be a tiger

RELOCATION

2010-07-21T05:01:00.000-07:00

Hey guys,

I am terrible at blogging, so I have started afresh over at www.sixkilosofpumpkin.blogspot.com

Follow me like I'm a white rabbit and you are Alice in Wonderland and madcap adventures shall ensue.

Lazing on a Sunday Afternoon

2010-05-30T01:17:00.000-07:00

I have had a rather splendid weekend, topped off by the fact that I am now finished for the semester! Until exams in two weeks. BUT for now, I am quite fine!

I went to see The Room last night at a midnight screening. It was simultaneously the best and worst two hours of my life, and I strongly encourage you all to go and see it. With plastic spoons in hand.

That was essentially the highlight of my weekend. Really. "OH HI MARK"

Day Zero

2010-05-24T05:11:00.000-07:00

OH HEY GUYS. Long time no see etc etc I am lazy.

So I made a Day Zero project, for I am rockin'. The project pretty much says make 101 goals to complete in 1001 days. I am 8 days in and I've completed 2% and am far too lazy to check if this is on task. This is my list, because you will notice blogging features on there and it would be quite a ridiculous blog post to announce I have made a list and not include it, no?

1. Collect and read every Popular Penguin book
2. Send a secret to PostSecret
3. Complete a 365 day photo challenge
4. Listen to every album on my iPod
5. Make my own pasta
6. Answer the "50 Questions that will Free Your Mind"
7. Be able to list 101 goals
8. Volunteer
9. Host a tea party
10. Host a dinner party
11. Go on a photo adventure
12. Have a picnic
13. Go a week without Facebook
14. Do the 100 Strangers photo challenge
15. Finish the Indie Rock Colouring Book
16. List 10 items in my Etsy store
17. Buy another camera
18. Take a class at Sugar Blue
19. Get a massage
20. Make profiteroles
21. Buy fruit and veges at a growers market
22. Do a grocery shop only buying things on sale
23. Complete the 21 day diet
24. Buy and fill a recipe card box
25. Handwash my clothes
26. Buy a thermos from my tea
27. See Sydney from a 727 at night
28. Visit Thomas more
29. Give Vegemite another chance
30. Amass 25 teapots
31. Visit Sian
32. Find a personally inspiring quote and work it into a piece of art or home decor
33. Photograph a landscape from the same location capturing every season
34. Help someone do something they thought they couldn't
35. See James
36. Learn to sew
37. Become fluent in French
38. Blog twice a week for two months
39. Watch 101 new films.
40. Complete the 100 snapshots challenge
41. Subscribe to Frankie
42. Donate $1 to charity for every task I do not complete
43. Do 10 things from Instructables
44. Take a spontaneous trip
45. Jam with Levi
46. Read 101 comics
47. Fly somewhere by myself
48. If I posted it, you wouldn't get the reference
49. See snow
50. Do Musical theatre kareoke
51. Choose an actor and watch all of his films
52. Save $3000
53. Try every type of T2 tea
54. Organise sheet music
55. Read Yes Man and Youth in Revolt
56. Collect the "Introducing..." series
57. Go to a club that isn't Amps
58. Start things.
59. Get an environmentally friendly water bottle
60. Drink 2L of water every day for a month
61. Buy something yellow
62. Get my sister an awesome 21st present
63. Document completing each task somehow
64. Get a distinction in every subject one semester
65. See the Vintage Reds
66. Raise $100 for charity
67. Have an Ikea day
68. Dye my hair
69. Try acupuncture
70. Go to a quiz night
71. Go to the dentist
72. Go one week without eating or drinking out
73. Take a first aid course
74. Save all my coinage for a month
75. Get a new belt for my piano buckle
76. Get up at 6:30am every day for 14 days
77. Get properly fitted for a bra
78. Get a facial
79. Visit my interstate relatives
80. Learn to play 5 songs on guitar
81. Pay for someone else's coffee/parking
82. Take another ballet class
83. Go to the zoo
84. Go for high tea
85. See 12 new theatre shows
86. Complete PvZ
87. Become what Levi deems an acceptable level at gaming
88. Dress up as Bowie
89. Get more Pilgrim charms
90. Perform in a panto
91. Have a movie marathon
92. Make a wish at 11:11 on November 11, 2011.
93. Clean out my closet
94. Play the sims
95. Go on a date
96. Throw someone a surprise party
97. Compliment a stranger
98. Have a Ghibli marathon
99. Make tempura vegetables
100. Get recipes from 20 different people
101. ... This is awkward, but I had to retype the list and I can't find what I missed for 101.

AND ITS CHEESEBURGER TIME SO I'LL FINISH THIS LATER, YO.

In which Emily remembers to blog

2010-05-03T02:07:00.000-07:00

Hello! I am being very lazy/swamped with assessments/playing too much Plants vs. Zombies and Robot Unicorn Attack. So! This is what I have been doing since my last

- Playing croquet at a picnic.

- Having a birthday! That was fun. Even better was my birthday cake.

- Reading comics. I am such a comic noob, but Brad got me this for my birthday and I really loved it:

- Procrastinating hand washing. I have a huge pile of handwash-only clothes, and I am FAR too unmotivated to do it. Sadly, they're all favourite clothes so my wardrobe is sad without them :(

- Getting back into beanies/beret things! Often with hilarious results, I tucked all my hair into a red sequinned one and my housemates forced me to take it off because I looked so silly.

A bit of laughter for your day

2010-04-13T01:17:00.000-07:00

Hope you're all rugged up and staying warm today! I saw this on Sarah Wilson's blog and it made me laugh.

Simplicity

2010-04-08T08:11:00.000-07:00

After my horrendously decadent birthday list, I thought I would make another, better list! My list obsession is coming back out :D So, here is my list of simple, happy things that I have enjoyed lately. Some might even say, things that I love on this fine Thursday! :o

- Skyping my lovely cousin who I don't speak to nearly enough

- Finally "getting" these songs I'm learning on piano

- Tennessee Williams. Always.

- Starting my day with a pot of tea and two slices of bread (untoasted!) with Nutella

- Impromptu How I Met Your Mother, talking over 3 cups of tea, staying up until 1am catchups

- Sleeping in! (sadly, this did not follow the aforementioned 1am catchup...)

- Job interviews! Even if I don't get the jobs, its nice to know things must be picking up

- thxthxthx and the gorgeous thankyou notes

one of my favourite thxthxthx posts

Wishlist!

2010-04-06T19:36:00.000-07:00

I'll admit, this post has been slowly simmering on the backburner for a while. I'll start it, get distracted, save it, go shopping, come home, read some more blogs, find more stuff I want, and the list is getting slowly longer. Therefore, it's no longer a birthday list per se, but a wishlist of things I hope to one day own. Let us proceed.

1. Books!

How many times can I say this - POPULAR PENGUINS. Seriously, guys. Get into that. I only have five and that is a very minute percentage of the series.

Speaking of series, (what a smooth segue!) the INTRODUCING... series are fantastic. I have Philosophy and Psychology, and I think it would be splendid to have more.

And this book, I really want to learn to make a coathanger wine rack or whatever business they're recycling:

The Book of Awesome sounds amazing. I've read a bit of the site, and as much as Jimmy Macbook has a special place in my heart, its much more fantastical to curl up in bed with a pot of tea and a book. Rather than, you know, a macbook.

2. A(n?) MOR teapot candle

Mum and I saw these while we were shopping for a present for her nurse last month and it pains me that I didn't buy it right then and there.

3. T2 Teas

Unless you want to venture down to Tealicious House in Dunsborough, T2 teas are the next best thing. Especially in their limited-edition canisters. I only have Gorgeous Geisha in that canister, and I adore the Turkish Apple tea, and... oh, why do I even bother to elaborate? Any tea is glorious. As long as it has a canister for me to store it in :D

4. Tea accessories

I now have three teapots! But I would still like more. What is even more pressing than a new teapot, however, is a milk jug. I long for a darling little milk jug to put out with my teas so its not a dainty teapot and teacup and big plastic 2L milk bottle.

