International Women's Day - the women in my life.

Today is International Women's Day. It's a day where we celebrate women's achievements and reflect on how far we've come.

I got thinking about the women in my life. The woman who has most shaped my life has been my Mum. She's a wonderful, giving and kindhearted woman. She's wise and a great cook. We argue but we laugh. Do we laugh. A lot of our arguments end in eye contact and then fits of laughter. Mum's still strict and I never want to disappoint her.

Mum gave up work to stay home with me until I was almost five. On her first day of work, she got a call from my preschool to say she had to come to collect me urgently - I had a serious infection in my ear. Her work was incredibly supportive of my illness, and even in recent years she has taken carers leave to be with me when I'm sick. I still marvel at how her life was turned upside down due to my Ichthyosis, and yet she did so brilliantly. She and Dad cared for me with gentle hands and open minds - and with so much love.


A friend told me how lucky I am to have a good relationship with my Mum, and told me of the difficult relationship she has with her mother. I love that my Mum and I can spend time as friends. I am so appreciative that she passed down her values, her ability to make bad situations easier to deal with by having a laugh, and also her love of cooking and eating. I love you Mum.


My female friends are amazing. They're smart, funny, caring and they all make a difference in some way. Many of them are championing diversity and have overcome adversity. I feel I can talk to lots of my female friends about anything - and I also value that they trust me to share the same. My friends come from different parts of my life - work (I work with some wonderful women, and men), uni, school, TV, blogging and social media, and those I've met along the way at various events. And they're of a wide age range and come from diverse backgrounds. I love them.

I've learnt to be discerning about who I spend my time with. During my childhood and early 20s, I was forever disappointed with my so called friends letting me down. I can honestly say that I don't feel that disappointment with the friendships I have now.

My current female managers have had the most influence on my career - both my day job and media work. I have worked with them for almost six years, and in that time, my sick leave has decreased considerably. They're so supportive, and have given me great advice. They're both extremely successful, highly driven women - which is admirable - but even more impressively, they truly care for the staff they lead. The show integrity, emotional and technical intelligence an humility. They are funny and foster an engaging workplace. They both go above and beyond. There hasn't been a day when I've not wanted to work for them. And I certainly never want to disappoint them.

I also have some wonderful male friends who really respect women. Never have I heard them speak in a superior way or make derogatory comments about women's looks, sexuality or career choices.

I like this company I keep. I have a great sense of pride for knowing them.

Happy International Women's Day. Be kind to each other.

Tell me about the women in your life.

-

This post is for Sarah Wayland's International Women's Day writing challenge.

 

Healthivate. The most relevant blog conference I've been to.

Last Saturday I attended Healthivate - an inaugural health blogging and social media conference - in Sydney. I will say from the outset: Healthivate was the most relevant blog conference I have been to. The most relevant for my niche and goals. It was about telling stories rather than selling stories. The stories shared were moving, passionate, uplifting and life changing. Healthivate reinforced the idea of sharing stories for health.

I have been so inspired by the conference, and came away with lots of things to write about, and so I've decided to write a number of posts about it. As I told one of the speakers, I tweeted the shit out of all the sessions - I wanted to share everything. Tweeting at a conference is a great way to reference ideas and people at a later date too.

We have a long weekend here in Victoria and my plan is to write blog posts specific to Healthivate themes. Stay with me :)

Healthivate was held at Australia Technology Park in Redfern. It's a beautiful industrial space with locomotive history on display, as well as various conference spaces. Visit Good Googs for lots of stunning pictures of the venue. It really is picturesque.


The conference wasn't just for bloggers who blog about chronic illness and disability, as some may have perceived. It focused on many facets of health and wellness - healthy eating, family time, sex (look out for an hilarious story about sex talk with my mum), sharing stories online, performance art, bullying, mental health and suicide, laughter, health advocacy, social enterprise and social media. My Mum came along to hear me speak. She enjoyed everything about it, and even wants to start a blog now - though can someone else teach her please, because me teaching her the Internet always leads to an argument.


There was a brilliant flash mob who surprised us with Oh Happy Day. It was so vibrant and such a beautiful sound, the room couldn't help but smile.

At lunch time, we had laughter yoga. Did you know that the body gets the same feel-good effect from fake laughter as it does from real laughter. And as I found out during laughter yoga, fake laughter leads to real belly laughter. It was fun!

