love letter

you've got mail

if this post makes you cringe then too bad, grin and bear it because it's my birthday*. today i got what i consider to be a love letter in the form of an email from matt. subject: hi soon to be birthday girl. email: hi babe. are you partial to the idea of a special birthday breakfast date at the cafe near my place? we will have to get up super early! how super sweet is that. especially coming from matt and the fact that it was entirely his idea. so in the morning we're off to lady marmalade cafe for coffee and nutella on toast. oh and pressie giving! what a good way to start the day... early rise, coffee, nutella (yum, yes please!), bf and special birthday present from bf ♥

*ok, it's my birthday tomorrow (in 9 minutes) but close enough!

self confessed cat lover

forget about christmas, all i want for my birthday is a kitten. the more tiny he or she is, the more happy i will be. one day, (big sigh) one day. i will not go through this life without a cat by my side. maybe even two. in the meantime pictures like this will have to suffice. how adorable. why can't there be more cat lovers in the world? they are so special and unique. when i was little we had a black cat named blacky (i'm assuming i got to pick the name) and a grey cat named darling. i don't have many memories of them but i do have some cute photos. then we had a beautiful black and white persian ragdoll named fluffy (again, an original name that just somehow came to me) and she was like my best friend. she loved to curl up next to you and she would flop in your arms affectionately. she was a member of our family for a very long time. i was devastated when i returned from my school ski trip only to have the news broken to me that she had been hit by a car and sadly passed away while i was away. she was buried at our peregian house and her collar can be found in the garden. not long after we lost fluffy we gained coco. a very different but equally as loved kitten. mum bought her as a surprise for me and i got to take her to netball and then to kahli's house on the first night. she ran around like crazy and we shrieked with delight. she used to wake me up all the time when she was a kitten as she'd play with my hair like it was a ball of wool. she's a different breed to fluff and so naturally she has a different personality and temperament. she can be a little psycho but she provides great entertainment for us and she still loves a good pat when she's sprawled out in her favourite spot. she also takes great pleasure in sitting on top of what ever you are doing at the time. you sigh an annoyed 'pusssss' but know you secretly love it. both fluffy and coco have had kittens which was so exciting and fun to have all these little kittens crawling over you (my idea of heaven). i think we were tempted to keep one, or all of them, every time but they went to the loving homes of our family and friends instead. i could talk about cats forever. more than i could babies, and that's a lot. i'm slowly working on matt too. we now play a game when we drive down the last few roads to get to his house at night. we try and spot as many different kitties as possible and matt even slows right down to look. it's really cute, especially when he asks me if i saw any on my way there if he's not with me. i consider this progress. slowly but surely he will grow to love them as much as i do. he often says i'm like a cat as i like to laze around, curl up close and demand to be petted! he even told me tonight that if he could, he would get me a box of kittens to play with for the day on my birthday. what a sweet boyfriend to think of that. either that, or my mind control techniques are finally working.

shake it up

it's three more days (including today that is) until my birthday (24 sounds so much older than 23!) and four more days until my cockatil party. even though it's only midweek i am starting to get excited! i have slowly been gathering spirits but i still need to buy all the other things that will make our cocktails complete. limes, lemons, passionfruit pulp, mango cheeks, frozen raspberries, strawberries, watermelon, lemonade, orange juice, red cordial, mint leaves, cranberry juice, pineapple juice, pineapple pieces, caster sugar, salt, oranges, apple juice, coconut milk, kiwi fruit, lychees, soda water and ice. it will be very fruity and very tropical, sans the hawaiian shirts and leis. side note for my favourite melbourne guys and girls - i wish you lived in queensland and could join in the fun. it won't be the same without you but i will have a mojito (or three) for you. 

love lead pencils

hands up who likes brand new wooden pencils and pegs. 

that would be me. i love the smell, look and feel of them.