5. Anything from Modcloth. Seriously.

But these are some of the things I love:

Eight A Day water bottle

Storytime Clock

All the Better to Brew You With cup

6. The Gala Darling podcasts

I love Gala Darling. She is fantastic, and humorous, and I think her podcasts would be an excellent addition to my life. However, I don

Let's be honest, I'm going a little overboard on my list. So I'll cease it here, although remind you about these aprons that I love, and hopefully you've had a splendid time looking :D

Practical theories: The Law of Attraction

2010-04-06T18:22:00.000-07:00

I've been busying my time on my study break not studying, but reading blogs. It started with food blogs, then I got onto Gala Darling's brilliant site again, and a link from that onto Sarah Wilson's blog... its all happening, and I'm enjoying it.

I'm going to admit, I'm pretty skeptical about all those new-agey, The Secret-toting ideologies. I read about three pages of The Secret and thought, this is just what everyone's parents have been telling them for years about the power of positive thinking. Unless someone I know can vouch for something like that, I'm not going to believe it. So, in order to get rid of my inner skeptic, I'm going to try to work out if these theories can actually be applied to my life. Let us proceed with

The "law of attraction" hoopla

The theory: Thoughts attract like thoughts. If you think happy thoughts, happy things will happen. If you're negative, negative things happen. You get the idea.

Practicalities: We actually developed this theory when I was fifteen about one of the girls in my group, who was just really depressing and whingey and horrible. We called it a "vortex of doom", that when she was upset everyone else got sucked in to feeling upset as well. Which maybe is a different theory about associating yourself with people. I digress. Generally, I haven't had this apply to actual events, but I think tangible things.

First example: Capers. I used to work at a splendid little Italian cafe, and the exported Italian staff would cook for us. One of the baristas made risotto with capers one night, and I had no idea what they were. Then I saw them in the supermaket. Then they were in another dish I had when I went out. It was like, as soon as I had capers, they were EVERYWHERE.

The same thing happened with Vampire Weekend, although over a longer period of time. The first time I went out on the town, in May last year, one of the "eight great songs they played at Amps" (more on this later) was A-Punk by Vampire Weekend. Of course, after half a bottle of wine with dinner, I couldn't remember the song the next day. Although I did remember the other seven.

ANYWAY - I got to Reading Festival in August, and Alice dragged us to Vampire Weekend amidst protests that we didn't even know who they were. Of course, they played A-Punk, and I realised - THIS WAS THE EIGHTH GREAT SONG! Then, recovering at the house two days later with a cold, it was on the advertisment for 500 Days of Summer. And The Inbetweeners, I believe. Once I knew what the song was, it was everywhere.

I was there! I saw him in that shirt!

Verdict: The jury's still out. I'm not sure if its just that when you're positive, you see the positives in everything whereas when you're negative, you ignore other possibilities. And my Vampire Weekend capers (See what I did there?!) could just be coincidence.

What do you think, fellas? Exponents of the theory? Or think its a load of hogwash?

Tiger Food: Three cheese risotto

2010-04-05T03:09:00.000-07:00

I was all prepared to post my birthday list (what's more fun than listing things you want? NOT A LOT), then I had another lazy day and had a nap and made an insanely good (and so simple!) risotto last night that I feel everyone needs the recipe for.

I've been going through food blogs bookmarking recipes I like, and I've been craving risotto for about two weeks since I found some arborio rice in the cupboard. I am also very lazy, as I've outlined in the past two posts having done nothing with my weekend! So this recipe from Not Quite Nigella was very excellent to cure my risotto need. I used a 4L box of stock, but it seemed a bit too runny. This is probably because I didn't read the recipe properly. However, it was still delicious last night for dinner and today for lunch!

*******EDIT******** I made this again last night, and I was right! It was a 1L box of stock that said 4 Cups on the front, so I got confused and assumed thats why I got it wrong. The first time I added 0.5 cups of hot water to make up the 4.5 cups, so I omitted that this time, but it was still a bit runny. I'm not going to do it with less stock, though, because its so convenient using a whole box of stock at once.

Not Quite Nigella's Three Cheese Risotto

1.5 cups Arborio rice
4.5 cups stock
1.5 cups grated cheese (we used cheddar, marinated feta and parmesan)

Put the oven to 180 degrees. Heat the stock on the stovetop.

Meanwhile, rinse the rise and put in an oven dish. Add the cheese and any seasonings (normally I'd use herbs, but there was a lot of garlic at the bottom of the feta dish so that went right in there). Pour the stock over the rice.

Cover with foil and put in the oven for 20 minutes.

Serve! (I added extra grated parmesan and pepper, but that is because I'll add them to any dish I can.)

Lazy Saturday

2010-04-02T21:18:00.000-07:00

Considering I haven't blogged for almost a month (almost certainly a procrastination win, although I have been busy dominating uni assignments - hello, 72%, 80% and 85% for the three I've been given back already), I thought I'd add that to my list of things to do today.

I am currently simultaneously putting off doing two more essays, reading The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (which was a Christmas present... goodness me, I need to catch up on my books), listening to the new Vampire Weekend album, reading food blogs and garnering the energy to get up and make a cup of tea. Or a pot of tea, thats always fancier and I am not wanting for teapots at the moment! In the sense that I have enough, not the sense that I don't want more. In fact, I ordered this bad boy from Modcloth only two days ago.

Isn't he adorable?!

I've also had a fairly productive cooking weekend, considering I'm now learning to get into the swing of 'broke uni student food' since my savings started dwindling quite a bit. We made a version of this on Thursday night:

Mushroom Bouyiourdi from Closet Cooking

It ended up being more like a hot cheese, onion and mushroom dip, but it was still pretty splendid. Somehow we've eaten half a kilo block of cheese since Thursday night, I think that was a major component of that. And possibly things like the following conversation:

Me: I'm hungry. Do you want anything?
Levi: Um, maybe, what are you having?
Me: Hmmm. I think a block of cheese. Want some?
Levi: I'll just have some chocolate, thanks.

I also discovered these on Not Quite Nigella, and now it is on my birthday list. Oh yes, three weeks on Monday, list coming soon! Not that I expect anyone will actually buy me anything, but I like pretty things and I like lists and that works out quite well.

'Josephine' apron kit by Jessie Steele

Unwrapped Markets

2010-03-07T00:08:00.001-08:00

Look at all the goodies I got from the Unwrapped markets on Saturday!

I've been looking for these brooches since I stole my friend's red one a few months ago! So I got the green one to mix things up. Also, Tara got the red one so hopefully we can trade sometimes! By Kearnsie

Boris the Hippo by My Girl Gwendoline.

The first edition of the MadeIt recipe zine. Because, you know, I'm a bit obsessive about cooking and the like.

Happy things for Friday!

2010-03-05T00:38:00.000-08:00

A new, stupidly expensive but gorgeous haircut

Consequently playing with Photo Booth taking pictures of my new haircut

Starting the day with a lovely, almost two hour Skype date

My first job interview since I moved up! And whipping out this outfit again

Making a start on this Behavioural Science essay and feeling a bit less desperate about only having three weeks to write it

The news report in the background about this lady! DJ Ruth Flowers

This song. Repeat repeat repeat.

Vegetable Couscous with parmesan and black pepper

2010-02-27T03:58:00.000-08:00

That's really a fancy name for "Ohhhh I can't be bothered, what do we have in the house?" food.

This is pretty easy to cook.

Firstly, make up the couscous for however many people you are cooking for. 1/2 cup of dry couscous is enough for one person, and you need equal parts water and couscous. Put the water, some olive oil and salt in a saucepan and bring to the boil. Once its boiled, stir and take off the heat, adding the couscous and leaving it for two minutes.

Meanwhile (probably best to start while the water is boiling), put some chopped vegetables in a container and cover with water. Put the lid on and put in the microwave - I think about 10 minutes is normal but basically just until they're soft. I used zucchini and beans.

Back to the couscous - after the two minutes, add some butter and maybe more oil if its sticking, and put on a low heat. Separate the couscous with a fork so its all fluffy. At this stage, I grate some parmesan in so it melts into the couscous. Also because I love parmesan :D You only need to keep the couscous on the stove top for about three minutes.

Combine the couscous and vegetables in a bowl (I also put some chopped cherry tomatoes in at the end, but in hindsight maybe feta would be good as well?), grate some more parmesan over the top and add some cracked pepper. Yummy food in about 15 minutes!

