holidays?

holidays, where have you gone? it feels like you have passed me in the blink of an eye. i haven't done nearly as many things that i had planned! yesterday was perfect though, dad, matt, alyce, elliot and i drove to double island point along the beach in dad's pride and joy, the landrover that he has basically rebuilt. the weather was stunning, hot and sunny just how i like it. we were a little late getting to the beach after low tide so it was a little bit scary driving along the beach with the water at our sides but we made it. at our destination we played bocce, swam, read books, lay in the sun (with sunscreen on!), thought about happiness and what 2012 will bring, slid down a huge dune on a boogie board (ok i didn't because i am a big scardy cat but everyone else did, i did however run up and down the dune about 5 times), took in the beautiful view of rainbow beach, went for a walk to the point to watch matt surf, had fresh chicken and avo wraps for lunch, kept hydrated with lots of water and watermelon, listened to chilled out music and just enjoyed every moment of the day. today we have even more beautiful weather however i have spent most of the morning indoors washing and packing up, ready for my return to brisbane. i shouldn't be too sad, i'm not going back to work just yet. instead i'll have some time to see friends before flying to newcastle for new years. i just hope the next few days don't go by as fast as the last few have! i just love summer holidays!

my summer holiday mantra that i'm trying my best to do!

boxing day

christmas day is over and boxing day is here! we have the cricket on, alyce is washing our cars in her togs with music blaring, matt is making us nutella on toast (no milk and we are on holidays afterall!) and i'm about to read more of my book in the sun. beth gave me 'is everyone hanging out with me' for christmas (it was on my list!) and i love it. i started it yesterday and will finish it today. this afternoon the family will get together again to celebrate our cousin glen's birthday. all in all, a pretty perfect day. enjoy boxing day everyone, especially those hitting the shops! think of me as you find all of those wonderful bargains, i wish i was there! 

be merry

i know it's a little late in the day to be saying this (11:25pm!) but here is my christmas message to you all regardless. i hope you all had a merry little christmas filled with lots of love and cheer. this christmas was different and a little sad for me without some dearly missed and eternally loved people in my life to share it with. i still managed to have a lovely day though, there was sunshine, pool swims, delicious food, my great new book, an afternoon nap, dance performances by my cousins, good music, laughter, family, friends, presents, photos and so much more. we all shed a tear or two (or many) this evening as it was our first christmas without grandad. his presence, which we all loved and knew so well, was greatly missed. 

merry christmas eve

tonight is christmas eve! which means tomorrow morning is christmas day. my second favourite day of the year after my birthday, although i'm sure they are the two favourite days of most people! we only just put our tree up tonight which is a good indication of how no fuss christmas is in our household now that we are all grown and out of the nest. despite the tree being decorated so late at night on christmas eve, it is suddenly surrounded in gifts! we also haven't had weeks of looking at them longingly and now don't have too long of a wait before they can be opened! (i love to find a plus side in things!) i have so many happy childhood christmas memories. leaving carrots on the veranda for the reindeers and waking up to find them half eaten. writing letters to santa and leaving him a note on the kitchen table. discovering a bicycle at the end of each of our beds one year. falling asleep with an empty pillow case across our feet only to find it filled to the brim with pressies from santa the following morning. we'd then wait for everyone to wake up and take them on to mum and dads bed. swimming at the beach as a family which has become a christmas morning family tradition. wearing and taking as much of our christmas presents to the noosa river as possible where we'd celebrate with family and friends. seeing our christmas tree grow over the years that we were in cooroy, what started out so small was huge when we left there. making our own christmas wrapping paper at school. being lucky (and good) enough to unwrap something we really wanted. the excitement of christmas eve as little kids who still believed in santa. i could go on and on. i have my parents to thank for such wonderful memories. matt, alyce and i are so unbelievably lucky to have them and we love them with all of our hearts. all the little things they did to make christmas such a special time will never be forgotten. 

p.s. what cuties! especially matt. take note of the poorly decorated tree (no doubt i did it) and the homemade sign around the base. we had this tree for years. it lived in the garden and each year dad would bring it upstairs. when i think of christmas, i think of this funny looking tree that we all loved so much.

grateful ♥

my dear friends kahli and alex have started a little

christmas tradition. each year they cook a beautiful

roast dinner for all of their friends. i missed the event

last year as i was interstate collecting my new car,

so it was my first dinner and it was extra special! 

kahli, being as talented and creative as she is, added

touches of white, blue and silver to the outdoor area.

she had even made hand stamped 'be merry' tags

and tied them to our cutlery with white ribbon.

the stunning table centre piece was a branch that 

had been spray painted white and placed in a big

jar of sand (taken from the golf course next door!).

it was adorned with decorations in white, silver and 

different shades of blue. by chance all of the girls 

happened to be wearing a blue dress on the night too!

the food was simply delicious. all of our favourite 

nibbles to start. alex was in charge of the mains which 

included roast ham with a macadamia nut glaze and 

perfectly roasted chicken and veggies. kahli impressed

us with her cooking prowess. green beans with butter

and almond slivers. they tasted beyond amazing. and 

just when we thought we couldn't eat anything else,

naomi unveiled homemade pavlova (base and all)

topped with cream and all the berries one could wish

for. in addition to her pav, she also made chocolate

ripple cake with a dash of rum. no one does dessert

like our nim. there was plenty of eating, drinking 

and being merry, we even had a swim in the rain!

(my grandad john would have said 'don't get wet'!)

i feel truly blessed to have kahli and alex as friends.

they go to such effort each time they host a night 

at their place, whether it is alex on the barbecue or 

kahli's finishing touches, they make everyone feel 

happy and we are grateful to have them in our lives.

