Monday 30 July 2012

Sweet Little Things About Me - Something You Don't Know About Me

It's True Confessions time for me, thanks to Lisa at Sweet little Pretties. She is asking us to share
Something You Don't Know About Me. 
Only about 5 or 6 people know this about me, but
I'm pretty sure no one else knows my deep dark secret.
So here is my reveal:

I had a HUGE crush on John Travolta when I was about 12!


It all started with Grease, of course, and if you have seen that movie, you probably shared the same crush! Who wouldn't? He was adorbs!


I'm pretty sure we watched Grease at our house about 45 times! (or was that Rollerboogie? or Xanadu?) Anyway, it was summer and the 80s, so watching films, and learning all the song lyrics and the script by heart, was the thing to do!


Besides, this man wasn't just good looking, he could dance!
Although we didn't want him dancing with anyone but Olivia!)


Now, well, time has rolled on, and  he's gone all old, fat, bald and gay.  But we can still look back and remember him in moments like this:


and this:


and this:


where he was just the sweetest thing ever.

Aah...

Join up with Sweet little Pretties, to see everyone else's true confessions!


xx



It's Monday, What Are You Reading?

Hello, to my bookish friends!


In the Melbourne airport I was lucky to find this book by Emily Winfield Martin.


I have been wanting to get it for some time, but thought I could only get it online and have been trying to avoid spending online this year. But airport bookshops always have every book your heart desires, and I couldn't miss the chance! This is a child's novel, perhaps for ages 7-11. It is a gorgeous story of a collection of unusual characters that all live at the Oddfellow's Orphanage and there are sweet sepia illustrations on each page. You will find more of Emily Martin's creations at her very famous website, and etsy store, 
The Black Apple. She is amazing, and I adore her illustrations, her fashion style, her collections, 
and now her stories. 


This week, I finished reading Burn Bright by Australian author Marianne de Pierres.


Burn Bright is a speculative fiction book about Retra and her experiences in Ixion, an island of pleasure, where it is always night. This book reminded me a little of Veronica Roth's book Divergent, because Retra comes from a highly suppressed life to a decadent one, although Ixion still has its rules and restrictions. As usual, with young adult books, it took me awhile to get used to the teenagery interactions between the characters, and I'm not sure if the kissing moments were meant to sound that gross, but they did! There are many interesting other-worldly ideas though, which is why I like to read speculative fiction.

I also listened to the audiobook of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.


This short story about the infamous Headless Horseman was more like a poem, with its beautiful descriptive language, however, the ghostly part of the story was relayed in about two pages! Read this one if you like descriptions of character and countryside from the late 1700s, not if you want a suspenseful ghost story!
It was an entertaining accompaniment to folding and putting away washing, though, lol!

Against my better judgment (sheesh!) I have been reading Fifty Shades of Grey, mainly so I could find out what everyone is going on about!


Mostly, I feel sorry for the main character, Anastasia - all she wants is a sweet romance with an amazingly good-looking guy, and she has to contend with all his kinky, controlling ways. I've never been into this kind of relationship and it made me feel sad that Anastasia was in tears after her 'sessions' with Christian. I am yet to understand how people gain enjoyment from other people's pain. Or why people think beauty alone is enough of a reason to be with someone. I guess I'll read the rest of the series, but to be honest, it's only because I'm hoping she will reform him.

After reading Sheila from Book Journey's ravings about Gone Girl, that is the next book on my list to read.

It is about a woman who goes missing, and what came before and after that. Told from two different perspectives, the wife and the husband, the story and style of writing got me in from the first page! Although I'm sure it's going to end up being about another couple of nutters, like Fifty Shades, lol!

I 'm  also starting the next Marianne de Pierres book Angel Arias.



Pop over and visit Sheila at Book Journey to find some other great reads:



Have a thrilling week!

xx




Sunday 29 July 2012

Food for the Soul

Our church has a great magazine, called the Ensign, that publishes wonderful stories each month from readers. Some of these stories are very inspiring, so I thought I would share one with you: 


How could others feel earthquakes when I was oblivious to them? The answer taught me about more than just seismology.

A Voice of Thunder, a Voice of Silence
I had been on my mission only a few weeks when I was awakened in the middle of the night by a rumbling sound. It started in the distance and grew louder as it approached. Soon our entire house was shaking. Fairly quickly the pounding ceased, and the roaring sound faded. Fortunately my companion had warned me that earthquakes were common. Since everything seemed fine, I rolled over and soon went back to sleep.
Several weeks after my middle-of-the-night wake-up, I heard people talking about an earthquake earlier that morning. I wondered what was wrong with them, since I hadn’t heard or felt anything. Confused, I finally asked when the “earthquake” had occurred. Realizing that I was exercising or showering at the time mentioned, I couldn’t believe it had really happened. The first earthquake had woken me up, so surely if there had been another when I was awake, I would have noticed.
But this was just the first of many supposed earthquakes. I never felt them, so I wondered if people were confused as to what an earthquake was like.
After eight months of what I thought were pretend earthquakes, my Sunday School teacher paused midsentence to say, “Feel that? There was an earthquake.” Everyone nodded in agreement—except me. I didn’t understand. There was no rumble or roar. My chair didn’t shake. The walls didn’t rattle. How could there have been an earthquake? Then I tried to remember what I had felt when the teacher mentioned the earthquake. It was an ever-so-slight dizziness—almost as if I had just spun around. Could that subtle feeling be an earthquake?

