Impressed
Dear PressingLetters.com, how you distract me. In my dreams, I have the ability to make my own beautiful letterpress creations. In reality, I just need to read you more often. Love, Danielle

Everywhere Anemones
While looking for a photos of anemones, I came across this anemone light fixture, which I think might be really amazing in the right space. I, however, do not have any such space, but a girl can dream.

Edited to add a photo of my own anemones against my photoshopped wall color, because my real wall color makes me sad in my heart:



Wishes
I'm pretty much in love with these Merimekko Lettinauha Tights. There's also these ASOS Heart Suspender Sheer Tights -- and while they're a little saucy if you're wearing them with a mini, I'd like them as my own little secret with my longer skirts.

And what's new socks without new shoes... I think I'd like these cute little numbers. I am such a sucker for shoes that tie with ribbons.

Recent Discoveries
♥ Smaggle - Inspiring good style and great living.

♥ Lushlee - Ooo, she links to beautiful things. Like Cabbages and Roses... I need a bigger wardrobe!

I'm having an exceptionally bad Monday, so I think I might tuck into the archives of those two for a while!

Links for Later
I've been hanging on to these for a couple weeks while looking for inspiration of classic illustration for a project at work.

DESIGN
♥ Stickers and Stuff: lots of great inspiration and illustration

♥ Kevin Kidney Blog: Long-time Disney designer

♥ Kevin Kidney Portfolio of Sorts flickr set

♥ Animation Treasures: Blog of Hans Bacher, animator of 40 years. What I love is he'll analyze classic animation background plates and colour choices.

HOME
♥ Remodelista: Sourcebook for the Considered Home (I want a house, I want a house, I want a house.)

♥ Hindsvik Vintage: "Daniel & Valeria are a young couple who run an online vintage store called Hindsvik. Renovating and redecorating their 1940s home on a budget, they share DIY ideas, design favorites and spaces with shop updates in between."

MOVIES
♥ Departures: We've been on a foreign film kick lately, and this has been one of the best. Such a beautiful movie.

♥ Lord Of The Rings prequel made by a fanatic using her £25,000 life savings scores 500,000 views on the internet: Need to watch this when I get some time! (Born of Hope YouTube link)

♥ Not long know until The People vs. George Lucas makes its debut at SXSW. CANNOT wait to see that one! (YouTube Trailer link)

♥ We received a free pass to Daybreakers, so we'll probably go see that this weekend... if only to see the Brisbane CBD on the big screen.

Links for Later
I've been saving the tabs on this browser for the better part of December, so in an effort to clear the slate before the new year, I thought I'd do a quick link post.

Food-Related
♥ Fresh Corn & Avocado Salad: I made this one for our Boxing Day get-together, and it was really nice and super easy. I used verjuice for the Champagne vinegar and squeezed a bit of lime over the avos to keep them from turning brown before we ate.

♥ Beef & Cabbage Stir-Fry: for future reference (via Kris)

♥ Black Eyed Peas & Greens: Probably isn't going to happen as a New Year's tradition this year, but I'm curious to try the recipe.

♥ Homemade Peppermint Patties: Seems do-able and sounds good.

♥ Quick Bread in a Bottle: I made these jars for my in-laws for Christmas this year. I admit I haven't actually tried the recipe yet, so I hope it's good. Just ran out of time. I found milk bottles at Spotlight. Hansldesigned the fold-out directions with detachable recipe card. (Email me if you want to use it.)


♥ Real Whipped Cream on the Go at Freeze Happy: Put whipped cream dollops on wax paper and freeze to use later on desserts or in coffee. But the real reason I've saved this link is the hilarious aside at the bottom about make-shift piping bags and the kitty-poo-like results they produce.

♥ Alinea Mosaic: I first heard about the restaurant Alinea when the owner was interviewed on one of my NPR podcasts about this time last year. Since then, I've been intrigued by molecular gastronomy. This has also been fueled by the chemists on Top Chef. From what I can tell the Mosaic sight has a forum about a book they must have released, but the topics are fascinating. They are surprisingly transparent with their techniques and recipes. See also: All Things Alinea Flickr Pool for some mouth-watering photos.

