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Sunday 30 November 2014

8 Positive Things!

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Image found via Pinterest

I've had a great week up until yesterday. I spent three hours on Friday in the company of a sick friend, and have now caught her cold! I even had to leave work an hour early yesterday because it got that bad. Never fun, but I've stocked up on aaaall the drugs - cold and flu tablets, codeine, Strepsils, cough suppressants, and menthol lollies. This also gives me an excuse to lie around in bed lots and cool my burning throat with Weis sorbet. Never mind that, though, let's focus on the positive! That's what these posts are for, after all.

1) My year 12 formal! I had the most wonderful time, it was a great end to the school year. I'll be sure to put up a post soon.

2) Photo booth photos! The formal had a photo booth that took free photos, which made me super happy as I had some momentos to take home with me.

3) My friend, C. She makes me super happy and it's always so nice to see her. I met her in my first year of high school, and we've had a friendship since then that's more resembled sisterhood. She's one of those best friends that you don't have to see often to be able to call her your best friend.

4) Going out for a nice lunch date by myself. I had a book, a chai, and a yummy salad, what more did I need? I managed to make a friend in a French backpacker who was sitting next to me, but I got a bit worried he was getting the wrong idea and had to subtly mention I have a boyfriend. That didn't stop him from asking if I was free on the weekend and giving me a proper French farewell (a kiss on both cheeks)! Ah well, it makes for a funny story.

5) My super-cute new phone case. Is it stupid that something so materialistic can make me happy? ;)

6) The Christmas season is almost upon us! The countdown begins tomorrow, as does the home decorating and the Christmas tree going up. Carols are already playing and my little sister and her boyfriend are in the kitchen baking gingerbread as I write this. Best of all - I have my chocolate advent calendar ready, hehe.

7) My parents surprising me with a graduation gift. I absolutely adore rings, so this was a perfect choice.



8) My father has been on a work trip to the United States and comes home tomorrow! I'll be so glad to see him.

Friday 21 November 2014

Wish List #2

Wish List #2

Wish List #2

Clockwise from top left:

#1 I have been looking for a new bra for ages and this soft cup one from Free People looks super comfy whilst still looking super cute. They have a whole range of bralettes I want to buy!

#2 Who doesn't want the Naked palette by Urban Decay? Really? As an eyeshadow lover, I've certainly got it on my wishlist for Christmas.

#3 Admittedly, one of the main reasons I chose to buy an iPhone and not a cheaper phone was because of all the cases you can find - but look at this one !!! It is a bit quirkier than my usual tastes, but I am an old cat lady at heart.

#4 I have this perfume in both solid and miniature forms, but I really want the proper version! Summer's just 'round the corner and this is such a great scent.

#5 I'm usually a jeans kinda gal, but when I saw a pair of houndstooth printed trousers I had to find a pair. These look gorgeous.

I joined Polyvore to make this wish list, and you can follow me here.

Sunday 16 November 2014

8 Positive Things!



1) I've taken up the Couch-to-5K challenge, which trains you to eventually be able to do a 5 kilometre run over the course of a few weeks. I've done a bit of running in the past but it's always been a summer thing that I give up once the weather gets too cold. Hopefully I can keep committed to this!

2) On a similar note, I downloaded a yoga app and a meditation app the other day. I occasionally engage in a sun salutation now and then but I'm far from a yogi, so I thought this might help me. I also suffer from a fair share of anxiety, and I've heard a lot about meditation helping combat that.

3) A productive day .. although not quite for the best. I am most likely the world's best procrastinator, so instead of studying, I cleaned the entire house. Well, not entire, but the kitchen, bathroom, front room, and living/dining room. I also vacuumed. And to think I'll be having to do this all the time once I move out?!

4) Chocolate. I had massive chocolate cravings the other day and let my mother know, who subsequently arrived a few minutes later with a giant bar of marvellous creations. Gotta love the mumsy.

5) An afternoon of cards with my boyfriend. He came over yesterday for a lazy day and we ended up spending the afternoon playing cards. He's a terribly sore loser though! Despite him winning all but two rounds, he lost so spectacularly once that I still managed to win overall!

6) Christmas carols - is it too early? I know the answer is yes, but I can't help it, I love them! I'm listening to them as I write this out, oops.

7) Lighting candles around the house. I've always loved candles - the flickering lights, the cosy atmosphere, the delicious scents - and after cleaning the house they just made the living room that much better.

8) The big, hot bath I'm going to have tonight. I have my Lush bath bomb ready and waiting by the side of the tub.

What's been making you happy lately?

If you're interested in any of the apps I downloaded you can find them here:
Couch-to-5K
DailyYoga
Smiling Mind

Saturday 15 November 2014

Summer Reading List

Since there'll be no more school to think about or look forward to (at least until I start uni), I'm going to have so much more time for reading! Now that's definitely something to look forward to. Last summer I bought a whole stack of books but only managed to tackle half of them, so I have a list that I'm ready and waiting to stick my nose in.

This is the book I bought last week and had a sneak preview of. I've decided to wait until after exams to properly start it but it's going to be first on the agenda! Read my last post if you want a bit more information on it.

This is a very popular read that I've yet to buy, although I've wanted to for a while. I'm a sucker for light romance fiction, and this seems like something fun to read. If it's a best seller then surely that means something, right?!

I bought this one last summer after wanting to read it for a while, but I never even opened it! It's just been sitting gathering dust on my bedside table. I'm not very good at reading classics, as I like to speed through books but the language slows me down. However, I am very interested to read this, and hope the old style language won't be too hard for my simple mind!

One that I started last summer and stopped halfway through. It's not that it was a bad book, I was just simply bored of reading one plot at a time and decided to move on to the next one. From what I read it was really fascinating and beautifully written. I have to admit I was drawn in from the cover - the background is a lot like brown wrapping paper, and the blue border and circle is actually very shimmery and reflective in real life.

Another classic, although I don't have a hard copy version. Despite my strong dislike for paper books going out of fashion, I caved in and bought an eBook for my kindle app on my phone. Classics are free on Amazon.com, so I thought I may as well take advantage of that. I do want to finish this book, although it's more something I'll read when I'm bored and all I have is my phone (and no wifi).

Another one I started reading last summer - oops! The reason I stopped reading halfway through is exactly the same as the last one. I bought it with The Book Thief by Markus Zusak and decided to read it first so I could save the best until last (I'd been waiting to read The Book Thief a while), but my impatience got the better of me and I was too immersed to care about this one. I'm excited to start again though!

What do you have planned for your summer? Or winter, if you're in the northern hemisphere? I've decided mine will be nice and lazy after a stressful school year - lots of reading, writing, catching up with friends, weekends away, and enjoying the sun. Hopefully I'll be saving up lots of money as I'm planning to go away with my boyfriend to Europe next year!

Feel free to comment and have a chat. I'll always be here to reply! :)

Wednesday 12 November 2014

Weekly Wishlist #1

Now I'm a bit cheeky with my spending - saving has never been a strength of mine. Lately though, I've been keeping to window shopping and online inspiration. There have been of plenty of things tickling my fancy though, and what with my formal coming up I'm looking at lots of gorgeous online boutique-style stores for potential dresses. There are so many beautiful things out there I want to get my paws on!

Most of the things I'm lusting after this week are basics I've wanted for a while, or some beauty essentials. So here it is, my weekly wishlist!



Clockwise from top left:

#1 I've been longing for a pair of boyfriend jeans since last summer/autumn, but haven't dared give them a shot due to my short little legs! This season I'm just going to do it though, because they're so cute! These jeans by Popcherry look super comfortable and stylish.

#2 I was browsing the latest Priceline catalogue when I saw this advertised, and it looked like heaven in a bottle. Great scent, great ingredients and (hopefully) great results. My skin is the typical teenage type so I need some help to keep it nice-looking. I do use a few products now but I'm trying to find something that really works.

#3 These minimalistic black heels are exactly what I'm looking after for my formal - simple yet elegant. They're also on sale at the moment, what more could you ask for?

#4 I absolutely love rose gold, and rings are my favourite accessory hands down (hehe, punny), so when this popped up in Pinterest how could I not love it? Now how do I subtly mention that this is on my Christmas list to my boyfriend? ;)

#5 Not a want, but a need (sort of). My hair takes about two seconds after brushing for it to start knotting again, and it's a right pain in the arse to brush it out. This hairbrush looks pretty effective by the description though! As my last brush broke - I literally just put it through my hair and it broke in half because of the knots - I have decided that this is a very justifiable purchase.

What's been on your wishlist lately?

Tuesday 11 November 2014

A trip to the Botanical Gardens

I love the Botanical Gardens. They're always so full of colour and greenness (not a word I know), and just make me happy. I love all the different types of gardens, my favourites being the Japanese and the ferns. The Japanese garden is so beautiful and different to our Western culture, with ponds and bridges and little stone statues - I find it so interesting. The ferns are like a fairy garden, I keep expecting to see a pair of tiny silvery wings!

My boyfriend and I went on a trip last summer to the Gardens and I came across photos we had taken. It was the perfect day, not too hot but nice and sunny. We had a picnic for lunch and spent the rest of the day strolling around in the lovely sunshine. Here a few photos I had to share!

 Fern garden, or fairy garden as I prefer.

Gorgeous little pond - spot the ducks! 

A beautiful mix of colours 

 Stone figurine in the Japanese garden

Waterfall

What's your local Botanical Gardens like? Feel free to leave a comment!

What happens next?

I have finished year twelve, which also means I have finished my compulsory schooling. This terrifies me extremely. I mean, what happens next?

University is on the agenda, but I mean what really happens next. My entire schedule changes. I have time to do so much more. Am I going to take a gap year or go straight onto further education? If I take a gap year, what am I going to do in it? How am I going to save enough money to go travelling? Should I travel or should I save up enough to actually afford to go to an interstate university? There are so many questions and I am sure I don't feel alone in this.

There has been a lot of publicity on what happens after year twelve. Celebrities and TV personalities have spoken out on how there's a whole life after year twelve, but they're so successful, it doesn't make me feel too much better. At this point in time I know I want to do midwifery at university, but what if I don't enjoy that, or simply can't do it? I have my backup options - speech pathology, social work, health promotion - but what if none of those work out either?

