Elizabeth February 28th, 2010

We seem to have run out of Fionas for the time being, so this week’s Smiley Sunday is brought to you by the girl half of JarodandLiz.com!

Liz and Jarod met in Sydney, after discovering each others work on Flickr. Now they’re engaged, and blogging daily about snippets of their lives in the inner west. Liz has another project at friendly miaows, taking beautiful photographs of the street cats she comes across.

SMILEY SUNDAY WITH LIZ, FROM JARODANDLIZ.COM

Seven things that make me smile;

1. Jarod.
2. Cats and their associated parts. Especially paws and whiskers.
3. Successfully baking something.
4. Lazy weekend mornings.
5. Lion masks.
6. Cuddles.
7. Hearing the neighbours cat run around the front of our place. (The ‘jingle jingle jingle’ of her bell makes our cat go crazy, but still).

A memory I keep on file;

My first year attending the Melbourne International Comedy Festival in 2006. Discovering my independence, seeing so many shows and wandering around at night in a city I totally fell in love with. There’s something about the atmosphere at comedy festival time in Melbourne (especially around the town hall) that I’ve not seen elsewhere.

Three blogs that never go out of style;

http://www.sarahwilson.com.au/
http://www.mythreeringcircus.com/
http://foreverfoster.blogspot.com/

A piece of advice I’ve found worthwhile.

Never be afraid to change your mind.

Thanks for sending in your answers Liz. It’s been nice to spend some time today reading about you both, and catching up on your archives! This Smiley Sunday thing has been very good for my Google Reader, and I’m glad to have you on it.

If you would like to be featured in the next installment of Smiley Sunday, send me an email (elizabeth@this domain) with your name, URL and the answers to the questions above. Each Sunday I’ll post a new set of answers.

• Smiley Sunday
• Comments(0)

Elizabeth February 21st, 2010

The month of February is brought to you by the number 2 and the letter “F”! Our second Fiona of the month has answered the call, and left us with an extra-specially Smiley Sunday.

Fiona lives in Cairns in Far North Queensland, which is where I grew up as a teenager. Last year she took a photo of herself every day of the year, which made for a very impressive flickr archive!

SMILEY SUNDAY WITH FIONA, FROM FIFIKINS

Seven things that make me smile;

1. Fresh linen on my bed
2. Catching Cane Toads
3. Sitting on the deck in the pouring rain
4. Cooking a yummy meal or baking a cake
5. Seeing my kids achieve, no matter how small or large an achievement
6. Our two beautiful ragdoll kittens, Leo and Max
7. The gorgeous Man In My Life (MIML™!)

A memory I keep on file;

I have been looking through photos and there are so many that evoke times past. The photos that evoke memories for me though are my memories and relate to situations that were meaningful, sometimes at the time, often still now! Let me just say that photos of the kids as newborns, and growing up and smiles and places and pets and things that didn’t turn out the way they would have liked make me the person I am. This reflection has also emphasised that I need to get all my old photos scanned asap!

Three blogs that never go out of style;

http://vipantrywedonthaveablogblog.blogspot.com/
http://www.mediamum.net/
http://zucchinibikini.blogspot.com/

Can I give honourary mentions though to http://notitallatall.blogspot.com/ and of course http://magnetoboldtoo.com/ please???

Sure can!

A piece of advice I’ve found worthwhile.

Even along the darkest path one can find the most beautiful flowers.

Thanks for playing! For the record, I liked your email signature just as much: “The bubbling brook would lose its song if you removed the rocks.”

If you would like to be featured in the next installment of Smiley Sunday, send me an email (elizabeth@this domain) with your name, URL and the answers to the questions above. Each Sunday I’ll post a new set of answers.

And hey – spread the word, ok? The internet doesn’t need yet another “nobody loves me” post!

• Smiley Sunday
• Comments(4)

Elizabeth February 19th, 2010

I’ve been loving the submissions for Smiley Sunday so far, and I hope you have too! I’m looking for some new people to feature, so if you’d like to join in the fun just answer the following 4 questions and send them to elizabeth@thisdomain

Seven things that make me smile;

A memory I keep on file;

Three blogs that never go out of style;

A piece of advice I’ve found worthwhile.

All are welcome, and you don’t need to be a blogger to play along. Please spread the word by tweet, blog or skywriter!

• Smiley Sunday
• Comments(0)

Elizabeth February 14th, 2010

My internet connection is back, and so is Smiley Sunday!

This week’s Smiley Sunday comes from Fiona, who has been blogging since 2002 at Little Lioness. She is a Speech Pathologist living in Canberra and studying for her Masters.

SMILEY SUNDAY WITH FIONA, FROM LITTLE LIONESS

Seven things that make me smile;

1. teeny tiny flowers
2. bubbles
3. the smell of fresh cut grass. or rain. or both at once.
4. kittens
5. toddlers
6. when kids just ‘get’ something for the first time in our therapy sessions.
7. early morning walks

A memory I keep on file;

Aside from my whole flickr back catalogue? http://www.flickr.com/photos/phonakins/

From when my hair was long, the first summer in Canberra, living at the college.

Three blogs that never go out of style;

http://rainbowofchaos.wordpress.com/
http://friendlyatheist.com/
http://the-riotact.com/

A piece of advice I’ve found worthwhile.

It’s like the slogan Just Do It. It’s true.

Thanks for sending in your answers Fiona!

If you would like to be featured in the next installment of Smiley Sunday, send me an email (elizabeth@this domain) with your name, URL and the answers to the questions above. Each Sunday I’ll post a new set of answers.

• Smiley Sunday
• Comments(2)

Elizabeth January 24th, 2010

This week’s Smiley Sunday comes from Louise, author of Scottiemonster. She is obsessed in all things Scottie dog (is anybody looking for a puppy? She has three who need a home!) and also begin a 101 Things in 1001 Days list at the same time as me!

SMILEY SUNDAY WITH SCOTTIEMONSTER!

Seven things that make me smile;

1. watching the puppies find something new
2. listening to people watch fire works
3. riding my motorcycle, anywhere other than my commute to work and back
4. finally working something out that has been a battle (this is usually a computer software based problem)
5. watching Neil sleep
6. hmmm chocolate
7. Ask me not to… I smile every time!

A memory I keep on file;

I have found this one hard, looks like I don’t look back on memory’s that much. Here are some mini ones:

- Pretending to swim around the school yard with my friends
- The bushwalk I got together with Neil on
- Happy dinners with friends at our house
- Road trips with friends or family
- Going to get my first dog

Three blogs that never go out of style;

Melbourne Today
Forever Amber
Scottish Terrier and Dog News

A piece of advice I’ve found worthwhile.

No one is perfect, just some people are better at pretending than others.

Thanks for sending in your answers Louise!

If you would like to be featured in the next installment of Smiley Sunday, send me an email (elizabeth@this domain) with your name, URL and the answers to the questions above. Each Sunday I’ll post a new set of answers.

• Smiley Sunday
• Comments(1)

Elizabeth January 17th, 2010

This week’s Smiley Sunday comes from Lulu, author of Cherry Blossom Adventures.  Ex-Brisbane girls are pretty great, as a rule, and Lulu is no exception!

SMILEY SUNDAY WITH LULU

Seven things that make me smile;

1. My son Noah – he has only been in my life (in the outside world) for a couple of weeks but already I can see him becoming the light of my life.
2. Getting flowers- nothing better than getting flowers from a lover or a friend.
3. Cherry blossom season in Japan
4. Starting a good book
5.Hearing my husband say cute things in English like “work was bored” when he means boring or “I love you mostest” in my response to “I love you more”
6. Receiving parcels in the mail- living overseas means I miss out on a lot of things from home but my family and friends are constantly sending things in the mail especially in recent months for the baby! The same goes for phone calls from home- they always make me smile!
7. Christmas decorations- Japan is not a Christian country but they still do great christmas decorations and it makes the holiday seem just that little bit better!

A memory I keep on file;

A photo from when I first met Shumpei, my husband. This was taken on one of our last dates before I returned to Australia for a year. We took it ourselves on a ferris wheel in Odaiba- while we had fallen madly in love neither of us were sure if long distance would work but we made it work and now, 5 years later we are married with a baby.

Three blogs that never go out of style;

For me, reading blogs by others living in Japan helps keep me sane, and here are three of my favourites.

http://gaijinwife.blogspot.com
http://riceprincess.wordpress.com
http://alwaysleavingthingsunfinishe.blogspot.com

A piece of advice I’ve found worthwhile.

