The Versatile Blog Award

I'm delighted to announce that I have been given this fab blog award from the lovely Annora of Nora Finds. As part of the award I have to mention 7 things people probably didn't know about me:

1. As a teenager I was really into horses. I had my own ponies Mel and JB on loan from a local riding school  that I helped out at on weekends and I even made my own horse website which now has sadly disappeared into the Geocities void the above award is the only remainder of the site.

2. When I was younger my hair was so long I could sit on it but it was so heavy it gave me headaches so I had it all cut off into a bob. Over the years I've had it pretty much every length, colour and style going.

3. I wore braces from the age of 10 to 18. My teeth were crazy I even had to have an operation as one was growing in the roof of my mouth!

4. I have a phobia of cockroaches which isn't good if you live in Australia. I've been living here 5 years and I still can't get used to seeing them running around in the summer! 

5. I never went to university. I got offered a place to do a Law degree as I wanted to be a lawyer when I was younger but at the time there was a huge influx of people studying law which resulted in a very small starting salary and so I started working as a legal secretary instead of going to uni.

6. I moved out of home and to the other side of the country when I was 19. I had to work 3 jobs to support myself and it was hard going but they were some of the most fun years of my life! 

7. The hubby and I are planning on opening a bakery in a few years but my dream business would be a 1950's style diner!  

Part of the award is passing it on to 15 other versatile bloggers. I don't read that many blogs so I don't think I'll be able to come up with 15 but I nominate:
♥ Tim and Jesse of like Johnny and June
♥ Michelle of Ravishing Retro 
♥ Steph of Ms Frangipani presents
♥ Molly of Molly Made
♥ Bex of Subversive Femme
♥ Bec of Black Swan's Pond

An Award

I'm always humbled to see that people want to read my ramblings so I was delighted when I received this award from Ginger over at Sailing over a Cardboard Sea.

The award comes with a few conditions. They are as follows:

1. Accept the award.
Post it on your blog with the name of the person who awarded it along with a link to their blog.

2. Pay it forward to 15 other bloggers that you have recently discovered.

3. Contact those bloggers and let them know they've been chosen.

The 15 fantastic blogs I am choosing are:

Alice Jeans

Andi B Goode

Annie Pancake and the Time Machine
Bobbins and Bombshells
Elegant Musings
Diary of a Vintage Girl
Esme and the Laneway
Fifties Fever
Gatsby and Me
In the Heyday
Ruby's Guide to Vintage
Subversive Lesbian Anarchic Femme!
The Freelancer's Fashion Blog
They'd have called me 'The Bar Nothing'
Tuppence Haypenny
Yesterday Girl

Passing on the Award

After some careful consideration I have decided to pass on the award to the following blogs/bloggers:

♥ Annie Pancake and the Time Machine
♥ Caseys Elegant Musings
♥ Diary of a Vintage Girl
♥ Esme and the Laneway
♥ Gatsby and Me
♥ Pretty Little Pictures
♥ Super Kawaii Mama
♥ The Freelancers Fashion Blog
♥ They'd Have Called Me The Bar Nothing
♥ When I grow up I'm going to be a pinup girl

I Won an Award!!

I soo happy to let you know that I won a Happy 101 award from the fabulous Ruby Rach over at Fifties Fever. I'm so honoured to receive this award from a blogger whose blog I adore!

The rules of the tag are:

1. Post who gave you this award
2. State 10 things you like
3. Give this award to 10 other bloggers and notify them with a comment

So here are my 10 things:
1. My Lovely Hubby:
The love of my life. The man that's always there through thick and thin. He puts up with my crabby moods and my demands. He looks after me even though I can sometimes be a little high maintenance.

2. Vintage:
I love vintage looks from both the 40's and 50s. Although I do not own that many vintage items I am slowly expanding my wardrobe to include more vintage items. My love of vintage has led me to start learning dressmaking in order to make my own clothes from vintage patterns. I am also hoping to learn to knit soon.

3. Travel:
Whether it be exploring new places close to home or travelling to tropical climes overseas I love travel. I spend my free time reading travel books and planing itineraries for trips I plan to take in the future.

4. Food and Tea:
I'm lucky enough to be marrying a man who is both a trained baker and chef so I get to eat some fabulous food and rarely find myself having to cook dinner. Having said that I love baking and trying out new recipes. The successful ones I post on my blog. I also love eating out - whether it be a local cafe or a Michelin starred restaurant!
Being English I also love my tea I must get through about 10 cups a day at least!!

