What are your hobbies?

I hate that question. I've had a lot of people ask me it here in the US and I know they mean well but the whole point of this year is for me to try and 'find' myself, as cliche as that may sound. I don't know exactly what I'm passionate about just yet and what if I'm just the kind of person who potters around, flitting between hobbies. For example, I take photographs every now and then but I wouldn't classify it as my hobby.

When people ask me this question I stutter and stumble. In my downtime I watch a lot of television and go on the internet but it's almost embarrassing to call that a hobby. But the thing is, watching tv itself isn't really the 'hobby'. Same thing with the internet- they are both so diverse that people of polar opposite personalities could say their hobbies were watching tv and surfing the internet yet you wouldn't be able to distinguish the individuals in the slightest.

I don't want to lie to people either. I don't want to say I craft because really I'm only putting my toes in the ocean of craft and definitely not on a regular basis.

I like to switch things up and would like to take up new hobbies such as gardening, crocheting, surfing, volunteering and sewing but those things are not always possible when you're on exchange. Maybe if I had opportunities to do those things I would have a more exciting answer to the question but just because I don't doesn't mean I'm boring or have no interest in creating a more well-rounded life for myself.

A question I prefer much more on the other hand is: What are your interests?
Here would be my answer: being environmentally friendly, alternative food lifestyles(ie. veganism, raw food & organic), fashion, eco-aware beauty, organising, business, crafting, self-empowerment, nutrition, fitness, meditation, collecting, travel, writing, blogging, books/magazines, board games, outdoor activities, gadgets, music, disney, jonas brothers, the kardashians, america, live shows/concerts, volunteering, shopping, hanging out with friends, philosophy, growing my own fruits/vegetables, skyping, making music, old children's tv shows, home decor, vintage finds, thrift stores, photography, foreign languages, guys, playing with pets, bike-riding, children, animals, mental fitness, puzzles, dancing......and the list is ever-expanding.

So to answer the other question. No, I don't have hobbies. I have things that interest me and my life is ever-changing and I don't have the desire to dedicate my time to only a handful of 'hobbies'.

Treasuring Myself

I'm the kind of person who is selfish. Not in a nasty sort of way but I tend to focus on myself a whole lot in terms of my mental state(I wish I was one of those Italian mothers who cooks masses of food for her family and runs around making sure their every need is taken care of and doesn't even worry about her needs in the slightest). But I believe that the best way to help others is to firstly help yourself and frankly I don't believe I can start forming relationships with others if I don't have a good relationship with myself. Anywho, this brings me to my favourite book as of now: Treasure Yourself by supermodel superwoman, Miranda Kerr. A book written for young women(although I see no real age boundary) about how to make the most of what you've got, which Miranda believes is a whole lot. I guess it's about realising your potential. To me it's almost a bible for life but of a non-religious kind as it's basically about how to be a good person and contribute to this place we all like to call home; Planet Earth. One of the analogies Miranda uses is the book is that every lady on the planet is a flower, each slightly different than the next but all still equally beautiful in their own unique way. A rose is just as beautiful as a daffodil. This, along with a day's worth of free time at school due to statewide testing that I was not allowed to participate in, led me to doodling in a journal about what sort of flower I was. This is what I came up with:

I really wish I had a vase of tulips in my room right now, they are simply the symbol for me, Shivi. I think this was a really powerful exercise and I think I'm going to google tulips a little further. Miranda uses so many other analogies and self evaluation question exercises in her book but most powefully she uses powerthoughts or affirmations which are simply statements you repeat to yourself about life/positivity/happiness/etc which are like exercise routines for your brain. Go check out the book and the other beauty products Miranda is selling here.

This Christmas...

I'm getting ready for: the arrival of my aunt and uncle from England(if they even manage to come with all the snow they're getting over there, delaying most of the flights out of London) who are vegos so we've had to do a little extra preparation for them and we're having a vegetarian Christmas for them which is exciting as we're going to try all these new recipes out of the various vegetarian cookbooks we've accumulated over the years. A Sweet Potato and Leek Roulade with a Christmas Stuffing looks like it's going to be the main attraction on our Christmas table this year.