Things that have been happening

2010-02-21T04:16:00.000-08:00

Lots of cooking, and buying things for the flat.
Getting my synth and amp and all that jazz moved up. My room looks a lot smaller with a huge amp in the corner but I'm happy.
Spent a week in Rottnest with the basic day pattern of wake up, spend about an hour on breakfast and reading and cups of tea, going to the beach, coming home for lunch, having a nap and then chilling before dinner.
Uni orientation! I start tomorrow. WOOO.
7 hours straight of Project Runway with pasta and green tea and icecream straight from the tub.
Saying every day I'm going to cut my nails and always forgetting.
Not getting a job! I've applied for at least thirty so far. Gosh.
Loving the necklace I got for Christmas from Etsy, as (kind of badly) shown here WITH NEW HAIR

Tiger Food: Spinach Eggs on Doorstopper Toast

2010-02-06T20:02:00.000-08:00

Morning! This is my new favourite breakfast. It made two gigantic serves, so you could probably use it for four people. In fact, four people ate it because I couldn't finish mine. The original recipe was in the Australian Women's Weekly cookbook "The Fast Egg".

This was actually made pretty much entirely from leftovers of the Carbonara we made the night before - it used up the leftover eggs, facon, mushroom and the loaf that we used to make garlic bread. ECONOMICAL, GUYS. Also good because I've just moved out of home and I can't really afford to waste food.

SPINACH EGGS ON DOORSTOPPER TOAST

Stuff you need:
A loaf of awesome bread. We had a Pane di Casa, but Sourdough would be equally spectacular
3 eggs
Milk
Spinach leaves
Some sort of sliced ham or similar - we used facon because I made it for the Boy but I think the recipe I looked at used pancetta
Mushrooms

1. Cut the bread to your desired thickness of bread. Doorstopper slices are the way to go, but a lot of people like thinner bread so however you roll, homies.

Om nom nom bread

2. Break the ends off the spinach leaves and wilt them in the pan. Put a bit of butter or olive oil in the pan and wait until they've just changed colour (so about thirty seconds) and that makes them a bit less crunchy but not actually mushy. Put them on a plate and whack that in the oven to keep warm.

Pre-wilted spinach

3. Chop up the mushrooms and fry them, and fry the whole slices of your selected ham. I sliced half of the facon and left half whole because I'm silly and forgot I wasn't making carbonara and in fact didn't have to slice the facon. Put those bad boys in the oven as well.

4. Toast your bread. In the toaster, in the pan, under the grill, whatever works for you! Then keep that warm as well.

5. SCRAMBLE THOSE EGGS. I would give you directions for this but I'm not entirely sure how we did it, so... ask your mum how to.

6. Put it all together! We did the toast, then a whole piece of facon, then the eggs, then the vegetables. Serve with your selected breakfast beverage.

Yummy breakfast!

Food porn!

2010-02-02T00:16:00.000-08:00

So, hi everyone, I've moved in with Tara (yesterday) and today is my first full day of unemployed, arts student life. Although I took a resume to the cafe down the road so hopefully that will change! I digress. As a result, I've watched a lot of daytime TV today.

I am a sucker for cooking shows. Nigella is a perennial favourite, I didn't really get into MasterChef until the repeats were on during my lunch break at work, but any reality TV show incorporating food is a win in my books. Thus, I enjoyed the repeat of My Kitchen Rules today and THANK GOODNESS, its on tonight as well!

So! Here are some lovely recipes and cooking sites and that to lust after. I'm planning to try and post recipes of mine soon, but I haven't had to cook dinner here yet :D

Roasted Butternut Squash with Caramelised Onion, Gorgonzola and Crispy Fried Sage from Closet Cooking. That website is amazing, by the way. And my inner vegetarian loves a good vege meal.

The Lime Cheesecake that made me feel all hungry-like from My Kitchen Rules. I had a really good lime cheesecake on the weekend at Grandma's and I really need to either get the recipe or find out where she bought it. Cheesecake crust, along with apple crumble topping, is one of my absolute weaknesses.

Chestnut Gnocchi from Not Quite Nigella. I love, love love love, gnocchi, but I've never been able to make it very well. When I worked at the Italian cafe, the chef made me gnocchi in butter with fried bread and herbs for lunch one day and it was quite possibly the greatest thing I've ever eaten.

An actual Nigella recipe - Orange French Toast. I'm not the biggest fan of OJ (too much pulp! *shudder*) but this sounds yummy.

Any food websites you like? Recipes? General love of food?

Reblog: Tetris Philosophy

2010-01-25T18:57:00.000-08:00

Possibly the best thing I've read all week, and not just because it says I'm wise :D

You can find the original article at Levi's Last Word on Tumblr.

A very wise girl said to me today: (and i miss-qoute this) “I like Tetris because it all fits together” and this simple statement sparked a deep philosophical debate in my head in which our lives are a living game of Tetris.

The pieces falling down are the events and plans we have to do in our lives: easy pieces such as lines, mean easy tasks such as driving to the shops, hard shapes like those annoying z’s means harder activities such as…someone hitting our car on the way to shops.
Depending on the difficulty of the game we play depends on whether we see what is comeing up or not. e.g. on an easy level the nice little Tetris gods tell us we have a nice square comeing up, which is like a rostered shift at work, but then when on a higher difficutly the tetris gods pick fun at us, and throw in the unexpected Z’s and T’s of the reall life world…e.g. Sudden need to use mental mathmatics!!!!
Now we get on to the clearing of lines! (hold on to your hats kiddos this is where shit gets heavy!) Clearing lines is the goal of both tetris and life, well metaphorical lines in lifes case. When all is going well and we plan ahead or deal with the unexpected Z’s of life, somehow depsite our foolish nature we manage to clear a line. Through planning and clever thought we are able to complete the herculean tasks that we must face everyday and shove that T inbetween the I and the Square, and ultimately come out with a blank slate, A tabula rasa of every day. We have succeeded in completing our everyday tasks and come out with more room to grow and build our next adventure of our Tetris/life.
But life isnt so simple…oh no! We all love Tetris, Tetris would never betray us, it wants us to come out on top and always have an empty screen, WRONG! Tetris likes to fuck with us, give use shaped that wont fit in with your planning no matter how well you have planned. It gives you a line when you need a square, just when you though you couldn't go wrong with a line it happens. Shitopia! Theres gaps everywhere, unfinished lines all over the place, you life is going to hell, nothing is going right, You’ve lost an arm, you rent out Spanglish because you couldnt find Taxi Driver, and get so pissed off about wasting your time watching a film about a confused American try to pound a Spanish Nanny it emotionally cripples you and you end up abusing your boss at work, These my friends…are the times when Tetris betrays us and we just cant organise our 4 blocked friends together. These are the shit times in our life!
But, every so often a miracle happens. Tetris pulls out a Jesus on us and everything works out well. Everything seems more aerodynamic and streamline, shapes are fitting in which you thought they could never fit in before, AND BANG! You have tetris, 4 lines gone at once. Pure bliss, this is rare and hard to accomplish but when you pull it off, its worth it. Bonuses fly through the roof, you cant control the endorphin high you get, you cant lose now your unstopable, you just finished work half an hour early and get to go home and sneak in an extra episode of How I Met Your Mother before you have to go out. These moments, are the Tetris’ of life, and its what we live and play for!

FOTOS

2010-01-25T01:00:00.000-08:00

I finally picked up the elusive cross-processed Fisheye film today. I have two grievances about this - 1. They said they'd call when it was done, because I dropped it in when they were waiting on a new part for the machine so couldn't give me a date. I actually went in to see if the machine was fixed and my photos have been there for a week.
2. It cost $29.75 for one set of prints and a disc. Even with cross-processing, I'm sure that is horrendously expensive. Well, it was only $18.90 at the other camera place for prints and a disc, and you're using the same chemicals in cross-processing.

I don't know, its quite apparent from these that I'm horrendously bad at holding my hand still while taking pic-chaz. Regardless, this is my first attempt at using my fisheye!

Shoes Shoes Shoes Shoes!

2010-01-15T04:06:00.000-08:00

WHAT DOUBLE POST HOW UNCHARACTERTISTIC.

I was all enjoying my Friday night now the horror of work is over, because I got dehydrated and burnt both my hands on what was essentially BOILING WATER WITH FLAVOUR and not herbal tea at all which then spilt, and there's a gigantor spider in my house (somewhere...), and I dropped Roger the iPhone on the concrete :(

AND THEN, I found this. Greatest thing ever.

Lookbook Love

2010-01-14T17:36:00.000-08:00

Because its been far too long.

