19 today

happy birthday for today baby sister
you hot young nineteen year old you
i had so much fun at 19 and you will too
matt and i met when i was that age
i hope elliot spoils you tonight
and that you feel as loved as you are

wonderful weekend

i had a wonderful weekend! did you? the birthday surprise for janet, matt's mum, was a night on the gold coast in a big apartment with ocean views and an evening at 'the outback spectacular' with her whole family, including me her surrogate fourth child! it was great fun, experiencing something exciting and different together. we knew janet would love it as she has been wanting to go for years now and used to ride horses when she was young. the set up was impressive, the show was amazing, the three course meal was delicious and the whole event was run so efficiently. i also learned more about our own history and have been inspired to read some books and find out even more. i really recommend going, it's a great night out especially as a family. we had our photo taken with digger, a border collie from the show, as a memento and of course we each took home our own cowboy hat. i wish we had longer there, although it would have meant more shopping and dining out - two things i am currently trying to avoid. we went to a buffet breakfast on sunday morning and i was delighted to find they had coco pops! we never had coco pops or fruit loops or any of those sugary cereals as kids unless we were very lucky or were camping and it came in one of those boxed cereal packages. genius! but never fair when you are one of three kids - chances were you'd end up with sultana bran and cornflakes if you didn't get in quick enough. i hope matt, jase, amy and ian enjoyed our little trip as much as i did. i love family outings. i know that janet had an amazing time, she sent us all the most beautiful text to say so. happy birthday janet, we love you. xo

speaking of

speaking of childhood... when i was looking for a picture for my last post i found this. yes i certainly had one and i still wouldn't mind one now! my favourites were the water colours and oil pastels. brilliant!

old parents' tales

my work friends and i were talking the other day about the things our parents used to tell us in order to encourage or discourage us from doing something. they came up with 'don't sit too close to the tv or your eyes will go square', 'don't pull that face or the wind will change and you'll look that way forever', 'eat your crusts so you're hair will go curly', 'eat your veggies so that you get big and strong' and others that i can't recall now. i added the one my dad would tell us as kids if he came to tuck us in and noticed that we had two pillows, 'don't sleep with two pillows or you'll get a crooked neck'. that made everyone laugh (i don't think it is as common as the others!) and someone joked that things must have been tough in household if we were only allowed one pillow. i don't know if dad was right or not but i still sleep with one pillow to this day. looking back, those sayings are really just some of the many ways our parents were looking out for us. sweet really, despite being highly frustrating at the time. i wonder if we'll repeat the same lines one day. chances are we will and chances are our parents received the similar ones from our grandparents. i'll have to ask mum and dad next time i see them. 

breakfast time

up early today! this is the perfect time of year for porridge with

berries. not that i have time for that, airport muffin here i come!

inspiration

i'm hoping this pretty picture will provide some inspiration

to my favourite blog ~ we always have paris ~ please start posting

your beautiful words and images again soon. we all miss you.  

show your colours

shout it from the roof tops and balconies...

go the maroons/cane toads/queensland!

officially mid week

today is wednesday and half way to the weekend! this week is flying by and so is this whole year, i really can't believe we are almost in june. before i know it i will have been back in queensland for a whole year. so what is new... well last night i played tennis and today have pulled up sore all over. i think it is my body's way of reminding me how unfit i am and how quickly i lost sight of those health and fitness goals a few blog posts ago. so now i am limping around the office and dreading going back to the gym. i think my personal trainer thinks i've fallen off the face of the earth. he sends me texts to see how i'm going and to tell me that he noticed i hadn't been into the gym. poor guy, i must be a personal trainers worst nightmare. i have every excuse under the sun not to go. tennis was fun though. i much prefer exercise that doesn't feel like exercise at the time. i had lost most of my skills though. i wasn't too bad when i played regularly with pb at his southbank car park roof top tennis court! tonight it state of origin game one. i still don't have plans to watch it but i hope i can catch the end and that we win of course! tomorrow morning i need to be up early. we are heading to sydney for a work meeting which is really just a disguise for why we are really making the journey - our advertising agency is having a party! the theme is great gatsby or 1920's and everyone has spent their lunch break each day this week out and about trying to find something. it should be a really fun night and it's always good to get away from the office for a day. this weekend will be spent with matt and his lovely family for his mum's birthday. i can't say where we are going or what we are doing because no doubt janet would read it here and i will have spoiled the surprise (not the first time that this has happened to me when it comes to surprises!) but it's going to be something exciting! don't you love having things to look forward to. for example... knowing you are going to america in three weeks with three awesome people!!! (not an example... knowing you have to go to the gym.)