(only if i'm not having to complete an exam or hang out washing that is!)

dreaming

you are the dream
i am the dreamer

not quitting

i am lucky enough to have an inspiring friend who is on a journey to become the best version of herself. these are her words, told straight from the heart.

no food tastes better than it feels to....
listen to my son's laughter while we play basketball together
wear 'normal' size clothes and not shop in the 'larger' section/stores
walk up a flight of stairs and not be breathless
reach a goal you thought was unreachable
realise that you are worthy
realise you are stronger and better than you ever thought you were
not quit

ahh ikea

what is it about ikea that i just can't resist?

k, nim, beth - feel like an ikea trip one weekend?

i am adoring the eye catching heart on the wall... 

but i doubt that matt would approve of that purchase.

i wish i had my own house to paint and decorate!

ok, i really just want more excuses to shop for stuff.

today's mantra

afternoon baking

 

i am currently enjoying far too much homemade caramel slice. thanks mum! i thought i would share the recipe below. i have never made it myself, i just come home to noosa and suggest 'we' make it. i feel it is going to provide me with much needed energy for when, actually if, i clean my car this afternoon. unlikely.

base 
1 cup plain flour, sifted
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup desiccated coconut
125g butter, melted

filling 
400g can sweetened condensed milk
2 tablespoons golden syrup
60g butter, melted
topping
60g copha, chopped
125g cooking chocolate, chopped

method
1. preheat oven to 180°C. line a 3cm deep, 28 x 18cm (base) lamington pan.
2. combine all base ingredients in a bowl. mix well. press into prepared lamington pan. bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until light golden. remove from oven. cool.
3. make filling: combine all ingredients in a saucepan over medium heat. cook, whisking, for 8 minutes or until golden. pour over cooked base. bake for 12 minutes or until firm. cool completely. refrigerate for 3 to 4 hours, or until set.
4. make topping: place copha and chocolate into a heat-proof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. stir until melted. pour over caramel. refrigerate to set. cut into squares to serve. makes 16 pieces.

7 rules

i really like this print. it reminds me of kahli who has been designing in different ways ever since i have known her. apparently there are seven rules to understanding designers. i like the first one as many famous designers are slightly eccentric. when i posted the other day about what i wanted to be when i grow up, i forgot all about when i wanted to be an interior designer. i would cut out images of rooms and colours and furniture that i liked from magazines. i still have these scrapbooks today but i dare not revisit them! i saw my friend ash's new apartment for the first time last night. now she could be an interior designer. i wanted to take photos of every room i loved it so much. she's chosen beautiful furniture and they've painted it white with feature walls in certain places. there is colour and texture throughout and i am officially (and extremely) jealous of her creativity when it comes to decorating. i will see if she'll let me do a photo shoot one day. that way i can post the images here for your viewing pleasure and i can steal all of her clever ideas.

watt to try...

last night was spent at watt restaurant in new farm to celebrate ash's birthday. 

the restaurant overlooks the brisbane river and i would recommend it in a heartbeat. 

it is a modern australian style menu with asian, middle eastern and european influences.

try...

entree: stone ground polenta bread

main: roasted pork loin, mustard spatzle and apples

wine: 2009 bladen sauvignon blanc – marlborough, nz

dessert: chocolate fondant, roasted peanut ice cream and vanilla marscapone

blossoming thought

we plant seeds that will flower as results in our lives, so best to remove the weeds of anger, avarice, envy and doubt... 

- dorothy day

feeling blue

sadly i felt like the above for most of today, only more blue instead of black. i just couldn't shake it which is not like me. i think maybe it was because i was 'tired and emotional' as mum would say. that, and the fact  that i had drinks until late the night before. it also didn't help that matt woke me up 'still in the sixes' as i quoted to him, meaning it was 6am something. it makes me so cranky that he sleeps like a log during weekday mornings but springs to life on the weekend. how does his body know the difference so well and why do i have to feel like doing the exact opposite? is a sleep in too much to ask for after a long week? so it was a pretty crap day. i felt like a) curling up in a ball, b) sleeping and c) crying/sooking. i think i did all three in the end. poor matt. my day did turn around in the end though. i found that when i went home (after spending the week staying over at matt's house) and unpacked all my things i started to feel a little more motivated. then i filled out some forms i'd been meaning to complete and send for weeks and my mood shifted a little more. after that i drove down the road to oxford street and bought some pretty tulips and a birthday present for ash. by this stage i almost felt back to being me again. add some sushi, nail polish and getting dressed up for ash's birthday dinner and i was well and truly over my mini meltdown. and while it seems so silly and short-lived now, it really was a horrible feeling and i feel for those that feel like this all the time.

