Place: My Office

Poison: Water

Favourite Things: my ipod with new podcasts on it!

One innocent Saturday, whilst waltzing through my favourite street in Perth: oxford street, I wandered unsuspectingly into one of my favourite clothing shops to discover that it had been transformed. Through the night, working at all hours uncommon the owners of Atlas Clothing in Leederville have uncovered one of my new, favourite places in Perth. It opened on Saturday morning and is sure to become a favourite to the design/ clothing /cafe set…

They have opened a small but vibing cafe at the back of the shop, to provide a woman with all her needs in one shop. Clothes, belts, handbags, tea, coffee, cupcakes and beautiful lounges all in one!

The design, the vibe, the coffee served in funky tea cups, the old fridge with water and glasses, the outside garden tea party setting complete with HUGE garden gnomes…

The tea spoons on the wall remind me of my nanna’s lounge room, the big grandfather chairs complete me with their pink velvet folds, the jeans hanging in the background, the fun staff, the vibe.

Love it, check it out!

Locate yourself there.

Atlas, oxford street, Leederville.

A

Place: My Office

Poison: nothing

Favourite Things: the new christmas shop found in innaloo called Christmas Cave, next to Ikea

Well today is the day when all three of our campuses get Christmasafide! Its been a big day and Im covered in glitter.

My best pal kym has come up with a cooler invite for our NYE green tea cup extravaganza shindig…she’s amazing!

What do ya think?

A

Place: My Office

Poison: Diet Coke

Favourite Things: New Belt, $4 from the op shop!!

I realised this morning that it is now less than 4 weeks till Christmas, and even more exciting close to 4 weeks till New Years Eve.

I am a huge fan of the New Years Resolutions. For those who have read my book I talk about them a lot in there. Not the popular ones like; giving up smoking, excercising more, spending more time with my family etc etc (except I really should give up smoking!! not really!)

I take the last day of the year to reflect over the year that has passed and I ask myself the following questions…

What is the Character of my life?

What is the Contribution of my life to this world?

What is the Consuming passion of my life?

Then I look at my life statement, and see if the last year has reflected my statement.

I look at the list of things I want to do before I go to heaven and see what has been achieved from that list in the last year.

I write down the verse of scripture that has marked me in the previous year and pray for a new one for the coming year.

I write down a quote that has really summed up the year, and then have a little ritual.

Its a powerful time for me, a time of really assesing where my life is at, reading my journals and seeing what really has taken my thoughtlifes attention, what has taken up my time and what adjustments do I need to make. Yeah I do make New Years Resolutions but they are never really in point form.

This year on New Years I am hoping to start a new tradition and am holding a ‘Under the Tuscan Sun- type’ of dinner party. in my backyard at a long table with great food, great wine and great companions. The green tea cup club are well known for their dinner parties and I want to bring this tradition into New Years this year.

I was at home with the new Donna Hay magazine, thinking about the menu and I got inspired to take a photograph and make that photograph the invite to the party.

So its outside, with candles, a long table, great funky eclectic chairs, wine, cheese, probably a roast something or I might even try to make a huge outdoor Paella, friends, flowers, more candles, toasts, resolutions, reflections, chocolate, Bailey’s Irish cream and one slow, drawn out celebration to life and love!!

Can’t wait…

Here’s the photo for the invite. I am going to print them out as photo’s (which colour do you like the best?)

 

Lovin

A

 

Place: My Office

Poison: Long Mac

Favourite Things: post eventland randomness

Well last night we had a HUGE pirate party here for all the volunteers at Riverview, to say thanks for all they have done throughout the year.

The set was very cool (thanks Andrew!), the food was random and cool all in one (good work dani!) and the events department looked especially hot, dressed as pirates.

No big thought today, just some cool photos.

Har de harrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

A

 

Place: My Office

Poison: Diet Coke

Favourite Things: My camera

Last night was the night where everything happened at the Powell household! I had a pretty rough day and was not feeling at all christmasy, so I made a choice. That choice was Christmas or die!

So my favourite christmas album ‘Crystal Lewis, A holiday collection’ a glass of homemade Marsala, and out came all things Christmas.

I got out my favourite pen and wrote to my nearest and dearest my thoughts and encouragements to them in this season and new year. That was Christmas cards conquered, all I have to do now is get round to posting them…

Then came the tree…Last year I gave away my christmas tree and have been debating should I buy another this year or go for something a little funkier. The debate being, that until I have my own family, my Christmas tree, the one with all the presents, is at my mums house.

So this is what I came up with yesterday. I collected all my favourite Christmas tree ornaments and put them on this ‘poor excuse for a tree!’ but adequate in the midst of a single persons abode.

Favourite Things- This chick who hangs off my tree. A present from my friend Monique, last Christmas. She said this lady reminded her of me. My other favourite thing is my Christmas present here from Kym. It is a bone china, candle holder with an imprint of the Nativity Scene. You can’t really see it properly on these photos, but I love it! And all things Christmas.

Anyways, hope this inspires you to get into all things Christmas. Even when life is slightly random, there is nothing better than to deck the halls…

All I want for christmas is…

A

Place: Milkd

Poison: Skinny Cap

Favourite Things: Christmas decorations…tis the season

Post Big weekend vibes, I painted this painting which whenever I walk past it in my corridoor it reminds me to live large!

