update - improving life.

here are my next lot of tasks to tackle from my improving life challenge ...

7. For the next 100 days, have a good laugh at least once a day: get one of those calendars that has a different joke for every day of the year, or stop by a web site that features your favorite cartoons.

if i find anything hilarious i'll be sure to share.

...swapsies...

weheartit

10. Stop complaining for the next 100 days. A couple of years back, Will Bowen gave a purple rubber bracelet to each person in his congregation to remind them to stop complaining. “Negative talk produces negative thoughts; negative thoughts produce negative results”, says Bowen. For the next 100 days, whenever you catch yourself complaining about anything, stop yourself.

this is one i'm really keen to try out...

i have a habit of complaining about, well, pretty much everything, even if it doesn't actually bother me...

so now i'm going to actively try and stop and hopefully after the 100 days i won't even have to remind myself to stop being so negative!

37. Create a list of 10 healthy, easy to fix breakfast meals.

* mushroom omelette

* overnight oats

* berries with yoghurt

* peanut butter toast

* porridge

* fresh fruit

*fruit puree

* museli

* promite toast

* smoothies

56. For the next 100 days, practice active listening. When someone is talking to you, remain focused on what they’re saying, instead of rehearsing in your head what you’re going to say next. Paraphrase what you think you heard them say to make sure that you haven’t misinterpreted them, and encourage them to elaborate on any points you’re still not clear about.

:)

xx

improving life 2011.

whilst 'stumbling' around the web i came across a webpage listing "60 small ways to improve your life in 100 days" and am now setting out to complete them all...

i have created a page to record where i'm up to with this challenge...

the dates to be aware of are:

starting date: 25th August 2011

completion date: 3rd December 2011

you can find all the details 'here'.

i am tweaking it a tad, by starting things at different points, its too hard to remember everything from day one.

here are some of the things i've done to get started...

1. Create a “100 Days to Conquer Clutter Calendar” by penciling in one group of items you plan to declutter every day, for the next 100 days.

living on campus in a small little room i couldn't think of 100 groups of items to declutter and so i tweaked a little (as i tend to do with any type of challenge!) and decided to choose one group per week (14 weeks)...

groups to declutter include; makeup, magazines, workout clothes, weekend work bag, shelves, top of wardrobe, side of wardrobe, hanging wardrobe, uni work, computer files, food locker, underwear, shoes and handbag.

2. Live by the mantra: a place for everything and everything in its place. For the next 100 days follow these four rules to keep your house in order:

 i wrote them down and stuck them inside my wardrobe.

this is the reason i need to do a challenge like this... half laundry/half clean clothes on the floor of my room.

8. Choose a book that requires effort and concentration and read a little of it every day, so that you read it from cover to cover in 100 days.

i saw this book 'half the sky' on oprah, the day before i decided to start this challenge and think it fits perfectly...

the book is about turning oppression into opportunity for women, and i will tell you more about it once i have read it.

note: i havent actually got the book yet, i bought it on ebay.

33. Choose one food that constantly sabotages your efforts to eat healthier—whether it’s the decadent cheesecake from the bakery around the corner, deep-dish pizza, or your favorite potato chips—and go cold turkey for the next 100 days.

no more twisites - my favourite go-to snack and hangover cure!

more to come soon...
just look out for 'improving life' in the title.

:)
xx

i vant to be a-lone star with black shatter and pink flamenco.

for my birthday back in april some of my friends got me a david jones voucher so that i could buy some OPI shatter polish...

waiting for the store to get it in was ridiculous, they could never tell me when it was coming in and they took my number ages ago and said they'd call when they next had it but i never heard from them...

on friday i finally found shatter polish in stock at the store...

unfortunately there was no black, but it was ok, i grabbed the navy shatter instead...

i decided a silvery colour would look best underneath so i grabbed the 'i vant to be a-lone star' polish...

and as i was walking away i spotted the 'pink flamenco' colour and just had to have it...

pink flamenco.

yes its a horrible photo and yes i bite my nails. sorry.

so i walked away with $60 worth of polish...

i have never spent so much on nail polish in my life, but i am loving my current pink and navy combo!

another horrible photo. i rushed the shatter application, but you get the idea.

on friday night i decided to continue my recent classy streak and headed out with a friend to get cocktails...

we decided to visit the club i had my birthday party at, as they do really good $6 cocktails...

i have no idea what any of the drinks i had were as we just asked the bar tender to make us something yummy and different for each round...

we cool.

the atmosphere at the club was fantastic, with lots of people and acoustic live music...

totes keen to go back again next week!

i dont know why it looks like i have a huge stain on the front of my skirt cause i just double checked it and its clean - weird.

