It’s my birthday soon.  I will be 25 years old.  I have no idea how this happened.  I swear I was only 22 like the other day!  So, I’ve been thinking about things I might like as gifts.  Usuaully I just reply with ‘iunno’ whenever I get asked for gift suggestions for myself, but since I’ll be crossing the dreaded threshold into ‘mid to late twenties’ territory I thought I should do the mature thing and have a little think about it.  And since there are some pretty neat things on my little list I thought I’d post it here for all to see.

• Silicon bakeware – I haven’t done any baking since I’ve been back in Brisbane, partly because Matt threw out all my bent up old bakeware while I was away and partly because our kitchen is hot enough in summer without the oven on, but I’m aching to make delicious baked goods.
• Tights from We Love Colors – I’m particularly hankering after teal, gold, rust, olive green, emerald, spruce green, hunter green (can you tell I like green?) and navy.
• A chunky cardigan – I’ve been on the lookout for a cream/ecru/off white, chunky, slightly oversized cardigan for a while now.  My main problem is that I want natural fibre and most of the ones I find and like have at least some synthetic content.  There’s actually a few I’m watching on eBay at the moment but I’m pretty fussy about the feel (knits should be soft, people!), so I’m not sure I want to buy online.
• One of Alicia Lynn Carrier’s 10 Dollar Drawings – I’ve been reading her amazing food blog Bread and Honey for a while now and then found out about her equally amazing art.  Soooo pretty!
• A ring from Forkometry – I love these!  Such a great way of repurposing old cutlery and very beautiful too.
• My name on a necklace – Possibly a bit lame, possibly a bit bling, definitely been done before.  But I still kind of want one.  I think all caps in silver would suit me best, but the acrylic heart and initial pendant is a little bit retro and cool too.
• A Lomo or Holga camera – Or some other old school analogue camera.  I miss film.
• T Shirts from TopatoCo – Specifically this one and this one, both by Kate Beaton.  I don’t really need more t shirts, but they make me giggle!
• Socks! – Not something you would expect to be on a list of gifts someone wants for their birthday, but I want some thigh high/over the knee woollen socks.

And that’s my list.  For further inspiration, I’ll be sending family and friends to my hearts (which, frankly, they should look at anyway because I heart some awesome stuff!).  Now, if someone asks, I can just refer them to this post.  Problem solved!

Wednesday is Farmers Market day in Brisbane city and today I went along with my camera.  I love going to markets.  I’ll go along to fresh food markets, street markets, flea markets… any kind of market really.  I just love the atmosphere.  Today, though, it was all about lovely fresh food.  I went with a couple of friends, Dan and Tash.  Tash is a chef and food blogger and I absolutely adore her enthusiasm for all things edible.  On her advice, I walked away with three delicously plump vanilla pods which smell incredible.  And I took a whole bunch of photos.  Enjoy!

And what better way to end a day at the markets than with a delicious iced tea.

It’s sooooo hot today!  Weatherzone tells me the current temperature in Brisbane is 30.6°C with 69% humidity, making it feel like 36.3°C.  I love that Weatherzone has the ‘feels like’ temperature, it makes me feel like my whinging about the heat is somehow more justified.  Apparently there’s a slight chance of a storm this afternoon, but we’re still expecting a low of 26°C overnight.  And that’s not until 3am!

Thankfully, Matt has been keeping us well supplied with iced tea.  At the moment it’s black tea with mandarin and it’s rather delicious and very refreshing.  I love having a boyfriend who works in a tea shop.  Since he started working there we have slowly accumulated a collection of different flavours and varieties and I’ve learned a lot about tea too.  For example, rooibos is not actually from a tea plant, but rather a legume.  Crazy stuff, huh?

I’m sure I’ll post further about tea, but for now here’s what I wore today.  The skirt and top are both thrifted, the necklace was a gift, as was the lotus hairclip and the sandals are from Big W.  I’ve been wearing the sandals a lot this summer because they’re nice and cool and no fuss to put on.  In fact, I’ve worn them so much that I’ve actually developed sandal tan.  How embarrassing!

I really should start putting sunscreen on my feet.  Right now, though, I need some more iced tea before I melt.

Matt and I don’t do Valentines Day gifts, but I decided I still wanted to make something little and cute for him.  So, I made a bunch of lollipop flowers.  They’re cheap and super easy to make.  Here’s how.

Draw or download and print a flower template and cut it out.

Trace the flower onto some felt.  I chose dark red for Valentines, but I think I might try some other colours for birthdays and things later.

Cut the flower out of the felt and snip a little hole in the centre.  I found the easiest way to do this is to fold it into quarters and just snip the corner.

