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

photo-a-day April

Yikes! What just happened to April?! How is it already May? I feel like April was made of sand and it has disappeared through my fingers. So grab a cuppa (or something a little stronger) and let me present my April as seen through the filter of Chantelle from Fat Mum Slim's photo a day challenge...

day 1: your reflection | day 2: colour | day 3: mail

I was pretty excited to do this challenge on our overseas holiday. It actually turned out to be harder than I expected. Mainly because I am very strict on myself that the photo must be taken on the day of the challenge. And sometimes I was just so busy enjoying what we were doing that I would forget to look for the moment that would match the word!

We arrived in Paris and were super excited to find ourselves staying in a gorgeous spacious apartment. I was taking photos to capture its loveliness when I caught my reflection in the window. And then proceeded to lean half way out the window to try and capture this shot!

I we all fell in love with Paris. Miss M convinced me to buy flowers for our apartment from this gorgeous colourful flower stand. I loved the way that cafes and shops bustled for space with pedestrians creating a beautiful lively atmosphere.

If you did not receive one of these gorgeous postcards, you are not alone. We spent ages choosing and buying them, then never got round to writing and posting. My mum was the only lucky recipient of a card. The only other card that was written was handed over on our return!

day 4: someone who makes you happy

I loved having so much time with my family the actual choice for day four's photo is mr g and miss m dancing around the courtyard of the Louvre (I just included the other two pics because I thought they looked good together and help show how happy we were in Paris)

day 5: tiny | day 6: lunch | day 7: shadow

We went to Disneyland on day 5 and there is nothing tiny about Disneyland, everything is larger than life. I was grasping at straws when I chose tiny green man for day 5. 

I was really starting to drop the photo a day ball towards the end of our holiday. This was our last day in Paris, and we rushed to get the train back to London, and then to Windsor for our last night in England. I forgot to take a photo of the Cornish Pasty I ate for lunch. Luckily the girl had saved half her 

sausage roll for later. 

Our flight home was not until 10:30pm, so we went to Legoland for a last hurrah. It was cold and 

cloudy and overcast. It was also Easter Saturday so absolutely packed! This lego urn in the Lost City of Atlantis ride was the best shadow I could come up with.

day 8: inside your wallet | day 9: younger you | day 10: cold

On the plane on the way home I emptied out what was left in my wallet for UNICEF.

Finally we were back home. And rolling back the years, here I am with my sister in 1978, checking out the flooding on our farm after Sunday School.

My brain was still feeling fried on day 10, so for cold, all I could think of was the fire as a solution to cold.

day 11: where you had breakfast

I made crepes for breakfast to try and recapture the feeling of Paris. Then I looked outside the kitchen window and remembered (just like Dorothy) there is no place like home.

day 12: stairs | day 13: something you found

Visitors to Intrinsic are welcomed by our fabulous pink staircase (and a little pre-visit exercise!)

I dropped my shiny new iPhone in the carpark twice. I now have a cover for it and need to get the screen fixed. Luckily it still works.

day 14: how you feel today | day 15: sunset

I spent the afternoon on day 14 sitting watching soccer at the beautiful St Peter's College chatting to my sister-in-law. I wish our husbands still played for the same club, so that we could do this more often. Mr G now plays on the other side of the city and I never go watch any more. I felt happy and nostalgic and content. But then sad and anxious because Mr G's team lost!

We never see much of a sunrise or sunset from our house, too many trees in the way. But the sunset really didn't matter, as I finally caught up with my family again.

day 16: flower | day 17: something you don't like | day 18: hair

Beautiful flowers from Mr G.

I don't like turning right with out a turning arrow. I also don't like focussing on stuff I don't like.

Braided miss m's hair. Perfect timing.

day 19: orange (part a&b) | day 20: something you drew

I took two photos for orange and chose the leaves, because we'd just done flower a couple of days ago. But I really love both.

