risky business

Tomorrow morning me and my brand spanking new business cards are headed to Nuffnang Blogopolis, a full day blog conference in Sydney. I feel a bit fancy having business cards and have the sudden urge to hand them out to anyone and everyone I see on the street. Hopefully I'll be able to control this behaviour tomorrow and keep the embarrassing moments to a minimum (don't worry I'll still have some good stories to share, I promise). Wish me luck...

tiny dancer

I'm with the band.*

I've always loved Kate Hudson's character in Almost Famous and while I'll have to skip the blond hair and midriff baring tops, I'm going to do my best to channel Penny Lane this Friday. Why you ask? Well I don't take my role as groupie lightly and I'll be fully supporting Jimmy's band, Psychlops Eyepatch, as they play their first show. How very sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll of me....

* (I've always wanted to say that)

collecting moments

Lately, life has been moving at a rapid pace. An endless blur of moments, meetings and a bit of mayhem. Moving at this speed is both exhilarating, inspiring and exhausting. Sometimes unless you stop to take it all in, those moments (or in my case the entire month of June) seem to get lost in a flurry of activity. It's these small, simple and fleeting memories that make me happy, make my smile and are far too often forgotten amongst the chaos of our daily routine. Thank god my iPhone has been glued to my hand to capture and collect these mundane but beautiful, happy moments from the past few weeks...

*Love Instagram? Join me here and say hello!

sydney instagram meet-up

I love Instagram. And yes, I've professed my love before so it shouldn't come as a shock that I've teamed up with the awesome and equally insta-obsessed, Jayde from Little Paper Lane, to host a Sydney Instagram Meet-Up on 22 July!  Save the date, clear your schedule and put down your iPhone for just a minute and head up to the Newport Arms for some food, drinks and amazing views.

We can't wait to say hello so please RSVP by visiting our Facebook Events Page and of course feel free to spread the word, tell your friends and post it to your Instagram pics (using #instameet2012) so that your own Instagram friends can come and meet you too!  

facebook

Over the weekend I managed to squeeze in some blog housekeeping and a long awaited update for my Facebook page. You'll now find the Little Paper Trees Facebook Page in a new, much easier to find location, however it does mean that I need to ask you -pretty please - to head over and 'Like' me all over again...go on, it will be fun, I promise!

hit the streets

This weekend the sun was shining and we took to the streets. It was all about adventure. On Friday we discovered a new bar, tucked away in Newtown that reminded us of our Melbourne getaway and on Saturday we went walkabout, exploring markets in Newtown, side streets in Glebe, walks along the water and finally lunch at the Fish Markets. Later that night we headed into Manly to meet up with Anne & Steve for a long awaited 60th birthday celebration, where we indulged in too much champagne, snails and beef wellington - it was a perfect night. Sunday we took the ferry back into the city, enjoying scenic views and wasting the day away cleaning, cooking and relaxing. I'm loving these winter weekends...

sharing is caring

Oh no, its happening again. I'm feeling inspired. I'm making lists. Things are changing. I'll blame this partly on my new blogging e-class which is filling my head with creative ideas and some long awaited inspiration and partly because I think winter is a great time for change; a time to mix things up and just see what happens.

You'll notice I've started by making a few changes, including a new blog header and logo. I've tried to cut things back and clean things up a bit - I hope you like it. I also wanted to share (as part of this week's homework assignment) some of the bloggers that inspire me. I've been reading these blogs for years and find them strangely familiar, always looking forward to  each post. If you love amazing photography (something all three have in common), food and design trends I highly suggest you check out these ladies - happy reading!

• Everyday Musings
• Che and Fidel
• sfgirlbybay

Image: Inspired To Share

take me back to the start

I first starting blogging in 2005. 

My friend Anna and I were about to travel through Europe so we set up a blog to document our trip, appropriately called - Misadventures.  It was hilarious, (at least to us) and I have fond memories of sitting in dingy Internet cafes, drafting posts and laughing until we cried. Reading it now I still find it funny - I mean how can you not laugh when reading a post you titled  'Last night we made love to Berlin...and she was wonderful' What?? Our parents must have thought we were crazy, and probably still do. It was laced with ridiculous sarcasm, inside jokes and the kind of memories you only remember when written down and for that I'm eternally grateful that I have such an amazing record of that time in my life, shared with such important people. 

Fast forward 7 years and I now find myself living in Australia with the very man I met on that trip. Love works in mysterious ways. I found myself living in an overwhelmingly beautiful country, with new friends and new experiences. I missed home but mostly I missed the connection, the everyday routine that I was no longer a part of. More often than not I would talk to my family during strange hours - rushing to or from work, in the car, on the bus - not the kind of places you can have a deep and meaningful catch up. So our conversations always felt rushed. Every time I was asked how I was or what we'd been up to I'd just mutter that easy response 'Oh, not much'. Conversations or emails with friends ended in the same way. Here I was, across the world, in this land with kangaroos,  clear blue water, shrimp on the barbie and I had nothing to say? There had to be a better way of sharing my experiences than trying to whisper them into the phone while standing on a bus in rush hour. So I starting blogging. Again.

Little Paper Trees began as a way to share my life, in all its glorious and mundane highs and lows, with my family and friends back home. It was an outlet for me, to write, to ramble, to remember. It was and is my journal. It has allowed me to meet so many new people and opened up new opportunities. It allows me to have an excuse to be creative and feel inspired but most importantly I allows me to feel closer to home. So that when I pick up the phone to call my family, they don't only know what I've been doing, they've seen the photos, read the stories and have experienced it for themselves. Suddenly, through blogging, home doesn't feel so far away.

*This photo has nothing to do with blogging but I thought I looked deep in thought, like a serious sea captain, navigating rough seas and pondering the next move.  Just go with it...

august and everything after

I was missing home today. I was missing Boston summers, backyard BBQ's and days at the Cape. I craved Dunkin Donuts ice coffee and muggy, humid nights. I missed family, friends and familiar places but then as if the universe knew just what I needed, this card arrived from my sister and suddenly August (when I finally get to meet this little lady) didn't seem so far away. I'm counting the days...

feeling lucky?

I consider myself a pretty lucky lady to include social media, among other things, as part of my job description. This might come as a shocker but I've become a bit obsessed with tweeting, posting, instagraming and pinning my day away. Now as an employee I'm not eligible to enter (damn you!) but if you love Pinterest, live in Australia and could use a spare $1000 then you might want to have a look at the Life Instyle 'Green With Envy' Pinterest contest I've been working on. Good luck & happy pinning...

the queen

 

I channeled my inner Queen Victoria for Greg's British colonial themed 40th birthday party on Saturday and loved every regal minute. Any chance to throw on a matronly black lace dress, a grey wig and wear a doily on my head is certain to turn into a great night, which is exactly what happened and is party the reason these photos are just a tad bit blurry (which I blame on both the wine and because I really don't know how to properly use my camera yet). In typical Mel & Greg fashion no detail was overlooked and the two of them certainly set the bar high for any future fancy dress events. I couldn't think of a better way to ring in Greg's big 4-0 than with friends, lots of gin & tonics, pies, bangers & mash and of course, the royal family.

happy father's day

Sending a happy father's day shout out to my dad, who hopefully at this very moment is enjoying some sunshine and much deserved relaxation down the Cape. Here's to always being the adventurer and encouraging us to do the same, I love you.

And to Johnny, wishing you a happy 1st Father's Day. Enjoy the crazy journey of parenthood!

in living colour

Does anyone remember the old TV show In Living Colour? J Lo was one of the back up dancers and Jim Carey played Fire Marshall Bill? I remember sitting with my parents watching it and thinking it was the funniest thing I've ever seen, especially when I'd see my dad laugh so hard he'd have tears in his eyes....I'm clearly showing my age here.  Anyways this post isn't about my trip down memory lane or a discussion on television history but rather my experience at last night's School of Real Living Colour Masterclass.  To be honest I wasn't sure what to expect. I've mentioned before I'm not at all adventurous when it comes to colour so I wasn't sure how much I'd take away from the class but I was completely and pleasantly surprised.  

Ness and I made our way to the studio, had a glass of champagne and took our seats to listen to Jacinta Preston give an overview on colour and how to approach the often overwhelming task of where to start. I'm not sure if it was the glass of champagne or Jacinta's soothing voice but I was immediately relaxed and even found myself taking a notes, such the good student. Next up Lucy Sutherland from ISCD gave us a trend talk before we sat down to a practical and hilarious lesson on core and reject colours. Ness and I loved every minute, picking out colours, making mood boards and just enjoying time away from the everyday routine. It was amazing how comforting it was to move away from the computer, pick up a pair of scissors and start cutting and clipping away. I felt like a kid in a candy store and couldn't recommend it more.

take the leap

My June 'Scenes From Sydney' blog column is live over on the Creative Women's Circle website and yes I'm still talking about the Vivid Festival. Luckily for all of you, the festival has ended and you now have a blissful 12 months before I begin talking about it again...enjoy.