For the Locals
♥ Sublime, Photography & Coffeehouse: One Saturday we were traveling from the Rocklea markets to the Moggill Markets and passed this place in Graceville. They just opened a little coffee stand out behind their studio. It's a really lovely place, good coffee, and relaxing spot to read the paper.

Cute, Crafty, or Otherwise
♥ Retro Renovation: "your daily dose of mid century renovation resources... design inspiration... fun finds... and a growing community of people all interested in restoring, preserving and cherishing their 40s, 50s, 60s and 70s homes."

♥ Tonic Living: Amazingly beautiful retro fabrics. Love, love, love.

♥ 2009 Christmas Candy Box: A downloadable template for a cute little gift box. Check out the '08 & '07 editions as well.

Links for Later? Yes, Please
♥ Mouse: Pretty photos, lovely handmade things. Will have to look through archives later!

♥ Kay Loves Vintage: Jealousy-inducing photos and inspirational ideas. And proof that Aussie IKEA is completely missing out on the good stuff.

♥ Handmade Typography Flickr Group

♥ Start to Draw Your Life & 75 Ways to Draw More

Links for Later
Time to restart Firefox clean, but I've been hanging on to a dozen tabs I keep thinking I'm going to look at later.

Photos
♦ Ruby Slipper Bride: South African Wedding Photographer
♦ Once Wed: Another pretty wedding photography place

Food
♦ Scrumptious Banana Cake Recipe: I may have posted this before, but this one is SO yummy and SO easy.
♦ Recipe Girl: Recipes including how to make adorable marzipan carrots.
♦ Urbanspoon: Restaurant guide
♦ Sugar Snap Pea Soup with Parmesan Cream: from my hero Lynne Rossetto Kasper

Craft
♦ The Handmade Expo: Ipswich crafty show blog
♦ My Paper Crane: Super-fun, crafty person's blog
♦ Tubby Paws: Cute papercraft

Other
♦ Mimicking Birds: Good music. Free downloads.

Survey Says...
Last July, I wrote about this survey place I found called PureProfile. I signed up and have been slowly ticking up the cash in 10-cent intervals. (Actually for a survey, I usually get $2.)

The reason I mention it again is just because the other day I took a survey about plastic shopping bags. And then on Friday I happened to see the results of the survey written up in an article in the Courier Mail.

"The survey found that 83 per cent of Australians want a national ban on non-biodegradable plastic bags, while 79 per cent of respondents want electronic waste to be barred from landfills."

Look at me contributing! So yeah, it's been interesting, and I've made an easy $60 so far. If you want to sign up, you can use my referral number to show some love. :)

Linky Links and Pretty Things
I click on one link from a Twitter feed, and now I've got so many windows open of pretty places that I don't have time to explore. Oh Mondays!

♥ Bluebird & Trees Carafe by Shinzi Katoh: it all started at 3 Potato 4. I love Shinzi Katoh.

♥ Kikki K Easter Sale: voucher or coupon code at link. Hmm, 20% off means I can buy 20% more, right?

♥ Misha Lulu Blog: lots of pretty finds and interesting links.

♥ Design Crush: Seriously, link overload and so pretty. Particularly loving the Printable Mailing Label tip and the Design*Sponge DIY tax receipt holder.

♥ Creature Comforts: Turns out I love the whole site that the mailing labels came from.

♥ Black Eiffel: Another. I don't have time for all this greatness.

It's time to WORK, people. Work.

Perplexing Packages
My mind is exploding from two packages sent in the mail -- one received and one not.

First, I woke up this morning to find a package from my uncle. Inside was a DVD. Cannot get the DVD to play anywhere. Suspect a bad burn, but am dying to know what was worth sticking in the mail. My mom said that my grandma also got one which didn't play, however neither they nor my siblings got one. Hmm...

