the world.
We're in a relationship now , the shoes and I. We're very close.

xx

Decisions, decisions.

2009-08-15T17:41:00.005+10:00

I decided that it was time for a change to the seat covers of our dining suite. It's quite the unique table and chairs. It used to be my grandma's and despite the fact that I am unaware of anyone under average height from her side of the family, she had the table lowered for some reason so it is a little bit squashy on the legs for most men and some ladies too. Not what you are after at a dinner party really.
I keep meaning to do something about it but it's one of those things I haven't got around to yet. In the last 12 years. Must look into it...
Anyway, the chairs. So I decided that I wanted the four chairs to have different covers that don't match but complement each other. Sounds lovely dosen't it!
I went to Spotlight this morning with my sister ( who is not a fan of any kind of shopping ) to choose the fabrics. It was hard hard hard.
I was so confused by the end, I kind of got what I wanted but not quite. The pink fabric isn't 100% right but out of the 4000 pink fabrics I looked at it was by far the best one. I'm also not sure about the blue and white stripe. I like it alot, but not sure if it works with all the others.
Sd hasn't seen them yet. Not sure what reaction I'll get. I'm guessing he will be as bemused as me. Or he might want to discreetly put them in the bin. We'll see.
If you've got any pointers - point away!!

xx

ps. the photo isn't that good because I took it in 4pm light but I hope you get the idea.

Flowers of the week.

2009-08-15T17:26:00.008+10:00

Poppies.
What a beautiful winter flower. They always remind me of my childhood. Being at primary school, walking home and seeing them in front gardens while I walked up Castle St each afternoon.
I love these because they are such glorious warm colours and are such strange delicate creatures. Can flowers be creatures? I'm saying yes for now.

If you are not a regular poppy admirer and you do get some to brighten up a wintery week, don't be discouraged if they don't open up straight away. If there isn't alot of light in the room, they will take a while...but most of them will open up and say Hello eventually.

xx

Breakfast of Champions.

2009-08-09T10:10:00.005+10:00

I haven't been a cereal person since I was at school. I'm more of a vegemite on toast, eggs on toast, cheese on toast, tomato on toast kind of girl.
I like toast!
Lately, I decided I should try to be a bit healthier and have been trying to eat cereal for breakfast. I wasn't very successful until I found the best cereal ever.

This magical cereal I speak of is Special K Forest Berries. I can't believe how good it is. I really can't.

It doesn't taste like normal Special K at all( a good thing I think ) and I have managed to incorporate it, like a good health - concious person, into my diet very easily.

Now, I am as suprised as you are that I am posting about good cereal. However, it has clearly had such a big impact on my life - I thought I should do the right thing and enlighten others about such a wonderful breakfast option.

Now I'm off to get a life!

xx

For Kristalee and Lola.

2009-08-08T15:02:00.012+10:00

This video is kind of a virtual bunch of flowers, hug and a kiss for Kristalee who writes one of the blogs I read regularly.
She has had an extremely difficult week this week and I am always in awe of her strength and grace.
This sweet little song is for her and for Lola.
It's about dreaming of being with someone you love and having that beautiful, perfect, precious moment with them.
There are many many versions of this song, but I thought Fiona Apple sang it best.
xx

FIONA APPLE - 'Tonight, you belong to me'

Flowers of the week.

2009-08-08T12:43:00.008+10:00

Well Hello Lovelies!!

I have been a less than impressive blogger of late I know.
I will be better.
I haven't felt very inspired lately and didn't feel like I had much to say to any of you but I can feel my mojo slowly returning so I'm going to try to go with it and post post post.

I thought I would start with something absolutely beautiful and they are my lovely flowers of the week. They are the first flowers of the week in our new abode.
The flowers are called lupins. They last quite well - maybe a little bit more than a week and they smell very very nice. A bit like a sweet pea. I like how they look a little like wild flowers.
Enjoy!

Picture of the week.

2009-07-31T18:57:00.003+10:00

Something new!
I saw this picture on 'The Sartorialist' and immediately copied it to My Pictures. Then I wondered what to do with it.
I think she is lovely. ( her name is Eva and she is a model on a photoshoot - in case you saw this and were incredulous that someone could look so amazing in a relatively impromptu photo!)
I am more than happy to be me ( unfortunately I don't look like that but nevertheless..)but if I wasn't me I would like to look like her please. She reminds me of the character Amelie from the movie of the same name. Amelie is one of my heroines.

That's all.
Amelie/Eva - my picture of the week.

xx

Renold & Franko.

2009-07-31T16:44:00.006+10:00

These are my cats. I have an unhealthy fascination with them to say the least.
The brown one is Renold. He was originally called Ren and over the last couple of years, his name has morphed into Renold. Can't explain that one really except to say that he is one odd animal and Ren seemed a bit too relaxed and cute for him.The name Renold seemed appropriately strange.