Oh my! Trying to chose what to use for something I drew. Talk about performance anxiety. I really haven't done anything new for such along time, everything felt so dated. It was not a work day otherwise I would have chosen one of the new cards. (I am particularly proud of then!) I was going to photograph one of the calendar pages, when I remembered the mugs. I love that I can have my morning cup of tea in a mug I illustrated. Clever me!!

day 21: bottle | day 22: the last thing you bought | day 23: vegetable

Cooking curry for dinner and drinking wine (not from the bottle!). Very nice way to spend a Saturday evening. 

I was stooged by the local kids and bought three walnuts for $1.00. I just liked their entrepreneurial initiative!

I discovered (from someone else on Instagram) that if you store spring onions on the bench in a jar of water, you can snip them and the will keep on growing. I tested this out and sure enough it works. It is May 1 today and my spring onions are still going!

day 24: something you're grateful for | day 25: looking down | day 26: black+white

I watched 'Marley and Me' on the weekend for the first time. I cried and cried and the pup had to be day 24's choice. He's not really a puppy anymore and I can't imagine our house without him.

We went to the dawn service for ANZAC day then I got excited and made anzac biscuits when we got home. I then plonked myself down in front of the fire for the rest of the day.

Another rushed panic shot for black+white

day 27: somewhere you went | day 28: 1pm | day 29: circle

Day 27 was a Friday, so naturally I was at my sister's house. Looking glamourous as always!

I was waiting to pick the girl up at 1pm after a lovely coffee at Mary Martins. Then I realised that pick up time was actually 1:15. Which explains why I was the only parent waiting at 1:00!

Sunday afternoon called for a little glass of something to settle my nerves as I tried to bake and play mousetrap at the same time!

day 30: something that makes you sad

Imagining flames leaping up the valley and destroying everything makes me sad.

But there is no point in dwelling on sad. There are too many good things in life to enjoy and celebrate. Like finishing another month of photo a day challenges and being another month closer to my goal of taking a photo everyday for a year. Or having a fabulous holiday. And saving for the next one. Or having a fabulous birthday and sharing it with gorgeous people. Or just being alive with beautiful friends and family to love and be loved by.

What are you celebrating?

day 61-67 (march photo-a-day day 1-7)

In a burst of enthusiasm, tiredness and overwhelmedness (hmm spell check is telling me overwhelmedness is not a word, but I'm keeping it) and following from yesterday's theme of trying to get my act together and stop being so late and disorganised, I have written myself some little goals, and a bit of a schedule. Lets just say that I almost achieved it tonight. But the part I am achieving is that I am designating Wednesday to be the day I share my Fat Mum Slim March Photo-a-day pics with you. And here I am doing what I said I would. Unfortunately I need to type faster, because I told myself that screens have to go off at 10:00pm. So I have 10 minutes to finish. Eek this could finish up being a PB for typos!!

day 67 (March 7) - Something I wore

I got dressed really quickly this morning. I really wanted to get to school before the bell, but I had slept in a little, so was a bit behind from the start. After my shower a quick scan of my wardrobe saw this hanging, calling out to me and I said yes! It is an absolute favourite of mine. I love the colour and pattern and it does not need ironing or hand washing. It is comfy for cycling in and suits layering in winter.

day 66 (March 6) - 5pm

5pm should have been in the middle of Miss M's basketball game, but I was too distracted and excited to be thinking about photo challenges. Our school team has not won a game all season (the season started in term 4) The kids are so good about it and just keep on trying hard and having fun. But we know that they all really want to get a win (and let's be serious the parents probably want it more!!) So anyway for the first time we scored first and managed to stay in front for the whole game. And actually win!! This is Miss M's last game for this season. This photo is actually 5:20pm in the tree outside the stadium. Because why wouldn't you celebrate a win by climbing a tree?

day 65 (March 5) - a smile

A chilly smile. It was a little cold for swimming lessons, but for me, it was perfect for sitting by the pool watching and chatting to a friend.