weekend in pictures

 a french cafe that we sat opposite of at our saturday morning breakfast in west end. i'd love to go back there. a coffee and croissant during winter in a cute setting like this, oui s'il vous plait.

 a big, beautiful black and white cat that i came across and gave lots of pats to. matt had walked a good hundred metres away towards the car by the time i looked up. i wish i was a cat.  

 sunday breakfast with mum and dad at the jetty in bulimba. they came to brisbane to spend sunday with me. we also went to the movies to see water for elephants, a beautiful love story and must see.

 being a tourist on the city cat and taking pictures of the bridge i drive over every weekday. tomorrow included. i don't want to go back to work, i want to have more adventures like this. 

 at the greek fest (for the second day) enjoying greek food, greek music, greek dancing, greek culture. oh and rock climbing alongside mum. dad made me. and he got pictures!

two balloons we lined up for, along with lots of little kids. a bit like the rock climbing line up. i'm surprised we didn't get our faces painted and terrorise the baby animals in the mobile farm. 

 another beautiful cat we came across! he had the most gorgeous coat and glowing eyes. i don't need to buy a cat of my own, i can just walk the streets of brisbane and enjoy other peoples. 

mum and i let go of our balloons at the same time. we waited until no one was looking as it felt a little bit like littering. is it? they followed each other up the whole way until we couldn't see them anymore.

i took a million and one more, as i like to do, but these are the special ones. i hope everyone had a lovely weekend and that it didn't go too quickly as it always seems to, no matter how hard we try. 

saying sorry

there have been a few tears this week.

i never normally post sad things here. 

fighting and conflict makes me feel ill. 

so to my boyfriend and best friend... 

i am sorry. i didn't mean to cause drama.

i hope we are ok and can forgive and forget.

p.s. two separate and slightly ridiculous 

incidents in hindsight for those wondering. 

on the plus side, how cute is this drawing. 

poor misunderstood onion, i know how you feel. 

everybody's free

ladies and gentlemen of the class of ’99.

if i could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it. the long term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience…

i will dispense this advice now.

enjoy the power and beauty of your youth; oh never mind; you will not 
understand the power and beauty of your youth until they have faded.
but trust me, in 20 years you’ll look back at photos of yourself and recall in a way you can’t grasp now how much possibility lay before
you and how fabulous you really looked… you’re not as fat as you 
imagine.

don’t worry about the future; or worry, but know that worrying is as
effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing
bubblegum. the real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind; the kind that blindside you at 4pm
 on some idle tuesday.

do one thing everyday that scares you.

sing.

don’t be reckless with other people’s hearts, don’t put up with 
people who are reckless with yours.

floss.

don’t waste your time on jealousy; sometimes you’re ahead, sometimes 
you’re behind… the race is long, and in the end, it’s only with yourself.

remember the compliments you receive, forget the insults; if you succeed in doing this, tell me how.

keep your old love letters, throw away your old bank statements.

stretch.

don’t feel guilty if you don’t know what you want to do with your life… the most interesting people I know didn’t know at 22 what they 
wanted to do with their lives, some of the most interesting 40 year 
olds i know still don’t.

get plenty of calcium.

be kind to your knees, you’ll miss them when they’re gone.

maybe you’ll marry, maybe you won’t, maybe you’ll have children, maybe
 you won’t, maybe you’ll divorce at 40, maybe you’ll dance the funky chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary… what ever you do, don’t congratulate yourself too much or berate yourself either – your 
choices are half chance, so are everybody else’s.

enjoy your body, use it every way you can… don’t be afraid of it, or what other people 
think of it, it’s the greatest instrument you’ll ever own.

dance… even if you have nowhere to do it but in your own living room.

read the directions, even if you don’t follow them.

do not read beauty magazines, they will only make you feel ugly.

get to know your parents, you never know when they’ll be gone for good.

be nice to your siblings; they are the best link to your past and the
people most likely to stick with you in the future.

understand that friends come and go, but for the precious few you should hold on.

work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and lifestyle because the older you get, the more you need the people you knew when you were young.

live in new york city once, but leave before it makes you hard; live in northern california once, but leave before it makes you soft. travel.

accept certain inalienable truths, prices will rise, politicians will 
philander, you too will get old, and when you do you’ll fantasize 
that when you were young prices were reasonable, politicians were 
noble and children respected their elders.

respect your elders.

don’t expect anyone else to support you. maybe you have a trust fund, maybe you have a wealthy spouse; but you never know when either one might run out.

don’t mess too much with your hair, or by the time you're 40, it will 
look 85.

be careful whose advice you buy, but, be patient with those who supply it. advice is a form of nostalgia, dispensing it is a way of 
fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the 
ugly parts and recycling it for more than it’s worth.