:)

xx

the $5er challenge.

  the $5er challenge involves putting aside EVERY $5 note you receive for a month...

the idea for the challenge came from carly a while back, and i added it straight to my day zero list to be completed at a later date...

that time has finally come and for the month of august i have put all $5 notes that have come into my possession, into a secret hiding place (dun dun dun!!!)...

i have currently managed to save...

$75

which i'm pretty happy about, now its time to spoil myself and for that i'm asking for YOUR help!

below is a list of things i am currently contemplating buying...

i need YOU to take a look and suggest which product you think i should purchase with my savings at the end of the month!

- iphone

obviously i can't pay for a whole iphone with my $5er money but it would be a good start...

i'm not sure wether to go get an iphone yet or wait til the iphone 5 is released (the expected release is october).

image credit

- hair extensions

i want some new longgggggg clip in extensions...

my old ones are pretty much the same length as my hair is now...

i'm thinking black extensions, so i'll have to dye my hair if i do...

maybe i should stick to brunette?

weheartit

- good quality makeup

i'd really like a good quality foundation...

from somewhere like MAC or napoleon...

do you use either of these brands?

or can you suggest better???

weheartit

- Heels

i wear the one pair of heels over and over and over and over and over and over...

thus i'm thinking its about time i splurged on a new pair...

just can't decide on a style/colour!!!

weheartit

- Zipper Shorts

i LIVE in short shorts...

so when i spotted these in myer the other day i knew i wanted a pair...

they have zippers up each side...

i'd love to find them for cheaper tho!

image credit - kenji denim zip side short in black from myer.

so what do YOU think i should spend my $5 notes on?

what should I spend my $5er challenge money on?
	iphone
	hair extensions
	good quality makeup
	heels
	zipper shorts
	something else (leave suggestion in comments)
pollcode.com free polls

:) 

xx

i just HAD to ok!?!

yes i'm giving in...

after it seeing it again here... 

i HAVE to join in (albeit a tad late) with the rest of the blogging community and share my '7 links'!

most beautiful post:

my beautiful friends all dressed up in beautiful clothes...

its the...

'res ball'

of course!

most popular post:

i used my stats page to work this one out...

and with 72 page views, my most popular post is about...

'mid week laughs'

a look back at highschool and things that make me laugh.

most controversial post:

weheartit

i tend to shy away from writing anything controversial, not nessecarily because i'm worried about offending people but more because i don't want to comment on issues that i don't have all the facts about...

therefore i'd say my most controversial post is this one...

'ouchie.'

are you afraid of needles?

how about tattoos???

most helpful post:

me helpful?

uh i think i just ramble...

maybe this helped someone? somewhere? 

find the adopted puppy of their dreams...

'puppy love'

surprise success:

i think it's the title of this one that drew people in...

i mean, really, what is ...

'redbull & viagra' 

going to be about???

;)

not enough attention:

i just went on an amazing overseas volunteer holiday guys...

'maldives wk 1 & 2'

most proud:

i'm proud that i took the time to write about this huge life changing event and share it with everyone...

' the incident that changed my life'.

weheartit

:)

xx

back to school three.

another year, another opportunity to party like its 1999.

 E and me.

on wednesday night, i attended my university's annual 'back to school' party...

which involves dusting off the old school uniform for a night of drunken fun...

being my third year at this event (you can read about my first year here) i didn't devote too much time to finding an outfit, and actually managed to pull the whole thing together with pieces i had lying around in my cupboard...

i even managed to incorporate a cheerleading bow into my outfit, it was the perfect accessory!

school girls on res.

of course on the one night of the year you guarantee a million girls are wearing white shirts it was bucketing down rain...

the walk from campus to the pub was wet, wet, wet and i'm suprised i didn't end up face down in the mud...

there was a half hour wait to get inside, but luckily i have friends who know people and the manager was waiting for us outside to let us straight in...

a few hours of dancing later it was time to head home...

but not without a stop in at mcdonalds first for a drunken feed!

still a little wet. classic bathroom shot.