The little cream one is Franko. Again, this was not her original name. Sd called her Frankie because she has gorgeous blue eyes - just like Frank Sinatra. I think he called her Franko once or twice and it stuck. She is more of a normal cat than Renold. She is tiny ( she is fully grown in this photo ) and very timid. I think cause she is so small she thinks she needs to be extra careful to protect herself from anything noisy and big. She has the cutest cat face I've ever seen!

Our friend Dave is a photo journalist and he came to stay with us in May. He took these photos while he was visiting.
Just wanted to clarify that we DID NOT have professional photos taken of our cats!
We love them, but you need to draw the line somewhere and no offence to anyone that does it, but to me that's a bit weird!

xx

And now, lets talk about something else...

2009-07-31T11:17:00.007+10:00

So, now I have had 24 hours of calm and it's been lovely. I've been able to think about some other things...

Much to the dismay of Sd, I love to watch 'So You Think You Can Dance' every Friday night. I know it is American and cheesy BUT the dancers are amazing and another good thing about the show is that some of the choreographers have very interesting taste in music. Especially the contemporary choreographers. One of those people is Mia Michaels. She is not a particularly likeable lady but her music choices are great. As is her choreography. Last week, she chose a piece of music 'Koop Island Blues' from a Swedish duo called Koop who are primarily an electronic music act but they usually use samples and vocalists with a jazz background. I loved it, and yesterday downloaded two albums from I-Tunes. It's kind of loungy, cocktaily music. A little bit 'Cafe Del Mar' I guess. Maybe a bit quirkier than that...very relaxing...but not boring.
I will add a few of their songs to my playlist so you can listen.

Hope you like!

xx

ps. I know music on blogs can be a bit annoying, that's why I have tried to put the pause button in a spot where you don't have to scroll down too far to find it! The music is really there for my own enjoyment but it would be lovely if you liked it too!

I'm a believer.

2009-07-30T11:06:00.004+10:00

I got the test results. The baby is ok.
I'm telling you, this pregnancy is like a marathon. On my knees!
I'm so grateful though.
Here's something very strange...
I've been talking to my grandparents ( who have passed ) and asking them to help me get through the last few weeks and I think they have. Or I've lost my mind.
I don't normally do things like that at all, but for some reason this time I did. It came quite naturally. How strange.

Anyway, I need to go and clean up the massive mess that is my house now. Wonder if Agnes, Bob , James and Dorothy can help me with that too!

xx

I'm kind of back.

2009-07-29T08:39:00.005+10:00

Hello!
I am back after the big move and various other even more stressful occurrences.
So, the move went quite well. Sd deserved a big fat medal after single-handedly managing the whole thing while I lurched between going to work and lying on the couch/bed. Three days before we moved I started to bleed.Not really what we were looking for in the 10th week of pregnancy! So the days proceeding the move involved ultrasounds, me crying, and lots of lying down as I said. Thankfully, it stopped after a week and as I sit here I am still surrounded by boxes and other random bits and pieces. That's because now I am contending with the fallout after the NT scan.
We had that yesterday and the results weren't great. I have had one before, last December, and the results were as bad as they could be.
Just so you know, this is my fourth pregnancy. The first two I miscarried at about 7 weeks. The one in December was a Downs baby which I also miscarried a day or so after the CVS. We would have terminated the pregnancy if that had not happened.
This pregnancy is an IVF/PGD pregnancy and the embryo has been screened for Downs and 6 other common chromosomal abnormalities before it was transfered.
The doctor who did the CVS yesterday kept telling us how we shouldn't worry and that it will all be ok but I have heard that SO many times before and it wasn't. I think the best way to describe the way I am feeling this morning is numb.
I will get the results either today or tomorrow. Depending on what they are, I might not post for a while but eventually I'll be back.

Hope you are having a much nicer week than me!

xx

Something new.

2009-07-14T18:15:00.005+10:00

We are moving on Friday and I am quite excited!! I do like something new!!!
I am certainly not excited about the packing process though. Who knew we had SO much crap under our roof? I am suprised again and again by the strange objects I have dutifully kept for years , only to now look at them and know instantly that the only thing to do with them is set them on fire. Or alternatively put them in an enormous green garbage bag when burning is not an option.

I also wanted to tell you that due to the afor mentioned circumstances, there are no 'flowers of the week'. However, I will make up for it next week. Promise.

So now I am off to comb through more tonnes of refuse upstairs. I swear, I don't know where it all came from. Sd and I aren't really what I would call hoarders!
Maybe it's the cats.

At least, by the time we leave this place, we will have shed many many cupboards full of godknowswhat.

Now that's a GREAT feeling!

xx

Flowers of the week.

2009-07-07T16:54:00.005+10:00

These beauties were chosen by the one and only Sd.
An excellent choice I'd say!
They are orchids ( my favourites ).
We bought the vase when we first moved in together years ago. We bought a few things from a little shop on Crown St and the man working there congratulated us on anything and everything we showed interest in by telling us which country it came from:
' Gorgeous! It's Israeli!' ,' Fabulous! Turkish!, ' New York!!'

