Advent Calendar Treats

Tomorrow is the first of December and Roxy can't wait to wake up in the morning to start the advent calendar. I've assembled most of the treats, and will add the few remaining ones as the month goes on. This is what I have so far:
• Lots of written treats. Things like fish and chips picnic dinner on the beach, going to the craft supply shop to get some new supplies, face painting with mummy (Roxy loves having her face painted), Roxy's choice of what we'll do for a day, a day at the 'flying fox' park, a ferry ride, etc.
• Some alphabet stamps and a stamp pad.
• A silver unicorn ring
• A lollypop
• A butterfly necklace
• A flower craft punch
• A couple of lollies
• A butterfly ring
• Some little post-it notes with hearts on them
• A bottle of pink nail polish (Roxy went ga ga over this in a shop recently)
• A sparkly hair clip

Have you got an advent calendar organised?

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Making Lists

I am a big one for making lists, so of course I had to do this one from Katie's blog. Katie has created the Aussie version of this list. When I completed it I realised that I have actually done a lot... maybe I need to start a new list for myself.

The idea is that you copy the list and bold all the things you've done - and of course unbold those that you haven't. (I italicised mine too because there didn't seem to be too much difference between bold and not. Or maybe it's just my tired eyes.)


1. Started your own blog.

2. Slept under the stars.

3. Played in a band.

4. Visited The Great Barrier Reef.

5. Stood under the stars in the outback, the real outback – think Uluru.

6. Given more than you can afford to charity.

7. Been to the Gold Coast’s theme parks – anyone, you take your pick.

8. Climbed a mountain.

9. Held a praying mantis.

10. Sung a solo.

11. Bungee jumped, jumped out of plane, been paragliding or hang-gliding, hot air ballooning – you get the idea, you’ve been hundreds of metres about earth in a seemingly flimsy contraption.

12. Visited Melbourne.

13. Watched a lightning storm at sea.

14. Taught yourself an art from scratch.

15. Had a child. Raised a child. Worked with children.

16. Had food poisoning.

17. Been to the Snowy Mountains. (Note from Lisa: For those of you reading this who aren't Aussies, yes, we do actually have some mountains which have very imaginatively been named 'The Snowy Mountains'... probably because there are so few places in Australia where it snows)

18. Grown your own vegetables.

19. Visited the Brett Whitely studio in Surry Hills, Sydney.

20. Slept on an overnight train or bus.

21. Had a pillow fight.

22. Been packpacking.

23. Taken a mental health day.

24. Been buried in sand with just your head and toes sticking out.

25. Held a possum, kangaroo or koala – or any other native Australian animal.

26. Gone skinny dipping.

27. Been in a fun run.

28. Been on the Blue Mountain cableway.

29. Seen a total eclipse.

30. Watched a sunrise or sunset.

31. Played, or watched, summer cricket.

32. Sailed, kayaked or canoed our beautiful waterways.

33. Seen the Daintree.

34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors.

35. Visited an Aboriginal settlement or mission.

36. Learned a new language.

37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied.

38. Toured the Sydney Opera House.

39. Tried rock climbing (indoor or outdoor), abseiling or just simple bushwalking.

40. Visit Queensland’s Gallery of Modern Art.

41. Been to the Tamworth Country Music Festival.

42. Sunbaked at Bondi.

43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant.

44. Visited Broome.

45. Walked on a beach by moonlight.

46. Been transported in an ambulance.

47. Had your portrait painted.

48. Gone fishing.

49. Seen Tasmania’s old growth forests.

50. Been to the top of Q1, on the Gold Coast.

51. Gone scuba diving or snorkelling.

52. Kissed in the rain.

53. Played in the mud.

54. Gone to a drive-in theatre.

55. Been in a movie.

56. Driven the Great Ocean Road.

57. Started a business.

58. Taken a martial arts class.

59. Visited Norfolk Island.

60. Served in a soup kitchen.
61 Sold Girl Guide biscuits.

62. Gone whale watching.

63. Got flowers for no reason.

64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma. (Note from Lisa: the government won't allow me to because I lived in England for more than a year... mad cow disease and all that... even though I was a vegetarian at the time. Go figure.)

65. Gone jet boating.
66. Visited Port Arthur.

67. Bounced a cheque.
68. Flown in a helicopter.

69. Saved a favourite childhood toy.

70. Visited the Australian War Memorial.

71. Eaten Caviar.

72. Pieced a quilt.

73. Stood in Federation Square.

74. Been on the Murray River.

75. Been fired from a job.

76. Travelled, or climbed, over the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

77. Broken a bone.
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle. (Note from Lisa: does a vespa count?!)

79. Seen the Three Sisters at Echo Point, Katoomba.

80. Published a book.

81. Visited St Mary’s Cathedral, in Sydney.

82. Bought a brand new car.

83. Been to Hermannsburg.

84. Had your picture in the newspaper.

85. Read the entire Bible.

86. Visited Parliament House.

87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating. (Note from Lisa: you've got to be kidding, I was a vegetarian for almost 20 years!)

88. Had chickenpox.

89. Saved someone’s life.

90. Sat on a jury.

91. Met someone famous.

92. Joined a book club.

93. Lost a loved one.

94. Saved a pet.

95. Been to the site of the Eureka Stockade.

96. Swum in The Whitsundays.

97. Been involved in a lawsuit.

98. Owned a mobile phone.

99. Been stung by a bee.

100. Read an entire book in one day.

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I *Heart* Fridays: I *Heart* a New Diary

Yesterday I bought my 2009 diary. I love buying my new diary for the new year.

I *heart* the feeling a new diary gives of a clean slate: the whole year is stretched out before you with endless possibilities. The diary is fresh and untouched, the pages - like the year - are waiting to be filled with your life: the big and the small things, the details of your days.

I love the possibilities and the symbolic fresh start. I have had a personal situation which is surrounded by (someone else's) very negative energy hanging over me for the past two and a half years. It will finally be over in the next couple of weeks, so my 09 diary holds even more significance, promise, and joy than most others that have gone before. I'm so looking forward to closing the cover on 08 with a true sense of closure and opening 09 with clarity and positivity.

I'm admittedly a bit of a neat freak - if you haven't read my previous post about that click here - and I hate the state my diary is in by the time we get to November each year. The frantic nature inherent in this time of year is reflected in my diary: bits a pieces are scribbled everywhere and there is an accumulation of various pieces of paper shoved in the pages. Not my usual style at all! I long for the visual respite of those virginal white pages that will be mine in just over a month.

My diary of choice for the past couple of years has been an A5 day to a page one from KikkiK. It's nicely designed and comes in a range of good colours. It's not my perfect diary, though it is close. I've had a fruitless search to find anything that I like as much. This year I have a soft aqua one which is the same colour as my office storage (also from KikkiK), but for next year I've gone with rosey, dirty pink (the colours are somewhat different to the photo and not nearly as bright).

I did come across a gorgeous diary in an art supply shop, and I would have loved to have it, but for a few reasons... The positives: it was a day to a page (a must for me), and just as important the design was simple and beautiful. The pages were divided in half horizontally and the top half of each page was printed in a solid colour. A different colour for each day of the year. Just gorgeous, and it would have been a delight to open each day. The negative: it was totally impractical for me. It was very small and there was very little space to write and make my many lists.

For a brief moment I considered buying a bulk standard diary from an office product supplier and customising it with a fabric cover and bits of collage throughout. But that's not what my day-to-day diary is about - that's more of a journal to me. And more importantly the thought of looking at bad typography (that those products inevitably have) every day would mortally offend and depress me.

I might seem a bit obsessive about this, but to me it's important. My diary is always on my desk in front of me and I look at it and use it many times every day. Is your new diary as important to you? Am I alone in this quest to have a choice when looking for diary perfection? (I suspect in other countries you actually do have a choice.)

I have my beautiful new diary here in front of me and I can't wait to start it. It makes me happy just looking at it.

Happy Friday!

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On a Serious Note

You know I go on about design and style, Christmas frivolities and other stuff that I love. But I see an image like the one below and read the article in the China Daily it absolutely sobers me up. The earthquake in Sichuan, China, in May this year has left millions homeless and now they brace for the coming winter. They aren't thinking about advent calendars and designer bandages, they're thinking about survival and a future with no certainties.

Image Source: China Daily.

A home-bound migrant worker from Sichuan carries her child in a railway station in Shenyang, Liaoning province on Friday, after failing to find a job in the city. Many people displaced by the May 12 earthquake have left their hometowns in search of work.

Especially now as the season for giving is upon us, it's important for us to give to others - like the people in Sichuan or needy people in our own country or community. Are you going to really give this year?

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ouch!

Image Source: Urban Outfitters

How great are these Artist Series Bandages by Kate Sutton from Urban Outfitters?

Embrace the pain. Turn a boo-boo into a woo-hoo! Each Artist Series Bandages tin contains an assortment of individually wrapped adhesive bandages, printed with a little something to take your mind off being terribly horribly injured.

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