This is pretty much a PSA.

I was prompted by a blog that Emily put up recently to talk about Korres Lip Butter.

This stuff is awesome. I use the Jasmine one and it has a subtle almost caramel flavor. It stays on my lips and it actually moisturizes them as well. It just works perfectly and I find that with Jasmine the tint matches anything I have on my lips already. I will always be faithful to Stila Lip Glaze and Smith’s Rosebud, but for the size and the quality of Korres, you really can’t go wrong. You can tell by the reviews on Sephora that I am not alone in loving Korres.

I’ve only ever used the Jasmine shade, but I promise to be a bit of a risk taker and try the others. Definitely a good buy!

36 years ago today dad was putting on a red (he says it was maroon.. but still!) velvet suit with a ruffled shirt and mum was wearing her veil that I would end up wearing many years later.

Happy Anniversary Ma and Pa!!!

Awwww look at them! LOVE!

They are a constant inspiration and the only thing left to do is calculate how many cups of tea mum has made for dad over all these years. That is real dedication!

I never had my own TV in my room when I was growing up. So really, my only time for real kids TV was after school before dad would want to watch the news – aka the 30 minute begging and pleading session to watch Neighbours. You Tube is amazing as we are now able to revive so many memories that could be quite easily forgotten.

It was when I was going through some old You Tube clips tonight that I came to the realization that I was so lucky to grow up with some amazing television. Not influenced by people from the Jersey Shore, Teen Mom or The Hills. There were some shows that were realistic, other based on pure imagination and some based on books… but for the most part they were all fantastic.

I thought I would share some and see if they jog some memories for you as well!

Degrassi Junior High and Degrassi High

The most influential show growing up for me was Degrassi Junior High and Degrassi High. No doubt about it. Funnily enough, I still watch the DVDs regularly. I loved that the kids in these shows were normal. The school was normal, their clothes (except Stephanie’s) were normal and I think I was fascinated with the Canadian accent and Arthur and Yik calling each other broomheads.

Of course, for us in Australia, Degrassi was part of the Afternoon Show and before every Degrassi show Michael Tunn or James Valentine would give a warning about the show!

Pugwall

I was absolutely obsessed with Pugwall. For such a short series, it really has always stayed with me. I had the books so when the show finished I’d just read the books over and over again. I knew all of the words to all the songs (yes, even Uptown Tokyo) and thought the Orange Organics were the coolest.

There are so many clips on You Tube – their songs were epic. Nothing beats the opening song though… you KNOW you know all the words!

Grange Hill

Grange Hill was on ABC for quite a while. I also managed to pick up a few of the books and I always re-read them long after the show ended on Australian TV. This was the only show that I know of that showed English kids in school so it was all very new to me! It always felt a bit grittier than Degrassi. The kids seemed older. Once you hear the song, you’ll remember the show!

Elly and Jools

This was only a one season show from what I can remember, but I never could forget it. It had a fantastic theme song and it had a bit of everything. Ghosts, big old houses, a bit of a love story. It was such a cute show and really imaginative!

The Girl From Tomorrow

This was another one where I had the books to the show as well. This was about as sci-fi as I would get and the show always stuck with me. I would put my headband on around my head and pretend it was a transducer just like Alana.

Touch the Sun and Winners series

These were great little telemovies for kids that covers a wide range of stories. Check out Nicole Kidman here!

Heartbreak High

Oh come on – it had Alex Dimitriades, Tony Martin and Scott Major in it. It HAD to be good.. and then Drazic came along! Whoa! Check it out here!

The Curiosity Show

I think this show was every parents nightmare. Experiments, how things were made and scientific theories.. and you could do a lot of them at home. “HEY MUM CAN I HAVE A GLASS, SOME STRING, VINEGAR, A COIN AND A BOILED EGG?!??! I WANNA TRY SOMETHING!!” There are a stack of clips on You Tube of the show… their experiments were awesome. They made science so much fun and the theme song was one you could not get out of your head!

Game shows for kids were awesome!

Big Square Eye

I loved Big Square Eye that was on before Degrassi.. I would watch it every day! As you can see from the opening credits, it was really quite hip!

Now You See It

I was SO jealous of the awesome prizes the kids would get on Now You See It. Especially the Dick Smith Electronic Kits! I would always yell at the TV “LINE 4, POSITION 6!!!” I am sure I wasn’t the only one who wanted to have a robot like Melvin.

Double Dare

I think everyone loved the host Gerry Sont!! Double Dare was basically compulsory viewing… nothing better than going through wading pools full of slime. Listen to one of the girls here.. she loves writing to pen pals. Just like me! Awwww!

Vidiot

From what I remember, Vidiot came on to the scene after Big Square Eye! How vintage… drawing letters out to see who the guest would play for and oh my gosh.. Dieter Brummer and Robyn from Girlfriend. Hooray!

I know there are a stack I have left out – did you have any others that were favourites? Ahhh it was so much fun getting home at 4pm and just vegging out!

No matter what your view on war is, it is impossible not to feel compassion for those troops on the front line. Those who are away from their families and friends and who risk their lives every single day. Years ago, when I was living in Australia I stumbled across the site Any Soldier. It is such an amazing service. Troops post requests for things they need and we send them care packages full of goodies to make their days a little easier.

I remember my first package that I sent vividly. I sent it from Australia so it cost a small fortune to send. It was a box full of all the sample sachets of creams/shampoos/gels that I would get as freebies in magazines and from sample mailings. I also sent some hotel toiletries that mum and dad kept. Anytime I would see a sample, I would keep it until I got a huge stash together. These things are easy for them to share and do not break/burst in transit or are at risk of melting.

Last year I decided it was time to do it again and we had a good lot of goodies ready to go. So I sent around an email at work to see if anyone else had stuff they may want to give. Toiletries are very popular and we had a stack of travel sized ones to giveaway. My colleagues bought in wide range of stuff for the group of sailors that I had picked. Even the little soy sauce, duck sauce and ketchup sachets worked a treat. When I sent the boxes off we got a thank you card back straight away from our guys who were based in Afghanistan. It is the best feeling ever! My sailor even sent me a Christmas card! These guys really are amazing.

The good news is – that group that we almost felt like we adopted with our care packages, have since returned home. I had more stuff ready to give sent so it was time to search for a new lot of troops. After some searching I found a large group that was perfect for us and so a few weeks ago I sent them their first parcel and then another three this week. I heard back from them the other night when I came home to a thank you note. I cannot tell you how it feels to know they took time out of their day to say thank you. That really sets the standard too… because if a soldier in Afghanistan can send a thank you note within a few days there is really no excuse!

Anyway, the whole process is so simple. USPS has special flat rate priority mail boxes and after a few times of filling out the customs forms and using Click and Ship it gets easier. Some people do big collections making purchases with coupons, other just share what they can or buy a few things when they are on sale. It is just about making their time away from home just a little bit more comfortable. From all of our vacations I kept all of the hotel toiletries out of habit now. I actually wondered what our guys thought receiving a whole lot of L’Occitane shower gels!

The most distressing part of the whole thing is reading what some of these brave men and women request. Simple things like crew socks, toothpaste, batteries and chapstick. These things that should not be deemed a luxury when you are fighting on the frontline, but sadly they are.

God Bless Them All.

I just realized I forgot to post my last manicure! I got another one done yesterday and will have to get another one done next week before we leave for Europe. Nevermind, a girl can never have enough manis!

So this is a Shellac in gorgeous pink. I got this especially for Easter!

Yesterday, I took a risk when I noticed this Gelish color on the stand at the salon. It could be one of my favorite colors of all time. I only got two coats done – next time I’ll get three as it is quite a light shade. I am thinking I’ll get this for Europe. It seems to be the best out of any of the previous Gelish experiments I have had. The main difference is that my manicurist that I had yesterday did the coats super thin. Previous attempts has the Gelish almost gluggy and it was too thick for my liking. This feels very Shellac-like. The color is one of the best I have seen and suits me perfectly!

