dontation

It's been almost a week since my blood donation attempt and somehow the bruise from this keeps spreading!I think I'm going to be selfish and keep my blood to myself from now on, it takes a fair wack for me to bruise so goodness knows how the nurse managed this- must be uber skilled!

congratulations

Congratulations Rebecca and Chris! Last night my sister and Chris finally got engaged, I have been waiting for this for ages!

(mainly because I'm selfish and can't wait to be a bridesmaid)

Exciting!

christmas eve

Happy Christmas Eve! I hope you all have a great Christmas.

ouch

So I finally got the guts to take the band aid off from the donation site and look at the beauty I found.... No wonder my arm has been aching all day and my camera didn't even capture the epic blues surrounding it.

Lucky for me this wasn't my first donation or else I'd be put off for life!

sweet success

I just finished creating my torta alla gianduia and I must say it turned out pretty good!

Now the only downside is I don't get to try what my hours of hazelnut peeling tastes like until Christmas, but at least that's only 30 hours away!

Even if it's yuck face it looks boooootiful!

In the weekend I made these delicimo red velvet cupcakes with the bestest ever tasting cream cheese frosting, they are sooooooooo sooooooooo good if I do say so myself.

On a completely unrelated note I attempted to donate blood this morning but my veins were being reluctant in cooperating. The nurse had to keep wriggling the needle which was not fun and was making my arm bulge creepily. Six hours later I'm still bleeding and sore from it =(, but I'm going back after new years to try again this time my left arm will be staying hidden.

not so fun

I'm now not a fan of hazelnuts!

It took almost two hours to peel 210g of the evil little things.

I need them for my attempt at making this......

a torta alla gianduia for Christmas.

It has like a years supply of nutella so it should be good *fingers crossed*

I'm also not a fan of forgetting to add attachments to emails

pearl

I bought this beautiful Pearl print from Amber Alexander's etsy store.

But now I'm facing the dilemma of framing her. I can't decide between white, gold, black or pink and in what combination I should use it for the frame and matting, it's quite the conundrum.

Any suggestions would be much appreciated!

christmas creations

Since replacing my old notice board with my new magnetic chalk board the wall below was looking a bit sparse this great tutorial for paper sunburst mirrors from Full House seemed like it would fit the bill perfectly. It was ridiculously easy (I managed to do it without any assistance whatsoever, saying much?!?) and super cheap!

I got a vintage dictionary for 50c (US36c) from the reuse shop at my city's landfill and a blind spot mirror for $1.49(US$1.08) from a car stuff type shop, just gutted that they only had one mirror left so I could only make one sunburst =( it turned out WAY better than I was expecting!

Then yesterday I was no longer feeling like total yuckness on a bad day and in the mood to bake!

Being the joyful Christmas season it was only fitting that I made something slightly Christmas related. So decorated surprise cookies it was!

I'll be honest, they're not the most delicious cookies but they sure look festive so they will have to do for now.
But they are just the beginning, the ultimate in Christmas baking will be created next week!

four years

On Friday (4th December) Charli turned 4!

I can't believe how fast it's gone and how much she has grown. I can still remember the day she was born and when I first saw her and held her.

I have loved every moment with her,every quiet moment,smile,new discovery,kiss,new experience,new 'pretty' outfit,dress up moment,and birthday.Happy 4th birthday Charli!

I look forward to all the new moments and fun we will have together noodle poodle!

And thank you for your 'assitance' with this post.

etsy

This afternoon I opened my etsy store!

Yay!!!

I'm going to be selling prints of various photos I've taken and whatever else I make in the future.

Pop by and buy a thing or two!

the time traveler's wife

Last night me and my friend Taylor went and saw The Time Traveler's Wife.

It was sooo sad at the end but I managed to hold back any tears and think I now kinda love Eric Bana (seriously see just for him, you won't be disappointed promise!) Since we're uber exciting, we went back to Taylor's house, listened to music and took random photos!

We were pretending that we were having an epic time!

A good effort I believe.

Then we listened to Glee (totally the best new show) and Taylor did her lovely Glee moves!!!

Which caused a minor coughing fit that I was conveniently there to document!

The ultimate Glee move!

decorating

Here in Dunedin it is fairly difficult to find a decent bargain at any of the secondhand or "antique" stores. They like to charge in the hundreds for the littlest iddy biddy things so I was a very happy camper when I found this apothecary jar for only $15, then even more so when the cute little old man said he'd make it $12 (like US$8). It doesn't really have a permanent home yet but I have given it a temporary one on the corner of my drawers to bring a little Chrismasy cheerfulness into my room.I'm a wee bit of a fan of Full House's blog and got this great idea from her!

It's a magnetic blackboard with a super cute frame!

From a store two doors down from the one where I got the above apothecary jar I found this uhhhh lovely........ *cough* tapestry with a darling frame that I was going to use as the starting point of my blackboard. Thankfully Dad works with metal so he was able to cut me out a piece for the frame ready to be painted with blackboard paint. Then using my super non existent skills I spray painted the frame gold so it was all shiny and new!

With a little help from the hot glue gun ta da, an uber pretty magnetic chalk board!!!

Now I just have to wait for some lucite flowers I bought of eBay to arrive so I can make some magnets then it shall be adorned with photos!

a favourite place

Melbourne is my favourite place to visit!

I love the colours,

the city,

the architecture,

the shops,

the people,

the smells,

the sounds

and just the amazing way it feels whenever I'm there.

Even just looking at the photos it feels like I'm back there!

Anybody want to come to Melbourne with me???