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This week is my second working on the new show – Don't Tell The Bride. I'm not going to lie, I'm a little bit addicted to the UK version that I can't wait to see how the Aussie series goes! Because of that, I have weddings on the brain – talking to people about their weddings all day and even going to a bridal expo on the weekend (P.S if you live in Australia, are engaged, and think you might want to be on the show, click here to apply)
Here is a bit of an idea of the show:
I also started talking to the girls in the office about wedding themes and how much fun an Alice in Wonderland theme would be:
I mentioned last year that I was working on the first season of Celebrity Apprentice and then somehow signed up to do it all again for 2012. It feels like so long ago since working on it, but after the finale last night, I thought I'd share some of it with you.
The show might seem a bit mental, if you've seen it, but I can assure you that it is 100 times more mental than it comes across on TV – especially when you throw The Hoff into the first two weeks of shooting!
Here's a bit of a gallery of the different eps that I managed to take along the way:
The final challenge between Ian 'Dicko' Dickinson and Nathan 'Amazing Race Winner" Joliffe was to record a music video clip for the charity song they had written to get them into the final. The two days that we shot the video clip (I worked on Dicko's team) and then had the launch party were probably the highlight of the show for me. Working in reality TV means there is a lot of spontaneous running around, but the film clip was a completely different experience. Then my friend, Morgan, turned up on set as the singer Dicko had chosen to sing his charity song, which made it even more fun (you should definitely check her out if you haven't already)
Say what you like about reality, but the celebrities on this season raised almost a million dollars for their various charities and – if nothing else – this is an amazing contribution. DIcko also gave Morgan a great opportunity for her ridiculous talent and the video clips both he and Nathan created in less than 24 hours were pretty impressive.
If you didn't see it, here is Dicko's video featuring Morgan Joanel (and various celebs):
And here is Nathan's indie-style version of the song featuring band, Amy Meredith:
After weeks of insanity working on the show, it was really rewarding to see these videos at the launch.
Aside from throwing a Game of Thrones reference into today's post (how good is season two??), it is exactly how things are feeling in Sydney this week. It is COLD. The morning's are icy and the evenings are strictly reserved for warm PJ's, hot chocolate, and snuggling! Exercise regimes are out the window and soup is the only food I feel like eating.
Autumn has hit hard here and the big trees in my area mean that it actually feels like autumn, something I've had little experience with in my 27 years!
I took a few photos yesterday on my walk to work of just how intense the leaves are at the moment – I didn't manage to get one of the pile I had to wade through to get to my front door this morning though, it was pretty intense.
I love winter so much. Sure, I complain about the cold and runny noses and chapped lips and dry skin, but it has a special place in my heart really. To me, winter being just around the corner means:
- It's time to bust out beanies, scarves, and gloves
- I can wear tights and boots every day if I want to and it's not weird (unlike in December, when it's a little weird…that didn't stop me this summer when it was completely justified by the cold summer days we encountered!)
- Flannelette PJs, hot tea, and a wheat bag are my winter night must haves
- When it's cold but sunny, that is when my hair is at it's straightest and that makes me extremely happy
- There is something about having an 'outdoor' outfit (ie a coat and scarf) and taking that off when you get inside to reveal your inside outfit that I just love. I think it comes from living in Brisbane my whole life and never really getting to do this, as well as growing up watching lots of movies TV shows set in countries that have real winters!
Are you like me and love winter or are you like the Stark's and always worrying about winter being just around the corner?
I have been thinking a lot lately about how fear can be a massive barrier in the art of dream chasing. So much time can be wasted spent thinking and worrying and trying to plan and making to-do lists, but why don't more of us just do it? You can tell the ones who do, because they're out there, following this exact statement.
Life is just too short to waste time wishing and wanting without it resulting in a significant amount of doing and I think that's where so many people come undone. It's easy to dream, but to actually see it become real is a completely different concept. I have always been a huge believer in goals turning dreams into reality and I've had some pretty good success with it, but since moving to Sydney, I almost feel like an amateur! Things really happen here and I am constantly encountering people who are making the 'just do it' thing a part of their every day life – it is both a combination of frustrating and inspiring as my grasp on the whole concept is so basic.
Last week, bloggers were talking about sharing things they were afraid to tell their readers. This week I want to talk about not being so afraid all the time, for fear of failure or ridicule or self doubt. Life is too short for that and nothing is more disappointing than dreams left to die – there is a reason why you have to chase them. They are sneaky and challenging and achievable only by finally realising that you can do anything you have your heart set on, even if it feels out of reach. You just have to be willing to catch it.
