My Christmas Crisis

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Christmas is really doing my head in this year. I have been thinking about it since October but not actually done anything, besides some in-my-head gift ideas. For some reason, this year I’m becoming fixated on the presents.

I want to give everybody the best, most perfect, amazing presents ever. I want them to grin hugely when they open them and really appreciate the time and thought I’ve put into each one. We've got a tight budget but am determined to do the best I can with it.

... And then I read a wonderful blog about appreciating what you have (at Seven Cherubs). Got a fantastically inspiring email about buying local, supporting the local economy, not clogging yours and others' homes with plastic crap you don’t need, appliances you never use and DVDs you never watch. About not contributing the wealth of rapidly industrializing countries where labour is cheap (and sometimes exploitative) and manufacturing is environmentally harmful when your local hairdresser or lawn mowing business is struggling to make a dollar. Or seeing wonderful crafty ideas on Pinterest, and thinking about how homemade is so much better than a box of Ferrero Rochers I bought at the supermarket because I didn’t know what to give.

I’m also really interested in charitable giving, however am wary of giving people the gift of a goat for Xmas (see Oxfam Unwrapped) in case they don’t “get” what the gift really is about (and don’t have actually any "THING" to keep for themselves). Seems like kind of a mean gift, if you think about it that way. I KNOW that’s not the point, but am still not completely a fan of giving charity gifts of this kind unless I know the person is a big supporter of that particular organization, or of charity generally.

At least I am blessed in that I have a circle of family and friends who really don’t place a lot of value on material possessions, or monetary worth (so different from some I know). I know my parents won’t mind what they get from us and my partner C assures me his parents won’t either. I’m going to suggest a no-presents-this-year deal with my brother and his partner, as we both are struggling with mortgages. For my friends, I’m undecided – perhaps they would like to agree to a no-gifts-year this year too?

So I’m busy in my mind trying to reconcile all this mess in my head, and yet STILL trying to think of the perfect, most amazing gifts that a) are Australian-made, b) won’t end up as expensive clutter and c) are friendly to our planet.

And don’t even get me started on Christmas cards. (There's a minefield that's possibly best navigated by me just not sending any).

So now after all my resolutions to give ethical, suitable gifts this year, the original post I was going to write today about what I want for Christmas looks pretty damn selfish. So I’m not going to post it, and be grateful for what people decide to give me on The Big Day.

Do you have a gift-giving ethos this year? What is it?

FNQ Fashion

We're going to the tropics for Christmas.

I know, I know. It's going to be perishingly hot and humid. But C's parents live there and this is their year to have us. I know his mum will be taking care of the food, so I've been left to worry about other things.

Oddly for me, I've been fixating on clothes. Because I remembered the last time we were up there two years ago, I was warm and uncomfortable pretty much the entire time. My wardrobe was not designed to cope with that kind of weather.

So I've been trying to think about what would be suitable, and wondering if it's in my budget to get a few more items. Clothes to suit the heat and mugginess of Far North Queensland!

Of course, I turned to Polyvore. I present three ideal outfits for three different occasions, though in FNQ you can pretty much wear the same wardrobe to a restaurant as you would to the beach.

FNQ casual - beige by surelysarah featuring a wooden chain necklace

FNQ - shopping by surelysarah featuring knot jewelry

FNQ Evening by surelysarah featuring a blue maxi dress

What do you think? I am VERY aware that I am obsessed with the beige, the bone, the off-white, the cream, the ivory... What I was aiming for was breath-ability and present-ability. I don't want to be rocking board shorts and a tank top the whole week I'm there.

What do you wear when it's hot?

Today on Surely a Bride

Today I blogged over at Surely a Bride - it's about bridal magazines. Head on over!

Tough Life Lessons

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I haven’t blogged for a while because I have been adhering to my current blog philosophy – don’t blog unless you feel like it. I’ve had a tough week, with a hugely emotional thing happening to me which I vented onto Twitter.

I was both surprised and touched by the reaction that my personal crisis evoked from my Tweeps – many of them reached out to me to ask if I was ok, and offer a friendly shoulder or ear. This was despite the fact that I was doing something that I personally abhor, which is “vague-tweeting” (my own term, derived from the brilliant phrase “vague-booking” for those posts on Facebook that are obvious cries for attention).