Insert your lollipop into the hole.  I also cut out a set of freehand leaves for mine, but I think that’s pretty optional.  Now just shape the flower around the lollipop a little and you’re done!

Happy Valentines Day!

Today I am channelling my inner domestic goddess and getting some household chores done.  Washing, dishes, cleaning and tidying are all on the agenda, but I may need to duck out later to pick up a few things for dinner tonight (and possibly a sweet reward for myself!).  I’ve also decided that I need to go through all my clothes (again) and assess my wardrobe situation.  I’ve got a few bags of clothes and things that I need to list on eBay already, but I’m thinking I might end up adding to that.

I chose a few simple pieces to layer today, but not too heavy since it’s still warm here in Brisbane.  The top I bought on clearance at Kmart, shorts are thrifted, 3/4 leggings from a discount outlet and the scarf was a gift from Matt’s mum.  I had a go at academichic’s ‘pretzel tie’ and absolutely love the way it looks with this scarf.  I’m so excited that they’re having a ’scarf month’ this month and can’t wait to see more.

And now I’m off to clean the stove!

To make up for my lack of posts of late, I have a little story to tell.  And above is what I wore today.  I managed to con Matt into taking my photo since I still don’t have a tripod.  He’s not as artistic with his photography as Louie, but at least he gets my entire body in the shot.  Tshirt from some outlet store at DFO Canberra, denim shorts I cut down from a pair of old jeans, shoes from Big W and scarf from Tree of Life.  Now on to the story.

I recently slipped up on my resolution to only buy second hand or hand made.  I bought a cheap singlet from Big W.  It’s actually quite a nice little top (see below) and I’ve worn it a bunch of times already, but it’s nothing outstanding.  In fact, the reason I bought it actually has nothing to do with what it looks like.  I bought it because I got self conscious and didn’t feel comfortable in what I was wearing at the time.  Pretty lame, yeah?

It gets quite hot and humid here during summer, so I walked out the door wearing a denim skirt and a large scarf styled as a halter over a bikini top.  I love the versatility of scarves and I’ve worn them like this before.  The scarf in question (see above) is big enough that it covered me from neck to waist on the front, leaving my shoulders exposed and just a little bit of lower back peeking out if I sat down, but after about an hour of being out and about I suddenly felt incredibly self conscious.  With a two hours to go before meeting a friend, I panicked and bought the cheapest top I could lay my hands on.

It’s very rare that I will feel uncomfortable in what I’m wearing like that, but the few times it has happened it seems to have hit me quite hard.  After some quiet reflection over an iced chocolate the next day, I realised that the way I felt had pretty much nothing to do with clothes.  I was already feeling a bit shit that day and although I felt ’safer’ once I was wearing a conventional top I still didn’t feel great the rest of the day.  I guess, in a way, my new top will serve as a rather pretty reminder that I make my style because my style shouldn’t make me.

Back in Brisbane and loving it.  Still adjusting to the humidity after so much dry weather in Canberra, but it’s great to have good coffee and sushi places in more than two locations.  And multiple Nando’s, all of which include drinks in the meal deals!  Plus I love Brisbane.  It’s home.

I’ve really missed that view.  I’ve been walking a lot lately, taking everything in and making an effort to take different routes and occasionally deviate from my destination.  I want to get to know the city better and hopefully get some good photos along the way too.

Second hand or hand made is going well(ish).  I bought swimmers from a store the other day, but I justified it to myself with the fact that I’m incredibly fussy about swimmers and these were only $17.  And I needed them asap since my previous bikini disintegrated in Melbourne and I need to start swimming as exercise for my knees (I’ve even been looking into aquarobics).

Speaking of aqua, Matt gave me one of the best gifts I have ever received for Christmas.  A fish tank!  And once we have it set up, he’s taking me to buy a couple of fantails.  I’m so excited.  We went and had a look at some fish last week, they’re so cute with their swimming around and looking pretty.  We also looked at seahorses and although I could keep them in my tank without any problems, Matt thinks they’re weird (and I would probably spend all my time watching them with quiet awe).

And now I leave you with what was meant to be an outfit photo.  I didn’t realise how great being able to use Mum’s tripod was until trying to take these photos.  I think I will have to invest in my own.

Hope everyone had a fabulous Christmas and New Years!

EDIT:  Reading By Hillary just now and was reminded that I forgot to include what I’m wearing in the above photo.  So, here it is.

Awesome t-shirt – thrifted, very comfortable purple pants – Tree of Life, amethyst earrings – gift from Matt, necklace with pendant watch – eBay, garnet bracelet – made by me.