And then the other package was an order I placed in January for the non-toxic flea spray that we have tried in the past. It still hadn't arrived as of this week, and I thought I had given it enough time to make it through customs and all that. So I emailed the company to see if they could look up the tracking information for me.

This morning I had an email saying that they had credited my card back and asked to let them know if we eventually receive it, and they will charge my card again.

Umm... but... I kind of just want the flea spray.

So now I'm weirded out. I feel like our relationship is over, like we've broken up through email. Do I place another order? Do I have to source another company who sells it? Do I write back and clarify? Did I ever imply that I didn't want my order? Is it because they're British?

Links for Later Perusal
♥ Painted Fish Studio: She's from the heartland. She finds pretty things. And she's crafty. Note: Paper Bead Bracelet, Trip Collages, & Fern Prints, for starters.

♥ 3-Day Weekend: Found this one when searching for ways to hang cork trivets on the wall without necessarily damaging the wall. They use self-sticking foam mounting tape. (Do I know what that is? And can it be removed later?)

♥ At Home with Kim Vallee: I don't know who this is, but lots of pretty household goods there.

Ugh, more later. I have to go officially boycott the decision to have Subway for lunch.

Try This Recipe!
A while back Kris in Sydney posted a recipe for Spicy Shredded Pork. I was quite interested, because pork has become like a new friend to me ever since we started going to our little butcher. (Seriously, I love the women there as much as the meat. They're all of Eastern European descent and are boisterous and such a hoot!)

So yesterday we planned to have dinner with the brother- & sister-in-law (who just broke her foot), and I said I would go to their place to cook and keep her company. That was just my sneaky way to try this recipe in a fully air-conditioned home, instead of baking myself out of our house. Teehee.

I must say, that I am now in love with Spicy Shredded Pork. It's dreamy. It's so delish. We had it on tortillas with homemade pico de gallo and guacamole. I also had lettuce, tons of cilantro/coriander, lime wedges and sour cream on hand. A-MAY-ZING!

Also, for those who cower at the word "spicy", I'll just add that it is spicy in that it has spices in it, but those couple dashes of chili powder won't give it much more than a completely mild rating. I'd serve it to children, no problem. I'd also look into adding some chili peppers if you want any sort of heat.

Inspirational Thoughts
I came across this site with all sorts of ideas to motivate people to go out and do something beautiful.

For example: "Start a worm compost. Use it for your paper junk mail. Use the soil regenerated from the decomposition of your junk mail to grow flowers. Pick the flowers and give them away to people. If anyone asks you why you are giving them flowers, tell them that it's junk mail."

Computer Woes All Over Again
Remember a couple of days when I broke my computer? Well, I thought I had tricked it into working by creating a new user profile. And for a few days, it magically worked with no issues. Until it realized it was being fooled, and now it doesn't work again much at all. iTunes and LOTRO are the only programs that don't seem to crash it... which is great if I was after a gaming/music-listening machine, but I have needs, people. Internet needs.

Hanslis gung-ho about getting me a new laptop, but the one he's looking at for me seems to have some heat issues. (As though my other one didn't already have heat issues, this one gets up to 10 degrees hotter in some places.)

While I ultimately just want a computer that works, I'm finding all kinds of joy in finding the hilarity in the situation.

Me: Hey, can you preheat the oven to Dell Laptop for me?

Him: Do you know if it's supposed to be cooler today?
Me: It's going to be Dell Laptop until this afternoon, unless it rains.

Him: But it's so much cheaper than the other ones with the same specs.
Me: Yes, but have you considered how much the skin grafts for my legs are going to be?

*sigh* I laugh, because otherwise I'd cry. My poor baby is dead.

I'm Not Down with the Sickness
Because I am totally awesome and stuff, I got me a computer virus last night. Fun times ensued. And though the virus is now gone, a possible pre-existing condition has flared, and the computer will no longer boot on command. It's more of a "I'll start when I'm good and ready, thank you very much, and that may not actually be today" sort of situation.

