Decided!!

For ages now, J and I have been talking about going away at the end of the year / beginning of next year.

We lavishly entertained the idea of a cruise - but then wondered whether we'd really enjoy it.
Neither of us are big drinkers (J actually doesn't drink at all) and I'm against gambling.
And then you hear how cruises are for old people and newlyweds. So although it seemed like an alright idea, we turned our minds to other adventurous possibilities!!

And we have decided that in February next year we are going to ....

BALI!

How super exciting! This will be my first trip overseas, and our first trip away together!! (Not including our numerous previous trips to Canberra)

So now I'm sitting here, dreaming away about being on holidays and buying lots of cheap stuff and feeling rich, instead of doing this exam that's due tomorrow. 

Law school fail. 

VLOG!! - My Fav Beauty Products

So I thought I'd try giving vlogging a go.


Here's the much-promised post - my favourite make-up and etc.

Apologies in advance for the bad editing - I've never done this before!!

Sunny Weekend!

Yesterday J and I headed down to the Marrickville festival!! 

Heaps of Marrickville Rd was closed off, and the place was overtaken by stalls, rides, food stalls and even a few stages!

We listened to some science-y guys talking about the possibility of aliens visiting earth and living amongst us. 

This was heaps interesting, and J was so cute - literally sitting on the edge of his seat, being the science nerd  that he is haha.

There were some cool bands, some aimed at kids and some aimed at adults. 

And we won a $10 voucher from Ikea for our Ikea knowledge, yay! J was the finalist in the mini competition to win $100 cash. It was unfortunate we lost, but it was nice of the Ikea people to give us a spin of the wheel.

J bought some plants for his balcony

And he bought me this cool shirt. 

A topic I'm passionate about at the moment.

And I bought this summer hat for $5!!

Necessary considering how hot it has been the past few days!

And I came home and ate a delicious mango! 

Yum!!

After a really cold start to Spring, it has definitely heated up, and already feels like summer!

This is bad because my brain automatically switches to holiday mood, which is detrimental considering I have uni exams in less than two weeks!

Sparkles, Leather and Suede

I am actually in love with these zara pants. 

This is what I wore to my sister's 17th birthday dinner.

Beach Wedding Bliss!

Yesterday, the family, J and I travelled to Terrigal to celebrate my cousin's wedding!!

The wedding ceremony was held on the beach. Luckily the weather was awesome - nice and sunny, but not too hot. The beach was beautiful - as was the bride and groom, and the bridesmaids!!

Here are some quick snaps of the day -

Brother, dad and sister on our way to the wedding. 

Bridesmaids!

Lovedddd the dresses - such a flattering style and colour for both girls!

Signing the wedding certificate!!

There were really cute parasols given to the guests to shade them from the sun!

Bride and groom shot!!

So beautiful, I really love Sharn's dress - gorgeously elegant, but not over the top in any way whatsoever!

We ate some good food at the reception - there was a lot of chamagne drunk! We were drinking pink mascato. Fruity and deliciousssss. 

I had the salmon for the main, which was delicious and did not have too much of a fish-y taste at all.

On our tables was a "fill in the blanks" card, which was heaps of fun. 

It was like "we are very ______ for S&C.

Our advice is don't forget ____________ before you _________ and ____________ after you ________"

There were some other parts too, but you get the general idea. I thought this was an excellent idea - It was heaps of fun trying to work out something good to put down! We ended up doing a joke one and a real one. Hopefully they'll have a bit of a laugh when they read them!

And I didn't get many photos of us at the wedding. There were some taken though, so I'll have to hunt those down!!

This week I have...

Enjoyed long commutes to Uni with coffee and Breaking Bad!

 

 Enjoyed beautiful sunny walks to Uni from the train station...

Re-watched the movie that was my ABSOLUTE FAVOURITE as a child.
The VHS tape was worn so incredibly thin that almost entire scenes were missing! THAT is how many times I played it!
I searched everywhere for an Aussie DVD of this. It seems Disney have only released it in Region 1 though - boo!
So I downloaded it.
And I thoroughly enjoyed watching it.
If you get the chance and you haven't seen it already - watch it! Such a lovely tale (although a bit dark at times, for a kid's film) of friendship, abandonment and obsolescence. 