I also met some wonderful people, and am flattered by the compliments I received. I saw bloggers I am already friends with (Lori, Fox In Flats, Catherine Saxelby, Valerie Khoo, and Louisa Claire - and her tiny baby) and the beautiful Sarah Wayland who I have know for year's and I met there for the first time, plus loads of other new friends I made who I will mention in my future posts. Mia and Dea were two bloggers I got to know as they were at my table - and I can't wait to read more of their writing soon. I have a list of the awesome people I met, and want to acknowledge them shortly. It's the connection with people that makes blog conferences worthwhile. Crossing that online to offline space, knowing people by their user name or avatar and discovering how awesome they are in person. Mum said she overheard some bloggers talking about me in the toilets and then they recognised her as being my Mum! How cool?! And can you believe über famous American blogger Jessica Gottlieb knew who I was? She came to say hello and told me she loves my work. I'd chatted to her on twitter before the conference and thought she was funny - she's hilarious in real life!

I felt incredibly privileged to speak at the conference, especially alongside some prominent people from the food, blogging and media industries. And also Richard Branson and his arse. Yes! Here is a list of speakers. Thank you to Kathie Melocco (Healthivate's organiser) for finding me and believing in me enough to want me to speak.

Healthivate's content was focused on health, and so was its food. Forgive me for not taking more food photos - all I have is this one of my little yoghurt pot. The main sponsor was Macro by Woolworths - and we got a huge grocery bag of goodies to take home - organic flour, pasta, quinoa, popcorn and more. I've already eaten the bag of vegie chips and I want more! We were also given fruit and vegie smoothies (made by Vitamix) throughout the day - and I loved them. Though my tummy seemed to wake up too (I mentioned it briefly to Catherine Saxelby - poor thing, she must hear about bowel movements all the time!). When I got back from America, all I wanted was a vegie smoothie, and I think I have to make some at home again. There were yummy salads and sandwiches at lunch, and sushi and wine for canapés. I felt extremely virtuous, especially considering the night before I'd downed three glasses of alcohol by 5.00pm.

Of course, as with every blog conference, there were things that I think could have been improved on. There were two sessions where the hosts phoned it in. I (and many others in the room) found it hard to concentrate and to be honest, the content was quite technical. I'd like to have spent more time on our panel - the speakers' stories - not just mine - were worth detailing further. And I would have loved there to be more networking. Hopefully next year there will be a Healthivate conference over two days.

So for now, this is a really brief post on my thoughts about Healthivate, but stay tuned for more soon.

 

Wordless Wednesday

i have been a bit of a tourist this past week. Surprisingly, I took less photos than usual.

Bob Evans at Spotify HQ

 

Sometimes I pinch myself about how lucky I am. I love my life. This weekend just gone, I went to Sydney for Healthivate, the health focused blogging conference (so much inspiration, and I will blog about it all soon). The weekend was packed with exciting stuff, so much so, I need a holiday after my holiday. On Friday I saw Bob Evans at Spotify. I won a little competition he ran - five words or less about why we want to see him live. "I'm in Sydney for blogging", I wrote. And then "I'll bring my mum". I'm not great at maths, but I'm good at five words or less.

It seemed like a bad weekend to fly. Due to inclement weather in Sydney and Queensland, many flights were delayed or cancelled. Including mine. On the way up and back. And my Mum's flight from Albury was delayed too (though she had further dramas, with a boom gate closing on her car at the airport parking!). It seemed Friday was a day of delays. My train to the skybus was delayed due to some signal fault, I missed Kevin doing Like a Version on Triple J because the train was stuck in the wasteland of no phone reception, and then when I arrived at the airport with minutes to spare before check in closed, I was told my flight was delayed one hour and 20 minutes! We later found out Kevin's flight was delayed and lengthy too.

When we were finally in the air, we circled a holding pattern for an hour. So I arrived in Sydney three and a half hours after I was due to depart. Sheesh! And it was raining. So much rain. Which, along with our lateness, effectively scrapped our early afternoon plans of popping into the Mama Mia office for a quick hello. So after dropping our stuff at the dodgy motel, getting changed, and waiting for a taxi then a bus in the hideous rain for half an hour, we made it to the Spotify office with enough time to wolf down a delicious pork crackling roll and a well deserved alcoholic drink - at 3.45 pm.

Spotify is a digital music service that allows listeners access to a huge range of songs. I think the music is stored in a cloud? I really want to explore the app now. As I imagined, the office (just new) was very trendy, and its workers equally as trendy. Is it a sign that I am not trendy when I use the word trendy?