red lippy

lately i've been wearing a long lasting red lip gloss. i haven't quite graduated to this level of red yet but i hope i can pull it off one day. there is something about red lipstick, it's like putting on an extra layer of confidence and you can't help but feel sexy, kind of like a glamorous hollywood star. if it suits you then go ahead and wear it more often, even if it's just around the house! i promise it will put an extra spring in your step and bring a big smile to your face when you catch your reflection in the mirror. not only that, you'll stand out in a crowd and your teeth will look super white. other cute ideas include kissing a love letter and sending it to your boyfriend or leaving a perfect pout on the bathroom mirror for when they next go into the bathroom. a bar in melbourne has a wall featuring a blown up old photograph of a group of men. their faces have been covered in hundreds of real pink and red lip stick kisses. you can have a look here.

my day today

lowlight: getting a parking fine for $100. parking illegally seemed like a good idea at the time. oh well.

highlight: seeing arj barker followed by a wonderful dinner with dougal and his beautiful girlfriend sophie.

giving back

how adorable are these teddies. you'll love them even more when you hear their story. they are called trauma teddies and they are given to children and adults in traumatic times. they are knitted with love by volunteers and given to the red cross. each one seems to have it's own personality. i wish i could knit them. i know my grandma lois would make beautiful ones as she is a whiz when it comes to wool. i first read about the teddies in my frankie mag. there is a lovely story of someone who works for the red cross and collects the teddies that don't quite make the cut. they might be the wrong size or shape or their features might be a little lopsided. they are found lying around the office and are given a new home with friends and family. i think the teddies are such a lovely idea and that they would give a great deal of comfort, especially to little ones. more and more lately i have been wanting to get involved in volunteering, even before learning about the trauma teddies. i would like to help out at an animal shelter or spend time with elderly people within the community. eventually i would like to volunteer overseas as it's always been something i've wanted to do. i plan on making some enquires once i have some spare time on my hands which is hopefully soon. the australian red cross stands out to me especially thanks to the trauma teddies, my experience with the red cross blood service and since witnessing their efforts in the victorian bush fires and the queensland floods. i really want to make a difference in some small way and think the red cross might be a good place to start. speaking of doing some good... earth hour is this sunday from 8:30 - 9:30pm so remember to turn off the lights and light some candles. romantic and environmentally friendly!

language of love

happy anniversary to my lovely friends kahli and alex for tuesday ♥

21 today

a big happy birthday to matt, or 'brother matt' as he has become known in our family since 'boyfriend matt' arrived on the scene. i can not believe he is 21 today. where did all of those years go? it feels like it wasn't that that long ago that we lived under the one roof and fought over who got to eat the last bowl of cereal or who's turn it was to pack the dishwasher. now we live in different cities and only really get to see each other at christmas time. i hope it's not always like this as i love having him around. every time i look at matt or alyce i'm reminded of a childhood memory that the three of us share. i wonder when they'll stop feeling like kids to me and more like the adults that they are becoming and are. one thing is for sure, the older i get the stronger the bond i feel towards them. i simply adore my brother and sister. all i want is for them to be happy and out of harms way. i look at dad and his sisters and mum and her sisters and they are all so close, bound by endless shared memories, history and blood. i really hope we can have that same relationship thirty years from now. i can't tell you how proud of matt i am. he is adventurous, daring, funny, helpful, polite, handsome, family orientated, active, smart and independent to name a few. he joined the navy one year after finishing school, something he has always wanted to do, and i never tire of hearing about (thanks to my endless questions) his days there. i carry around my navy drink bottle most places i go, just as my dad wears his navy hat, drinks coffee from his navy mug and sips beer that is kept cold thanks to his navy stubby holder. it was so good to see matt this weekend and i'm so glad he could make grandad's funeral. it was comforting to have us all there together. we took the last minute opportunity to celebrate his coming of age with a combined get together for our cousin holly's birthday at rosies house on saturday night with all of the family. it was a fun night and we all laughed hard as we enjoyed too much birthday cake and took turns in attempting to hoola hoop. after this weekend and grandad's funeral service i feel even more grateful to be a part of my family. to be able to say that my not-so-little brother is 21 today is something i'm really excited about. it really is a special birthday and i hope he has a wonderful day all the way down in wagga. p.s. although i love matt to death, i wasn't always so keen on having a brother. when he was born i was very put out at the amount of attention no longer reserved for me. on the day that i met him in the hospital i wore a big frown and a pink t-shirt that said 'daddy's little girl' on it. talk about sibling rivalry from a young age!