Because of my teacher, I started to be aware and to know that the supposed earthquakes were real. I realized that I hadn’t felt them when I was exercising or showering or sleeping because they were just a subtle shake. But gradually I became more aware of a dizzy feeling or a slight sway, recognizing it as evidence of an earthquake.
Later in my mission, I had a new missionary as a companion. One day when we were teaching, a woman said, “Oh, an earthquake,” and I agreed. My companion looked at us as if we were crazy. But I pointed out the slight sway of the hanging lamp and assured her that with time she too would feel the subtle shifting of the earth.
I’m so grateful for what earthquakes taught me about recognizing the Spirit. There are times when the Spirit is undeniable, a voice of thunder piercing our souls. Yet more often, the Spirit is a silent whisper, a new thought, an impression, a subtle feeling of something to do or say (see Helaman 5:30). If we notice only the strong soul shaking, we miss many of the sweet impressions of the Spirit. We may sometimes need others to point out the feelings of the Spirit so we can focus our attention and fine-tune our perceptions. When we do, we find an entirely new world of awareness and wonder.

(Ensign Magazine, June 2012)


Have a good week, my sweets!

xx

Saturday 28 July 2012

Victoria St Markets and Madame Pompadour

The Victoria St Markets in Melbourne were HUGE, let me tell you, and I bought some great shoes from a man who had worked there for 41 years! I loved these red shoes so much, (they were so comfy and cute!)I went back, just before we caught the plane home, to buy a black pair the same!



Also, at the Markets, it was so chilly that I had to buy a grey scarf and slouch hat to keep me toasty.


Here I am wearing them, and my new red jacket from a shop in Docklands.


My favourite shop of all in Melbourne was at the markets, in one of the buildings along the side - 
Madame Pompadour! 
Appealing to the part of me that adores pinks, reds and florals, 
I could have happily bought every item in this shop! Teapots, roses and quilts, oh my!









As it was, I bought pyjamas, a skirt, rings, and a greeting card, but with more time and luggage space I could have really gone crazy!


Love, love, adore!

xx

Friday 27 July 2012

Cupcake Wars - TV Love

There's a great show on the Food Network called Cupcake Wars! I'm loving it! I don't even make cakes, but I sure love eating them and I love a good competition.


In this show, (which was actually made about 2 years ago!) there are four contestants and a theme for each episode. The first challenge is to design a new flavoured cupcake to go with the theme. The second challenge is to design three cupcakes to go with the theme, and in this round, presentation plays a key role. The third challenge is to bake 1000 of those cupcakes in 2 hours and present them in a huge display for an event! Talk about stress! The contestants have a carpenter and four assistants to help them with the last challenge, but it is still full on!

Some of the contestants are so cute and all-American. 


This is Lindsay Morton from Dollhouse Bake Shoppe 

And this is Chloe Coscarelli, better known as Chef Chloe, who bakes vegan cupcakes.
Each of these ladies were the winners in their episodes.

The judges are pretty harsh, but have heaps of baking experience.


And some of the creations are just amazing!


I am sooo looking forward to the rest of the series!


Total yum!

xx

Thursday 26 July 2012

Masquerade - A Snap, A Set and A Song

The theme for this week's Snap, Set and Song meme is Mask, and I just HAD to make my post about the Phantom of the Opera!  Here is a Snap of Christine and Raoul at the Masquerade Ball. 
I simply swoon over those candelabras!


My Song selection is Masquerade, one of my favourites from the musical and film. I think the movie version of this song is even better than the stage version, simply because of the amount of people in the scene (besides, you just can't beat that choreography from the 4 minute mark - adore!) 



I designed my Set to reflect the Masquerade scene from the film, and now I've got that recurring feeling that I want to visit France. Sigh!


Masquerade


Sparkling Cream Rose 12 x 12 Paper
scrapyourtrip.com






Pop over to Thea's blog to see some more Snaps, Sets and Songs about masks!




xx

Wednesday 25 July 2012

Awesome Things We Saw in Melbourne

Walking and tramming it around the city of Melbourne, we saw some awesome things:

sculptures



architecture



weathered doors


a magic shop




a pink building

a nude painting called Chloe


elegant decor

lanterns

and other interesting places!

I'm always on the lookout for the weird and wonderful!
xx