Sydney might not have gotten any surprise appearances from any of Taylor’s A list pals but we did get glow in the dark arm bands and a two hour wait in the carpark after the concert as 79 000 people all tried to leave the ANZ Stadium simultaneously.

Or perhaps you were having a quiet night in.  Recovering from the work Christmas party Friday night or logging in a few hours of sleep into the bank in preparation for the month of shin digs that December often is.

Toddler SSG at that prized spot in the Santa line where you have full access to Santa’s Garden just before getting your turn in Santa’s sleigh.

If you were me, you were having that quiet night in with your coloured pencils because you needed all the sleep and calm you could get to face the mental and physical challenge of getting Santa photos done on a Sunday at your local Westfield.  I didn’t have it in me to face trying to get to the QVB early to secure a time for later in the day so I did the only slightly less challenging thing of getting to Westfield half an hour before Santa did and hoping for the best.  Along with 10 other families.

We got there in the end and we couldn’t have got there without each other.  We shared mobile phones, snacks and looks of solidarity as we tried our best to keep our children in line (and in one piece) and their outfits as clean as possible for their photos moment with Santa.

Toddler SSG was so excited to see Santa that he climbed straight onto the sleigh and happily hammed it up for the camera.  We have another beautiful photo this year and I love how there’s already a memorable story behind each one.

Armed with our photo pack, we celebrated with a well earned snack of Max Brenner chocolate buttons and a couple of hot beverages.

www.target.com.au Target’s $5 wall clock.

We then went on a soothing lap of Target with C who was in town for the weekend.  Despite being emotionally spent from Operation Santa Photo, I still managed to remember what I needed to be at Target for.  Another of these $5 wall clocks.  They’re so light weight and go with practically any kind of interior design concept you may (or may not) have for your house.  They also look like they’d cost more than they do.

Unfortunately, Target was yet another high profile victim of the adult colouring in craze so they didn’t have any felt tips in stock.  Which is how I ended up at Eckersley’s again.  This time for these fancy Stabilo textas.

I needed them to for the book of Owen Davey’s Travelogue posters I’m starting on.  The book itself was a sub $5 find at Aldi yesterday.  The prints just look like they needed more solid blocks of colour than what I could achieve with pencil.  However, felt tip colouring in isn’t as easy as it looks.  You need to be so decisive and to have such a sure hand to prevent colours from bleeding or looking uneven on the page.

Before I leave you, I have a make up tip involving plastic knives that might come in handy.

If you’re on the verge of ditching a pan of makeup because it’s got build up on in that’s preventing you from being able to take up much product on your brush, this video may help you save that product.

It turns out that the build up occurs because oils from your skin or other makeup and skincare react with the powder and form the hard film layer.  To remove it, all you need to do is scrape the layer off using a plastic knife, packaging tape or a firm bristled brush.  The knife worked best for me.

And there you have it, November is just about done and dusted.  It’s December this coming week!!!!!!!!