The Bob Evans show was the first live Spotify office gig in Australia (Spotify has only been in Australia since May last year). And it was pretty special. There were about 25 people in the room - Spotify staff, music industry people and a few fans. There was wine and canapes and a brilliant fruit platter. What would an event be if I didn't take a food photo?!

Mum and I talked to some great people - music fans, including one girl who saw Nirvana play back in 1992 - this impressed me a lot! It was Mum's first Bob Evans experience and she loved it.

Kevin played five songs: his newest release Go (incredibly beautiful played acoustically, and catchy too), Hand Me Downs (my favourite of favourites), I Just Don't Wanna Grow Up Anymore, Someone So Much (a request from the man who was late) and Don't You Think It's Time (the song that got me into Bob Evans). Some of the audience members I spoke to were impressed with the way Kevin hit the high notes - they described his sound as pitch perfect. I don't know anything about music, other than the enjoyment it provides, so I'll just say that I am continually impressed with how his electronic sounding songs translate so well into acoustic versions. And it was a privilege to see Kevin play such an intimate show.

After the set, we stuck around to talk and drink, and caught Kevin for a quick chat. Mum edged in first - launching in to tell him she was my Mum, and then telling him about the airport boomgate on her car.

I went to say hello, and we had a chat about the plane delays and the difference a gig with lights on makes, and the upcoming conference I was speaking at. And we had photos. Mum told Kevin that I talk about him a lot. A bit embarrassed by my fandom being discussed before the star, I quickly said "No Mum, that's Darren Hayes that I talk about a lot"! Kevin was amused.

It was such a great afternoon. I feel very lucky to be a part of it, and I love being a fan. Thank you for putting on the show, Spotify, and thanks Kevin for the tickets and for being genuine, participating in your own social media and for being awesome!

 

Conversations in a cab

I've met some pretty interesting people this weekend. Musicians, an ex Navy clearance diver and a work colleague on the plane. Friends, bloggers, speakers and taxi drivers. Often the most interesting stories unfold when people are just doing their job.

I love to ask taxi drivers how they are when I get in the cab. Sometimes I receive "good thanks" and the conversation stops there. Many times, they talk on their phones while driving - something I'm not comfortable with. The best times are when the conversation continues from the initial hello, and we tell each other about ourselves for the whole trip. Those are the times I'd happily pay more to extend my trip and the conversation.

Because of the many appointments I had in Sydney, and the rain (oh the pouring, chubby, soaking, squelching, delaying rain!), Mum and I thought it was easier just to catch cabs instead of using public transport. Because we weren't really tourists this past weekend, we had Stuff To Do.

A lovely older man picked us up from Newtown Saturday night. We were tired, it was getting dark, and the streets were about to get very busy with the Mardi Gras celebrations. We only saw his face on entering and exiting, but he had the kindest eyes. He came to Australia from Singapore 25 years ago. He has a Chinese background and lives in Sydney with his partner - "a female partner", he added. "But when you say 'partner' in Australia, you always have to qualify whether they're male or female", he said. "But if two males love each other, or two females, that's ok". He said he wants to quit the taxi industry, he's tried so hard to, applying for many jobs every day. "But it's hard you know", he said. "I'll have to continue driving tomorrow."

He spoke with a gentle voice, a soft Singaporean accent with the slightest Australian twang. He asked Mum and I why we were in Sydney. I told him about the blogging conference, I explained that I am a writer. He told us how he loves to read. He learns a lot from books - he loves historical books, he imagines himself being involved in that era when he reads them. He also loves Australian author Colleen McCullough, referencing her as "writing incredible romances - libraries are full of her books."

He asked what topics I write about, whether I have written a book, and how much I get paid for each post I write on my blog. Nothing, I told him, unless I write a sponsored post, but that writing here opens up doors elsewhere, and those opportunities sometimes pay. I told him I write my blog for the love of writing, and the connection with people, readers. He asked how many readers come here per day, and I told him it varies, but from 100 to 1000, depending on what I've written. "Wow", he said. "I admire that you just do this for the love of it."

Mum, ever my promoter, gave him my card when we paid the fare. He looked at my picture on my card, and then looked at me. "I didn't realise that was you, my darling", he said. "Find your niche, and keep writing."

We walked to our motel room feeling warmed by this taxi driver.

And on my trip from the train station to home last night, I encountered another lovely taxi driver - funny, interesting and interested. This man has been in Australia almost a year, studying a Masters of Accounting. He loves accounting, but has to study at a cheaper university because it's so expensive to study in Australia if you're an international student.

