So excited!

The darling Em of Lick My Cupcakes is coming to New Zealand this week and we get to have dinner with her (and her lovely man) on Friday! She was one of my first lady-blogger friends and it will be great to finally have a big smooshy cuddle with her in person!

Who wouldn't wanna hang with these cool kids?

December Rush!

I don't know about everyone else, but my run up to Christmas has just been insane. Yesterday was the first day that I had nothing on since the start of the month (and that was only because the Women in Business event I was going to was cancelled) and I was so exhausted I slept in until 2 pm! I can't remember doing that since I was in my teens!

So what's been going on for us in December?

• Helping Mama Scribs tidy and organise her house in preparation for my "exchange sisters" arrival (lucky her, she gets my Bee Of Service skills for free)
• Getting a few loose ends tied up for Bee of Service, now in hiatus til after Christmas
• Hanging out with my bestie, having pedicures and going for beach walks before baby arrived
• Throwing our annual Christmas BBQ
• Bachelorette Day Out with gorgeous friend J, doing a scavenger hunt in Auckland City then celebrating throughout the afternoon in a vineyard on Waiheke Island
• Attending a Year 8 mixer of all the contributing schools to my new high school - they had all been learning to ballroom dance and it was so adorable!
• Spending a day learning about the new school's peer support programme and finding out about some of the more interesting characters in my new form class
• Finding out my bestie had given birth to her new little boy and literally squealing - for those of you who know me IRL, you know I'm not a squealer (btw, my cluckiness has hit new heights!)
• Trying out a new hair salon and loving it - have found a new hair home!
• Spending time with my adorable friend Ange - she's a make-up artist so we caught up with all the goss while she did my makeup for...
• Watching J & V get married and have the cutest little reception up in the Waitakere Ranges - the view was amazing, we even got to see the Christmas in the Park fireworks (although they looked tiny from so far away
• Fulfilling our church service obligations - we're on the greeting roster which is fun, we just get to say hi to everyone and hand out programmes as they enter.
• BBQ for Papa Scribs' birthday - just great to spend that time with the family
• Going to the hospital twice to visit the new baby - so adorable and squidgy. Very cool to be back in the place of my birth too!
• Spending two days on a professional development course on how to raise Maori achievement in high schools - to be perfectly honest, I had thought that, given my background, it wouldn't be of that much use to me but it's really opened my eyes to some of those conversations I have with students in my classroom.
• Attending the Foo Fighters concert - it pissed down with rain and I am so grateful to my bonus brother (future bro-in-law) for packing some plastic sheets. I ripped a head hole in one and managed to stay vaguely dry LOL. The concert was well worth it though!

No wonder I needed a solid sleep! The 2 pm things sounds really bad but in my defence, I didn't get to bed until 2 a.m. after the Foos - had to drop Bonus Brother home and then have a shower to warm up before bed!

There's still plenty to look forward to in the December Rush too:

Dinner with old uni mates - SB's work do at the races - Cupcakes and Cocktails party for my dear friend Missy - more cuddles with babies - my exchange sisters arriving in NZ - midnight mass on Christmas eve (tradition for SB and I) - Christmas Day - the Boxing Day Blowout party that's tradition in my fam - Mama Scrib's Birthday & New Year's Eve (haven't the foggiest what we are doing to celebrate that yet!)

Relaxing Domestic Getaway

SB and I have just returned from a lovely mini-break to Wellington! It was great to get away from all the pressures of home (well, almost all, had the laptop with us so I could keep an eye on enquiries for the business) and just enjoy time together. We managed to catch up with a few of the people we correspond with on Twitter, all as equally lovely IRL as they are online. In the interests of not boring you silly with all our tales, enjoy our pictorial essay below!

The new business!!!