*In other blogging news, this is my 300th post - where did the time go?

black is not a colour

So officially black isn't considered a colour but I beg to differ. I love black followed only by white in a distant second (I know, I know such bold choices) and as someone with a fondness (obsession?) for the 'colour' black it's quite ironic that tomorrow night I'll be heading off to a colour masterclass hosted by Real Living Magazine. The purpose of the class is fortunately not to discuss my Morticia Adams-like wardrobe but to learn a few secrets about colour palates so that when we finally, someday buy a place of our own I can go crazy with colour. And by crazy, I mean grey.

the melbourne files

Well, the rain followed us to Melbourne but it didn't stop us from taking the city by storm. Instead of lounging in bed and staying up late our holiday schedule tends to resemble that of two retirees: up early and in bed by 10pm - I'm not joking, we devoured Melbourne as if we'd never visit again.

There were (really) early starts, museums to see, lane ways to explore, pubs to haunt, pizza on Lygon St to rival that from home and new neighborhoods to dream of. I learned excessive walking on a broken toe probably isn't the best way to speed up recovery, I'm officially obsessed with quattro formaggio pizza and that no matter how much I try to straighten my fringe, after walking around in drizzling rain my hair is bound to resemble Hugh Grant's by the end of the night...sexy, I know.

I'm working on a little photo project and will have a few more pics to show soon but what a cool, cloudy and lovely long weekend it was...

be brave

When I set out to write my post Things I'm Afraid To Tell You a few weeks ago, I had no idea that it would become my most popular post ever. Who knew that after two years of blogging all you really wanted was to hear me vent?

It's incredible to see how far such a movement can spread through the blogging world, the Huffington Post even wrote about it and I completely fell in love with this 'Be Brave' print by Jess Constable, who originated the idea. Now there are people all over the world displaying real bravery so let's not take ourselves too seriously. I mean telling you all I have a fear of regret is one thing, pulling someone out of burning building  or braving an illness is another. But by all means be brave, go ahead and blog about your fears - I did and it felt amazing.

craft & courage

  

Everyone once and a while an event will come along where cost doesn't matter, where prior commitments are thrown out the window and all schedules are cleared. For most people these events are normally reserved for things like weddings, the birth of a child or seeing One Direction in concert but for me, this past weekend's Etsy Success Sydney was that event. A day all to myself, in one of Sydney's most stunning locations, to listen, learn and rediscover a sense of excitement and motivation that is all too often pushed aside. Plus I got a goodie bag - you certainly don't get that a One Direction concert do you? 

The day was rainy yet epic. Angela D'Alton, Etsy's Australian Community Manager did an amazing job putting this event together and kicked off the day with a touching and tearful speech before introducing Chad Dickerson, Etsy's CEO. His presentation on 'Finding Your Courage' was simple, powerful and had a profound impact on me. Sometimes when the timing is right, a message just hits its mark and everything clicks - it was one of those moments. I was feeling all zen with the world when Angela asked me if I wanted to meet Chad, who I should point out is totally down to earth, humble and rather unassuming. Um, yes please, I mean who wouldn't want to exchange banter with Brooklyn's most crafty CEO? Well instead of the witty and creative dialogue I imagined, I got totally nervous and ended up talking about American drip coffee. What?? Yup, my one chance to swap craft renegade war stories and I'm standing there mumbling (at one point I'm pretty sure I stuttered), red in the face talking about Dunkin Donuts. I'm sure it was a highlight for him. 

After I regained my composure the rest of the day went off without a hitch. It was great to see Jayde & Steve from Little Paper Lane, Pottymouthmama, the girls from TMOD and other familiar faces. I even managed to meet a few new people including the pretty kickass Brooklyn Etsy crew without ever mentioning my obsession with drip coffee again. Progress I say. There were discussions about craft and commerce, conversations about courage, I saw lots of brightly coloured tights and finally a glass (or two) of champagne to end the evening. What more could you want? It was Etsy and it was awesome.