Gracie Bella Butterfly

Just a Minute in...February

2012-02-12T15:29:00.000+10:00

Just a Minute in....February

Watching... Star Wars: The Phantom Menace 3D (already watched this with Jasmine), Spartacus season 3, New Girl

Anticipating... The Hunger Games movie. I've only been waiting for this for 3 years

Planning... My belated birthday picnic

Trying... To organise my creative space

Being... Put on a strict budget

Booking... Our trip to the US!

Jason and I went to the Travel Expo yesterday (and today) to look more into our USA trip. Yesterday was good to find information and flight prices. We then spent hours working out an itinerary and putting in place a budget so we can go in August this year. I'm on a strict budget from now but it will be worth it when we go on our trip.

Today we went back to the Travel Expo to book our tickets. I can't believe we finally did it. So I'm sure there will be future posts asking for places to see, food to try, where to shop etc. I'm already planning on what to pack.

If any of you have suggestions now let me know in the comments. There will be a post detailing the rough itinerary sometime soon so any information would be great!

Have a wonderful rest of weekend and week.

Belated birthday update (with a video!)

2012-02-08T19:08:00.001+10:00

Hello lovelies. Thanks for your comments. I just adore all my nephews. They make me so happy. As I mentioned before I was going to give a belated update on my birthday. It was an Instagram day but I wanted to document everything.

Jason and I took the day off. He surprised me with some lilies and cheesecake.

We had breakfast at Max Brenner at Southbank. Glad I got a cappuccino instead of hot chocolate. There was even a piece of chocolate in the coffee!

We got waffles for two. Delicious but filling.

We walked over the bridge from Southbank into the City. They have the farmers markets every Wednesday. Lots of food. I wanted to take more photos but there were so many people and it was a stinkin' hot day (meaning I wanted to be in air conditioning and all the hot food was making feel worse).

Afterwards, we went over to Paddington just beyond the city. This is Rara Superstar. I have mentioned this shop a few times.

This was a random juice place. So tiny but quaint and the juice was refreshing on the hot day.

There are a lot of pretty buildings in Paddington. I would go to this art classes just because it's held in a cute place.

Some amazing stores!

When we got home I was surprised to see this package from lovely Alyssa.

SO beautifully wrapped.

The butterfly ring she gave me.

My awesome pinwheel pen she gave me. It was such a beautiful and thoughtful package!

At night we went out for dinner to Sugo Mi. It's delicious. For some reason I forgot to take photos of the rest of the day. All in all it was fun and adventurous.

Now this video was done in the afternoon with my messy hair because it was too hot to leave it down. I hate being in front of a camera and I felt so awkward doing this so please don't judge me too harshly :P

Have a wonderful rest of week.

New nephew Elijah

2012-02-06T20:03:00.000+10:00

Hello lovely people. Thanks for all your messages and such about my birthday. It was a great day and I will do an update about it soon.

Last weekend we went up to my brother Alvin and sister in law Melly's house. We went up to meet the new baby. Plus it was a celebration for my birthday with my family.

This is Elijah Benjamin (all my nephews have biblical names). He is so little and adorable and light as a doll.

I didn't realise that he did a little face plant. I hope I didn't suffocate him.

He kind of looked at me here :) Soo clucky.

I'm such a proud aunty of 4 nephews. The boys run strong in the Landicho clan. So I think they are waiting for me to have the girl since it will be the Standen side :)

I hope you have a great week.

Birthday Wishlist

2012-01-31T20:13:00.000+10:00

Hello my lovelies. It's my birthday on the 1st of February. It's weird to think I'm more in my late 20's than early 20's. I know I look nothing like my age and I'm used to people being shocked when they find out how old I am. I have learnt to embrace looking young for my age and I'm sure I will love it even more when I'm in my 40's.

I have a little birthday wish list. Just some random items that have caught my eye.

Neenacreates

I adore her whole shop and would be happy with almost anything. I love Spanish so this shirt would be perfect.

Status Anxiety

I need a new purse so this would be great.

LoveMae

I adore LoveMae fabric decals. I have the mini forest critters. I really want these.

Red Bubble

This is for my love of the Hunger Games. They are definitely some of my fave characters.

Via Allacqueredup

I don't even wear nail polish that much but I want all of these Hunger Games inspired ones.

Nan Lawson

This Katniss print has been on my Etsy wish list and cart for so long. I think I should just buy it.

Besotted Brand

I like the simplicity of these notecards.

Asos

I think these shoes are so sweet. I love pastels and flats.

Modcloth

I adore this dress but it's out of stock (I signed up to be notified when it was restocked and it was sold out again by the time I looked at the link).

Asos

Another item on my Asos wish list. I like these side/satchel style bags.

TOMS

Heart printed TOMS?? I love!

Ban.do

I've always wanted some Ban.do hearts of some sort. Either the shoes clips, the pin or the headband. I would take all of them if I could :)

And I would be happy for a shopping spree on Etsy, Notemaker or Book Depository.

I've taken the day off work and so has Jason. We are going to spend the day exploring and taking photos. That's the plan anyway :)

Rained out getaway

2012-01-28T13:17:00.000+10:00

Hello my lovely people. Thank you so much for all the comments front the previous post. Our little holiday was rained out but since our hotel was awesome, it still turned out to be great. We spent most of the time, watching movies and TV shows (we watched season 2 of The Walking Dead - romantic) and reading.

We did manage to go outside into the outdoor spa (and the sauna, which I'm not a fan of) and we went for a drive to visit a shop I wanted to see but there was a chance we might have been caught in some flood waters. So it was probably good that the store was closed.

The bedroom. It is such a gorgeous hotel.

The bathroom. You can see into the bedroom but there was a shade you can pull down.

The lounge, dining and kitchen. We said we could imagine living here. The hotel is only a year old so everything is still so clean and fresh.

So this was our view for most of the trip. Very gloomy. We didn't end up going to the beach which is a shame. Although Australia Day (26th Jan) was probably the best day weather wise.

We took a quick photo on the balcony when we realised we hadn't taken any photos of us the whole time.

Australia Day. We went to Shingle Inn for breakfast. It was the first day that it was quite dry even though it was still overcast.

This was the store I wanted to visit.

The display window. I figured I may as well take photos even though it was closed. Like I mentioned this area was starting to flood so it was probably a good thing that the store wasn't open. By the time we went back to our car. It was pouring down and most of the road was a giant puddle.

It still turned out to be a fun getaway. Sometimes you just need a change of scenery. On our actual Anniversary we didn't do much. We ordered in (soo much more expensive that eating out) and watched a movie.

It's still raining and I've had enough of it. This time last year we were just recovering from a flood and now it's gloomy again. I miss the sunshine. It helps lift my mood.

Anyway, hope you are having a good weekend.

Happy Two Year Anniversary

2012-01-24T11:19:00.000+10:00

Happy Two year Wedding Anniversary!!

Today two years ago I married the most wonderful man. I can't wait to see what the rest of the future holds for us :)

We are going off to the Gold Coast to stay at Peppers for a few days. Even though the weather is horrendous (rain, rain rain and supposed to storm) I'm sure we will have a great time.

Girly date with Jasmine

2012-01-22T19:41:00.000+10:00

Hey Lovelies. I had a great day yesterday. I had a girl's day with Jasmine. It was such a great day. We went vintage shopping at Paddington, watched a movie and went to the Lifeline Bookfest.

Unfortunately, we didn't document the day with photos so I will just share some after photos of the items purchased.

We went to RaRa Superstar in Paddington because the store was having a 'garage sale.' It was a stinking hot day though and it was difficult to try clothes on. And I'm sad I didn't take photos of the complimentary homemade lemonade and mini cupcakes.

I bought these skirts. They are light and great for summer.

This dress is a little different from what I would usually buy but I liked it (and it's crinkled because it was at the bottom of the suitcase I was rummaging in)

This is supposed to be an apron but I'm going to turn it into a dress. It's adorable on!

