The Gratitude List: 2013 you've been so good

I can barely begin to imagine that 2013 is almost over. This year has been so good to me. I've been on so many adventures and I feel so grateful for all of the experiences I've had this year. I have had massive, mind blowing highs and I've spent more time smiling and succeeding that I thought was possible.

I think it's easy to get caught up in the end of year madness but it's great to sit down and think about the things that you are grateful for from this year. Send out a THANK YOU to the universe and make the decision that next year is going to amazing.

2013 was especially good to me so I've decided to put together my final gratitude list for 2013 with the things I've been grateful for throughout the year.

1. The live music I've seen and the amazing artists I've witnessed



It's easy to be grateful when my list of artists I've seen looks like this

Maximo Park / The Hives / The Killers / Childish Gambino / Big Day Out Festival (multiple bands) / Bloc Party / British India / The Kooks / Kristin Chenoweth / Idina Menzel / Jay Z / Justin Timberlake / Beyoncé / Bastille / William Beckett / Foals / The Basics / Franz Ferdinand / Muse / Alicia Keys

2. Travelling the world



This year I've been lucky enough to travel to

London / Dubai / Cancun / New York / Toronto / Anaheim (Disneyland) / Los Angeles / Bali / Gold Coast

A lot of my travel adventures have been through work and I've visited some absolutely stunning places with the best people. I loved every trip I've been on and I know they wouldn't have been as great had it not been the people I travelled with.

3. My family



But seriously, if your nieces and nephews were this cute you'd be grateful too.

4. My Black Milk collection



I've spent this year in lycra as my Black Milk collection has grown to ridiculous proportions. I love that I can wear something crazy and ridiculous and feel so comfortable and happy. I am grateful for the confidence their clothing gives me.

5. A little bit of everything else.



It has been so hard trying to reduce the things I'm grateful for into 5 points. I have had so many great experiences this year. There have been ups and downs but this post is about finding the things that have made me smile this year. I have shared this year with so many great friends and family and I am happy to look back at 2013 and think this was a lucky, fun filled, adventurous year for me.

Have you taken a look at your 2013 yet? Share your links below if you've posted about it - I'd love to see what's been making you smile this year

Bring on 2014 and another outstanding year.

 - Brooke

The Gratitude List: Week ending 22 Dec

Another week before Christmas all done and dusted. Can you guys believe CHRISTMAS IS TOMORROW!?!?! I can't wait to wake up, make milkshakes, pick up my Grandma and open presents with my family! Before all of that happens, here's what I'm grateful for from last week.



1. Christmas lunches that include a lot of beer - On Wednesday the team leaders of the Flight Centre stores in my region/area were treated to a Christmas lunch at the Hofbrauhaus in Melbourne. Delicious food, amazing company, 2 litres of beer and a great time at a rooftop bar after lunch is a fantastic way to spend a Wednesday.



2. Time off - I've actually had the week off from work (well from Wednesday - Sunday) and it was so nice to relax and rest. I didn't have anywhere to go, anywhere to be and I loved it. I watched season 2 of Sherlock, read books and listened to Beyoncé (a lot).



3. Quality time with the nieces and nephews - Seth has been away in Adelaide for a couple of weeks so Friday night dinner was extra fun. I love spending time with these kids, they are so ridiculous and cute.

4. AMAZING MOVIES - This week I saw American Hustle (WOW) and Frozen. It's so fun to go to the cinemas and watch a movie on the big screen. I love it. I especially love it when I go to the movies with friends or family (especially if it's a kids movie and I'm seeing it with nieces and nephews).

5. Christmas crafting and preparation - This year is the first year that some of my crafting ideas have come together. I've made more things this year than any other year and even though I didn't make my usual Christmas cookies I feel like it's been a great lead up to the big day. I've watched a bunch of the Christmas movies off my list, I've made mini Christmas trees and glitter dinosaurs and I've built my first gingerbread house. It's been busy but I've had so much fun.

I'm really excited for this week - there are lots of things happening but ultimately I'm just excited to spend some time with my family and eating and drinking far too much. Tonight I'm watching Bad Santa (totally inappropriate but it's a Christmas tradition) with my hair in curlers.