I am not going to go into great detail of my crisis here on my blog, not being comfortable with airing my relationship laundry on the internet, but suffice to say, it felt like my sky was falling. In fact, those are my exact words to my partner when we were working things out.

It was horrible, confronting and emotionally draining. All I can say is, I’m glad it’s over. I learnt one important lesson though:

In relationships, always ASK. Never ACCUSE.

What relationship wisdom have you learnt the hard way?

Pinteresting - wreaths

This week I've been thinking more and more about Christmas. One thing I've been wanting to do for a long time is to make my own Christmas wreath. Pinterest, as usual, was a wealth of inspiration. I like the different media used in the ones I found - everything from paper to baubles to fabric.

Enjoy!

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Linking up with:

Weekend reading

Regular readers and my twitter family will know that recently I made the joyous discovery of the work of George R. R. Martin. It was a happy day for me (seriously, where has he been all my reading life?). I am however stalled in my reading of the Song of Ice and Fire books, being unable to obtain a copy of the next one, due to a combination of funds, and lack of library copies.

Thus, I turned to my to-read pile. Alas, it was empty! I know, I was shocked too. In desperation, I looked to my bookcase. Here, I keep all the books I cannot bear to part with or know I will read again. I picked out a Terry Pratchett that I hadn't looked at in years but the next day something else caught my eye.

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It was Bill Bryson's 'At Home'. I had bought it on a whim one day at Toombul, it was $10 and I had seen it some weeks before selling for $40 so I figured it was a bargain. I had lent it to mum first, and she had handed it back saying it was suprisingly good. I had put it on my bookshelf, forgetting that I hadn't read it yet.

I have only ever read Bryson's travel journals before, but found them highly entertaining. I read the Australian one whilst on holiday in Europe just because I liked the irony of the thing.

For some unknown reason, I abandoned Pratchett (sorry, Pterry) and picked up Bryson. And was delighted. This book is highly entertaining, for all the subject matter sounds dreary and dull. He manages to make the evolution of domestic life something utterly fascinating, and the stories he has unearthed while writing it are simply amazing. At the beginning there was a lot of stuff I had forgotten being taught from my Archaeology subjects at uni (the Olduwan, the Levant, Catal Huyuk!) but there were still a lot of surprises. For instance, did you know that noboby knows how people genetically modified corn? No wild plant even remotely resembles it; it must have taken centuries for folk to breed a corn plant that produced the cobs we know today from available fauna. Amazing stuff.

So I'm thoroughly enjoying this tome, for a tome it is - quite hefty to lug around in my bag but well worth the effort. I'm learning such fascinating things about electricity, furniture and rooms.

What are you reading at present? Would you recommend it?

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Leaving on a jet plane

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This blog has been a little silent of late. The reason being is I haven’t felt the need to post anything. I usually do participate in a few link-ups on the weekend however I was visiting my parents the last few days and in between helping mum with her computer, a big family birthday party and generally lolling about I didn’t really think about blogging!

Today I’m going on a work trip. My company is sending me to Sydney for 2 days to complete a training course, along with a few other newbies. I’m flying out tonight and coming home Thursday. This means two nights and two days away, coming straight after 3 days away at the farm. I’ll be missing my darling a lot by the time I come back, I bet.

But at the same time I’m kind of excited. I love flying. I love that surge of speed when the engines spool up and engage, and the plane shoots forward on the runway. I sit there grinning, thinking about the unbelievable amount of air that is being forced through the jet engines and generating enough speed and lift to get the great hulking behemoth off the ground. I’m not so excited about landings, I must admit (I dislike the way the descent makes my stomach drop) but it’s worth it for that feeling you get on take-off.

The engineering of an aeroplane is a fascinating thing, should you be interested in the way things work like I am. Fortunately I am engaged to a guy that is an aircraft maintenence engineer, so he explains things to me. Did you know that a plane has about as much aerodynamic-ness as a brick? It's not the shape that makes it able to fly - it's the mysterious forces of physics.

I’m also kind of looking forward to the novelty of my first “business trip” and the all-expenses paid accommodation and food. We’re staying at an airport hotel, so won’t get to see anything of the city, but I don’t mind because I’ve seen most of Sydney multiple times!

Do you ever travel for work? Does it lose its novelty quickly?