oh christmas tree

My gal will squeal so loudy when she spies this. It's the Eloise Christmas Tree at the New York Plaza, unveiled by Betsey Johnson no less. I love that it looks like a pink fairy's exploded all over it. I do like a fabulously gaudy Christmas tree. Beautifully colour-coordinated trees are much like an all-white room, while I love looking at them, in real life, for me, they just don't cut it.

My gal and I decorated our tree on the weekend, sneakily early, but hey, it was the first day of Advent... Our tree is a green plastic one {wish is were pink and sparkly like my friend Sara Rose...} as I can't do real trees - they play havoc with my allergies and asthma. Ours is covered with decorations that all have a special meaning. Each year my gal gets a new ornament, and when she leaves home she'll have a big box of memories to take with her and start her own tree. There are home-made items, baubles that we've had since we first moved in together 17 years ago, and various bits and pieces added to over the years. I love a tree that's decorated with love - while Christmas tunes play in the background.

Ooh, speaking of Christmas tunes, there is an AWESOME cd out this year: Now Christmas 2011. It has 43 songs on it - including some classics and my all-time fave Christmas tune, "Christmas is the time to say I love you" by Billy Squier. I bought that single when I was a teen and played it over, and over again. Every Christmas I tried to buy the CD version, without luck, so I was stuck with playing it over and over again on YouTube. Can you imagine the squeal when I saw it was available on iTunes this year {it was massive, dogs in nearby suburbs covered their ears saying "Love, quit it with that high-pitched noise will ya...}

Is your tree up or are you saving it for this weekend?

marriage equality

I am genuinely bemused by Julia Gillard's stance on equal marriage. I honestly don't see why she wouldn't want to take the brave step of being the Prime Minister who goes down in history as allowing all consenting adult Australians the right to marry. More than 60 per cent of the electorate agree that equal marriage rights is something we should have in Australia - that's more than a majority - and certainly a higher figure than the 'majority vote' that sees labor as the ruling party.

It's not like it's breaking with an age-old tradition. It was only in 2004 when the Howard government inserted the clause "Between a man and a woman" into the marriage act.

Why Julia? Why deny people in love the right to marry and express their commitment to each other? You've chosen not to marry which is excellent, and your right, but what of all those who would love the right to marry but it's just not theirs?

Next week the Labor party will be having a conscience vote on this issue. If you, like me, believe that this law needs to change you need to let your local federal MP know how you feel. I've already emailed my support to my local MP - one of the fabulous ones who's spoken up in parliament in favour of the amendment.

After watching Ides of March last night I was reminded of the sad fact that the vast majority of politicians don't allow their conscience to be their guide. They're guided by numbers. And votes. If they think that the majority of voters in their electorate feel strongly about a certain position - they'll vote for it - even if it goes against their own views.

Here's how to find your local MP and send them an email. Just a simple one: "Hi, I live in your electorate, I vote and I am in favour of marriage equality, kindest regards, A Voter." That'll do.  Go here to find your MP and let them know how you feel. Our Prime Minister's email's also on there if you'd like to double your influence. I've sent Julia Gillard an email expressing my views, and am hoping she'll take them into consideration.

Let's be the generation that just doesn't sit back and watch history march backwards. I believe in love. That's all. It's that simple.

harper seven: very squishy

I do love a bub with squishy cheeks - so obviously I ADORE Harper Beckham. PS: Am loving Posh's long locks. Sigh. And those boots...

sweetie! darling! sneaky peeky!

Okay, apparently they're screening on ABC1 early in the New Year: see here for more details {squeeeaaaaallllllll!}

meal planning monday

Wow, what a weekend. Packed with so much fabulous. I got to catch-up with Kerry from Tranquil Townhouse who is just as lovely, fabulous and gorgeous in real life as she is on her blog. We went and had a coffee at the new Merewether Surfhouse where the dolphin pod I'd organised earlier put on a lovely display right outside our spot {magical non?}.

My lil fam also shopped till we dropped at the incredible Red Lantern Night Markets. Oh, what a night.

Now, for normality {or what poses for it in our house}. Here's what I've got on my meal plan this week:

Monday: Caramelised pork, bok choy and noodles {Aussie Farmers keep giving me bok choy in my mixed fruit and veg box, best use it as something other than compost this week}

Tuesday: My gal's requested burritos to sustain her after one of her last ballet lessons before the big concert.

Wednesday: I think I'll do a thai beef salad tonight.

Thursday: Glazed salmon on the bbq with a salad.

Friday: Kebabs on the bbq with salad.

Saturday: pistachio dukkah crusted lamb on the bbq. Yum.

