Weekend to do list

About a month ago I stumbled across Gretchen Rubin's The Happiness Project on a blog (which I cannot relocate for the life of me!), which I bought not long after, and started reading last week. It wasn't until after it arrived that I realised it fell into the dreaded 'self help' category but, I have to admit that I'm already loving it. It feels like talking to a friend about your own revelations and half revelations, and realising that someone else out there thinks and feels the same way you do and, better yet, has greater insights into some of those thoughts and feelings!

I've already acknowledged to myself that I will have to read through this book again, this time with pen and paper and/or highlighter, in order to capture and remember everything that I want to, but two things that I am already trying to put into action are to not put off little things that will only take a minute or two (de-cluttering life), and planning fun into my days (being more light hearted). As such, this weekend I have a 'to do' list that tackles both of these things.

1. Write a post on HTR (check!)
2. Reply to a friend's email.
3. Go through one of my new cookbooks and plan some future dinners.
4. Plan a Dutch and Mexican themed dinner for Monday night to honour a friend that recently passed away - I knew her family was from Holland, but only today discovered that she was actually born in Mexico. I can't attend her funeral, so this is my way to say goodbye to, and celebrate, a wonderful young woman.
5. Import and edit photos from my day spent walking some of the Hume Hovell track (check!)
6. Upload my GPS data and provide feedback to the coordinator of the Hume Hovell track so that they can make some improvements for future walkers.
7. Check out the Hume Murray Farmers Markets, then sit in La Maison, read the paper, and drink coffee.
8. Get a pedicure.
9. Work out a new work out routine that fits in with my new job.
10. Buy some stockings and foundation for work.

... If there was an item #11, it might be to waste many, many minutes playing Cut The Rope, which my good friend Yak recently put me onto...

New discoveries

I've been searching through new blogs recently to get inspiration for little crafty projects, and have come across two little gems that I am adding to my regular reading list.

Courtesy of Smaggle and her article on jealousy, I discovered yes and yes,  which is a fabulous blog about anything and everything that I could possibly be interested in reading.

And, via some random searching of pictures and ideas on my own, I stumbled across a little bird told me. so, which I have instantly fallen in love with, mostly because I just love kt's style. I'm a little sad that she hasn't updated her blog since January, but fingers crossed she gets back into it soon!

Oh - and I got bored with how my blog was looking, and decided a little change here might be nice too. Just a little.

Thank you

They shall not grow old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years contemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.

Lest we forget.

Happiness is an art

There are few things that make me feel as happy or as at peace as an art gallery or museum do...

I wander around art galleries and museums for hours on end, gently stretching my day across wishing trees by Yoko Ono, cows by Pablo Picasso, giant bundles of hay, silhouettes with two pairs of legs, advice on sleeping straight, electronic art, works by Lee Bontecou that just make you want to jump into black holes to see what's in there, self portraits in reflections, self portraits in gold reflections, self portraits in relfections next to Frida Kahlo's self portraits... I love it. I love yo MoMa.

Awesome

A few days ago Lady Smaggle posted about her awesomeness. I thought that this was such a brilliant idea that her post has been sitting open in a tab in my browser for the last few days, waiting until I had time to post three things that are awesome about me! So, after a late night playing games (guitar hero, backgammon, monopoly, and battle of the sexes), and a lazy sleep in until 10:30am (it's now midday and I may or may not still be in bed), here's what is awesome about me:

1 - I make things happen.
This may sound fairly simple out of context, but what I mean is that I don't just say I'm going to do something, or that something sounds like it would be fun, and then leave it at that - I actually do it. This is not really a self observation - a good friend of mine told me some time ago that it is this characteristic in particular that his partner really loves about me, because so many people he knows don't actually follow through. I don't just say we should have a winter wonderland dinner party and my house - I cut out the hundred or so snowflakes and birds from paper and I make it happen. I don't just say that white water rafting in Bali dressed up as a bumblebee sounds fun - I go to Bali, dress up as a bumblebee, and I do it! I don't just say 'we should do this or that or whatever'... I make it happen! Life's too short to not follow through on ideas that sound like fun.

2 - I give.
For as long as I can remember I have involved myself in giving or participating in charity fundraisers, and also giving blood. When I was a kid I participated in Jump Rope For Heart and the MS Read-a-Thon religiously. When I got a bit older I participated in several 40 hour famines, and when I started earning pocket money, I convinced my brother to sponsor a child with me through World Vision. In recent years I helped to raise over $5,000 for the Leukaemia Foundation by shaving my head for the World's Greatest Shave, and I also raised over $7,000 for the Childhood Cancer Association by cycling approximately 800km from Melbourne to Adelaide.

3 - I combine being a princess, with being a tomboy.

Anyone who meets me when I'm out for dinner, or generally in polite society, would take it that I am a very girly girl. I like to dress femininely, I am well mannered and soft spoken, and at first, a little shy. I enjoy jazz music and knitting and reading and cooking and drinking good wine and cups of tea. However, I also like to shoot guns, rock climb, drive trucks, and I am very competitive (when I know I'm in with a chance). I can change a tyre (a truck tyre if needs be), I can lift heavy things, and I am just at ease in the company of guys as I am with gals.

What are three things that are awesome about you?

The Letter H

Today, happiness comes via hydrangeas...

A beautiful arrangement of hydrangeas, green carnations, and pale pink spray roses, which I bought for myself a few days ago to sit on my desk to make me less grumpy at work.

Heels...

Gorgeous new thick-heeled sandals that I snapped up for half price (yes, that is exactly what I say they cost... dollar figures are not required), and a beautiful collection of wooden and brass bangles that I thought would match them perfectly.

And Him...

Who only grumbled ever so slightly at the purchasing of the above sources of happiness. xx

Anywhere But Here

It's a hot 41 degrees today, and I think that the world is feeling lazy as a result... Or at least my world is. Work is slow, and I find myself thinking about the things I would rather be doing right now...

- baking voluptuous muffins spilling over with fresh berries, and dusting them with icing sugar as they cool

- searching through second-hand shops for an eclectic collection of vintage vases

Photo by Jessica Claire

- wandering around a cottage garden, wearing a flowery, flowing frock, and filling a cane basket with beautiful roses and handfuls of lavender

- floating on a li-lo in calm waters at a sheltered, sandy beach

- laying on a blanket under a tree in a lush, green park, reading my book and lazily kicking my legs behind me

- dancing the blues with strong lead

Photo from The Killer Dillers

- swanning around a winery in my sun hat, drinking a crisp white and discussing vintages and other such intelligent things (which I will magically know) with the winemaker

 

Chateau Elan Winery in Atlanta

Bliss...

A Lovely Garden Party

After such a gloriously lazy day yesterday, it was incredibly hard to be at work today. I found my thoughts kept drifting to this beautiful photo shoot by Jessica Claire which has served as inspiration for my last twenty-something birthday.

Thanks to Jessica, I have now wrapped my arms tightly around the notion of an elegant and timeless garden party, and I'm not letting go! The commencement of my 30th year shall be filled with beautiful flowers in eclectic vases, paper-heart cut outs, home baked delicacies worthy of the most gourmet picnic ever thrown, and women in flowery frocks with curls in their hair, accompanied by dapper looking men. In my customary excitable and impetuous state, out-of-town guests have already been informed of my plans and have been asked if they could make it, and although it's still a good three months away, I have already begun imagining the smell of the delicious apple and rhubarb pies and the three cheese tarts that may be on the menu.
 
Seriously, could anything be more perfect?