Please?

Could I please have this Jacket? It looks so cozy yet stylish. :) Oh how I hate my daydreaming mind!

Happy thoughts

James went back to Australia on Sunday, and although I try and be fine and appear fine it does get to me a little bit. I could list all sorts of cheesy lines about how I feel, but I will spare you. Instead, Something I found on weheartit to keep me happy. I like lists like this, little things that remind you of wonderful moments in life. They make me smile inside. :)

Plaits/Braids

Plaits/Braids are apparently IN this Spring/Summer. This makes me very excited, because I love plaiting my hair when I am bored, and I love how cool plaited hair looks. I really want to learn to do something cool with my hair that involves plaiting...so for inspiration I browsed through weheartit.com. Here are some of my faves:
I'd love to be able to do this last one...so cool!

BHLDN

I know it's Valentines day, and most people are posting all about that...but I don't really do that. So I thought I'd try post similar to that theme, a wedding shop online.

BHLDN (which is apparently pronounced Beholden, from the Dutch for 'to keep') is a pretty wonderful new shop. I don't go about looking for new things like this, but two blogs I like to read for pretty, inspirational images have recently posted about it, and it did get my little head daydreaming. :) (I am totally in love with the dress above)

I recommending looking at the site, and the posts by the beautiful blogs I read because they have made pretty compilations of images:

Oh Joy! - Post 1, Post 2 and Post 3.

Once Wed.

A Beautiful Mess.

A little shopping

I may have done some online shopping (with the help of James) and am now expecting this LOVELY shirt from Kookai and these gorgeous shoes from Zara in the post soon! :D

I am hoping to wear them to a formal next week with some smart black trousers. :)

I have a song stuck in my head...

...and it goes a little bit like this:

I say a little bit because I am useless at remembering words, so my version isn't as good. :P

Early Spring?

It's been feeling a lot like Spring around here, especially today: sun shining, birds chirping and that ever so slight breeze to chill things down. Been gorgeous. So I have decided I need to change my desktop to something a little more springy. I did a search for some pretty spring photos, and photos of peonies (they are quickly becoming my favourite flowers, I'm thinking a possible must have for a wedding). I love pinks, blues and greens for spring, especially with some fresh white. So clean and happy feeling. :) I though I'd share the prettyness, and hopefully make you feel the warmth and sunshine we're having here. :)

Kookai Spring/Summer

Kookai's Spring/Summer collection is finally up! I have been checking their website since half way through January in anticipation.

The trends for the coming seasons are a little odd...it's probably the HUGE amount of bright contrasting colours that leads me to say that...because colours make me uncomfortable. I'm not as totally inspired and excited by the new lines out (with one exception), but the few items that I like I do really really like. The exception: Urban Safari is a trend...I am totally in my South Africa "need a new wardrobe" mode at the moment, so all sorts of safari colours and trends is making my head go a little crazy.

Eee. So, I have tried to timetable into my new shiny work plan 3 times a week to update this here little ol' blog, and todays will be clothes, clothes and more clothes. Because I do daydream about clothes a lot, I thought maybe to get me back into updating I should start sharing it with peoples. :)

PS: I have actually been doing some work! (Shock horror!) and I am enjoying it! I don't know whats wrong with me. :P

Rainbow

There was a rainbow in Durham on Thursday. Despite the pain in my leg when walking I really couldn't resist going outside and taking a few photos. Silly, I know, but it made me happy. :) I am like such a child with the little things in the world.

Our Chinese New Year

It was Chinese New Year yesterday so we decorated the house and had a lovely Chinese New Year dinner on Wednesday. :) Was loads of fun, and super yummy! Mmmm. :)

Reasons to win the lottery.

One is in Canberra. Check it out, pretty cool apartment. :P

And another is in Sydney...amazing place! Mainly because of the view. :)

Realistically, if I won the lottery I probably wouldn't spend the money on either of these places. Can find a perfectly perfect apartment/home for much less. And then could be financially secure and whatnot, you know like putting it in a savings account so it makes MORE money, instead of blowing it all. Yup yup. :) But a girl can day-dream.

:)

Worth thinking about...