day 64 (March 4) - bedside

I have discussed my bedroom before and nothing has changed, I really don't like it and I really need to prioritise a bedroom makeover into our budgeting and planning. In the meantime for the bedside theme, I looked down to my daggy fluffy slippers sitting on the ground. They were a Christmas gag gift. There was a funny story that went with the reason why they were given to me. But I have forgotten it! And as it turned out, I actually quite like these slippers.

day 63 (March 3) - my neighbourhood

We are very lucky to live in the beautiful Adelaide Hills. I love it. Except for the buses, or lack of buses. If you are travelling Monday to Friday during peak hours you are fine. But any other time forget about it. During the day the buses are one and a half to two hours apart and there are no evening or weekend services at all. On the plus side you will quite often spot a koala while you are waiting for the bus, and my husband has even seen kangaroos early in the morning.

day 62 (March 2) - fruit

I get my groceries delivered by the very lovely Banana Blue, a local online supermarket. I like the surprise of ordering a mixed fruit and veg box full of whatever is in season. It's not all local, but that's okay(ish) I do love seeing what we receive and the challenge of making sure that I use everything.

day 61 (March 1) - Up

Super excited that I have kept this going now for two months. I am so excited by the idea of having a photo for every day this year. My girl is sitting up the top of the steps posing for me, slightly annoyed because I made her stop watching TV for 2 minutes while I took this. It's a tough life. 

Although day 1 was kind of tough for her. We were back to the orthodontist and she had braces put on her bottom teeth (she already had them on the top ones). Getting braces on can be kind of uncomfortable, so I let her have the afternoon off school and we have a very fun shopping trip to the (now not so new) Zara at Burnside Village. I am not normally at the shops during the day anymore, and I had the disconcerting realisation, as I looked around at all the mums of babies, toddlers and preschoolers out shopping and having coffees, that I no longer have anything in common with them. My girl is now so completely past that stage, that the feeling of camaraderie, seeing mums juggling with dummies and nappie bags and baby wipes and sticky fingers that I used to experience was completely gone. On the plus side I now LOVE shopping with my daughter. She no longer runs away, she can be relied on to wander in a shop and browse with out wrecking stuff, and she will even give me advice on whether something A. looks good on me and B. is my style!

It's now 10:30, so I am half an hour behind my schedule. But that's not too bad. How is your year going? Have you kept on top of your goals or are they dropping away? What do you do to boost your goals when they start to slow down?

day 32 - my view today (or feb day 1)

I should have learnt to read ahead with the photo-a-day challenges. But alas I am still being caught out by my lack of preparedness (hmm... pleased to see that preparedness slipped through the spell check net, I wasn't sure if it was an actual word!) Anyway, the challenge for Jan 30 was nature, and I chose to take a photo of the gorgeous view across the Adelaide Hills from our back yard not thinking that in 3 days time the challenge would be your view!

It felt way too boring to replicate day 30. I wanted to take a photo of my view as I ride into work through the lovely leafy Adelaide suburbs, but I couldn't find a spot to get the right feeling. Instead I have chosen a city montage.

First: I love riding my bike through the beautiful parklands that surround Adelaide. But I feel massively annoyed by the construction that takes over Victoria Park from November to May as they assemble and disassemble the temproary infrastructure for the Clipsal 500 (v8 super car races).

Second: Lovely, lovely Chesser St. There is a really cool looking bike parked right outside our office door. Sadly it is not mine. Mine is safely locked away until home time. (Check out the photos below, Chesser St has become even more awesome with a Splash Adelaide Installation, it's only there for 8 weeks so we have to make the most of it)

Finally: The view through my window at work.

january photo-a-day wrap up

I've been having such a great time with Fat Mum Slim's photo-a-day challenge, I wanted to have an excuse to compile all my photos together and see how they all look as a group. I am being a bit of a copy-cat, I have seen a couple of other people doing similar on their blogs, in particular Nikki from Styling You and Megs from Glamourhood. So Nikki and Megs I'm really hoping you are imitation is the sincerest form of flattery kinda girls and not get an original idea you shameless plagiarist kinda girls. Fingers crossed.