We talked about the best and worst taxi drivers and passengers we have encountered. His worst passenger was a drunk man who wanted to pay him with naked pictures of his girlfriend. My worst driver was the one who told me my skin and Vaseline would dirty his seats. "That's not right", last night's driver said, angry at his colleague. He went on to say it's drivers like that who give the industry a bad name, and then asked me a little about my skin, telling me that he too suffers from dry skin.

We talked about my trip to Sydney - I told him I went to a blogging conference. He asked what I write about. Myself, food, bands, social commentary, I said. "You don't seem so fat considering you're an eater", he observed! I laughed. He asked how I write about bands - I told him I do an informal review and include my own experience of the show in there. He asked if bands hate me for reviewing them. I told him that I have only put a bad concert review on my blog once.

And then he asked why I write. Because I enjoy it, I said. He was genuinely interested about the writing process - when did I know I could write well? (when I got good marks at school, and then when people returned here to read my words) and whether I will write a novel (not a fiction novel but maybe an autobiography). And then, the most interesting question: "how did you develop your vocabulary?", he asked me. I told him I read a lot as a child, and I wrote a lot, and still do both. He asked me how he can develop his vocabulary. I suggested reading a lot, and writing. I also told him to talk to lots of people and if he doesn't know what a word means, ask. I suggested he listen to some podcasts of radio interviews while siting in his taxi waiting for passengers. He told me he prefers the ABC Radio presenters over the commercial presenters because many of the commercial presenters "don't speak properly."

He asked me what's in my bag that makes it so heavy? I told him that I am not an economical packer, I always overpack. "That's good", he said. "Heavy bags are good for taxi drivers' exercise." I laughed! When I got home, he got out of the taxi and walked to the boot, telling me "now it's my exercise time again!".

As I paid him, I gave him my card, inviting him to read my blog. I told him it might help him develop his vocabulary. "I hope you don't use too difficult words", he said.

I could have been driven around forever by those two men. I wanted to know more about their lives. All up Mum and I spent around $300 on taxi fares this past weekend. But honestly, I feel richer, not poorer for forking out my money for the service I received from those two drivers. Theirs are conversations I'll treasure.

Have you had interesting conversations in a cab? And if you work in the service industry, do you take interest in your customers?

 

Lucky.

Yesterday I saw a unicorn chandelier.

Today I am speaking at Healthivate.

I met some internet friends in real life last night.

And I went to an exclusive Bob Evans show.

I love life.

More to come.

The Summer Fire Safety Campaign: My parents' bushfire story.

This post is sponsored by the Victorian Government's Department of Justice.

 

It is my parents' 32nd wedding anniversary today, so it's fitting that they've written pieces for this blog post. Happy anniversary Mum and Dad. 

I was asked by the Victorian Government's Department of Justice to write a blog post on bushfire safety. I am a city girl now, but bushfires have come close to my parents, so I've let them tell their story.
-
 
I grew up in country New South Wales – the summers are hot and dry. The scenery of my youth was gum trees, dirt roads and paddocks. Farmers burnt off in their paddocks. Smoke wafted from the incinerators at the local rubbish tip. I learnt a little about fire safety at primary school, but I never had to put the “stop drop and roll” lesson into practice. We were always safe. We had been very lucky with not having any bushfires nearby. Bushfires were always somewhere else, they never happened to us, but the smoke blackening the sky served a stern reminder to take precautions.

Back in 2009, when I first started writing this blog, I wrote this post about how close bushfires came to my parents, dogs and house. On 17 December 2009, I received an email from a colleague who works in the Albury office of my organisation. There were bushfires in Gerogery, she said, and were my parents ok? I panicked. I thought about the destruction and tragedy the Black Saturday bushfires had caused earlier that year – how quickly they moved and how many lives were lost. 173.

Another email came through. Were my parents ok? What about their dogs? They were at home in their run, no where to go. My parents were at work in Albury, 20 minutes away. My parents are diligent in ensuring their house is clear of trees and debris, and the grass is kept short, but others surrounding them may not have been as fire ready.

I called my parents, phones rung out. Power was out in Albury because of storms, and I couldn't get onto my Dad. The phone at my Mum's work rang out, again and again. I rang her best friend at work, panicked. Did she know there were fires in Gerogery? She didn't. She left work straight away. I rang my parents' next door neighbour. He was asleep, off work sick. He wasn't aware of the fire nearby until I called him. He went outside and saw the fire, a few kilometres away. He was safe, and our dogs were too. I finally got onto my Dad, on his mobile. He was stuck in traffic on his way home. Here's his story.

 

“It was a hot day with a wind and a sky that I've never seen since.

One of my work colleagues alerted me to the fire close to where I live.

I hopped in my car immediately & headed for home. First I had to encounter the northern suburbs of Albury where wind had strewn the road with debris. Traffic lights were out & there had been a car crash. Police were directing traffic but it was chaos.

I got through & raced out of town towards the fires. I was trying to phone my wife at the same time to let her know of the danger.

I kept to the speed limit but I had an impatient local behind me racing to take up his role in the local fire brigade.

Once home, I met my neighbour at his front gate. He was drinking a stubbie of VB with a mate of his & it wasn't long before I was joining them.

We watched the plumes of smoke & the planes that were backwards & forwards with loads of water to drop on the fires as we listened to the CB radio.

Our discussion was about whether we should go or stay & what if we were over 0.05.

We stayed. The emergency message came up on our phones to evacuate but at the moment the rain began to fall. We stayed.

Reflecting on the situation, we didn't know how close the fire was or whether we could get down the road to escape. We had an artificial feeling of safety where it could never happen to us.

Our dogs were our prime concern but all was well.

The fire scene was cordoned off & it was only several days later that we realised how lucky we had been.”

My Mum writes:

“The day started with very hot and strong winds. I went to work as normal and as the day progressed the winds got worse. At about 1.30 my daughter Carly rang me to alert me to the fires burning in Walla Walla and Gerogery. I told her I would confirm this with one of my neighbours, but then Roger rang and told me he was home and I should get home immediately.

Driving home was the longest trip which normally would take about 25 - 30 minutes seemed like hours. The sky was a brown eerie looking trees were down and part of the major highway was closed due to debris on  the road. Listening to the radio it was said that roads to Gerogery/Walla Walla were being closed. I put my foot down and thought of what I was going to say, why I should be at home etc. The thought of the dogs being on their own and trapped came to mind.

I can't describe how I felt.....scared and worried.  The smoke  by now was getting thicker and it reminded me of the fog we normally have in winter. I needed to concentrate on getting home. My main concern was Roger, the dogs and our sheep. I finally got home and left my car at the top of the driveway just in case.  Roger and his car was parked at the dog run. Looking down from the dog run we could see thick smoke and flames....about 2km from our property. We listened to the police on the UHF radio and we found we were not in immediate danger, although if the wind changed direction, it could be a different story.

By this time my neighbour was out too,  hosing down his house and he was waiting for his wife to get home.

I came into the house, went through the motions of collecting things to put in the car.....bottles of water for the dogs, change of clothing for us, laptops and mobile phone... I did however feel like I was in another world, I can't say I panicked but the feeling was very eerie......

For about three hours we were watching the wind and flames feeling useless, should we stay or leave and the rains came and it poured......relief. By this time we received a message telling us to evacuate and meet at the nearest petrol station. We felt we were safe then.

We watched the news that night and realised how ferocious the fires were and how many houses were lost. How nobody died was a miracle.”

The bushfires in Gerogery destroyed five homes, burnt out 7,000 hectares of land and killed 115 head of cattle and 1,200 sheep. It started at the Walla Walla rubbish tip. An original news article can be viewed here. 

My parents were so very lucky. That day taught them to be more vigilant with trees and debris on their property, and they have had ongoing discussions about whether they are prepared to stay and defend, or whether they will leave their home should a bushfire happen again. 

 

Summer Fire Safety Campaign

 

The Victorian Government's Department of Justice is coordinating the Summer Fire Safety Campaign which aims to increase Victorians’ preparedness to respond to the threat of fire.

The most common myths in relation to fire are:

MYTH: Code Red days happen all the time.

FACT: Code Red days are rare. There have been two Code Red Days in the last three years. Code Red is the highest Fire Danger Rating. Houses in Victoria are not designed or constructed to withstand fires on these days.

My parents (on the border of NSW and Victoria) have only experienced two code red days in the last three years.

MYTH: It will be safe to leave even if I can see fire.

FACT: Roads might be blocked, thick smoke will make it difficult to see, the fire could travel faster than you drive and fires can leap highways. Every minute you wait, it gets closer.

MYTH: CFA will be able to send a fire truck or come to my rescue.

FACT: If the CFA is fighting fires, they can’t be knocking on doors. It’s your responsibility to make the best possible decision for your family based on the current Fire Danger Ratings and official warnings for your area. It’s up to you to know when to leave.