but trust me on the sunscreen…

it's friday

'it's friday, it's friday'.... for some reason i think of that annoying song every friday now, despite how bad it is. i sometimes even sing it which is not a good sign. but songs aside, today was a great day. 1. it was friday! 2. i got lots of work done 3. we spent an hour at lunch op-shopping in paddington (looking for outfits for a great gatsby party we have next week) 4. i scored two bottles of wine at work 5. i got home early 6. i had dinner and drinks in the valley with nim, matt and his boss andrew 7. i laughed lots and thoroughly enjoyed their company 8. organised a plan for tomorrow with matt (greek festival date) 9. matt told me i could have a puppy if i wanted one (easier said than done) 10. it's still friday!

dear disneyland

dear disneyland,

i am coming to visit!

along with your biggest fan lucinda,

her wonderful boyfriend josh and her lovely mum vivvy.

we are going to have possibly the most fun i have ever had.

we look forward to seeing you soon. 

(june 15 - 16 and maybe even 17 to be precise) 

love jess.

{this is dreamy}

i should not have ever visited the highly addictive site {this is glamorous} that beth told me about on the weekend, especially with her forewarning. now i will never be able to stop dreaming of paris and all things beautiful with romantic images like these. i wish i was a photographer that could walk the streets and gardens and homes of europe and take pretty pictures all day. we are such visual creatures aren't we. 

number one

the other day at a dinner party we went through everyone's favourite song. when it came to be my turn i couldn't name one of course. i never could and the same goes for movies. why is that?! there are so many brilliant songs in the world and i can never name one. i think i need to have one up my sleeve for next time. here are some songs i downloaded recently with an itunes gift card given to me by my lovely brother for my birthday. quite the mix! maybe that's why i can never decide, there are too many good ones to choose from!

the last day on earth - kate miller-heidke
even when i'm sleeping - leonardo's bride
hallelujah - jeff buckley
sitting, waiting, wishing - jack johnson
better together - jack johnson
taylor - jack johnson
stand by me - ben e. king
wonderwall - oasis
fidelity - regina spektor
imagine - john lennon
i wish i knew natalie portman - k-os
big city life - mattafix
it can wait - illy
naive - the kooks
khe sanh - jimmy barnes
better be home soon - crowded house
the horses - daryl braithwaite
truly madly deeply - savage garden
kissing you - des-re
everybody's free - quindon tarver
when doves cry - quindon tarver

tips to a perfect kiss

although i love them all, kiss in the rain is my favourite

not that i've ever done it, but it's on my long list of things to do 

it makes me think of the scenes in breakfast at tiffany's and the notebook

oh, and almost all other romantic movies out there

i remember how i dreaded my first real kiss, years 

before it had even come close to happening!

read about three cute kissing tips here.

1. slow down

2. look at his lips

3. focus on the feeling

feeling domestic

i did mountains of ironing tonight while watching masterchef. now my wardrobe is bursting with work clothes that are ready and waiting to be worn, no annoying and time consuming morning ritual of getting the ironing board out. not that i do it much anyway! i always avoid the clothes that require any kind of attention and go straight to the items i can pull straight on. i really need to buy some tights and long sleeve tops now that it's so much colder. any excuse to shop! p.s. how true is this picture... it's very true for me. mum knows everything about washing and i love it when she helps me while i'm home. relief floods me as i hand over my favourite dress or top for her to magically restore. i wonder if it's a skill that everyone somehow manages to develop over time and with children. i hope it is anyway or i'm in trouble!    

over as soon as it began

i had a lovely sunday... right now i'm trying not to think about work tomorrow so i think i'll just go back today instead... i had a sleep in and woke up to blue sky outside my window and a nice text from matt, looked at photos from yesterdays gorgeous wedding, did some hand washing that i have been putting off forever, went for a long and overdue walk with beth, had a coffee with her in a lovely bulimba deli and then checked out her new abode, spent the afternoon with matt, went fishing but spent the entire time trying to either unhook my lure from debris or untangle my line, fed and pat three beautiful horses, had a bbq for dinner on matt's veranda, watched 60 minutes and then had a cuddle on the couch with matt but was mostly trying to escape the cold. it was a really nice day and evening with nothing pressing to do and no where to be. but it's almost over and tomorrow morning i have to be up early to drop my car off to be serviced. then i have to walk to work in the freezing morning cold. if only every day could be sunday. is anyone else dreading another work week like i am?

the truth

ash and john
may 14 2011
♥

the truth is... we hide because we want to be found,

we walk away to see who will follow,

we cry to see who will wipe away the tears,

and we let our hearts get broken to see who will come and fix them.

dad

how adorable are these photos. 

they make my heart melt. 

it's alyce when she was a baby.

and dad when he was young and had hair. 

dad is playing one player electronic chess. 

and drinking a beer. and looking very tired.

i think most people have a photo like this.

dads are the best. and were hip once too. 

take a look at this post on cup of jo.   

brrr it's chilly!

who else has felt the shift in weather this week? more like who hasn't! it is freeeeezing here and i don't even want to imagine what my melbourne friends and family are feeling. good thing my sister left her entire winter wardrobe here in noosa. i am now sporting three really warm and really cute hoodies around town. despite all the complaining there are some good things about winter. big doonas, way more cuddles, having the heater on in the car without matt complaining, soup and toast, hot showers, lots of vanilla green tea at work, going that little bit longer without smooth legs, getting to wear my beautiful birthday scarf, having another excuse not to exercise and basically just more time indoors to do things like reading, dvd watching and blogging!

cupcakes for a cause

tomorrow at work i will be eating lots of cupcakes, all in the name of charity! for one dollar you can buy a cupcake and all money raised will go to the starlight foundation. i've baked my own batch and they are iced and ready to go! it was a team effort though, i had to borrow matt's mixing skills, naomi's cupcake tin and kahli's oven. they look lovely. my favourite part of cupcake making is patty cake choosing! the brand robert gordon makes some gorgeous paper ones. have a look at the super sweet range here. 

tea for one

fit for a queen

all eyes were on the dress and the kiss

and both were beautiful

mothers day

happy mothers day to my mum

mothers hold their children's hands for a short while, but their hearts forever.

at the movies

i went to the movies tonight with my two best girl friends kahli and naomi. we saw 'something borrowed' and it was really good! a very funny romantic comedy with lots of little things you didn't expect. the trailer doesn't even do it justice. i love kate hudson and the type of character she often plays. i absolutely love going to the movies. my aunt janine in melbourne goes every week, if not more, and so i went all the time with her... often accompanied by a boysenberry choc top! my mum is a member of a film society so she prefers foreign films and it's hard to get her to a mainstream movie. i find many of them too confronting but i have seen some moving ones such as 'turtles can fly' which from memory is set in iraq and about children living in a refugee camp. mum recently saw the film 'catfish' which is apparently really good. the story line is pretty intriguing but slightly freaky. i remember when i was younger mum would go to the movies and always leave some jaffas for us, it was highly exciting and really thoughtful of her now that i think back on it. i really want to go to a drive in movie one day too. i might suggest it to matt soon. it would have been so much fun to have been young and in love at the drive in during the fifties. the next movie i plan on seeing is 'babies'. i've been waiting for it to come to australia for what seems like forever and in the end i didn't think it would but then kahli came across it. you can watch the trailer here and i'll let you know what it's like on my blog! and seeing as this whole post seems to be about films then i can't help but share some clips from a new zealand short film contest. the task was to capture the essence and beauty of the new zealand landscape. make sure you you watch them all here, my favourite is 'frosty man and the bmx kid'. it has the young boy from the movie 'boy' in it. i just love the way he talks, it's choice bro!

lazy day

how i feel today. 

dance floors and disco balls

today got off to a slow and sleepy start after a big night out.

the beautiful xanthe from work is moving to hong kong so 

we farewelled her with drinks, drinks and more drinks...

vodka, lime and cranberry or vodka, lime and soda.

we had an after work function at sienna bar followed 

by dinner and karaoke at ben's in woolloongabba. 

i must say i didn't participate in the singing part!

after dinner we headed into the valley for hours and

hours of dancing. every time a song was ending and you 

thought you could take a break and rest your feet, another

fantastic song would come on and you couldn't leave.

while it was fun it did remind me of a few down sides to partying.

expensive drinks, yelling to talk, aching feet, sleezy guys, rude girls, 

brand new drinks being knocked over and of course the hangover

you experience the next day. i don't miss it all that much. 

it's now 3 in the afternoon and all matt and i have achieved

 so far is a big sleep in, bacon and eggs and a mowed lawn. 

now we're about to make our way to the dvd store. 

after such a large night we are certainly laying low today!

decisions

i'm currently trying to decide whether to go to los angeles with friends or bali with family for a week in june. such a big decision! i really want to go to the u.s but it all depends on whether i can get on a flight!

busting to blog

i am so far behind with blogging, i know! so much has been going on with all of these holidays and various after work activities. it also doesn't help when you have no intenet service or the power cord to charge your laptop is at your parents house. anyway, i miss blogging daily dearly and my head is busting with things to write about and catch up on. stay tuned!