It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

Christmas is in the air. I love Christmas - the present purchasing (and exchanging) is my favourite. Actually, present exchange and carol singing are the only real Christmassy things I do. Nevertheless, I'm already in the Christmas spirit!
Today at work, my American colleague brought in pumpkin pie.

And canned cream!

It was delicious!!!

My first taste of pumpkin pie was last December, when the same colleague brought in a pumpkin pie. It was like a custard tart. My Aussie colleagues and I can't fathom how Americans eat pumpkin as a dessert.

I had one piece at morning tea, and then after lunch, I was presented with a pie box and a slice of pie on my desk. Thanks D and N :)

The pumpkin pie was to celebrate Thanksgiving. I am quite ignorant to the meaning of Thanksgiving, but I like the idea of giving thanks and celebrating with a feast.

I am thankful for a loving family, great friends, and so many wonderful opportunities happening for me. I am living the life I imagined - being a real writer!

We don't celebrate Thanksgiving in Australia but I lived vicariously through the TV show Felicity.

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I was always a Ben girl.

When I watched Thanksgiving scenes on Felicity, I loved the family spirit the holiday creates. I think Thanksgiving should be an Australian holiday too!

I don't have a holiday tree like Faux Fuschia. But last week I spent an hour lunching in the sunshine with my new lovely writing friend Pauline. I saw a giant holiday tree in the city, perched atop astroturf. (I personally think Faux Fuschia should be its chief decorator.)

Here is my view from the park bench.

And look at the beautiful sky. A sign an Australian Christmas (and the heat of summer I dread) is on its way.

I mentioned I love to give presents. I have done most of my Christmas shopping already. I am going on a day trip to country Victoria tomorrow and hope to pick up a few things from the boutiques there. Stores pull out their best bags at Christmas - here is one I got from Kikki K.

I love to carefully choose the gifts, thinking of my recipients' likes, personalities and hobbies, and then lovingly wrap them.

When I wrap Christmas presents, I think of Love Actually...

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...well actually, not of Billy Mack and his girls, but Rowan Atkinson wrapping the necklace for Alan Rickman's mistress.

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My Tiffany experience reminded me of that scene!

I hope your Christmas preparation is going well :)

Tonight will comprise takeaway noodles, pink wine and watching Love Actually for the 878th time, and then perhaps Felicity. I adore Love Actually so much <3

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Gumnut babies

It has been so cold in Melbourne these last few days. It hasn't helped my cold. My wheezing sounds like a rusty spray can being shaken. The BOM says it's currently around 10 degrees, which is a heatwave compared to the 7.2 degrees at midday yesterday.

I get extremely cold. Even in the office. My head gets really cold. Especially because there is no protective layer of skin to keep it warm - my protective layer is constantly shedding. So I wear a hat. Even in the office. It's an equal combination of keeping warm and avoiding hat hair.

Someone told me I look like a Gumnut Baby today. You know, Snugglepot and Cuddlepie by May Gibbs. Cute compliment!

Here is what Gumnut Babies look like.

And here is what I looked like today.


I am wearing a hat my parents bought me from Tasmania - it is hand felted and knitted.

Perhaps it does make me look like a Gumnut Baby? With suitably more clothes, of course.

And this is the closest I've come to wearing a suit in a long time:
Skirt by Brown Sugar circa 1985 from Mum's wardrobe
Top by Target (over merino jumper from Glassons)
Tweed jacket by Target via op shop in Tasmania (it has awesome floral patchwork detail on the bottom)
Button down leggings OVER stockings
Shoes by Myer
Necklace by Oh Deer
Brooch via Esty (it's a felted nest with blue pearl eggs inside).

I usually wear a lot of grey in winter, well, all year round, really, but lately I've taken to wearing this camel coloured skirt (it's wool and super warm) with other camel coloured clothes. It's ever since I bought the Fauxpard Jacklet from Target (because it goes with camel!).

Sometimes I wonder whether I should do more outfit posts on this blog. My colleagues know I blog so I could easily ask them to photograph me. But then I wonder if it would detract from the intended substance of this blog. Not that I am highbrow all the time... What do you think? More outfit posts?

In completely unrelated news, but it did make me think of (and surprisingly yearn for) some warm weather - me and Business Chic are going to see Bon Jovi in December. I got tickets tonight. El-cheapo ones, which literally mean row x, but that's the price you've gotta pay when you were too young to appreciate these sort of bands in your youth. I told you, I got a male bogan gene.

I can't wait to sing my heart out to this. Like a male bogan. I wish I had big hair.

(Check out Keri Russell in the clip! She has big hair.)



I love music videos of the 90s. When they still told stories. And werent full of half naked, gyrating women. The women in this clip are far classier than that, despite still being half naked.

And on that note, proving that the topics within Radio Carly are really sometimes irrelevant, goodnight. Who would have thought May Gibbs would feature alongside Jon Bon Jovi.

Things that make me happy on a Thursday. Beautiful women.

I flicked through Rolling Stone magazine after dinner. I don't know why I buy it anymore as most of it does not appeal. But tonight I saw some gorgeous photos and an article about Angus and Julia Stone. I am seeing them live on 25 March. I adore them. Are they not the most attractive band you've ever seen?

(Source: Direct Current Music)

This is my favourite song of theirs. The Beast.


No, maybe this one. What You Wanted.



Actually, I love them all.

Then I visited Missea and my smile widened so much when I saw her feature on Keri Russell. Is she not the most beautiful woman you've seen, aside from Julia Stone and Cate Blanchett?


(Source: Missea via InStyle)

I adore this photoshoot she did with InStyle Magazine. The way she does casual is amazing. THAT JACKET! Oh my.

I love Keri Russell. I need to devote a whole blog post to her. When I was at university full time, I wanted to be just like Felicity. And Iwanted to be dating Ben Covington.

I look at this photoshoot and I want to dress just like Keri Russell.

Beautiful women are what made me happy tonight.

Eternal characters

Mum and I and two other friends went to see Did You Hear About the Morgans? today.

Before the film, I was pulled over by the police for a random breath test. Now, I may be mistaken, but they do breath tests differently in NSW. Last time I had a breath test was in June 2009 before the Steve Poltz concert. I had to blow hard into a straw. Today I was told to count to ten. I was wondering why they didn't replace the straw from the previous driver. I didn't want to catch the previous driver's herpes. I disregarded the policeman's instructions to count to ten and tried to blow into the non existent straw. Man I felt dumb! There was no straw. I really did just have to talk into the breath test unit. He must have thought I was a complete bimbo. Hahahah - Mum and I are still laughing at my blowing!

I digress. This isn't a blog entry about my stupidity. There are plenty more stories of stupidity to tell you - like the time I asked, in my graphic design class, whether there is white printer ink! Uh Oh. FYI - there is no white printer ink in smaller home printers, but there can be for speciality commercial printers, and it's very excpensive. And FYI - I asked the stupid questions because the teacher said black ink on black paper is a great technique.

I digress again.

I want to tell you my thoughts on the film we saw today. Did You Hear About the Morgans?. It starred Sarah Jessica Parker and Hugh Grant. It was funny, and a little bit heartwarming, but no Notting Hill or Love Actually. it was a good escape from the world. From my lack of phone call from that boy. And before you ask, yes he finally called. I digress yet again.

While I was watching it, I couldn't stop thinking about how Sarah Jessica Parker cannot escape being Carrie Bradshaw.



The style/love of clothes. There was a moment in the movie where her character, Meryl, was packing for witness protection, and she didn't know what to pack so she asked the police woman whether she could pack a pretty dress. There was the Carrie Bradshaw squeal. The love for New York/city life. The mature yet cutesy successful career woman. She is, in my opinion, going to be playing an eternal character. She will always be Carrie Bradshaw. SJP needs to play some character with a prosthetic nose and no make up and a rough heart for her to convince me she's no longer Carrie Bradshaw.

Think Mariah Carey in this new movie - Precious.

Or Cate Blanchett in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. She was an old lady and a young girl. Or in the film Heaven with Giovanni Ribisi, where she shaved her head.



There's Hilary Swank in Boys Don't Cry - she transformed herself into a man.



Fabulous cases of actors NOT playing eternal characters.

I can think of two other actors who are set in my mind as eternal characters:

Kate Ritchie - she played Sally Fletcher in Home and Away, and has since been in Underbelly and on the radio.



I keep picturing her as a little girl, looking for Milko. Even when she was rough on Underbelly.

And my favourite, Keri Russell - she played Felicity, and has since been in August Rush and The Waitress.



I love the TV series Felicity more than you could ever know. I bought the four season DVD set on Ebay and watched it all in three weeks last winter. I loved loved loved it. I cried at the end. I was frustrated she went with Noel not Ben. I loved Meghan. But when I watched The Waitress, I expected her to say 'Dear Sally', or have a conundrum about Ben or Noel (FYI - I was a Ben girl, all the way!). She couldn't shake Felicity.

Eternal characters!

Do something different, actors! Push yourself. Step away from the mould. You get paid enough to!