And I also really want the Postal Service shirt she has.

Web love: F-Stop Magazine

2009-12-28T23:14:00.000-08:00

The other day, trying to find my DVD of Doctor Horrible's Sing-a-long Blog (more on this later!), Levi went "Em? Why do you have three cameras in your bag?".

And I thought, INDEED. Why do I? I have the Lomo fisheye camera I bought in London (and, sadly, only just finished my first roll of film about two months later, which I was told will cost $50 to get developed! Stupid slide film), the disposable camera we bought in Windsor when we realised that someone (probably me) forgot the digital*, and my digital camera.

*This one made it safely out the back of the camera shop with minimal fuss. I shall pick it up tomorrow :D

So considering I don't really take a lot of photos, that seemed a bit illogical. But I actually do really like photography, so I found this photography magazine again last night and luckily they have a superb archive so I could find my FAVOURITEST EVER series of photos!

Pierre Javelle and Akiko Ida were the featured artists in the Jul/Aug 2006 issue and I love the detail in the pictures!

More things of theirs can be found here, and F-Stop magazine is available here

The boys of the NYPD choir still singing Galway Bay...

2009-12-27T19:19:00.000-08:00

Ok, technically its not Christmas anymore, but its still the Boxing Day public holiday, so I am entitled to rock out some Pogues lyrics for my title.

SO. Christmas was excellent, I got very spoilt by my family and friends (like Sian, who gave me two gorgeous necklaces AND a mix CD AND some candy canes :D). I don't have any photos yet because a) I'm lazy and b) the average startup time of computers in this household is horrendous, and my computer is so old it actually won't support the camera software so I have to use Dad's which is even slower and its all quite a kerfuffle.

I also went through all my facebook pictures and it is horrendously disproporitionate, how many pictures I am pulling a pose similar to this:

Actually, this photo is one of my favourite things EVER, yesterday we set Levi's 42" monitor to a picture of his friend Felix. For funsies. Its quite creepy sitting in the computer chair with a gigantic Felix staring at you.

Also, I need a haircut. Suggestions?

All I want for Christmas...

2009-12-01T00:30:00.000-08:00

As its December first, I thought it was high time I got my Christmas list organised. Hopefully I'm just freakishly organised (five down, five to go) when it comes to gifts and that!

With two front teeth intact, unfortunately my list is rather boring and practical this year (though, lets be honest, so is wanting two front teeth), probably after my complete frivolity in England and the fact that I'm moving into The Teacup in about six weeks (hopefully! Don't quote me. But the faster I get out of this shocking bakery job, the better!).

Edit: I just searched for ages on Gin in a Teacup (not exactly a waste, the posts are still fabulous the second (or third) time around) for where she references the new apartment as "The Teacup", but maybe I just made that up or it was a conversation we had once? Anyway, I'm moving in with my delightful big sister!

Sexy Stationary and other organisational needs
I have a massive obsession with stationary. In fact, I was rather devastated when I didn't get a callback interview from Officeworks, and now I'm determined to work at kikki.k when I move up. It actually pains me somewhat that I haven't found a 2010 diary yet (A5, week to view if you please!), but I did buy a weekly planner yesterday to ease the hurt :)

I also discovered a delightful etsy store called BoyGirlParty, which has some cute, quirky organisational things like to-do lists, notepads and recipe cards adorned with gorgeous original illustrations. And I am told they have a stockist in Perth, but where exactly is being withheld until Best Friend has done his Christmas shoppping! How exciting.

Bunny and Squirrell recipe cards and Octopus To-Do list from boygirlparty on etsy

I also really want this Personal Library Kit by Knock Knock... it would be very helpful remembering where I've lent all my books out to! I found it on FredFlare, one of my favourite lust-after-everything sites.

More books!

When I was virtually unemployed for about three weeks, I read a considerable amount of books and forgot how much I enjoy it (oh hello, internet! Our long and prosperous relationship has taken a backseat for the moment). My friend Louise and I have a shared dream of owning every single Popular Penguin (wouldn't it just look excellent on your bookshelf, all those orange spines in a row!), and at the moment I only have On The Road in that edition.

I'm also jonesing for some more Bukowski after I read Factotum and found it a lot more hilarious than I'd originally anticipated. And very easy to read, especially after the stream-of-consciousness in On The Road!

Some cute jewellery

I'm actually not a big jewellery wearer, but I do enjoy quirky little pieces like the Charlie Chaplain necklace I got for my birthday and pretty much everything I got at Anna Lou of London. My favourite (that I own already) is this sushi brooch:

but they had some other awesome things that I didn't buy (I think £100 was more than enough to spend!) like these necklaces.

Hello, blogging world!

2009-11-29T23:10:00.000-08:00

I finally have a day off work for the first time in almost two weeks. Phew! And also, my computer is back from the fix-it man after it so rudely gave the BLUE SCREEN OF DEATH (to Dad, wasn't even polite enough to do it to my face. Horrid machine). So yes! Its all rather sunshiney over this way.

Even the weather is looking up, which is quite nice as its Spring (or so I am led to believe). I spent four hours yesterday face painting at a corporate Christmas function (for families, though I'm sure it would have been a lot more entertaining were there forty year olds in suits asking to be painted as a fairy WITH SPARKLES!). Normally I go quite well with what all the hip kids are about these days - I can paint a Spiderman face in my sleep, and I only do this once or twice a year! - but I was particularly pleased when a plucky little five year old asked to be Optimus Prime and I knew what colours to use. For the record, this is what I had to try to paint him as:

That being said, I also got asked to paint a kid as Four Arms ("Just regular Four Arms, not the other one"), and I had absolutely no idea what he meant. He had a shirt showing the body up to the neck of a red monster with four arms and the Ben 10 logo, so I'm guessing he wanted the right head on his shirt. The power of deduction! I painted his face red and did two more yellow eyes like he asked, then showed him in the mirror and he said "Its not right, but it'll have to do.".
I just googled Four Arms then, and I really only forgot the black stripe, so I guess it wasn't too bad.

And I've been Christmas shopping too, its almost out of the way because I'm super-organised like that :D

Awards and things!

2009-11-07T21:36:00.000-08:00

YAY I HAVE AN AWARD.

This is from lovely Sian at monstergirlwrites, "because hopefully this will encourage her to blog a bit more, dammit!". So yes, this is me blogging.

Whats been going on, world? I have some comments in Spanish on the two youtube videos I have which I need to decode, thats my job for the next five minutes. I think one says 'Where do you live? You sound Australian" or similar, and one says "Something something experimental, I liked this until 0:35." So yeah, thanks, you liked the introduction to my Bowie cover, BEFORE I STARTED SINGING. But lets not be petty.

I also saw all my lovely choir kids (I call them 'mine' because I like to think they aspire to be like me when they're 18, and also we're the only under 25s that regularly go to choir so I feel responsibility towards them to make them keep going) in a production of "Alice: The Musical" last night and it was SO GOOD. I'll have to see if I can find pictures somewhere because the sets and the costumes were just amazing. And also that made me think of Sian, who is a little Alice-obsessed. So this blog has done a nice little circle, hasn't it?

Favourite things!

2009-10-21T07:01:00.000-07:00

This is my new obsession:

I've had it on repeat for about half an hour. Just lovely <3

Also I put some things up in my shop! So now its a bit less lonely in there. And yes, I'll actually properly blog sometime.

English Breakfast tastes like Darjeeling

2009-10-14T04:06:00.000-07:00

So, while I've been not blogging for the past two months, this is what I've been up to:

Wandering London on the hottest day of their summer (32 degrees...) with Levi and his friends Tom and Felix (and Alice, who was taking the picture with Levi)

Playing in Harrod's

Going on a hovercraft!

Having tea...

... and scones

Chilling with Zac Effron (not that I enjoy High School Musical in the slightest, but it was a fun picture)

Also chilling with James Dean

Had a brief weekend in Paris

And hit up the Friends coffee house in Carnaby Street.

Update

2009-08-08T23:53:00.000-07:00

Because I am lazy and never post.

Unemployment news: I finally got to have high tea at Tealicious House in Dunsborough. Well worth the $30 each - tiny sandwiches, scones, cakes, and bottomless tea and coffee. Four pots of tea and a chai latte later, we did a trek around Dunsborough then came home.