5. Friends and Family:
Since my adult years I've lived away from my family but I always made the point of visiting them. Being thousands of miles away from my family its harder to see them and I do miss them alot! Luckily alot of my family members have come over to visit us! When I moved to Sydney I was lucky enough to be invited into a group of girlies quite quickly and the UN was formed. We call ourselves the UN as there are girls in the group of all different nationalities including English, Welsh, Australian, French and Italian. The girls are a wonderfully crazy and kooky group and are always there for me when I need them.

6. Sydney:
The hubby and I moved to Sydney in July 2008 and we've never looked back. I love the city for its clean and bright feeling. It doesn't have the same dirty and claustrophobic feeling that cities in the UK have. I also love living by the sea. Its something I've always wanted to do. I love the fact that I can walk down to the beach anytime I want and watch the waves. I think it has a calming affect on me.

7. Paganism:
I've been into Wicca since I was about 16 and in the last few years my interests have leaned more towards hearthcraft and hedgecraft. However I don't mention my Wicca belief's on the blog very often as I feel what someone believes is a very personal thing and I wouldn't want to force my beliefs onto my readers. Plus it doesn't really go with the other content of my blog!

8. Animals:
I love animal and from a young age had a menagerie of pets including cats, rabbits, guinea pigs, hamsters, gerbils, fish and a dog (for a week) I spent my teen years riding horses and working at stables that also had baby calfs, chickens and a bull who thought it was a puppy. When I moved to Sydney I had to leave my cat, Thomas O'Malley behind as he was 18 years old and it seemed cruel to make him travel and put him in quarantine at that age and unfortunately since moving to Sydney we have always live in places that are no pets allowed. This is hard from me as a house doesn't feel like a home to me without a cat!

9. Books:
I've always been a bit of a bookworm even as a kid! I love reading a whole range of books from gothic horrors to chic lits to classic novels and even some sci fi stuff. A good book can take anywhere. You're only limited by you're imagination!

10. Movies:
I also love a whole range of different movies from the old musicals to modern action films, thrillers, rom-coms, comedies and especially Disney!


I will have a think about it and pick my 10 blogs to pass this award onto in my next post!

35 Questions

These have been passed on to me by the lovely Gingeyginge, so here goes:

1.Where is your phone? Bag
2.Your hair? Black
3.Your Mother? Beautiful
4.Your Father? Strong
5.Your favourite food? Roast
6.Your dream last night? Forgotten
7.Your favourite drink? Vodka
8.Your dream/goal? Happiness
9.What room are you in? Living room
10.Your hobby? Reading
11.Your fear? Loss
13.Where were you last night? Home
14.Something that your not? Loud
15.Muffins? Nope
16.Wish list item? Camera
17.Where did you grow up? England
18.Last thing you did? This
19.What are you wearing? Nothing!
20.Your TV? Off
21.Your pets? None :o(
22.Friends? Special
23.Your life? Good
24.Your mood? Sleepy
25.Missing someone? Family
26.Vehicle? Jaguar
27.Something your not wearing? Anything!
28.Your favourite store? Vintage
29.Your Favourite colour? Red
30.When was the last time you laughed? Now
31.The last time you cried? Yesterday
32.Your best friend? Hubby
33.One place that I go to over and over? Beach
34.Facebook? Unfortunately
35.Favourite place to eat? Prague

I will post about who I am passing this onto soon!

Our first award!!!

I'm delighted to receive this Lemonade Stand award from Gingeyginge over at The Adventures of Gingeginge especially since my blog is still relatively new so its just nice to know someone actually reads it let alone like it enough to give me an award!

As per the rules of the award I will:
* Put the lemonade logo on your blog or within your post.
* Nominate at least 10 blogs.
* Link the nominees within your post
* Let the nominees know they have received this award by commenting on their blog.
* Link to the person from whom you received this award.

And so without further ado my nominees are:
* Super Kawaii Mama
* Diary of a Vintage Girl
* Mermaid in a Manhole
* Gatsby and Me
* The Retro Housewife
* Housewifery
* My 50's Year
* Retro Housewife and the Ladies who Lunch

I know that's only eight but I'm very selective about the blogs I chose to follow. These are the best of the best as far as I'm concerned but why don't you check them out for yourselves?

Happy reading dear readers ... x