Popcorn/Flower

Not in the mood for a long post today (SJ and his job issues have me down) so I'm going to tell you how awesome popcorn at work is. I keep a bag of popping corn kernels in my drawer with a handful of brown paper bags. Pour a few of the former into the latter (for me it's enough to cover the seam of the bag about 3 kernels thick) and pop in the microwave for 90-120 seconds...depends on the microwave. Just like with the packet stuff, listen to the pops and use trial and error if you must. When you buy popcorn like this it is awfully cheap...

Umbrellas in the Sunshine

Kind of sums up Melbourne doesn't it.

I caught the train in this morning and it was drizzling, also changed my shoes before I left after realising how much water was around (not a good day for fabric covered shoes). Went to the post office and thought I was going to get wet again, so I bought a new umbrella. Only have 1 between SJ and I and it's a large, Da Vinci one my parents bought me in Italy. Not an everyday umbrella.

Ebay and being anonymous

I was a busy little bee yesterday afternoon, taking photographs of all my items I'd like to try and sell on ebay.

Moonlight Cinema

SJ and I had a great time at the Moonlight Cinema last night.

The scars of Berlin...

Taking a break from telling you about my mundane daily life today to start revisiting some of the places I have been. Don't worry though, I will spread them all out so you don't get too bored of my travels :-)

Berlin wasn't a city I was particularly excited about seeing, and the day I was there it was a lovely 4 degrees, but the history contained there was different to other European cities. It was almost as though Berlin didn't really exist before the war and it's still fighting for a real identity.

Sunny Australia Day

SJ and I spent the day down on Mornington Peninsula today, spent most of our time around Sorrento/Portsea. The weather was lovely (though my shoulders are a little pink this evening).

J'adore rouge

I love red. As a colour it inspires a feeling that others can't manage. As far as my wardrobe goes, I generally stick to neutrals (except summer dresses) but I have quite a few red pieces even though with my colourings I should really stick with the blue items I have instead.

Meal Planning and Market Shopping

I have mentioned numerous times that I don't cook. Almost Ever. I am lucky enough to have a boyfriend who enjoys being in the kitchen and in return, I (usually) clean up after him. It has to be the only advantage of having SJ out of work, he has no excuse NOT to cook me dinner or do all the grocery shopping. That said, we do have a bit of a system in place that should make it easy enough to continue eating as well as we do when he does get a job (and he will soon, I know it!).

Current Projects

I always have a few projects on the go, things I do when I have downtime. Last week that time was dominated by decluttering and culling while SJ was away. Now the apartment is in a decent base state of organisaion I can get stuck into a few projects.

My Tidy Wardrobe

All my work clothes.

My weekend so far...

This was my outfit to work on Friday, a vintage Bonds T my mum wore in the 70s. The words say 'Touch of Class'. I tried to tweet this picture (I can only tweet via email from my phone) but for some reason it's not working.

Shoes.

Behold my shoe collection.

TAG! You're It!

Nat from In The Night Sky has tagged me in this game of blog TAG! You're It!.  Time to get to know each other (or me at least) a little bit better.

And then I smiled...

I've been having one of those days/weeks.

Not the sort where nothing is going right, the sort where you don't see the point. In anything.

Postcards

Don't you just love postcards? I mentioned a few months ago that I joined Postcrossing where you send postcards to random strangers and get postcards from other random strangers in return.  Well I have received 8 postcards so far and thought I'd show you them all before explaining the massive stack of postcards shown in my first pic.

I 'Heart' Stir-Fries

Aren't they just the best?

Starting My Cull

I skipped yoga today. Bad I know but I will go tomorrow, I felt like I was still recovering. And though going would probably have been the best thing for it, I just didn't.

First Bikram Yoga Class, Done!

I dropped SJ at the airport for 6:30am this morning then made my way to my first Bikram Yoga class. Before I get into that though, I'm sure you'll all appreciate seeing the goodies I bought for myself in preparation yesterday. Thanks to a recommendation from The Etail Queen I visited Lululemon on Bourke Street.

From My Balcony

Flicking through my photographs last night I realised I have taken a lot of pictures from my balcony but haven't shared many of them.  I have posted on fireworks and storms, but I'm sure no one would have any objection to a post on sunsets.

On Ya' Bike

I got back on my bike for the first time in 4 months today. Tomorrow is actually the 4 month anniversary of my elbow dislocation. I know they say it's 'like riding a bike' and you never forget, but it felt so weird. Firstly, in order to ride my arm is extended as far as it currently goes, so it hurt a bit. I also had traditional pedals on it again (rather than clipless) and rather than make me feel more stable (knowing I could my foot down quickly) I actually felt like my feet might slip off. I won't be riding with them on for long before I go back to proper ones and my cycling shoes. I'm going to try and ride a little more this weekend, I need to build up my confidence, before hopefully getting back into riding to work next week.