We then went to watch The Journey 2. To be honest I really only wanted to watch it see Josh Hutcherson in action but it was still fun.

We saw the Hunger Games poster and had a fan girl moment.

We went to the Bookfest afterwards (this was the second trip for me). I bought more Babysitter club books and a few other books series that brought back memories.

A few kids books for my future children.

A few more books I thought would be interesting. And I did get influenced by the pretty covers.

I think these girly dates are good for a the soul because it was fabulous. I look forward to more of these dates.

I'm on holidays this week. I'm so excited! It's also our 2 year wedding anniversary this week :)

Books make me happy

2012-01-17T18:27:00.000+10:00

Hello lovelies. Thanks for all your great comments :) They never fail to put a smile on my face.

As I mentioned last post, Jason and I went to the Lifeline Bookfest. They have three sections. Unpriced books (usually really cheap), a priced section (still cheap...like all books $2 etc) and a prices as marked section.

This is from the unpriced section. I'm collecting the Babysitters Club books (nostalgia and I actually do re read them). I'm also collecting Alice in Wonderland books.

This is from the mid priced section. I loved the Green Mile movie so hopefully I will enjoy the book.

This is from the priced as marked section. I was overjoyed to see some of the Anne of Green Gables books. They didn't have all of them but I'm glad I was able to get these ones.

Going to the Bookfest really brightened up my day and it's all for charity. So I'm hoping to go again this weekend, this time with Jasmine :) We had fun last time. I do have a plan for this Saturday which I hope we can do.

Have a wonderful rest of week. Three days of work for me until my week off. My two year wedding anniversary is next week and my birthday is the week after!

Thoughts...

2012-01-15T14:48:00.000+10:00

Top: Target

Belt: Myer

Skirt: Princess Highway from Dangerfield (in Myer)

Sandals: Sportsgirl

One of my favourite things to wear in summer is a breezy skirt and top. You can't really tell in the photo but my they are actually heart shaped polka dots. One of the reasons I was so attracted to the skirt.

As I mentioned in my last post, I've been feeling very flat. I am happy to say that the feeling is slowly fading. It's been a mixture of things like writing in my journal, making a few little bits and pieces, talking to Jason and lots of praying. I had a mini breakdown session yesterday when I started telling Jason about how I'm just living each day, doing the same thing and not really making a difference.

I'm not sure what set me off but I started having this internal struggle with myself and my thoughts. In the end I decided to write a list of things I want to do and achieve and Jason and I also went to the Lifeline Bookfest. Books make me happy so I spent a few hours digging around for books and admiring those that volunteered for the week. Lifeline is a charity organisation so all the money raised will go to them.

And this morning at church I felt so inspired and blessed. I realised how selfish I'm being, by just thinking about my own happiness, when there are so many other people around me that struggle so much more. So my lists now also include how I can make more of a difference and impact this world in some way. I know we were created for something more than to just live each day the same.

This verse really impacted me....

"For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that should walk in them." Ephesians 2:8-10.

I know I've written a lot more than I usually do but I think this year, I will be sharing more about myself and my life. It might get a little more personal. Hope that's alright :)

Have a wonderful week!

Just a Minute in...January

2012-01-10T17:04:00.000+10:00

*my beautiful gift from Laura

Just a Minute in.... January

Feeling... A little bit lifeless
Planning... Our USA trip
Hoping... I find my 'spark' again
Signing... Up for a one day letterpress class
Waiting... For my birthday in a few weeks
Listing... My goals and what I want to achieve
Looking... Forward to our week off (and celebrating our 2 year wedding anniversary)
Praying... For many special people in my life

Even my Just a Minute posts are lacking a certain energy and that's how I've been feeling lately. I'm not sure why but I'm going through a real restless, flat and uninspired time. I don't feel inspired to do anything. Usually at this time of the year I would be happily planning my birthday but this year I haven't even picked the weekend for it (I still had one after my wedding even if it was a little late). I know you can't see it over the blog but I'm actually an extremely happy person so to feel this way is a little scary.

What do you do when you are going through a flat, lifeless patch? Any tips or ideas?

Have a wonderful rest of week. Hopefully next post I will be back to my chirpy self.

Instax Love

2012-01-06T11:33:00.000+10:00

Hello lovelies. I hope your year has been going well so far. I'm still finding it difficult to get back into the swing of things because I never really got a restful break. Something I'm trying to do more this year is take more photos and document more of my life and the little things. I started using my Instax camera more too. Here are a few from the Christmas break.

This is Christmas day. Jason got a me a personalised Coke can (put into my stocking) because I said my name is never on anything. It says 'Share a Coke with Gracienne'. (I don't even drink Coke but I love their new campaign). And yes I'm wearing a flower wreath in my hair :)

This is Laura and me on NYE. She and Josh came over for some relaxed fun, food, movies and sparklers.

Me in front of the Eye of Brisbane. It was the last day before work (for me) and the family that were staying with us wanted to ride on the Ferris Wheel.

I like to take photos of the Eye of Brisbane but I've never been on it before.

I did get this cute pink Superheadz camera from Jason as part of my Christmas present :) I started using it when we were at Southbank. Can't wait to use it more.

So I'm at home sick. Resting really because I had a bad day yesterday. After the gym in my lunch hour, I almost blacked out in the change rooms. I was sitting on the floor with my head between my knees trying to fight the dizziness and nausea. I eventually made it to the shower then went back to work but felt terrible for the rest of the day so I went home an hour early. Today I'm relaxing and trying hard not to think about everything that needs to be done.

As one of my goals this year is to be healthier overall and that includes not worrying about all the little things. And it's a busy weekend with an engagement party, Jasmine's birthday party tomorrow (yay!), a family breakfast (Jason's side) and a family lunch celebrating 3 birthdays (my side).

Hope you have a wonderful weekend and take care.

Happy New Year loves!

2012-01-01T18:04:00.000+10:00

Happy New Year lovelies!

I spent New Years Eve with some of Jason's relatives and some good friends of ours Laura and Josh. There's nothing like ringing in the new year with good company and a laid back atmosphere.

I'm not really one for making New Year Resolutions but I like to make some goals for the year.

♥ To live a healthier, more positive life. This includes being more aware of the food I eat, to exercise more often and to stop worrying about all the little things.

♥ To trust in God more in all aspects of my life.

&heats; To spend more time being creative and to document more of life's moments.

♥ To live more in the moment instead of waiting for things to get better or for me to be more organised etc.

♥ To have more dates with my hubby.

♥ To plan more meet ups with my friends. I crave more girl time dates.

I think this year, I want to stop waiting for the 'perfect' moment, to just do it. There are so many things I want to do achieve this year and I love that the new year brings new hope and new opportunities. I intend for this to be the best year yet!

A Christmas Review

2011-12-28T11:18:00.000+10:00

Hello lovely people. I hope you have had a wonderful Christmas break. I have about 5 days left before I have to go back to work.

I have a little Christmas review for you. On Christmas Eve we went up to my brother Alvin and sister in law Melly's house on the Sunshine Coast. It unfortunately rained so we were unable to go to the beach but it was still a fantastic day.

My nephew Micah and I posing in front of the mirror (in the future nephew's nursery - my parents are waiting for a girl from me haha) Don't you love that drool :p

Jason and Micah. There were no more bibs he drooled so much so we tucked a face washer into his little suit.

My other nephews Isaiah and Caeleb.

We spent the afternoon playing the board game Cranium, which Jason and I won. I have no idea how though.

Part of the table we set up. I made the Bonbons.

A close up. I made the name tags too.

Jason and I after dinner.

Just a quick snapshot of the gifts. I mainly used brown paper again this year.

This is Christmas Day. We had my parents and Jason's mum and grandma over for a BBQ lunch. So this is our table set up and I made the Bonbons again.