Sunday: Hmmm, think I might round off the week with a roast on the bbq.

And that's it. Ps: how cute is this pic from housetohome.co.uk? I need me a reindeer head in my house. This is the second one I've spied this week and now I have a hankering...

PPS: Whoops, just hit publish instead of schedule. Please pretend you're reading this tomorrow. x

it's beginning to look a lot like christmas

Well, it's the weekend. And it's a tad on the soggy-side here in Newcastle. Apparently the rain's set to abate this afternoon in time for the Red Lantern Markets {fingers and toes crossed!}. My gal has a pal over for a sleepover, and they're still asleep as I write {at 9.52am!} They had a busy few days at school camp, with lots of late nights thanks to other girls chattering. Bless. When they do wake we're off to the movies to see Arthur Christmas. Then it's off to the markets tomorrow and putting up the tree and decorating the house tomorrow {how much do I want to decorate like this room above? Oh, a LOT!}

I'm also catching up with the gorgeous Kerry from Tranquil Townhouse on Sunday which makes me very excited. Don't you love meeting a blogger in real life?

oh miss haversham!

Am loving this shot of Gillian Anderson from the upcoming Great Expectations {even if her gorgeous titan locks are covered}.

If this shot's anything to go by the film should be visually sumptuous.

Also, I think I need that frock.

on my christmas wishlist

A bottle of piper in faux-crocodile wrapping? And only $38.90 from Dan Murphy's? Oh yes please.

PS: How on earth do I find out about deals like this? On twitter of course - source of everything. You could follow Dan Murphy's here and be in the know too ;)

dita von teese for target!!!!!

I know where I'm going to be next February - lining up at my local Target store to stock up on the new Dita Von Teese lingerie line.

I can only imagine it'll all be twenty billion shades of fabulous.

meal planning monday

There is no way on earth that I'm going to complain about how busy I've been. After all, I've had the most beautifully social weekend with the most fabulous people on earth, and now I'm busy in a job that I {mostly} love - so who can complain? Not this little black duck. But I'm not letting busyness get in the way of being organised. Here's this week's odd meal plan:

Tonight: I took some bolognaise sauce from the freezer and have cooked up some pasta. My gal's at her ballet concert theatre rehearsal from 4.30 to 8pm so she'll be starvin' marvin when she gets home. Fast, satisfying, easy and frugal.

Tuesday: It's my gal's last night at home before she heads off on her Year 6 retreat for three whole days! Best make her fave cottage pie for dinner {shhh, don't tell anyone we're having mince two nights in a row...}

Wednesday: Child-free, and we're off to see Seeker, Lover, Keeper. Perhaps we could call in at Bar Petite for nibbles and a champers before the show.

Thursday: I'm in Sydney and off to a snazzy wine bar with my workmates. Bliss!

Friday: My baby's home! She'll want another special meal to welcome her back. Salmon on the bbq I think.

Saturday: The Red Lantern Night Markets are on for one-night-only. I donated a little bit on Pozible to ensure this happened this year so best eat there to support the traders!

Sunday: Roast chicken - we haven't had a roast chook for a while.

Phew.

we had a ball...

Me and my gals - love them to bits.




My gorgeous hubby and me - and a few stray sunbeams...




A view of the dance floor from our table. I spent far too long dancing the night away on that there floor - so much so that my knee's currently propped up on cushions with an icebag on it. Oh well, can't have pleasure without a little pain.

I think I have a few more shots of the preparations on my camera - shall have to check and update.

stage 1 ball preparation

Left on my fingers, right on my toes. {A rather fabulous green and an uber-deep purple}

yes, you shall go to the ball

I'm a wee bit excited as tonight I'm off to a ball. Yep, frocking up, taking the Manolos from their box - foofing up my hair and dancing the night away with friends.

Good times.

I wish I were wearing a bunny mask like Candace Bergen at Truman Capote's infamous black and white ball {if I could time travel, I'd go there, and then stop by the Algonquin round table - and to check out Hemmingway in Paris - seriously, how sexy was that man in Midnight In Paris...}

Shall try to sneak off some shots - it's at Fort Scratchley in Newcastle, a place I've never been - but it should be M.A.G.N. I. F. I. C. E. N. T. Love a good location. I've spoken before about how the atmosphere when you first arrive at an event has to offer something special - and I'm pretty sure that tonight it will.

this deserves an award

It's official! Ricky Gervais is hosting the next Golden Globe awards. Nice to see that common sense prevailed. Surely they had their highest ratings, and recognition, after his last hosting. And whoa boy, will people be tuning in for this one.

Will they try to reign him in? Doubt it - just as I'd doubt he'd be reigned.

You know I love me an awards ceremony {mainly for the frocks}, well now I'm doubly delighted {and there will be squeeing!}

that's sweet

Look at what's appearing in selected Seed stores - cuteness! I do love an old fashioned lollyshop!

tedxnewy: ideas worth acting on

On Saturday morning hubby dropped me off at the Civic Playhouse and I made my way to registration for TEDxNewy. There honestly was an excited buzz in the air, with genuine smiles being offered from the TAFE volunteers, to all the lucky audience members. Only 200 people were selected to buy tickets, and I was so lucky to be one of them.

As I worked my way around the foyer I spotted a friendly face, well, a friendly face that I recognised from an avatar on Twitter that is. The NewyTweeps were out in force at TEDxNewy and they were all as marvelous as they appear in 140 characters. I can now say that I've met some new friends I'll have for life.

So @drdrdr09 and I made our way to one of the rear two rows - the tweeting rows, along with @thegreenegg and settled into our seats - tweeting thumbs at the ready. The screen lit up, and so did our faces, it was here.

Speaker after speaker blew my mind. From the opening of Bernie Curran, followed by the awesome Marcus Westbury and my new crush, Gerry Bobsien - there was so much to take on board. Frantically watching, tweeting, reading other tweets and digesting, TEDxNewy was full of ideas and inspirational {sorry, this word's going to come up a lot} people who have a little idea and act on it - with great results.

I'm planning on writing posts on each of the speakers from the day, but before I do, I thought I'd share how I'm going to use my TEDxNewy experience. Each of the 16 speakers were punctuated with short films or pieces that enhanced the experienced even further - so what I'm going to do is take something from each - every day - and do my TEDxNewy: ideas worth acting on.

Yesterday, inspired by The Naked Runners I threw on my old trainers {my feet are too delicate for the barefoot running they also advocate} and took off. I'm nowhere near fit enough just to start running, but I went to the beach and walked briskly, and nakedly. No iPod to distract me, no fancy running clothes, no GPS - just me, my feet and the beach. I smiled at others, checked out the new SurfHouse at Merewether and then, when I got to Dixon Park - ran up the hill like a toddler - just for the fun of it.

Yesterday I knocked over two goals: I also followed the Take3 ethos. The theory described by Tim Silverwood is that every time you go to a beach, a waterway - or anywhere really - take three pieces of rubbish with you. Plastic is deadly for our wildlife, so every little bit counts {I kinda cheated and took 4...} This is one I'll be acting on daily. I've always picked up rubbish whenever I see it - but I love the idea of giving it a name. It's so simple, just take three things.

Guess how good I felt afterwards?

I'm planning on acting on every single speaker - in some small way. I'll let you know how I get on.

sunday suppers

Wow, my head's still buzzing after the extraodinary TEDxNewy yesterday. Such a wonderful range of speakers, each of whom managed to plant a nugget of inspiration. LOVE. Full post to follow...

Meanwhile, life's pretty much back to normal in this neck of the woods, so here's the normal meals we're eating.

Sunday: There will be roast lamb, cooked on the bbq, with a lentil salad. It'll be yum.

Monday: Poached chicken, avocado and mango salad.

Tuesday: Ballet concert dress rehearsal. Best have a speedy meal ready to go when we get home. Burritos I think.

Wednesday: Hmmmm, I think I'll need a fish dish, with salad.

Thursday: Zucchini fritters, salad and some crispy pancetta slices

Friday: We're off to a ball - woo hooo!

Saturday: I have a catch-up with uni friends, best have the makings for home-made pizzas on hand for dinner.

Yep, that'll do.

tee hee rwoar

Gimmicky shoes normally make me stabby, but Blake Lively's Lion Louboutin's make me ever-so-happy. Seriously, could you ever look down at these and not smile?

flowers for friday

I'm off to a mum's night out tonight. Wouldn't it be nice if the tables were all set up with prettiness like this?

planes, trains and automobiles...

Well, that was a busy few days - with a lot of transportation thrown into the mix. Sadly, no pretty little cars like these beauties spotted in the beachside town of Cassis in France {pretty town - home of my fave champagne-additive!}. There were issues when a thunderstorm hit Melbourne airport, which meant I didn't limp home till midnight last night - and then I drove down to Sydney today... But it was all good.

You know how somedays you just think, you know what? My job's pretty darned amazing? Well I had one of those days. I was inspired by two incredible women that I work for - and feel so energised and enthused that even all this travel hasn't sapped my desire to get things done. I also got to meet some really lovely people and feel some rooms so optimistic and inspired that it's hard not to get a bit of a glow on.

Tomorrow's going to be a busy day - but I'll be busy with a smile on my face.