It's Monday! What are you Reading?

I'm playing along with Sheila's Bookjourney to let you know my latest reads. I've read the three books I said I would read, along with one other, "The Virgin Blue" by Tracy Chevalier. What a fantastic read that was! Actually I still have a few more chapters of "Jessica" by Bryce Courtney  to read, and then I will have read these 4 books.

They were all great reads, particularly The Virgin Blue and Jessica, which I will give 5 stars each. 

Now that I've read three Australian books ( and a French one thrown in for good measure!) I've decided to read some well-known English books:

Emma by Jane Austen

These are all on the Dymocks Top 100 list, so I'm sure they'll be brilliant. I've not read any of them before, and I haven't even seen any of the movies based on the books either. Oh, hold on, I may have seen Mists of Avalon, and perhaps the beginning of Possession.

Let me know if you can think of any good novels about ghosts - I really love them and need some recommendations. Some of my favourites include  "Second Glance" by  Jodi Picoult, and "Midnight is a Lonely Place" by Barbara Erskine.

I've even started to write a story about ghosts!
Check out what everyone else is reading at Sheila's Bookjourney xx

The Jezabels - Sunday Session

This song, Endless Summer has been on an ad on tele, and I finally googled it to find the video. I had heard of the Jezabels before but knew nothing about them. They are an Australian band.

I was really surprised that they chose this theme for the video, but I actually really love it.

Only one video to share today, because this one has had such an impact on me. Pop over to Thea's blog to check out some more Sunday Sessions. xx

In the city to see the Cake Boss

Last week we ventured into town on the train to the Convention Centre to see Buddy Valastro, the Cake Boss. I took some shots of the city buildings, because I love the architecture and the combination of old and new.

Buddy's show was great!

He was warm, funny, and our cheeks were hurting at the end from laughing. The show involved bringing different groups of people up on stage to decorate cupcakes, and the audience cheered to show whose decorating was the best. They were pretty woeful efforts, but everyone on stage was so nervous in front of the crowd and the Boss. I certainly wouldn't have gone up there! Sometimes the contestants had danceoffs to choose a winner, when the cake decorating was too bad. It was a laugh! The music to accompany the comps was well chosen too - big favourites from over the years to get the crowd really pumped.

Buddy also spent time just talking to the crowd, telling us his story, and about his determination to make Carlo's Bakery a household name. He had a great message about family honour, togetherness, hard work, high goals, and being good. You couldn't help but leave the show smiling.

The only downer was that all the talk about cake had us hoping we would find canolis under our seats (Oprah style) but it was not to be. So we walked through the city after the show and found Miss Maud's where I indulged in a raspberry macaroon, and a slice of apple cake, which were delish!

Shopping for shoes and stationery

Had a couple of quick visits to the shops this week. Mainly because I needed some shoes for school, which goes back tomorrow! Saw this great sign in Typo. Love it!

So I bought these:

and these:

on sale from the Shoe Rack.

And I couldn't resist buying all these gorgeous things for school from Typo, which is my favourite shop:

The A4 notebooks are 3 for $10. Gotta love that. And the hopscotch pic is a mouse mat! xx

Foo Fighters Sunday Session

The Foo Fighters are very cool.

I can't believe that their song, Walk, didn't make it into the Triple J Hottest 100.  This song rocks! I love the melody. And the clip is amusing.

If you enjoyed that one, here's another one, Best of You, from a couple of years ago:

I love this one too, Times Like These, which is a bit of an oldie:

Joining up over at Do I really Wanna Blog, for Thea's Sunday Session. See you there!

Jason Bateman

So, we happened to watch some Jason Bateman films this last week. They are so crass, lewd and rude that I barely recommend them, but they were very funny. And I've gotta say, Jason Bateman is such a good comedy actor. His face just does everything right. And something that stayed with me through both films was that he looks so much like Neil Finn of Crowded House fame.

I know there is an age difference, but they have the same mouth and hair, cheeks and eyebrows, nose, and ..I could go on but you get the idea! Hold on, they have different ears and their eyes are different colours. But don't you think they look like long-lost brothers??

What I Wore Wednesday

I always get a haircut just before school goes back, and this time I got a colour as well after about 5 years of not having one. I don't like using products with chemicals, but you've got to do something when your hair looks like it's fading to grey!

It's been so hot around here, that I've been wearing dresses all summer. Thank goodness for Crossroads sales! I love this one which looks a bit Moroccan or something. It ends just above my knees which is the perfect length.

I'm linking up with What I Wore Wednesday over at The Pleated Poppy.