Point & Shoot: My 32nd Birthday Do

When:  Saturday, 12 May 2012

Where: Elmars in the Swan Valley

It's been raining for weeks and then Saturday it was sunshine and a sunny 29 degrees an absolutely perfect day to be outside in the beer garden with friends and family!

That's me in the middle with friends Karli and Casey

I splashed out and bought myself a new blue dress and these highest shoes I've ever worn (and surprisingly comfy!)

This is some of my bookclub girls Ekta, Gabriella and Jane

who have introduced me to some fantastic reads and

best of all we have become great drinking friends

I'll never be too old for Birthday cake ... especially Bailey's Cheesecake mmmmm

Enjoying a wine and chat with my gorgeous Mum

Because it was Mother's Day the next day I had the florist wrap up an orange tulip for each of the Mums to take home with them

I had such a great time and the Birthday week continues :)

After a very long break I'm joining back in with Sunny + Scouts weekend Point and Shoot

[All images my own]

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The Birthday Week Begins

My Birthday week celebrations kick off from today with me taking a few days off work

Yippee!!!

Every Birthday week should start and end with some pampering I think so I'll be relaxing at the hairdressers today with a cuppa and magazine while I get my hair done. [I should point out after a fearful attempt to dye my hair at home in my newly renovated white tiled bathroom and getting splatters of dye all over the shower making it look like a bloody murder scene I will never attempt a home dye job again!]  

Saturday afternoon I've planned a big do with family and friends at a brewery in the Swan Valley with lots of nibbles and drinks. Hopefully the rain holds off and it's a nice sunny day in the beer garden just for me!

Then on my actual Birthday which is Tuesday I'm off to the day spa for a massage and total relaxation I lerve being pampered it's such a treat

A Birthday dinner with the family and my man and that will be the end of the Birthday celebrations

I really like to spread out the Birthday cheer and milk it for all its worth :) Afterall if you can't celebrate the small things in life what's the point really?!

You can read about last year's surprise party here

[All images via my Pinterest]

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Book Review: Wonderland Avenue by Danny Sugerman

One of my bookclub girls gave me her favourite book to read - Wonderland Avenue by Danny Sugerman

The book is a biography of a 13 year old Danny Sugerman who became the manager of The Doors in his teens and then lived a drug infused existence until he woke up in a coma at the age of 21.

This book is not just for The Doors fans, although I do have a bit of a thing for rock god Jim Morrison (what girl doesn't?) but this isn't really about the The Doors so much but the story of Danny growing up in a rich but messy divorced home, leaving school and stepping into the 60s rock and roll lifestyle and into a world of escapism and freedom bought on by every drug and booze imaginable.

The first half of this book kept me pretty interested hearing about how The Doors became popular but the latter half just dragged on about the drugs and I started to get a bit bored of it all and was waiting for him to OD and die which is what he was pretty much trying to do.

I give this book 3 stars and would recommend it to teenagers and people living in the fast lane of life - not all the good die young, and in Danny's words once you're dead you're just dead.

An interesting tid bit: Jim Morrison gave Danny some books to read by Charles Bukowski - which was the book I read just before this one Ham on Rye

Jarrah Jungle's Star Rating:

1 Bad - I'd rather eat brussel sprouts topped with anchovies than read this again

2 Not Good - I'd rather watch re-runs of Neighbours than read this again

3 Ok - I'm sitting on the fence - its not great but not terrible either

4 Good - I'd pass up a pack of tim tams for this read

5 Great - I'd pass up a date with Johnny Depp for this read

[Images via Boomerang Books]

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I Can't Resist Yellow & Grey

I have been eyeing off an art piece in Target for a few weeks and couldn't decide if I only liked it because it was yellow and grey which I'm absolutely obsessed with or if I actually really liked it. It's quite different because it's not your usual canvass, it's a print in a white shadow box frame and covered in glass. I decided I liked it enough to wait for it to be on sale ... 15% off wasn't going to cut it ... neither was 20% ... about a month on and it was reduced to 40% which bought it down to $45. Time to come home my new friend :)

Can you believe I actually made a decision on where to put it THAT VERY DAY in the living room next to the TV wall. I thought Pete was teasing me when he said he'd hang it up straight away, grabbed the drill and it was hung on the wall THAT VERY DAY not months and months later like all my other paintings as I'm so indecisive about where to put it. My 2012 word is definitely working!

I think it works really well in the living room and brightens up the copper tones from the painting on the other wall which is what it needed

My yellow and grey hunger is fed once again ... when will I stop obsessing over this colour combo? Probably never!

[All images my own]

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Weekend & PJs

This is going to be me this weekend

I've been feeling under the weather for weeks now ... tired, snivly, stuffy, red sore eyes, sneezing fits (I swear I did 10 sneezes in a row the other day I nearly fainted from exhaustion!) the list goes on. Ugghhh.

Yes Autumn and it's lovely hayfever cold and flu weather is upon us so I'll be waiting it out in my pjs thanks very much!

I hope everyone has a healthy weekend ahead :)

[Images via my Pinterest ... you can follow me here]

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Book Review: Tuesdays With Morrie By Mitch Albom

I have just finished a book given to me by a lovely family friend called Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom

This book is a true story about a professor Morrie and his student Mitch who fate has them crossing paths 20 years after graduating and as Morrie is ill and preparing to die the student agrees to write a final book about the professor as he talks about life, death, regret, forgiveness, marriage and everything in between.

What this book lacked in the number of pages it made up for in the raw emotion of each page. I was on the verge of tears most of the way through, but in a good way it really made me think about life and how we live each day. This is a really magical book written in such a way that you wish you had met Morrie yourself he sounds like an amazing person.

I would recommend this book to everyone - it is a must read and will make you stop and smell the roses in life. I give this book 5 stars.

Jarrah Jungle's Star Rating:

1 Bad - I'd rather eat brussel sprouts topped with anchovies than read this again

2 Not Good - I'd rather watch re-runs of Neighbours than read this again

3 Ok - I'm sitting on the fence - its not great but not terrible either

4 Good - I'd pass up a pack of tim tams for this read

5 Great - I'd pass up a date with Johnny Depp for this read

[Image via Mitch Albom]

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Recipe: Carrot Cake Muffins

A dear work friend gave me this recipe for Carrot Cake Muffins years ago and I came across it the other day and decided to give it a go. 

These muffins are so simple to make just mix and bake no fuss and best of all with real bits of carrot they're definitely healthy too!

Carrot Cake Muffins

Ingredients
2 cups finely grated carrots
2 eggs
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup oil
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 & 1/2 cups self raising flour
2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp mixed spice
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

Method
Mix it all together, put into paddy cases in a muffin pan and bake at 180 degrees for about 15 minutes
(If you want a cake bake at 180 degrees for 45 - 60 minutes)

Cream Cheese Icing
2 oz cream cheese
1 cup icing sugar
1 oz butter
1 tsp vanilla
Few walnuts chopped

Method
Mix ingredients together, ice muffins and sprinkle some chopped walnuts on top

These make perfect snacks for the lunchbox (if they last that long!)

Carrot cake is my absolute favourite it's a mixture of sweet and savoury.

What's your favourite cake or muffin - sweet or savoury?

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[All images my own]

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