So, here is what have I learnt from doing the photo-a-day challenge:

1. I really like being creative for myself 
Whilst I am lucky to have a creative job that I love, working with beautiful people who I adore, I actually really like to have my own voice, and now that I have gotten over my shyness, its great know that people from all over the world are looking at my work.

2. My dreams will never turn into reality if they don't leave my head
I first set up this blog in 2007, that's FIVE years ago. I never really did anything with it, I first started talking about getting serious with it to my sister maybe 6 months or a year ago. But it wasn't until these holidays that I started to tentatively mention it to other people. Who were all so encouraging that I had to just dive in and do it.

3. Perfection doesn't matter and something is better than nothing

There are things that I would have like to have had perfect before starting, and they are still not perfect. And that doesn't matter because I am here and I am doing what I have been wanting to do for a long time and it will get perfect one day. Or it won't and that's okay too.

4. Sometimes I wish that I chose a different shot to tag #JANphotoaday

Nobody is perfect and if you aren't learning and growing you aren't truly alive. So there! But I have learnt that my own personal rules say that the photo has to be taken on the actual day. I cringed putting the childhood photo into the grid, and even though I did take a different photo on that day to keep the 365 photo rule going, it still feels wrong.

5. I love positive comments and likes

I love getting comments and likes on my Instagram photos from both friends and strangers. And I especially like how I have the feeling of getting to know some of the strangers from following their photos and commenting on their photos. And I love that I have had comments on my blog from both friends and strangers (or should I say friends I haven't met)

6. January was awesome!

I had such a great summer. Life is good.

Have you been doing the photo-a-day challenge? What have you learn't along the way? Let me know where you are sharing your photos so I can see your interpretation of the challenges?

day 27 - lunch

Lunch today was at Chill Out Coffee Shop, I had the yummiest lamb burger on damper. I'm sure no good can come from eating so much meat, but it was so deliciously worth it.

Thinking about lunch got me thinking about making lunches, and that the school holidays are coming to an end. I'm starting to panic. I'm not ready. I know that other people get over it by the end of the summer holidays, but I really just want one more week. Don't get me wrong, the juggle of working and organising childcare is a hassle, but it is so worth it on the days that I don't work, and don't have to make lunch, and don't have to be on repeat yelling 'hurry up'. I struggle with time management and seem to have passed that trait onto my daughter!

Our aim for this term is to be on time every day. Planning With Kids has a great round up of ways to be organised for school. I have poured through her tips and am feeling slightly more hopeful that we can get our act together this year.

What are your tricks for being organised in the morning?

day 26 - colour

colour of Australia Day

It had to be the colours of Australia Day. We are so lucky to live in this beautiful country, and I am also lucky to have a close family who I love so very much. We spent Australia Day, and then the weekend, at my parents holiday house at Pt Vincent. I read a quote somewhere that went something like Grandma's house is where cousin's become friends, and seeing the close relationship my daughter and nephews have I would really have to say that it is so true.

The day started with a gorgeous sunrise, and kicked on with Dad firing up the BBQ for his signature bacon and egg breakfast. I managed to talk the kids into a photo shoot on the beach with zinced up faces, then we relaxed with a few drinks, an afternoon swim and lamb chops on the BBQ for dinner.

day 25 - something I made

Woah! What a crazy busy day!! I worked all day. Then I arrived home packed our bags and we headed off to the beautiful Pt Vincent to sneak in one last long weekend before school goes back.

The morning had been frantic, no time for making, although I did take some photos of old projects, it didn't feel right to use an old project, (I'm still feeling funny about using one of our old childhood photos on day 10). I did make my breakfast, but I ate that before I thought about what the day's challenge was. I did spend all day kind of making at work, I'm working on our new stationery range. But that didn't feel right, since it was on the computer, not made with my hands. And aside from that, I can't share it anyway until the range is officially launched.