♥

adj. 1. grateful - feeling or showing gratitude; 'a grateful heart';

'grateful for the tree's shade'; 'a thankful smile'.

kisses

i enjoyed two baci chocolates today, both containing quotes about kissing which i thought was rather profound. they were... a magical night of bliss begins and ends with a kiss and a kiss strikes like lightening, love passes like a storm. is the universe telling me something? also, remember butterfly kisses?

when?

walking away

when people walk away from you... let them go. your destiny is never tied to anyone who leaves you, and it doesn't mean they are bad people. it just means that their part in your story is over.

kiss me

oh leo how i've always loved you. of course i will kiss you. 

sigh. i think the closest i will ever come to kissing this boy is by watching 

him kiss kate in titanic, which by the way, is returning to theatres in april.

isn't he beautiful. so lovely and young and fresh faced looking. 

tea

you're my cup of tea...

this tea towel brightened my sunday

florence

can not stop listening to florence and the machine.

you've got the love. dog days are over.

rabbit heart. no light, no light.

p.s. my great grandma's name was florence.

i wonder what she was like.

♥

singstars

i'm feeling a little worse for wear today.

but it was very worth it!

we had our team chrissy do.

there was secret santa,

pass the parcel,

table cloth word find,

ballerina dancing, 

plenty of beverages, 

party sausage rolls 

(of which i only ate the pastry!)

and...

singstar.

lots of singstar.  

have i mentioned how much i love my team?

they even put me to bed.

and reassure me the next day

that i wasn't too silly. 

i love them.

an a+ result!

congratulations to my best friend kahli who found out today that she will be teaching prep at a brisbane school next year. as much as i love the country and despite being excited for a road trip every now and then, i was not at all looking forward to farewelling her if she went to work in the middle of no where! 

photos and heroes

someone was busy scanning photos over the weekend...

here is one more that i absolutely adore. dad you are my hero. 

beach goer

cat lovers

mum and i and cats and kittens

chrissy (wall) tree

last week beth and i put up our new (and little!) christmas tree.

we think it looks beautiful with it's fairy lights and brightly coloured baubles. 

we even had christmas carols live from toronto playing in the background as we set it up.

today i came across a new take on the traditional christmas tree, christmas wall decals!

how cute and creative are they! in fact their whole range is adorable.

this one for kahli, this one for a bubba and this one for grandma lois. 

 

being ferris

i have a day off today.

unlike ferris, i took annual leave.

if you haven't seen this movie, watch it.

and if you have seen it, watch it again!

happy monday.

20 christmas wishes

with christmas just weeks away i have put together a little wish list. twenty things i would absolutely love to have but absolutely know are just about out of the question (most anyway)! a girl can still dream.

the list in my head is much longer (never ending in fact) so i'm surprised i narrowed it down to twenty!

1. 'brisbane' print. for my future house (years from now). i spotted this in a paddington store. they have one for each capital city, all with a different colour. i also liked the canberra one, my place of birth.  

2. beach hat. this one is tigerlily but any hat would satisfy me. i love hats, especially ones you can wear over messy, wet beach hair!

3. white watch. i happened to see one recently and haven't been able to get it out of my mind ever since. i thought it was so clean, fresh and simplistic. if santa doesn't get my memo i will buy one for myself!

4. morse code bracelet. found at one of my favourite places, the blog cup of jo. the little balls spell out words. cute? i think so!

5. money box. i'm starting to save some pennies in order to travel in 2013. even though i normally spend every last cent in my purse, if i was to come home with a gold coin or two i could put them away. 

6. beach towel. every year mum would give us a lovely big plush beach towel as a christmas present. i hope she does again this year as mine always seems to go missing by the time christmas rolls around again. these are missoni ones, gorgeous but my goodness, expensive!

7. michael kors fragrance. i walked past a friend at work the other day who was wearing this and fell in love with it. think freesia, peony and lillies. 

8. a new purse. not that i need one, i just purely want one. this yellow one is nice and summery. 

9. world map cushion. beth has one at our house and i every time i see it i think 'gosh that cushion is cool'. so now i want one to call my own, also for my house in the far away future. 

10. tiffany & co earrings. because they are beautiful and what girl doesn't want to open up a christmas gift to find a little blue box?

11. bike. now this is really what i want for christmas above all else. but something tells me it's not quite going to become a reality. please mum and dad, please! we did wake up to bikes in our rooms one christmas. oh childhood, how i miss you!

12. silver earrings. just some every day studs that look great with everything. these ones are from a favourite brand of mine, pigeonhole. i'm also in love with the little blue bird and cat studs.

13. 2012 diary. soon all kinds of things will start popping up for 2012 and i am going to need a pretty diary to record them all in! this one is from another favourite shop, kikki-k.

14. ecoya candle. these are made in botany bay from natural plant wax. choose from french pear, wild frangipani, vanilla bean, sweet pea and jasmine, lotus flower and lemongrass and ginger. just divine. 

15. frangipani soap. any soap with a frangipani fragrance says summer to me, hence why i would like to step out smelling like it. they do beautiful handmade ones at the eumundi markets, they are almost edible.  

16. mindy kaling book. i love this girl from the office. mindy invites readers on a tour of her life and her unscientific observations on romance, friendship, and hollywood.  

17. wedges. although i think i might like the idea of these more than the actual wearing of them. they are everywhere right now and they are calling me! the perfect footwear for new years eve in newcastle. 

18. nail polish. is there such a thing as too many shades of pink in your nail polish collection? i think so but this has made my list regardless. 

 19. turquoise bracelet. such a beautiful colour. i bought some bangles today with a touch of turquoise and i already can't wait to wear them to work this week. i would wear this one all holidays. 

20. kitten. ok so this is slightly unrealistic, along with most of the things featured in this aptly titled 'wish' list. it may not be this year and it might not be a christmas gift but one day i will have a kitten!