I'm alive....

...and snapping! I simply couldn't write another blog until I had a decent camera, here she is(taken with a lot of effort from my old camera):


A letter on its way to New Zealand, whoever could it be for?


And I received an invitation to what endeavors to be one of the most enjoyable evenings of my life!


More shortly!

I can't wait to read everyone's blogs and see what I've been missing in the blogosphere!

A treasure chair of goodies

I can be quite a messy person at times(well my mother would probably say all of the time) and I tend to leave any new things I've bought lying around the house, so my mother usually piles it all up and dumps it on my dining chair in the hope that I'll move it when meal time comes around but usually I just pile it all on the floor next to the chair(Sorry Mum!). A couple weeks ago this is what my dining chair looked like(minus the outdoor part), full of beautiful knick-knacks, including: a new Pyjama top and the accompanying adorable little price tag as well as a birthday present for a friend, something recycled, something reusable and something with a dash of blue. That assortment on the chair sums up how I'd like my own house to be in the future, full of beautiful, eco-friendly, kitsch and quirky pieces that will make my house, feel like a home.

That photo was one of the last pictures take with my treasured Pentax Optio S10 digital camera which conked out on me after only a year and a half of use. In the hope it might be fixable we took it to a camera repair shop but it was going to cost more than it was worth to have it mended, luckily though the man serving me was able to offer me a similar Pentax camera that has some new extra features and a slick exterior for the cost price of only $220. One hundred dollars cheaper than the current retail price, only problem is they have to get it shipped over and it's already been two weeks since I ordered it and I've yet to receive the camera.

On another note, remember this summer to-do list I wrote in November? Well unfortunately I didn't finish everything on the list but I am on my way to completing some of the other tasks: I'm about to start piano lessons this week, I've chosen the article I'm going to write, I've written about half of the song, I bought the fabric to make the piece of clothing and purchased some yarn for crocheting. So the list is still a work in progress. Rest assured I didn't spend my summer days doing nothing though, I've been preparing for school and catching up on note-taking and study from '09.

Back to organising everything for the start of a new school year then. Best wishes for anyone else starting back!


P.S. I also want to give a huge thankyou to Blaize for sending this award my way!



P.P.S With my new-found typing skills I touch-typed this whole post!

Can you spot the cat?

Milly The Cat

For the past two weeks we've been caring for an adorable little cat(for a friend of mine while her and her family took a trip to Bali), called Max, who is a girl cat. Being the feminine person that I am I couldn’t fathom calling such a sweet little cat … Max, so I changed her name to Milly as in Maxamillion(Who I think was some Roman/Greek god…? I only recognised it, as it was used in a film I watched recently). She’s been such a pleasure to have around and has really livened up the house, I’m really hoping we can get a cat of our own this year so I’m hopeful this ‘experience’ will persuade my mother.

Even though Milly is very girlie she can be quite mischievous at times, she scampers round the house, skidding on the slippery tiles(and has bashed into the glass back door a couple of times) and I’m pretty sure she's jumped onto almost every surface possible in the house, including:

The linens in the cupboard.



The top of the television cabinet, where she’s knocked down all the Christmas cards on numerous occasions.



The bookshelf and nearly the air conditioning unit.



The sinks.



Plus the piano, washing machine, dining table, kitchen bench(where she liked to drink water out of our glasses, when we had our backs turned), shower and the kitchen hot plates while one was turned on!(Luckily she didn’t touch the hot one and some aluminium foil along the edge stopped her from returning).

Did I mention she’s an indoor cat? So of course we took her for a daily walk with her leash and collar. She looked forward to going outside so much so she would whine and meow in the mornings until we took her out but she tried to do a runner a couple of times as she was able to slink out of the collar. She wanted to chase after bees; something that wouldn’t have ended well.



We did have a bit of a mini disaster occur when I went to go put out the washing once. You see, we have a fairly large gap at the bottom of our flyscreen door(from when we used to have rabbits that nibbled their way outside) and while the cat had been vacationing with us I always made sure the glass door was shut, as I didn’t want to risk her escaping but on this occasion I only left the flyscreen door closed and I started to have a mini heart attack when I noticed it open as I was about to come back inside. My first thought was that the cat had escaped as she’d been following me round the house all day and was desperate to go outside. Before I went into a full-on heart attack I went to go look for her inside the house as I was probably overreacting but even with my mother’s help looking in every nook and cranny we couldn’t find Milly. Back came the mini panic attack as I searched the whole garden, driving the neighbour’s crazy calling out “Miiiiiilllly!”(after a while I was starting to think I was pronouncing it wrong as I’d said it so many times). I peered over the back fences of a couple of the surrounding neighbour’s gardens but no such luck. I was really starting to doubt I’d ever see her again, we have 6 neighbouring gardens that surround our backyard so she could have been in any one of them plus she wouldn’t really recognise anything as she was in a new neighbourhood. Next I went round asking the neighbours to look out for a ginger cat that may or may not respond to either Milly or Max(I got some strange looks there) but no-one had seen her. I was deciding whether or not to cry as I walked back into our house, about to phone the local ranger in case anyone called in saying they’d found a cat, when my mother yelled out saying she’d found her! Milly was fast asleep laying on top of a row on magazines on a bookshelf that was hidden by a sheet(my mother seems to have a phobia of dust and covers everything up). I was so relieved I wouldn’t have to tell my friend I’d lost her cat; one of the happiest moments of my life.

But other than that minor hiccup everything went smoothly, except for my feet which kept getting scratched by the monster under the bed.

2010

Hope you all had a lovely New Year and Christmas Day, I feel so giddy about it being the start of a new decade(I'm ignoring the fact that technically the new decade starts in 2011).

2010.
Wow.
It's finally here.

Shame it's not really how the 2000s were depicted in those old futuristic films/tv shows(Think "The Jetsons") But perhaps that was a little too far fetched, I doubt even the 3000's will be like that. I think the closest thing to how I expected the 2000's to be is IKEA. Seems silly how a furniture store could be so advanced but it truly is. I feel they have revolutionised the way people shop and it makes sense. They make the process of shopping simpler and as a 'reward' for shopping there you get cheaper products. And it's the tiniest of details that all add up.

The flat packaging- they save on the decreased cardboard, giving you cheaper prices plus the DIY element of putting the furniture together saves you even more. Not to the mention the adorable and simple picture instructions.

(credit: greenbang)

The provided shopping lists, pencils and measuring tapes. Why didn't people think of them before?

(credit: unilinkbus)

The supplied shopping bags and no plastic bag policy; the store short cuts, making it ten times easier to manouvere round the shop; the beautiful children's creche; the "As-Is" section where you buy disouncted IKEA furniture that has been used or that has slight faults(I used to think it read "A5-15" when I was little and could never figure out what an earth it meant); the fact that they have everchanging showrooms where you can test everything out and see how it really looks plus the market hall where you can buy everything you see.

My favourite part of IKEA though would have to be the restaurant, I love how you serve yourself and the array of foods they have available for you to choose from(Did you notice how they even have jars of baby food available?) for just a couple of dollars. They also sell vegetarian and organic food, which gets a big thumbs up from me. Plus they encourage everyone to put away their own trays, which I whole-heartedly support. I really hate when people leave all their leftovers on the tables when it would take them less than 60 seconds to put it away. The cleaners already have plenty to do with cleaning away spills/dropped food and clearing away all the china/glass, plates and cups.

(credit: fredtexas)

And just to top it all off, you can buy the food they sell at the restaurant and cook it at home yourself. Next time I'm wanting to buy their organic pasta sauce, which for the quantity is far cheaper than the organic versions in the supermarkets.

(credit: ikea)

What I'm trying to get at is that I expected the noughties and the tens(anyone got a better name for the new decade?) to be a bit more innovative, simple and more eco-conscious. I guess I'll be visiting IKEA more often. Perhaps even on an ikea bike?

Several days ago my mum and I visited IKEA just to eat lunch there. That's just how awesome we think it is.

Christmas Beading

Thought I'd do some last minute crafting before the big day, it's ever so close now!
I've been meaning to make my little Christmas tree earrings for a while now(by that I mean years!). The inspiration for them was when I saw a singer in a Christmas carol concert wearing something similar and even though I've never really beaded before, I knew I was going to make them. It took me ages to figure out how I was going to join it all up and to do so neatly but about an hour and a half later I finally got the better of those miniscule beads!



I'm planning to wear mine on Christmas day when we visit our family friends, I'll have to hunt through my wardrobe for a matching dress, something red shall do nicely.

Please tell me I'm not the only one planning their Christmas day outfit?!

The Wishing Tree

Last year I didn't exactly have the perfect Christmas but I'm sure many had a much harder day and at least I received presents, lovely ones for which I'm very grateful for. There are lots of families out there who are really struggling and can barely afford basic necessities let alone presents so for the past couple of years I've been joining in with one of the nearby department store's(Kmart) Wishing Tree Appeal where they ask for Christmas presents in the form of gift cards or actual goods. The Salvation Army charity will then hand the gifts out to local families in need. I really enjoy participating in the appeal as it combines my love of shopping with my other love of donating to charities. The previous two years I donated toys that would be suitable for little girls(whom I have a soft spot for) so this year I wanted to give something for the older kids who usually miss out. The Salvation Army said they wanted things such as sport equipment, board games and Cd's for teens and tweens so I decided to opt for an Australian "Here And Now" version of Monopoly which was quite cheap at $36, usually they'd be $60 upwards. I thought the game would be appropriate as poor families would be likely not to own a game of Monopoly which has to be one of the best board games out plus it's a unisex presents and can be a two player game which is handy if they aren't many people in the family.



I think next year I'd like to give multiple gifts and especially one suitable for an adult so I'd better start saving. I'd urge everyone to donate a small or large gift to these Wishing Tree appeals as most large department stores are participating in them and this year there's been a huge plummet in donations due to the global financial crisis. People are able to donate to the Kmart Wishing Tree Appeal until 24th of December so you still have time left.

Virtual Christmas Shopping

It's officially the Silly Season and while many of you may be busily rushing around for Christmas presents I'm quite relaxed as much of my Christmas shopping has been done online this year. With my discovering of Paypal, and how easy and safe it is to shop online, I have become quite addicted to it! Not only because you can find unique Christmas presents but sometimes you can really snap up a bargain even with the postage included.

For my Dad, I've purchased a upside down tomato planter and strawberry planter for a snatch at only $15 each, as opposed to the $60 each you pay for the ones advertised on the television.

(credit: Bostonfixed)

(credit: Harriet Carter)

If you find a good few online department-style stores then you can definitely grab some bargains, I bought both the planters at Catch Of The Day where they sell heavily discounted products, one of the reasons being because they buy in bulk, but there is a 'catch'; they only sell a handful of products each day but it's definitely worth the daily checking, and to make it easier you can sign up to their mailing list or follow them on twitter.

My mum, is an unbelievably picky present receiver, and lets just say last year's presents weren't received well(She really didn't need a whole new set of large,heavy plates that we'd never use). She likes things to be practical yet she has all the practical she already needs and most gifts aren't exactly practical. She doesn't really have any hobbies so I can't give her any associated presents. She doesn't find time to read books so there's goes the most practical present out. She also has really sensitive skin so there's no point buying her beauty products or jewellery. Luckily you can find almost anything on the internet so I came up with the following:

-A copy of the 'latest' Ten Tenors CD, she had actually requested I buy her this early on in the year and there was no way I was going to forget.

(credit: Miamenewtimes)


-A fabric flower bracelet(the third one down), it's something pretty and since it's made out of fabric it shouldn't(I'm crossing my fingers with this one) irritate her skin.

(credit: Tinyhaus)

- An adorable card from an adorable little company, Bell & Boo and even with postage from UK it only cost $8! Plenty of fancy cards I see at my newsagents cost more than that and this way I'm supporting independent/handmade sellers.

(credit: Belle & Boo)


- An organic gardening book, called The Organic Garden(original, huh?). Now I know I said she didn't read but she actually did ask for a gardening book and I was running out of ideas.

(credit: Biome)

- I was going to get her these keyboard wrists rests as I thought it's something practical that she didn't yet have but just my luck, they contained flax seed which is illegal to import into Australia so they were seized and destroyed by customs. The seller was really understandable about it all and since it was mainly her fault she gave me a full refund including the postage, at her own expense.

