Ahh November. The month where the days heat up (if you’re south of the equator) and the holidays suddenly seem not-too-far-away-at-all. That time of year where the zodiac grooves its way in to social Sagittarius – my sign – and the weekends are full and fulfilling. I adore November. Everything lifts.
In my corner of the world, life has certainly been serving up plenty of caramel-fudge-topped goodness of late. Giggles and gaiety, hoopla and hug-fests – it’s had it all. Read on for the highlights:
Connection + Conversation
The theme of the weekend just gone was most certainly “friendship” and I was blessed to spend some quality time with two of the amazing women I’ve met through the blogosphere (have I told you lately how awesome blogging is?)
On Saturday I drove down to Byron bright and early to catch up with the gorgeous Kim from Dream. Delight. Inspire (who was up north for a wedding) and what ensued was breakfast at The Top Shop, long chats followed by more long chats, raw sweets from Naked Treaties, a parking fine (eek!) and plenty of laughs. Adore that girl.
Sunday rolled around and my girl Tara from Such Different Skies and I FINALLY met in person* for the first time – after a squillion beautiful phone chats/ Skype calls/ emails and texts – when she and her lovely husband Glen came to visit Ramai and I in Burleigh.
Mexican blanket and salads in tow, we all headed over to the park at Burleigh Point and planted ourselves under a tree for hours, chatting and laughing about everything from snowboarding and travel to future plans and living our dream lives. ‘Twas a beautiful thing and both Ramai and I left brimming with happiness.
* I don’t have photo evidence of this momentous occasion, unfortunately.
Dress ups!
The socialising continued on Saturday night when we donned our costumes and celebrated the engagement of our friends Ryan and Kylie at their “R + K” themed dress up party.
Ramai went as Rambo and I got my Russian spy on (based on Angelina Jolie’s look in SALT). Way too much fun. Seriously, dress ups are amazing. Thinking the next one I have will be Michael Jackson themed (haha… I’m not even joking).
Might even learn some “chorey” for the occasion.
Kilim Cushion
A new Turkish kilim cushion from Nomadic Son has taken up residence at the MacDonald abode and, well, it’s LOVE. How could one not love such a cheerful looking treasure?
{Just a heads up if you want one of your own, however – this bad boy is rather scratchy so it’s definitely more of a “display” than “lay” (your head on) kind of purchase}.
Colourful Cacti!
Another shiny new object of my affection is this bright beauty that I bought from Frankie + Finch at The Village Markets on Sunday. Lately, whenever Ramai and I have gone out for a Sunday morning walk – taking with us just enough money to buy breakfast – I seem to end up spending the money on succulents/ cacti so it’s become a bit of a running joke between us.
“Want to pretend we’re going out for breakfast again?”
“Very funny. But seriously, any markets on today?”
Super Talent
Yellena James’ artwork makes me happy. Immensely.
Home Updates
I’ve had a bucket of white paint and a paint brush sitting on the balcony for the past week or so, and I can’t stop painting! The latest piece of decor to be updated is the foot stool shown above (previously pink).
Other shiny snippets:
Being interviewed by the lovely Jia Ni from Happy Healthy Abundant + dried apricots/ oats/ dates/ coconut all blended into one damn fill ball o’ YUM! + starting the two week countdown ’til our ‘Byron Break’ today + coral shellac nails + clear quartz on my desk at work + Pana chocolate + winning $35 in the office sweeps for Melbourne Cup (the horse was number 11 – my lucky number!) + LIFE. It’s bloody good, no?
Let the love floweth outeth, sweet thing! Lay it on us: what’s thrilling the pants off you right now?
Poster: Urban Outfitters
Thrilling the pants off me is my best friend being home from Austria for a couple of months. Cue immensely awesome girly chats and deep-and-meaningfuls and light-and-fluffy-giggles-over-nothing-much-at-all…
It is also a weekend where my boy is here, which is always awesome, but particularly so this weekend because we are seeing Ben Harper on Friday night (YAY!) and then I’ve planned an awesome night of cocktails and wine and food on Saturday night for our two year anniversary (DOUBLE YAY!).
So I am definitely feeling the love at the moment, and loving life back hard in return!
Oh, and I’m booking my plane flights this weekend for a big trip to Europe early next year – SUPER TRIPLE YAY with (Belgian!) chocolate sprinkles on top!
And, as always, your happy list makes me happy too! xo!!!
Such a beautiful practice taking time each week to think about what we’re thankful for :)
Making me happy this week is my Mum’s new kitten, watching the Newsroom, Chai tea with choc chip cookies and making plans to catch up with gorgeous friends all weekend long! Woot!!
xxx
Sounds like you have had another magical week – and I love the sound of your bloggy catch ups! Such fun!
Making me happy recently:
– Seemingly endless summer days – and the freedom to do whatever I choose with them!
– The relief of having final exams for the year done, and having one last hurrah for the year with all our uni buddies
– Alone time over the weekend (though I missed the boy who was away on a bucks weekend) – He did come back with plenty of cheese and wine from the Hunter valley though (he knows me too well…)
– Hearing that the family is safe in NJ, it sounded like a pretty crazy experience with Hurricane Sandy
– Having the op shop fairies smile down on me, I have had ridiculous luck over my past few visits!
– Getting the ball rolling on starting a newsletter and writing an e-book (and HUGE thanks to you for the kick in the bum and the motivation!)
– Helping friends get a website started for their new business, I love seeing plans fall into place
– Cuddles with bubs and seeing my girls successfully make the transition into mothers, makes me so so proud and like my heart is going to overflow with love
– Getting our health and fitness back on track with daily visits to the pool, new googles and swimming gear and cutting out the carbs!
Ah it has been a good week… Love the month of November too!! :)
Jess: Ahh, how gorgeous! Nothing better than girly chats with your besty. Happy anniversary for this weekend, sounds like you have a SENSATIONAL few days planned. I can literally feeeeel your excitement leaping off the screen, and that my friend, rocks. xx
Emily: Yum – craving choc chip cookies now! xx
Jas: It was! Biggest congrats on getting through your exams, what an achievement. Your list is positively oozing with magic ma lady, love hearing that life has been dishing up the goods for you xx
Aww the meetups sound so awesome! My favourite girls!! :)
You totally rock that hairdo and Ramai’s wig hahaha. Looking at it makes me happy!
This week, I’m soaking up happiness from taking more time for self-care and self-love, and setting time to work/play. I think it’s called the no-computer in certain hours diet. Pretty good so far (after going through withdrawal symptoms)!
P/S: Oooh thank you for the mention! <3 xxx
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