Also, I am an amazing friend and gave B-Rad this awesome Bowie reference for his 21st.

Be still my geeking heart!

2009-07-23T04:14:00.000-07:00

On an "Oh God, how do I do this?" craft rampage through google yesterday that resulted in the google search of "geek crafts", I came upon this sweet eye candy from www.geekcrafts.com. Genius.

RSS Icon pillow from Craftsquatch's etsy store

Domestic Scientist's Guitar Hero scarf (DO WANT. And will get.)

Dalek customised shoes by Kelly_Bear on Craftser

We're online!

2009-07-11T21:53:00.000-07:00

Things that have been happening in my absence from blogging:

- Work. Still as soul-destroying as always.
- Cleaning, cooking and generally keeping the house in order
- Clearing out my wardrobe (to make room for new purchases, natch)
- Painting and general craftiness to create THIS (click me I'm a link yay)

Its tiny (2 listings, woo) and I haven't formatted it or anything, but its a start. And I'm pretty impressed with the ship in a bottle picture as well, not bad for two solid hours of work! And people say I'm not productive. Bah.

Flying Solo

2009-06-28T03:58:00.000-07:00

Since my parents left for their holiday on Wednesday, the following things have happened:

1. The power short-circuited
2. The seal on the freezer door broke
3. Someone (coughBoyfriendcough) backed into the letterbox and its now on an angle, and too heavy for me to shift back by myself.

Hopefully that's all that happens before they get back! I've had a very domesticated afternoon - I cleaned, did the dishes, washed clothes, and tackled the pile of ironing that I thought had been there for about a month, until I got to the bottom and went "Oh, hey, I haven't worn that since my birthday!". In April. Oops!

*domestic proof*

And now I'm making pumpkin scones. WIN.

Outfit:

Jacket: One Teaspoon
Singlet: Supre
Jeans: Just Jeans

Then, to make defrosting the freezer a more pleasant experience, this is my new friend Curtis.

Curtis is wearing Peppercorn eyes and Chilli Flake mouth.

Recessionista

2009-06-25T03:17:00.000-07:00

As much as I hate that phrase, pretty much sums up the greatest purchase of all time. After gin in a teacup's post and a coincidental trip through the mini-shopping centre on Monday to get from Medicare (wooo rebate) to the pharmacy without getting wet, I checked out the sales rack outside a shop which is, I'm not going to lie to you, is "fancypants". (Why yes, I have been told I have the soul, and vocabulary, of an eighty year old, thankyou for asking)

Anyway. I normally wouldn't wear a jacket like this, but I was so caught by the price (Um, hi, $170 down to $50) that I had to buy it. This is generally why I have no money and a lot of "bargains". Point being:

Jacket: One Teaspoon
Scarf: Cotton On
Skirt: I'll get back to you on that one.

Peforming Monkey is Performing!

2009-06-23T03:56:00.000-07:00

Ok, shameless spam on my blog, but I found these pictures by the lovely Energy Images that were taken during the Eisteddfod over the past couple of weeks, and I'm feeling narcissistic.

Performing "Creep" by Radiohead on the 11th

"The Song that Goes Like This" from Spamalot with my friend Jeremy

Also, serious lol @ my face:

Project: Wiggle Dress

2009-06-21T03:54:00.000-07:00

New project for me: Make a wiggle dress as a costume for the show in November (and, lets be honest, everyday wear as well). I'm ridiculously excited for the show, primarily because its a good excuse to raid Tara's wardrobe :)

I'm not totally convinced on this one - I'm not sure I like the neckline on it. I suppose it's good because it kind of demures it down, but wiggle dresses are essentially out-and-out sexy.

Example: This one. Which is gorgeous. I love sweetheart necklines - I'm not sure I actually own anything with a sweetheart neckline, so I'll obviously have to rectify that now.

Yay for the print! I'm pretty sure I'll end up making a black one, but I could always have more than one... Leave it with me.

eb&ive

2009-06-05T20:53:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago, doing the usual rounds of birthday present shopping at eshe, I found a new love in my last-minute purchase at the counter. There was an entire stand of glittery, sparkly and just damn pretty hair clips by eb & ive. If you haven't realised, I'm really one of those "I'll just leave my hair out" girls - probably because I'm insanely lazy - but I picked up this gorgeous clip from their "Social Set" series.

(Apologies for the terrible photo - I'm bad enough at focussing when I can actually see what I'm photographing, let alone holding the camera behind my head and hoping for the best)

I'm not going to lie, the first time I put it in the clip wouldn't fasten properly, so when I thought I finally had it I actually didn't and it fell out and snapped a bit off (which has been glued back together, thankyou for the concern). But consideirng it was $10, I really don't care. More eye (and hair) candy:

Love!

2009-06-04T05:54:00.001-07:00

I think I just died of happiness a little bit.

Improvisation

2009-06-01T21:19:00.000-07:00

Improvisation: What happens when all of your favourite outfits are in the wash.

Shirt: Laura Marling tour shirt from Splendour (Yay for Tara!)
Belt: God knows, but it was $5 so I couldn't pass it up
Skirt: Present from Levi's famalam
Scarf: Cotton On
Glasses: Vogue

More importantly, SEXY NEW BOOTS:

And me getting all into Mustache May. Okay, so I think Movember is way cooler, but its not my fault I have silly overseas friends who don't appreciate how awesome the word "Movember" is and think alliteration beats that.
(Also, I know its June - shhh)

Rugging up!

2009-05-23T20:49:00.000-07:00

Its been a rather lovely weekend, despite the sudden influx of rain. I got my boots out on Friday for their first outing of the season (sadly, I'm not sure they'll make it through winter - but then I said that last winter, so lets all hope for a miracle!) - music videos and cheese crossaints at Laney's. Highly reccommended way to spend a rainy Friday night! (Obviously here they are showcased with the essential winter accessory of a cup of tea)

Shirt: Target
Jeans: Just Jeans
Boots: No! Shoes
Scarf/cardi: Cotton On

Saturday Mum took me shopping because neither of us had anything to do. Shopping outfit bears quite a resemblance to Friday Night Outfit, but with different (!) boots from the elusive Tara's Wardrobe.

Result: I HAVE A NEW JACKET. Enough said, really - look at my ecstatic jacket-wearing face!

Cooper St Jacket
Jeans West cap
Lovely earrings from my Aunty:

And an irrelevant shot of my wardrobe doors, because I love them:

Getting philosophical

2009-05-17T02:30:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure its entirely philosophical, but I had a very long, very boring bus ride this afternoon to plot this out.

Last night I was watching Yes Man at Tara's. Aside from being hideously crushed by the fact that Zooey Deschanel's amazing blue coat is one of a kind, I really liked the movie and the entire philosophy of "Yeah! Lets do shit! Its going to be awesome!". I mean, quite ironic considering I was only watching it because I'd bailed on a cocktail night due to feeling like death, but nonetheless. I was a bit wary at the start because, let's be honest, the "YES" conference-thing is a bit cultish. But by the end, when he's all "It wasn't a covenant", its a bit less creepy and more life-affirming.

*lust*

So today, while I was thinking "Hot damn, that would make life a lot more interesting!", I was chilling with my trusty friend George (my iPod, for those of you not in the know) and "Vienna" by Billy Joel came on. Which has another very valid philosophical idea, that you can't do everything and essentially, slow down. Oooh, conflicting but valid viewpoints! Honestly, I think both have their moments and its a case-by-case, discretionary thing, but it was still interesting to have them both come up.

What was also interesting was walking through the city in a very ambley, "I have ninety minutes to waste before I have to catch a bus, la-la-la" way, with George, listening to Simon and Garfunkul, and people kept pushing past me. I was like DAMN, its a SUNDAY. Calm. Your. Beard. Or at least say excuse me.