So I pretty much want to die, because I have three years of non-backed-up photos and video on there. (I AM aware that this makes me a stupid person. Please don't leave comments to remind me.)

There is hope, because the one time it did start again, I was able to burn off one year of photos. So at least I know things are still there and in tact. I just won't breathe easily until they are all safe and sound on a drive that ISN'T going into self-destruct.

I was going to get a little Lacie Rugged drive to take to the States, so I can copy over all my cds. Looks like I may get it sooner than later. (Plus it's orange. How cute!)

Herbie!
On a happier note, I am loving this French herb dryer. Le sigh. If I had that, I would definitely use Straight from the Farm's advice on preserving fresh herbs.

By the by, Australians say the "h" in "herbs", and I think I say it now too. But anytime I consciously say the word, I have a hard time remembering which way to say it.

Next to the Noise
We're officially halfway through the album-writing challenge. I say "we", because it's a challenge for me too. A challenge not to go completely crazy.

That's not true. There is some stuff I really love coming through the wall, and I'm actually quite looking forward to seeing them work it out live.

If you're of the curious sort, you can hear some snippets here. My favourite at the moment is Day 12 Song 8 Version 4 because of its 80s-licious synth line.

If you really want to experience what I am, you can try cranking that up as loud as you can in one room, and then go into the next room and try do anything that requires any sort of concentration. Fun times.

Let's Hear it for the Boys
Due to that aforementioned lack of concentration, I have been watching a bit more television... at volume levels so low, I am becoming an expert in lip-reading... but more television than I might otherwise, nonetheless.

This is the reason I watched the Red Cross Bushfire Appeal from beginning to end the other night. I've mentioned before that my grandpa was and my dad is on the volunteer fire department. My brother was going to go for it as well before he lost half his hearing in the accident.

That said, I have such a heart for those out there putting their lives at risk to help try and save others. Not just them, but their families too. The people who give them a kiss as they leave the house, knowing the danger their loved one faces head on.

When we heard that Coles was donating their profits last Friday, we rearranged our grocery shopping day. We don't even usually go there, but it was great to stock up on pretty much everything we normally use knowing that the profit was going to the Red Cross. (Granted, my pantry overfloweth now, but we'll deal.) So anyway, I just read that they made $4,870,889. So great. Press release PDF.

Linky Links
♥ Spoon Sisters: I <3 that "Home is Where Your Mom Is" tea towel. (I think we're buying plane tickets to go "home" then this week. Yay!)

A Conversation
Him: Oh look, Flying High is on.
Me: Uh, no. It's Airplane!
Him: What was your sequel called?
Me: Airplane 2?
Him: Yeah, ours is called Flying High 2.

So I look it up. Sure enough, it has two names. Then I proceeding to rock myself and think of my happy place. It's times like this when the subtle differences between our countries make me think I'm losing my mind.

Safe and Sound
We are completely safe here in Brisbane. We can't see or smell smoke. While we are saddened and shocked like the rest of the world, we're not really affected by it more than most of you are.

And just FYI, according to the map below with the comparison of Australia to America, we're over there in that eastern part of North Carolina. The fires are down in the Gulf of Mexico there. And the massive floods that you may or may not have heard about are up there in Ontario somewhere.



Arty Links
♥ St!#ch Out Loud: subversive cross-stitch and crafty stuff... may not be safe for work.

♥ Artista Blog: I just found this one back. She makes such adorably cute watercolours. Love!

Link Dump
There are some tabs I have been saving and reopening obviously since November, and it's getting a bit ridiculous when I have to scroll for miles to get to my most recently opened ones. So here you go, my links to you:

♥ Wild Rice Stuffing: This was the recipe I used for our Thanksgiving dinner. It was really yummy, even without the acorn squashes.

♥ Chow Thanksgiving Ideas: Those creamy carrots... DELISH!

♥ Chow Entertaining Ideas: Theme Nights!