TRIM ID: CD/13/37203 Page 2 of 7Summer Fire Ready 2013 Fire Myths Kit

It is critical for your safety to check more than one source for warnings. On high-risk days, monitor the conditions around you. Get the most up to date information through:

• cfa.vic.gov.au

• FireReady App

• Emergency broadcasters: ABC Local Radio, commercial radio and designated community radio stations

• SKY NEWS television

• Victorian Bushfire Information Line: 1800 240 667

• CFA social media such as Facebook and Twitter: @CFA_Updates

• You may also receive an alert sent to your landline or mobile phone based on its billing address or location (for Telstra customers only) through the Emergency Alert System.

MYTH: I can easily defend against fires; I am prepared and have experience.

FACT: You can’t prepare for all fires. You need a well thought-out bushfire survival plan which has been agreed and discussed with members of the household. Leaving early is always the safest option.

MYTH: Fire Danger Ratings are just a weather gauge.

FACT: A Fire Danger Rating tells you how bad a fire would be if one started, including how

difficult it would be to put out. The higher the rating, the more dangerous the conditions.

MYTH: Winter has been very wet so there’s less chance of a fire in summer.

FACT: Rainfall fuels the growth of vegetation, especially grass, creating more fuel for fire. In years of wet weather, Victoria often sees an increase in the number of large grassfires. It only takes two weeks of hot, dry and windy weather to create dangerous fire conditions.

MYTH: All barbecues are banned on a Total Fire Ban day.

FACT: Solid and liquid-fuel barbecues and ovens are banned on Total Fire Ban days. You can still use gas or electrical barbecues that are fixed appliances – built into permanent structures of brick, stone or concrete – provided you adhere to the guidelines for use located at http://www.cfa.vic.gov.au/warnings-restrictions/can/. Portable gas or electric barbecues are also allowed if they are commercially manufactured exclusively for meal preparation and you ensure they are in a stable position when alight.

MYTH: If we do decide to leave early, we will be able to go to the local Neighbourhood Safer Places.

FACT: Neighbourhood Safer Places are places of last resort only when all other plans have failed, and do not guarantee safety. They are sometimes just an open space (e.g. a football oval) with limited facilities. There isn’t a Neighbourhood Safer Place in every community.

For additional information, please refer to the following:

Country Fire Authority (CFA)

Website: www.cfa.vic.gov.au  

Facebook: www.facebook.com/cfavic 

Twitter: www.twitter.com/CFA_Updates

Metropolitan Fire Brigade (MFB)

Website: www.mfb.vic.gov.au  

Facebook: www.facebook.com/Melbourne.MFB  

Twitter: www.twitter.com/MFB_NEWS

Department of Sustainability and Environment

Website: http://www.dse.vic.gov.au

Facebook: www.facebook.com/DSEFirefighter  

Twitter: www.twitter.com/DSE_Vic

Wordless Wednesday

Last night I had dinner with a friend - at Grandparent O'Clock. We went to Wonderbao and Spring Street Grocer. Delicious. Can you believe I had goat's curd icecream?!

That street art is by Ghostpatrol.

Also, I'm on Kiki and Tea today, sharing my Disaster Chef moments.

 

Dare to dress up on a White Night (thanks to Target).

This is a sponsored post. Target provided me with vouchers to go shopping and will pay me for this post. Opinions are my own.

On Saturday night, I excitedly headed to the city for dinner with Sandra and then on to the White Night Festival. The White Night Festival was an overnight art festival - bringing music, dance art, and light shows to the city. I was looking forward to the writers camp at the Wheeler Centre, and seeing the lights, but I was not prepared for the large crowds. Oh the crowds. More about that later.

We decided on a cheap progressive dinner (it made spending $25 for three courses and a drink all the more fancy!). We started with rice paper rolls, and then I overcame my fear of dumplings at a little place in China Town. We finished dinner with a piece of cake each from a Greek patisserie. Delicious. I love dining with a food blogger. We never run out of things to talk about, and we never have to ask each other permission to take photos of our food.

Before dinner and taking outfit photos, we stumbled across some street art and live hip hop in Tattersall's Lane. I saw this one just off that lane, in Stevenson Lane. Here we are now, entertain us.

