Cheeky squirrel courtesy of Harvard.
Photograph courtesy of me- What a typical tourist picture!
Photograph courtesy of me- What a typical tourist picture!
Monday, February 28, 2011
new saying
This saying always makes me giggle. My co-worker always says it when we are talking about a client, or somebody we know, or even somebody we don't know. You have to have a little bit of comedic relief to get you through the 9-5 weekly drawl! New sayings bring a smile to my face :)
effortless style
Love this look on Erin Lucas from "The City". It's from a while ago but saved in my image library! I love how this looks thrown together yet polished. The basic top and pants, messy topnotch bun, suede shoes paired with a statement necklace, and white eyemake and pale lipstick.
Thursday, February 24, 2011
birthday presents
This past week I received some lovely birthday presents from my nearest and dearest and thought I would share with you a few of the special ones...
As a former photographer, mum liked this photograph as she thought it was "artistic"- It juxtaposes the elegance and compsure of Manhattan (Tiffany's high end designer window- Some style is legendary) with the energetic fast-paced reflection of New York's iconic yellow taxi cabs, the people, the flag, the buildings. And me with my FAO Schwarz shopping bag, wrapped up in gloves and scarf, amongst it all :)
Well I am back from Sydney and tonight my family (auntys, uncles and cousins) came over for chinese takeaway for dinner; which seems to be a bit of a traditional in our household! As I was away for my birthday on Monday, my extended family members gave me my birthday presents tonight. A selection of my presents I received include...
My mum gave me a blown up, white framed photograph I took of my reflection in a 5th Avenue store window in New York. I love this photo because it captures a really special moment in time for me. I was in awe to finally be in a place I had dreamt about for so long.
A special mention also goes to my gorgeous friend Jess for my Ladelle "flock" tea towels (pic shown is ladelle treetops), and T2- Just Peppermint tea. I love both of them! Such thoughtful gifts... will definately be going to good use.
--------------------------------------------------------------
Well I am back from Sydney and tonight my family (auntys, uncles and cousins) came over for chinese takeaway for dinner; which seems to be a bit of a traditional in our household! As I was away for my birthday on Monday, my extended family members gave me my birthday presents tonight. A selection of my presents I received include...
i've been wanting one of these for forever! beach towel by country road
my favourite body wash- neroli jasmine by the body shop
Gelato bath sponge by annabel trends (such a cute product!)
Friday, February 18, 2011
friday afternoon
camberbert & trilby cheese
+
crackers
+
quince paste
+
grapes
+
champagne
= the perfect way to end a week at work :)
As I will be away for my birthday on Monday, my lovely colleagues threw me and P (another Feb bday) a little "friday afternoon drinks and nibblies" to celebrate. We sat on our red office lounge chairs and I was surprised when one of our clients popped in with a present of a box of chocolates and a card for me! Was a nice way to end the week. Now to bday weekend celebrations with family and friends x
Thursday, February 17, 2011
i love the gong
I just returned from a work trip to Wollongong, which was a very pleasant experience indeed! It's times like these that I feel so priveledged to get paid to go to different parts of the world I have never seen before, and meet such interesting people.
While it was a jam packed few days of 8 meetings and 4 workshops, we got through it and had a few special moments along the way. Some of my highlights were...
* Driving from Sydney over the escarpment which leads to Wollongong- you are surrounded by lush, green foliage, and its it height, looks down over one of Australia's most beautiful coastlines. A lovely older gentleman who participated in one of our community focus groups, exclaimed that he had "travelled the world, but there is nothing quite like driving over that range, and seeing Wollongong... the natural landscape, it is just spectacular" and others also agreed :)
*Walking through Wollongong Central and seeing the David Jones that my great uncle worked in decades upon decades ago. It made me quite nostalgic... Although I never met my great uncle, I was very close to his wife, my great aunty Ellie. Aunty Ellie is my grandfathers sister and she was like a grandmother to me, always baking me caramel slice, or coming over to our house for a swim, and sharing stories with me of her time living in Sydney and Wollongong. While living in Sydney, my great uncle (and Aunty Ellie's husband) George received a promotion to head up Ladies Shoes at the David Jones in Wollongong CBD, so their family packed up and moved to that area.
Ironically, in my 3 years of studying at university, I got a part time job working at David Jones, and was allocated to Ladies Shoes! And ironically again, I am now working for a client who owns the building that the Wollongong David Jones CBD belongs to! How funny.
*Running my second community workshop, and feeling much more confident and pleased with how it went. This was an important milestone for me, as my first experience of faciliating a workshop was quite daunting and overwhelming, and I came out of it thinking "I don't know if I will ever enjoy this or really be any good at it!" So I am happy to report I felt a real sense of achievement and pride last night that I let go over the insecurity and inhibitions, and was much more comfortable in my own skin. It helped that I had a friendly, chatty group, but I think letting go of the doubt is so important.
*Learning an important moral in life that you can't always wait around for somebody or some big entity to take charge or make the life changing decisions for you. You cannot always be the follower, sometimes you have to stand up and be the leader. To be the unlikely hero in your own story. It takes decisive action to carve a better destiny for yourself to make a difference in the world. It's so clear to see it in others, but it is not always as clear to see it in yourself. What are you waiting for? Live life to its fullest potential. Be brave. Jump.
* On Tuesday night the client took us out to dinner at one of Wollongong's beautiful seafood restaurants, "Harbour Front" by the beach. You could smell and feel the fresh salt air, while we sipped white wine, and conversed about Australian cities and towns (what a beautiful part of the world we live in!)
While it was a jam packed few days of 8 meetings and 4 workshops, we got through it and had a few special moments along the way. Some of my highlights were...
* Driving from Sydney over the escarpment which leads to Wollongong- you are surrounded by lush, green foliage, and its it height, looks down over one of Australia's most beautiful coastlines. A lovely older gentleman who participated in one of our community focus groups, exclaimed that he had "travelled the world, but there is nothing quite like driving over that range, and seeing Wollongong... the natural landscape, it is just spectacular" and others also agreed :)
*Walking through Wollongong Central and seeing the David Jones that my great uncle worked in decades upon decades ago. It made me quite nostalgic... Although I never met my great uncle, I was very close to his wife, my great aunty Ellie. Aunty Ellie is my grandfathers sister and she was like a grandmother to me, always baking me caramel slice, or coming over to our house for a swim, and sharing stories with me of her time living in Sydney and Wollongong. While living in Sydney, my great uncle (and Aunty Ellie's husband) George received a promotion to head up Ladies Shoes at the David Jones in Wollongong CBD, so their family packed up and moved to that area.
Ironically, in my 3 years of studying at university, I got a part time job working at David Jones, and was allocated to Ladies Shoes! And ironically again, I am now working for a client who owns the building that the Wollongong David Jones CBD belongs to! How funny.
*Running my second community workshop, and feeling much more confident and pleased with how it went. This was an important milestone for me, as my first experience of faciliating a workshop was quite daunting and overwhelming, and I came out of it thinking "I don't know if I will ever enjoy this or really be any good at it!" So I am happy to report I felt a real sense of achievement and pride last night that I let go over the insecurity and inhibitions, and was much more comfortable in my own skin. It helped that I had a friendly, chatty group, but I think letting go of the doubt is so important.
*Learning an important moral in life that you can't always wait around for somebody or some big entity to take charge or make the life changing decisions for you. You cannot always be the follower, sometimes you have to stand up and be the leader. To be the unlikely hero in your own story. It takes decisive action to carve a better destiny for yourself to make a difference in the world. It's so clear to see it in others, but it is not always as clear to see it in yourself. What are you waiting for? Live life to its fullest potential. Be brave. Jump.
* On Tuesday night the client took us out to dinner at one of Wollongong's beautiful seafood restaurants, "Harbour Front" by the beach. You could smell and feel the fresh salt air, while we sipped white wine, and conversed about Australian cities and towns (what a beautiful part of the world we live in!)
Harbour Front restaurant, Wollongong, NSW
Glass reflection of the restaurant lights on the water
Sheer draped fabric with fairy lights!
(This photo doesn't do it justice... In real life, it made me think, wow I want this at my wedding..). Understated romance.
My colleague J and I shared an entre of a dozen fresh oysters kilpatrick.
As you can see we had no trouble polishing them off.. yum!
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Thursday, February 10, 2011
reply all
Has this ever happened to you? It hasn't happened to me...yet. ha. This was my favourite out of the dozens of all of the Superbowl ads. At $30 million a pop (30 seconds for each ad equates to $1 million per second!) they all oughta be as good as this one. It is kinda relevant in my life at the moment too as a few close people in my life are now paying the price for the dreaded accidental "reply all"! I would hope its the kinda mistake you only make once, and can look back and laugh about oneday...
credit: Bridgestone
You can find other Superbowl ads here
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
books and reflection
I just finished reading "The Great Gatsby", which was one of hundreds of vintage books I inherited from my dad. He had all of the classics, and I am slowly but surely working my way through the pre-loved novels. The scent of second hand books always conjures up fond memories of my father... Whenever we would go on family holiday, the first thing my dad and I would do was scout out the beach side town's local secondhand bookstore (and the one in closest proximity to a flat white and an iced chocolate!). We would spend sometimes all afternoon in there, I remember sitting on the ground captivated by an Enid Blyton or Judy Blume book while he would potter about.
In primary school, the library was my haven, and there was a time where you could find me there everyday (I was quite the nerdy little book worm). In particular, there was one shelf in the library that I would always go to for my favourite genre, fiction. Oneday, I picked up a new title from my 'go to shelf' with cover art of a surprised looking boy standing by a red train steaming out star-hazed purple smoke.When I got home from school that evening, I pulled it out of my purply pink library bag, and began to read...
It didn't take long until my 12 year old self was absolutely captivated. I felt like I was part of this secret magical world that nobody knew about except a handful of those most carefully chosen. Like I had found the key and unlocked a worldful of dreams and possibilities never to have been imagined before. For a fleeting moment perhaps until the phenomenon took over.
I cant remember if he was still alive to tell him how amazing this new book was that I had found, but all I remember is that he never got to read it. Sometimes I miss those little things of the "I wonder what he would have to say about that".
I remembered seeing on Oprah that Jo Rowling's own mother passed away before she got to tell her about Harry Potter. Here is part of the transcript where she talks about her mother.
I like though how she goes from regretfulness to realising that is how life is, and that everything that happens in your life happens for a reason and it can make you more resilient.
Rowling: If I’m totally honest with you I regret much more that my mother never saw any of it (Harry Potter). That – that’s a bit of a killer. I mean she would have just –
Winfrey: Would she have loved reading it?
Rowling: I can honestly say I know a hundred percent she would have adored it. Yeah. Yeah.
Winfrey: But you started writing before she passed?
Rowling: Yeah, but I never told her about it.
Winfrey: You never told her?
Rowling: And I would have done. You know? I would have told her about it and I know she would have really liked it. I think she was – I think it was six months before she died I started writing. Yeah, and I never shared it with her.
Winfrey: Do you regret that?
Rowling: Yeah, hugely. Hugely. But the odd thing is that that’s just life, isn’t it? The books wouldn’t be what they are if she hadn’t died. I mean her death is on virtually every other page of the Harry Potter books, you know? At least half of Harry’s journey is a journey to deal with death in its many forms, what it does to the living, what it means to die, what survives death – it’s there in every single volume of the books.
Winfrey: What the love of your parents – the love of you parents. How that abides with you still. Yes.
Rowling: Exactly, exactly. Exactly. So, if she hadn’t died I don’t think it’s too strong to say there wouldn’t be Harry Potter. There wouldn’t – you know? The books are what they are because she died. Because I loved her and she died. That’s why they are what they are.
In primary school, the library was my haven, and there was a time where you could find me there everyday (I was quite the nerdy little book worm). In particular, there was one shelf in the library that I would always go to for my favourite genre, fiction. Oneday, I picked up a new title from my 'go to shelf' with cover art of a surprised looking boy standing by a red train steaming out star-hazed purple smoke.When I got home from school that evening, I pulled it out of my purply pink library bag, and began to read...
It didn't take long until my 12 year old self was absolutely captivated. I felt like I was part of this secret magical world that nobody knew about except a handful of those most carefully chosen. Like I had found the key and unlocked a worldful of dreams and possibilities never to have been imagined before. For a fleeting moment perhaps until the phenomenon took over.
I cant remember if he was still alive to tell him how amazing this new book was that I had found, but all I remember is that he never got to read it. Sometimes I miss those little things of the "I wonder what he would have to say about that".
I remembered seeing on Oprah that Jo Rowling's own mother passed away before she got to tell her about Harry Potter. Here is part of the transcript where she talks about her mother.
I like though how she goes from regretfulness to realising that is how life is, and that everything that happens in your life happens for a reason and it can make you more resilient.
Rowling: If I’m totally honest with you I regret much more that my mother never saw any of it (Harry Potter). That – that’s a bit of a killer. I mean she would have just –
Winfrey: Would she have loved reading it?
Rowling: I can honestly say I know a hundred percent she would have adored it. Yeah. Yeah.
Winfrey: But you started writing before she passed?
Rowling: Yeah, but I never told her about it.
Winfrey: You never told her?
Rowling: And I would have done. You know? I would have told her about it and I know she would have really liked it. I think she was – I think it was six months before she died I started writing. Yeah, and I never shared it with her.
Winfrey: Do you regret that?
Rowling: Yeah, hugely. Hugely. But the odd thing is that that’s just life, isn’t it? The books wouldn’t be what they are if she hadn’t died. I mean her death is on virtually every other page of the Harry Potter books, you know? At least half of Harry’s journey is a journey to deal with death in its many forms, what it does to the living, what it means to die, what survives death – it’s there in every single volume of the books.
Winfrey: What the love of your parents – the love of you parents. How that abides with you still. Yes.
Rowling: Exactly, exactly. Exactly. So, if she hadn’t died I don’t think it’s too strong to say there wouldn’t be Harry Potter. There wouldn’t – you know? The books are what they are because she died. Because I loved her and she died. That’s why they are what they are.
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Puerto Rican paradise
Would someone please apparate me here!!! How much fun are all the bright pops of colour in W Hotel's new resort at Vieques Island, Puerto Rico. Looks like absolute heaven. I'm thinking it's about time I go on another beach holiday. Hmm...
Thursday, February 3, 2011
the year of the rabbit
With the ringing in of the new year, and then the ringing in of the chinese new year, there was much talk of finally closing the tumultuous chapter which was the “Year of the Tiger” and easing into the peace and calm of the "Year of the Rabbit". To my surprise and delight, I stumbled across a feature article a few days ago on chinese new year horoscopes, and I found out that I am a "rabbit"! It's my year, I thought. After reading the following I am motivated to shoot for the stars and go above and beyond to get there.
RABBIT- You are a dreamer
At long last your year has arrived. Trust your instincts, go at your own pace and everything you've hoped for will eventuate. The year will take a month or two to get moving in the direction you want, but once it does, you'll need to hold on tight to keep up. At times it may even require you to leap higher than you may have wanted to, but the results of your efforts will be worth it So here is...
to 2011
to being a rabbit
to being a dreamer
to leaping higher
print credit: trafalgarsquare
P.S. Keeping with the bunny theme here are some cute flickr videos of "George"
credit: jess manea
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