I am only going to post once on what is going on at Collingwood at the moment.

Nathan Buckley is our coach and Eddie McGuire is our President.

They have my FULL support. Eddie is an emotional being. He loves our club like all of us do that is why he speaks like all of us do. I’d prefer a President with passion and love over any of these dime-a-dozen suits that float in and out of clubs like seagulls at the MCG at three quarter time.

I love and respect Mick Malthouse for all he did for our club but now, he is an outsider. It can be hard to deal with but that is real life. It happens and it has happened to us. I wish he never got pulled into the gutter work that he is doing at the moment, but he made that decision and he walked. That is what people forget – HE WALKED. We have been through this with Tony Shaw and his try-hard media persona in order to come across as neutral so he doesn’t get blasted for having Collingwood bias. This is nothing new.

The media thrive on this. I have deliberately not been reading articles and getting all riled up about the rubbish that spews out of many ‘commentators’ and ‘journalists’ mouths. 99% of what they say is made up rubbish. They are vermin. The only people breathing a sigh of relief about this is the AFL. This is because the heat is temporarily off them for the true destruction of our game that is getting played week in and week out by the embarrassment that is Greater Western Sydney. What people outside Collingwood don’t realize is that it has ALWAYS been US against THEM. This is nothing new and it is getting somewhat tiresome that every year the same people start the same vitriolic rubbish and the same people fall for it. They are trying to sell papers and get ratings. They do it in the most greasy way possible. It is extremely off putting.

Whether we are last or first, premiers or runners up – there is NOTHING that compares to barracking for Collingwood. Others think they understand, but they don’t and pretending they do is just laughable. You can try to get it, but you never will.

Nathan Buckley always has been and always will be a champion. He is an amazing person. If the pathetic Melbourne media had 1% of the integrity that Nathan Buckley has, Melbourne would certainly be a very different place.

As for Wayne Carey’s comments… you’ve got to be joking?

Floreat Pica!

I am sure I am not the only person dealing with this, so bear with me.

Since I got my first computer in 1993, my handwriting has gone steadily downhill. While my typing speed improved dramatically my handwriting took a back seat. I am especially horrified when it comes time to write out stack of Christmas cards and I get weary just a half an hour of solid handwriting. I’ve always been used to scribbling at work and I tend to just say “Don’t look at my writing!” if anyone is going to see it. When I write checks I sometimes want to go back and write them again so they look neater. This morning I decided that I want to write better, so I am making a concerted effort to improve my handwriting before Christmas. I got my pen license quite early in grade 4 – I can make this happen!

The exercise I have chosen to practice with consistently over this time is to pretend to be writing a letter to President Obama. Trying to think of what to use as an exercise helped highlight part of the issue. Currently, the only time I write is for to-do lists or random notes. This means the only time I really have to ‘write well’ is Christmas. So I figure that in the off chance that one day, the President may have to read my scribe, I want it to be decent.

I was doing some searching for tips to improve handwriting and here are some good sources of information –

Papernelia Handwriting Tips
8 Tips to Improve your handwriting
NY Times – Handwriting tips

Ev sent this pic to me… check out the number place and window shade combination.

It is like I am secretly back in Australia… spooky!

Yuuuuuppppp!!!

I have not been back to London since I lived there in 1999. We don’t have long to go until our holiday, so at the moment I am thinking of the following… in no particular order –

– Shopping at Boots
– Eastenders – perhaps one of the best theme songs?

– Hello! Magazine at a good price
– Fortnum & Mason
– Listening to the BBC and hearing the pips and also this –

– Chips and Curry Sauce
– This Shipping Forecast. Note – when I was staying in Edinburgh a few years ago, in my hostel I only had my walkman radio to keep me company. I would just listen to the BBC constantly. I loved the Shipping Forecast. I learnt I’m not the only one… this guy has even set it to music.

I’m also going through a UB40 phase at the moment. Don’t ask me why… I used to love it when they would play Red, Red Wine at Underage Metro but this is a favorite of mine –

And as someone who loves Robert Palmer, this is such a great version of I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight –