You're making my head grow!

Guys, you're making my head grow!

In my little bloggy break, I was nominated for another TWO Liebster Awards, one by the lovely Erica of Being Erica, and one by my awesome sponsor, Britt of The Three Inch Stitch. Both these lovely ladies inspire me on a day to day basis, so I would love for you to click on over to their blogs for a looksie :)

rules:

- the liebster award is given by bloggers to other bloggers with 200 followers or less.

- the nominees must link back to the blogger who awarded them.

- you must write 11 random facts about yourself.

- you must answer the 11 questions from the blogger who nominated you.

- you must make up 11 new questions and nominate 11 other bloggers.

I love this picture. Even though Aud's photobombed it :)

facts:

- I have worn glasses since I was 7 and my first pair had Sylvester licking his lips on one corner and Tweetie on the other. 

- I am slightly obsessed with blue and white at the moment, especially the Blue Willow pattern which I have started to collect.

- My favourite author is Emily Bronte and I plan on naming my first daughter after her someday.

- I can't count how many times I have seen the Harry potter movies. I watch at least two of them at least once a week.

- I am a massive History and Literature nerd and am studying those subjects this year at University.

- When I'm reading a good book, I usually end up dreaming that I'm either the character in it that I love, or the author's best friend. It's weird. 

- I am a girl and I HATE shoe shopping. Am I going to be evicted for this or something?

- I absolutely love eating apple puree and stewed apples. The kids at school used to make fun of me for eating "baby food" but it's totally delicious!

- I may have had a bowl of stewed apple for lunch today.

- Sometimes I don't wear a bra. I can get away with it cos I have small boobs and they're pretty perky. 

- I once considered getting my nipple pierced. I seriously don't know what got into me and I'm so glad I somehow woke up from that idea. That would sooo not suit my personality!

Erica's questions:

1. what is your middle name, and would you change your name if you could?

I, truthfully and in all honesty, do not have a middle name. Not very many people believe me when I say this because they think it's just something ghastly that I don't want to admit to, but it's true. Neither does Jake, actually. It always made me feel left out when I was a kid so I'd tell people my middle name was Rose (my absolute, most favouritest name ever at the time).

2. what was your first ever concert, and the last you went to?

My first ever proper concert was Bullet for My Valentine, Bring Me the Horizon and Cancer Bats. I hated Cancer Bats and loved the other two and nearly got killed in an aptly named circle of death, but a huge, tattooed bear with stretchers I could fit my head through saved me and it was an awesome night :)

The last concert I went to was a new, Aussie band called Ball Park Music, and they were supported by Loon Lake, who I absolutely love. It was also a great night but this time, rather than getting punched in the boob, neck and face,  my friends and I did awesome 80's throwback dance moves and awkward group hug, bouncing sing-a-longs.

3. what is your favourite movie, and can you recite a line from  it for us?

Omg, don't even get me started. Omg. 

My FAVOURITE movie is Harry Pooter and the Philosopher's stone and I can quote the whole bloody thing for you if you like? Favourite lines include:

and, of course,

4. tea or coffee, and how do you take it? 

Tea, preferably loose leaf Earl Grey with two sugars and a tiny splash of milk in a vintage tea cup.

5. what was the last book you read, and are you a kindle or original girl?

I am reading a few books at the moment - Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte, and a Kathy Reichs book - Break No Bones. I refuseto use a kindle. Part of the charm of reading is the smell of book pages, the sound of turning a page and the feel of the book in your hands/on your face as you fall asleep reading it. A kindle just wouldn't feel the same on the face.

6. scrambled or poached, and with what on the side?

Hmm, scrambled with all the trimmings - ham, tomato, eschallots, parsley, salt and pepper in them with toast and bacon on the side.

7. can you play an instrument, and to what level?

Does Three Blind Mice on the recorder count?

8. what one food would you survive on forever, and can you cook it?

PASTA! And hell yes, I can cook it! I make a mean lasagne, spag bol and fettucine alfredo, as well as an awesome "shells with vegemite and cheese", which was my childhood fave.

9. lindsay lohan's best movie is meal girls. true or false?

Try her only good movie? Oh wait, she did Freaky Friday okay too.

10. pink is obviously the best colour, but what's the second best?

Blue! (obsessed right now)

11. next to me, who is your favourite instagrammer, and give me their name.