My mother told me constantly when I was younger “Treat people the way you want to be treated” and this has worked for me my whole life.

Thanks for sending in your answers Lulu!

If you would like to be featured in the next installment of Smiley Sunday, send me an email (elizabeth@this domain) with your name, URL and the answers to the questions above. Each Sunday I’ll post a new set of answers.

• Smiley Sunday
• Comments(1)

Elizabeth January 10th, 2010

The first official Smiley Sunday comes from Laura Kane, author of Rainbow Tatt and co-author of the brilliant That’s Noice! Enjoy.

SMILEY SUNDAY WITH LAURA

Seven things that make me smile;

1. Cupcakes, especially my plain patty cakes and Oreo cupcakes
2. Buttercream icing – straight from the bowl
3. Getting my payslip each fortnight
4. My cats. Especially Bear. Not that I play favourites, of course
5. Dan, the fiancé, as well as the engagement ring he had made for me
6. Random cute kids when we’re at the supermarket or walking down the street
7. Getting “poll position” parking on our street a.k.a. the closest parking spot to our house – a rare treat!

A memory I keep on file;

This was taken 5 January 2008 in London.

There’s V, me, Jo, Kat, Maz, Genna, Charlie, Shirley, Dawn, Jenno, Harriet and Becca.

I’ve known these girls for 5+ years and had only met 2 of them face-to-face before my first big overseas trip. I love how the internet brought me such awesome friends and how the internet allows me to keep in better contact with them than a lot of my local friends! We planned this big weekend for everyone to get together for the first time (honorary mention to Flora who was finishing her Uni degree and Anna who was stuck in Melbourne) and there are just so many memories from that weekend and that whole trip in general.

Three blogs that never go out of style;

The Red Deer – http://the-red-deer.blogspot.com/
Jarod and Liz – http://jarodandliz.com/
Chocolatesuze – http://www.chocolatesuze.com/

A piece of advice I’ve found worthwhile.

“Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind.” Dr. Seuss

Thanks for playing, Laura!

If you would like to be featured in the next installment of Smiley Sunday, send me an email (elizabeth@this domain) with your name, URL and the answers to the questions above. Each Sunday I’ll post a new set of answers.

• Smiley Sunday
• Comments(1)

Elizabeth January 3rd, 2010

Scarlet Words will be a busy little place in 2010!  Aside from my regular updates I’m working on some new ideas to keep me blogging more regularly during the coming months.

One of my main goals for this year, at least where this blog is concerned, is to connect more with the people who read Scarlet Words.  I’d also like to meet more of my fellow bloggers and share them with everyone here!

Smiley Sunday is a new weekly feature to seek out a little happiness, and to learn more about somebody new.

So, for the first time of many, welcome to Smiley Sunday!

(A big thank you to Tim for agreeing to let me use this picture, a cartoon of us that he drew 4 years ago!)

SMILEY SUNDAY
with Elizabeth of Scarlet Words

(I’ll answer the questions this week – then it’s over to you guys!)

Seven things that make me smile;

1.  curling up on the couch with a blanket on a cold Winter night
2.  watching a child learn to do something for the first time
3.  the sound of heavy rain on a tin roof
4.  falling asleep with my boy, between clean sheets.
5.  the thermos of coffee Tim makes for me each morning
6. watching my dog dream (his little legs run and run!), and his little snores
7.  favourite smells: fresh laundry, baking bread, onion sizzling in butter

A memory I keep on file;

I remember sneaking into my brother’s room and trying on his Scout uniform over my pajamas when I was five years old.  I expected to get into trouble, but apparently I was too adorable!

Three blogs that never go out of style;

Nadinerine
That Unreliable Girl
That’s What Your Mum Said

A piece of advice I’ve found worthwhile.

“Whether you think that you can, or that you can’t, you are usually right.” (Henry Ford)

That’s it – now it’s your turn!

If you would like to be featured in the next installment of Smiley Sunday, send me an email (elizabeth@this domain) with your name, URL and the answers to the questions above.  Each Sunday I’ll post a new set of answers.

To get the ball rolling, the first three volunteers can choose a print from my photography portfolio at Scarlet Arts – just a small thank you for sharing the love!

• Smiley Sunday
• Comments(6)