(credit: ComfyCreations)

For a friend who didn't know what she wanted for Christmas(and who I'm hoping doesn't read this as I haven't given it to her just yet) and is a bit quirky and likes her animals I got her a 'toy grabber' necklace from Etsy. Aint' it cute?

(credit: Mariska)

Anyone else been doing virtual Christmas shopping?

Princess Portal

(credit: Princess Portal)

I stumbled upon an amazing site today, probably the most inspirational one I have come across as yet, Princess Portal. It is basically a lengthy how-to guide for being a 'Princess'. The blog's author Skye(who is also from my city, Perth!) discusses how being a Princess is a way of life and not all glitz and glamour but behaving in a beautiful way, how you would expect a fairytale princess to be, being the best you can be and doing so in a graceful and feminine manner. Skye, with the help of her readers developed a Princess Code which I think embodies the very basics of a Princess way of life. It definitely deserves to be printed out and stuck onto my whiteboard. It's times like these where I wish I had a typewriter so I could do the code justice and elegantly hand-type it out on patterned scrapbook paper, in true Princess fashion.

The Princess Code shows that you can and should treat yourself once in a while, you are a Princess after all.

"A Princess has the right to spend her funds on beautiful things she does not need because beauty in itself is priceless."

But also shows that being a Princess is about being a good person to not only yourself but to those around you.

"A Princess treats others how she would like to be treated, as royalty, and is always willing to help them."

My favourite part of the code would have to be the following:

"A Princess should be given fresh flowers everyday, even if she has to give them to herself."

I shall most definitely be adopting that one, if only to pick flowers for myself each morning.

(credit: Princess Portal)

As a symbol of my adoption of the Princess Code I have included the Princess Code banner to the side of the page, which also links to the site.

The content of the site is absolutely amazing, Skye writes about almost every single angle of incorporating Princess-ness into one's everyday lifestyle, in such depth and detail that you can't go wrong. For about 5 posts a week, Skye wrote ever so well, to be able to write like she does on all manner of interesting topics, so frequently. When I read 'self-help' articles I like to be given useful practical advice so that I may take something away from what I have read and Skye managed to do this with almost all her 'Princess Lessons' giving readers unique and clear ways of practising the art of being a Princess. There are many articles/websites/books out there about being positive and improving yourself but none have touched me so deep as Skye's interpretation of being a Princess. I think the main difference between her site and any other self-help information there is out there, is that she gives you an analogy of what being your best actually looks like, a Princess, making the goal more visible. Plus the philosophy tapped into my feminine and self-indulgent side, which is always good ;)

(credit: Princess Portal)

It's amazing to think that this 'castle' actually exists

Unfortunately Skye abandoned Princess Portal for her own personal blog, The Lost Princess which I don't think is nearly as good but has some beautiful photography nonetheless. To lessen my disappointment of the site's end I have decided to look at it as if the articles are one big self-help book, something you can look back on for reference and practical advice but at the same time you know it will never be updated, it is a simply a guide.

Summer To-do List

Since this year’s summer holidays are going to be the longest one yet at more than 2 months long, rather than spending it on the internet(ok, I’ll be doing that anyway) I want to be productive while still having a holiday at home. And being the list-lover that I am I just had to compile a checklist of all the things I wanted to accomplish over Summer. Hopefully I can cross at least one thing off my list each week.

Sew a piece of clothing

Learn to touch type

Read Cloudstreet by Tim Winton

Read Jasper Jones by Craig Silvey

Re-learn the piano

Crochet a heart garland

Make Christmas tree earrings

Write a song

Write an essay

Read the first Harry Potter book

Finish my travel journal for when I visited China

Complete a puzzle

Write an article For Snippets

Print all the photos on my computer

Hopefully I can cross at least one thing off my list each week and I shall let you all know of my progress. I will most likely add to the list as well. Ok, I’m off to read Jasper Jones in preparation for my English literature class in ’10.

Anyone else with end of year plans?

P.S. A big thankyou to Seli for awarding me the Awesome Blogger award, it is highly appreciated!