:)

xx

twenty one.

this post should have been posted in april but i was on hiatus and i just had to share it with you all.

my twenty-first birthday

i turned 21 on April 28th 2011...

the night before was another girl on my residence's birthday and so i grabbed the opportunity to get my own birthday celebrations started early...

the theme my friend had chosen was jersey shore and i was wayyyy excited about that as i love the show...

 top from left: ronnie, the situation, pauly d. and vinnie. 
right: me as deena with E as snookie.
bottom: the girls lookin jersey-licious!

everyone had so much fun getting into the theme...

and i had an absolute blast going out, i was in a fantastic mood alllll night, happily letting everyone know at midnight that it was now my 21st birthday!!!

my sober face.

the next day my good friend and ex-roomie E took me out to lunch,

we had a good gossip about everything that had gone down the night before and started getting excited for my party that was in two days!

i began planning my party about a year before...

i'd never really had a party (only a few lil dinners or sleepovers here and there when i was younger), so my parents had always promised to let me throw a big 21st...

choosing a theme took forever...

in the end it was a toss up between musicals (which i love) and a horror theme...

i decided on horror because i thought there were more costumes people could choose from and i hoped it was a theme that my guy friends could get into...

and so my 21st 'spooktacular' was born.

top left: my sister and i.
top middle: DC.
top right: me with light-up skull.
bottom: my extended family 

on the night i couldn't have been happier or more excited...

the room i'd selected at a club in the city, was all done up with spooky decorations, such as a spider web, skeletons, light-up skulls and more...

i was dressed up as 'magenta' from 'the rocky horror show'...
my extended family had traveled from all over australia to attend...

and all my family put enormous amounts of effort into their costumes...

the drinks were flowing...

all my favourite friends were there...

the dance floor absolutely went off, my crazy family showed my friends how to bust a move...

my dad made a cute lil speech...

the bar tab lasted til almost the very end of the party...

my cheer friends tried to a fly a very drunk me...

a very drunk me also did the splits (i paid for that for days afterward, haha, im not really that flexy)...

yeah i can't even get close to this sober.

my cake was the most amazing thing i have ever seen ...

love all the photos in the background from when i was little that mum and my sis put together :)

it was just an all round blast!!!

:)

xx

was he serious?!?!

a couple weeks back a friend and i went to see the movie 'bad teacher'...

the movie was average, with a few funny parts here and there, but nothing that really made me laugh my ass off...

but i'm not here to do a review, this story is about what happened BEFORE i sat down in the less then comfortable cinema seat...

weheartit

so we get to the cinema, line up, you know the usual...

and then i walk up to order my ticket..

"one for bad teacher, a frozen coke and a packet of twisties please"...

guy at the counter hits a few buttons on the screen and then looks up at me...

"can i see some i.d. please?"...

"uh sure here you go"...

and hand him my licence, not even questioning why he needs to see it...

he takes a look and blushes a little..

"oh, i'm really sorry... honestly, it's a compliment that you look young"...

HOLD UP!

it hits me...

he's asked to see my i.d. because its a M15+ movie and he didn't think i looked old enough to get in...

i don't look close to 15...

im twenty one...

the night i turned twenty one - jersey shore theme! 

i don't even always get i.d'd when buying alcohol...

but you know gotta make sure i'm not sneaking into any movies with content my young brain just can't handle...

maybe it was my food selections that confused him...

i really am just a big kid at heart!

my sister, dad and i at my 21st birthday party - spooktacular theme.

:)

xx

note: whilst writing this post i realised my 21st birthday occured during my blogging hiatus and im thinking a post about it should be done real soon - so keep an eye out!

trying to be classy and how i keep myself entertained at work.

so as it turned out thursday night wasn't actually that great...

i did enjoy catching up with one of my favourite people, E...

E and i lived together for my first two years of uni...

and still live on the same residence, tho we don't get to spend near as much time together now.

we started the night with a few drinks with friends on campus...

before we headed to a small cocktail bar in town for a chance to chat and catch up on each other's lives...

i enjoyed visiting a much classier venue then i usually do, and having the opportunity to drink the 'toblerone' cocktail - so yummy!

E.

yummmmy toblerone.

from there we moved around to a few other bars, finding each to be atleast half empty and not all that exciting...

so yeah overall, average night but great company!

i had to nanny the next day, looking after a two year old...

we entertained ourselves taking photos of our friends...

on average i spend about 14 hours a week with these two...

and so i would like to introduce you to...

'ken' aka 'prince charming'

and

'rapunzel'

:)

xx

o wk.

the holiday is over and oweek is here once again...

semester two orientation week is never as  fun or exciting as the big oweek at the start of the year, but its still a good excuse to go out on a week night!

i havent got that into sem2 oweek this time round...

not like last year.

MONDAY

my sister and i drove to meet up halfway between our two towns, so we could catch up after my holiday and so i could return her camera (i accidently left my camera at home before heading overseas and thankfully she lent me hers!)...

we went and had coffee and cake at a cute lil cafe, caught up on each others goss and i gave her the pressies i'd picked up for her overseas...

then we headed over to the shops to find some trackies for my sister, as she was wearing a dress and it was freezing...

we ended up walking around some furniture and electronic stores dreaming about all the things we will buy when we have our own homes...

then we grabbed some lunch (the most delicious vegetarian lasagne - nom nom!)...

and went for a game of ten pin bowling...

 hate to admit i lost the game :(          

   liss rocking the trackpants under a dress look!              

that night was golf pro's and tennis hoes night at the local pub...

i chose not to dress up as that is probably my least favourite theme ever!

my duty free vodka certainly came in handy and im sure i had a great time, tho i wish i could remember a tad more of it.

TUESDAY

the hangover hit...

so i stayed in bed til about midday before heading up to the campus cafe for a hangover feed and to catch up on all the goss from the night before with friends :)

tuesday night was karaoke in town...

and i do LOVE karaoke, but i was exhausted and still feeling my hangover a tad so opted not to attend this one.

WEDNESDAY

i had work (nannying) all day...

and then cheer practice that night...

i was sooo keen to go out but i didnt get home from cheer til 10:30 and it was raining so i lost my motivation to do anything and went to bed instead.

THURSDAY

which brings us to today...

so far ive done very little, mainly because its raining and i reallly need to clean my room up but im trying to avoid it.

im heading out tonight into town...

ill be sure to take my camera, since ive been sooo slack with photos so far this week.

:)

does your university/college have an oweek or something similiar?

whats it like?

xx

i'm a cheerleader now.

"we cheer and we lead, we act like we're on speed"

                                                                - bring it on

one leg - scale. im in the green pants backing the stunt.


about half way through last year i was face painting at my uni's open day when i saw a group of cheerleaders walking around...
i went home and googled them straight away.


ive wanted to be a cheerleader since i first saw bring it on...

my sister, cousin and i used to run around the backyard making up dances and creating our own little pyramids, often accidently dropping my sister - oops!
after googling the cheerleaders i had seen walking around i decided to go in and give it a go...
i loved it instantly!
and so at the start of this year i officially joined a cheerleading squad.


mayhem cheerleaders.


we are a competitive cheerleading squad...
which means we lift people, we throw them in the air, we dance and we tumble (think flips and the like)...
we don't cheer for a football team or anything like that...
we train three days a week - 4.5 hours...
we had our first comp in june but i missed it as it was on the day i flew out to the maldives...
our next comp is in just over a month and i cannot wait!

cheerleaders at my 21st party.

" eat, cheer, sleep, repeat"

:)

xx

my big mistake...

what is the number one mistake i have only just realised i am making here at momentary lapse of reality?

NOT EDITING PHOTOS!

having just returned from a month long holiday on a tropical island, i found myself disapointed with my photos...

they just didn't quite capture the moment as vividly as i remembered it...

and so began my foray into editing.

edited

it doesn't take much time or effort - just a little adjustment of the brightness and contrast...

and BAM! its like a whole new photo! 

take this holiday snap from the maldives for example:

the original

edited

so which do you prefer?

do you edit your photos?

what programs do you use?

edited

:)

xx