I'm not sure if not knowing what I want, so not actively getting involved in it, counts...but I could be being actively involved without thinking I am. I can make things seem very confusing. Hehe, but it's definitely worth a little think about.

Now onto my two 1,500 word essays due tomorrow that I haven't started! Yay!

Planning...

Making a list. BUT in the mean time, I cut the top off of my pepper and it looked like a flower. I liked.

Deciding...

Education...

I think studying education is really interesting, and I do find the numerous debates you can have about the best ways to do things very engaging. BUT, man does it get depressing.

I'm not sure it gets to people as much as it gets to me, but the more we seem to learn the more and more corrupt, political and totally opposite to what I thought it was, education becomes. I used to see it as fun, fascinating, magical; learn for the sake of learning; learn what you found interesting. I wanted to believe that people were being taught for the sake of teaching people about all those wonderful things out there in the world. I think I was very naive.

I've recently handed in an essay on the effects of marketisation on education, and just had a lecture on the effects of globalisation. And it just gets to me. I enjoyed tests and exams because I had plenty of time to draw and daydream, and I found the material interesting...but I had started to find it annoying that I couldn't learn something without someone then testing if by chance what I learnt from the course would answer one of a few questions just the way they want it to...there is more to learning than that, but the education system doesn't really focus on that. And I know, testing and exams help see the progress students are making, helps you to see how much they understand, helps to judge if a school or university is doing it's job...but how much do they REALLY test all that stuff?

There were a couple of interesting quotes on the slides in my lecture today which I wanted to share, and then my rant is over.

"The obsession with standards risks alienating creative teacher and stultifying classroom practice" (Phillips & Harper-Jones, 2003: 130)

"We are creating hordes of smart conformists. They know what they have to do to get ahead, but they have little understanding of why they do what they are doing." (Brown, 2006: 393)

"A 'variety of classroom practices aimed at improving test results' have 'distorted the education of some children'" (The Children, Schools and Families Committee, 2008: 3)

"We have embraced dullness, and so close are we to it, we do not even see what has happened" (Seldon, in Davies, 2009: 9).

I'm kind of not sure about the whole education thing at the moment, and feel more and more as if I haven't gotten out of it what I wanted...but then I don't really know what it was I wanted anymore...

Rant over.

Thinking...

I have a lot of thinking to be done. I have already done an awful lot of thinking. It calms me to write out sayings I like, so you may see a few over the next few days. :)

A pretty days

I thought since I haven't updated much I might share some photos(and when I say some I seriously mean some, been doing so much sleeping and working that I haven't taken many photos). :) The first two are from a beautiful day we had in the mountains.

And these two are from a lovely day in Geneva. James was complaining about how Geneva is all grey and dismal in the winter, and then BOOM sunshine!! :D Was well received.
So more work tomorrow. Yay...and maybe some photo taking. We'll see.

15 degrees

Today was a gorgeous 15 degrees outside...it's the middle of winter...but I am not complaining. It looked lovely, and it's so nice not freezing whilst waiting for a bus outside!

I didn't get to enjoy the warmth much as I had decided today would be work day! Yes, work. Hehe. Technically I should have done an essay already, but the due date has been pushed back...and so the urgency to get that one done has gone. Hehe...I am still focussing on my essay that actually counts towards my degree, as well it counts and it's interesting. I think, think, I am getting somewhere...my plan is much clearer in my mind...I think. We'll see, more work tomorrow.

Tonight though, lovely dinner with friend from High School and then a beer tower or two! Not seen some of the people turning up tonight for 2 years, so it should be nice! :D

Still Alive

Hello! I have been seriously lacking in posting here since Christmas. I will blame James, because I like to blame him for a lot of things, but also because he's been here since the 28th being all distracting and whatnot. I have lots I want to share. Pretty things I got for Christmas, nice stuff I bought for myself, just stuff really. :P

I need to show you the amazing new kitchen we have, and the dining room all in brown. So pretty. I want to update lots but also really want to work. So many essays...so much stress! I think I am more on top of things that normal...but still gar!

So yeah, to all you lovely little friends I have been doing such a bad job at keeping in touch with, I am alive, I am stalking you, all is good. See you next week! :D