I decorated with a few paper lantern balls from Typo. We also went to dinner at Jason's mum's house at night with his brother and girlfriend.

And the rest of the photos are what I received with the Advent Calendar we were doing.

Day six - A Lindt Chocolate bell :) Love Lindt.

Day Seven - A Lovely smelling candle from Dusk.

Day Eight - A cute little fawn/reindeer (we're not quite sure what it is) ornament.

Day nine - A pretty 2012 Calendar.

Day ten - A Kikki. K pen and little notebooks.

Day eleven - Some 2012 Filofax refills (I love that this one is practical - I needed them).

Day Twelve - Wooden letters and heart from Typo. I think this was utterly adorable.

So overall it was a great Christmas. It's crazy how fast it all goes. I'm enjoying my time off but we also have some house guests for the week. I can't wait to get into my New Years Resolution list, planning our trip to the USA, planning a mini blog meet up and so many other things.

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-25T17:37:00.000+10:00

Merry Christmas lovelies!

I hope you have a wonderful time with your family and friends. May your day be full of joy and wonder :)

Christmas Package Swap

2011-12-20T18:16:00.000+10:00

Hello my sweets. I have 3 more work days. Yay! A few weeks ago Jasmine and I hosted a mini Christmas packaging swap. These are the items I sent her.

We tried to tailor the items around the colour theme we wanted to use. I sent her assorted paper, colourful pens, ribbon, twine, glitter, brown paper bags. It was so much fun to put together.

There were also a few gift tags, a stamp, some cute Christmas cards.

The assorted pens and some gemstone stickers.

This is what I received from Jasmine. It was packaged so beautifully!

Some pretty paper.

Lovely ribbon and pens. A glittery butterfly.

Gift tags, Christmas cards, tissue paper, cute pegs.

Some pretty tags, stickers, stars and tiny gemstones.

A doily stamp, tape, ribbon, twine and pretty pearl string.

I was so spoilt by Jasmine and I'm using some of these items for my packages right now. She's awesome! I hope you have a fantastic rest of week. Yay for 3 more days of work.

A big mess

2011-12-14T18:45:00.000+10:00

Hello my lovely people. I hope you are having a great week. I feel like I have so much to do. Only 7 more days of work. I'm so excited about that.

This is part of the mess in the lounge room at the moment. It's a mixture of decorations and gifts for people. I took this photo on Saturday and it's all still sitting there.

I've finally sent out all my Christmas cards and mail which is a huge relief! Now I just have to....

♥ Figure out the lunch menu for Christmas day

♥ Make some Christmas crackers for Christmas Eve dinner (we're going to my bro and sis in law's house)

♥ Make some Christmas decorations - paper poufs, paper chains

♥ Order a Pavlova for Christmas dessert

I'm not going to list everything because that would be a bore (for you haha).

Do any of you feel a little overwhelmed at the moment? I think it's because work is quite busy and I'm just hanging for the Christmas break.

Have a great rest of week!

Advent Calendar First 5 Days

2011-12-10T15:41:00.000+10:00

Hello my lovelies. I'm looking forward to the Christmas break. Only two more weeks of work to go!

However, I'm loving the Advent Calendar we are doing. I thought I would show the five days that I've opened the gifts.

Day One - Pfeffernusse. I'm a huge fan of gingerbread biscuits.

Ah I love this stuff. We both do.

Day two - Big, red and white polka dot journal/notebook. Jason is so tricksy. He saw me pick it up once at Typo and so he bought it for me when I wasn't there.

Day Three - A little pink mushroom ornament. Again he saw me pick this up in Myer.

Day Four - A pink Smiggle pencil tin. He knows I love pink, stationery and Smiggle.

Day Five - Pretty heart shaped magnet from Kikki.K. Again this just makes me realise how well Jason knows me.

I still have seven days to open. I was going to share the items I bought Jason but they aren't as cute as the ones he bought me.

Have a wonderful weekend!!

Just a Minute in...December

2011-12-06T15:02:00.000+10:00

Just A Minute in...December

Watching... Once Upon a Time, New Girl, Camelot

Planning... Christmas day lunch - We are having it at our house. It's going to be a good 'ol Aussie BBQ

Creating... Christmasy things - Handmade Christmas crackers, paper poufs, paper chains, paper bunting

Wanting... It to be the Christmas break. Only 2 1/2 weeks to go (or there about)

Dreaming... About the USA holiday we are going on next year! (more about that in another post)

Girl crushing... On Zooey Deschanel. I know a lot of people love her but I love her even more seeing her in her new show New Girl. Her quirkiness and cute outfits.

Loving... The Advent Calendar. There will be posts showing what we have received soon. I look forward to opening the gifts every other day.

Adoring... Josh Hutcherson as Peeta Mellark.

So it's nearly Christmas. I'm so behind this year. Normally most of my gifts would be bought and I would be wrapping them, but I've barely started this year. I'm late sending out my Christmas cards and I'm still trying to figure out Christmas lunch. But that's ok, I'm not stressing I'm just doing things at my own pace.

Does anyone else feel behind on Christmas? Have you hosted Christmas lunch/dinner/day before?

Hope your week is going well!

My Advent Calendar

2011-12-02T19:08:00.000+10:00

Hello my lovelies. I hope you have had a wonderful week. Mine was been busy and quite stressed. Being in this new position so close to Christmas 0_0 <-- that's how I feel each day at the moment.

Anyway, I've also been working on an Advent Calendar with Jason. We each got each other 12 gifts and will alternate each day with opening a present.

via Kikki.K

This is where I go my inspiration from. I love this one from Kikki.K.

This is our version of the calendar. Some of the gifts were a little heavy so I had to use a few tiny pegs. My gifts for Jason are on the bottom line and the ones for me are on the top.

A little close up. I tried to add a few little ornaments to pretty it up.

Another close up.

My fluffy wreath just makes the picture.

From another angle.

So what do you think? I was in a rush (as usual) and wanted to make it look prettier. Plus when I took the photos it was an overcast day.

I don't feel as excited about Christmas this year but I think I'm slowly getting there. My tree is up and I'm doing a Christmas lunch at our house this year 0_0 <-- this is a normal expression on me lately.

Have a wonderful and relaxed weekend!

I like swirly dresses

2011-11-27T18:50:00.001+10:00

Hey my lovelies. I hope you are having a wonderful weekend. Mine was been fairly relaxed. Jason and I watched Immortals at the movies. I quite liked it. And Henry Cavill :)

At night we baby sat my nephew Micah. Jason is the baby whisperer, 15 minutes Micah was screaming and crying because he woke up and as soon as I put him in Jason's arms. Silence. It was a miracle. And yes I do admit I felt a little sad that he didn't stop crying with me but the main thing is that he stopped.

Headband - Muchloveilly (I love her items. I have a few of her bows and headbands)

Dress - Ally

Sandals - Forevernew

Thanks again for all your comments. To answer a few questions about my current position, I'm a compliance officer and I assess Debt agreements. Debt agreements are an agreement between a debtor and their creditors, it's an alternative to bankruptcy. It's funny I never did anything in finance or accounting yet I'm doing this now. Not that you need to understand those areas to be a compliance officer. Hope that sort of gives a little bit of understanding of what I do :)

Have a wonderful week.

Outfits :)

2011-11-21T19:14:00.000+10:00

Hello lovely people. I hope you all had a wonderful weekend. Mine consisted of a costume party on Saturday night, Church Sunday morning, Breaking Dawn Sunday afternoon and dinner at my brother Rolf and sister in law Gem's house Sunday night.

Dress - Tokito

Necklace - Lovisa

Belt - Forever New

Shoes - Witchery

This is a new dress of mine and I adore it. I wore it a few Sundays ago. But I might try wearing it to work on our casual Fridays.

Top - Forever New

Skirt - Ohsweetjoy

Shoes - Windsor Smith

The outfit I wore on Sunday. I know that top is a little bit see through. I had a white singlet on underneath in the morning but it was so hot I had to take it off later (the sun is burning already).

On some other news, I have one last shift at Myer (yes I have still been employed there for the past four months) tomorrow night for VIP night. I'm sad to lose my discount card though :(

Also I have been temporarily promoted until the end of January next year. I will be a compliance officer at my work place :) So it's a good opportunity.

Have a beautiful week.

Finders Keepers Purchases

2011-11-18T18:39:00.000+10:00

Hello my lovelies. Well I'm finally going to share what I bought from the Finders Keepers market. It can be so difficult to chose what to buy.

My letterpress tags and cards from Bespoke Press.

These are some of my favourite cards. The quotes and the ink colours.

Some Frankie cards from the Frankie Magazine stall.

My cute melamine bowl and cup from Love Mae. Still not sure if I will give this away or keep it :)

This is from Beneath the Sun. That tea towel says 'The Sun Shines On.' I might use it to wrap a gift (and the tea towel is also a gift). There is also a pad of paper (to use as letter writing paper I think) and a pretty card.

This is from Style Milk. The little teacup ring is a gift and the print for me :)

The print is by Bec Winnel. I love her stuff. This print is utterly gorgeous and so me.

Some sweet ceramic mini ornaments from Paper Boat Press.

This is from a stationery company/paper line called Little Branch.

This is their postcard/business card. I love their little list.

This is from Loose-leaf paper. The little box holds a tiny bottle with a poem and native flower. I bought a summer bottle. Those dew drops wishes are pretty necklaces. Most likely gifts.

An example of the bottle from Loose-leaf Paper.

I love these markets and I just adore handmade goods. I hope to buy more handmade items for Christmas gifts.

Have a lovely weekend.

The Hunger Games Trailer

2011-11-15T19:11:00.000+10:00

Hey lovelies. I was supposed to share what I purchased at the Finders Keepers market but The Hunger Games trailer came out and I can't not blog about it.

I got teary eyed watching it. As you know I'm a huge fan of the books so to see it as a movie is thrilling. I'm seriously so excited! When I first read the book there was little to no information but now... it's exploding.

Eeeeeee! That says it all.

Finders Keepers Spring/Summer Markets

2011-11-13T17:49:00.000+10:00

Hello my lovelies. I thought I would finally share with you my day at the Finders Keepers market. I went with Jasmine and my friend Laura. It was a really beautiful day and I bought a lot of lovely things (which I will do in a separate post).

I know not all the photos are in focus but I had to share them with you all.

Style Milk shop. This is co run by Liss of Daydream Lily. It was really lovely to meet her too.

The Leeloo stall.

Bespoke Press. One of our favourites.

More Bespoke Press.

And even more Bespoke Press. Simply beautiful stuff.

Loose-Leaf Paper. Another one of our favourite shops. Those tiny boxes with the flowers are so adorable. It's pretty much a season in a bottle.

More Loose-leaf Paper.

Love Mae. Lovely paper and fabric decals. They have also started making melamine dinnerware. I did buy some of that.

More Love Mae.

This is Emma Leonard. The decor was so pretty.

This is Write to Me. They have fantastic styling on their website.

The Smoothie Cycle. Basically you ride a bike that mixes your ingredients together. It was great fun.

The one on the right is mine. Strawberries, apple, mint and ice. It was delicious!

And of course there were beautiful home made macarons. Made by Andrette.

I had these for afternoon tea. Pink lemonade, raspberry (?) and chocolate.

I love going to Finders Keepers and look forward to each market. I'm amazed at all the wonderful handmade goodness there is to offer. So you can be sure that I will be attending next year's markets too.

Just a Minute in...November

2011-11-09T18:52:00.000+10:00

*Oriental Lillies Jason surprised me with

Just a Minute in....November

Reading... Inheritance, Outside In, Scorpio Races and assorted magazines.

Creating... An Advent calendar (hopefully anyway)

Wishing... For a holiday

Getting... Excited about Christmas

Listing... My gift's for people, decorations to create, cards to write...

Wanting... To find some apothecary style bottles (they were everywhere at the Finders Keepers market as part of the stall decor)

via Houzz

Via The Painter Family

This is some of the inspiration for my Advent calender. Jason and I are going to split the days and have 12 items each. So I get to open something every second day. It's going to be fun putting together these little gifts.

Do any of you have or make a Advent calendar.

Layla-Rose First Birthday

2011-11-07T18:22:00.000+10:00

Hello my lovelies. I hope your weekend was full of wonder and relaxation. I went to the Finders Keepers Market with Jasmine and my friend Laura. But more about that next time.

The weekend before, besides my brother's 30th birthday I had a 1st birthday party to attend as well.

I bought this bracelet for her from Etsy :) It looks so cute on her.

The favours were so pretty.

These paper poufs are so popular. They are easy and cheap to make but look so pretty.

These teeny cupcakes were delicious.

I love making these teacup biscuits. They are delicious!

Layla's Barbie cake. Liz, her mum made it more for look than the eat :)

She's getting into it.

She did enjoy destroying it.

Opening her gifts.

My favourite photo of the day. She's so beautiful :) I just adore her.

I hope you will have a fantastic week!!

Gold Coast Weekend

2011-11-04T19:42:00.000+10:00

Hello lovelies. I hope you had a wonderful week. I've yet again got caught up in the week and wasn't able to blog about last weekend. Last Saturday, we went to the Gold Coast for my brother's 30th birthday.

In the morning Alvin was supposed to do some car racing but he missed it (it got rescheduled) so they went for a few laps of Go Karting instead.

My brother Alvin, Jason and Melly's step dad.

Broadbeach at the Gold Coast. It was the most beautiful and warm day.

My nephew Micah.

The water was a little chilly still but it was still amazing.

We stayed at Peppers and it was beautiful. This was our room as my brother and Melly had the main bedroom.

I was so surprised at how gorgeous it was inside. These photos do not do it justice. We wanted to stay for more than one night.

Jason and I hanging out on the balcony.

For dinner we went to Teppanyaki. I'd never been before and it was a lot of fun. They really do put on a show.

And my meal. It was delicious!

Tomorrow I'm going to the Finders Keepers market again and a baby shower on Sunday :) So many more posts to come.

Have a fabulous weekend.

It's an Outfit post.

2011-10-31T18:26:00.000+10:00

Hello lovelies. It's been awhile since I've last posted. Last week was a long week and I lost a little of my drive. But the weekend was fabulous. I will blog about that soon (it's amazing how many posts I have lined up).

This was an outfit I wore a few Sundays ago. I'm so glad the weather is starting to warm up.

Dress - Mombasa

Lace top - Reverie Market

Necklace - Equip

Sandals - Forever New

This dress is one of my favourite summer dresses.

Also here is a sneak peak into the posts for this week....

♥ My brother's 30th on the Gold Coast (view from our hotel room)

♥ A 1st birthday (I love these teacup biscuits)

So I hope you have a wonderful week :)

Postcard Pretties

2011-10-22T12:37:00.000+10:00

Hey lovelies! I hope you are having a wonderful weekend. I had a few questions in my last post about where I find my postcards and other stationery. So I thought I would dedicate this post to the places where I purchase them from.

I mostly get my postcards and other paper goods from Etsy. There are so many amazing stationery goods it's a little overwhelming. I love the girly, whimsical, and a little bit quirky postcards.

Little Fairytale Ladies

Sweet Little Gals

One of my fave shops is The Little Fox. I buy from her a lot. Plus I love her necklaces with her artwork too. I sometimes find it hard to part with her postcards.

Alice and the White Rabbit

Vintage Blooms

These postcards are from Art by Jaz. She's a local seller and I just love her stuff.

Sampler Pack

Alice in Wonderland

These sweet postcards are from Stephanie Fizer Coleman. She has a lot of adorable paper goods.