Yes, it's finally launch time! My new business is:

None of this would have been possible without some very talented ladies I've had the pleasure of meeting through the blogging world. Juliette Maxwell helped me with the technical aspects of creating my business site (domain registrations, DNS propogations and contact forms, oh my!), Amanda (of Gondwana Heels fame, currently running a fab competition on her Facebook page) provided me with sound financial advice and, of course, the delightful Nikki Hassett (also known as Flair To Remember) provided the gorgeous corporate identity that I am so pleased about!

So what do we do? The website provides much more detail but essentially we are a planning and organisational service focused on the mid-range of the market. New Zealand has a lot of large wedding and event planners but few willing to focus on the little events. That's where our business steps in! We also offer decluttering services for the home and digital clean-up services - basically a one-stop organisational shop for people who are time-poor (and who isn't, these days).

I'm beyond thrilled to have made this dream a reality. If you'd like to help out, Scribblettes, like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter and spread the word to those you think we could help! Don't forget to nosey around our website and contact us if we can help you!

What I want...

Lately I've been overwhelmed by a Verucca Salt type urge to buy an iPad - "SB, I want a 16G iPad and I want it NOW". With some upcoming tutoring opportunities (and a very generous hubby-to-be that believes I should see some of the fruits of my labour), this might become a reality. I thought in the same little "I want, I want..." vein (or should that be vain? LOL), I'd compile a list of what I'm lusting over at the moment!

1. White 16 Gig iPad - to 3G or not to 3G, that is the question

2. The Natasha Tablet Case from Forever New - how could I not?

3. High-Low Hem Silk Animal Print Dress from Forever New - I would feel so glam in this!

4. A course of microdermabrasion - my skin's texture is just awful at the moment

5. A pair of pants that didn't feel baggy - put on my "tight" jeans today only to find out that they are no longer so... this losing weight bizzo is expensive!

6. A concession pass to yoga lessons - Chandeleah has got me wanting to try hot yoga! I think I might try their hot yin class first!

7. A new swimsuit - nothing too sexy, something that will hold the "girls" in place while doing aquarobics... I very nearly had a wardrobe malfunction last session!

8. A new home office set-up - this will definitely have to wait until the business makes some money!

Phew, it feels good to get that all out! I don't feel quite as needy anymore! In my experience, when you put it out there it's far more likely to happen - whether you believe it's God or the universe, I'm sure you've had a similar experience!

What are you wanting at the moment, Scribblettes?

I'm on a buzz...

I have SO much energy at the moment! I had a nutritional consultation on Tuesday morning and definitely got given some "food for thought". You'll be able to read more on The Shrinking Violets tomorrow about the rest of the consult, but one of the biggest changes to come out of it is my new-found love for green smoothies!

Now maybe I am totally the last one on the boat about this but wow! The recipe I'm following is so easy - one chopped up banana, two cups green leafy vegetables (any) and two pieces of any type of fruit. I whizz it all up in my "Amazing Bullet" and it's a deliciously creamy start to the day. Before anything else I've had a good solid shot of nutrients and it really seems to be putting me off on the right foot :)

So what have I been doing with this new boost of energy? It's school holidays at the moment so I've been tearing through the house on a cleaning and organisational bender. Yesterday I tackled our kitchen - it is tiny so it doesn't take a heck of a lot to make it cluttered and hard to use. Reshuffling cabinets and putting things in places according to frequency of use. One thing I won't miss when we move on from this place (don't worry, no plans to move yet!) is that tiny kitchen!

Today I ventured outside the house to get some storage solutions for a few areas in the house that were bugging me. Being winter, a lot of the outer layers of clothing I wear can get more than one use; I feel weird about putting these items back in the dresser or wardrobe. I've been using my "floordrobe" but it's so untidy. I grabbed a flexi-bin that fits neatly between my bedside table and the wall - amazing the difference that it makes!

I also tackled that abyss known as the bathroom cupboard under the sink with seven containers - we now have cleaning (mouthwash, soaps, shampoos, etc), grooming (manicure kits, creams, hair spray, etc), contacts equipment, face cloths, medical (pills, plasters, ointments, creams), first aid kit and *ahem* lady stuff (tampons, etc). I got rid of so many expired items that I am sure we have been dragging from house to house and NEVER use.

So I haven't had the most thrilling holiday, but I'm feeling good with how productive I have been. How about you, Scribblettes? Does it give you a kick to see things well-organised or are you far more laissez-faire?

400th post!

Can you guess what the special news I promised is? Yes, SB liked and he put a ring on it! Last Saturday, to be precise. I'm kind of amazed, in this digital age, that we managed to keep it under wraps for so long! It was really important for us to be able to tell some of our most important people face to face; to our friends and family's credit, they seemed to take that to heart and contain their excitement. Who knows what would have happened if we'd asked them to wait another week? LOL.

More details to come soon :)

Long in the keyboard...

This is my 399th post! That in itself kind of blows my mind - that I've written that much in what seems to me to be a short amount of time. It's really not though, I first started writing Scribbles back in the middle of 2008. Back then, I'd returned to university and was struggling through my first year missing my full-time income, working in an arts centre and reading extensively through my English-heavy arts diploma. I was still getting over my break-up with Ex-S, coming to terms with living at home and it was the year that Mama Scribbles was first diagnosed with cancer.

Now I'm a fully-fledged teacher and the days of study are behind me. I've met a wonderful man and we've been together over two years; he makes me realise what utter douchebags most of the guys from my past were. We live together (in sin LOL) in a house that we have made our home. Our friends' lives have changed too - marriages, babies, even the odd divorce or two. Mama Scribbles has been in remission twice and is learning to live with her cancer now as a chronic condition. I read back on my old blog posts with a smile for the me I used to be... I don't feel like that person anymore :)

At dinner the other week with Bronwen, we discussed how old we were compared to other bloggers... we're possibly the first generation ever to post our diaries online LOL. I don't know in future whether Scribbles will be the right avenue for me to continue on with... but I know that it suits me still for now. I love all of you that read and as such, be prepared for a massive 400th post!

Exhaustion... the Hollywood kind

Right now I am sitting on the couch in a flop... still using the heater to dry off washing (item by item) and blogging so I can't say that I am completely lazy but I know that I've sure run out of energy! Why so exhausted? A busy week last week followed by a fantastic weekend - I have nothing but an awesome life to blame for being so tired LOL.

First week of term is always a bit of an effort - even teenagers take a while to settle when they have had a change in routine. I still loved getting back into my routine - I guess I am a creature of habit :D Highlight of the week definitely had to be one of my students asking me where I worked! Bless him for thinking that I just did it for the fun of it :) I definitely was looking forward to the weekend, however, and this is why:

• a dinner date with Leah, Bronwen and Aimee. The drive over to Takapuna was long (espesh in the rain) but was totally worth it. A bit devastated that Leah and Aimee are both heading overseas fairly shortly - top quality girlies!
• a lunch date with SB - we went to C.A.C in Mt Eden. The food was delicious and the architecture amazing - a wonderful renovation of an old stone building. He then took me to MOTAT in the afternoon; bless the man, he knows he's dating a total museum nerd.
• a surprise party for a friend's 25th - although I think that we've safely established that that particular group of friends sucks at waiting quietly! E was surprised though and that is the main thing.
• a photo shoot on Sunday for Miss Melicious cupcakes - I'm going to be a cupcake cutie! This woman is seriously talented, not only does she make divine cupcakes but she did all the make-up and hair for the shoot. You can also follow her on Facebook!
• a family dinner on Sunday - I love Thai food! And my mummy!

Very busy Monday didn't help either! SB woke me up this morning and I promptly went back to sleep - not a good start. All I have left to do on my list today is dinner, laundry and exercise so hopefully an earlier night for me tonight! Hard to complain about being tired when life for the most part is being pretty awesome :)

What's cool with you, Scribblettes?