I have been feeling blah for the past week or so and I feel the murky haze of apathy looming near, as though nothing will cheer me up or fuel my drive to 'just do it'. It is not a pleasant feeling and it makes getting up in the morning even more difficult in the chilly weather!
In light of this, I am making a concerted effort to stop whinging and putting everything off and feeling down about it. What is that other old saying? Feel the fear and do it anyway.
This week, I'm challenging myself to do something I'm a bit scared of or have been putting off every single day – like getting up and going for a run in the morning, even if it's the last thing I want to do; starting to plan my overseas trip because I've put it off for way too long; or doing some new things for my blog that I've always been afraid of (the first of which is my guest post on Makeup Utopia this week. So much focus on my appearance scares me to no end!!)
If I post on the weekend, I tend to only do Viewing Delight posts and as today is Mother's Day, I thought it would be only fitting to combine the two and make a list of movies that remind me of my mum. I think you can tell a lot about the kind of movies that people love – not in a judgemental way, just in an interesting way.
So I could do the generic, 'my mum is amazing' post but, really, I say that all the time so instead here are the movies that make me think of her:
1. Point Break (1991) Directed by Kathryn Bigelow – What can I say? The lady likes surfers. I'd say it primarily comes down to two things – Patrick Swayze as Bodhi the surfer-slash-bank robber and the fact that this is a solid film. There is a lot of heart in this movie, some action, very quotable lines, and great chemistry between Swayze and young, undercover cop hotshot, Johnny Utah (played by Keanu Reeves). Vin Diesel and Paul Walker try to replicate the story with hotted up cars, but Bodhi and Johnny Utah just did it better.
2. The Holiday (2006) Directed by Nancy Meyers – This is one of our two Christmas movies (Love, Actually will always rule but that one is more of a family favourite) and we love watching it together while we wrap presents. It's the perfect combination of Kate Winslet's sweetness, Cameron Diaz' sassiness, Jude Law's rugged handsomeness, and Jack Black's crazy humour, resulting in a thoroughly entertaining holiday rom-com. If I ever watch it without my mum, it's just not the same!
3. Dude, Where's My Car (2000) Directed by Danny Leiner – I love how much my mum loves this movie. I mean, whose mum doesn't love to watch two stoners trying to retrace their steps after a massive bender? I'm not sure what the appeal is, she's not exactly in their target demographic, but perhaps it is the silliness of Jesse and Chester (played by Ashton Kutcher and Sean William-Scott). What ensues in this film as the pair face various aliens, sci-fi geeks, ostrich farmers, and girlfriends is completely absurd, but a Mum-favourite and could not be left off this list!
4. Atonement (2007) Directed by Joe Wright - This is the only movie I can remember us seeing at the cinema without anyone else, so it always reminds me of her. The story is heartbreaking in all the right ways; it is perfectly cast (Kiera Knightley, James McEvoy, and Saoirse Ronan in stand out roles) and it is definitely worth watching with your mum because you can guarantee she'll have tissues in her bag! The washed out tones of the film highlight both the World War I era and that of lost love, and what makes this film good is the silence in the moments – what isn't said is so much more powerful.
5. Sweet Charity (1969) Directed by Bob Fosse – This, I know for sure, is Mum's favourite musical. It has to be a career highlight for Shirley McClaine, a call girl who finally finds someone to love. Her bright take on life is inspiring and the musical numbers are unmistakable Despite the ups and downs Charity faces, there is a joyful hope in the story that is so reflective of the sixties, plus there are some great dance scenes!
To all the mothers out there, I hope you have a spectacular day! And, to mine in particular, I wish I was closer so I could celebrate your awesomeness with you.
Firstly, I have to send a shout out to my bestie as it is her birthday and I have been so busy that I haven't even sent her a card yet. Bad Katherine! I feel terrible because she is so great and totally worked off her feet at the moment and we're missing each other terribly. I hope I can make it up to her when she comes to visit but all the same, happy birthday, SJ!
I just came across this Instagram camera/printer last night and I would be the first to buy it if it ever gets into the production stages! Isn't it AMAZING!?!
I haven't always been a tea drinker, which is strange for an English-born girl. In fact, it wasn't until I went overseas early in my twenties and all my English relatives could not believe two things about me. One, that I didn't drink tea and, two, that I didn't have slippers.
In England, I started drinking green tea with my second cousin, Ruth, but I still prefer a green tea or tisane to black tea. I also inadvertently collect tea cups. I didn't mean for it to happen, but it just did (you can sort of see them here)
If you are familiar with T2, you will also understand how big a part that store plays in my tea obsession. I love how they are decked out and the minute I walk into a T2 store, I immediately want to replicate the look in my house. I love the look and feel of their stores, I mean, can you blame me?
The best I can do at the moment is a tea drawer, and I think that's probably even a little crazy.
The other week I bought myself a little T2 treat; a cup and saucer and Choc Chip Chai tea. The thing I like about T2 is that the staff will happily talk to you for as long as you want about tea, brewing, types of tea, and pretty much anything else you can think to ask them. You can try hot or cold teas in store and learn how to mix the flavours to make crazy hybrid teas. What's not to love? Even my sister loves T2 and she doesn't drink tea at all!
The other week, I bought myself a little treat: Choc Chip Chai tea and a cup and saucer/plate in pink. They come in delicious pastel colours and on the T2 blog, they are shown with puddings in the cups and put ice cream on the plate (plus there's a recipe). I cannot think of anything greater!
I think I can blame my English blood for this particular addiction…
Over the past few days I've noticed that a lot of bloggers have been sharing all the things they're afraid to tell their readers. It started with Jess Constable and EZ Pudewa and has moved like wildfire through the blogsphere this week.
What is funny about this is that I've got something to tell you and just as I was wondering how to write it, I came across a number of blogs with this open, honest message followed by huge lists of things that show their lives aren't all the beautiful photos and fun times they share online. It's easy to just talk about the fun stuff and not share the mundane, boring, difficult things.
I could tell you a bunch of things that I would rather you didn't know, but I will just share one with you. When I was a baby, I walked before I crawled. Almost like a precursor to my life, I often find myself way over my head before I'm quite ready and then not sure whether to keep moving forward or sit back down.
I was so excited last week when I mentioned I had been invited to Mercedes Benz Fashion Week. I'm far from a style blogger and not even a beauty blogger, so I wasn't even sure what to make of such an invite but, I thought, why not take the opportunity, mash together my most stylish outfits and just go? Unfortunately, being a PR and event n00b, I though the courier-delivered pass would get me into the shows and didn't discover until waiting outside my first event on Monday that I was supposed to register for another card to get inside.
Needless to say Fashion Week, for me, ended before it had began, and the embarrassment and dismay of my rookie mistake and my over sharing and excitement was overwhelming. Having to see the shows via Twitter and other blogs was completely disheartening and I realised that maybe I was in over my head this year.
I wasn't sure how to tell you that I don't have any fun Fashion Week blogs coming up until I saw all the honesty that these other bloggers have shared. Part of me is happy because it meant I got to dedicate my whole week to my family and, in light of trying to accept the way things go, at least I've learned a very valuable lesson for next time.
So that's what I was afraid to tell you. Sometimes (often), I walk before I crawl. I try to take on things bigger than I'm ready for and, sometimes, I succeed but often I fail epically and in front of more people than I would like. I'm wrong a lot. I make mistakes a lot. And I have to fight hard a lot but, despite everything, I keep pushing forward and never sit back down.
As I mentioned last week, my mum and grandma came to visit this week. Mum gave Grandma the choice of anything she wanted to do for this week and she wanted to visit me and see what my Sydney life is like, and so that's what we did. This is the first time the three of us have ever really spent time together and I'm glad that they decided to come.
We went for a walk around my area and found this incredible view. I am still constantly surprised at how many places you can see the Sydney Harbour Bridge from! After that, we went for dinner at Milson's Point and saw some more city views:
On Sunday we did breakfast and walked around my 'hood before heading to The Rocks and walked around the markets, saw the Rocks Fashion Week show, and had our favourite cake!
We did lots of eating and drinking, naturally, including coffee at Circular Quay and High Tea at the Tea Salon in the city. The scones are amazing:
We had the most amazing day at Manly, catching the ferry, walking around in the warm winter sun, and having a huge lunch!
And on their last day, I took Mum and Grandma to Glebe, another one of my favourite Sydney spots (and now one of theirs too!) I just forgot to take photos…
I think that this will only make sense if you live away from your family, but you kind of get used to them not being so close by. I used to live five minutes from both my mum and dad and my grandparents and now I live in a completely different state. I love living in Sydney and I know that even though they miss me, they are happy that I'm here. It isn't until I get to spend time with my family that I struggle after they're gone to get back to my life without them so close by.
It does make when we're together all the more wonderful though!
I believe that I need to preface this post with a little bit of background about my love for writer/director/ultimate geek, Joss Whedon. I first came across the brilliance that was Joss in high school when my sister got me watching Buffy The Vampire Slayer and my love heightened when I discovered sci-fi/cowboy series, Firefly. The fact that Firefly was cancelled way before its time and has developed cult status since it was generally misunderstood by network execs still breaks the hearts of the cast, the fanboys, Mr Whedon, and me on a regular basis.
With that being said, I think you can grasp some sort of understanding as to how exciting it is for me that Joss Whedon was announced to make one of the biggest superhero movies of all time – to have finally been given a budget and the respect to write and direct a giant money maker like The Avengers.
That, if this film was a success, Whedon may finally be taken serious by the people who money making means the most to. That, with this power comes great responsibility, for Whedon to prove to them that he was right all along. He is brilliant, and audiences get what him, and fanboys (and girls) love him, and even if the execs don't get it, they should roll with it because everyone else does!
The Avengers is, in my opinion, the perfect portrayal of this.
When Whedon stepped in as director, he also insisted that he write the screenplay – taking the reigns from Zak Penn, renowned comic book movie writer (including X-Men: The Last Stand, Elektra, Fantastic Four, and The Incredible Hulk – can you blame him?). If Whedon was going to do this, he was going to do it right; the way so many comic book movies should have been made before this one.
With a cast including Robert Downey Jr (Tony Stark/Ironman), Chris Evans (Steve Rogers/Captain America), Mark Ruffalo (Bruce Banner/The Hulk), Scarlett Johansson (Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow), Jeremy Renner (Clint Barton/Hawkeye), Chris Hemsworth (Thor), and Samuel L. Jackson, this could be an easy task of effortless performances perfectly complementing each other or an absolute shit-fight of egos.
Massive props to both Joss Whedon and the exceptional cast that the former is what you see on screen in The Avengers. In fact, it is difficult to name a film that has handled a star-studded ensemble cast with such graceful ease, giving each character their moment to struggle and to shine. Knowing the ego of Tony Stark (and RDJ himself), one might expect Iron Man to steal the show, but it is made abundantly clear that Captain America is the leader of The Avengers and each character is there for a reason. The story assume an intelligent, informed audience giving very little backstory and predicting that viewers have at least seen the previous films, if not, having a greater understanding of the Marvel universe.
Loki (a brilliiantly evil Tom Hiddleston) returns, fresh from where the Thor film left off, and with a his sights set on vengence for Thor's precious Earth. Nick Fury (Samuel L Jackson) rallies the troops and sends Natasha Romanoff to fetch Mr Banner (and the 'other guy'). Mark Ruffalo steps into the shoes of Bruce in a way that I didn't expect, taking over from Hulk predecessor, Edward Norton, on Whedon's orders. I've been a fan for a long time but I didn't see Ruffalo as the character until he was right before my eyes, and now I couldn't imagine Bruce Banner or The Hulk any other way!
Scarlett Johansson really holds her own among this cast of dominant males and there is a moment of sheer brilliance on her part when she first encounters the would-be Hulk. She is strong, yet vulnerable, and this, my friends, is a Whedon speciality. Had another man written this film, I honestly believe there would have been little time for Black Widow, except as a hint of sex appeal amongst the testosterone, but in Joss' eyes, she is a crucial player and a kick-ass one at that!
Without going too far into plot and quoting the one liners and moments that had me crying with laughter, I will just say that this film has it all. If you're not big into this genre, The Avengers will change your mind (if, for no other reason than the serious degree of hottness present). It has the perfect combination of heart, intelligence, and witty one-liners, backed up with a truck load of action. If you, like I, were severely disappointed with the what Iron Man 2 and Whiplash promised in the trailer and failed so epically to deliver in the final battle, you will see more than that fight in the first 20 minutes of The Avengers. And they're only fighting amongst themselves!
The balancing act performed by Joss Whedon is more than commendable – the ingredients of well formed characters, chemistry, A-grade actors, and pre-existing storylines are always there in a comic book film, but so often the measurements don't add up, leaving you with a sour after taste. This film has the perfect balance of flavours, not too much Tony Stark that you cringe at his hedonistic antics, not too much Thor that you really do feel like you're watching Shakepeare, not too much of the corny lines saved mostly for this genre, and not too much of The Hulk smashing things (because, let's face it, there's no such thing as too much of the Hulk smashing things). No, my friends, this film has been baked into the perfect cake – sweet, moist, just the right amount of icing, and leaves you drooling for more. Yes, I just turned a comic book movie review into a cake analogy. What of it?
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