Carnival

Sweethearts

I love whimsical art like these from The Poppy Tree.

Enchanted Tea Time

Lantern Dance

These lovely creations are by AFancifulTwist

There are so many wonderful Etsy sellers out there and this is just a sampling of the shops I adore. I like to support handmade when I can so if you are looking for any paper goods remember to check out these shops.

Have a beautiful and blessed weekend.

Overdue Mail Post

2011-10-18T13:47:00.000+10:00

This is an overdue mail post. And I still have a lot to catch up on. Although I'm typing this on my new MacBook Air :) It's so beautiful and light.

Incoming...

♥ A pretty postcard from Hawaii from Priya

♥ A wonderful letter from Alicia

♥ Stationery fun from April. It was a thank you for organizing the Happy Mail Project.

♥ A great letter from Jane with bits for my journal writing :)

♥ A sweet card from Caro

♥ A fantastic postcard from Erin

♥ A lovely letter from Belen

♥ A bunch of great postcards from Katyha

♥ A sweet card from Kary

Outgoing...

♥ For Megan

♥ For Sharni

♥ A super belated birthday present for Kary

♥ A belated birthday gift for Claire

♥ For Alicia

♥ Postcard for Erin

♥ Postcards for Katyha

And I have a lot more to catch up on. But I do have my 52 Weeks of Mail challenge so there will be a lot more mail going out. Has it been a lovely mail day/week/month for you?

Gym Clothes

2011-10-16T17:31:00.000+10:00

Hello lovelies. I hope you are having a fantastic weekend. I had my sister in law Melly's baby shower yesterday but I haven't got photos just yet. Hopefully soon.

Last week in my lunch break I went to my first gym session since joining. I really just wanted to spend about 20 minutes using one of the exercise bikes but I ended up having a kind of personal training session. It went longer than I thought and I had to rush back to work (and didn't have time for a shower either. Sigh). Right now my body still aches as it's been so long since I've done that much exercise and I worked a lot harder having a trainer.

Now that I'm a gym member I have been thinking about getting more active wear. So I bought a few things from Lorna Jane. It's expensive but I like the fit and style of their products. Plus they are a local brand and they last long.

Pammy Crop

I bought this crop in black. It gives a lot of support (not that I need a lot of it haa!) and it's comfortable.

Selene 3/4 Tight

What I love about these tights are the pockets. I can put my membership card there (instead of having to put it down all the time) and my phone would fit there nicely.

I do want to pick up a few singlets like this...

Bella Singlet

I love the back of this one.

String Singlet

And maybe a few of these in different colours.

In my mind I think I will want to go to the gym more when I have pretty things to wear. Plus I think it helps keep the motivation too. I'm also doing a boxing class on Friday night at the gym with a work mate so we will see how that goes :)

Do you like to work out in pretty active wear or do you just like to throw any old top and bottom on?

Have a wonderful week!

A little Shopping spree

2011-10-11T20:06:00.000+10:00

Hello my loves. I hope you are having a great week. Mine is going quite well. I'm now a member of the Fitness First gym. There is one across the road from my workplace so I'm fairly motivated at the moment.

As for the 52 Weeks of Mail I write a lot of letters and send a lot of mail so it's not really difficult but I don't send mail out every week more like I send in bulk every few weeks. I just have to learn to write more often.

On the weekend, Jason and I went on a little shopping spree (more like I did). These are just a few purchases.

I bought these from Target. They are surprising comfy and I love them for work.

Kikki.K was having a 25% off sale so I bought these. Another journal, more notebooks, a stamp and pen, a notebook I will use as letter writing paper and a book belt for the pen. I love the range they have out at the moment. Very pretty.

So I hope you are having a great week. I'm making paper bunting for my sister in law's baby shower. It's going to be a busy busy week!

52 Weeks of Mail

2011-10-09T21:13:00.000+10:00

Hello lovely ones. I hope your weekend has been wonderful. Mine was filled with shopping, relaxing and being crafty. So it was fantastic.

I'm thinking of participating in this project called 52 Weeks of Mail. Starting from today until October 7 2012, I will send at least one letter, card or postcard each week. I have a lot of mail to catch up on so I hope this motivates me to keep going.

Mail makes me so happy and I do like to spread the love around. And to help me with this project I might send some postcards and other bits to those of you who read my blog :)

Who knows you might receive a tiny letter from this kit....

I'm now the proud of owner of this and I can't wait to start sending out some teeny tiny letters (If I can bear to open the box, I'm strange like that).

If anyone else is participating let me know and we can encourage each other :)

Have a beautiful week.

Happy things to end the week with

2011-10-07T19:05:00.000+10:00

Hello lovely people. I hope your week has been wonderful. Thanks for your comments in my last post. I think I'm feeling a little better about being a sensitive person :)

Anyway, it's the end of the working week so here are my happy things...

♥ wearing my Cotton Lane scarf. It brightened up the dreary day we had yesterday

♥ Carrot cake for afternoon tea at work. We seriously have the best morning and afternoon teas at my workplace.

♥ Leopard Day at work. It seems to be a popular thing in our area :) I'm wearing my little handmade ears that a workmate made for us because we didn't own anything leopard print.

♥ A close up. I think I need to invest in some leopard print because Leopard print day is a common occurrence.

♥ This is a house I pass on the way home from the bus stop. I think it's darling.

So I'm excited for the weekend after a sluggish week. And Jasmine is coming over for a crafty day. She's going to help me make some decorations for my sister in law's baby shower. This will be fun!

By the way Jasmine is having a Spring Giveaway over at her blog. Check it out here especially if you're a stationery fan.

Have a beautiful weekend everyone!

Just a Minute in October...

2011-10-04T18:48:00.000+10:00

Hello my lovely people. I hope you had a great weekend. So far my week is going alright. I just hope it gets better.

♥ A few new cards in the works (ignore the ink blot)

Being... excited about Christmas. I can't help it when this time of the year rolls around. Plus I'm a little sad I wasn't working at Myer when the decorations came out

Planning... My sister in law's baby shower. Hope it all goes well

Wondering... If I'm too sensitive? Maybe I will relate the story sometime

Trying... to figure out what health insurance I should go with

Looking... Into a gym membership. I need to exercise more

Thinking... About having a Christmas swap. Involving things like tags, ribbon and other packaging bits? Sound sort of interesting?

There is a lot more going on at the moment and as usual I suck at organising myself. And I'm a little out of sorts today because of a work thing from today (the me being sensitive bit). But I'm not going to dwell on that. Have a fantastic week!

Happy things to end the week with

2011-09-30T20:21:00.000+10:00

Hello hello! It feels like it has been such a long week. I'm so thankful for the weekend. I don't know if I have mentioned that I work five days a week now. My volunteering is off at the moment. I hope to do some volunteering again sometime in the future.

Anyway, here are some happy things to end the week with...

&heart; I wore my lovely yellow headband from Sweetsandhearts. I love yellow for spring/summer. It's the happiest colour.

♥ I had a 'healthy' snack of Bacon ball chips and Crunchie chocolate (my fave) at work :p

♥ Today there was a wedding across the road from my work. We heard the church bells ring and had to check it out. It was a beautiful day for a wedding but unfortunately you can't move those blinds from our window. Isn't the view from my window just lovely? :)

♥ A few of us went into the main shopping part of the city in our lunch hour this week and I had to go stationery shopping. These are my purchases from Typo. I can never go in there without coming out with something.

So this weekend I'm going to take it easy. Do some grocery shopping, clothes washing and I have to spend some time in the sun (it was gorgeous weather today) and maybe go out for lunch with Jason. But relaxing is definitely on the agenda.

Hope you all have a blessed weekend!

A mini holiday review

2011-09-27T18:47:00.000+10:00

Hello hello everyone. I hope you had a fantastic weekend. The trip to Bathurst was quick but it was great. I didn't really take many photos but I have a few Instagram ones to share.

It was freezing. A lot colder than I thought it would be so I struggled to stay warm and had to layer up. Plus the trip home was a bit of an adventure.

♥ Luggage for four people and we have three Country Road bags between us :) I never realised how many people use those bags for travelling.

♥ The country is so pretty.

♥ Some of the lovely scenery.

♥ Cute little houses in Lithgow (where we were supposed to catch a train to Sydney)

♥ View from the bus.

♥ Killing time in the airport.

So we got a lift to Lithgow from Bathurst because we were supposed to catch a train from there to Sydney, only to find out that they were doing track work. We ended up catching a bus but we were unsure whether we would make our flight. There was a lot of freaking out but it all worked out in the end. Also our plane ended up being delayed too. Sigh.

Hopefully there will be some photos from the 21st that I can share sometime. Have a lovely week!

Going Away

2011-09-22T19:12:00.000+10:00

Hey lovely people. I'm off to Bathurst tomorrow for Jason's sister 21st birthday. So I will be back late Sunday night.

I thought I would show a sneak peak of the About Me Journal I did for The Happy Mail Project swap. (And there will be a new swap soon to those who are in the group).

I have a pretty basic style when it comes to journalling. Would you like to see more pages next time?

Have a fantastic weekend!!

It's an outfit post x two

2011-09-19T20:00:00.000+10:00

Hello my lovely people. I hope you had a fantastic weekend. I went to work today and I swear I contaminated the office with all my coughing. So as you can see I'm unfortunately still not completely better. Sigh.

Anyway, here are some outfits.

I wore this to the Russian Ballet with my mum.

Grey cardi/bolero - Cotton On

Top - Miss Shop at Myer

Belt - Myer

Skirt - Mombasa

Shoes - RMK

I wore this to a wedding from a few weeks ago.

Dress - Forever New (belt came with dress)

Bracelet - Mombasa

Shoes - Tony Bianco

I'm loving the spring weather. It feels amazing. Although it's been really hazy the past few days. It's due to all the fires. The sun was a bright red the past few afternoons, which is fascinating but a little creepy to see (and difficult to capture).

Have a wonderful week.

Happy things to end the week

2011-09-17T12:24:00.001+10:00

Hey lovelies. It has been a tough week health wise (thanks for your well wishes by the way). Last night I had cramps. I haven't had them that terrible in so long I'd forgotten how bad it can be. So having horrid cramps and coughing my lungs up, it was not a good night.

But there are always things to thankful for...

♥ I bought the girls in my area these cute Smiggle pencil pens. It was a Tuesday afternoon pick me up.

♥ Recovering in my old bedroom at my parents place. I lived on the bed for those few days.

♥ A FB conversation with some of my work friends. This was only part of it but I was touched that they missed me :p And it being quiet without me haha!

I got rid of pics and last names as I'm not sure they would want that displayed :)

♥ And Jason got back last night! So that makes me really happy!!

So I'm in recovery mode (it's been up and down...feel better than something happens, feel better than cramps). I'm planning to relax this weekend, catch up on my letters and read. Though I have a ton of washing to do and we really need to grocery shop. But it will still be a good weekend. I hope yours is wonderful!

On my day off

2011-09-14T10:15:00.001+10:00

Hello lovelies. I'm sick today, so I'm not at work (or at home). I'm staying at my parents for a few days while Jason is off on a work trip.

I'm feeling really run down and don't have much energy. So it's time to relax, read and catch up on letters.

I forgot to post about this lovely gift Laura got me from her Europe trip a few months ago.

She got me a Paris print, post card and key chain. She also bought a travel journal (not from Europe) so I have somewhere to write my thoughts when Jason and I go to Europe. It was such a beautiful and thoughtful gift. I just adore her.

The end pages in the journal.

Pretty pictures inside.

These pages are just waiting to be written in, so hopefully Jason and I will be able to go to Europe next year sometime.

Have a great rest of week.

Happy Things to end the week with + Giveaway winners

2011-09-10T11:32:00.001+10:00

Hey lovelies. I hope the start of your weekend is great. I had my dad's work retirement dinner last night, which was fantastic. Good food and company.

So some happy things to end the week with...

♥ I wore my big green Muchloveilly bow to work to add some Spring fun into my outfit. They loved it at work.

♥ I took my mum to watch the Imperial Russian ballet for her birthday. It was beautiful.

♥ The Wheel of Brisbane is lit up at night.

And the Giveaway winner is ...

Congrats Amanda :)

And the runner up is...

Congrats Rhianne :)

Thanks again to everyone that entered. You're all so wonderful! Have a fantastic weekend. We have another wedding this afternoon :)

Just a Minute in September...

2011-09-05T19:55:00.000+10:00

*A crafty weekend

Just a Minute in September...

Planning... My sis in law Melly's baby shower. She is having a boy so there will be another nephew in the family :)

Dreaming... About having an adventure (overseas would be lovely)

Thinking... About my future letterpress business with my wonderful Laura

Loving... The change in atmosphere and weather. I love the feel of the warmth on my face

Being... A good listener (I think)

Adoring... My work mates. They are awesome and make me love my job

Wanting... To be more creative. I feel like my creative energy is lagging a little

Needing... To answer all my mail. Thank you to everyone who sends me pretty mail. I adore you!

Buying... A new Mac laptop or fancy camera

Betting... With a guy from work. I'm not allowed to cut my hair for the rest of the year! Haa. We'll see how that works out. I have no idea what I win though.

I think I have too many plans at the moment. Another idea I have is to make a mail group. Like a pen pal group where you meet up and write letters. I guess it's like a book club and I'm inspired by the Letter Writers Alliance and the other pen pal groups that have monthly meet ups. It would be so fun to meet up write letters, have a hot chocolate or tea, eat some sweets and talk. Does that sound like a good idea?

Hope you have a fantastic week!

It's an outfit post.

2011-09-02T13:17:00.000+10:00

Hey lovelies. Thank you to everyone who has entered my giveaway. You have until the 7th of September if you still haven't entered :)

So this weeks outfit is from last Sunday. It was my mum's birthday so we had lunch at my parents place after church. We took photos with the family in the yard but I decided to play around afterwards like I used to.

The tire swing. I spent time on here thinking and dreaming.

Climbing on the trees.

I have no idea what I was doing here. Caught off guard?!

Outfit...

Blue cardi - Tempt

Tank top - Kmart ($5 - I bought 3 in different colours)

Skirt - Oh Sweet Joy

Footless tights - Target

Pointy flats - Witchery

Necklace - Lovisa (It's a shame you can't really see it)

Me and Micah hanging out.

I know this photo is a little blurry but I love his little smile here.

Jason hanging with Micah and Caeleb.

I sat Micah up. That's my hand to prevent him from falling because he almost toppled over here.

Oh he's such a cute little chubby bub.

Have a fantastic and blessed weekend!

Travelling mail kit Giveaway - Now Closed!

2011-08-28T21:47:00.001+10:00

* Now Closed*

Hello my loves. As I have mentioned before I wanted to do a travelling mail kit giveaway. It's mainly a 'Just Because' one for everyone that follows my blog :) I'm so thankful for all the lovely comments and emails I've received. I've made such fantastic friends too.

So here's what is being given away.

♥ A cute girl with balloon card

♥ A Matryoshka mini note book/pad

♥ A large pencil case/pouch to bring your items with you

♥ A hot air balloon ink pen

♥ A tiny mechanical pencil

♥ An assortment of post cards

♥ A Le Cahier mini note book

♥ And a pad of cute notepaper

This is too show the items fitting in nicely into the pencil case/pouch.