♥ Cool It Down: Chow's Cooling Off: Icy desserts and good things like Chocolate Icebox Cake with Mascarpone and Blackberries (which we had over Christmas break). Then there's Lemon & Mascarpone Sorbetto, which I have yet to try. And also sweet cherry sorbetto.

♥ DIY Macro Photo Studio: I always see these around the place, and I'm sure I've probably linked before... but here you go.

♥ fragrancesandcosmetics.com.au: just a random beauty site in Australia that carries Phyto.

♥ French Fried Onions Recipe: You have to give up your firstborn to get your hands on a can of french fried onions around here, so I broke down and made my own last weekend using this recipe. (I practically didn't have any left for the green bean casserole, because they were SO yummy to snack on!) I used self-rising flour and have the theory that it helped puff up the crust a bit. Who knows.

♥ HTML colour chart and Color Shader. Guess who was working on websites last weekend. (If you know where to find the hubby's homepage, have a look. Wordpress kicked my 'a', but it's semi-mostly done except if you're using IE6. But then I'd like to introduce you to 2009 and tell you to update.)

I <3 Kikki K
It seems like hardly any Australian vendors have websites which show the majority of their stock. Most post a PDF of their latest flyer and call it good.

So I was thrilled to discover that my favourite office supply place kikki.K has a simple site with products to behold. I am allowed to buy one product every time we are at the mall, which is rare for us. So now that I can see what they have that is new, I can make plans to visit the mall more often. :)

My Christmas list read "anything from kikki.K", and he delivered. In fact, tonight I am going to start going through my Donna Hays from last year and use my gifts. He got me the recipe sticky notes, this recipe box, recipe card refills, and finally the magnetic shopping list in case I decide I need some more ingredients in the house after looking at all that food!

Anthropologie Does Gardens?
In recent years, I have grown very attracted to the idea of tending the earth and nurturing plants and generally being more of a green thumb instead of a brown thumb(?). I have two plants thriving indoors even though I just discovered that the root system of my third was eaten by worms. I also have several on the veranda that haven't died yet. I can't wait to start my herb garden. Et cetera, et cetera.

Today I was getting some of my Daily Danny, and he posted about terrariums at a store called Terrain:

Terrain is a new concept store by the people behind Anthropologie, with a focus more on gardening, household plants and all the lovely accessories that go along with raising and growing plants at home.

If ever I need another reason to move back, I think this might just be it. I love (and I mean loooooove) Anthropologie, so I can only imagine what Terrain is like. Danny's posting photos soon. Eee!

A Comment about Comments
My old comment system quit service a little while ago. I knew it was going to happen, but then I kind of forgot. I could have downloaded my old comments and moving to some system that would allow me to import them, but there was that little bout of forgetfulness, you see. So instead of forgetting about them altogether, I thought I might move them over individually. It's not that I have all that many, and they are fun to look through again.

That being said, if you care to leave a comment, use the link to the left. You'll find out soon enough that the link on the right doesn't let you comment anyway. I don't like how the comments look at the moment, but I can't be bothered with fixing them right now.

Pretty Link
♥ Art of the Steal... girly, pretty stuff.

And We're Done
Wow, so today ends the three-week vacation of 2008. My parents left on Thursday, and I'm still a little bit sad. The introvert in me didn't always love the constant being with people and all the go-go-go we scheduled, but overall, it was so great. I think the best part is just being able to talk to them about stuff now, and they will have a better picture of what we're talking about.

We really did pick up the pace, which was good considering the amount of rich food we also ate. But I am really hoping that we can continue that on our own. Sure we won't be hiking through the Bunya Mountains or walking along the rocky shores of Western Australia, but it's not too much trouble to find a park or bush trail around here.

I also have had a bite from the travel bug. I'm excited about finding new treasures in new places, even places close to home.

That being said, I've heard about a new park, we've got the foodstuffs for a picnic on hand, and we have yet to try out our new picnic blanket. Today might just be the day!

Linky Links
♥ The Paupered Chef - I may have put this one before.

♥ Oh, Sunday School - cute

♥ Red Bubble - for all you artsy folk, they'll make cards and t-shirts and prints of your work for your customers.

