Fairytale love

I love cartoons, especially fairytales - they reach to the heart of the hopeless romantic, impossible dreamer in me. One of my favourites - and I'm sure I'm not alone - is Shrek, so of course I rushed out to see Shrek Forever After the moment I could. The animation was wonderful as always, but what I really fell in love with was the soundtrack. There was one song in particular that I loved and I had meaned to track it down as soon as I god home but, as sometimes happens, life got in the way and I completely forgot about it.

Imagine my surprise (and excitement) when my very favourite wedding blog, Green Wedding Shoes, posted about the very song I'd fallen in love with - Darling, I Do by Landon Pigg + Lucy Schwartz! These two artists by themselves are amazing, but together - oh the joy!

And of course I had to share it, because what good is something wonderful if you keep it all to yourself?

Goody two shoes

I'm known amongst my friends as a bit of a shoe addict, which I guess is a fair comment seeing as at one point I owned eighty-five pairs. My collection has dwindled somewhat with all my moving in recent years, not to mention the self-imposed shoe diet I placed on myself (five of any style per year, plus an extra pair of heels). In fact, it's dwindled so much in recent times that I'm finding myself shoeless on many occassion, because my favourites are all wearing out.
What I need most right now is a pair of simple black flats and a smart pair of sandals. I've decided the sandals can wait until it gets a bit warmer, but black flats are my go-to shoe when it comes to comfort and style, so I've been on a mission this week to find a pair I love. And did I ever find a pair I love, along with several other pairs I'll be lusting over for a long time.

So they're not black. But they are flats! And I can always buy a black pair as well...
Ok, enough excuses, let me tell you about these babies. Not only are they incredibly pretty, they're also handmade, vegan and 100% organic! You can find them in a rainbow of pretty colours and styles at The Generation.
Nothing like a pair of pretty shoes to make you feel good about supporting a great cause.

Remembering what to forget

"…and that’s exactly how you make people forget - keep parsing the facts in half while folding in newer, harder to understand information until no one piece of data serves as a salient point anymore. Think of it as dispersant on a mental oil spill."

So this was John Mayer talking about BP's oil spill* in the Gulf of Mexico, but this resonated for me in so many other contexts, most prominently in the area of work/life.

Remember when you were a kid and you dreamed big? You dreamed of becoming a ballerina, or an astronuaght, or a prince/princess. Some parents may have reinforced these dreams - assuring you that anything was possible if you beleived in yourself - other parents may not have been so supportive. Whatever the case, you were sure as sure that when you were a big person you'd live out these dreams becuase dreams are possible.
And now you're all grown up and living that dream, right? No? I thought as much. Yes, it's true that as a child you really are just dreaming - it would be pretty tight in Windsor Castle if all the little girls in the world really grew up to become princesses. But what about the dreams you dreamed in high school, or at university, or even last year? How many of those did you fulfil? How many did you even honestly believe you could succeed at? Not many, eh?
Why? Probably not because you tried and didn't succeed. Probably more because you didn't even get around to trying, after someone told you you couldn't succeed. You see, that's how it is with success - there's all these people out there throwing reasons at you as to why you can't or won't reach that goal, telling you why you just aren't capable enough, imploring you to look down the safe road or the easy path. And eventually you forget that once upon a time you really could do anything, and the small child inside you gives away their fantastical dreams in favour of a 'more practical' profession.
But it doesn't have to be that way. Yes, we need lawyers, accountants, doctors, and the like. And I'm sure there's someone out there for whom that is honestly their dream career. But if it's not yours, why do it? Why spend such a large part of your life turning up to classes, cramming for exams, and sucking up to the big boss if in the end all it's going to get you is a pat on the back and a lot of regrets? Forget it. It's not worth the hastle.
Instead, take that big bowl of BS everyone's been filling with reasons you can't succeed, toss it down the sink, and forget about it. Then figure out what you really want to do, what really excites you here and now, and figure out how to do it. Maybe it won't work. But maybe it will and you'll be the next big self-made millionaire. Or at the very least you'll be doing what you love.

 
*I know, Wiki! But it does have quite the extensive explaination.

City Lights

It's been a while, hasn't it? Disappointingly, this is going to be a very nothing post because I'm feeling a bit rusty. I thought I'd show you my new/old home - Brisbane. New because I'm newly moved in and closer than ever to the city. Old because I've lived here for four years before moving home for the last six months.
When I left Brisbane in December last year I was thoroughly sick of the city. I'd originally moved here for uni and was, at first, overcome by the size and pace of everything. Being a country mouse everything about city life overwhelmed me, and I honestly thought I wouldn't survive the first six months. But I did. I realised the city wasn't so big or scary, you just had to learn your way around. Once I started settling in and getting comfortable, my relationship with Brisbane changed. It became boring and lived in. The weeks became predictable, and the bright lights became garish and tacky. By the beginning of last year I was thoroughly disenchanted with the city, desperate to move somewhere with new experiences, new life, and new reasons to wake up every day.
Moving back after six months in a town trying far to hard to be a city, I have a newfound love for Brisbane. The pace seems not fast but exciting, the places I'd been to a million times have become old favourites rather than last resorts, and the lights at night make me smile at the brightness of possibilities swimming around me.
I think maybe my difference of opinion has come from a new direction - a designated path that wasn't there six months ago. Maybe it's also come from the knowledge that I can leave if I want, and so the city has become my playground rather than a jail cell. I still miss the quiet of the small town, the blanket of stars at night, and the freedom of living with family rather than housemates. But I'm falling in love again with the ability to walk everywhere, the astounding mix of people and ideas, and the never-ending list of places to visit, or revist, at the nearest opportunity.   

When anything is too much

I feel a weariness that no
amount of sleep will ever heal.
I've aching bones that
rattle and grrrriinnnd
against the hands of time
and wretched weeping long-dead
dreams (or
wishes), dissolved in eyes of
false elation. Anticipation...
smarts the open-wounded heart
of faliure to succeed.
At life.
At love. At anything
more real than
second-hand emotion, purchased in
a moment
of desperate need and constant longing for
a nanosecond heartbeat
of nothing but sure and certain calm.
And none of...
This.

Etsyholics Anonymous

It's no secret I have a bit of an Etsy Addiction. I probably should restrict my use, or get help, or do something at least to curb my habit. But, like any addiction, I'm still in denial - convinced I don't really have a problem. After all, I only waste maybe two or three hours a day - that's not really  so bad is it? It is? Oh...
Then I probably shouldn't show you these fun things I found today...
But I'm going to anyway because they're too fun not to share! I mean, how could I not share this fabulous Mary Poppins two-piece from Zwzzy's vintage emporium:

The only thing stopping me buying this is the fact it's a teenie bit too small, which made me incredibly sad.
But then I found this amazing teacup obi:

and then I didn't feel quite so bad. When I found out that Marian Smale was from New Zealand I was even happier because that means the shipping is heaps cheaper (there really are not enough sellers on the Asia Pacific side of the globe).
Of course, I could have stopped there, but a true addict keeps searching for their next high - and I found mine in the form of a cake-topper from the lovely Concarta:

The best part? The bride has red hair, just like me!

That's sheet

You know what sucks?
Scouring the internet desperately searching for Australian sites that sell pretty, patterned sheets and then discovering it's now one in the morning and you've wasted 3hours of perfectly good sleep.
You know what sucks even more?
Discovering that for approximately eighty Australian dollars I could buy 100% cotton sheets this cute:

Then discovering that Bed Bath and Beyond don't ship internationally.
I just want queen sheets that aren't boring, is that really too much to ask?