Pizookies

One of the lovely ladies in this blogosphere is Lady Lee who, being all clever and creative, has come up with a rather rad idea. Predicting so astutely, that people including herself and I would become more and more likely to spend our time 'pinning' things than creating things, she came up with a solution - to introduce Living Pinterest into our lives. Here she actually makes a few things from pinterest each month and posts them up to show the world. And this is why I am showing my attempt at the recently pinned pizookie. So check it out!

Oh good heavens. Could there be anything sweeter in this world than the pizookie. This is a recently discovered treat by me that I first found god knows where. What I do know, is that who ever showed them to me via their blog, linked it to this blog. As soon as I saw those pictures and imagined them in my head, I was somewhat obsessed, but as happens, life got a little in the way. Prac busied me up, then uni and then exam study and etcetera. But two days ago, I caved, and took a stand against study. I whipped up that cookie dough and made myself a delicious-freaking pizookie! And oh good lord it was heaven in my mouth. Gooey on the inside, crunchy on the outside, a mixture between cake and cookie and heaven on earth.

What was that? You wanted a definition of a pizookie? Urban Dictionary defines it as '

a 'pizza-cookie', baked and served in a personal-sized circular tin, generally with ice cream on top. Avalible from BJ's Pizza & Brewery'.  Well, apparently they are from BJ's? Well I never. I will mention that urban dictionary has some other interesting definitions of pizookie which may have spoiled my perception a tad. (Sidenote: I became very disillusioned when I searched my own name 'Jill' on urban dictionary. Definition 3 = gross. men are just plain gross.)

Sending my pizookie off to get cooked and primed.

The required photoshoot that every pizookie deserves. This would have been a whole lot better looking with ice-cream on it but I just cannot have ice-cream with a hot dessert. Seriously, the thought of ice-cream melting and making my dessert cold is enough to make me barf like a baby. Ugh. But now I am getting so totally off topic. I don't think we're on our fifth date yet so I think I shall keep the ugly things about me a secret for now.

Yes. I am wearing a wicked jumper - I am studying for exams which means I am entitled to wear daggy clothes all day long.

And settling down with my pizookie to watch some Grey's Anatomy. I can nearly claim watching Grey's Anatomy as studying in my eyes.

Verdict? Definitely one to make again!

The pizookies are here!

No I haven't run away, I've merely been studying and baking like crazy. The more I need to study, the more I seem to bake.

Anyway I've been wanting to try these golden gems, the amazing why-didn't-I-think-of-that pizookies and that is just what I've done. Photo's will be coming soon as soon can be!

Why don't you just wrap it up?

It's Monday which means I am going to show what I have been browsing on the interwebs this weekend when I really ought to be studying. Because everyone wants to know, don't they?

These birthday cards are just plain awesome. If anyone wants to send me one for my birthday or even just because, let me know!

These freaking-awesome-microscopic-pictures are part of Nikon's annual Small World competition.

This top makes me want to be swing a small bag around my shoulder, pop a felt hat on and chill out at a summery music festival with a cider in my hands. Oh and I reckon I'd bung on some shorts and shoes too.

And finally, this chocolate mousse uses only two ingredients, water and chocolate. Amazing! It's created my Heston Blumenthal so you know they've got to be good.

See you tomorrow peeps!

Diana in Bali

Diana is my camera, more specifically, she is a Diana F+ Lomography camera in classic blue and we are in love. As much as is appropriate for a love between a human and inanimate object, not like this lady. She is a slightly temperamental and unpredictable girl but when she's in the right mood, she is freaking fantastic. And that is enough about my love for my camera - I am starting to get concerned.

Anyhoo, I took Diana with me to Bali and she bought the goods!

Diana in her pinhole setting of the view from our balcony. You whip the lens off and keep the camera steady while you leave the shutter open for anywhere between a few seconds and a few minutes. I think I left this open for about 30 seconds on a slightly overcast day?

Pictures of the local market. I think the bottom one is a double exposure.

One of the bajillion temple doors.

These awesome school boys grabbing some lunch from a street vendor outside their school. The uniforms were pretty sweet with those vests. Hah.

Myself looking particularly pregnant thanks to a gust of wind.

These girls were sitting braiding each others hair and watching the tourists walk on by.

And this is to prove that Diana doesn't always quite produce the goods. Also, that you need to wind up your film tightly or you'll get light leaks like these ones. We'll just pretend that I put them there purposefully to make for a rustic look.

