keeping the dream alive... may photo a day

As I am sure you know by know, I have been playing along with Chantelle from Fat Mum Slim's photo a day challenge since January. I am really proud to say that I am still going strong, and if anything, I am enjoying it more and more. I share my photos daily on the smartphone app instagram, and there is this amazing little community out there playing along too. I have met all these interesting people from all around the world, and Australia just from sharing my photo a day. I think it is a bit like having modern day pen pals.

day 1 peace | day 2 skyline | day 3 something you wore today

This is what happens when I ask my husband for advice...
me: the theme today is peace, what should I do?
mr g: we've got loads of peas in the freezer (pause for anticipated laughter, caused by hilarious wit)
me: (actually laughing) that's funny, I'm totally doing that.
mr g: (falls over in shock that I thought his joke was funny enough to use)

Adelaide city skyline from the perspective of Chesser Street, standing right outside the Intrinsic front door. It is a beautiful old lane way overshadowed by old warehouses and new office buildings and covered with a canopy of vines.

At the hairdressers on day 3 with a head full of foil and feeling super excited to get my wooly head sorted out.

day 4 fun | day 5 bird 

Day 4 was a Friday so that could only mean one thing. Drinks with my sister. I think Roxy was a little to keen for Friday fun and was waiting a the car door with a big fat glass of wine, like all good friends should.

You would think in a garden so full of trees that I would be able to find a bird to photograph! I heard plenty. I'm pretty sure they were mocking me. In the end this was the best I could come up with. An out of focus magpie and a koala's butt. Even the koala was mocking me.

day 6 you | day 7 someone that inspires you 

On day six I went to a ladies lunch raising money for Variety club at the Adelaide Wine Centre. A friend is in the Mad Max team and asked if my sister would put together a table. It finished up being a brilliant group of girls, all different and all fabulous. I feel really lucky to have so many wonderful women in my life.  These two lovely ladies are both friends I have made since having children and are both very special to me.

Following the theme of beautiful people. As you may know I work for Intrinsic. Intrinsic is owned by Adèle and Jamie Basheer. Adèle writes all the inspirational messages that appear on all our products. Her journey is an inspiration.

day 8 a smell you adore | day 9 something you do everyday 

I didn't quite read day eight's theme properly. I thought it was favourite smell. I had cleverly planned to have dinner cooking in the slow cooker and to brag about my cleverness as I walked into the house to the delicious smell of dinner already cooked. Then I read the list again. A smell you ADORE. I think adore is a pretty strong word, and I am not sure that my casserole in the slow cooker is really quite right for it. But I had nothing else.

Everyday I drink my coffee. Then I pick it up just wishing there was just a little more left. As a side note to drinking coffee and this cup being a takeaway cup. I have made a commitment to myself to not buy coffee in a paper cup. I have been spending too much money on coffee and it has to stop. I am still allowed coffee in glass or ceramic, so that means that if I have bought a coffee I am drinking it in a cafe. That's my rule.

day 10 a favourite word | day 11 kitchen | day 12 something that makes you happy

I was feeling very lucky to go to another fundraising lunch on day ten. This time it was the Crows Foundation raising money for Heartkids. I went to work for the morning and when we arrived I was excited to find out that it was champagne o'clock, my favourite word. It was another brilliant function and again I enjoyed spending time with and some people I know and love, and also meeting some new friends. My highlight was hearing Lisa Wilkinson speak. She was the best speaker I have ever heard. She has an awesome story and told it so well. My sister has a giant girl crush on Lisa and was in awe for the whole time. Lisa spoke for way longer than she was supposed to, so she finished speaking and had to leave immediately to get to the airport on time. I grabbed my sister and her phone and we ran to cut her off at the exit. I garbled something about massive fan and photo please. And Lisa was gracious enough to have her photo taken with Roxy, who almost passed out from happiness.

When I was thinking about happiness on day 12 I looked at the flowers that Roxy (unnecessarily) bought me to say thank you, and my heart just filled with happiness thinking about how that little thing I did, that cost me nothing, and was really quite easy, made her so happy.

