melbourne bound...

I am super excited to be going to Melbourne next week for a bit of a family catch up and some shopping time! I have done the usual touristy things on past trips so am hoping to compile some sort of list of cute little places/shops to visit that I have never stumbled upon before (which is probably most of them!). I am taking much inspiration from Angela's wonderful blog Open and will be taking notes from this before I leave! If you are from Melbourne town and have any suggestions for something a little bit cute and different please share! I would much appreciate it.

not impressed...

So...please tell me how it is, it's 18 months since you last had time off work, you finally book 2 blissful weeks of leave, you plan a most exciting trip to Melbourne town and a wonderful down-south getaway to beautiful Denmark, you have everything in order at work with only one day left to get through...it's Thursday night....and you get the flu. Please tell me. Whyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy???? If I eat choc-chip cookies, will it make it go away? If I go to bed and get a good sleep, will it make it go away? If I pretend it's not happening, WILL IT MAKE IT GO AWAY? I am so not a happy chappy tonight. No I'm not. The end.

Oh and a completely unrelated pic of a cherry blossom. Hmph.

fish on tv...

About 6 years ago when I first met my man, he made me (yes, he is very clever) this awesome TV fish tank out of an old TV. It was out of action for a few years but he resurrected it last weekend. It's kind of daggy and cool at the same time! But what I love about it most is the fact that he made it for me. There are some little fishies in there but you can't really make them out in the photo. Those are my two kids sitting on top of it. Since the weekend Oscar has barely moved from there as it is nice and warm from the pump inside the tank. They can sit there and chatter at the birds out the window and have a whale of a time. You can't imagine how many stupid noises and movements I had to make to get them both to look at me long enough to take this photo!

work vs life...

This image is of some beautiful books I own that I have never really had the time to open, which is really the subject of this post.

Sorry for getting all deep on you but I am finding myself pondering the whole work/life balance dilemma of modern living and the 'robot syndrome' I feel I have succumbed to. Despite having a mortgage and various other financial commitments I am seriously considering giving up my full-time job, and more importantly my full-time wage, and shifting to part-time work. There are many many good reasons to do this. There is one bad one - less money.

I'm all for earning a good wage if you're lucky enough to have a job that completely inspires and fulfills you the majority of the time, but if that is not the case, I'm feeling more and more that it is worth adapting to a lower income of part-time employment in order to have the time to pursue the things that you really enjoy. I know this is not rocket science, it's a bit of a no-brainer in some ways...but the dilemma is that you need money to pursue the things you would like to pursue if you weren't spending 5 days a week chained to a desk not really achieving anything that amazing. On the other hand, freeing up some of your time to pursue other passions might actually end up making you money. Eeek, what is one to do?

The pro's of less time at work - more time and energy to cook good healthy meals (this is a big one for me as I am not much of a cook and at the end of a long workday I detest the thought of having to prepare a meal even though I know how important it is for my health), more time to get the house organised during the week so I can spend my weekend doing things I want to do and maintaining friendships rather than cleaning, washing, shopping, bla bla bla....more time to exercise and be outdoors, more time to spend with my partner, and possibly most importantly, more time to pursue my creative interests and pursue new opportunities.

How do you negotiate the work/life balance? Are you winning or losing?

finally getting there...

I'm finally almost ready to list my first etsy item for sale! Just finishing up my Paypal registration and all those other niggly things that must be attended to, but hopefully tomorrow I will be ready to go! I've got lots of little bits and pieces to list on there, I think this will be the first - a little notecard.

flowery goodness...

OK I'm the first to admit I don't know a lot about plants, which means I don't know a lot about flowers...but I know I like them! I popped into the local florist today, which always has some weird and exciting flowers that I've not seen before, and I picked up these. Apparently they are South African. I wish I could remember the name of them! Aren't they amazing? One of my favourite things to do is buy flowers on the weekend, it feels like a special treat for making it through the week!

art in a bowl...

How amazing is this? A very clever friend made this for me for my last birthday. It's a collection of lovely little things arranged perfectly in a small round vase. There are some little bits and pieces salvaged from the beach, a feather, some twig...all perfectly preserved. It is so delicate and beautiful. How great is art made from found objects?

cute bag alert...

Today a very nice girl from work gave me a bag she brought me back from her trip to Bali. How nice is that? I love it, the design is so cute. I was very excited and may have jumped up and down a little.

rocking my world...

Clare Bowditch's new song 'The Start of War' is so awesome, I'm so excited it's finally on You Tube. Listen listen listen, you will love!

my abode...

My partner and I have spent the last 2 years renovating an oldish house. It's been a loooooong road, as anyone who has renovated before will understand, but it's also been pretty fun. I'm really into interiors and just love houses and the things that go in them - furniture, homewares, artwork, crockery... love it all. This is a little nook in my house that I thought I would share.

sunshiney day...

Today was sunny. After so much greyness and constant drizzle over the last few months some sunshine is quite significant. There is nothing better than a freshly cleaned house drenched in afternoon sun. I love the way the sun filters through the bathroom window, it's one of my favourite little corners of the house. I even picked some flowers from the garden for my cute new vase. Sunshine and flowers. Double yay.

paul dempsey...

Last night we went to see Paul Dempsey at the Rosemount Hotel in North Perth. He's the singer from Aussie band Something For Kate and has just released a solo album which he's currently touring (I've mentioned him before). I've seen Something For Kate loads of times and every.single.time he blows my mind. Last night's show was no exception. Unfortunately my camera wouldn't come to the party though and I didn't manage to get any good photos. Or rather I was too unco to take any good photos amongst the crowd and lights and him moving all around the place. I've salvaged what I can from my dismal efforts below! My favourite line from the night was: "Now we're going to play this." If you ever get the chance to see this man play you simply must.