Merry Christmas lovelies <3 p="">
 - Brooke

The Gratitude List: Week ending 01 Dec

WOW, it's really December - DECEMBER YOU GUYS!!!! I'm excited for so many things this month. I have lots of Christmas parties, lots of bands and lots of big things happening, but I want to remember and be happy for the little things too.

Here's what rocked my world this week

1. NEW HAIR CUTS: I got my hair cut this week and it feels so good. After spending two days at the Blogcademy with two amazing women (Kat & Gala) who were both rocking the hell out of straight fringes (or "bangs" for those in the USA) I knew it was time to bring it back. My hairdresser Courtney is such an amazing person. She puts up with all my crazy whims and is always willing to try anything with my hair. This time I asked for shorter at the back and longer a the front - I knew my hair needed a good cut but I didn't want to lose the illusion of length at the front - she did it without blinking and I love it. 

2. Dinner dates with amazing friends - On Saturday night I caught up with a friend I have known for a VERY LONG TIME (read: about 15 years ++) and it was so nice to be able to sit around eating delicious Indian food (naan bread = yum) talking about life. It's such a nice feeling to have people who know you so well and that you can still connect with after 15 + years of friendship.



3. I CAN'T STOP BUYING CHRISTMAS DECORATIONS - So far this year I have purchased a bunch of new decorations (a snow globe penguin, silver bell stars, a quilted "Merry Christmas" hanging sign, a collection of cute wooden hanging ornaments and a wooden Christmas tree). I'm so happy that the stores have out really cute affordable decorations this year.



4. Getting tickets to bands I love who are touring next year - This week alone I have bought tickets to see The Lumineers, Arcade Fire, Bastille and Arctic Monkeys. I was really lucky to get a text message from my friend Jeanine asking me if I wanted her to buy me a pre-pre-sale ticket to Arctic Monkeys - I said HECK YES! She works for a touring company and had staff access to tickets - how amazing is that?!?!

5. Relaxing and taking time for me - I slept in, I read books, I relaxed and caught up on some TV shows, I just took some time out and breathed. It's so nice to be able to just stop for a bit and have a "nothing" day where all you do is bum around at home in your pj's.

This week is chock-a-block. I've got 2 x gigs plus my Dad's birthday and a Christmas tree to decorate. I'm also going to introduce my nieces and nephew to a Christmas movie they haven't seen before.

What are your plans for this week? What are you looking forward to?

 - Brooke

Gratitude List: Week ending 24 Nov

This week was filled with all kinds of normality. I worked 6 out of 7 days however I still had plenty of things to be grateful for.

1. NEW BLACK MILK - Crazy Cat Lady leggings and Christmas tress skater dresses OH MY! These delightful items arrived during the week and I'm so happy with these new items. The cat leggings are so perfect I can't imagine what my life was like before owning them (I'm wearing them while I type this). I have a special feature coming soon to the blog so if you love cat items like I do you're sure to love it. 

2. Seeing movies in Gold Class - Gold Class cinemas are basically smaller cinemas with recliner chairs  - luxury cinemas! I love going to Gold Class, things are more expensive but I manage to get free vouchers through work "perk points" and this time we went and saw The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (which I LOVED)

3. Jennifer Lawrence - After watching The Hunger Games I went on an internet search of Jennifer Lawrence. This girl is a seriously inspirational human being. I think the best thing about her is that she's honest and natural. THIS VIDEO just made me want to give her a big hug and tell her she's awesome

4. Reading books from amazing authors - I've started to read again, which has been a great stress relief for me. It helps that the finale for Divergent Series by Veronica Roth came out and the next book in the Bloodlines series by Richelle Mead came out. I am half way through The Fiery Heart and I love the double perspective we're getting with the book written in the POV of 2 of the characters.

5. Watching old movies with my nieces and nephew - On Saturday when I came home from work I was greeted with a couch-full of kids watching Free Willy. It's really fun watching them react to things I watched when I was their age. Evie stood transfixed by the movie and Bridie kept asking questions to which Evie would tell her "they are trying to save Willy". So cute!!!

What is making you happy this week? I know I've got a few things happening this week that I'm really looking forward to including a local town festival.

 - Brooke

Gratitude List: Week ending 17 Nov

I didn't post a Gratitude List last week due to my excitement and distraction by The Blogcademy (don't worry there's a post coming on that). This weeks Gratitude List is jam packed full of fun amazing things to make up for it.



1. THE BLOGCADEMY - The highlight of my week/month/year. I can't even begin to explain how happy I walked away from these two days. I was so blissed out on Friday afternoon that the almost 2 hour commute back home didn't bother me. I could see my hula hoop from Hooplovers.com in my rear-view mirror and I smiled all the way home. My re-cap of the two-days is coming (it's in the drafts being carefully edited before posting).

2. A quick stay in North Melbourne - I didn't want to have to stress about traffic so for the two days that  I went to the Blogcademy I decided to rent a small studio apartment in North Melbourne. It was a last minute decision and it was the best decision. It was nice to set up shop in a small little space and be by myself for 2 nights. It gave me a chance to re-charge before the next day in quiet.



3. Seeing Franz Ferdinand live - on Thursday night I went to the Forum theatre tired and mentally exhausted but it didn't last long once Franz Ferdinand hit the stage. I found myself bouncing around, dancing and singing and basically having a fantastic night.

4. Creating Vision Boards - Since I moved to a new store I needed to update and re-new my vision board for at work. It's something I really love doing and I think I'm pretty damn good at it. I love creating collages and this is the perfect excuse. I also scoured the internet looking for some inspirational quotes and have plastered one of the walls in our back office with these quotes. It looks bright and cheerful and exactly what I want when I am sitting out there.

5. Chinese food for another b'day - I didn't realise exactly how many family b'days there are in October / November until I started writing these lists. We've had 4 different b'days in as many weeks. Last week it was my sisters turn and we went out for delicious Chinese food at one of our favourite places followed by one of my Mum's amazing sponge cakes.

This week I want to make sure I do something nice for somebody else - I want to share the kindness and happiness I've experienced this past week with somebody else. I'm not sure how or what but I'm determined to make someone smile unexpectedly.

 - Brooke

P.S Thanks to Lucy at My Day My Way for the shout out - it's nice to find another blogger being grateful for their week

Gratitude List: Week Ending 03 Nov

So it appears I'm not the as good at scheduling posts as I thought I was. I thought I had this ready to post on Monday night, but it appears that didn't happen. Lesson learnt

Here are the things that happened through the week that made me smile



1. I've been so busy and stressed out these past few weeks due to the fact that I was moving stores at the end of the month. Not only was I moving stores but I was opening a brand new store in a totally new location on November 1st. It was a lot of work but I'm so happy with the new store. I'm so happy it's finally open and my thoughts and energy can shift to this new team and new location. It still feels a little surreal right now.

2. Having my Sundays back - with this new store comes 6 day trade, which in turn means I get my Sundays back!!!!! I'm so used to working in a 7 day trade location and working full weekends that I'm not going to know what to do with all this free time on a weekend. It's perfect timing too with summer fast approaching, this means I might actually make it to the beach this year *hooray*



3. Birthdays - we celebrated another 2 birthdays this week. Cute little Seth and Evie both had birthdays during the week (that picture of Seth KILLS me - he was trying to blow out the candles but was just filling his cheeks with air and making the noise, not actually blowing on the candles).

4. I went and saw Thor 2 (or Thor: The Dark World) at Gold Class on Saturday evening and while we didn't get to try the Rocky Road Popcorn (they were sold out which has just peaked our interests even further) it was an amazing experience. There is something about the Thor movies that I just love. It is pure escapism. It was extra nice as the Gold Class cinemas we went to has had a re-furbishment and have super comfy new recliners (except they aren't as long in the legs and I had to curl my legs up on the foot rest).



5. Finding new ways to wear my Black Milk maxi dresses (especially my blue galaxy one) - I CAN WEAR THEM AS MAXI SKIRTS!!! This was a revelation for me this week. I want to wear my maxi dresses as much as possible but I kind of feel like it can be a bit much for day-to-day wear but throw on a casual t-shirt over the top and voila it's more casual. Perfect!

 - Brooke

2011 was...

The year I dyed my hair purple:

The year I saw many many amazing bands:

CLICK TO KEEP READING....

Christmas 2011

Christmas. Can we believe it's over already? I can hardly believe that Christmas has come and gone and it's almost 2012. 

I had a lovely time at home with family eating far too much food (which seems to be the norm) and enjoying watching nieces FREAK out with every gift they opened. I scored some amazingly thoughtful gifts including a Mocking Jay pin (!!!!!!), Griffindor scarf (!!!!!!!) and a silver globe necklace (that should hopefully arrive tomorrow) plus other awesome things.

This was one of the most relaxing Christmas's that I've had in the past few years. There weren't any dramas and my Grandma was super well and happy and LOVED the massive photo frames that we put together for her. Last Christmas she was really sick so it was extra special to have her happy and healthy this year enjoying Christmas lunch with the family.

I hope everyone else had an amazing Christmas and got some special gifts. I'll leave you all with my Christmas gift to you - THE HOBBIT TRAILER (IDK why I didn't post this as soon as I watched it - I still don't have the words to describe how happy/ecstatic/crazy this trailer makes me). Enjoy

 - Brooke

Side by Side

Friday night my beloved Collingwood Magpies played in and won the preliminary final against the Hawthorn Football Club. It was the most intense game of football that I have ever seen. We won by 3 points with a last minute goal kicked in the final minutes and a massive tackle securing our win. 

This means we'll be playing in the Grand Final on Saturday afternoon and I found out today that I will be attending and have secured a ticket (thank goodness). I'm so excited and nervous and am going a bit crazy anytime I think about it. 

This was my sister Crystal, our friend Lauren and myself not long after the win. We've been to pretty much every game this year (apart from the games that were interstate) and have watched these boys play amazing football throughout the year. 

I've been a lifelong supporter of this team and it's nice to experience  this crazy fun time first hand. I mean we won the Grand Final last year but this year it's different because we'll actually BE there. I'm so excited for this week to come and whatever happens on Saturday I hope we walk away with massive smiles on our faces.

*squee* 

- Brooke

P.S Happy 200th post - I can barely believe that I've stuck with this little blog for so long. I'm kind of happy that this post is about something that I love to pieces. It just seems right.

The right kind of weekend

It's always a fun night when spent with nieces and nephews. Especially when they are as cute as this.

How was you weekend?

 - Brooke

Happy day

(don't worry my hair is still purple - this photo just doesn't show it)

Today is my birthday.

My plans for today include lunch with my Grandma, sister and niece then dinner with the rest of the family. 

I think today calls for some black eyeliner and red lips.

x x x

Brooke

Lunch Fun

Today I went out for lunch with my older sister, her two kids, my Grandma and my Nana. We went out to the Warragul Club and I had delicious beer battered flathead tails and chips. 

When I was in Bangkok I managed to get some film for my Instax Mini (which I had just about ran out of) really cheap so it was fun to be able to play around with it again and take photos. 

I took my laptop with me so I could show Grandma and Nana my Thailand photos. 

This evening I had the house to myself and I had plans to snuggle up on the couch and watch season 1 of Sons of Anarchy - I've heard so much about this show that I decided it was about time to watch it. Only problem is that Dad bought a new dvd/blu ray player and because our copy of SOA is from the USA it's a different region and wouldn't play. 

THEN I went to watch one of the Harry Potter movies but it wouldn't play them properly so I watched Daydream Nation (which has Kat Dennings in it) off my hard drive. Ended up being a great way to spend the evening - really good movie. 

It also had an actor names Reece Thompson in it. This is him: 

He's a new favourite - he plays the kind of dorky, damaged, lovely boy very very well (I've watched him in two movies now - with a couple more on the list of movies to watch). Plus he's super cute and adorable. Bonus right?!?

Over & Out

 - Brooke

A new Nephew - Tate William

This morning a new cutie entered our world - Tate William was born around 2am.

I woke up this morning at 5.50am to a phone call from my very excited brother Nathan. This is his wife Nicole's and his third child - and first boy (they have two adorable girls). 

He's such a cutie-pie with teeny tiny wrinkly fingers (and finger nails - OMG). When I had my first cuddle he some how got the hiccups. His whole body shook with each hiccup and he scrunched his face up with each shake. 

I only had my iPhone with me (as I rushed over after work to meet him) and these were the only pictures I have so far. I'm sure that'll change soon enough. I can already see some of the features that Bridie & Evie had when they were first born in Tate - it's that lip/chin area that looks super familiar. 

Nathan showed me pictures of Bridie & Evie visiting their new brother - they were such adorable photos. I can't wait to see them all together.

I'm a super happy Aunty right now.

Smiles and glee

 - Brooke