Holy crap, it’s nearly next year already!  Tomorrow will be the last day of 2009 and I’ll be jetting back to Brisbane.  I meant to post a phone sock tutorial before the year ended, but my camera batteries died so it will have to wait.  For now though, let’s talk about new years resolutions.  I’ve never really liked new years resolutions since every time I make them I inevitably don’t stick to them or they become irrelevant or I forget what they were.  So, for 2010 I am calling them goals.  And here they are.

• Get my learner driver licence
• Go back to uni or study of some kind
• Look after myself better, eat healthier and relax more
• ‘Second hand or hand made’

I’d better explain the last one.  I buy a lot of clothes and fashion related things and this year a lot of those purchases have been from shitty chain stores or discount outlets.  Sure they’re cheap and fun and sometimes I get some excellent stuff, but I’ve decided that in 2010 it has to be ’second hand or hand made’.  I’m also going to shop local as much as I can.  From buying my fruit and veg from the local farmers market to supporting local designers and craftspeople.  And I’ll be blogging about it all the way; featuring Australian designers, artists, craftspeople and purveyors of fine wares and calling for suggestions too.  I’ve yet to decide what I will do if I slip and buy something from K-mart, but I’m open to suggestions for that as well.

See you next year!

I’ve been a little quiet lately.  Mostly because I’ve been busy.  I went to Melbourne a few weeks ago for a holiday and it was hands down the best week of my life so far.  Hands down!  I’d never been there before, but people had always told me that I would like it.  They weren’t wrong.  I want to live there.  I met up with my ex boyfriend from Brisbane and we shared a hotel room for the week.  We’ve kept in contact a lot since I left Brisbane and we’re very good friends.  Even though we’d been a couple for nearly three years, Melbourne was our first real holiday together.  Anyway, here are some photos before I explain more.

Matt in front of Flinders Street Station

Lord of the Fries

I think that’s a theatre or something

Bikes we hired for the day

Church we stopped to look at on our ride

Matt with his bike

Cupcakes from my new favourite place, Little Cupcakes

Matt at Little Cupcakes

The cupcakes were delicious

I didn’t get nearly as many photos as I would have liked since I kept leaving my camera in the hotel room.  Sometimes because I had the dumb and others because I was achey and couldn’t be bothered carrying it.  We ate so much amazing food, my favourites being Little Cupcakes and Soul Mama.  We went to Soul Mama for a date.  It was the greatest date ever.  After we ate what was easily one of the best meals ever we headed over to Luna Park.  We went on the Scenic Railway and laughed so hard it hurt, then Matt played a sideshow game and won me a purple snake softie which I wore around my neck afterwards when we went for cake in Acland Street.

The other highlight for me was riding a bike.  I hadn’t ridden a bike since I was a kid and I was a little worried that between the arthritis in my back and the problems I have with my knees I might have a bit of trouble.  But I desperately wanted to do it and Matt was incredibly supportive.  We rode along the river for a while, but my knees started to hurt so we decided to cut through some suburbs in order to get to Abbotsford Convent.  We walked our bikes for a bit and then when we came to a slight downhill run Matt convinced me to get back on.  I had the time of my life!  We rode the rest of the way with no problems at all.  On the way back to the city I even rode in a bike lane on the road.  On the road!  I really want to buy a bike now.

In the weeks since I’ve been back I’ve done a lot of thinking and Matt and I have done a lot of talking.  I’m moving back to Brisbane on the 31st of December.  Moving back in with Matt, but we’re taking things slowly and seeing what happens.  I’m planning on going back to uni to finish my creative writing degree mid year and I’m going to put a lot more effort into the blog and my various creative endeavours.  I’m so happy and enthusiastic about life at the moment.  It’s fantastic.  I’m glad I moved to Canberra even though it hasn’t lasted that long.  I’ve spent lots of time with Mum and Louie and Matt and I have both grown and learned to communicate with one another much better.  Plus I’ve saved some money while I’ve been here so I can afford to go for my learners licence next year and get driving lessons.  I’d still rather a bicycle though, but I can probably afford that too.  Yay!

I just wanted to share how awesome my little brother is. Here are some choice quotes.

“I only think about things I don’t know about.”

Me: I just saw some ducks!
Mum: Must be because of the ponds they build around here. Every pond needs ducks.
Me: Every duck needs a pond.
Mum: Maybe they build the ponds just for the ducks.
Louie: Maybe they build the ducks just for the ponds!

Me: Those are expensive dvds. Oh, wait, they’re blu rays.
Louie: Your Mum’s a blu ray.

Me: *something about things being on fire*
Louie: Your face is on fire.

“I hate when people graffiti their names on things. It’s not very unitive. Unitive is my new word for good.”

Also, he wears Volleys and scarves and flannel shirts and likes sushi and has great taste in music. Oh, and he’s also a keen photographer. I’ll post some of his photos soon. They’re really awesome.