I saw Styling You's photo on instagram and she'd made herself a cup of tea. That would have been perfect, if I had have thought of it first! But I didn't want to copy. I wondered if I could count packing my bag as making something? I didn't even make my lunch or dinner. As we were driving to Pt Vincent the inspiration hit me. I was hanging out to arrive and see my family and especially, finally relax with a glass of wine. I knew what I could make. I could make myself smile, by pouring a big, fat glass of wine.

Isn't it silly how I have all these rules in my head for how I have to play the photo-a-day game? I really could have just used anything I had made, but it had to follow the rules. Adèle and I are always reminding each other at Intrinsic that we make the rules, so we can break them. Do you ever set yourself rules that are restrictive and also unnecessary?

happy, happy me

day 23 - something old

My nanna's engagement ring and my great-grandma's wedding band were my first choice for something old. I know that they are just jewellery, but I still feel a connection to Nanna when I am wearing them, even though it has been over 10 years since she died. Sometimes, when I feel like I need a bit of extra help, I press down on them with my thumb, close my eyes and ask Nanna to help me out. She usually does.

Do you ever think you get help from your ancestors? Or is it just me being weird?

January photo-a-day day 1 to day 22

Yikes that sounds like an awful lot of photos, doesn't it? I'll start from 22 and work back to 1, so that when I start adding more photos and you scroll through my blog, the order will (hopefully) work. This entry is looking like it will be quite enormous, so please be patient and I promise that there will be more frequent and much briefer posts in the future.


day 22 - shoes 
I love shoes, but today's challenge found me packing up camp after a three day stay at the Tanunda Caravan Park, not the sort of place I imagined that I would want to be wearing fancy shoes. Much to my surprise our stay coincided with the Barossa Valley Hot Rod Club 20th Anniversary weekend. And fabulous rockabilly outfits abounded complete with fabulous heels. What a missed opportunity to style up a retro look, rather than my shorts, t-shirt, thongs camp-site ensemble. 

I've got my camping shoes on, we'd just finished

packing after enjoying a great weekend with

friends.

day 21 - reflection

We enjoyed a relaxing afternoon at Whistler Wines Cellar Door. The weather was hot, but the setting at Whistler is lush and green and surrounded by vines, so we barely noticed the heat. Although I have to confess, that I was much more interested in sampling the lovely, chilled whites, and not quite so interested in tasting the warming reds. The kids enjoyed the cricket pitch and playground and we all had so much fun that we actually forgot to check out the kangaroo enclosure.

the lush outdoor area reflected in the windows
of the cellar door

day 20 - someone you love
After carb-loading on schnitzels and chips at the Tanunda Hotel on Thursday night, the room2move team were up bright and early, and ready to challenge ourselves on the Tour Down Under Community Challenge. My daughter and I took part in the 35km challenge. After the previous weekends whinge-a-thon training sessions, I was expecting my ears to burn trying to complete this distance. But this beautiful girl who I love so very much surprised and astounded me with her determination and positivity. She did not whinge once and whilst we took the escape option and avoided Mengler's Hill King of the Mountain it was an amazing effort and I am so proud of her. 

I was so proud of my girl after she completed the
Tour Down Under Community Challenge 35km ride

day 19 - sweet

After reading Sarah Wilson's blog I began to wonder whether my family and I should be eating sugar. Sarah had reviewed David Gillespe's book, 'Sweet Poison', and the points she drew from it really resonated with me. So much so that I went out and bought the book and  I quit sugar. 

a mango is about as sweet as it gets for me

day 18 - something you bought

I worked on day 18, and didn't buy anything. I was wondering how to complete the days challenge, when it came to me. I was going out for dinner with girlfriends. Perfect! 

