#1110 Beating the after-school heat

Gratitude today, in photos… because in this case, they speak volumes.

First, a chocolate milkshake and iced coffee stop

Before dipping our toes into our local beach

Just look at those clouds, those waves rolling in.

Such beauty ♥

#1109 MMM-bopping along

Today, my 13 year-old self would have been really happy with me.

She would have been rapt. Delighted. Screaming “yes yes yes!” and punching her fists into the sky in frenzied delight.

It would have been far from the typical teenage scene of sulking, crying and whinging to no end. Which is what I did, when I found out I couldn’t see Hanson when they were scheduled to come to a shopping centre appearance back in 1997.

Granted I couldn’t go because I was heading overseas. It kinda didn’t occur to my parents when they booked the European tickets, that a short time later I would be completely obsessed and enthralled with all things HANSON.

But nonetheless, I locked myself up in the toilet and b-a-w-l-e-d.

Ahhh, 13 year-olds. I never did get the opportunity to see them elsewhere during my Hanson-phase, and after several years, I moved onto obsessing over other artists.

But I thought of that girl as I arrived at the Palais Theatre tonight.

Here we finally were.

22 years after the fact. 22! I observed 30 and 40-somethings arriving in pairs and groups, older now, with more responsibilities, more life experience. Many pregnant. Occasional males accompanied their once manic partners, and I had to think of how committed they were to be joining them tonight… I also thought back to how I would have been if I were seeing them in the height of their fame… the height of my obsession!

“I LOVE YOU TAYLOR!”

Surely I would have screamed out those words, only to be drowned by other fanatical girls clawing and reaching for the front stage eager to get them a piece of the trio of brothers from Tulsa Oklahoma.

And yet tonight, in the crowd of girls who had lived through the last two decades, I still heard it.

“I love you Zac!”

Oh man. Some women were still pining. 

Tonight was therefore an amazing experience. I bopped along and listened at the back of the stalls, taking in the orchestra and instrumental notes, the voices that had matured well since then, grown into their own… and I reminisced.

It is a lovely thing to reminisce.

It brought me an appreciation of them, beyond the teenage fan phase, beyond the blonde hair, beyond the high notes, beyond the posters…

I felt the authenticity, the music, and their passion. It was a truly great night, and you know what? I might just have to see them again next time they come.

I clapped. I watched intently. I listened to the instruments and observed carefully how one song blended into the next. The drums, piano, guitar. I tried to take it all in.

I think I’m coming full circle. I think I’m becoming a real fan. ♥

#1108 Much Ado necessary

I am the type of person who hoards books from shops, only to hold onto them for literally, years before I even get a chance to read anything beyond the blurb.

I’m a little this way with DVDs too.

Which is why I’ve had Joss Whedon’s remake of Much Ado About Nothing sitting beneath our DVD player since I don’t know when.

You can see where I’m going?

I watched it today.

Firstly, I love the story. I first read the Shakespearean play and posted about it here in a Book Review, before having the opportunity to watch the play recreated in a garden setting early last year. And it appears that the more I watch it, in the many forms and reincarnations and settings it appears in, the more I appreciate, and LOVE it.

First and foremost, because it is a Whedon-verse project. And if you are a lover of anything Angel, Buffy or anything else Whedon has cast his creative spell on, then you will know what I mean. Whedon’s characters often appear in other projects of his, and for me, seeing Fred and Wesley, uh, that is Amy Acker and Alexis Denisof, appear together on-screen in a romantic coupling role again, well it is beautiful closure.

The line that blew me away? When Amy Acker’s character, the normally sharp-witted Beatrice, says “I love you with so much of my heart that none is left to protest.”

And the laugh-out-loud moments came with scenes often featuring Benedick, and in the below scene you can see him eavesdropping on a conversation…

with just a branch to camouflage him. The even more amusing thing?

The three men are pretending NOT to see him.

!

Equal parts drama, love, tragedy and humour, this is a story I strongly encourage you to see, in any form.

I think one of my most favourite of Shakespeare plays… thus far 🙂

#1107 The first flower

After much watching

And staring

And willing

And wishing

With a good dose of watering

Summer rays, AND…

More staring

TODAY, the first flower was realised in our new garden bed.

And we all went “awww!”

🌱💧☀️❤️

#1106 Summer-ain’t-over-yet Sunday

It came as a shock when I saw the 7 day forecast late last week.

High 20s, low 30s, all week.

Hallelujah.

Yes it is still February. And yes it is still Summer. When we had that unseasonably long warm spell in January, we were like –

‘This is grand.’

‘This is awesome.’

‘This is the bees knees of Summer.’

So when our fair city decided to then throw all of that into our faces and give us a random, though in Melbourne fashion completely realistic, Winter spell that had us putting on the heater… many thought Summer was GONE.

Nope. Not yet friends. And today we tried our best to milk the season for what it’s worth.

Breakfast on the balcony, watching still sailboats float by…

And then, of course, Beach Day.

By the way, did you check out our new beach trolley from Kmart? This thing sells itself. Collapsible and easy to store/pack, you can put all your things into it, bags and towels and boards and balls and dolls and frisbees and even the kitchen sink… and then just watch while your child demands they must pull it…

Oh man. This is like… a dream. No really. It is.

:):):)

#1105 Stepping into a different space

It’s good to take yourself out of the box.

To move out of your comfort zone. You might be fearful, feel anxious, stressed or even overwhelmed by it.