I'm baking: music note shaped vanilla cookies as per the recipe from the new Junior Masterchef cook book(recipes are so much easier and much more to my liking than anything that would be in the 'adult' Masterchef cookbook) using vanilla extract and not vanilla essence. I ended up making 6 batches of them for all of mother's 30 piano students.

I'm listening to: Glee's new Christmas album. We haven't bought a new Christmas album in a couple of years and have stuck to the collection of carol CDs we already have but I was itching for a new one and I knew the Glee album would not disappoint. All the songs on it new so joyous and truly embody the spirit of Christmas, even with all the new carols on it that I've never heard before and the gospel twist on "Angels We Have Heard On High" was magical.

I'm decorating: my dad's Christmas tree. He's a bit of a scrooge so he only bought his own Christmas tree a couple years ago after I asked him to get one. so him, my brother and I were putting up the ball-balls,tinsel and lights over the weekend and we bought a nice gold, sparkly star to go on top as we couldn't find one in the shops when we looked for one in 2008(we didn't end up putting the tree up in 2009). It's been really nice to celebrate Christmas not only at my mum's house but at my dad's too.

I'm buying: the majority of my gifts online for the family(and even for myself as my mum hasn't quite figured out how to use paypal and online shopping sites)as I can buy more unique and tailor-made gifts for the recipients to enjoy. And as always there are huge discounts usually when buying online.


I'm attending: a Christmas carol concert. My dad, brother and I went to one this weekend at the local park which was much easier than attending one in the city as the parking/walking distance was less of a hassle and as we couldn't stay for long we had no trouble leaving easily. It was really nice to just spend the evening with other families who were getting into the Christmas spirit. They had candles you could buy for $2 but straight away my brother blew it out as well as attempting to blow out the 'big' candle that the organisers were attempting to light all the other smaller ones with to give to people. Luckily we managed to keep the second one alight, even though I did have to put my hand over my brother's mouth every now and then.

I'm loving: the fact that the whole month of December is special if you put in the effort and relish the jolly spirit of the season; not just the 25th.

I'm photographing: Our lovely advent wooden 're-useable' advent calendar. I've never been a fan of the chocolate ones and this one is so much more exciting even though we've had it for years and I probably know all the trinkets off by heart. If you count you'll find there are 20 toys as today is of course the 20th of December(for the next hour and five minutes anyway...)

Have a lovely Christmas all!

P.S. Feel free to use this as a blog tag if you're in a 'jolly spirit'.

Persistence, Luck and Success.

Being the brave 17 year old that I am I got my mum to ring up about this scholarship business and the lady who is supposedly in charge of the scholarships was extremely vague about the whole thing and didn't even give my mum the scholarship due date. After a long pause she managed to say they were due in August but still no date and she told us she would get back to us about it after she had a look into it. More than a week later we had no phone call back so my mum tried to get in touch another two times with her- we left messages with other people in the EF office and were told she would call back and that she was on the phone. I think this lady is actually a tad scared of my mother, who gave her a right telling off over the phone about the information that had been sent out to us about the US Visa application(it was all out of date, mixed up and just very hodge-podge, not acceptable for such an important matter). Then yesterday I saw I had an email reply from this lady about the scholarships; I'm guessing her nerves got the better of her and she decided she couldn't deal with another confrontation. Reading this new email she sent you wouldn't think that a couple weeks earlier she'd just told me I was too late for the scholarship. I'd say something fishy was going on there... But I'm not complaining because I got it! I won the scholarship! Well as my mum reminded me, I earnt it. As I'm sure you know from this post I really struggled with writing the darn thing and it took me a weekend or so to complete it so at least it wasn't for nothing. Unfortunately I didn't get the $2000(but I expected that, especially with all the dodgy-ness surrounding the issue...) but instead $500 has been wiped off my invoice so I am quite pleased with myself and....ridiculously happy!

You know, earlier in the year I really wanted some extra money to come my way for the exchange and I've always been one to try to get a hold of any 'luck' I can so I pulled out my 'trouble dolls' from my dresser. They were a present from my Aunt and Uncle when I was younger from one of their numerous vacations. Here's the little blurb that came on the piece of paper tucked inside the little box:

In the land of Guatemala the Indians tell this old story. They teach that when you have troubles, share them with your dolls. Remove one doll for each problem. Before you go to sleep, tell the doll your trouble. While you are sleeping the dolls will try to solve your troubles. Since there are only six dolls, you are allowed only six troubles a day.

I asked one of the dolls to help me get some extra money to pay for my exchange and popped the jelly-bean sized doll on the corner of my bed-side table. I knew this would be no small feat and that I may have to wait a while but several months later my trouble has now started to wither away and I owe part of it to that tiny little doll. My trouble dolls have never failed me, every trouble I have EVER told to them has been diminished in some way or another and usually obliterated completely. I have always felt much more relaxed going into an exam when I've told my trouble dolls, the night before, about my worries of forgetting all I have attempted to memorise.  I think it is much more reasonable to ask a jelly-bean sized doll to help with a trouble you have rather than expecting them to grant you a wish, a much more difficult task I would assume, although I'm no expert in the field of magic, luck and pixie dust.

Victory!

After taking advice from a couple of bloggers out there I managed to finish my scholarship essay! It's probably going to be way too long but I am just glad I have it done! Selina suggested I just write and worry about throwing in interesting/funny stuff later as I can always edit and hopefully without noticing it the essay will blossom of its own accord. This is probably why it's 11:54pm and I've only just completed it, I just started writing and didn't want to stop till I had it all finished . Plus now I can still edit it- as the majority of what I wanted to say is there and now I just have to fill in the cracks!

Linde suggested in my previous post that I do a mind map which was brilliant suggestion as I have used a lot of mind maps in my studying this year but had never thought to use one for this! I was feeling a tad on the lazy side so I googeld 'mind map maker' and ended up with the mind map below which made it 10 times easier to write the essay as I had the framework to construct my essay from. Even though it does look a little messy with all those boxes everywhere(which made my essay uber long) it just made everything 'click'.

(Click on the picture to see a bigger image)

I'd better get some shut eye so I can edit in the morning and send it off before I'm too late. Have a wonderful night/day everyone.

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!

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.

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.

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.

The Art Of The Boo

I recently had my third article published in the online magazine Snippets! I seem to do articles on how to DO things, rather than about things. Rather ironic considering I'm a huge procrastinator. But I guess it makes sense, I write/talk about things but actually following through with them is the hard part. In the latest issue which was a horror theme I decided to write about a new Halloween craze that's starting to grow in America and it's called Booing. Have a read of my article so you know what an earth I'm going on about. To briefly explain it I would describe it as "...a cross between a Knock-and-Run and a Secret Santa." I originally heard about Booing from several blogs and decided to do a little bit of my own research on it. I think it is a fabulous way for people who are too old/too shy to trick or treat, to be able to participate in Halloween as it is anonymous. It's also just another great way to celebrate Halloween and since the holiday isn't really celebrated that much here in Australia, I think it's a perfect way to inject a bit of spookyness into the neighbourhood. And lastly, it's a great way to be a part of the community(even though it is anonymous) as you feel connected and it's a great way to give back/say thanks.

I decided to actually take heed of what my article was about and went Booing myself, the other day. It was a bit close to Halloween and I should have done it earlier but 'better late than never'. I packed up two felt bags that I bought for $2.50 each at a discount store, with some different flavoured freddos and gummy snakes(I hope my recipients enjoyed them, I don't eat sweets myself so I was a bit unsure of what to buy). I also added some halloween stickers and a witch's nose to each one. I taped the Booing poem to the outside and popped an "I've been booed" sign in with the gifts. I originally wanted to go Booing at night but I seemed to have forgotten about my fear of the dark and almost wet myself when I went outside. So instead I went around 4pm the next day. I had to keep walking around for ages to find a street where no-one was checking their mail, riding scooters or arriving home from work though. Once I eventually did find two available houses and left the goodie bags on the doormats, I sprinted off just incase I was spotted. Now all that's left is to wait and see if anyone else passes on ... the art of the Boo.

Swap Meet

The past weekend was definitely a long one but the most enjoyable weekend that I've had in a long time. For some time the mum and I had been wanting to sell our old 'junk' at a swap meet. A pile had been gradually growing over the past year in the games room, compiled of old items we no longer wanted/used. It was mostly pre-loved(but well-kept, might I add) toys from when my brother and I were wee bubs, there were also a couple of housewares such as a blender and sandwich press but a large component of the pile was 'ugly' gifts. I don't mean to sound ungrateful but honestly I have no use for a hideous metal dog shaped bookend(that item didn't sell) or a wire tree decoration with dyed sapphire leaves. The great thing about a swap meet is that you get rid of your 'junk', someone else gets a 'treasure' plus at the same time the customer is getting a bargain and you're getting a bit of extra cash on the side.

Saturday evening was spent sorting through the swap meet pile, deciding what prices to sell things for, what boxes should they go in and what was just so bad that it had to simply be thrown away. There was a lot of the latter. By the time it was all packed into the car, it was about 11:30pm. We'd been told by a family friend that we'd have to wake up at 4am in order to get to the swap meet which was held in an underground car park by 5am to get a good spot in the queue. Well, I reluctantly awoke a 4am and got myself ready. We headed on down to the shopping centre and had to wait in our cars in a line until 5:30am when they'd start letting the sellers in to set up. It was 5:45am when they finally started to let people go through and some nasty young lady decided to cut the queue instead of waiting her turn like the rest of us and everyone started honking their horns at her. It wasn't exactly a relaxed environment. We waited for another half an hour in our cars, not sure if we were allowed in or what. Mum decided to get out of the car and ask one of the officials what was going on. Apparently they were all full up and he was sending people home! All that effort and lack of sleep for nothing! And there weren't even that many people who'd gotten in!

We couldn't just go home after all that so we decided to take a chance and see if another outdoor swap meet was on, but it was usually only held once a month so we really were taking a chance. As we travelled down the highway I noticed some other cars that were full to the brim with 'junk'. It seems we weren't the only ones who'd been driven away from the underground swap meet and were hoping that the outdoor one would be on. We arrived with a warm welcome at the outdoor oval/park and the swap meet WAS on. Apparently it's open every weekend until Christmas!

Well anyway, we had a lovely day. Lots of lovely people, warm sunny weather(although it was quite windy so we were constantly on the lookout to make sure none of our stuff was blown away)and good food. We sold more than half of our stuff(which was a lot more compared to some of the other sellers) and all the big items went. We made $124 altogether which wasn't so bad. I loved how all the children were using their pocket money to buy items and were being very scrupulous with it. One little girl was deliberating whether or not to buy the Kelly Club treehouse we were selling for $5 or buy 2 smaller items, as she only had $5 altogether. We decided to give it to her for $4 so she could buy something else,she seemed very pleased. :) I collected all the money from customers in my lovely bright Teletubbies waist bag(I'm surprised it still fits!), while my mum sported a Wallace & Gromit one! Unfortunately I didn't really look around at the other sellers 'treasures' as I was too tired but I'm sure we'll go take a look around another Sunday morning.

While we were selling I spotted this old book amongst our sellables, There's A Mouse About The House. It was one of my favourite books from when I was little. It comes with a little cardboard mouse that slips through the slits in each page of the book, as if the mouse is travelling through the house. I couldn't bear to sell it(and it was heavily taped up from wear and tear so I doubt it would have appealed to buyers) so I whipped it out of the box and put it back in the car. Some things you just can't let go of. Am I right?

Daffodil

My mum was given this daffodil bulb at her choir, each member received their own; isn't that nice?! It looks cute already, maybe we'll plant it this weekend, on Mother's day. I'll show you what I'm giving my mum for mother's day a bit later too.