And these little items are for a runner up :)

♥ A LOVE card

♥ A camera ink pen

♥ An owl magnetic note pad for your listmaking needs

♥ A little camera note pad

So basically to enter...Mandatory

1. You must be a follower :) You can still become one of course.

2. Leave a comment telling me your favourite piece of stationery

Bonus (and please leave a comment for each)

1. Put this giveaway button on your blog

2. Tweet or blog about the giveaway

3. Leave another comment letting me know what you would have in a travelling mail kit

This is open to everyone (Australia and international). It will end on the Wednesday 7th of September (and remember it's Wed here earlier haha)

So thank you again for all your support and hope you have a fantastic week!

Happy Things to end the week with

2011-08-27T14:25:00.000+10:00

Hey lovelies. My happy things list is a little late this week. It's been a more struggling week but that is due to lack of sleep. So it really hasn't been too bad.

This weekend is rainy and gloomy so I don't feel like doing much. It will be nice to relax and catch up on things.

So happy things to end the week with...

♥ The daffodils I bought for Daffodil Day, which is the Cancer Council's fundraising day. They are so bright and yellow, though they are looking a little sad here from being held all day.

♥ My afternoon treat from Gloria Jeans. I bought a $1 lamington from there too. I love that it had a chocolate Australia for decoration.

♥ My first Book Depository order. This is a pretty book full of Letterpress goods.

♥ My new Target wedges. I just adore the bows and the inside floral pattern.

♥ From another angle. I don't wear heels much but I thought I should try to wear them more this summer.

I hope you all have a fantastic weekend!

It's an outfit post!

2011-08-24T19:42:00.000+10:00

Hello lovelies. I hope you are having a good week. I'm already looking forward to the weekend. Sigh.

Here's a little outfit I wore last Sunday. It was a pretty miserable rainy day in the morning so I decided to wear one of my new dresses.

cardi - Ally

dress - Quirky Circus

belt - Bardot

boots - Diana Ferarri

My favourite bit is the crochet Peter Pan style collar. It's sweet. I just hope it doesn't make me look even younger than I already do.

It's been pretty horrid weather lately. Rainy and windy, it makes me want to stay home from work. Have a fantastic rest of week.

10 Things to make you smile

2011-08-22T19:07:00.000+10:00

Hello my lovelies. I thought it would be nice to start the week off with a little list. I was inspired by the swap journal I'm making :)

♥ Cloud watching while walking home from the bus

♥ Unexpected Mail

♥ Random acts of kindness

♥ Writing quotes on paper doilies with my Typewriter

♥ Friendship bracelets

♥ My afternoon hot chocolate to help me get through the rest of work

♥ Online 'window' shopping (which means putting things into baskets on websites to make me feel like I'm shopping)

♥ Planning a travelling stationery pack for my giveaway

♥ Pretty paper, tiny stamps and sweet letters

♥ The conversation I had with the Kikki.K girl about having special boxes full of stationery. I work towards that.

What's making you smile this week?

P.S. I know I am a little obsessed with stationery and mail.

Happy Things to end the week with

2011-08-19T18:14:00.000+10:00

Hello my lovelies. It's been a pretty good week. We had the Wednesday off as it was a public holiday in Brisbane. It was for the Royal Queensland show or Ekka as it's known. Jason and I didn't go. We haven't gone in a few years but we had a really lazy day. We were supposed to have a picnic with some friends of ours but we cancelled it thinking it was going to rain and had dinner at their place instead (and it didn't rain sigh).

Anyway, I have been in the biggest shopping mood lately and went on a little spree today. I think I have made a decision on the pleated skirt and will go with the blue skirt. I usually always buy nude or coral coloured items and figured I should branch out a bit. Plus as part of my happy list I bought a coral pleated dress...

♥ My coral pleated dress from Forever New. (That came with a gold belt but I can change it up)

♥ Visiting Typo and finding a cute heart shaped chalk board (then realising I forgot to buy some chalk too). A few of these bits will be part of a giveaway I'm having soon.

♥ Carrying this giant Kikki.K bag and lugging it on the bus. I got a lot of weird looks because this bag is nearly bigger than me. You can't tell in this photo.

♥ Buying some cloth covered A3 boxes to store my stationery. Plus today they had a Happy Hour Special where you get more discounts (the reason I bought two of these).

♥ Just a nice note in the Kikki.K magazine/catalogue. How I feel about journalling.

♥ My lovely stationery goods from Kikki.K. And again some of these items might be in my giveaway coming up.

♥ These tiny stamps are adorable and they come with some mini stamp pads. I haven't quite decided if this will be part of the giveaway yet :)

So this weekend will be full of washing clothes, writing and catching up with letters, doing my swap journal, lots of reading and relaxing. I can't wait! Have a fantastic weekend!

Pleated Skirt dilemma

2011-08-15T19:12:00.000+10:00

Hey lovelies. I hope you had a great weekend. Mine was so busy. It was my oldest brother's wedding but I haven't really got any photos right now, so I will share some later. It was beautiful and emotional!

Anyway, I posted about some pleated skirts that I wanted to get. In the end I was going to get the blue one but I measured the length on me and I realised that it will be too long on me :( I feel I look shorter when I wear skirts that are below the knee (besides maxi ones).

So I found this skirt from Asos. It looks short on the model but I measured and it will be just above the knee on me. I'm just wanting your opinions on what colour to get???!

♥ Nude

♥ Blue

♥ Coral

There is also black but I'm trying to stay away from black with my casual clothes. So what colour do you prefer?

I hope to get a new skirt with my next pay :) Yay for colour and warmer weather on the way.

Happy Things to end the week with

2011-08-12T18:22:00.001+10:00

Hello lovely people. I hope you had a great week. Mine was good :)

So here are a few happy things to end the week...

♥ My new yellow dress. It's crinkled because it was shoved in a bag full of things I had already bought. It was a shopping spree day.

♥ My pretty new floral peep toe flats from Target.

♥ My new hair. I got it cut today. It's a few inches shorter and I have that small side fringe. I also got a treatment, which made my hair so soft and shiny. Plus they straightened it for me.

I have a big weekend. It's my brother Rolf's wedding ceremony on Sunday. They already had a registry wedding a few months ago and this is their ceremony. So I'm sure I will have some news about that next week. Plus Jasmine is taking photos :) Yay!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Mail Love

2011-08-10T07:30:00.001+10:00

Hello everyone. I have some mail which I need to share. Some is a little older than others and it's not necessarily in order either. Oh how I love mail.

Incoming...

A beautiful handmade card from Alyssa.

A giveaway win via Expression of your emotions :)

This is another giveaway win via Muchloveilly. We love Colours leggings and knee highs.

I won this mini notebook from Little Tiara via Krissyfied. She added some bookmarks too.

This is from a penpal Nicole with a birth announcement :)

Hehe a UK Marie Claire mag (and postcard) from Claire. It was a favour because it has my girl on the cover.

A sweet handmade card from Claire K.

A letter and pretty bits from Sharni.

Outgoing...

This was an older letter to Micaela. With a print as thank you for the mag she sent.

I just wanted to show the envelope for Micaela's letter.

My letter to Sharni. (The one in the incoming was her reply)

A thank you for Alyssa.

For my pen pal Rachel.

For Erin. A thank you for the mag she sent :)

A belated birthday gift for Nicole and some friendship bracelets.

A little something for Kerri :)

And there are a few things I sent off for some swaps I participated in that I will have to post. I will do that soon.

P.S. And remember use the code SALESALE for 50% off in my Etsy shop (to make way for a revamp)

Etsy Revamp Sale

2011-08-08T08:00:00.002+10:00

Hey lovelies. I hope you all had a wonderful weekend. Mine was a lot more relaxed and fairly productive. I've finally listed all my old mini note cards in my Etsy.

So I'm revamping the shop and selling off everything in it for 50% off. You just need to use the coupon code SALESALE.

Here's the mini note cards that are for sale...