Oh yeah, day 11 my kitchen. By careful use of cropping and camera angles, my kitchen actually looks tidy, and it also highlights my two favourite features. The view and the coffee machine,

day 13 mum

Perfect theme for Mother's Day. I am lucky to still have my kind and caring mum live close enough for me to see her when I want. (Although it would be nice to be a little closer to see her more often) I am also lucky to have a gorgeous caring daughter and an awesome loving step-son. On Mother's Day I was counting my blessings. That is for sure. It can be a really, really, tough day. I was spoilt with a treasure hunt planned by miss m to find my present. Then, with a little guidance from mr g, she made me pancakes. The boy arrived home with a bunch of flowers for me and a bunch for my mum. He scored so many brownie points with that! We then went up to Mum and Dad's for lunch, along with my sister and her family. My choice for day 13's photo is my mum with the grandkids.

day 14 grass | day 15 love | day 16 what you're reading | day 17 snack

Oops. Forgot to take a photo of grass today. Remembered at 8:00pm. Asked the Instagram community if we could call it moody and atmospheric, instead of oh crap it's 8:00pm and I haven't taken a photo of grass yet. They were very supportive.

This was the little poem that miss m wrote me to test out the notepaper she gave me for Mother's Day. It is really beautiful and made me teary. Then she added a little extra to the back. Turns out I had to pay 50c if I wanted it!

I had been reading a book of slow cooker recipes, trying to find some different things to try, instead of the usual casseroles.

I almost always have raw nuts to snack on at work

day 18 something you made | day 19 a favourite place | day 20 something you can't live without

I made the decision. I would do the Barossa half-marathon again. You can read all about it here.

After yet another busy Saturday I made it to Victor Harbour to spend the night camping with a really great group of adults and kids. I was so happy to finally sit my self down in front of the campfire with a glass of bubbles. Relaxing with friends is always a favourite place to be. The physical location doesn't really matter.

We were so lucky with the weather and mother nature blessed our bleary heads with the most beautiful sunrise the next morning. We can not live without sunlight, so it seemed like an easy solution for day 20.

day 21 where you stand | day 22 pink | day 23 technology

I know I could have actually made a statement about something meaningful. But it was Monday morning, I was standing at the bus stop. It just seemed easy.

So much pink to choose from. I looked around the room and saw the girls sweat bands sitting in the kitchen. I loved that the Manchester United store had so much girl stuff. And so did miss m.

My technology at work. I love my mac and wacom tablet. They make me so happy at work. A cup of tea also helps.

day 24 something new | day 25 unusual | day 26 12 o'clock

A lovely stack of new books from the library on day 24. I love the library, it's so (nerdishly) cool to be able to choose a massive stack of books that look interesting and not have to put any back because it will be too expensive.

Oh so very unusual on day 25 to have a deliciously empty diary to sit myself down with my new books and a cup of coffee and try to understand how I can make my blog look the way I want it to. I still don't understand yet. But I did have a lovely day.

At 12:00 on day 26 I was walking past Mary Martin's thinking about the lovely coffee I would soon be enjoying.

day 27 sweet | day 28 the weather today | day 29 a number

Day 27 was half marathon day and crossing the finish line and taking off my shoes and socks was oh so very sweet.

I wrote about the beautiful weekend we had in my last post, so I won't bore you with it again. But  the weather was cool and cloudy, and perfect for checking out the wineries.

I put my sneakers back on again to play basketball on Tuesday night. I'm number 7. We lost. But I was pleased that I could play at all to be honest.

day 30 your personality | day 31 something beautiful 

This was a tricky one. To visually describe my personality. I decided rubber band, I think my best trait is that I can go with the flow and adapt to last minute plans. So I went with I am flexible. I also have a habit of overcommitting and not really judging how long things will take. I stretch too far. Sometimes I snap, just ask mr g. But I do always bounce back.

I was rushing off to a meeting at 6:00pm on day 31, and crossing my fingers for a beautiful sunset. We pulled over at our local CFS (country fire service) to take this beautiful shot of the sunsetting over Adelaide as the sparkly city lights were coming on. I think our CFS one of the best views in South Australia.

How has your month been. Are you still sticking to your New Year's Resolutions? Would you like to challenge me that your fire service has a better view? Have a great weekend

happy 10th anniversary to us

It's been ten years since we stood atop Mount Lofty on our wedding day. It doesn't feel like that much time has passed. It was such a beautiful day.

day 68-74 (or march photo-a-day day 8-14)

Day 74 - clouds (March day 14) 

I am starting to get very excited. We are about to head off on our first overseas holiday since our honeymoon. My husband has been living in Australia for 40 years, but still does not have an Australian passport, so today I was off to immigration to get his new re-entry visa. At the moment I was fully committed to the task, I heard thunder, and the skies opened and I was completely soaked! Of course it is Mr G's fault. I came out of the immigration office and the rain had stopped and I even saw this little bit of blue sky peeking through the clouds. 

Day 73 - sign (March day 13) 

I love the way Splash Adelaide have decorated Chesser St. I wish that it could stay as a pedestrian street forever. I especially love the tree growing out of the VW.

Day 72 - fork (March day 12) 

Not super-excited about day 12's theme. I can't even think of a story to make up about this one! 

Day 71 - someone I spoke to (March day 11) 

I love it when we get lots of time with my stepson. The fact that he has not made too many appearances in my photo-a-day pics is probably a good indication of how little time he spends hanging out at home. The condition of me using his photo was him choosing which shot I use. He chose the top one, but I really like the bottom one.  

Day 70 - loud (March day 10) 

Normally I sit and drink coffee while my daughter does her Saturday classes. But in a burst of enthusiasm I went for a run instead. I always like a change of scenery and checking out all the different houses and gardens. Normally I run with my sister or my neighbour, and chat non-stop. But I love the change of cranking up the tunes on my jogging playlist and marvelling at my musical mastery. 

Day 69 - red (March day 9) 

Day 9 was a pupil free day, I love Friday pupil free days. I don't normally work on Fridays, so when there is no school on a Friday it is such a massive win! No morning shouting, no making lunch and no rushing. This Friday was particularly good. Miss M had a friend sleep over and the two girls just get along so well. They put in a request for doing craft, so I got the craft supplies out and they let their imaginations loose. And I saw an opportunity for day 9's red theme. A little later I was trying to finish making the plans for our holiday and my computer was having a little moment. To pass the time I took some extra red photos.

Day 68 - window (March day 8) 

I was back in Chesser St again on day 8 and on my may to get my morning coffee. I looked up and thought old windows plus new windows. The sun reflection is luck not good judgement, but I do really like the way it looks!

Hopefully I can work out how to post from my iPad, so I can keep updating you on our trip, I'm still going to keep taking the photo-a-day pics while we are away, so if I can't work it out there may just be an epic post when we get home!

Hope you have been having a fabulous week!

day 48-60 (february photo-a-day day 16-29) or how did I get so far behind?!?

It doesn't take much for the house of cards to come tumbling down does it? Even when it is something you love doing it can still fall to pieces. A couple of school evening commitments, a busy week at work followed by a work trip away and next thing you know I am 13 days behind in sharing my Fat Mum Slim February photo-a-day pics with you. For some of these days I had planned a bit more of a story to go with them but as things have turned out I think that would be a little excessive, so I will save those stories and extra pics for a different day and for now I apologise for taking so long and giving you so many pics to look at in one go...

Day 60 (february day 29) - something I'm listening to

It's raining it's pouring, the old man is snoring. Well not really, but it is wet and windy and I am feeling annoyed about it. I have just gotten home from five fabulous days in Sydney, where we (Intrinsic) were exhibiting at the Home and Giving Trade Fair. I ate and drank way too much and am now feeling very podgy! I arrived home late last night and have the day off today. After sleeping a little too late this morning I optioned up on one of Andrea at Fox-in-flats' tips for the school run and threw on my gym gear. I did actually plan to go for a run, but I had a princess moment and the rain put me off. Instead I am sitting here on the computer listening to the rain and hoping it will ease off enough for me to actually run.

Day 59 (february day 28) - money

Money... or lack thereof (it's been a big weekend!)

Day 58 (february day 27) - something I ate

What and amazing Lebanese feast at El-Phoenician restaurant in Parramatta! The food was so good, the waiting staff were super friendly and the company was perfect. The only down side was the contribution this made to my current podgy feeling!! (But I still say totally worth it!)

Day 57 (february day 26) - night

Not sure that I nailed this one! It is the view from my lovely hotel room at the Pullman Hotel in Olympic Park with the room reflected in the window. Hmmm.

Day 56 (february day 25) - green

First day of the fair and when I sat down to have some lunch and flick through Instagram I realised that the theme was green and my spinach quiche and spinach and cous cous salad seemed like it would be my best option for the day. 

Day 55 (february day 24) - inside your bathroom cabinet

I left home for the airport at 5:30am so the last thing on my mind was taking photos. By the time I was thinking about the photo-a-day challenge my bathroom cabinet was inside my daggy old toilet bag that I have had for getting close to 20 years!

Day 54 (february day 23) - shoes

I do love shoes, but continuing my time poor theme of the last week, there was no time for staging some gorgeous shot. Instead these are one of my favourite pairs of shoes and are perfect for powering my ride to work.

Day 53 (february day 22) - where I work

My paid work is at the most gorgeous Intrinsic. We create beautiful greeting cards, gifts and stationery to inspire the world. The Intrinsic studios are located off the charming vine covered Chesser Street in Adelaide.

Day 52 (february day 21) - a fave photo of me

A photo of a photo, I want to say how very post-modern. But I know that just dates me as being old enough to remember a world where photos existed only in albums or in frames. And to get a copy meant taking the negative to the photo processing shop. Anyway this is one of my favourite photos of Miss M and me. It was taken by my lovely sister at Pt Vincent, my favourite place. I did have a couple of runners up for fave photo, but I asked Miss M to help me choose, so of course she chose the one of her looking super cute.

Day 51 (february day 20) - handwriting

My hand-writing on top and I think my Nanna's hand-writing on the bottom. I found the recipe tucked inside a very old edition of the Green & Gold Cookbook. I'm glad that I do have some handwritten recipes. I hope that my grandchildren enjoy reading them, like I enjoy reading old family recipes. I'm pretty sure they won't be pouring through my collection of pins on Pinterest, or looking through my bookmarks on my computer filled with nostalgia. There really is something about handwriting that evokes the presence of that person. 

Day 50 (february day 19) - something I hate to do

I hate tidying. This is the dumping ground that is my office. When we have people coming round I do an emergency surfaces tidy and everything lands in the office. I spent day 19 sucking it up and tidying this disaster zone. By the end it was looking pretty good. Not perfect, but a really good start.

Day 49 (february day 18) - drink

It looks like I spend a lot of time sitting around drinking coffee. And maybe I do! Day 18 saw me back in my favourite Saturday spot with a cafe latte and about to make a very late jump onto The Slap bandwagon.

Day 48 (february day 17) - time

It was time to clear this c**p out of my life. I was inspired by Sarah at A Beach Cottage to just get stuck in and do it. She issued a de-clutter challenge and I put up my virtual hand and said I'm in. Unfortunately, my good intentions were also derailed by my busy week. And I am a beach cottage de-clutter fail whale. But that's okay. I did make a good start and got rid of some stuff that had been hanging around for ages. And I even got $16 for the bottles! What I did do on day 17 that was awesome and I am going to continue was to set the timer for one hour and put as much as I could fit in the car boot and then took it straight to the Salvos. And that felt fantastic.

Phew! That was long. Well done and thank you if you're still reading! How has your February? Did you have good intentions de-railed by other commitments?   

day 42-46 (or february day 11-15)

day 46 (or feb day 15) - phone
I wanted to do something interesting. I really do love my iPhone but I couldn't work out how to take a photo of it. Then I started to see the pictures coming up on Instagram of reflection shots. (I don't know why I didn't think of that!) Some were quite clever, like reflections in sunnies and rear-view mirrors. Not just bathroom mirrors. My sub-concious was pondering away on what to do today, and I remembered these earrings. When I was in high school I went on exchange to Chile. I got my ears pierced when I was over there. Mum and Dad would never let me! I then went on an earring purchasing frenzy! Which included these telephone earrings. I think that I used to have them in red and white as well as black. All I could find was this one.

 day 45 (or feb day 14) - heart
We don't celebrate Valentine's Day. I think it comes from a bad first experience in the early days of our relationship. Mr G ordered flowers to be sent to my work, and was expecting to get an excited thank you phone call, or at least some sort of acknowledgement. But the florist stuffed up and forgot to pack the order!! He thought the reason I didn't say thank you was because I was seeing someone else and wasn't sure who the flowers were from! But I just thought he didn't get me anything. Not good!
Clearly we moved past this early hiccup, but we haven't bothered with Valentine's gifts since then.

I got a bit excited in the morning and decided to make the girl a Valentine's themed lunchbox with pink and red food and love heart sandwiches. I also wrote a little Valentine's note for in her lunchbox (like I said I got a bit excited!) Anyway, I picked her up from school, almost bursting with my fabulousness, and as soon as we got in the car I was asking "how was your lunch today?" Her answer a deadpan "good". Hmmm I tried again with, "but was anything especially good?" "Yeah, it was all good" Anyway this went on for a while before I burst and had to ask "What about the love heart bread and the note!!" Finally she remembered and said that she thought it was nice. NICE! Just NICE! I went to all that trouble and the best she could come up with was NICE!

We talked about it again later in the evening, (I wasn't quite ready to let it go!) And it turned out that she did actually really like it all, I was just too eager bugging her with questions as soon as we got in the car. (Note to self: hold back and don't' get too excited about stuff, try to act cool with the girl)

With a theme of hearts there had to be something from Intrinsic. And my kisii stone that I keep on my desk. To round out the heart theme, Miss M got changed out of here school uniform and came out wearing her Melbourne Heart soccer top. Perfect choice and I didn't even ask her to do it. She wasn't happy to be photographed today, so logo only. It's an inexact science with getting permission to use her photo.

day 44 (or feb day 13) - blue

I was full of indecision today. I tried taking the blue sky, which was very exciting to see after the un-summer like weather of last week. But it didn't really say blue to me. I kept looking at the blue foam on the trampoline nets and thinking that I wanted to capture that feeling. Lucky for me Miss M was feeling co-operative and agreed to dress in blue and jump on the trampoline. 

day 43 (or feb day 12) - in my closet

I took a big deep breath and decided to tell it like it is. My real life looks nothing like my Pinterest boards. I am a slob! I have a lovely bid walk-in-robe and I don't even keep it looking nice. With my new Instagram addiction I have found a new blog A Beach Cottage. Sarah is doing a massive declutter at the moment and has called for others to join in. In a moment of craziness I accepted her challenge, so I look forward to this being a before photo in an awesome closet blitz!

day 42 (or feb day 11) - makes me happy
Miss M has a new Saturday morning activity that gives me a blissful hour to waste on The Parade, Norwood. It is conveniently close to the delightful Mary Martin's Bookshop with its lovely little cafe. I sat there this morning loving the peace and quiet. I had brought along a bag of recipe books to read through. I was looking for a vegetarian recipe to make for dinner that night. I found a recipe for mushroom and leek pie that gave me then inspiration to do my own version. It was so yummy. And I had an awesome evening with a people I like a lot and don't see enough of.

stuff I've been loving this summer

Today has been such a beautiful day. The sun was out, the sky was blue and somehow that just made everything just feel good. I started the day going for a run with my sister, which is always a good thing. We had our usual coffee and chat post run (more ticks in the awesomeness column.) I got home from my run and my fabulous hubby had tidied up the debris from having friends round for dinner the night before - yay! And the memory of the really great dinner and even better catch up with friends we have not seen enough of lately was still fresh in my brain. And I got a phone call from my stepson to say that he was going to be home for dinner (we haven't seen much of him lately, which had made me feel a little cross, so that was exciting news indeed! It's weird how I get cross at him, but the only reason I am cross is because I miss him so much)

Soccer pre-season has started, so the girl and I had the house to ourselves this afternoon. I wanted to practice my photography skills in my newly discovered bathroom photo booth. (There is a chance that she spent too much time on screens today while I was distracted - the only negative in an otherwise win of a day) Summer happiness was in my head, so here is my summer happiness compilation!

