Family photo

Here is another photo from my Australia Day Award ceremony. My parents are so proud of me - it was lovely they could share the ceremony with me. They're a very special pair and I love them so much :)

Australia Day Award

Happy Australia Day! I am so proud to be an Australian - I live in a lucky country full of diversity and great opportunities.

Yesterday I received an Australia Day Award (medal) at work. I am really proud and excited, and so I wanted to share it with you on this blog. It was a wonderful day and I shared it with special family, friends and colleagues.

Here is my (edited) acceptance speech:

I’ve been asked to ensure this speech doesn’t cut into our eating time, and I’m all for food, so I’ll make it short!

It’s a great honour to receive this Australia Day award. It’s nice to be recognised for my work within the organisation and in the external community. Receiving this award is a reminder that the organisation I work for is a supportive employer that values and recognises its staff.

Thank you so much for coming to this award presentation. It means a lot to me that you’re all here, particularly my external guests – Mum and Dad (who have traveled from Albury in NSW and told a million people about my award), Jason Hill (editor at DiVine), Scott Star (he directed my sketches on No Limits and is an all round provider of humour and jackets for when I am cold) and James (Inspirational chipper – my favourite, not that I’m meant to have favourites). I also want to acknowledge Stella Young (editor at ABC’s Ramp Up) who could not be here today. And thanks to the choir, for singing wonderfully once again. I actually have a request, seeing it’s Australia Day – for the choir to sing a Savage Garden song. In case anyone doesn’t know, I am a huge fan!

Thank you also to my two managers who nominated me, and my Assistant Commissioner for supporting my nomination. The support, encouragement and love you continue to give me is amazing, and you are three of the reasons why I love coming to work here in this team.

I received this award for both my work in this organisation, and for my volunteer work. Most of you know what I do as an events planner and writer, so I’ll speak a little about what I do as a volunteer.
I volunteer in a number of areas of the disability community - I am a writer for the ABC's Ramp Up website (and a paid writer for DiVine). I am also a TV presenter on Channel 31's No Limits (6.30 pm Monday nights on Channel 31 or 44 digital). I have recently finished up as a mentor at the Chronic Illness Peer Support (ChIPS) program at the Royal Children's Hospital after almost three years. This volunteer work has only happened in the last three years, after I wrote an article about myself for Harmony Day in my organisation's national newsletter. Volunteering opportunities came up, and like a lot of things I do in life, I thought, ‘yeah, I can do that’ and so I did.

Volunteering has afforded me lots of opportunities. I have developed my presentation skills and confidence through working on No Limits (and also learnt there is no glamour working in television!). I write for DiVine, which is a website for the Victorian Government’s Office of Disability. DiVine has been a great opportunity for me, and last year I was awarded a Yooralla Media Award for three articles I submitted. I was asked by Stella Young to write for the ABC, which for me, is the pinnacle of Australian media. I love to write, so producing articles for both the ABC and DiVine is never a chore. I have also been able to meet and assist some wonderful, inspiring young people through my work with the ChIPS. ChIPS has taught me leadership skills and patience, and I have also been privileged to see young people grow and achieve their goals. I have also made so many new friends through volunteering.

Most importantly, my work in the disability community has enabled me to educate countless people about ichthyosis and disability. One of the young people at ChIPS wrote the following in my 'warm fuzzy' book on the ChIPS camp last week: 'Carly, you are very inspirational. I've realised now, that when I used to go to the Children's hospital, I used to stare at people. But on this camp, I've learned that it's not about our illnesses, but it's about the person underneath. And you have taught me that. Thank you Carly.'

Her words sum up why I volunteer. It's to make a difference to others through education, positive media, support, humour and fun. I want to help people manage and accept their own chronic illnesses and disabilities. I also want to influence the way people perceive disability and chronic illness. I may not be able to stamp out discrimination worldwide, but I may be able to make someone think twice about commenting on someone's appearance or ability, and instead, take the time to get to know them better.

I encourage all of you to volunteer – you will get so much joy out of it, and more importantly, give to those who really need assistance.

Doodle 4 Google - Happy Australia Day

How beautiful is this?! It was designed by a 12 year old school girl, Jessie Du, for the Doodle 4 Google Australia Day competition.



(Image from Doodle 4 Google)

There was some controversy surrounding the editing of the original image to remove the Aboriginal flag due to copyright.

Either way, I think it is so clever and beautiful, and I enjoyed Googling today.

Happy Australia Day!

Australia Day breakfast

Happy Australia Day! Aside from the sometimes relentless heat, I am so happy to live in Australia, and thankful that we are still the lucky country, full of opportunities for everyone. I really hope we as a nation continue to progress with multiculturalism - racism seems too prominent in recent years.

Today I am staying home and pottering around the house and getting it in order before I return to work tomorrow. I'll be listening to the Hottest 100 - which I didn't realise starts at 12:00 pm this year. Later on I will crank up my indoor barbequeue that my parents bought me for Christmas - will have some lamb chops, sweet potato, capsicum and eggplant.

Cooking is a huge part of my life - I've certainly inherited this love from my Mum - and I realise I haven't actually blogged about cooking much yet. So I will.

I have just finished a delicious breakfast that I cooked myself. Breakfast (excluding cereal and eggs that aren't scrambled) is often my favourite meal of the day. I love salmon and avocado with scrambled eggs, bircher muesli, toast topped with honey and cream cheese and peaches, porridge with banana and brown sugar....

On workdays in the warmer months I make a smoothie with banana, and add berries, mango, peaches or whatever other fruits I have, and I put yoghurt and bran in with the milk. In winter I have porridge. I have a breakfast meeting with my managers once a week - we take it in turns to bring in breakfast. I love these days - it makes the meetings informal and I look forward to planning what to cook the day before.

I enjoy making breakfast but I also love going out to cafes. Yesterday I had corn cakes with bacon and roast tomato and aoli from a local cafe. Sunday I had bacon, egg and cheese crepes served with spinach and a thick, custardy hot chocolate to drink from Fraus.

Today I got up at the leisurely time of 9:45 am and showered and put on some washing, then cooked breakfast.

I have a book called Marie Claire Breakfast - I sometimes refer to the recipes, but generally I just make up recipes as I go along.


Chocolatey French toast with banana and peach and maple syrup.

I used three slices of the end of my loaf of bread (Edwards rye with soy and linseed - gluten and yeast free)
Two eggs
About a quarter of a cup of full cream milk
Two tablespoons of white sugar

Beat eggs and milk and sugar in a square container, and soak bread for about five minutes.

Heat pan with a teaspoon of butter.

When butter is bubbling, place eggy bread and egg mixture in the pan.

I topped one piece of bread with some small pieces of Green and Black Maya Gold chocolate (his is dark chocolate with orange and spices).

Cook one one side until golden, then flip bread and egg mixture over.

Serve on a plate with one cut peach and one sliced banana, and drizzle with maple syrup.



Please note - I didn't actually eat all of this at once - I have saved a slice of French toast for later, but I did eat all the fruit.

It was delicious!