Hilarious!
The vase is Israeli. Apparently.

xx

Fifteen facts.

2009-07-07T15:27:00.012+10:00

This is the latest Blog This challenge;

Tell us fifteen facinating, far fetched, frightening, funny or frivilous facts about yourself. Those bits of trivia that are floating around in your life.

Can you eat 10 burgers in one sitting? Do you sleep with your eyes open? Can you tie a cherry stalk into a knot? Speak 5 different languages?

All those things that you've bored your friends and family with for years - We want to know.

1) I can recite , word for word , each episode of 'Fawlty Towers'.
My sister and I loved this TV show SO much that our parents bought us the audio tapes and when we were 6 (her) and 8 (me), we had them on high rotation in our shared bedroom.

2) I will not eat bruised fruit. I have no valid reason. I just wont.

3) In the last couple of years ( I am 36 now ) , I have come to realise that I am shy. I can't believe that this revelation has come so late!!

4) I harbour an intense desire to sing and dance on Broadway , in a chorus line.

5) I love to watch any kind of cooking show. I watch the Food channel on Foxtel like there is no tomorrow. I do NOT like to cook.

6) I love leopard print , however only in small doses.

7) I cannot read a map. To make matters worse, I have no sense of direction either.

8) I can remember the birthdays of girls who I have not seen since high school. 20 years ago.

9) I work in retail and regularly envisage getting out a baseball bat from under the counter to combat vile customers.

10)I cannot speak another language. If I attempt to speak any foreign language, for example ordering something in a restaurant , I immediately start channelling Kath and or Kim.

11) I am obsessed with my two cats. Obsessed.

12) I love to eat Asian food - any kind, anywhere, anytime. Not chickens feet though.

13) Sometimes I feel like I am 17 and sometimes I feel like I am 60. The 60 bit is usually when I am listening to AM radio.

14) I have been doing my Certificate IV in Training and Assessment for 3 years. That will indicate to you how soul - destroyingly boring it is. It should take a few weeks.

15) I met my husband at Barons ( a seedy old bar in Sydney ) at 4am.
I think it is quite an achievement that from those humble beginnings we have come this far.

xx

Fiona O'Loughlin.

2009-07-05T13:37:00.011+10:00

I read on page 3 of The Sunday Telegraph this morning that comedienne and 'Dancing with the Stars' contestant - Fiona O'Loughlin, has revealed that she is an alcoholic. Since I saw this earlier today, I noticed on a news website a few awful comments regarding her and her situation. It's made me a little bit angry.

Apparently, on Thursday evening, Fiona was drunk on stage and then ended up in hospital. She decided the following morning,I believe after some discussion with her Channel 7 publicist, that she wanted to be honest about her situation.

I don't know if she felt that she had no choice but to make the admission or went against her publicist's advice because she felt she needed to be honest with herself and others about her alcoholism.

Either way, I think she is one brave lady.

It is very difficult to admit your flaws, problems or weaknesses at the best of times.

Telling the whole of Australia that you are an alcoholic must be terrifying. Being the mother of five children and telling the whole of Australia you are an alcoholic must feel like jumping off a cliff. I'm afraid that she might be judged with a very large capital J .

I hope that, as she says in the article, revealing this about herself is a step in the direction of being and staying sober.

There are MANY women and men, just like her, who are also wrestling with a similar truth they cannot bear. I hope that her honesty and bravery are inspiration to others who need to change things in their lives.

And I hope that she is supported, not judged.

xx

Something I've noticed.

2009-07-03T18:50:00.003+10:00

I've had a bit of a rollercoaster week. Sounds dramatic doesn't it! It wasn't like that at all - I just worried about a few different things on and off all week and then at the week's end - everything was ok.

I can't believe it! I really thought it was a long shot that the things I've been worrying about would all work out as I had hoped. But they did.

What I've noticed is that I seem to have some kind of wierd thought process that says that 'everything can't all go to plan because that would be too lucky, and if it did then something else would then go wrong'.

As I type that, I can see how truly strange that way of thinking is - but it seems to pop up every now and then. Am I alone here?

I don't really know what it's about. I'm not a pessimist or superstitious, or a cup half empty person. I don't think I learnt it from my family or anything like that. My lovely husband is a total optimist and would never ever think that way.

It's a bit disappointing really. I'll need to do a bit of work in that area I think!!!

Have a fantastic weekend everyone!

xx

If you love a shoe sale, keep reading...

2009-07-02T20:07:00.003+10:00

Hello!

One of my favourite shoe brands 'Andrea & Joen' is having a sale! I just bought 2 pairs of summer flats online for $50 ( plus $12 freight ).
I'm very pleased with myself.
So, if you like a bargain and would like to plan a little bit in advance for your summer wardrobe, I would recommend a quick look on their website - www.andreaandjoen.com - there is quite alot to choose from and the prices are very tempting.
I have bought shoes from this company before and all was well with buying online and the quality of the shoes.

Enjoy shopping! Let me know if you buy anything nice!

xx