Category Archives: Fun Stuff

Drive-By Blogging

Too busy to write an essay but here are a few things I am thinking about:

You MUST see this movie. It’s animated (but definitely not for children) and set in a suburb of Melbourne. Voiced by Philip Seymour Hoffman and Toni Collette. In short – one of the best movies I have seen in a long time and instantly on my list of all time favourites.

I also saw another great movie over the weekend (I love it when my Netflix queue comes through with the goods). A wonderful period drama that makes me want to learn more about Queen Victoria… and speak with a british accent. Melbourne also made an appearance in this one in the form of Lord Melbourne, the person after whom the city was named.

Thomas picked out Samuel’s clothes yesterday and they were both dressed by the time I came downstairs. Just wanted to share this newly discovered benefit of the sibling relationship. Of course I then had to go back and re-dress Samuel so that his pajamas were not underneath his shorts and his legs were through two different holes of the pants. Still, it’s progress.

Kimonos courtesy of Obachan, all the way from Japan.

Speaking of Japan, my third and final chance for the World Cup bowed out this morning. I still don’t care, but it would have been nice to jump on the bandwagon if they had won.

The next photo is for my sister-in-law. Her name is Emma and I think the illustration looks a little like her. Random.

And, finally, a photo to celebrate the fact that we had a temporary foray back to ice-cream weather on the weekend (although the pic is a couple of months old). I have my fingers crossed that the sun will shine throughout my four day weekend.

Christmas Week

I am at home with the boys this week while school/daycare are closed. We’re doing our best to keep ourselves occupied and away from the craziness of the stores (although we did make one quick trip to Barnes and Noble yesterday to pick up an Elf – more on that later). Thomas and I even baked cookies yesterday. Of course I didn’t have the oven hot enough so they took twice as long as they should have to cook. It pays to read instructions properly.

I also got all my wrapping done and have everything we need for Christmas dinner apart from a couple of things I’ll be picking up the day before. I am officially ready for Christmas.

On the agenda for today… Samuel’s first haircut. We had to wait three years for Thomas’ first haircut so this is a bit of a treat. I’ll be back with photos of course, but for now I’ll leave you with some photos of two little boys who are definitely getting in the spirit.

The Person Who Invented Infused Sake is a Genius

I have always loved to sing. I was in a few musicals in High School and I loved it – but it was clear that it was never going to a career. I was destined to be in the chorus so the dream didn’t follow me to university.

I think my voice is OK. In fact I have full confidence in it when I sing lullabies to my children at night. And by lullabies, I mean whatever mellow song I can remember the words to – Away in a Manger, Silent Night, Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds…

And the I moved to Japan for a year and suddenly I became a pretty good singer in a sea of people who loved to sing regardless of their level of talent. There is no such thing as false modesty (or even real modesty) when you are with a group of Japanese people in a Karaoke bar. EVERYONE is expected to sing and everyone marvels at your singing ability. There’s nothing better to boost your confidence level.

That was about 12 years ago. It’s been a long time between Karaoke sessions, but the truth is that I didn’t leave it my love for Karaoke in Japan. I have carried it with me for 12 years – that desire to get in front of a group of friends and belt out classic songs from the 80s.

And then a couple of weeks ago my friend Leeann requested a Karaoke night for her birthday. It may as well have been MY birthday present.

It started off well with my signature Karaoke song, but I’m pretty sure it went downhill from there. Although, admittedly, it was difficult to make an informed judgement after the 4th jalapeno-infused sake.

Two things I was reminded of during the evening:

  • You are really not as good a singer as you think you are, and
  • Karaoke is FUN (especially when you’re drinking jalapeno-infused sake)

Oh, and one more thing. A great evening of Karaoke ends with a very grand finale.

Recharging

It’s been a tough week. A big event at work on Monday meant that the beginning of week felt like it should have been the end of the week and now Thursday feels like December. And now I need to turn my efforts to a big creative project and I feel drained.

For a little pick me up, I went in search of some creative, colourful inspiration.

Mika’s new video for “We Are Golden”. Click here to watch (unfortunately I can’t embed) and just try to stop yourself from dancing around the room in your underwear using a hairbrush for a microphone.

Related note – fabulous album artwork.

Loving this Target ad. I have seen a lot of stop motion videos lately, but this one just has so much colour.