Ladies who lunch...

Last Wednesday my mother and I went to Tea Royale at the Langham Hotel in Auckland City. The Langham is known for their fabulous high teas and it was something that both she and I had wanted to do. The Tea Royale was a special menu that they were hosting in celebration of the upcoming royal wedding and they had worked with with a local milliner, Natalie Chan, so that the area played host to a whole range of fabulous headpieces. The Winery (the area of the hotel set up for the high teas) has all these lovely armchairs that you just sink into... at least, I think it was the chair and not the glass of champagne!

The menu was amazing:

• Yorkshire pudding with roast beef and horseradish cream
• Profiteroles filled with goat's cheese and plum compote (A-may-zing)
• Prawn and spring onion sandwiches (not a huge fan of prawn, loved this!)
• Petite egg sandwiches with silver accents (don't eat egg so lucky Mum got two)
• Honey and ham biscuit
• Earl grey and orange marinated salmon with honey mustard sauce on pumperknickel
• Pretty in Pink cupcake
• Opera cake with a Baileys liqueur centre (quite strong on the Baileys :D)
• Peppermint jelly on chocolate crunch (odd but delicious)
• Royal vanilla creme brulee
• Champagne mousse with cherry glaze
• Fresh fruit tartlets with lemon curd
• Pistachio macaroon with vanilla cream (was too full to finish, this got left out)
• Freshly baked scones in "regal rose" and "rum & raisin" flavours with cream and marmalade (don't like raisins so I ate BOTH the regal rose... so crispy yet soft)
• St Honore's vanilla cream with crunchy meringue, raspberries and lychees and a rose petal mousse (FAVOURITE)

In addition to that, we also got a glass of champagne and a pot of tea of our choice! For only NZ$59, that is a total bargain. An amazing experience and we WILL be back! Go there if you have the chance :D

This is not a sponsored post, we just had so much fun I had to tell you!

Vote for Smaggle!

You will notice a new widget on the side of my blog - Vote for Carly/Smaggle! Carly, also known as the lovely Lady Smaggle, is in the running to blog from the front row of RAFW. What an amazing experience! I know she will do a brilliant job if she wins - check out some of her previous blog posts on fashion shows! There's a way in which she writes that makes fashion so relatable to those of us who aren't quite so fashion-forward.

So make this Scribble smile and vote for one of our favourite Aussie web friends (entries close on 27th of April so click the widget now)! Thanks so much!

Some Christmas Viewing and Thanks

Christmas Day will be very busy for us - SB and I are having breakfast and opening our presents to each other at home, hitting my parents' house for more presents and brunch/lunch then we're quickly whipping home and I'm getting dinner prepped for SB's family to have round here.

On a side note, I've started referring to them as the "out-laws" because they're not "in-laws" yet... I'm so funny :D

Boxing Day is also pretty busy for us as it is the day that the extended Scribbles family get together (and usually drunken Singstar LOL) and the SB/Scribs house is in charge of entrees this year. So all in all, the next couple of days will be BUSY! I will however post my goals for the year before we go away for New Years!

So this is my time to say thanks for reading all year! Merry Christmas and/or Happy Holidays! Be good over this holiday season and if you can't be good, be careful!

I will choose to love you...

Today at work we were talking about the difference between teen and adult relationships - our teens think that once the spark is gone, it's all over. They don't realise the difference between lust and love and they certainly don't understand the importance of your partner being your best friend.

With all this in mind, I was driving home and the Stan Walker song "Choose you" came on over the radio. It's certainly not the first time I've heard it (and if you are an Aussie or a Kiwi, I'm sure you've heard it multiple times too) but it was the first time the lyrics struck me... you find profound wisdom in the oddest moments.