Watched T's band play their first gig at the Supper Club on Oxford St!

It is T who owns little Izzie cat, whom I discussed in this post - way back in March

Totally couldn't even tell it was the band's first time playing on stage together, they were so tight and confident.

Out of all the bands that played they were definitely one of the better ones. 

Snuggled up with warm knitted jumpers. 

And worn summer-y dresses... 

But it was cold so I paired it with a denim jacket and stockings.

 

Honestly, what is with this weather lately!?!

I have such a hard time dressing during the transitional months. I either wear too many layers and end up carrying them all in my bag, dying of heat. Or, I wear not enough layers (such as today and my summer dress fiasco) and freeze! Then my poor friends have to put up with my whingeing all day!

Sorry, guys!

One of these days I will hopefully get it right. 

What are your tips for dressing on those in-between days?

What I'm Nomming On...

Homemade Vietnamese Spring Rolls. 

Apologies for the shit photo!

I 'shared a coke with Brad'. 

Not really. We saw the bottle with his name on it in the Unishop and found it hilarious. So we took a photo of him holding it and didn't purchase it. 

Take that marketing scam!

Tomato, basil, garlic and parmesan pasta. 

Ginger cookies J made me!

Nomnomnomnom.

Past Happenings!

So..I apologise for my lengthy absence. 

I don't even have a decent excuse, such as being busy with uni. 

I've just spent the last week and a bit relaxing and giving my head a well-deserved break from studying.

Here are some snapshots of what I've been up to. 

They're less than satisfactory considering how long I've been absent, but I also haven't been up to very much. Lots of reading, and lots of playstation-ing. 

I cooked a delicious fig, chicken and prosciutto salad:

Ingredients all laid out.

Mixture for the figs. 

Figs aren't in season, so I used dried ones and let them simmer in this mixture for longer than the recipe said. It was well worth the wait, it came out amazingly:

I paid Izzie another visit! She's getting so big and cutey!!

She's very friendly and loves a good pat!

I strayed from my usual red nailpolish and got this bright blue from Sportsgirl. 

I really am enjoying it, and it's nice for a change.

And I bought a new desk!!

This is great - extra shelves, and really wide so I can use my lappy and my textbooks. 

Trust though, I have already cluttered it all up. 

Overwhelmed

I don't even know how to articulate how angry I am at hearing the news about Jamey Rodemeyer's death, and how angry I am at the way these kids have acted following it, the way that authority figures have not called on any of them to take responsibility. 


It makes me so angry that a sweet 14 year old kid, coming to terms with his own sexuality, can be such a beacon of hope for LGBT bullying victims, and yet can be so affected by taunts and ridicule that he felt he had no choice but to hang himself. 


It has been reported that on Jamey's formspring account people wrote: "'JAMIE IS STUPID, GAY, FAT ANND UGLY. HE MUST DIE!' and 'I wouldn't care if you died. No one would. So just do it :) It would make everyone WAY more happier!'


And in the days leading up to his suicide, his cries for help were ignored. The Daily Mail reports:

On September 9, Jamey wrote on his Tumblr site: 'I always say how bullied I am, but no one listens. What do I have to do so people will listen to me?'

The day before he wrote: 'No one in my school cares about preventing suicide, while you're the ones calling me fags and tearing me down.'

He put up a separate post that day letting everyone know it was National Suicide Prevention Week.

But still no one listened. 

And the night before he took his own life, his facebook status was 'Don't forget me when I come crying to heaven's door.'

This could possibly be one of the most sickening things I have ever read. 


And, to make it all worse - his tormentors and his bullies feel no remorse for their actions. 


One girl was suspended from her school for harassing Jamey's older sister. 
There was a Lady Gaga song (Jamey's favourite singer) played in his honour at the school Homecoming Dance. And some students chanted 'Better off Dead'. 


WHAT THE FUCK is wrong with these people!?


How have they not been charged with manslaughter?