Colours Ad

Speaking of stop motion videos – this is AMAZING.

This book – I have wanted it for SO long and finally purchased it with an Amazon gift certificate. Can’t wait until it arrives (Free Super Saver shipping so should be about three weeks…).

And finally having the change to watch this movie. Coraline and I have a date on Friday night (between catching up on episodes of Weeds, Dexter and Entourage and revisiting Six Feet Under. Thanks Netflix).

Have any great pieces of inspiration you would like to share?

 

Benema in the City

As soon as I knew Ben and Emma were coming to visit, I decided we would have one day where we would split up. The kids would be in daycare, which would leave Ben and Kei to play golf and me and Emma to have a girly day of pedicures, lunch and window shopping (and maybe a little real shopping).

Of course we got the pedicures.

And then I introduced Emma to the joy that is the Peete’s Dark Chocolate Mocha Freddo. Oh, Emma, I am so sorry that I teased you with the delicious chocolate goodness and then you had to say goodbye. (of course I’m sure you more than made up for it over the next FOUR weeks of your round the world vacation. Can you hear the sympathy?).

Next up was a little shopping where we checked out some funky t-shirts and I drooled over a lot of over-priced children’s clothing. If you saw what my children manage to do to their clothes on a daily basis, you’d understand why I didn’t invest in a $40 t-shirt.

I also drooled over these dresses that, I know deep down, I am just not funky enough to actually wear.

And finally a trip to the mall where we walked away disappointed that Macy’s clinique gift time was over, but then rejoiced when Nordstrom came through with the gift. It’s the small things in life.

Then I tried on a funky little top that was just way too cute on the hanger. Sadly though, when I went into the dressing room to try it on, it turned out to be a jumpsuit. A jumpsuit! Not sure why, but I could not stop laughing enough to even tell Emma about my wardrobe malfunction. Maybe it was the image of myself in the mirror trying to work out why I couldn’t get the leg hole over my head.

A good laugh at the end of a great day.

Random Monday

A few things that are interesting/insipiring me today:

 

Thankful for sunny days and short holiday weeks.

Happy Monday.

Nicole

8 Things

I was tagged by Karen and, since summer TV has begun and I am watching reruns of Law and Order SVU, I thought now was the perfect time to respond. I really hate Summer TV season. 

8 Things I’m Looking Forward To

1. Friday (around 5pm)
2. A girls weekend in Seattle next week (whoo hoo)
3. Finally getting to see Samuel walk (the kid has been teasing us for a long time)
4. More arugula from our veggie garden
5. Seeing my brother and (soon-to-be) sister-in-law again – missing them already
6. A trip home to Australia for their wedding next year
7. My Mum’s visit in August.
8. The bottom of the pile of laundry that I am working on.

8 Things I Did Yesterday
1. Caught up at work after a week of leave.
2. Edited Photos 
3. Blogged 
4. Picked my boys up from daycare
5. Watched Samuel laugh – a lot.
6. Hosted the little girl next door for dinner (without warning)
7. Tidied up my house (it was overdue)
8. Laundry (still not done)

8 Things I Wish I Could Do
1. Quit my job and take up photography full time (dreams)
2. Get someone in to clean the house (working on it)
3. Get Samuel to sleep later than 5am
4. Click my fingers and have our whole backyard look like an oasis.
5. Choose a colour to paint my house
6. Win the lottery so I could travel home whenever I felt like it.
7. Get my act together and organize my US citizenship
8. Eat sushi for dinner every night in the summer

8 Shows I Watch
1. Lost
2. American Idol
3. Desperate Housewives
4. Law and Order SVU
5. Medium
6. Oprah (and not ashmaed to admit it)
7. House
8. Criminal Minds

Now don’t you know more about me than you ever needed to?

I have no idea who reads this blog (Karen may be the only one). So if you’re reading, now is the time to complete this tag and link me up. 🙂

Business Time

Kei and I enjoyed a much needed night out and a good laugh last night when we went to see Flight of the Conchords live in Portland. At one point there were tears coming down my cheeks because I was laughing so hard. Oh it felt good to let go of the cray business that has infiltrated our lives and just sit back and relax for a couple of hours.

Here is one of my favourite Conchords songs – quite appropriate given a big anniversary that we’ll be celebrating tomorrow.