Hope you enjoyed these Diana pics! I think I'll have to show pictures from my Dad's Olympus M-1 1971 camera next. Just because I can. 

¿Te gustaría un traje de tacos?

Would you like a taco costume?

There is a story about me that nearly everyone knows about. People who weren't even at the party will chortle and act like they were. This party was a Mexican Fiesta and I was dressed as a Taco.

Said taco suit has been sitting in the back of my car boot for just over a year waiting for a redemption. I had forgotten about it until I opened my boot hoping to put the shopping there and realising I had no room. Therefore it is hereby available to rent for all who wish to become a taco.

The story of the taco is a long one and somewhat embarrassing. One that I can't quite bring myself to tell right now because it still makes me cringe. Eep. But there is me just having a 'rest' during the party.

Travelling Fridays

This year has been a busy busy travelling year. I've been 'down south' which is what us Perthian's call our favourite local holiday destinations of Dunsborough, Busselton, Margaret River and Albany to name a few. Please don't think that I am being crass as I continue mentioning trips down south because that is not what I mean! Then I went on a spontaneous trip to Bali with my friend and her family. In July I went to New Zealand and the islands of Fiji with another friend, and as I mentioned, I'm off to Vietnam in November. Phew! It makes me a little giddy thinking about it all. I'm making the most of all this travel because I won't be able to do it again for a while due to my lack of pretty pennies in the bank. Anyway, I've decided that Fridays are now the days to be showing pretty travelling pictures.

First off is Bali because I feel like it.

This rooster is one of the lucky ones that survived it's cock fighting - A tradition that lingers in Balinese villages. He was so awfully beautiful though.

A few days before my birthday, my best friend for a long long time called me up and invited me to Bali with her family in January. Bali had never been really high up on my list of places to go because all you hear are stories of bogan Aussies in Bintang singlets and Southern Cross tattoos roaming the streets. But because I know my friend and her family, I knew that we definitely wouldn't be in Bintang singlets.

This is my friend and I getting our legs exfoliated/cleaned by those little nibbly fish that have a fetish for dead skin. It was a very different experience to say the least.

Me with a local who really wanted a photo taken. He got so excited when he saw the little screen with his face on it. But then he started mentioning massage places and wanting email addresses so we slyly scuttled off.

The temple door in the Monkey Forest. Those monkeys were so so cute, except for the whole disease-carrying thing..

Our gorgeous deck chairs by the infinite pool, one of three different pools available to us. Oh except for my friend's families private pool of course.. My friend and I were staying on a hotel room at the resort but her parents and brother stayed in a private villa complete with their own sizeable infinity pool. Bliss! It was especially awesome when we went swimming in the pouring monsoonal rain.

The wall of the private villa and the pool. To the left was about a 20 metre drop to the forest floor.

The view from our balcony. The rice paddies were owned by a family and all the rice served to us in the hotel cafe was from those fields which is pretty-damn awesome. It was a little uncomfortable at time seeing this family living in a small hut while we were surrounded by pure and utter luxury. I didn't really know how to feel but you do have to remember that a huge majority of the Indonesian economy is from tourism. While the inequalities in this planet are appalling and intolerable, we have to remember that these people need to make a living and this can only be achieved through filling up the hotel rooms of this amazingly diverse country.

We also went for an elephant ride and our elephant had total attitude. Like honestly! Our elephant 'driver' and him had all these little tricks like casually pretending to flick us off his back and spraying water on us. Yeah cool Mr. Elephant.

He did have awfully pretty eyes.

This elephant looked like it had been to the salon with his gorgeous ombre hair. Stupidly, I didn't quite capture the mouth organ he was playing in his trunk. He was very musically gifted.

And this poor little sun bear in his enclosure. He sat on peoples laps and enjoyed lollies but I felt very sorry for him. At least he had company!

Bali was an awesome place that surprised me with it's diversity and incredible scenes. It was heartbreaking at times seeing such extreme poverty but so totally enlightening when you see the positivity that just beams from the faces of these people. Never have I ever seen such a cheerful country despite the conditions that they deal with. Inspiring to say the least! By next week I will pop up some more pictures from Bali that I took with my Diana F+ Lomography camera!

Hurrah chickens!