♥ Quick Indian Cooking - because someday I'll make it from scratch.

For Future Perusal
For the next available free moment between now and October.

♥ Earthlust: stainless steel water bottles

♥ Kir De Vries: online store with Earthlust products... and also Shinzi Katoh bento boxes?!

♥ lost.net.au/vic: links to pretty things

♥ Write On and More: even more links to pretty things, including the beautiful Blue Leaves

♥ Expat Women: misery loves company, I guess?

♥ Wists: Make your own wishlists... if you want.

All these are brought to you by a sudden urge to find a new handbag before we go to Perth. (Though, maybe I should just get one there -- even I can't resist their shopping opportunities.) However, as you can see, there are no links to handbags. Oops. Back to work.

Gamers and Those Who Love Them
The other day I came across the webcomic The DM of the Rings. It's about a bunch of gamers playing a D&D-style game to the story of Lord of the Rings. After a quick debate about whether to admit how much the geek in me loved this, I feel compelled to say that there are points where I nearly died from laughter. If you or someone you know is into gaming and LOTR, you simply must read this one.

Flower Photos
A couple of weeks ago, we had a picnic at the Botanic Gardens at Mount Coot-tha. It was such a lovely day. (And then we came home to find out about Dixie, so I wasn't really excited about posting the photos.) A sampling of the photos are below. You may click for more.

www.flickr.com
Hmm...
Until this week, I was unaware that "My Country, 'Tis of Thee" was to the tune of "God Save the Queen". Is it wrong to suggest there was some sloppy lyric-writing when it results in "Queen" rhyming with itself FOUR times?

Here in My Car I Feel Safest of All
It's New Car Day! Hooray! We have the day off, and I thought we would sleep in and then go later in the afternoon. But no, I think I was awake by 7:30 and raring to go. It's so exciting. Our CAR is parked underneath me as I type. We went and got groceries in OUR CAR. I went through three roundabouts in OUR CAR. I'm ready to take a roadtrip in OUR CAR!

We're a little split on the name. I wanted it to be sort of "Man from Snowy River" themed, since it is a Colt. The thing is that I can't remember any of the horses' names from the movie. Bess was the one who died at the beginning, right? And then I'm not sure any of the other ones had names. Just "the Brumbies", I think.

But we've got it narrowed down to either Clancy or JESSICA!. Not Jessica. You have to say it like you've just spent the night looking for her in the rain. JESSICA! Maybe the car can have two names. Clancy for when it's behaving well, and JESSICA! when it's giving me grief.

In Other News...
* It's fricking FREEZING.

* Hans's tante and oom from Holland are in town this weekend. I can pick up only the slightest bit of their Dutch, but they are such a hoot. We're arranging a visit with them in 2010 when we go for Sail Amsterdam.

* As a thank-you for watching my in-laws' pets last week, I was given some Soul Food Kitchen Cajun Spices. So last night we made red beans and rice. With the Cajun blends that I've found here, I usually put in two Tablespoons to get it to my heat level. So I did the same with my new stuff. OMG. We nearly died. I thought my lips were going to swell shut. I think Hans was hallucinating. I'm scared to try it again. It definitely is NOT the Australian version of spicy; it's legit.

Linky Links
♥ Dutch Word of the Day -- I'm newly recommitted to learning the Dutch that I abandoned quite a while ago.

♥ CraftGossip -- lots of crafty ideas, and from there I found Jon's Thread Escapades, a blog about tatting. I started learning to tat from my Grandma years and years ago. That's another thing I feel like I should consider taking up again.

♥ Vinyl Record Headbands -- here's a craft for Alyda!

♥ Cake Wrecks -- I can't remember where I found this one, but it shows when cake decorating goes wrong, all wrong.

♥ Basic Instructions -- Another one I've had open for a few days, so I can't remember where it came from. But it's a pretty funny webcomic. (Even though I hate them for not having their top banner return to the home page. Who doesn't do that?)