friday five

five things I've learnt from my nana!

So my lovely Nana arrived yesterday from New Zealand! For those of you who don't know, my mother dearest is from New Zealand and thus, cue Nana. She's staying for a month which is going to be lovely and she provided some inspiration for my Friday Five!

1. How to craft - You name it and I'm fairly sure she taught me it: crochet, knit, hand sew, sewing machine sew, french knit (which is in a whole other world of its own!), make lacy daisies from pin wheel contraptions! Most of this I've forgotten (ha) but from the ripe age of 4, Nana was showing me how to craft!

2. Logic puzzles are good for you! - So, funny story. Because I took forever popping out of Mum's womb, Nana bought her first ever crossword puzzle book and ever since then, she does at least one a day. She gets up at the crack of dawn normally (why I don't know) and she goes and gets the early morning paper and before anyone else is even awake, she's finished one if not two. She swears by them. And I swear it's what has kept her so sharp-tongued HA!

3. When you don't know what to do, drink tea - I've worked out that it was my Nana and Grandad that began my tea addiction. Mum reckons I was drinking tea (in VERY small amounts!) by the age of 3! Whenever someone is happy or upset or angry or really any emotion, Nana generally suggests we have tea. And I agree.

4. It's perfectly acceptable to appreciate fine, young men - This mildly concerns me but there are some things you have to live with. Nana has ALWAYS had a habit of being not-so-subtle when attractive men are in the vicinity. When I was younger she used to nudge me when she saw any male that was anywhere near my age and make 'Oohh' sounds and chuckle. I've just learned to embrace it and go with it. She mostly just does this over Justin now (phew!) but she's not averse to remarking loudly in cinemas that the male lead is very attractive. 

5. Short people are the best kind of people - I stand at a whooping 5'3". On my Mum's side of the family, I am the tallest female. You read me correctly. Nana milks being short though - she asks cute shop attendants to reach anything on the top shelf, people find her height so endearing they give her discounts and it means that when she's doing something really embarrassing, she can easily hide whilst my head pokes up and I cop the blame. 

In summation, my Nana is the best Nana out there.

the girl behind the blog: vlog

The super-amazing Emily @ Emmy June recommended this link up to me and I thought it'd be a good way to overcome the funk I'm in and draw some inspiration from my amazing self {joking.. sort of..}

You should definitely check out some of the other vlogs floating around! Big thanks to Andi and Ashley for hosting this vlogging.. experience..!

So.. The still picture at the start is amazing, I am so hot.
Also, I was really tired doing this video. It's  late in the land of kangaroos so you know, sorry.
Enjoy..!

Xx

guest post: niina

The beautiful Niina @ It Seems Pretty Obvious graciously accepted my desperate plea for a guest post. Being so stuck in my rut at the moment, I thought the best way to inspire you and to inspire me would be to read about what inspires someone else {I'm a genius, I know..} 

For those that don't know, Niina lives in Sweden and is one of my favourite bloggers. Her posts are always so beautiful, informative and yes, inspiring. Her whirlwind travel experiences coincide well with my desire to live abroad someday. 

Hope you enjoy her post and be sure to check out her blog!

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When Jasmine asked me to do a guest post on "Inspiration" I really had to think long and hard on what to write about. Not because I'm not inspired but because there's so many things that inspire me. 

But in the end it's actually pretty simple. There's one thing I love more than anything else (well... except from my friends and family); and that one thing is traveling. There's nothing that inspires me more! Let me explain what I mean;

There's the Adventure; I love walking on streets I've never walked on before! All the new impressions! This gives me inspiration to every aspect of my life; fashion, food, beauty, photography, writing...(you name it!). When you're in a new place everything is exciting! Every building, every meal, every little step you take. Trying out new food or food that you can't get as easily at home. Going to stores you don't have in your home-town. I could go on and on about how this makes me feel new, inspired and alive. How is it possible not to love traveling? (I know a few people who don't. Crazy!).