Thoughts for the weekend

2009-05-16T04:25:00.000-07:00

Rather more eventful weekend than usual (though less so than I had planned)! I bailed early during a delightful dinner and coffee last night because I had to be up nice and early for my big Saturday - going up to Perth, getting into some shopping and coffee, then pizza and cocktails tonight with friends. Alas, only made it up to the shopping and coffee before I realised I felt quite ill and had to bail on the cocktails. One day, though! (Also I'm chilling at Tara's now and pizza was provided... all is not lost)

So while I traipsed around the city today, I realised how awesome some people look. Regretfully, I left my camera at home (I thought the adorable purse I've been keeping it in would be better used housing a toothbrush and other such overnight stay necessities), otherwise I could have whipped it out and subsequently published some lovely snaps. Instead, I'm going to stick with LOOKBOOK for the moment.

tiger food: carbonara

2009-05-13T05:29:00.001-07:00

Heavily adulterated from the Woman's Day Step-by-Step Cookbook, but this is how dinner went down tonight:

PASTA CARBONARA

Stuff you need:
250g pasta (Fettucine is awesome)
1/3 cup grated parmesan
2 eggs
30g butter plus a little bit extra
4 rashers of bacon (or facon, if you're a vegetarian)

That's how I roll.

1. Boil the kettle and make yourself a cup of tea, then put the rest of the boiling water in a saucepan with some regular water. This just makes it boil faster if you're lazy like myself.

2. While the pasta is on, cut up the bacon. The recipe says to do it into strips, but I cut it into cubes because thats how Mum's always made it. Fry that shiznit up. If its facon, don't cook it for too long or it goes gross.

Chop chop chop

3. Melt the 30g butter in a bowl and add the parmesan. Mix it until its all combined, then add the 2 eggs which you previously beat together (see? Pays to read ahead in the recipe). Mix that all up.

mmm... cheese.

4. If you're following what I did exactly, this is the point where the tea comes in handy because the pasta is done, the facon/bacon is cooked, and the sauce (I use that term liberally) is done but your date is late. Hence, relax and read a book for a bit.

mmm.... tea.

5. When you're ready to finish it, drain the pasta and put it back into the saucepan. Add the extra bit of butter and reheat, toss the pasta in the butter and make sure its all coated. Transfer that into the pan you used to fry the bacon, and add the bacon and Liberal Sauce. Mix that together somewhat, and cook it over a low heat til its done. Serve that up, and you're good to go!

yummy in my tummy <3

What I wore

2009-05-13T03:57:00.000-07:00

MONDAY (and Saturday, if you must know, but I had Sunday off to wash it):

Shirt: Lee
Cardi: Cotton On
Skirt: Wish

TODAY:

Blazer: Temt
Skirt: Target
Shoes: Tara's wardrobe

Curiouser and Curiouser...

2009-05-10T04:35:00.000-07:00

I've had a slight penchant for Alice in Wonderland-type things lately, which is odd because it isn't one of my favourite Disney movies and I'm pretty sure I don't own any of the books. I digress. Possibly the fact that a tea party features quite prominently, but I'm keen on the whole perspectives thing where things are oversized or tiny. I'm thinking of working a dress around the idea, but I need sleep and some more time before I put the plan into action :) Some favourite Alice-y things:

The tea party scene, nacht. Apparently Andrew McMahon has a tattoo of the tea party scene, which makes it even cooler (Disney version or otherwise). Did Disney create the iconic blue dress or steal it? Curiouser and curiouser...

I'm very keen on this mural by Greg Hartman at The Painted Perception, which is on the wall of a bookstore in New Zealand.

I adore these Weird Alice in Wonderland earrings by Unique Art Pendants

Laura Marling's My Manic and I filmclip has always reminded me of Alice in Wonderland. Probably the blue dress, blonde hair and burgundy background? Either way, it deserves a post.

LOOKBOOK

2009-05-06T02:26:00.000-07:00

Whatever, I just posted, but I also just found a facebook message about LOOKBOOK and now I'm quite happily going to while away my evening lusting after the fashions. (Thanks Reber)

I could totally rock this look at Reading, if only I hadn't thrown out my 'Strayla bikini!

I WANT HER JACKET. And her hair. But I'd settle for the pirate jacket

Detail shots! My one weakness.

This guy has the most amazingly dapper outfit ever. Seriously.

One day, I'ma get myself an outfit like this.

What I wore this week (so far)

2009-05-06T02:04:00.000-07:00

Yay for having a life back after Blackbeard!

This was my uber-work outfit on Monday:

Shirt - Target
Skirt - Theme

And my "I can't be bothered making an effort but its not acceptable for me to be wearing trackies because I'm going to get a call to go out at some stage tonight" outfit:

Shirt: Target
Glasses: Vogue
Charlie Chaplain necklace: Lovehate

Quite possibly the worst era ever...

2009-04-19T04:52:00.000-07:00

Well, what a fashion dilemma! I have a not-so-surprise 18th next week, being hosted by the lovely Greg and Laney for the cast of Blackbeard, and its 1990s-themed. The costume choices to be made!

There is always the easy oversize flanno option... but I rock that one most nights in winter anyway :P

If I had clothes this small and less dignity...

Of course, you can't go wrong dressing as someone who has their own computer system to tell if an outfit is mismatched.

Pretty little dainty things

2009-04-09T21:34:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday, killing time in town after work, I checked out the sweet little jewellery store on the same street as the bank. If only my pay had gone through, I could have spent it all... I seem to have an unprecedented lust for all things with tiny birds, baboushka dolls, and trees.

My absolute favourite, the Elk "Rickety Fence" pendant, and Moe Moe's Bird House pendant

Another adorable Elk charm

Tree charm by Polli, and the Pilgrim Tree of Life charm I've been eyeing off

Moe Moe, again fuelling my ridiculous obsession with Baboushka dolls.

There... that should give everyone an idea of my birthday presents :P

Lovely things to start the week ♥

2009-03-30T03:12:00.000-07:00

- Quoting "Eagle vs. Shark"

- 6am phone conversations

- Trying not to laugh during phone conversations at work (serious ones, about money) as a result of the 6am phone conversation.

- Toasted cheese sandwiches. This really should be higher on the list.

- Vanilla perfume

- Random facts!

- Old Billy Joel. ♥

New clothes!

2009-03-28T01:36:00.000-07:00

Goodness, I've been meaning to post all week but I'm incredibly lazy and... well, I'm just lazy. Anyway, I'd been eyeing off this grey skirt all week so decided to finally get it on Friday.

Epic win:

(I'm still very technically unproficient with the timer, hence my curious "Is it going to take the photo?" look and cutting my head off and being distracted by J-Hos walking down the road)

I ran into some friends in town today when I went to buy shampoo, and we decided to stop being pretentious and go into Supre because, lets face it, paying $15 for a singlet is ridiculous when you can get one for $10. Hence my new black (and white, but thats still in the garishly pink bag) singlet!

You can't really see my necklace, but its my Pilgrim necklace with my favourite teacup charm <3 I'm getting some more for my birthday, so I shall showcase them soon enough (29 days and counting!)

Mememe!

2009-03-21T01:18:00.000-07:00

Sorry, its wordy. But I'm an attention whore! Maybe you'll get through it all before the Ace Enders song finishes, and we'll all be happy :D

These are the rules:

1. respond and rework: answer the questions on your blog, replace one question that you dislike with a question of your own invention, add one more question of your own.2. tag five other un-tagged people.

What is your current obsession?
Ace Enders

What are you wearing now?
Trusty blue skinnyish jeans, my absolute favourite piano belt, and my panda shirt. I was wearing a long black cardi but it was too hot.

Do you nap a lot?
I try to, but I always get distracted.

How's life?
Its pretty good! To quote my dear friend John: "I love life. How good is life. I could go some life right now"

What would you like to learn to do?
Transcribe music by ear, rather than have to look for chords/sheet music, speak another language, cook more stuff (like the amazing sweet potato, almond and ginger pasta I had for dinner last night... I love being taken out by Levi's family!)

What’s for dinner?
Something that isn't as good as what I had last night, sadly. Probably vege burgers.

What was the last thing you bought?

A birthday present for Dad - The Greatest Album Covers of All Time

What are you listening to right now?

Ace Enders. See: Current obsession.

What is your favorite weather?
Normally cold weather, because I get to layer up. But at the same time, I don't have any particularly warm clothes so I just like curling up in front of the heater with a hot chocolate.

What is on your bedside table?
I don't have one! I've been living out of Tara's room while mine's being decorated. Actually, there is a little table next to my bed which has a bucket on it, and thats filled with bits of paper, clothes, my yearbook, and two pillows.

What’s your style?
Clean clothes.

What is your most challenging goal right now?
Picking songs for the eisteddfod.

If you could have a house totally paid for, fully furnished anywhere in the world, where do you want it to be?
London! I've never been but I've always wanted to live there.

Name the things you cannot live without.
Tea, good food, excellent company, and any one of my three piano belts.

(This is one of them)

What would you like to have in your hands right now?
One of the cupcakes that mum made on Thursday. Orange, almond and chocolate.
They're only downstairs, but I'm lazy.

What would you like to get rid of?
The clothes I never wear.

What was the last book you read?
I'm about three pages into Franny and Zooey by J.D. Salinger.

What languages can you speak?
English (fluently, most of the time) and a bit of Italian and an even smaller bit of French.

What language(s) do you want to be able to speak?
Italian and French.

What do you want to be when you grow up?
Happy! I'm a walking cliche! :D

What's one thing you're looking forward to?
My England trip! Its only 4 months, 3 weeks and 5 days, I believe. How exciting! :D

What was the last film you watched?
Dan in Real Life. I really enjoyed it, actually.

PEOPLE WHAT I TAGGED: Libby, Sian, Jacinta and... oh God, do I even have five people on my blog? /socialfail.

CORORATE EMILY IS CORPORATE

2009-03-14T18:49:00.000-07:00

I know, two posts in one day, how decadent :)

Since I started my new job on Thursday, I've come up with an entirely new "I have nothing to wear" dilemma - I'm seventeen, I don't own 'smart office wear'! So Thursday I went with my interview outfit (black pinstripe pants, white shirt and a black blazer), and luckily I started on a Casual Friday week so that was okay :D

Although, most of the newbies (there are 30 of us, and I'm the youngest by about 18 months - most of my coworkers have children, eep!) were questioning how the rest of the staff could be more casual in their workwear.

So yesterday, armed with my dear friend Sarah and a chocolate fix, we went on an epic quest to find me some workwear that I can still wear on weekends.

The whole thing only came to about $120 - less because I had a Target voucher and every time I buy something from there it scans at a lower price than the tag - can anyone say $10 off these shoes? KER-CHING!

And finally, Sarah and I being the posers we all know we are.

Art!

2009-03-14T18:30:00.000-07:00

Seeing as I am ridiculously lazy and haven't posted the art I did months ago, I thought it was high time I did.

This was a birthday present for Levi. He has a pet tiger (PET? Toy) that is probably the same size as me named Felicia, so I thought this would be a cute picture.

What I Wore 25.2.09

2009-02-24T23:12:00.000-08:00

Probably about time for a what I wore post. Because I'm in that sort of a mood - I've been very domesticated today doing the grocery shopping and cooking meals to freeze for the week because we all know I'm a little bit lazy and I'd only eat hot chips otherwise. So taking photos while I was waiting for muffins to cook seemed like a good idea.

Shirt: Lee Louise
Dress: Be A Tiger Designs (hehe)
Bracelet: Portmans

"That Beard Thing"

2009-02-22T22:42:00.000-08:00

Slight deviation from my business-like blogging (like I ever did that much anyway!) and onto whats been consuming most of my life for the past couple of months: rehearsals! I'm in the polka dot dress, if you didn't pick up on the common theme of me in all the photos :P

Hostage scene (but really an excuse to lie down)

Tavern scene

Another wench scene

Commission number 2!

2009-01-28T22:47:00.000-08:00

This is my second (ok, third, second one thats going to get to the person who wants it) dress commission! I'm pretty stoked with how it turned out, although most of the credit has to go to mum for making up a pattern for it. But still, its gorgeous and now I want one for myself :D

Also, it kind of matches the new blog layout. Win!

Things I find excellent #1

2009-01-20T17:11:00.000-08:00

This is possibly the greatest design ever and when I move out, its going on my fridge (k, Tara?). Motifo have created packs of mosaic tiles for your fridge that can be built into any assortment of pictures, in numerous different colour schemes. Instructions can be downloaded from their website. Ingenius or what? I am thoroughly enamoured with the concept right now.

Some favourites:

Tattooooos

2009-01-18T19:24:00.000-08:00

Yesterday my sister took me out with some of her friends (who were lovely) to brunch and the Sugar Blue Burlesque Retro Markets and the Moon Cafe. It was very awesome.

Anyway, a lot of the conversation was about tattoos because everyone seemed to either have one or want one. At the very least, everyone has an opinion on one. Personally, I don't think I'll get one but I'm still lusting after a couple because they're oh-so-pretty.

MOAR

2009-01-06T02:57:00.001-08:00

I found another picture of Sian in her sexy dress today.

Business as usual!

2009-01-04T23:24:00.000-08:00

As this is my Be A Tiger blog, I thought I should do something other than flounce about doing nothing. So! What has my lovely little business been doing lately, you ask?

Well, I say.

My pièce de résistance at the moment is the Padme dress I made for Sian at monstergirlwrites' awesome New Years party. Star Wars Nerds may be familiar with the gorgeous frock (although purists might have erased it from their memory, what with it being from the "new" films):

It worked out rather lovely, and fitted perfectly (testiment to Sian's measuring skillz!). Many thanks must go to Mrs Emily's Mum who did a lot of work on it while I was busy waiting on tables.

Now I have a new dress for Kay (whose first one Australia Post so rudely LOST), a maxi for Ness, and wiggle dress for Alex. STAY POSTED.

Le Success

2008-11-28T01:23:00.000-08:00

Rather than spend all my money on Leavers (or Schoolies, if you will) buying alcohol and wristbands and such on top of the hefty $250 accommodation fee for five nights IN A TENT THAT WE SUPPLIED OURSELVES (sorry, I have a thing with extortion), I went on a total spree with Darling Sister on Monday and got me some gladrags.

These included Rubi shoes - two pairs of flats for $20 is something I cannot refuse. Especially when the lining is gorgeous floral patterns - I'm a sucker for cute detailing at the best of times, but this was all too much. Plus, if you spend sixty dollars you get a free twenty dollar voucher. I'm not going to lie, I considered the possibility of eight pairs for $60 quite heavily.

Cotton On Body have a sweet little offer at the moment of 3 pairs of pyjama shorts (or shirts... or a mix, even. Whatever takes your fancy!) for $30. BARGAIN, I say! I got some of those... obviously this post would be enhanced with photos but I lost my camera and google is being most unkind in returning viable pictures.

Anyone else found a bargain recently?

Arts students have more fun!

2008-11-18T23:24:00.000-08:00

I found this on the adorable Gala Darling's blog, and it made me giggle.

Say grrr!

2008-11-17T01:23:00.001-08:00

Obviously, I am all up for animal-themed clothes and accessories. Well, I wouldn't wear them, but I appreciate their frivolty (much like the frivolty of two blogs in a day after I haven't posted for approximately 6.3 hundred years!)
So check-ch-check-check-check-ch-check it out. These are insane. I found a link for them while forum-whoring (thats also on my to-do list, it's been too long). More can be found here.

Things to do now I have no study!

2008-11-17T01:11:00.000-08:00

1. Make some money
This is quite high on the list, although doesn't sound half as frivolously impractical as the typo "Make some Monet"...

2. Learn guitar
Aside from the three chords I already know. Darn the amount of songs that use an F chord! Darn my tiny fingers!

3. Make a business plan
This should be relatively easy once I know what to put in it. Sample ones I've come across while looking for a simple, retail plan include:

Office Furniture Manufacturer - I guess someone has to do it.
Irish Pub - This is, I feel, very specific.
Horse Reseller
Religious Coffee Shop. I didn't realise the need was so vast!

4. Learn to cook pasta

5. Learn Italian, so I can keep up with conversations at work.

And, more importantly, read Italian Vogue. Although, let's face it, looking at the pictures is also quite satisfying.

Being tagged and study breaks

2008-10-27T03:08:00.000-07:00

Today, I have studied History and decided to hate on Nicholas II because there were three revolutions before all this shit got sorted and I can't remember what happened where! (Although, to be fair, hates on Stalin as well. Evil dictators FTL).

