Everything is illuminated

"He awoke each morning with the desire to do right, to be a good and meaningful person, to be, as simple as it sounded, and as impossible as it actually was, happy. And during the course of each day his heart would descend from his chest into his stomach. By early afternoon he was overcome by the feeling that nothing was right, or nothing was right for him, and the desire to be alone. By evening he was fulfilled: alone in the magnitude of his grief, alone in his aimless guilt, alone even in his loneliness.

I am not sad, he would repeat to himself over and over, I am not sad. As if he might one day convince himself. Or fool himself. Or convince others - the only thing worse than being sad is for others to know that you are sad. I am not sad. I am not sad. Because his life had unlimited potential for happiness, insofar as it was an empty white room.

He would fall asleep with his heart at the foot of his bed, like some domesticated animal that was no part of him at all. And each morning he would wake with it again in the cupboard of his ribcage, having become a little heavier, a little weaker, but still pumping. And by midafternoon he was again overcome with the desire to be somewhere else, someone else, someone else somewhere else. I am not sad."

Everything is Illuminated (Jonathan Safran Foer)

New York city dreamin'

Like Crazy

"I thought I understood it, but I didn't - only the idea of it. Of you and me."

It's not often you find a movie about love & relationships that feels so real. "Like Crazy" is a story exploring the challenges of young love and long distance relationships. The story is so simplistic and yet it explores so many facets of young love not usually seen in films. It's so authentic you really feel every moment of it. I really loved the performance Felicity Jones - hope she will go far. The film was done on a teeny $250K budget and most of the dialogue is unscripted - pretty impressive!

She is unstoppable

She is a pyramid
But with him she's just a grain of sand
This love's too strong like mice and men
Squeezing out the life that should be let in

She was a hurricane

But now she's just a gust of wind
She used to set the sails of a thousand ships
Was a force to be reckoned with

She could be a Statue of Liberty
She could be a Joan of Arc
But he's scared of the light that's inside of her
So he keeps her in the dark

Oh, she used to be a pearl

Yeah, she used to rule the world

Can't believe she's become a shell of herself
'Cause she used to be a pearl

She was unstoppable
Moved fast just like an avalanche
But now she's stuck deep in cement
Wishing that they'd never ever met

She could be a Statue of Liberty
She could be a Joan of Arc
But he's scared of the light that's inside of her
So he keeps her in the dark

Oh, she used to be a pearl

Yeah, she used to rule the world

Can't believe she's become a shell of herself
'Cause she used to be a -

Do you know that there's a way out,
there's a way out
there's a way out
there's a way out

You don't have to be held down,
be held down
be held down
be held down

'Cause I used to be a shell
Yeah, I let him rule my world
my world
But I woke up and grew strong
And I can still go on
And no one can take my pearl

You don't have to be shell, No
You're the one that rules your world, ohh
You are strong and you'll learn
that you can still go on

And you'll always be a pearl

She is unstoppable

Short & Sweet

"Live in your life, not in your mind".

Be soft

"Be soft, do not let the world make you hard. Do not let the pain make you hate. Do not let the bitterness steal your sweetness. Take pride that even though the rest of the world may disagree, you still believe it to be a beautiful place".

Welcome, 2012

I'm not making any specific new year's resolutions for 2012. I think new year's resolutions can be harmful - who needs extra pressure/expectations?! Not me. Plus new year's resolutions are the reason I can no longer find a spare treadmill at the gym and have to arrive half an hour before my step class! Not cool. So, I'm not making new year's resolutions. I'm just going to take each day as it comes, and make the most of every day.

I have a good feeling about you, 2012.

What a wonderful world

A gorgeous video featuring footage from David Attenborough's documentaries, narrated by him singing "What a wonderful world". So gorgeous. Done by UK ad agency RKCR/Y&R.

See a large version and article here: http://www.businessinsider.com/david-attenborough-bbc-what-a-wonderful-world-2011-12

Or watch the YouTube video here:

This is a new day, this is a new day today.

A nice way to say "it's never too late".

"The best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago.
The second best time is today".

Read the rest of the article here: http://www.davykestens.be/self-improvement/why-most-people-dream-and-only-some-do-the-go-getter-theory

Midnight in Paris

This is on my weekend to do list, without a doubt.

Words from the wise

"Be yourself. Everyone else is taken".

- Oscar Wilde

Hogwarts will always be there to welcome you home.

I admit, I was in tears when I saw those red carpet speeches in London for the premiere of Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows Part 2. It's quite stunning the journey of the Harry Potter films and especially the 3 leads - Emma Watson, Rupert Grint, & Daniel Radcliffe. They've literally grown up in front of a world wide audience, and spent their childhoods together on the Harry Potter set.

Check out this footage of the last days of filming on the Harry Potter set. Tear.

And some bloopers from the last film:

September

I can't believe it's already September - this year has flown! September for me means I'm older - 24 which means next year is the big 25 but let's not talk about that. In this beautiful state of Queensland, September also means...SPRING! The flowers in my garden are blooming, I've stowed away my hot water bottle and heater, and best of all, been to the beach! I can't get enough of the beach when the weather is good, so I'm looking forward to many beach trips to come - there's nothing like driving up to Noosa in a bikini, my little Yaris playing summer tunes and packed with yummy food and beach towels. Brisbane City really excels at this time of year as well - Southbank is alive with people, everyone is in the parks on picnics, the river (which was formidable and entering our homes in January) is glittering. It's such a beautiful time of year. Here are some of my spring pics - so far.