Cuz when love starts out

It's all peachy

I love you, you love me seems easy

It's like a walk in the park

But sometimes it takes an act of my will

And a walk in a park turns to uphill

But I promise to give you my heart

Sometimes being in a relationship really is stars-in-your-eyes, roses and puppies carrying mint-chocolate. I know SB and I definitely have those moments. But we also sometimes have those moments that are crappy. We aren't huge fighters but it would be lying to pretend that we don't have moments in which... well... we're kind of jerks to each other. Like babies, when we're tired, hungry or cold, we get cranky.

I will choose to love you, yeahh

Even though I wanna stay mad

Even though I wanna get angry

Though it may be easier to walk away

I will choose to stay

I choose you, I choose you, yeahh

I choose youu

I choose you everyday

I choose you

This was the line that almost made me cry. This is what good relationships are. Waking up in the morning, rolling over and looking at your partner and going "I choose you. I choose to love you today". And choosing that same person to love every day, no matter what happens.

SB, I choose to love you today, tomorrow, always.

Thoughts?

International Blogger Meet-Up!

Last week I had the pleasure of meeting up with the lovely Corrine of Frock & Roll. This sweet Sydney girl is just as sweet in real life as she appears on her blog and definitely living in the wrong country, as I feel we should hang out far more often (and I'm not moving to the land of snakes and spiders!!).

Chatting over chai lattes and cans of V, conversation was just as free flowing as if we'd known each other for ages - talking about love and life and other bloggers! I think I may just have tempted her into coming over and doing a Christchurch sojourn with me - Andrea, Bridey, Charlie & co, be prepared! Then we did what any two girlie bloggers would do together in a mall on a Thursday morning - window shopping!

Had an absolute riot of a time and cannot wait for Corrine to journey to our "land of the long white cloud" again - thank goodness she has family over here and so kinda has to!

Have any of you met up with blog friends? Was it awesome? Was it awful? Let me know in the comments!

Hitting play!

After a month or so of feeling like my life has been stagnating, it finally feels like someone is pushing play. SB rung me this morning - I'd been emailing him saying that I was stuck in an internet survey and when I heard it was his voice, I thought he was going to tell me to stop being so silly and get my butt moving. Instead, he rung me to tell me that he had good news... extra good news in fact.

We have a place!

And the extra-good part about it is that it is getting painted before we move in. It's not the flashiest house, nor in the flashiest area... but it is pretty damn perfect. Three bedrooms (master, spare and what will probably become the office), an ensuite bathroom as well as a regular one - two toilets, two showers, a nice open-plan kitchen/dining/lounge area and a sliding door that opens out onto a fantastic deck. The yard needs quite a bit of work (we'll do something relatively cheap and low-maintenance seeing we don't own the place) but we got our own little bit of paradise for a price we can afford.

We can do things the way we want - having house guests, throwing parties, putting things just the way we like them. The only people we have to please are each other. And that makes us feel so excited it is like we've won a prize! Now if this is the start if everything else getting on track, hit play again maestro!

300 Posts - and a little visual gift for you

On a morning when I wake up feeling a little down, what should I find in my RSS feed but this wee gem supplied by Always The Planner. Enjoy!

Yippee!

I didn't want to jinx it by saying anything (and I don't know why, I'm not that superstitious) but I had taken part in what seemed to be some very positive discussions about a job over summer. My student allowance runs out at the end of November and I had been very concerned about making ends meet over summer - my employment at my current job does not offer enough hours and will end with the closing of the business over the Christmas/New Year period. Biting nails for the last couple of weeks, I am pleased to announce that I finally have a confirmed "christmas casual" job!

I swore when I started my marketing and PR job around four years ago that I would never work retail over Christmas again... famous last words! Without going into too much detail, I will be working in a lingerie shop, selling sexy wee bras and panties and making use of the employee discount *wink wink*. It's for a company that seems friendly and has some hot little designs so I'm really looking forward to it... the being paid thing is nice too.