What if I don't get in?

There seems to be an awful lot of pressure on students these days to excel academically, but that's beginning to tear us down. Personally, I don't feel successful with the work I've done because of relatives who have done better than me. It's as if my successes are invalid because they aren't as good as theirs. But this really isn't the way I, or anyone else, should be thinking.

It scares me mainly for the reason that for the past fourteen years I have been in school, and as I can't remember back to when I was two years old, this is all I've ever known. Ever. School has literally been everything to us, despite how much we like or dislike it. I remember in primary school thinking that after graduating year 12 it just becomes one big summer holiday that lasts the rest of your life. Uh, no. Not quite. So what do I do? Work at a 9-5 job? Meet my friends for coffee? Go on a great big European adventure?

I don't know!

Like I've mentioned above, I know I'm not alone. Sorry about the ramble, but if you've stuck through this whole post, thank you. How did you deal/are you dealing with finishing compulsory schooling?


Wednesday 5 November 2014

8 Positive Things

1) Catching up with an old friend with a sauna date. We've been friends since we started high school together, and on Friday night I went around to her house for pizza, long conversations, and a nice, hot sauna.

2) Watching the wet leaves on the trees sparkle in the sunlight. It's like natural glitter!

3) A fantastic weekend with my boyfriend. I went over for dinner both Saturday and Sunday and it was just so great to see him.

4) Having a graduation assembly at school. Although it was the most informal and laid back graduation type thing you can imagine, it was still nice. There were soap bubbles being blown - who doesn't like those?

5) A quiet day at work. Most employees wouldn't like this, but I'm used to incredibly stressful nights and weekends due to my busy workplace, but my last shift was nice and quiet and peaceful.

6) Hot chocolate, all the hot chocolate. The free one I grabbed the other day was close to perfect!

7) Sticking with the theme of chocolate, I have rekindled my love for Nutella. Yes, you read that right rekindled. I haven't actually liked the nutty-chocolatey goodness for the past couple of years, but lately it's all I can think about!

8) Marathons of Criminal Minds. Favourite TV show at the moment, pity I've got so much study to do.

What's happened to you lately that's made you smile? Post your thoughts below!

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I've been an avid reader of blogs this past year or so and would love it if you started reading mine! I joined Bloglovin as a blogger rather than a reader so you can follow my posts and keep up to date. :)

Tuesday 4 November 2014

A day in town

I don't know about you but I love busying myself in town. The problem is, I don't usually have much to do (except for studying right now, ugh), so that usually limits me to eating and shopping. I did work an extra shift this morning as my Tuesday and Thursday classes have finished, so I justified my shopping with that.

The initial reason I went into town was for a doctor's appointment, which was finished a bit before one, so that left me the rest of the afternoon free! I was meeting my boyfriend at four, so until then I planned to go to the library and hit the books, but instead I hit the shops.

Three op shops, five chain stores, and a bookshop later I was still empty handed. I had limited myself with my spending, as I needed money left over to pay my phone bill, so I was getting picky with what I was going to choose. I then made my way to the surf shop which is usually very expensive, but they had a massive sale and I had a $50 gift card. Cha-ching! I ended up coming out with these little cuties:



They're olive green in colour which doesn't really come out in this photo, but I love them. I've been looking for this style flat for ages, and at $30 down from $60 how could I resist?

By the time I finished my wee little shop, it was almost time to go meet my boyfriend. I had a voucher for a free hot drink at a cafe, so I grabbed that as well as a strawberry iced donut and sat in the park where I could get 4G, and read some blogs. That's when the rain starting falling down, so I had to make my way out of there. The trees above me actually managed to give some good protection, much to my surprise. And unfortunately, had I waited just a minute before leaving, the rain turned into a measly drizzle, and I wouldn't have got so wet walking out in it!

I found cover in one of my favourite bookshops. I absolutely adore bookshops, especially ones that are locally owned/small businesses. They have so much more atmosphere than a chain store. One I visited earlier today was a second hand bookshop and it was filled to the brim with books! I couldn't help but let my inner bookworm free - I was grinning the whole time I was in there. In the second bookshop of the day (this is a common pattern, unfortunately.. or maybe fortunately?) I found a book I've been wanting to read for ages. I've been debating whether to start it now or to save it as a treat for after exams.



I may or not have started reading the first chapter whilst waiting for my boyfriend, but a little sneak peek never hurt anyone!

My afternoon ended with a second hot chocolate and a quick catch up with my boyfriend. He has an art exhibition which opens this evening. I would've loved to go to but I'll have to save it for another day. He's a fantastic photographer, you can check out his stuff here.

I'll leave you with a quick outfit of the day. I promise you this won't be a regular thing, I am by no means a fashionable person! I just liked what I was wearing, and thought I might share it with you. I was going for the cute little nerd look I guess.

Dress/Boohoo, Cardigan/Cotton On, Bag/Fuller's Bookshop, Watch/ICE

How has your day been? Do you think I should indulge with the book now or save it for after exams? Feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments!