Remembrance. A Blog Award.

I’m so glad it’s Tuesday.

The only moment I got to stand still and not think about anything on Monday was while I was in the line waiting for my coffee.

Because Monday was pretty crazy at work. And so was Sunday. You get the picture.

I’m so glad it’s Tuesday, in fact, that today has a kind of Friday feel to it. Hence the arrangement I have around my neck. The necklace and sweater were from Marni + H&M’s 2012 collaboration.

I have fond memories of that cold (for an Australian) March morning sitting out on the pavement outside the Oxford Circus store waiting for the store to open. I had my early bird arm band on and a cup of Macca’s porridge and jam with me and was having a grand old time chatting to a few locals I made friends with in the queue.

H&M staff meeting and greeting at the Oxford Circus store as the Marni collaboration went on sale to he public way back on March 8, 2012.

In the queue for Marni at H&M.

It was so much fun and probably the craziest thing I’ve ever done (and ever will do) in the name of a designer collaboration. I’ve been putting off visiting Sydney’s H&M but looking through these photos from London has made me want to have a look see after all. I’ve heard that the crowds are still insane. But that’s Sydney for you.

Next up in this post is my response to Toni’s list of questions from her Liebster Blog Award.
Toni writes a fabulous blog called Something Gorgeous with her friend Giulia. Something Gorgeous celebrates interior design, food and life. I love reading the SG team’s take on design because they manage to break decorating concepts and themes down in a way that I can understand and relate to.

Thanks for the award, Toni and here are my answers to your questions.

What makes you smile?

Sitting on the front porch on a gloriously sunny spring morning feeling the sun on my bare feet and watching it filter through the pot plants. Thanks mum, for helping me with the repotting and pruning.

What is you favourite season of the year?

Late spring in Sydney with its jacaranda blossoms as far as the eye can see. A bit of purple here and there always makes the world a happier place.

If you won a million dollars, what would you do?

Pay off the mortgage and donate the rest to charity. I’d then keep on living my regular life working and parenting.

Debt free, I’d strive to live these words from Nikos Kazantzakis that a wise friend recently shared with me, “I want nothing. I fear nothing. I am free.”

What does your family think about you blogging?

They take it in their stride.

What did you want to be when you were a child?

A professional sand sculptor. Or a professional barefoot sitter in the sand.

Tell a random fact about you.

I can’t do tumble turns in the pool. But I love swimming laps. Somehow, this works.

Are you punctual or tardy?

Punctual.

There’s a clock of some description in every room of the house.

And I wear a watch during every waking hour.

What advice would you give to any new bloggers?

To simply write from your heart. And to write for yourself first and foremost.

If you could meet anyone dead or alive, who would it be?

God. And I have no idea what I’d say or ask Him but if you could just put a hand on my shoulder and tell me to ‘have faith that all will be well’, that would be wonderfully reassuring.

What is your favourite post that you’ve written? (Link please)

As this blog has gotten on a bit in years, I’ve sometimes worried that I’d get bored of writing and have nothing left to say. That as time went on and I’d found my groove in life that each day would be the same old same old.

But they haven’t been. One of the great things about having a personal blog is being able to look back at various points in my life and read about how I felt at the time and compare this with how I feel about those same moments now. It’s amazing the detail and emotion that evaporates, even after a year.

The post I have recently enjoyed re-reading is this one from the end of last year (and the end of this year is frighteningly not too far away at all…). ‘Dear 2013’ was about letting go of and learning from the painful things that happened that year whilst still holding on and treasuring all the blessings that the same year gave me. It was both the best and worst year of my adult life and I am proud of where I am spiritually, professionally and emotionally right now, relative to then.

It’s fitting that my reflections on the past are taking place on Remembrance Day, our nation’s day of reflection. Together, we observed the minute’s silence after hearing the Ode read as a brief service was broadcast over the PA system.

It was a simple and powerful experience that united all of us in silence and stillness.

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They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:

Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.

At the going down of the sun and in the morning

We will remember them.

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