1. Bargain dress from Jay Jays (I think it was only about $15 or $20)
2 Country Road hat, not such a bargain, but I did have a DJs gift card, and I have worn it heaps!
3 My own personal vintage Ray-bans (can I still call it vintage when its something I have had in the back of the cupboard since the early 90's?!?)
4 Pink beach bag from Milloe by AD designs (not sure who stocks them, I got it at the trade fair) I love the flamingo lining (stay tuned for a future flamingo feature)
5 Made by Cheeky sandals, I have loved these so much (as you can see from the dirty footprints on them!)
6 Intrinsic goals journal - I loved being on summer holidays staring out to sea, dreaming my dreams and writing in my journal
7 Ministry of Sound Chillout Sessions XIV great relaxed compilation

To top off the day my beautiful boy even bought me flowers to say sorry for making me feel sad! Isn't he lovely? How was your weekend? Did you do anything fun? What was the weather like in your part of the world?

day 34 - hands (or feb day 3)

I love Fridays. I work Monday to Thursday and I have Friday as my day off. Don't get me wrong I absolutely love what I do, but it is always nice to have a break. Somehow Friday's aren't really a break though. I have a terrible habit of over-committing. I think one of my old uni lecturers summed me up perfectly when he said that I like to bite off more than I can chew comfortably! I always seem to manage, but there is a whole bag of crazy that goes with it.

Anyway, Friday morning I went along to the first school assemble for the year, then had a meeting with the school principal to go through some stuff for Parents and Friends, then quickly back home, before meeting my mum and sister for lunch.

I love my iPhone and all its organising technology, but sometimes an old school palm-pilot note is the best way to remember stuff.

How do you stay on top of things? Do you use high tech organisers, or are you more old school diaries and address books?

happy 40th anniversary Mum & Dad

Love is knowing someone completely and totally and still loving them, in spite of the things that make your head explode.

My mum and dad celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary last weekend and their love and relationship is an inspiration. Neither of them are perfect. And they certainly drive each other crazy from time to time, but when you hear the concern in Dad's voice as he talks about Mum's health or see the look on Mum's face as Dad spins her round on the dance floor, in those moments you are seeing true love in its most beautiful and most enduring form.

They wanted to celebrate this milestone with just us, their immediate family, so we joined my sister's family and Mum and Dad at the Ventnor Hotel in Port Vincent for dinner. We had actually all been at Pt Vincent for the Australia Day weekend, so it wasn't like it was so special to all be catching up, but it was special to not have to cook dinner or do the dishes!

My sister, Roxy, and I wanted to add a little something special to the evening, and, even though I actually make greeting cards for a living, I had forgotten to get a card from work, so my daughter (Miss M) and I wandered off to the local shops to see what we could buy to decorate the table and make a card with. I was hoping for some love heart confetti, but no luck. Instead we bought some love heart stickers, regular confetti, red and gold card, and some valentines cards to cut up. (Thank goodness it's nearly Valentines Day!)

We brought our loot home and Miss M got stuck into making a card. She has such an Intrinsic heart, the poem she wrote on the front of the card is so special. Roxy's boys also wanted to get in on the action and both drew beautiful pictures for Mum and Dad.

I got to work on the table decorations, and cut up love hearts out of the left over paper. I wrote little messages on the back of the hearts, which Mum really liked. I also cut up the valentines cards and cut the letters Newton loves Sue out of card.

Miss M and I went down to the pub early to decorate the table and to make sure the drinks were all on the table ready for when the guests of honour arrived. They absolutely loved it.

We had a great meal and as we were finishing our dinner, the weather started to change and we watched the clouds rolling across the gulf, and then the water crashing over the jetty. We had no choice but to walk home in the wind and the misty rain. It was still quite warm though and the weather had quite a magical quality to it. Miss M loved the wind and rain and danced out on the balcony when we got home like a water sprite.

Happy Anniversary Mum and Dad xx

Have you reached a milestone celebration recently, how do you like to commemorate your special life events, do you like to decorate up a storm and have lots and lots of people, or do you like to keep it quiet with just close family or your besties? 

day 29 - inside my fridge (plus day 2 - breakfast catch up)

It's home-time today. It's been a beautiful mini-break and I'm not looking forward to returning home to reality. Mum and Dad are staying a little longer, so I guess they are going to be enjoying the blue swimmer crabs for dinner tonight.

inside the holiday house fridge

Dad made us all porridge for breakfast this morning. I thought it was a great chance to make up one of the photos that I am still missing from starting the January photo-a-day challenge late. So here is day 2 - breakfast...

I pimped my porridge with greek yoghurt and figs