Then there's the Relaxing part of traveling; The part that sets your mind free! You have to admit it's kind of inspiring to wake up in the morning and know you can do anything you feel like that day! Even a few hours by the pool can be inspiring. Because when you feel completely relaxed an satisfied with your life you have a clean mind and BOOM; you're filled with new thoughts and impressions (I kind of sound a bit religious now. I'm sorry. But this is truly my passion).

And finally there's the Planning; I'm that kind of person who love making lists and organizing things. So planning a trip is a big part of the joy of traveling for me. I even get inspired by thinking about a future trip. So I thought I should share a few of my travel planning tips (even if most of them are common knowledge);

The World Wide Web;

Google your destination (this is pretty obvious my friends): But don't just look at the first hits you get on Google! Sometimes there's way better sites than the official site for your destination. The sites made by the hardcore enthusiasts are usually far more interesting and helpful than the official ones.

Google Maps; When you've decided where you're going to stay check out your hotel/motel/guest house on Google maps and explore the surroundings. Look up reviews on restaurants and things like that (I like Yelp and TripAdvisor). Even if you don't want to plan a trip in detail having a few good restaurant options in your mind is really helpful when you feel tired and hungry after a long day! 

Forums and Message Boards; Go to a forum or message board about traveling (I don't have any recommendations here because I use Swedish sites for this) and ask for inside tips about your destination! I found the best guest house we've ever stayed at this way (Angelina Guest House in Key West)! If you have a blog you could also ask your readers. 

Guidebooks;

Buy a guidebook! They're always worth it! I personally like DK Eyewitness Travel, Lonely Planet and Rough Guides. And you don't just have to buy a guidebook for a place you actually are going to visit soon. Buy one about your dream destination! It can be quite inspiring, I promise!

Hope you enjoyed this! And Happy Traveling! 

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- Niina

http://seemsprettyobvious.blogspot.com

just another manic monday

Monday's stress me out. 

this was clearly not taken on a Monday..

Things that occurred today...

\\ A caramel filled muffin now lives in my belly. He's very happy there. And I am very happy he is there. It revolutionized my day.

\\ I nearly pushed a first year in front of a bus for being so small-minded. Except there were no buses in the classroom. So lucky for that first year.

\\ I wore boot-cut jeans IN PUBLIC. They are good for my shape {a story for another day where an inverted triangle mates with a rectangle} but not so good for my rep. The cool kids these days wear straight leg, just above the ankle. 

\\ I finished an Education essay just so that I could continue researching ONE of my History essays. Oh yes, there are more than one. At present it's like, 1 down, 3 to go. And you know what? That's pretty okay. 

\\ I've had Billy Joel's Piano Man on repeat for a really long time now. It makes me happy but also really sad - does anyone else get that?! 

How were everyone's Mondays? As amazing as mine? 

Xx

that's a wrap!

There are no wraps here, sorry. Sometimes people lie and you just have to accept that.

In other news, I've found MORE ways to procrastinate:

\\ Ever wondered about gaming? Yes? Well, a dear friend of mine {we barely know each other} writes reviews and provides news on video games so if you're interested, you should definitely check it out here
\\ This website helped me out a bit earlier whilst I was going absolutely mental at the computer re-designing. You can thank my new Contact page as a result of this site!
\\ Emily linked up to this site today on Twitter and I highly recommend having a looksie!

Also, if you're interested in doing an Ad Swap, shoot me an email to talk sizes! Oo la la.

And I really liked this so I thought you all would too - aren't I kind?

housekeeping!

First of all, I have begun re-designing my blog once again. It was the best form of procrastination from my work I could find! It's not entirely how I want it but with no money to pay for a proper designer to have a go at it, I'm doing the best I can.

Speaking of housekeeping, I had someone announce that today. It's okay, I'm staying at a motel so it's not THAT weird. Still weird though... I politely declined. It creeps me out that I habitat in a room, leave, come back and some stranger has made my bed and changed all my towels. Just don't... It's weird. You don't have to touch my dirty stuff, it's fine.

I feel the important part of my story, the one you actually care about, is why I'm in a motel. I'm away for the weekend. The pictures from this weekend will go up when I'm home and am done taking pictures!