yummy wine we bought with our dinner

day 17 - water

I was wishing to be on holidays at the beach, or at the pool for the water challenge. Instead I was at work. On the plus side it was a stinking hot day, so it was nice to be in an air-conditioned office drinking lots of water.

keeping my fluids up at work

day 16 - morning

Quick snaps amongst the morning rush, I'm starting to get the hang of the PicFrame app for Instagram here.  

dishes done, rode to work, coffee drunk,
tea drunk, it must be lunch time!

day 15 - happiness

Happiness day was on a gorgeous Sunday. I went for a bike ride with my girl, and had time in the evening to enjoy the beautiful view from our back garden while I wrote in my journal and enjoyed a crisp glass of something refreshing. Happiness is having a happy and healthy family and beautiful friends.

my happiness image for day 15

the image I should have chosen!

day 14 - something you're reading

I'm not actually reading anything at the moment, so I went with (clockwise from top-left): 

a cheapy cook-book

a book a friend has lent me, but I haven't actually started yet

a book I am always referring back to

& a book Santa left at work for me after he heard that I don't like using public toilets!

(although I should have taken a photo of my iPad, which I am always reading)

books on the side table

day 13 - in your bag

I can't believe that I carry all this stuff around!

note the Intrinsic travel journal (I love it
so much that I use it as my everyday journal)

day 12 - close-up

Up close in the garden.

it was tricky finding a view without weeds!

day 11 - where you sleep

I was too embarrassed to show our un-pinterest worthy bedroom, so interpreted the challenge to be the view from where I sleep (which is much more beautiful than where I sleep!)

lucky we have a nice view

day 10 - childhood

Christmas day in about 1975, opening presents with my sister. Looks like I was more interested in my new truck than having my photo taken. My sister on the other hand was all about looking cute for the camera.

clearly this was not taken by me!
credit goes to either Mum or Dad

I have set myself the goal to complete project365 this year. To complete this I need to take a photo everyday this year. Since I was not the photographer for day 10's photo, I have also included a photo that I did take on day 10. I was channeling inspiration from our gorgeous beautiful angel range at work.

beautiful angel inspiration from Intrinsic

day 9 - daily routine

I was back to work on day 9 after a lovely 2 week Christmas and New Years holiday. So it was back to the routine of get home, cook dinner, organise bath time and bedtime (and aim to be a little earlier than it had been when we were on holidays and enjoying lovely sleep-ins). I'm a little embarrassed to confess that I've actually forgotten what this dinner turned out to be.

something with lots of veggies

day 8 - your sky

The last day of my holidays was disappointingly rainy, although the clouds were kind enough to clear for this photo peeking through the trees. The rain was kind of good for the garden. After being away for 10 days including some stinking hot 40º days, we arrived home to realise we had forgotten to set the sprinkler system going. Oops. Poor garden. 

my sky full of trees and clouds

day 7 - favourite

My husband gave me this for my birthday a few years ago. I love it. My favourite weekend mornings are flicking through my favourite blogs on flipboard on my iPad and drinking coffee that my lovely husband makes for me. hmmmm so happy....

my favourite birthday present. ever.

day 6 - makes me smile

These two always make me feel happy, especially when they are playing and being silly. It makes me smile to think how lucky I am to have them in my world.

my gorgeous people

day 5 - something you wore

I kicked off the challenge on day 5. It seemed kind of tricky at first. We had just got back from our holiday at Pt Vincent, and I was having to unpack, and tidy the debris from Christmas morning. We left for Pt Vincent straight after we opened our presents, so there was stuff everywhere. I spotted this nail polish as I was tidying up and knew that what I was wearing on my toes was how to kick off the January photo-a-day challenge. It was a great confidence booster as I had two people I don't know comment on my photo on Instagram!

Rimmel Double Decker Red 

day 1 - you

This is my catch up picture from day 1. I discovered that our bathroom mirror has beautiful morning light and lovely plain white walls to take my self-portrait.

me!