How have they not been made to understand that this is NOT OKAY. That their actions are FUNDAMENTALLY fucked up. 


Even after his death he and his family are still the subject of attacks. 
Of attacks that are driven by nothing more than hatred and ignorance. 


There have been reports suggesting that Jamey should not be hailed as a hero; that all the discussion surrounding his death glamourises suicide. 
That other bullied teens may decide it's a good way to end the pain and torment. 
I don't think I agree with this. 
It needs to be published, it needs to be understood that unfortunately this is a harsh reality. It needs to be made public, needs to be made aware, that people are doing this to eachother. That children younger than 16 are being so tormented online and in real life that it is driving them to death.
It needs to be understood that the prominence of bullying does not make it okay. It is a hate crime. 
It needs to be addressed. 


I have been the victim of bullying. ("Who hasn't?" is the phrase that usually follows this - but it is THIS mentality that we need to change)
There is one kid in particular who was in my class in year 4 who tormented me. Over stupid things, but they were still upsetting. I would go home in tears, and my mum would tell me, 'He is just jealous', 'Just tell him: "sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me"'. Just rise above it. 
Just ignore it. 
Torment him back. 
Don't stoop to his level. 
Just know within yourself that you are better than him. 


What kind of advice is this!? Why do we tell children these kinds of things?
Why do we not punish the bully, but rather put it back on the victim?
We tell young kids they should be strong enough to rise against the hatred and the pain. 
We forget how hard that is to do when every ounce of your self esteem has been utterly defeated, all your will and hope has been destroyed.
I remember one afternoon seeing this ad on TV for the Kids Help Line. I called them, in absolute frustration. I was so deflated and upset. Nobody was helping me out. In fact, in a cruel twist, my year 4 teacher had actually made me sit next to my bully - a bid to try make him behave. I was a good student, so why not put him next to me and I can teach him how to be good. 
No. this is wrong. The torments and the bullying continued. 


The counsellor who I spoke to told me that the most common reason that kids call them is because they are victims of bullying. This was in 2001. 10 years ago. 
And apparently, things haven't changed. If anything, it's gotten worse - what with the advent of fucked-up sites like Formspring. 
The counsellor talked it through with me and it finally felt so good to have someone on my side. 
Someone to validate my feelings - that this was not right. His actions were not okay. 


I know this has been an incredibly long, and not-so-cheery post, but I'm going to share just one more anecdote with you.


When my brother was in year 3, he too, was the victim of bullying. 
There was a gang of about 4 or 5 nasty kindergarten kids. Not only did they verbally bully him, but they were physically attacking him too. 
My mum found out about it when my brother came home with this huge, black lump on his forehead. She demanded to know what had happened. He eventually broke down and told her. By this time it had been going on for weeks. 
This gang of kids would follow him into the school toilets, would lock him inside his cubicle, and demand his money. Extortion. From 4 and 5 year olds! When he tried to get out they smashed the door into his head.
This continued to carry on for some time longer. 
My mum went to the school principal, who said she would try to stop it. 
She did nothing. 
The resounding reaction to my mum's pleas for help were 'really? Your kid is being beaten up by Kindergarteners? Surely it can't be that bad.' 
My mum approached the bullies' parents. Who laughed in her face. 'My kid couldn't possibly beat up yours. Look at the size difference between them!' 


It got worse. 
There was one afternoon where my mum went to the school to pick my brother up. She couldn't find him. 
She walked around the school building to the toilet block, where my brother was being held up against a wall by the group of kinder mothers. 
This was all happening right outside the principal's office. 
My mother was livid, understandably.


Eventually my brother was taken out of that school, but it is absolutely horrendous that it took that long for anything to happen. It got to the point of ADULTS bullying a 7 year old, before any action was taken. 


Jamey Rodemeyer's story overwhelms me with anger and sadness. 
Bullying is something I just don't understand. 
I don't understand hatred. 
I do not understand how we, as a society, continue to perpetuate an environment where bullying is not condoned, but not condemned either. 


Gladly, things are changing. 
Sadly, not quickly enough.