You never know what you are going to discover in Melbourne! Emma and I came across this beautiful wall just near Footscray Community Arts Centre. We couldn’t resist taking a few photos with beautiful wall and because it was raining, the umbrellas came out for a few too. Even a jumping photo was taken below. It was a lovely afternoon exploring an area of the city that I don’t know well as we also visited The Reverence Hotel, 8 Bit (both of which I have blogged about recently) and Savers. Got quite a few cute dresses from there too. I love my city and I love how I still don’t know all of her and you never know what you will find around the corner.
Lest we forget
ANZAC Day, April 25, is an important day in Australian and New Zealand history. It is the day we remember our fallen troops and those continue on. It is the day, 99 years ago, we commemorate the first day of the Gallipoli Campaign, where we lost countless men. It is the day we celebrate those who are still here while mourn those who cannot.
ANZAC day starts with a dawn service, to remember those fallen in the quietest moment of the day and then there is a beautiful parade after through the city, honouring those who are still here and those who walk in the memory of others. It is this event that I attended this year.
My great-grandfather Stanley fought in the Gallipoli Campaign in World War I and my great-grandfather Hedley was a surgeon, commander of a field ambulance unit, in Malaya before the British surrendered to the Japanese and he was taken as a POW in Singapore in World War II. He was then the commanding medical officer of the Changi Prison Hospital, before returning home after the Japanese surrender in 1945.
It is those two that I remembered yesterday. I feel honoured to be a part of their families and honouring them is important to me. These photos are a small way I can help honour and celebrate others.
Lest we forget.
13/52
Rachel // Flower Sister 1
Rebecca // Flower Sister 2
Rachel // Blue Fairy
Ari // Badass Pixie
Karrin // BBGurl
Mel // My partner-in-glitter-crime
Jess // Queen
Alice // Beautiful smile
Mel // M for Melody
Rachel // The Red Rachel
Me // Sneaking a self-portait into the series
Monica // The Festival Birthday Girl
This past weekend, I was lucky enough to go to Monica’s Festival themed 21st. It was an amazing evening filled with glitter, yummy noms, amazing boogies, tasty bevs, cute cupcakes, lots and lots of rhinestones and many flowers! It was also an amazing opportunity to take beautiful portraits of my soccer friends. They all looked so beautiful that I couldn’t resist taking everyone’s portraits. These girls are all wonderful and it was so much fun to spend the weekend with them – especially walking back to the campsite at midnight in the pitch black! Thanks girls for being such lovely subjects – you all looked gorgeous!
Let’s run away to the beach
52 Project – 10/52
Lou Lou // Lit by the warm glow from our garden
Portraits make my heart sing and I want to take more this year, so I am joining in with Jodi’s 52 Project. It is normally done by Mums taking beautiful portraits of their cute kids, but who says my friends and family can’t be cute too? So this series will show just how much I love those around me.
I’ll backdate them, as I have been doing them from the beginning of the year, but I want to start with this week’s.
Lou Lou.
She is my sister, my best friend and more. I don’t know who I would be without her. Her beauty radiates out because she is such a gorgeous young lady. Sitting on the couch chatting to her while the sun sets is my happy place. Watching her curls catch the light is a passion of mine. While I started this series at the beginning of the year, I want this to be my first posted one because of how much she means to me. She knows it, and she exploits it by demanding gifts all the time. But she never has to demand really, because I will do anything to make her smile, especially laugh. Even if most of the time she tells me my stories are lame! We both are unsure where the next few years of our lives will take us, but I know that she will always be a part of my everyday. Whether it’s to discuss cute pictures of dogs online, to meet up for yummy lunches, or just chat about absolutely nothing on the phone (or even her telling me that I talk too much for the third time that day), we’ll be there for each other.
So this post is for you Lou Lou, my beautiful sister.
Celebrate you!
I think we all know what tomorrow is but one of my favourite blogger, As the Bird flies…, is calling it Celebrate-Yourself-Day! Just like her, I like the idea of Valentine’s Day, but sometimes find it overwhelming so her idea of treating yourself appeals to me so much! You can find her whole list here, but I want to list my favourite options and then a few of my own!
- Wake up to a Post-It note saying “Smile”.
- Pour yourself a bowl of your favourite cereal; the one with all the sugar in that your mum never let you eat.
- Purchase flowers a few days before Celebrate-Yourself-Day so that when your eyes finally adjust to being awake one of the first things you’ll see is a collection of blooming treats.
- Spend an extra 30 seconds in the shower. Count them down one by one. You’ll be smiling by the time you hit 3-0.
- Wear that outfit that makes you feel more confident/sophisticated/slim/curvy/muscley/sexy/like Beyonce. Delete as appropriate.
- Text five people who might need a hello from someone they love, i.e. you. You’ll feel fantastic by the time that last message is sent.
- Stay off Facebook all day. Spend that time you save (minutes? hours?) deciding or thinking about where in the world you’d like to travel to next.
- Spend more money (or if you work from home, time) on your lunch than you would normally. I’m thinking of going for sushi… or maybe some greasy, too-spicy noodles.
- Buy/make cake. Celebrate-Yourself-Day is a day for cake.
- Do not work while you eat your lunch. Read a book, read a magazine, read your favourite blog or bookmark this to read. It’s my Celebrate-Yourself-Day gift to you. (Let me know if you liked it…)
- Get a take-away drink and if it’s from the shop that insists on asking you for your name, give them the name you always wanted to have when you were a child. I’ll bet by the time you’re holding the coffee in your hand, you’ll find yourself missing the name you have – that’s a GOOD thing.
- Spend five minutes staring at something you like. It could be a nice view, that piece of cake you bought, or a photo of a happy memory. Five whole minutes doing nothing, but looking at that.
- Smile at at least one stranger on your way home or during a walk around the block
- Eat pie for dinner. Or pizza. Or curry. Or something else as rich, creamy and bad for your arteries.
- Wrap your pyjamas in a hot water bottle ten minutes before you go to bed.
- After you’ve watched your favourite film or four episodes of your latest favourite TV show, open the love letter that you’re about to write to yourself. The one that lists 10 things you really like about yourself. Alternatively, if you didn’t bother to do this in advance like I’m suggesting that you do it by the time Celebrate-Yourself-Day (formerly known as Valentine’s Day) is over. Look I’ve already done mine… and this is a much harder exercise than it looks.
And mine?
- Play with bubbles. Acting like a child is one of the freest feelings there is!
- Watch Miranda Hart’s TV show – that will teach you everything about being true to yourself and loving it!
- Face painting! You can’t frown with a butterfly on your cheek!
- Pat an animal or have a cuddle with one. If you don’t have one of your own, go for a walk in the park and say hello to dog walking past.
- If you are near a beach, feel the sand between your toes. This has been proven to cure all problems. Trust me.
- Feel the sunshine on your skin and if you are a photographer, look for the light and take a portrait of someone or something you love with the sunlight behind them.
- Paint your nails with fun design – doesn’t matter what! Look at my Emma’s puzzle nails below for inspiration!
Half Moon Bay
Wandering to find Waterfalls – Apollo Bay
NaPhoPoMo #6
Day 6: I said a potential goodbye to this bed. It is my boyfriend’s loft bed that he is considering taking down after exams next week. He built it himself with his Dad and it rescued us from a single bed and I loved everything about this bed for the last three years. Except climbing into it. Originally, we had to climb up a rope ladder. I hated it. He has long legs and takes no time at all to get up there, but for me it was always a stressful experience and heaven forbid if I forgot something! However, last year he found a metal ladder to use for the bed and it was one of my happiest moments – knowing that that rope ladder would no longer be in my life! He may take it down to re design his room and I think it’s a good idea, but I wanted to remember this bed – hence it being the photo of the day for November 6, 2013.
NaPhoPoMo #5
Day 5: The first Tuesday of every November is Melbourne Cup day. It is a public holiday in Melbourne, so the long weekend gave me the chance to run away to Perth for the weekend. So for the first time since I moved to Melbourne, I watched Melbourne Cup interstate. We had the required Sweepstakes – Gail won and then Barbar (my grandma) came second and third – and we had delicious food. This was finished off with cups of tea and gorgeous orange cake. It was a beautiful sun filled day, spent with family and friends we have known for so long that they are family now.
