easter treats

on thursday i arrived at work to find a gorgeous little easter present waiting for me on my desk. 

mj, my friend and office next door neighbour, had made rocky road for our whole team, placing it in little white chinese takeaway boxes and tying a pink and white checked ribbon around it. it was

delicious, so much so that i think mine was all gone before it was even 9am! his recipe was made up of tiny marshmallows, crushed scotch finger biscuits and pistachio nuts covered in good quality milk chocolate. i'm thinking of making the same this weekend for any friends and family that stop in.

easter ice cream

despite having had chocolate every day for the past week, i am very much looking forward to enjoying an ice cream in noosa over my easter break. no holiday here would be complete without it. 

gift idea

a close friend doesn't have any baking utensils so this year i know exactly what i'm getting her... something along these lines! i did a similar thing for one of shona's birthdays and gave her a mixing bowl filled with a tea towel, wooden spoon, icing spatula, cupcake cookbook, cupcake holders and sprinkles, all in cute matching pastel colours of course! i love baking and just want to share the baking love around!

words of inspiration

birthday love

there is nothing quite like a birthday to make you feel really loved and special... and there is nothing quite like four different cakes to make it feel like your birthday! i love birthdays, especially my own. those who say they don't are either lying or need to embrace the joy that a birthday can bring. of course the attention and presents are a plus but what is really special is the hugs and kisses and messages you receive from those nearest and dearest to you on your special day. at least that's what i love and it's certainly what i received on april one. thank you everyone for making it such a wonderful day in your own way and for lifting my spirits higher than i have felt in a long time. i especially loved my grandma lois' april fool joke, it just shows you can have fun at any age, whether you are twenty five or approaching eighty five. 

p.s. not kidding about the four cakes. i was one happy but very full birthday girl on sunday night!

knock knock...

who's there...

number 25...

one. year. older. tomorrow.

two personal favourites

wishing everyone a nice long sleep in and a yummy 

breakfast for their saturday morning tomorrow!

adventuring

i want to have adventures with you...

wishing my friends josh and lu a wonderful time in europe, especially for their trip to the city of love. josh promised lu he wouldn't visit paris until she was with him, romantic much! i'm so very happy that they have chosen each other to spend the rest of their life together. and i'm also very happy to have beth back home safe and sound from her european adventure. i so wish she could have packed me in her suitcase!

anchored

able and game cards

it's no secret that i love cards and these able and game cards are no exception! i first spotted them for sale in a cafe near work and when i was in melbourne on the weekend they had a whole stall at the rose street market. i would love to recieve a card like the kitten one on my birthday and i would love to give the bridesmaid one out one day! there are so many good ones... have a look at their etsy store and their blog for more. oh, and going off their blog, i think they love cats as much as i do! hooray for fellow cat lovers.

bed time (aka 30 rock time)

that's enough playing blog catch up for one night!

even though i have a million more i could do.

i'm off for my nightly dose of 30 rock.

i read tina fey's book and converted.

so glad i did, it is simply hilarious.

goodnight and sweet dreams all.

happy friday for tomorrow.

i love how much she loves food and how daggy she is.
and i love this episode when she stops following the rules.
i need to call kahli this weekend to discuss how good it is.

birdies

powerful words

hear what you don’t want to hear. 

say what you don’t want to say. 

go where you don’t want to go. 

push yourself.

the trouble is... 

i love being inside my comfort zone.

i hate hearing what i don't want to hear.

i rarely say what i want to say. 

and the older i get, the less i push myself. 

time to change some things around here i think!

(i think this is the mantra of some very special people i know and they are well and truly living life and fulfilling their dreams as a result)

lo♥e the animals

i have been looking for a charity to donate to for a while now and i think i have finally found one. i decided a long time ago that it was something i wanted to do and i was inspired by my grandma joan. when we were cleaning up her house after she passed away i found an unsent cheque for the rspca in a draw. i know she didn't have much so the fact that she regularly donated to charity touched my heart. she would always rush off to find her purse for any cause when someone would knock on the door. so i posted the beautiful hand written cheque and made a promise to myself and her that i would donate to a charity in her place. i really wanted to continue helping animals so looked into the rspca, wwf and wspa however when i stumbled across this poster online it really connected with me. i was excited to have found them in my own way, as if it was meant to be. so the international fund for animal welfare it is and all in the name of my beautiful grandma and her love of all creatures great and small. learn more about the ifaw and the work they do here.

swashbucklin' sibblings

speaking of birthdays... my little brother matt turned 22 yesterday!

and my sister is 20 this year. what is going on here? rewind please. 

there are so many things i love about this photo, it makes me burst with love. 

dad had turned our coffee table upside down and transformed it into a 

pirate ship for us, complete with a bottle of grog and wooden cockatoo.

happy birthday me hearty, i love you and would do anything for you.

p.s. this website really assisted with the pirate terms featured in this 

blog post, grog being one of them as i don't normally use that word!

time flies when you're not having fun

i'm back! it's been almost two weeks! where does the time go? if a week and a half can pass by like lightening, is that what is going to happen to my whole life? i certainly hope not. i'm in a bit of a rut this week, despite having had a lovely weekend away in melbourne. i don't know what i'm doing with my life and where i'm going. i feel like i am wasting it by spending my days in front of a computer, knowing it's not a career i am passionate about pursuing. i'm too scared to take a chance and find out what it is that i am passionate about though, and i'm too busy! with my twenty fifth birthday fast approaching i am definitely facing a quarter life crisis. on the bright side, these e-cards made me laugh. there is one, or many, for everyone. ok, that's enough... back to sulking.

carry you home

give me a second i, i need to get my story straight

my friends are in the bathroom getting higher than the empire state

my lover she is waiting for me, just across the bar

my seat's been taken by some sunglasses, asking 'bout a scar

and i know i gave it to you months ago, i know you're trying to forget

but between the drinks and subtle things, the holes in my apologies

you know I'm trying hard to take it back

so if by the time the bar closes and you feel like falling down

i'll carry you home, tonight...
we are young, so let's set the world on fire
we can burn brighter, than the sun

i love this

winged eyeliner

i would like to give this winged eyeliner look a go. when i see it i think of shona, i'm pretty sure she wears it like this every single day! i asked her what she wore on a date recently and she described her outfit to me, adding winged eyeliner to the list which i thought was cute. maybe i'll try it on a girls night out.

free