Hell, you might even encounter road closures and swarms of people as you go out to seek ‘it.’

The point of difference. Something beautiful to look at. Somewhere beautiful to be in.

Mine wasn’t so severe today… the dramas. But I still had to beat traffic, event-based road closures and never-ending crowds to get there.

I was sure glad when I got there.

It was so light. So pretty. Spending the afternoon with bestie made it all the more magical and nostalgic.

Great conversation. Like minds. Different lives. Unified time.

Bound by sweet treats and scrumptious tea. 🙂

It was great to get out of the daily grind, and into a different space.

There is so much to explore out there, and I think this year will be the year for it.

♥♥♥

#1104 HARD-core Nutella

You totally think this post is going to be about how I am a completely obsessed, lunatic-driven, crazy-eyed lady, only after one thing:

HAZELNUT CHOCOLATE.

Well you are wrong. Sure I don’t mind the spread, but my taste for it, nor any of my family’s for that matter, is not the basis of this blog post.

It is rather about, legit, literally, Nutella that is hard in the core.

Let me explain.

You go through phases where you love something, and then you might go off it due to over-abuse, or you just get busy and forget. Well we forgot. We went through a period of time where we were using a bit of Nutella, and then we obviously moved on from it before we finished the tub, so were left with a little bit of Nutella gone hard like dried-up paste, sitting at the bottom.

Hubbie just wanted to throw it out.

“No!” I protested. “I’ll use it when I bake my special doughnuts.” Nutella was Nutella. If it was hard now, it would be absolutely fine when baked and all warm and gooey again.

Well today, maybe 6 months after the fact, or more, with tubs and tubs of fresh, oozing and dripping Nutella consumed since then, (we are officially back on the stuff), I finally tackled that dried-up gunk Nutella jar.

There was nothing wrong with it. Due to the sugar content, it had almost crystallised and hardened up as sugary things do. Nothing a little oven-job wouldn’t fix.

So I made my baked cinnamon doughnuts with Nutella filling.

Can you see the light coming in from the window, shining from the heavens above, so ridiculously good are my doughnuts? They are probably more muffins than doughnuts, but… same same. I have made them multiple times before, mentioned here, here, and even HERE. They also appear to be a blog post winner, so that just shows you how delicious they appear to the eyes… ♥♥♥

It’s been ages since I last made them, and now in our new kitchen… they still taste delish.

You know I should probably share the recipe on this blog one day…

Another time. 😉

So I guess my point is… waste not want not. It took me a while, but I finally used up all of that dried Nutella, and it tasted as delicious as if it were from the chocolate spread dispenser in the Nutella factory itself.

NOM NOM NOM.

 

#1103 After school book break

It’s exciting for your child to have something to look forward to after school.

“See you later!”

Hell, even I get excited, and I have free time ALL DAY.

The library is definitely my happy place. Baby has inherited this love, largely because of the abundance of Wiggles and kids DVDs that she collects in a pile up to her chin to borrow, and also because of the fact that our local library, has a café.

🙂

The routine?

Return books.

Order coffee and babycino (and treats!)

Read something.

Borrow.

Go home high on books and coffee.

A pretty great after-school session if you ask me 😉

#1102 Super Moon

I am always excited when I hear there is going to be a special type of moon event coming up.

I was even more excited when I realised I would be up early for it.

Blood Moon, Eclipse Moon, Full Moon… in the last while, whether a rare or a monthly occurrence, there has been a spectacle of ‘different’ moons. There is something magical about looking up at the sky and wondering what and how and where and why and maybe even WHO is going on up there.

The best time in our skies to view this ‘Super’ moon this morning was 3am… alas I was up at 5:30, walking to my car to set off for work… ehh, close enough.

I saw it big and bright. No I don’t have a great photo. I was thinking of big spiders and moths and so hurried to my car so I wasn’t exposed another second to the night’s surprises.

But it made me think about cycles, and life.

How these regular moon cycles of new, crescent, half and full can be overshadowed by the looming presence of a greater moon.

Something bigger, brighter, with more bling and boisterousness come along and show off to the rest of the world.

We have these moments too. We might be going through our lives, doing the daily routine, but then we will randomly have these star moments, these lightbulb-type days where we shine our brightest, the reasoning apparently no reason at all as everyone stops to view our splendour.

And then we wake up the next day at 9am, to start a regular day again.

The moon’s cycles, and in fact all of these super moons can ramp up human emotions in the process. We can feel affected by these sudden changes, and a greater-than-usual full moon is a great catalyst for life’s upheavals.

Did you see the ‘Super’ moon? Did you feel it’s affect on you? Did you have a bad day?

Or did you have an extraordinarily amazing day?

Stay humble. Like the lunar cycle, we will wane and the light will go… only to come back again…

The moon is big. We are small. Keep things in perspective, and let go to the Universe.

#1101 A bohemian life

Hubbie and I FINALLY got to watch the Bohemian Rhapsody movie tonight, based on Queen and more heavily their lead singer, Freddie Mercury.

Finally.

And although I loved it, and I enjoyed it a lot…

It has made me realise even more, you cannot duplicate perfection.

It has made me realise so much more, the genius that is Queen, and Freddie.

No fault of the stars of the film… they did a terrific job.

But, you know… (you can’t copy a legend).

Oh man. I am loving them MORE and MORE every day. And he loved cats, so there it is, done and dusted, SmikG devotion FOR LIFE.

“Any way the wind blows…”