Do I win the Best Girlfriend award?

First, my attempt at an outfit post. Today I wore black work pants (Target), a red Guess jumper, a Burberry print scarf (souvenir from Scotland) and cream/black Giovanna heels. My french fingernails and OPI 'Tickle My France-y' toenails I painted on the weekend, sort of my go-to nails. And wearing some of my simple gold jewellrey. Nothing too exciting.

5 Reasons Why I Need Bikram Yoga

Okay, so maybe NEED is a strong word to be using, 'should try' is probably better.

My personal trainer recommended Bikram to me a few weeks before Christmas so I've been seriously thinking about it.

#1 - Breathing

Perhaps my biggest issue with any workout that I do, is that I forget to breathe. You'd think since it's so fundamental to living I'd be more used to it by now, nope, even when I'm not working out I frequently hold my breath for no real reason. All yoga teaches you to breathe.

#2 - Learning to calm my mind

So I hold my breath while thinking rapidly. Not a good combination. I need to learn to relax and focus on doing one thing at a time. Even today at lunch, I read a few Bikram yoga articles and kept flicking to new tabs to google things and half reading other articles. Must focus.

#3 - Flexibility, posture and knowing my body

My trainer has already helped me so much with this, I am more aware of the position of my hips now and how weak they are (and how bad my posture was - may post on this at some point). Again, any yoga would be good for this.

#4 - My elbow

It's still not where I would like it to be, I have about 150 degrees of movement in it. That means I still can't straighten it. Any stretching will help it but the heat during Bikram will make stretching it easier.

I'm a bit busy...

To write a full post this evening.

Have this mess to deal with.

Hoping to start my clothes cull on the back of it though, so stay tuned!

Western Plains Zoo

As promised, here are my 'good' photos from our day at the zoo. Still not feeling great and hating that I have to go back to work tomorrow. I literally haven't unpacked my bags from my trip, at least I know I bought new work clothes in the Boxing Day Sales so I will just go and find some of them to wear tomorrow and worry about the mess later...Oh and to make myself feel better, right now I have my feet soaking in a tub of warm water. Giving myself a pedicure is a lot more important than unpacking, right?

Warrumbungles Revisited

I meant to start posting these photographs yesterday but I'm still feeling a little under the weather. I'll post photos from the Warrumbungles today but you'll have to wait until tomorrow for the zoo photos (sorry Cat).

Sad Little Christmas Tree

I am finally home. Our apartment was happily waiting for us, but sadly, our little garden patch wasn't so happy. Most of the herbs have passed away and there was a lot of wind damage.

My darling little Christmas tree was knocked over, out of it's pot and so so dry it should have been brown. Thankfully, it's still green so I'm hopeful that we can revive it.

Other than that, I am sick. Had a sore throat since yesterday and I'm feeling incredibly rundown and ill today. We have visitors (friends currently living in Denmark) visiting for lunch tomorrow, so I need to feel better and get around to unpacking in the morning...

Hot Day at the Zoo

Our first stop of the morning was at a lookout just inside the Warrambungles National Park. It was a lovely area to stay in and I'm sure we'll stop there again on future trips between Brisbane and Melbourne.

Camping in the Warrambungles

We have made it to the Warrambungles for the night. Our tent is all set up and SJ is making our dinner.

Wasn't a bad drive, the weather was sunny if not a little too hot.

The drive between Moree and Coonabarabran was cool in a geeky way. The Siding Springs Observatory is at the edge of the Warrambungles National Park and using the Observatory as the 'Sun' planets have been placed at scaled distances away, so we passed Uranus about 200kms north of here.

We're planning on heading to the observatory tomorrow morning, then to Dubbo and the zoo. I'm childishly excited about the zoo, I have been before but I was 6 years old so my memory is a little foggy. Also means tomorrow is only a 3-4 hour driving day, as opposed to today's 9. Can't wait to sleep in my own bed!

One Fine Day

Our final day. We're leaving Brisbane tomorrow morning :-(

Today SJ and I left home at 6:30am to head to the beach before the crowds. It was nice to get in one surf swim for the season.

The rest of the day was spent visiting and being visited and sorting and packing things for our departure. The car is almost ready to go and rather full, just the last minute things (and poor Blue) to go in and we should be on the road before 8am.

The plan is to head to Coonabarabran for the night (just north of Dubbo). Then we'll get to visit the Open Range Zoo.

As always, sad to be leaving my family but looking forward to being 'home' and being back in a routine.

Will try to post from the road :-)

Twenty12

Happy New Year everyone. I hope you all celebrated the start of this year in your own special way. I enjoyed it at home with friends and family, even got a surprise visit from friends who live in Townsville.

I guess it's time to make some New Year's Resolutions...