3 hours

You can sure do a lot in 3 hours. Though today I wouldn't know. Because today I slept for three hours. In the middle of the day when I should have been studying. Ah well.

But as so, I don't really have anything exciting to post about what so ever! Even though my other posts aren't really that exciting what so ever!

Instead, I leave you with a picture of my cat. Who I may or may not be obsessed with.

Isn't she the cutiest pattootiest? And don't worry, I'm full aware that I will most likely become a crazy cat lady, if I haven't already.

And another one just because I can.

Vietnam

In November, I'm off to Vietnam. Hurrah! I'm going on a service trip with the nursing school I go and we'll be travelling to rural villages where the H'mong people reside to perform health assessments as well observing in Vietnamese hospitals. I'm super duper excited and keen to head off.

The ten of us have been fundraising our little tooshies off and collecting goodies like toothbrushes, soaps, toothpastes, dressing supplies, and toys to give out when we're over there. Today, we got given bags each to take home and sort through to write lists and the likes. And joy of joys, I got the bags to take to the orphanages. So I have spent the afternoon sorting through onesies, pencils, crayons, toys and colouring-in books. I will admit that towards the end I may have got slightly sick of counting each pencil, but hey!

I am so definitely ready to call it a night now. I will no doubt dream of pencils and frisbees.

2012 Diary

Hurrah! I got home from a long day of uni then work to discover a parcel with my name on it. How lovely!

Frankie is an Australian magazine 'aimed at women (and men) looking for a magazine that’s as smart, funny, sarcastic, friendly, cute, rude, arty, curious and caring as they are.' And it totally delivers. Every two months when a new issue comes out, I get super excited and savour each and every page.

Last year, they released the above diary which I snapped up in an instant. It has done me well over the year and gets filled up with all of my uni/work/friends bits and bobs that I need to remember.

(ps- on the Sunday where it says IVF, that's where I work - I am not eighteen years old and going through IVF. That would be a little crazy.) On my prac in June, I happened to misplace my diary somewhere within the hospital and it took them until AUGUST to find it but thank goodness they did! I honestly felt like I had found a missing pet. I think I missed a total of 3 appointments when I lost my diary because clearly my brain is not capable of organising my life.

And this is my new diary..ready to get filled with the events of the year ahead. Double hurrah!

via

New Resolution

Who needs a New Years resolution when you can have a September resolution? New Years ones never seem to work but I am convincing myself that September's resolution will stick. And what is this resolution you ask? Well, it's to freaking blog. Too often has something happened where I think I should always remember it but before I know (or not know?), the memories of it are tucked in my hard drive never to be seen again. That is, until some aliens in the future see my hard drive and discover how cool my penchant for green converse shoes really was. So be prepared to read more and more about this 18 going on 80 year old's life.

Me waiting for dinner at one of my favourite restaurants Funtastico where I order the chilli mussels every single time. Yum. And yes the photo is fairly unrelated to the post but let's that it is to indicate that too soon you will know much more about me, like my love for chilli mussels.

Pete Murray at The Breakwater

A few weeks ago, I went and saw Pete Murray with my friend and my sister. It was a nice intimate gig with about 50 listeners from the radio station where my sister works, nova 937. I saw Pete perform at Southbound a few years ago and he is just the same but so totally different now. I don't know whether it's just because I was closer to him, but he just seems to be getting better looking with age. Yum! And I hear he is currently single and ready to mingle? Yes, Pete Murray you can serenade me to sleep whenever you like.

(ps - sorry about the shitty quality of the images! That's what an iPhone can do to you)

He definitely suited the smaller crowd and I don't want to toot my own horn but I think we were a totally rad audience as he trialed his new album out on us.

Ooh moody and mysterious picture. He performed at The Breakwater in Hillarys which has just been done up and is oh so lush right now. Word of warning though: the hand dryers in the bathrooms blow wind on to your hands of hurricane proportions! We actually had fun making rips in our hands and may have pretending we were skydiving at one point..

The guitarist was pretty fine too. He kind of looked like an ex-rugby player who left the game through injury and began soul-seeking with his guitar in hand. Not that my friend and I were speculating or anything..

Apart from the pretty dodgy free house white wine they were giving us, which came straight from a goon bag no doubt, it was a really good night. It was nice to travel a bit out of our usual pub going radius and awesome to see such a good performer in such close quarters. Hopefully I will be able to uncover my photo with him soonish!