Breakfast
Elizabeth November 18th, 2011
Day 6 of the 30 Day Photo Challenge is Breakfast. Here’s what I ate this morning – Vegemite toast and my first coffee of the day.
Dark chocolate espresso, you guys. That’s the stuff.
Archive for the 'Photo Posts' Category
Edible Blooms
Elizabeth November 16th, 2011
Pro tip: if you really must have a sick day, I highly recommend doing it the way that I did. It’s essential that you stay in your PJs for three quarters of the day, and only change half an hour before your boyfriend is due home so that you can pretend that you’re all grown up.
Of course, this means that when the delivery guy shows up to your house in the middle of the day you’re not going to be wearing a bra. He’s either going to feel incredibly embarrassed or extraordinarily fortunate, but you know what? It’s too late to be worried about these things. This is one of those times when it’s okay to ignore your mother’s advice about standing with your shoulders back though.
And anyway, there are bigger things to be thinking about at a time like this. For example, “Why don’t I remember ordering something from a shop called Edible Blooms?” and, “oh shit, it’s not our anniversary, is it?”
(Relax. It’s not your anniversary.)
This amazing (and unexpected!) gift was from two Twitter friends that we’ve never even met! A couple of weeks ago we were almost resigned to the fact that our pretty old couches were heading for the footpath for hard rubbish collection. We’d tried to re-home them a couple of times, but although some of our friends were interested in them the timing was wrong. The charities didn’t want to take in any more couches either.
I was really sad about their fate, so I had a little whine about it on Twitter.
LUCKILY, @brethred was reading at the time and replied that she and her boy could give them a home! We were really happy that somebody else could use them and that they’d been saved from becoming landfill.
So today’s little surprise was a completely unnecessary but lovely gesture. We’re just happy to have helped somebody out, and to know that our couches live on!
Farewell, little couches!
Day 4 of the 30 Day Photo Challenge is The Sky. This is a quick and dirty long exposure of the sky above my house at about 9.30pm tonight, since the daytime sky was completely grey and uninspiring.
I wish I’d had more time to make this photo as good as it could be, but I’m trying to not be a perfectionist while I tackle this project. Enjoy the stars.
What to do when you are the sickest girl in all the world (or at least the household)
Elizabeth November 15th, 2011
Please enjoy these six tips for what to do when you are the sickest girl in all the world
(Even though you’re not, because I am!)
STEP 1: Change into your most comfy t-shirt and wipe off all your makeup. It wasn’t fooling anybody, lady.
STEP 2: Tell your puppy that you’re sad. Accept two (2) healing licks to the nose.
STEP 3: Pour a hot mug of chamomile & peppermint tea. Consume at your leisure.
STEP 4: Pre-write your I’m not coming in today email to your boss. Set alarm to send email at 7am so that it doesn’t look premeditated.
STEP 5: Crawl under the covers with your unread Frankie magazine and enjoy the lovely mellowmix you made last night.
STEP 6: (This one is important) – Try not to die too much.
Wish me luck with step 6, you guys.
Day 3: What you’re reading
I don’t mean to brag, but this is the best magazine a sniffly girl could ever hope for.
A little mixtape
Elizabeth November 14th, 2011
José González – Heartbeats / La Mar (The Ocean) – The Beautiful Girls / Stuff and Nonsense – Missy Higgins / Girl with the Red Balloon – The Civil Wars / History’s Door – Husky / Darlin’ Won’t You Come? – Bob Evans / Biding My Time – Busby Marou / Falling Aeroplanes – Darren Hanlon / Give Me Tonight – Art of Fighting / Love Is All – The Tallest Man on Earth / Treehouse Song – Nina Nastasia / Trailed – Gossling
I made this cute little mix tape tonight, and thought I’d share it with everybody here! It’s mostly mellow, acoustic tracks and there’s a bunch of great Australian singer/songwriters in the mix too. It’s the sort of thing that you should listen to at night, I think.
Get comfy (hot chocolate is optional, but recommended) and enjoy the pretty tunes!
RSS buddies: if you don’t see a little flash player at the top of this post you might need to click through to my site to play it.
Day 2: Your Closet
Today’s photo for the 30 Day Challenge is a little collection of my favourite colourful dresses.
30 Day Photo Challenge (by Tiny Little Pieces)
Elizabeth November 13th, 2011
A few days I spotted this 30 Day photo challenge by Gemma of Little Tiny Pieces, and I decided I’d like to play along! My little camera has been a little neglected lately so I’m pleased to have such a great reason to bust it out each day.
The rules are simple – take a photo each day for 30 days, and you don’t need to wait until the start of a month. You can come up with your own list of prompts or use the one that Gemma has created. I think Gemma’s is great, so I plan to stick with hers! However I may run into trouble with a couple of her prompts if they fall on a weekday, so we’ll see how that goes.
When you’ve posted your daily photo jump over to Little Tiny Pieces and let Gemma know that you’re playing along too!
The prompt for Day 1 is Where You Sleep. I’m breaking the rules already by posting two photos, oops!