If only I could get a confirmed teaching job, about half my stress at the moment would lift right off my shoulders! Patience is a virtue, I know! Is there anything you are waiting for, Scribblettes? Let me know in the comments!

A space of one's own...

If you've read the blog for a while, you will know that I moved home temporarily in the first half of 2008 and with my mother getting ill with inflammatory breast cancer (she is currently no evidence of disease), that stay ended up getting extended rather longer than originally planned. When Mama Scribbles was sick and constantly getting hospitalised, what life was like at home wasn't so much of a drama. My room was simply a place to finish my assignments and rest my head when I wasn't up visiting mum.

Meeting SB at the start of the year made things easier. It didn't matter that my room was cramped (having half a house worth of stuff in one room is not easy) and small because I was spending a lot of time with him - home again being just a place I rested my head. With my sister moving to Christchurch in July, however, I had an option to make my space at my parents more of the haven I desired - so I've moved into the garage!

Internally accessed from the parents house and rigged with curtains, it feels just like a gorgeous studio apartment. I have room for my bed and room for a study. I'll be spending much more time here in November (when my parents go away on holiday and SB will be staying with me for once) and again over summer (where it's likely I'll be unemployed so spending more time at home) and with the weather getting warmer it was an optimal time to do it. To some of you, this might all sound a little crazy but I would love to hear stories from you all about the odd places you have made your home!

Swimming against the flow...

It's the last week of term. For those of you unfamiliar with the New Zealand schooling system, we have four school terms of around ten weeks each, two week breaks in between each term except for our summer holiday which extends from mid-December until the beginning of February. In three teaching days, school wraps up for the third term and teachers get a holiday... well at least from the actual teaching, not necessarily the paperwork and planning. I'm hearing a lot of murmurs from fellow teachers this week about how they are weary and tired and... I'm not?

Don't get me wrong, I'm looking forward to a break! Don't want to look a gift horse in the mouth, I have assignments to get on with, my hair is desperate need of a cut and I try to hide my manky chipped toenail polish from SB when I can. I wonder whether something has clicked for me this week... is it just that I am feeling more well or is it more that I have found my groove? Is it that I have got to the point when I know that I have planned all I can and that what we are going to get through this week relies on the students, not on me. Have I just relaxed about it more, have the kids picked up on that, is that making me a more effective teacher?

Whatever it is, I love the feeling I have right now... more please! Have any of you experienced some unexpected bliss lately? Let me know in the comments!

I love...

• the fact that my friend made her cat a facebook page... and that the cat now has a hyphenated last name of hers and her boyfriend's. Awwwww, they have their first furbaby together!
• getting carried away in future plans with SB... falling in love with a property and plotting ways to buy it then realising we haven't even been together for six months! Ahem... dial it down a little folks. It was a really awesome starter home though, my mum even thought so LOL.
• arriving at uni for proper this week and realising that I didn't miss out on much other than extra time within which to do my assignments... subject content-wise though, I'm sweet.
• starting to say no and be a little more selfish - focusing on what is important to me (well, kind of us - SB and I) and sticking with that. I have a tendency to be a bit of a promiscuous friend and I think it might pay to start focusing on a smaller group of friends but giving them the attention they deserve.
• leopard print... call it my inner bogan screaming out but yesterday I wore two pieces of clothing that featured the pattern (okay, one was the lining of my shoes, but still).
• being taken out on a dinner date with the boy and an opportunity to give one of my new pretty dresses a debut!
• warm foot baths - this may be TMI but I have an infected blister on my foot... SB has been making me nice antiseptic foot baths to soak my feet in while watching TV to try and heal my manky foot.
• playing Tybalt as we ran through the first scene of Romeo and Juliet in one of my papers. I've played Juliet in Romeo and Juliet before but Tybalt is an awesome character... although no one does it as well as him.
• Going to a friend's house tomorrow for drinks and chill-time for no other reason than that it is Saturday - a nice change after all the milestones in July :D