Anywho, I have been tagged by some lovely people (tara and jacinta... <3)>

4 things I did today:

1. Went into town and spent $30 on magazines - Frankie (with bonus gift wrap book! ker-ching!), jpg (a photo magazine) and some gaming one for Boy. I suspect it's actually manga porn. (I jest)

2. Studied. Ugh.

3. Bought my second CanTeen bandana this year. I can't resist the geeky robot designs!

4. Decided to post Kay's dress (my first design and business venture!)

4 things on my to-do list:

1. Find the sheet music for my WAAPA audition. Its next month but I'm terrible with actually doing stuff.

2. Save up for a four-track and make an EP!

3. Write some songs for said EP.

4. Study! Darn examinations.

4 guiltiest pleasures:

1. The icecream from work. Fererro tastes exactly like a Fererro Rocher and it is a mouth-gasm.

2. French Cannoli from work. We have two Italian pastry chefs, okay? I'm getting fat* working there! (* not fat, but no longer able to slip between the pastry desk and the doorway. This must be rectified)

3. Cheesy 80s music. Belinda Carslile and Meatloaf come to mind.

4. Sex. Not really, I'm just running out of things to say! Oh, actually, good cover versions. I used up much of our downloads watching The Arcade Fire and David Bowie perform "Wake Up", Stars covering The Smiths' "This Charming Man"... I may have dabbled in the odd Bowie cover myself (it's on youtube somewhere).

4 random facts about me:

1. I like using 1950s profanities more than modern ones. It's deeply satisfying to yell "Hot dang!" in an aggrivated tone.

2. I'm planning to save $7000 to go to England next year for Reading Festival (most of this will be spent on clothes while I'm there, for me and my darling sister). I have something like $5605.45 to go.

3. I've picked the name of my solo music project, and now just have to get around to recording the darn ep.

4. In one month I will be in Dunsborough caring for my drunk/hungover friends while playing Guitar Hero with the only other person I know who will be there and doesn't drink. I highly look forward to it.

Tag #2 from Jacinta

The rules:- Link to the person who tagged you. (http://justjacinta.blogspot.com/)

- Mention the rules. (am currently doing so)

- Tell six quirky yet boring, unspectacular details about yourself.

- Tag six other bloggers by linking to them.

- Go to each person's blog and leave a comment that lets them know they've been tagged.

1. I have a History examination in six days. I know not a lot about Russia or Australia, hopefully my brain starts to function again when I catch up on sleep tonight!

2. I have a six day old "nephew" - my friend just had a baby and since she won't let me be godmother (even though I was promised the role) because her new lesbian lover is (I know, if she stayed a lesbian this never would have happened!), so I decided it's my nephew and I am the cool aunty who it loves.

3. I'm drinking green tea. I love green tea almost as much as life itself - this actually goes for most cups of tea.

4. I painted a picture a couple of weeks ago of a girl (in black and white) but her face is in a TV screen and that is in colour. I then analysed it from a third-person perspective and decided it could be a commentary on society, or it could just be crap on canvas.

5. Im unsure whether to sell said painting (money for England!) or give it to my sister (original plan, it was meant to be a birthday present but I had too much to do so I got her the DVD of Popular instead)

6. I'm not sure whether to cut my hair or grow it. Decisions, decisions!

Holy Calamity!

2008-10-06T03:26:00.000-07:00

Hot dang, Holy Calamity! have some gorgeous jewellery. Launched by a Perth girl (so lets all show our support... WA needs it! :D), the designs are gorgeous and oh-so-sweet. Plus, she's a good lass who does free shipping. Had I not blown $50 today on this...

I might have spent it on one of these.

Only in America...

2008-10-01T03:38:00.000-07:00

Ok, so maybe The Chaser got us all on the Kevin07 bandwagon with their Chaser 07 shirts. But honestly, I can't see One Teaspoon or another Australian brand (Be a Tiger, anyone? :D) getting on board and making shirts to promote Turny Turn Turnbull or any other MP. America went that step further, though, with Runway to Change showcasing designs from musicians, designers and the like for Obamarama.

Gracious, though, they have some good designs!

Juicy Couture

Zac Posen

Diane von Furstenberg

Here's to you, Mrs Robinson

2008-10-01T03:20:00.000-07:00

I was introduced to the wonders of The Graduate on the weekend, and its a pretty awesome movie. Considering I usually hate stuff thats so awkward it makes you cringe, the social awkwardness of this all is great.

Ann Bancroft is an awesome Mrs Robinson. I wouldn't go there with the whole "Oh, lets seduce the college graduate who is the son of my husband's business partner", but I'd go there with the classy clothes.

And this just makes me giggle...

Lady Luck Rules OK!

2008-09-21T02:03:00.000-07:00

As my last post probably indicated, I tend to lust after poppy, kitsch pieces (read: most of my sister's adorable wardrobe). I'll admit it. So I will definitely be stocking up on LLRO! when I'm in England. Who doesn't want a pear ring that opens up to have a picnic hamper? Or a notepad shaped like toast? Their jewellery is simply swell. The dress is also quite cute, though I could make one quite easily. The ultra-adorable accessories are a definite win!

Daily inspiration: That cool version of me

2008-09-19T04:13:00.000-07:00

Seeing as I finally got my business name registration (Be a Tiger Designs officially exists! WOO!) I thought I'd make a celebrationary post.

Inspiration of the day:
Big Sister Tara
(all together now... nawwww)

The adorable-ness of this is insane. A big sign saying love! A peter pan collar! Music notes! I think getting more kitsch would be impossible.

The perfection of the rock and roll "I'm bored, lets go grab some vodka" look. Cure shirt is a bonus.

OH MY! Is that a jacket like Cassie from Skins? Doesn't it just look so sophistocated?

To be honest, this outfit makes me happy on the inside. It's so gorgeous and 'underground jazz bar'. And that hat. My goodness.

I don't think those tights could be more reminiscent of the mirrorball suit if they tried. Plus, the anatomical heart necklace is a big win.

Love/hate

2008-09-14T00:59:00.000-07:00

Love: Love by Genine Honey - such a gorgeous range of jewellery! They're kitsch! They're adorable! They're not that expensive!

Hate: The lack of images except for this catalogue of her designs.

i wonder indeed...

2008-09-03T04:50:00.000-07:00

It would be nice to be that motivated when I get dressed.

Still, lets take a moment to praise the wonders of Postsecret. Frank Warren, I salute you.

fear and loathing of gatsby

2008-09-01T02:59:00.000-07:00

Often the work of one prolific writer will influence others throughout their lifetime and after. This is especially true of F. Scott Fitzgerald and his work The Great Gatsby, which is revered as one of the best representations of the Jazz Age and a brilliant novel. A snapshot of an era, Gatsby deals with the decline of the American Dream and critiques the values of the upper class. These themes are also evident within Hunter S. Thompson's Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, a piece of 'gonzo' journalism that has been hailed as a modern literary classic. Thompson’s admiration for Fitzgerald’s work seems to have influenced his writing considerably, as many correlations can be made between the two pieces that are each hailed as classics of their time. While working, Thompson would copy out Gatsby on a typewriter to try and learn the literary style of Fitzgerald that made him such a revered author (he would also copy out Ernest Hemmingway's A Farewell to Arms). As such, he has been largely influenced by Fitzgerald's work and the themes of the novel have seemed to permeate Fear and Loathing.

Both novels concentrate largely around the decline of the American Dream. In Gatsby, the characters that aim for the stereotypical American Dream of wealth, possessions and freedom (Gatsby and Myrtle) are killed. Gatsby and Myrtle both aspire to have the material possessions and the privileges of the upper class, a dream that neither of them are able to realise. Fear and Loathing, meanwhile, is concerned primarily with an (albeit drug-hazed) search for the American Dream. This novel ends with them not having found the American Dream, just as Gatsby ends without Gatsby and Myrtle having achieved their American Dream. Coincidence? Possibly.

However, there seems to be too much correlation thematically between the two texts. And given Thompson's admiration for Fitzgerald's work, it seems too coincidental that the texts are similar. Fear and Loathing, while a revolutionary piece of work and groundbreaking in terms of publicising 'gonzo' journalism, seems to be highly influenced by Fitzgerald and another attempt, although arguably more successful than any others, at recreating Fitzgerald's iconicism.

That being said, I should also add that Fitzgerald had a lot more to work with. The 1920s did produce some rather awesome music and fashion, and I doubt you have any taste in either whilst on drugs.

All flapper, no slapper!

Not a fan of the unfinished lip, but gosh darn it, I love to be able to pull of that smoky eye!

being a tiger

2008-08-27T03:55:00.000-07:00

If only I hadn't spent £150 ($325... ouch) on a ticket to Reading Festival 2009 last night, perhaps I could afford a pair of these H.P. Lovecraft NYC shoes I've been lusting after...