In the meantime, you can join me in my procrastination...

\\I'm getting incredibly good at this..

\\I stumbled across this To-Do website today and I'm flabbergasted I've never seen it before!

\\I can look even if I can't taste :-(

Hope everyone is having a lovely weekend. Shoot me an email to keep me from going crazy!

P.S - Just a little shoutout to Bobbi for inadvertently inspiring me to re-design my blog (simply because of the awesomeness of hers) and also for the cute replacement for bullet points when listing!

week 2

I have no idea how it could possibly be almost the END of Week 2 at University. Things are flying by so fast, I don't have time to hold onto my hat!

I apologise for the lack of posting this week but to make up for it, you can expect...
// Friday Five
// Photos from a baby shower over the weekend
// Tuesday's Thoughts
// Re-cap on my impending blate with Emily!

And anything else that tickles my fancy. For right now, I shall leave you with...

yes, it says Mo Cove. yes, I wore to uni today. 

also NIKE sponsor right there on my arm.. thanks maccas.. 

book review: the hunger games

The Hunger Games

Well, well, well...

This book is quite the scandalous piece of ass writing if you ask me. Sorry, tourettes. Everywhere you go it's all people are talking about. I saw a movie the other day and they showed a trailer for this movie. The entire cinema hushed in anticipation of the 10 second clip then proceeded to gaggle really bizarrely post-clip. It was ridiculous. It was a girl, shooting an arrow, with a voice-over saying: 'May the odds be ever in your favour...'

In my own defense, I had not yet read the book. Which is why I rolled my eyes really loudly and said, in a very passive aggressive tone, "Seriously?! What's the big deal?" This probably didn't fly so well with the multitudes of whiny, chair-kicking 13 year old boys and girls in the cinema but really, I didn't care. I had my popcorn, my Chuppa-Chuppa and my PUMP water.

The Vow was amazing by the way. I'm a massive sucker for both Rachel McAdams and Channing Tatum, plus the fact that it's based on a true story AND that it's a romantic movie and I adore romantic movies. 

I digress. So that stage, like 2 weeks ago, I was a bitter and cynical twisted teen (who is on the throes of proper adulthood might I add) who was really not interested in what looked like a lame movie.

I will now proceed to bow down to Suzanne Collins by means of deepest and sincerest apology. And buy the other two books in the series. 

She's no J.K. Rowling but I really don't think she means to be. The Hunger Games is a very easy to read novel (think Stephanie Meyer style easy)** and the plot is seriously weird. But in a seriously entertaining way. It's like nothing I've ever read before. Not that I read a whole lot of novels about killing. Actually, I somewhat recently read a novel called Child 44 that kind of freaked me out a bit and left me having nightmares because I'm skittish like that but that I actually enjoyed. 

** On a side note, yes in the middle of this review, I'm not saying you need to like Twilight to agree that it was an easy read. The writing flowed, it wasn't convoluted by unnecessary language or pages of descriptions that ruined the flow rather than enhanced the reading sensation. Whether you liked Twilight or not, give Meyer credit for being an author that can appeal to all ages and reading levels. 

The point is, Collins' concept is bizarre but her rationale for choosing it (located in the back of the book people..) is actually pretty boring. Which is actually a compliment to her for turning a pretty boring night watching TV into a very interesting, entertaining and thought provoking novel.

The dystopic society I like, the characters I really like (even the baddies!) and the execution (pardon the pun) is very well done indeed. There were some parts where I raised my eyebrows and questioned the author's blatant attempt at furthering the novel along but I was able to lower my eyebrows you'll be pleased to know for the sake of my forehead, forgiving her by further reading about Peeta - who here can spell dreamboat?! 

In summary, whilst I heard both really good and really bad reviews of this book, I am definitely on the side of really good. Not because it actually lives up to all of the hype but because of the fact that it's a couple of days after finishing the novel and all I can think about is every event that occurred in it and the best way to get my hands on the next one in the series.

That, my friends, is the mark of a pretty darn good book. So if you haven't read it, go read it. If you have read it, we can all be part of the club now - yay!

X