playing grown ups

when i was younger i used to want to work for m.i.l.k

i adored their cards and books and still do. when we had a garage sale at grandma's i saved her 'good friends' book that my mum had given to her many years before. it's now in my room and i loved flicking through the glossy pages of real life, heart warming pictures of friendship. i've been given many beautiful m.i.l.k cards in the past too. below are just a few. the below picture with the four girls jumping into the water is a card that kahli gave me and it always reminds me of my friendship with kahli, naomi and nicola as we've been a group of four for a long time. i loved it so much i even had it as a keyring. one birthday kahli also gave me a tin with two beautiful little kids on it and the words 'happiness is not in things, it is in us'. so you can see why i was so inspired to work for them, no matter how unrealistic it might seem now. growing up i also wanted to be a midwife or obstetrician as i am, and always will be, baby obsessed. and at one point when i was around ten i wanted to own a massage and beauty salon. i set up my own pretend business at home and i would beg alyce to be my client over and over again with a different name and personality each time she arrived for an appointment. i would have my bedroom set up with candles and all of mums expensive essential oils ready. it was called 'roses' from memory and i printed signs, business cards and price lists and placed them all over the house, i may have even tried to charge real money! i'm sure i drove everyone up the wall, especially my sister. it's fun to think back at what i wanted to be when i was young. i also think it could make for entertaining dinner party conversation!  

saying goodbye

it has been a long and emotional week with the passing and funeral of my beloved grandad john. the funeral service was beautiful and of course so sad. my family were extremely strong, especially my grandma lois, mum, aunts rosie and louie and cousin rach. it really was a special day that i will never forget and i will post some stories, photos and poems from the day this coming week. thank you again to all my friends who sent messages of love and support, it means so much.

love doesn't end

love doesn't end with dying or leave with the last breath. 

for someone you've loved deeply, love doesn't end with death.

march babies

there are so many birthdays in march

happy birthday my wonderful friends and family, your birth flower is the daffodil

i am looking forward to celebrating hannah's eighteenth tonight with the girls

not long until my birthday now, bring on april!

3 - matt's sister amy

9 - naomi's sister hannah

13 - my cousin grace

14 - her dad and my uncle mark

15 - my (and graces!) cousin jackson

19 - my cousin holly

20 - my friend and melbourne housemate josh

21 - my brother matt

22 - my cousin cody (and holly's brother)

23 - my friend ashley from melbourne 

24 - my friend shona

japan tragedy

i almost can't comprehend the images of the earthquake and tsunami in japan and i can't begin to know what to say. it is terrifying how powerful mother nature is and how helpless we are. it is hard to believe my parents were there just over two weeks ago enjoying a ski holiday. my thoughts are with all those effected. if you are feeling helpless like i am you can lend your support here. 