Umm, probably my bestie, Ellie. i think her name on IG is elliegracee

Britt's questions:

1. How long have you been blogging?

I've been blogging since August, so that's, like, 6 months now!

2. Have you been nominated for a Liebster Award before?

I have, this is my second/third nomination and I just can't believe it! People like my blog?!?!

3. What does your typical day look like?

HA! This is going to make me look sooo lazy and weird because I haven't started study yet and so i'm in this weird limbo thingy where I have nothing to do all day, but usually I wake up around 9, check my e-mails, facebook and twitter over breakfast, then I make a to do list (yep, everyday, even if all that's on it is "lay around in jarmies drinking tea and watching Harry Potter"). Then, I do the things on my list, taking short naps and social networking breaks every 5-10 minutes, depending on how interesting my to do items are (usually grocery shopping, cleaning and organising the new home). Then, I spend the afternoons either watching movies and crocheting or embroidering, or blogging/generally wasting time on the internet. Like right now, where I wrote a whole paragraph about how I do nothing all day. Then I cook dinner and go to bed. The end.

4. Do you have any furry (or scaly, feathered, slimy) friends? 

My gorgeous boy, Coke, who is a Jack Russel cross Mini Foxy and is the cutest, kindest, most caring creature on the planet! I miss him so much! He lives with my mum and dad.

5. What are your favorite crafts to make?

Like, uh, anything!? Haha. I'm not a fussy crafter. I like cutesy stuff with purpose.

6. What was your favorite toy from childhood?

Definitely my Baby Born! And her cot, pram and all her pother accessories! Mum bought her for me when she had my little sister so that i'd stop pestering her to hold the baby all the time, and I carried her around everywhere, playing "mum". She was incredibly special to me and I've kept her for when I have kids. I'm extremely sentimental about things like that.

7. What is your favorite place to be?

Home, in my jarmies doing bugger all, thrift shopping, or at one of my favourite beaches. Depends on my mood.

8. If you could live anywhere (other than where you are right now), where would it be?

Honestly, I am ACTUALLY PLANNING on moving to either England or Germany for a few years when I finish uni. Boyfriend doesn't fancy Germany much, because my ex lives there, but we are both super keen to head to Europe at some stage and I daresay we will one day end up in England :)

9. What would you consider one of your greatest accomplishments?

Honestly, sticking with this blog is a major accomplishment to me. That and surviving the HSC with chronic fatigue syndrome and still getting into the Uni course of my dreams.

10. What is your favorite book?

Wuthering Heights, hands down. Closely followed by the Harry Potter series, the Millenium Trilogy, the Dragons of Pern books, and the Clan of the Cave Bear series. I like series'. 

11. What is one thing you want your readers to know about you through your blogging?

I really want my readers to connect to me, personally. I want to share my life with my readers and I want them to know me for all my ups and downs, my creativity and my eccentricities. I hope I am achieving that in my blogging. 

11 Aspiring Bloggers Who Get a Mega Thumbs Up:

Trudie, at My Vintage Vow

Kim at What Peggy Said

Natalie at Good Girl Style

Charlotte at Midnight Caramel

Octavia at Octavia and The Ocean

Chelsea at Sketchy Notions

Sarah and Lauren at Whimsy and Juno

Emily at Emmy in the Making

Marium at Decorate Vintage

Annnd that's it because Sarah and Lauren totally count as two and all these bloggers are so awesome that they make up an extra person between them all!

If you were one of the nominated blogs, link me your post so that I can find out more about you!

Friday's Finds

I spent this week staying at mum and dad's place to get my back fixed, and while I was there I took a trip to Lismore with my good friend Alisha and her mum to hit up the op shops and have a little catch up. I must say, I am impressed with this haul, and equally impressed with the whopping $17 total that these items (including the double bedspread which I used as a backdrop) came to.

The floral mugs are bone china and were only 50c each, as were the Noritake tea cups. Anyone who knows me will know I am a total tea snob - very particular about the tea I drink, the way it's made and what it's served in. I won't drink tea out of anything that isn't bone china and these mugs are the perfect, pretty way to consume large amounts of tea in the winter months (which I am starting to sorely anticipate). The bed spread is currently covering my ugly lounge, until I either find a chenille spread for it, or get a new one. It brightens the room up nicely, having cream on the lounge. I love it. 