And after dinner, we set off to White Night, first stop was The Wheeler Centre where we saw one of my literary heroes, Sean M Whelan, perform some poetry. He was brilliant - alliterative, evocative and funny. A beautiful talent. Sandra and I met up with Karen, Carli and Carli's sister Liza too - lovely to see these ladies again. My initial plan was to stay at the Centre and write, but then I was enticed by talk of the light and art around the city. Only, there were crowds. I've never seen so many people in the city of Melbourne. It was a slow pedestrian crawl, rubber necking to look at the pretty things. Carli, Liza, Sandra and I walked down Swanston Street, taking it all in. We saw a catwalk in a lane way, live music, street artists and many many people. It could have been more accessible and participatory had it not been for the thick crowds, but that was also the magic of it. Sam McHugh tweeted "#whitenightmelb: Earth Hour's nemesis". I laughed - so many lights used and power cables over the roads.

Here are some of my favourite sights of the night.

The State Library of Victoria.

A shadow play at City Square - this was fun - seeing the children interacting with the shadow characters. There was an audio story being told too.

Projections on the windows of St Paul's Catherdral - Sandra made a great point - funny that they'd projected AFL, where fans are fanatics to the point of religious, on a religious building.

The Yarra River, westward. There were light fountains looking east, but the crowd was too thick to look through comfortably.

And the jewel of the night (that I managed to walk to anyway - my face was getting sore - and yes, a sore face does affect my desire to walk!): Flinders Street Station. There was a rock concert on the stage too.

Isn't it beautiful?

White Night was pretty special. I loved how pretty Melbourne looked, and how many people celebrated this great city. I am excited about next year's. Were you there too?

So, about what I wore. I love Target, it's my go-to store for workwear (I like their dresses, pencil skirts and short length trousers), their pieces fit me well amd often I can avoid trying them on due to their consistency in sizing, and I also like that I have so many pieces that make people say "huh?! that's not from Target!". Like my coral lace dress and black pleather jacket. Target has a really great selection of women's clothing - I mostly buy from the City Dressing, Hot Options and Limited Editions ranges. I have also recently picked up some Target Essentials basic tops and bonds undies which I'm really happy with.

Target sent me shopping earlier in the week. The brief they gave me was dare to dress up. I had great visions of me moseying through the store, taking my time choosing the perfect outfit. But instead I found myself there one hour before closing time, doing a power shop because I thought I'd cram as much into my day by scheduling a phone meeting after work, cooking a meal and remembering just in time to get money out for my cleaner (note: first world problems hey?!).

I took a brisk walk through my local Target (one of two - I have a large store which I shopped at last week, and an Urban store within five minutes drive of my house - I like Urban for the up-to-the-minute range of women's fashions) and headed straight for the dresses. Though I couldn't find any that I liked. They seemed very conservative for my tastes. I rifled through the clearance racks (so many of them, such low prices) - but nothing piqued my interest. I then looked at Hot Options, and to be honest, the colours didn't grab me. I was a little disappointed. I have loved the brights and florals of spring/summer, and now the tones are more muted - lots of bottle green and burgundy - reminded me of a bag I sewed in year eight textiles class.

So then I located my old faithful, the Limited Editions section. I can always count on this range to find something that I like. I have a lot of work clothes from Limited Editions. I thought I would use my voucher to buy something that I wouldn't ordinarily buy - black and trousers. And luckily, there were some beautiful tailored trousers and interesting luxe tops to fit the brief.

Here's what I chose:

A slinky jersey Limited Editions top with pleather trim ($49.95) and black jacquard print straight leg Limited Editions pants ($59.95). I like that theese pieces can be dressed up or down - I can wear them both with denim, and I can wear the top with a skirt or even layered over a dress with leggings. The top is actually short sleeved (you can't quite see it because of my love of layering) and is a really flattering fit. I need to take the hem of the pants up, but overall they fit very well and make my legs look long and slim.

I wore some silver bangles and a bracelet I made myself (navy sunstone) and a Red Phoenix Emporium necklace (the long white one, gifted), plus another Target necklace (the heart) that I picked up for $5.40 after that initial shopping trip. I love the heart - especially its woven fluro wire. Received lots of compliments on it. I wore the same shoes that I had for my year 10 formal. Back in 1997!! Yes, they still fit and are quite comfortable. See how the pants have a pretty floral black on black print?

Later on, in the cool of the aircon, I put on my shiny shiny jacket - a buy from Target in September 2012.

That was me in a beanbag at the Wheeler Centre. Of course I chose the purple one. I am not sitting very graciously. Beanbags are heaps of fun, but very hard to get out of! Sandra made me laugh: "It took seven years of yoga to get my ageing hips out of that beanbag #downwarddogfacing", she tweeted! Oh the awkwardness!

Thanks for the lovely night amd for taking outfit photos Sandra, and thanks to Target for having me as a Target Blogger!

Please note: I am a Target Blogging Ambassador, and this is the first in a series of sponsored posts.

Donate Life. The most loving thing you can do for a stranger

It's Donate Life Week from 24 February - 3 March, and I urge you to consider registering to be an organ or tissue donor, as well has having the conversation about your wishes with your family.

The Donate Life website states:

"In 2012, 354 organ donors gave 1,052 Australians a new chance in life. The number of organ donors and transplant recipients in 2012 was the highest since national records began.

and

The majority of Australians are generally willing to become organ (80%) and tissue (78%) donors. Only around 1% of people actually die in hospital in the specific circumstances where organ donation is possible. The circumstances in which you can become a tissue donor are less limited. In Australia the family will always be asked to confirm the donation wishes of the deceased before donation can proceed. In Australia less than 60% of families give consent for organ and tissue donation to proceed. The most important thing that helps a family's decision is their knowing the wishes of their loved one."

As at 31 December 2012, just over 1 Million Australians had registered their decision to become an organ donor. You can view the registration statistics on the Medicare website.

Around 1600 people are on Australian organ transplant waiting lists.

 ♥

Until recently, my beautiful friend Camille was on that transplant waiting list, desperate for new lungs. She is in her 30s, so very talented, and lived life to the fullest that she could, with chronic lung disease and being restricted by the waiting list. She was given the gift of life from an incredibly generous donor, with their family's permission.

She writes about her gift of life over here. 

I can't imagine what Cam went through while waiting for her new lungs. She is the bravest, least complaining person I know. I saw her frustration at times, and wished that she'd get the call soon.

After she got the call from the donor coordinator, she texted me in the middle of the night, to tell me she was on her way to hospital. "Fingers crossed, I love you" I wrote back. The day was long - I checked in with her sister for news every few hours. Her own wait must have been tumultuous.

Her recovery will be long, but my gosh I've seen progress. I went to visit her two weekends ago. She was in high spirits, talking a mile a minute. I am so happy she's here.We took some photos of ourselves together - the first we have taken in our three year friendship. Because we are too busy taking pictures of food.

I gave her some presents- a toy cat and some art supplies and nail polish, because now she can paint her nails! Look at the colour in her cheeks! Isn't she beautiful!

She's made considerable progress since my first vist. She's now able to breathe without the assistance of oxygen.

I said to Camille, I met her because of her old lungs. She and I both write for the disability website Divine. I tracked her down on Facebook after I read her article about being a blogger. And we became friends. The first time I met her in person she was in hospital too. I also said to her that her new lungs will enable us to share laughs and cake for years to come.

Cam has a pinboard next to her bed in the hospital ward. It's filled with pictures from her nephews, cards and pretty coloured paper. There's also a list of things she will do now she's got new lungs. Ride a bike. Walk. Go on a holiday. Shoot hoops. The things that most people take for granted. I added to that list. See bands with Carly.

And we will. I can't wait.

Camille is a huge INXS fan and I can't help think how apt the line "we all have wings, but some of us don't know why" is to her situation. I am so grateful to her donor and their family.

♥

Please consider registering your decision to become an organ or tissue donor. Those on the waiting list need the gift of life. They're someone's daughter, someone's sister, someone's friend. My friend. It's the most loving thing you can do for a stranger.

Visit www.donatelife.gov.au for more information.

♥

FilmLife.

There's a little competition for Donate Life Week called FilmLife. Now Camille is recovering from her transplant, I've been appointed a judge of the competion. You may want to enter, or know someone who is eligible to enter. 

FilmLIfe project is using creativity to spark vital conversations about organ and tissue donation in young people. Using filmmaking and blogging to create awareness provides a fresh approach to this life saving social issue. 

 

We are inviting young filmmakers aged 16-28 to submit a film using the theme of DonateLife Week 2013: “Make your wish count. Discover, decide and discuss organ and tissue donation”.

The deadline for all film submissions is midnight on 25 March. Winners will be announced at the FilmLife Festival official screening on 13 April.

Awards will be given for the Best Film, Best Interpretation of the Theme and the People’s Choice award. Filmmakers get national exposure for their work through the DonateLife network and be in the running for great prizes including the Canon 5D and over $2500 in prizes. This we will also have a prize for the best blog in our Blogging challenge.

For more details and information about FilmLife workshops, blogging comp and film festival please go to www.filmlife.com.au, join in the conversation on Facebook and Twitter.