 

hope

peace

keepcup friday

life is returning to normal now that i've been back at work for a few days. back to emails. back to phone calls. back to coffee. speaking of which, i recently joined the keepcup movement! now not only do i have a cute cup for my morning coffee i'll also be saving the environment, not to mention a nice 50 cents per cup! that's almost a free coffee for every 5 i buy. the keep cup website is very cool, you can even design your own cup. choose your size and pick the colours of your cup, band, lid and plug! mine was already made up but out of the options they had at merlo i choose one with a green band, my favourite colour because i'm a little greeny at heart. it looks similar to the gum tree design on the keepcup website. so if you don't already have one now is the perfect time to invest and help make a difference. p.s. yay it's finally friday! if your day is dragging why not have a go at creating your own keepcup here. make it colourful like this aqua one or go natural like mine! hot coffee, cool planet.

thursday night

tonight i...

left work on time

went grocery shopping

bought fruit and veggies from the fruit shop

enjoyed a gourmet chicken pie for dinner with nim

watched new how i met your mother and laughed lots

watched the last episode of friends and then found this yellow frame

had my new short locks my straightened for me

blogged about cute earrings

did some washing

now i'm sleepy

night!

words of wisdom

i haven't felt like blogging much about my own life lately so pictures will have to suffice for now. i really like these two prints, especially the second one as it's something i've always believed in and tried my best to do. i hope it shows. as for the first one it always reminds me of my friend naomi as she can be a little stress head at times but i mean that in the nicest way! 

too lovely

roses, bows, hearts, daisies

how could i possibly ever choose which ones to take home?

frankie joy

i havn't been receiving my frankie mags at my new address for the past couple of months so they arranged to send me the two issues i missed. they arrived yesterday and i am looking forward to finding a spare five minutes today to flick through the pretty pages. in the mean time here are some images i found on their website. enjoy!



love

{so true}

grandad's rally

it seems my grandad is making small improvements each day. i just got off the phone to mum who is at the hospital now (we are doing it in shifts so it's not too tiring for him) and they are about to take him for a walk in a wheelchair. how amazing is that. you get the call to come in and say goodbye and then little by little he starts to shows signs of hope. it's been quite the roller coaster ride of emotions and it still is. you don't want to get your hopes up too high but at the same time you're overjoyed that he is still with us and fighting. he is so sweet it almost hurts. when you ask him how he's feeling he croaks 'not too bad love' and he squeezes your hand hard. we still don't really know what is going to happen but the latest turn of events, no matter how small, has everyone smiling again. mum keeps saying he has rallied which i love. she and my aunts have been so strong while i feel like i have returned to the age of 5 with lots of tears, the use of 'it's not fair' and extra attention and cuddles from everyone around me. i'm very lucky to have them. thanks also to all of my friends that have sent messages of love and support. your thoughts for grandad seem to be helping!

heart of gold

i will be taking some time out over the next few days to be with my family. my beautiful grandad john, my mums dad, is unwell. i wish i didn't have to say goodbye forever, it is possibly one of the saddest feelings. 

a grandfather is someone with silver in his hair and gold in his heart. 

- author unknown

playing dinner parties

free range organic chicken
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
potatoes, peeled
large lemon
bulb of garlic, broken into cloves
handful of fresh thyme
olive oil
fresh rosemary sprigs

preheat oven to 190 degrees.  rub the chicken inside and out with a generous amount of salt and freshly ground black pepper. push the garlic cloves, the whole lemon and the thyme into the chicken. cook for 90 minutes.

matt and i had a lovely night at naomi's house with kahli and alex the other night. she made an absolutely delicious roast chicken and roast vegies. the recipe was one of huey's with a touch of nim's own style throughout, like almonds mixed through the beans and brocoli. her culinary skills more than impressed me, it was so good! we are going to start doing dinners at each others houses more. i think i'll enlist matt to do the cooking when it's our turn.

future music

yes i will be wearing these tomorrow. 

it's going to be muddy and i like horses. 

the chemical brothers

stafford brothers

art vs science 

dizzee rascal

mark ronson

the presets

pendulum 

mgmt

oh and ke$ha. who i will not being seeing. 

passionate dislike.

polished

after a long break from polishing my nails i am back into it. at the moment i'm wearing a shimmery bronze similar to the chanel one pictured. the other colour is called orange fizz. now if only i had the shoes and ring to match. i could show off my freshly painted toes and fingers all day long. 

swimming in style

will i ever stop wanting new togs?

loving the bra and undie style and liking the frills a lot.

 and who can resist pretty pastel colours or girly floral prints? not i.

 another island getaway is needed to justify purchasing any of these darlings.