The divided dish was a practical find which will get tonnes of use, and the other dish is marked "Fire King" and I absolutely love it! Not sure if it will stay in the kitchen or find it's way as storage in the sewing room yet, but the pattern in beautiful. I realised today that none of my "pyrex" is actually pyrex, but I totally don't care because they're so pretty and practical. 

While I was at my parents' place, mum cleaned out her cupboards and gave me a tonne of antique serving ware and other tidbits that she doesn't want anymore. I swear it was better than Christmas, and I'll post a bit about it when it's all unpacked, because it's just so awesome! So many beautiful things which were totally off-limits when I was a little girl are finally mine, and I'm so excited to have visitors over and pull it all out. She even gave me two small Doulton plates, which is a big deal for mum, because she collects it and my dad bought her these plates when they lived in Toowoomba, which basically kick-started her collection. I feel so lucky to have grown up in a house which was filled with antiques, because it has really fostered my love for it all. I think it can go either way when you grow up in a house like ours - you either love and embrace it, or hate and shun it. I'm so glad that I fell in love with it, and I attribute my passion for history to this antique-filled upbringing. I always loved hearing the stories behind the things mum and dad found and collected, and I think that was my first real exposure to "history". 

Have you had any recent thrifty finds that blew your mind? Or perhaps some exciting hand-me-downs, like I received from mum?

Behind Schedule

Today's Friday's Finds post is going to be a little bit late (like, tomorrow late) because I stayed at my parents' place this week to get my back fixed by my chiropractor and I've already packed everything, ready to go home this afternoon (oops, no photos!). Here's a picture of a puppy in a teacup so you all don't hold this against me:

Everybody say "awwwww!"

"I hate books," he said,

"I hate books," he said, as he wrapped me in his arms. "They always steal you away from me."

I kissed his mouth and smiled. "It's only for a few hours. I've missed you. Come and snuggle."

As this conversation played out the other night, I couldn't help but feel bad. I hadn't seen Jake in a week, and here I was with my nose in a book. I felt selfish.

But then I remembered the following quote which I had read one day on the internet, and my guilt was diminished. Jake has always known, and loved, my nerdy side. He knows that books are a massive part of my life, just as motocross is a massive part of his. With how much of a hold the literary world has on my life, how could it not make up a huge part of what he loves about me?

I think this quote (by Robert Pattinson of all people) sums up and explains mine and Jake's situation pretty well:

"If you find a girl who reads, keep her close. When you find her up at 2 AM clutching a book to her chest and weeping, make her a cup of tea and hold her. You may lose her for a couple of hours but she will always come back to you. She'll talk as if the characters in the book are real, because for a while, they always are. Date a girl who reads because you deserve it. You deserve a girl who can give you the most colorful life imaginable. - Robert Pattinson, redeemed

I screenshotted this when it popped up on my pinterest again tonight and sent it to Jake with a message reminding him of something. "You may lose me for a few hours while I'm reading a book, but I will always be yours and I will always be much the better for reading. One day, you will come to treasure the way I can get lost in a book. My eyes will light up as I animatedly discuss the character, just as though he is a real person, and you will look at me and smile, because I'm passionate, I'm inspired and I'm yours." 

Poor Little Fur Baby

I don't know if I have mentioned him before on the blog, but I have a gorgeous little Jack Russell cross mini foxy called Coke. We got him about 5 years ago when he was a tiny little pup in a pet shop and he has become the most amazing part of the family since. My family lives in a big house on three blocks of land, and Coke has always had the run of the mill here. We have no fence, but he is well trained and knows not to go on the road or over to next door's property and he always obeys that rule. He is incredibly smart, and incredibly active and we love him to bits.

A couple of weeks ago, just before I moved out of home, Coke came upstairs from his morning pee limping. We checked his foot and couldn't see any thorns or anything. There were no scratches or bumps and his leg looked perfectly fine, but he was wincing when we touched above his knee. For the next few days, he refused to put his leg down and we wondered what could be wrong. After no sign of improvement four days later, I took him to the vet. She told us he had torn his tendon, but it was only a partial tear and should heal in a week with some medication if we kept him quiet. Relieved, I left home thinking all would be okay and next time I saw my baby he would be back to his normal, playful self.