 

Then this weekend phil spoke about ‘How to shrink your world’ the opposite of LIVING LARGE!

His points were the following:

1) Be preoccupied with yourself

2) Get Negative

3) Be Critical

4) Be a Know it All!

5) Live life for small ambitions…

These points were fantastic, and hopefully I can do more than just hear a message but apply it. A song that I listened to this morning said ‘Your actions speak much louder than your words…’

Living large for me is living a life full of integrity, creativity and generousity…A big life that thinks more about others than myself, a big life that considers the whole earth and my impact on it, rather than just me and my selfish pursuit of happiness.

Capturing the everyday with an expression of life and love that is broad enough to include people of all races, ages and financial statuses.

Capturing the life I live knowing that we were born with purpose and living it that way.

My friend sara just walked in and operatically sung the words Dancer of my moon, cherub of my life! Gold…

I love her, I love life, I totally want to live it LARGE

HUGE!

A

Place: Andrea’s

Poison: Skinny Cappucino

Favourite Things: Andrea and Polly in thier pjs with study books…with pretty pink tabs.

We have just come home from Little Creatures Fremantle, having some lamb sausage rolls, lamb and fetta pizza and pale ales to celebrate Bryce’s birthday. It was a great night of celebrating and hanging out. Very simple, very lovely, friends, food, great atmosphere.

In the midst of leaving, we decided we would become coffee fairies and deliver the studying princesses some much needed randomness and coffee. But in the planning stages of leaving Little Creatures and making our way to 130′s (yes I sucumbed to pressure and made my way back to my old coffee haunch!) Jen and I forgot to pay for our meal.

How WRONG! We were 25 mins away from the resteraunt realising that we had just walked out and not paid! Hilarious, wrong and perfect all in one.

For the ethics conscious, we immeadiately rang someone at the resteraunt and asked them for a 24hr loan, and could they pay our bill. So thanks big guy: Bo Jangles…

So a quick, stupid, funny story from the random life of amp and her lovely sister. So next time the bill is $50 short, talk to Jen and Amanda. Those fairy moments happen to us all once in a while.

Justification: I was on a mission to deliver caffine injection to the study addicts.

Go girls- you are amazing.

Go bo jangles- thanks for the rescue

Go life- love it!!

AMP & JEN

 

Place: Kym’s Office pt 1/ Milkd pt 2

Poison: Diet Coke/ Long Mac

Favourite Things: Apple Computers/ Christmas….

I have just finished reading Steve Stockman’s book ‘Walk On’, a commentary about the life and journey of the band U2. With my friends all flying off to different parts of Australia (excuse me Kym, I completely miss you!) to watch U2 concerts this week, this post is apt for those who have missed out…Or even those who have chosen not to be a part of the Australian U2 obsession.

A speech that Bono made on New Years’ concert goes like this…(pge 82)

‘Here she comes: the future. Forget about the past. We’re gonna celebrate the future…Here’s to the future! The only limitations are the limits of our imaginations. Dream up the kind of world you want to live in. Dream out loud at high volume. That’s what we do for a living…’

Then the writer Steve Stockman goes on to say this (which when I read it a few weeks ago and it completely blew me away!)

‘Imagine a world where the blacks in South Africa could learn to forgive and live alongside their oppressors. Imagine a white government in Pretoria that could see a new South Africa with, by some sort of miracle, Nelson Mandela was the president. Imagine that there could be a ceasefire in Northern Ireland where the parlamilitaries would lay down their weapons and sit together in a new Northern Ireland government.

Imagine if enemies can be loved. (Luke 6:27)

Imagine if the hungry could be fed (Luke 6: 21)

Imagine if the meek could inherit the earth (Matt 5: 5)

Imagine a world where the first would be last and the last would be first (Luke 13:30)

Imagine.

Without the turbo charged engine engine of imagination, nothing can change in our world. God told his people that they would dream dreams and see visions (Joel 2: 28)

When I read this passage it stopped me in my tracks. I love this passion towards the future. How often do we spend our lives looking in the rear view mirror? We drive through life looking backwards, regretting and guilt driven with all the things we did wrong, the words we shouldn’t have said, the people we have left in our wake.

Yet imagining the future to be one that is bright, to be one full of hope, walking in the strength and grace that has so liberally been extended to you.

Imagine the future. A bright, loud, bold and fresh one full of hope, love and strength!

Imagine

A

Place: Mum’s House

Poison: Diet coke

Favourite Things: My fam…

Well today is our weekly event (although I really only get there probably once a month) Family night! We all come together brothers, sisters, dads, mums, aunties, uncles, cousins, God-kids, friends, lovers and whoever wants to come and hang.

Family night is an institution in our family. Not a pressure thing, where if you don’t come, you get nailed. Its a ‘I want to be there phenonomon!’…Family night is so famous that my friends ask to come along. There is toasts to what has happened that week, there is yummy/random/comfort food, the tv is in the background, the kitchen is the place to be… It is quite wild in fact.

I love family night and I love my family more.

So here’s a toast to the Powell’s, Smith’s and Giles families. I would not want to have grown up and do not want to grow old with anyone else.

I’m cooking roast, granma’s 81 and my dad’s in town. A recipe for a lot of laughs, some toasts to life and cuddles with my neices and nephews.

We will miss you tonight Jeremy and Jackson (my big bro, and beautiful nephew)

Forever yours

A