So who wants to join me? Here’s Gemma’s prompts, for those who would like to play along! It’s a little bit scary to think that by the time this challenge is over it will be close to Christmas… where has this year gone?
A perfect storm.
Elizabeth November 9th, 2011
We had the most incredible weather in Melbourne today, and for a while I forgot that I wasn’t in Queensland anymore. It was the sort of humid, sticky weather that reminded me of my years growing up in Far North QLD. Summer in Cairns meant angry skies, soupy air and the hope that it would pour with rain at the end of the day so that you could get some sleep.
The only thing missing was the sound of frogs croaking in the drain pipes!
All day today the weather reports said that there would be a huge storm this afternoon, but I almost didn’t believe it. Right up until I left work the sky was beautifully blue with hardly a wisp of cloud in the sky. But down on the horizon, just behind the skyline of the buildings, the sky was jet black.
And it moved quickly.
I caught some of it on my phone when I got home, and I’m so glad I bothered to do so. It’s fun to watch the little birds hopping on and off the power lines, and seeing the clouds get pushed around in several directions at once.
Just before the storm hit I took some photos of the birds on my neighbours TV antenna. I liked the original shots a lot, but I love the moodiness that these filters gave the photos.
I’m such a weather nerd. Despite the heat and humidity it’s been fun to watch the sky change all day, and now I’m looking forward to sleeping to the sound of heavy rain on my roof.
Simple pleasures. I’m all about those.
Portrait
Spring
Elizabeth September 22nd, 2011
My cute little garden early this morning
Spring has definitely arrived in Melbourne, and right now the weather could not be more perfect. During the day the sun has been coming out and warming the city gently, and the nights are still perfectly cool and crisp. I would be so happy if it stayed this way until next Winter, but alas – Melbourne’s famous heatwaves are bound to strike before too long.
I tend to get a little bit gloomy when Summer hits. I feel the heat really badly and find it difficult to sleep and dress well. Last year we bought a noisy portable airconditioner for the bedroom and it helped a lot in the sleep department. I really wish I could get excited about the hot weather that’s coming, like all of you Summer people!
In truth, there are things that I love about the warmer weather. I’m doing my best to concentrate on these things instead of mourning my cold weather tights, cardigans and the smell of wood fires:
My favourite salad – spinach & rocket leaves with satay chicken, avacado & mango
Sandals and bright nailpolish on my toes
Eating outside, especially when there is a breeze
Christmas!
Plum wine, poured over plenty of ice
The night markets at Queen Vic and St Kilda
Fresh tomatoes
Lemon sorbet
The smell of freshly mowed lawns
Watering the garden after the sun has gone down
What have I forgotten? Tell me what you love about Summer and help me to keep the blues away…
Filtered
Elizabeth August 25th, 2011
31 Photos in 31 Days
Gran & Grandpa’s typewriter
I’ve never been a fan of applying filters to photos in the editing process. I think that they are often used to disguise flaws, or make a boring image worth paying attention to with cheap tricks. I’ve always preferred to get the shot right in the camera whenever possible and maybe just adjust the white balance and contrast after the fact.
To be completely honest, just writing that makes me feel like a terrible snob.
There is undeniable value in learning the technical aspects of how to get the best shot you can, but I think I’ve been a bit unfair on the people who love to use filters. The truth is that this photo was pretty unremarkable before I started to play around with colour adjustments, vignettes and the burn tool.
Now I love it. That’ll teach me for being judgemental!
Balloon at sunrise
Elizabeth August 24th, 2011
This morning before work I spotted some balloons floating over my suburb. They weren’t directly over my house like they were last week, so I was able to shoot them from a more traditional angle. What a perfect day to be floating above this busy city.
Just posting one photo today, as this shot best captured the peaceful morning. You can click the photo to see a larger version.
Convict chic
The girl with the red balloon
Elizabeth August 15th, 2011
These beauties floated right over our house this morning, while I was getting ready for work. Tim spotted them when he went out to put my coffee in the car (I really do love that boy) and I raced out on the driveway to catch these shots.
I can’t help it – whenever I see them I am completely mesmerised.
It’s been 18 months since we flew over the Yarra Valley for my 30th birthday, and I’m getting the itch to do it again very soon!
And speaking of balloons, I named this post after the song by The Civil Wars. It comes from a spectacular album called Barton Hollow and I might be a little bit in love with them right now.
A Wintery Melbourne day
Elizabeth August 12th, 2011
If you have to be home sick from work, the best time to do it is on a chilly Winter day like this.
This morning we woke up to the bedroom windows being covered in condensation, and at 3.30pm it still hasn’t evaporated – even though the sun coming out! I am not-so-secretly in love with this kind of weather, especially since I get to watch it from my warm beanbag in front of the heater.
I’ll never understand you Summer people!
My Melbourne.
Elizabeth August 10th, 2011
I seem to be the only Melburnian who loves these chilly, rainy days. I’m all about the warm tights, scarves and nights spent in front of the heater.
I could be happy with another few months of this.