Strawberry picking  with Mum & summery nails

Strawberry fields forever

Beautiful Bulimba

Dicky Beach - Fish and Chips

Real life - it takes two

I had to snap these adorable little twins on a walk their dad on the weekend. What a cute snapshot of family life.

You always hurt the ones you love

I saw this much discussed flick last weekend - it's really worth seeing! Quite intense because it's a confrontingly realistic portrayal of a relationship just gradually falling apart over time; without a big, dramatic cause.

"Blue Valentine is the story of love found and love lost told in past and present moments in time. Flooded with romantic memories of their courtship, Dean and Cindy use one night to try and save their failing marriage. Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams star in this honest portrait of a relationship on the rocks."

And if I broke your heart last night

It's because I love you most.

Potter Party

Oh yes, I did. What better way to celebrate the final Harry Potter film than have a par-tay full of Potter-inspired delights!

On the menu were Fizzing Whizzbees, Puking Pastilles, Acid Pops, Chocolate Frogs, Liquorice Wands, Chocolate Cockroach Clusters, Cauldron Cakes, Hagrid-inspired "HP" cakes, Ton-tongue Toffees, Treacle Tart, Hogwarts Black Lake with Sour Grindylows (jelly with sour worms), Ravenclaw Risotto and last but CERTAINLY not least - BUTTERBEER!!!! We had the Philosopher's Stone soundtrack blasting in the house, and the room was lit by candles making for a very Hogwarts-esque atmosphere. If you're skeptically wondering how we could possibly pull off Butterbeer - I can assure you, we did. Here's our recipe:

Nervous anticipation - will this taste like crap?!

BUTTERBEER

Ingredients - 300ml Thickened cream, 1 cup brown sugar, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence, 50g butter, Vanilla cream soda, Connoisseur  Vanilla ice cream.

Step 1: Make butterscotch sauce. Simply put the cream, vanilla essence, brown sugar, and butter in a saucepan and stir until it combines and has a nice thick saucey texture, and most importantly, that yummy butterscotch taste.

Step 2: Put cream soda in a saucepan over high heat; bring to the boil.

COMBINE! We had a play with the butterscotch sauce: cream soda ratios and put a dollop of the vanilla ice cream on top of each drink for extra froth.

It was PERFECT, if I do say so myself.

Victory!

Honeydukes Goody bag to-go

Waiting...with Acid Pops

Goodbye, Harry Potter

FINALLY.

7 books.

8 movies.

14 years.

I've changed a lot since I first met Harry Potter when I was 11 years old, at Primary School.

I've finished primary school, moved cities 4 times, including a stint in San Francisco, finished high school, finished Uni, travelled Europe, got my first real job, my first promotion, first pay rise, second promotion, second pay rise, fallen in love, fallen out of love, moved out of home, got my learner license, my driver's license, my drinking license...! One thing that hasn't changed is my love for the Harry Potter series.

It's been an adventure. It's been an escape. It's terrified, it's entertained, it's comforted. I have so many great memories thanks to the Harry Potter books: lining up outside book shops in the freezing cold, waiting for the latest embargo to lift; seeing the story brought to life in film for the first time when the Philosopher's Stone was released; playing Harry Potter board games with my sister and our friends; making mum stop the car in the middle of nowhere in rural Australia to locate the only bookstore within 100km in order to buy my sister and I a copy of Order of the Phoenix on release day; sitting on a park bench in a tiny country town reading the book aloud, initially to my sister, then to half the town who gathered around to hear the story; reading for a whole day and a half non-stop, finally reaching the end of the Deathly Hallows, my sister and I both in tears - "but we still have the movies," we said. Today the last film comes out, and I can't help but feel like something amazing and irreplaceable is coming, finally, to its end. It feels like the end of (a somewhat prolonged!) childhood.

I'm of course going to the midnight session, and giving Harry a worthy send off with a Hogwarts-style banquet before the film. I'm going with my sister and my best friend: the two people who convinced me to start reading "those silly kids books" to start with. I can't wait to be surrounded by all the other previously-11-year olds, now adults, all in costume, indulging one last time in the joy and excitement of a Harry Potter event. Harry Potter will surely go down in history as one of the great literary achievements of all time; what other book do you seeing being read on the train by three different generations of people? I can't wait to re-read the story in the future, and to one day share it with my own children. And I'm forever grateful to have been a part of generation-Harry.

Mischief Managed. 

"A common muggle" thanks JK Rowling for Harry Potter on the wall of an Edinburgh bathroom at "The Elephant Room" where JK Rowling spent time writing Harry Potter.

Winter Warmers - Cottage Pie

I am loving cooking at the moment, so this weekend I made a Cottage Pie, recipe from this month's Delicious magazine. It was BEAUTIFUL. Such nice wintery comfort food. I altered the recipe for the mash (which was meant to include horseradish, cheddar cheese, and mustard) to instead be much more fattening, with thickened cream, parmesean, and sooooo much butter. Yummy.

Before:



After:

Real life

On the bus