I came home on Friday, however, to a completely different scene. He looked worse and mum told me he was having surgery on Monday. My poor fur baby now has 15 stitches running from his knee up to his thigh and he is in so much pain, he can't walk. His recovery will take about three months, but the vet is certain that the surgery went well and he will make a full recovery. It still breaks my heart to see him so helpless and sore though :(

I was only supposed to be home until Tuesday morning, because I came down for a chiropractor appointment after my crash a few weeks ago, but my back still isn't right and the chiropractor asked me to stay until the end of the week so he can give me another treatment tomorrow. This tells me that something definitely isn't right with my back because I have never had treatments so close together before, not even when I was first diagnosed with scoliosis, and I had just gotten to the point of yearly appointments with the chiro, and was pretty much pain free for the first time since I was about 13. My back and neck are killing me today and I'm so glad I decided to stay for my second treatment, if not for my own sake, but to look after my precious Cokey too.

Bleach-Dyed T-Shirt Tutorial

A while ago I stumbled upon a tutorial for this on A Beautiful Mess. Naturally, I loved it and decided to give it a go. Here is my take on bleach dying, with a Harry Potter nerd twist. 

You Will Need:

A dark coloured shirt or singlet (mine is a men's singlet from Kmart)

Bleach

A thin, synthetic paintbrush

Chalk or fabric marker

Cardboard

How To:

Lay your shirt out on a flat workspace, preferably outside (for ventilation reasons) and insert the piece of cardboard between the layers of the shirt to prevent the bleach from going through. Thick cardboard works best.

Draw, using a fabric marker or chalk, your desired design. I chose the Deathly hallows symbol from Harry Potter, but you could draw or write anything you like. I recommend that you keep it simple though, and try to keep things centred and even. 

Now, dip your paintbrush into the bleach, and begin tracing over your design. You will need to refill your brush every few centimetres, and will need to be nice and heavy with the bleach so that it sinks in nice and even. Go slow, there is no rush, and you should start to see your design appear before your eyes!

Leave your shirt in the sun for about 10-15 minutes if you used regular bleach, or one hour if you used fabric safe bleach for it to process and lighten. Rinse your shirt out and hang it up to dry. Your design will lighten a little once it has dried.  The shade your design turns out will depend on the dye in your shirt and various other conditions. It could end up brown, or could end up stark white. Mine turned out tan and I love it. 

*Hermione Granger hair in photoshoot is optional

Friday's Finds: Burleigh Haul

Yesterday I took the bus up to my Uni for a meeting with the student success adviser. It was my first time catching the bus all that way and the first time I'd had to make a transfer (in a suburb I didn't know, to top it off). I was extremely nervous about making that cross over and getting to the meeting on time. As my first engagement with the University, I thought it was incredibly important that I be there on time. Fortunately, my plan to get there 15 minutes early was the best forward-thinking I have ever done, because it saved my butt when my first bus was running late and made me miss my second bus and have to wait around for a further 10 minutes for another. 

The meeting was incredibly helpful, and I feel much more confident about starting this new chapter of study now I have met with the success adviser and learned more about what my first year in the School of Humanities is going to be like, what resources are available to me and where I can go if I ever need help with anything. 

I was much more relaxed on the trip back, having made my deadline and learned a lot of helpful stuff, and so I decided to take the bus I was on all the way to Burleigh Heads before changing, rather than changing at the designated stop. Boy am I glad of this little brainwave, because opposite the bus stop is a great Salvos store, and look what I found!

My first ever pieces of vintage Pyrex! Ooh, it is a happy day for this little blogger where I could tick "Pyrex" of my "to find" list at $2 a piece!

These books are what the TV series Bones is loosely based around. The writer is a forensic anthropologist and all the science is real, as in the show (which she produces). The books are basically a reflection of Kathy's life, and I can't wait to read them! If you're a Bones nut like me, you will be interested to note that the author's name "Kathy Reichs" is the name of the character in Brennan's book on the show! How is that for a cool Bones nerd fact?

I just love the chipper patterns on my pyrex! They're very "me".

I almost didn't buy this dress, because it was $6 and not something I would usually wear, but I kinda love the tie up front and am starting to crush on the khaki trend wayyy much lately, so bought it anyway. I think it would look great with a cute, lacy cami peeking through the ties, and will layer great for autumn and winter here in Australia. 

Have you had any simply amazing thrift store finds recently? I'm so glad I stopped at Burleigh on my way home. The fact that I now own vintage Pyrex has me absolutely bouncing with joy!