Brown, Turquoise and Pink

And there are a bunch of headbands too. They will only be $5 each! I'm changing my stock so I thought I would put the items I do have on sale. So remember to use the coupon code SALESALE to get your 50% off!

Thanks lovelies. I do have a lot of ideas at the moment and I'm just trying to use the time I have. Hopefully I will have some new items and a new design soon!!

Happy Things to end the week with

2011-08-05T16:25:00.002+10:00

I'm so glad it's the weekend tomorrow. It feels like it's been such a tiring week. I definitely appreciate weekends a lot more (and time in general) now that I work basically full time and volunteer.

So happy things to end the week with...

♥ This is a piece of chocolate slice I took with me to my desk at work after another morning tea. The second morning tea in three weeks. Hee I love my government job.

♥ My citrus tart and hot chocolate that I had for breakfast this morning. I usually treat myself on Fridays before I go to my volunteering.

♥ I have paid off my half of the credit card! It feels awesome.

♥ I got my tax back and my first pay check in the same week. It almost blew my mind.

♥ Email convos with Jasmine through our work emails. Seriously we talk about the most random things on there.

♥ Laughing until my stomach hurts at work (it's a shame I missed out on a mini party in my area today. They told me they ate my share of food lol)

♥ Not having to pay off the loan I owe my parents because they said it is a gift. They are so amazing and generous! I can't get over how wonderful my parents are.

It looks like I will just have to do a world trip. I can't decide where to go because I want to visit both Europe and the US and Canada. I will just have to do more research I guess :)

What's making you happy this week? Have a beautiful weekend.

P.S. Oh and I did a guest post for Micaela here.

Just a Minute in August...

2011-08-03T19:54:00.000+10:00

* brooch from Sophie Isobel - This was a gift from Anastasia awhile ago.

Just a Minute in... August

Thinking... About getting health insurance. After volunteering at the hospital, I would love a private room when I have a baby and I need at least a year on health insurance.

Hoping... I can organise my life better.

Wanting... To get more inspired and to get out of my creative slump

Loving... My work mates. I get along so well with one of the girls and we have a great laugh. Too bad I only work with her once a week.

Planning... A baby shower for my sis in law but it will be even more exciting when we find out if it's a boy or girl

Buying... A pleated skirt... I still haven't quite decided on which one I will get though (Thanks for your comments by the way)

So, I'm also wanting to plan a holiday. I'm thinking of either Europe or the US next year. I'm just not sure where to go first :) What are your suggestions?

Anyway, have a lovely rest of week.

Pleated Skirt love

2011-08-01T19:00:00.000+10:00

Lately, I've been obsessed with pretty pleated skirts. When I get my first paycheck it just might go towards one of these skirts.

Via Elle

I think this is beautiful. Peach top and mint green skirt.

Via Nottinghillgirl

I do love this outfit.

Via Lucylaucht

I would wear this in summer time.

Via ShopRuche

So I'm trying to decide with this pale pink skirt. Or...

Via ModCloth

This pretty blue skirt.

What do you think?? I need to make a decision so I can figure out some outfits :)

Have a great week.

Happy Things to end the week with

2011-07-29T17:12:00.000+10:00

Hello lovelies. It has been a good week. I'm slowly starting to understand everything at work and I did my volunteer at the Mater today. I get so clucky around all the babies.

Here's some happy things to end the week with...

♥ I bought a bunch of $5 tops for work and some racer back singlets. And those shoes were $10.

♥ I get to hang with Jasmine again tomorrow :)

♥ Jasmine and I have email convos through our work emails. It's nice to see it pop up when I'm typing away.

♥ I'm planning my sis in law Melly's baby shower!! That's means there is another baby Landicho coming into the family.

♥ Um...I have no words for this but I can say that I am soo excited. Josh Hutcherson is really living up to Peeta :) I think I love him.

Have a blessed weekend.

It's an outfit post!

2011-07-25T19:30:00.000+10:00

I hope you had a great weekend. I feel like I accomplished several things so I feel good about that. This outfit is what I wore to church yesterday.

Cardi: Miss Shop from Myer

Dress: Ra Ra Superstar

Leggings: We Love Colors

Shoes: Winsor Smith from Myer

Necklace: The Little Fox Etsy

Belt: Forever New

This is my lovely dress I got from the Finders Keepers market, from RaRa Superstar that is made from vintage fabric or recycled fabric. And the awesome blue leggings I won via Much Love illy. It's from We love Colors and I chose this pretty colour. They are soo comfy. I also won some knee highs.

One day I will be able to do better outfit posts. Usually this is done in a rush and there's not much time to get some better photos.

P.S. To see better outfit photos check out Jasmine's look book post with me :)

Happy Things to end the week with

2011-07-22T16:15:00.002+10:00

It's been a busy week and I'm so glad it's nearly the weekend. I'm still tired and my head is full of so much information, I wouldn't mind relaxing for the next few days.

So happy things to end my week....

♥ My new job. It is going well as my last post indicated.

* not the greatest photo. This is my volunteer ID tag

♥ I had my first volunteer session today at the Mater hospital. It was fun though kind of daunting. I loved holding little baby feet and making little prints but I'm not sure I will be able to do this by myself so I might change positions. I will try again next week and make a decision then :)

♥ My current read. A Clash of Kings, the second book in A song of Ice and Fire (Game of Thrones is the first book). The more I read the series the more I love it.

I have a ton of things to organise including a blog giveaway, an Etsy sale, a letterpress course and potential ballet classes. Plus I have mail to respond to, packages to send out (I have a bit of a back log) and swaps to complete. But tonight I'm going to do lots of reading and relaxing.

Have a beautiful and blessed weekend.

P.S. I have another guest post at Anastasia's blog here. It's a ballet inspired post.

A work update

2011-07-20T19:45:00.002+10:00

Via sssseahorse flickr

Hey lovely people. I'm a bit quiet in the blog world at the moment because working nearly full time is really taking it out of me. I'm exhausted already, but I just need to get used to all the changes. Here are a few of my thoughts so far.

♥ Today I finally did some proper work and it's going well

♥ I'm starting to know the people I work with and really hit it off with one of the other girls in my little hub

♥ I'm not used to all the flexibility and being able to have a chat

♥ I have a work email :) and I get so excited checking it

♥ I went to my first work meeting today and was welcomed to the team

♥ I get flexi time (flex time is time off when you do extra hours) so I cut my lunch break to get extra hours

♥ There's a morning tea next week to welcome all the new people. I used to pay out Jason for his work place always having morning teas. Haa.

♥ I love being able to wear clothes other than black and white

♥ Jason's work place is only up the street from mine so we get to go to work together (and my dad is on the level below me. He works for the same company)

♥ Working in the government is great!

So really, my biggest hurdle is time management. I need to work out when to do the washing, cleaning the house and I really don't feel like cooking dinner when I get home. It's a good thing that Jason has been home for a few days and he cooked :)

Right now I'm pretty exhausted but in time my body will get used to it. I might have to start scheduling posts or I will never blog.

It's been a good week so far and I'm also excited for this!!

* you can turn the audio off from this motion poster

Have a wonderful rest of week.

P.S. And I did a guest post for Erin here :)

Happy Things to end the week with

2011-07-15T15:43:00.001+10:00

Hey lovelies. I hope you have had a wonderful week. Mine has been good. The low point was going to the funeral this morning :( But the high point was seeing Harry Potter yesterday.

♥ It came out earlier here in Australia. But I missed the midnight session which was a shame. Jason's mum went and she said it was great. Like a football game with cheering, clapping and people sobbing. I definitely shed some tears in the movie. It was so bittersweet to see the last movie ever. I'll be sure to watch it again sometime soon. Sigh :(

And I already told Jason that we are going to Sydney to see the Harry Potter Exhibition coming in November!

♥ Jason and I have had the week off and we looked after Micah during the week. This picture makes me wish for a baby so much!

Have a blessed weekend everyone!