I knew the second I left the airport that Wellington was my kind of girl. First of all, it was raining- so I knew she was definitely after my heart. Second, everywhere you look, beautiful wooden 50′s, 60′s & 70′s era little wooden houses, painted in pastel colours, that look so sweet that you can imagine brutal murders went on there, or picture twin children singing creepy nursery rhymes in unison. This sounds like an odd combination, but it is so far up my alley it’s a little bit obscene.

Wellington is such a lovely town, we are a little bit sad that we don’t have longer here. It’s definitely somewhere I could move to in an instant.

I think the only beef we would have would be the wind & my fringe getting into fights. My perfect fringe disagrees with windy days. I carry a comb on me 24/7 ANYWAY. Not because I’m the Fonz, but because I’m a perfectionist. I hate when any single hair is out of place in my fringe. Which is funny, considering how much time I spend backcombing the crap out of the rest of my hair to make it look as messy as possible.

I think the moment I knew Batman was special, was before we were dating when he playfully rustled my fringe out of place to annoy me, & I didn’t punch him out. That’s love right there.

The second day we were here we enjoyed brunch with the wonderful Kim of Cupcakes and Mace, who I’ve known online for many years now, & the lovely Laura of Hungry and Frozen, along with their delightful male counterparts. Arthur was a wonderfully kitschy cafe, with a scarfed deer hanging behind the counter, mismatched crockery & an impressive collection of antique teaspoons. Spoilt for choice, I panicked & ordered Scramby on Toast & a hot chocolate.

This place seems to be super inspiring to me. There’s just so many things I’m dying to do, so many great creative ideas I’m having, so many plans I’m wanting to make. I love feeling this way!

The rest of our time in Wellington thus far has been spent exploring, window shopping, geeking out over comics & graphic novels, jumping on the bed in our (read: my) underwear, playing lava floors…(yes I’m 27 this year, what of it?) & our favourite holiday hobby, eating up a storm. We only have tomorrow left then we leave first thing Thursday morning, which makes me a little bit sad- but at the same time I am SUPER excited to get home to my puppy-butt & to spend a week lounging at home before I go back to work. AH, what a life of luxury I lead. *Cough*

Hello friends! I’m writing from a cozy hotel room in Wellington, New Zealand, with a sleeping Batman by my side & an almost-eaten family size block of Kiwi-fruit chocolate all to myself.

This is the second part of our little journey, first we spent some time in Auckland, so I should probably share about that more than the present I suppose.

From Perth, we headed to Sydney to change flights. Bit of a shame we had zero down time to leave the airport, as I’ve never actually been to Sydney & it would have been nice to explore. It was pretty to see the harbour & Opera House as we were descending though, although all I could think of was “P.Sherman, 42 Wallaby Way, Sydney” the whole time. All of this was made irrelevant when we got there & saw the halo-like godly glow of the Krispy Kreme store. We inhaled as many donuts as possible in 30 seconds (so, like..4) & headed onward & upward to Auckland.

Auckland was very much like Australia. There are minor difference in branding etc, but visually it is SO similar. There seems to be a matching area for everywhere. We spent a lot of time saying “This is the Fremantle of New Zealand!” “This is the Subiaco of New Zealand!” etc. It was definitely about relaxation for us. We managed to spend a lot of time sleeping in (& staying up late!), chilling in the hotel room & playing Sims 3 in my case. It was definitely needed!

We took a Sharkbus…yes, SHARKBUS…to Kelly Tarlton’s & said hello to some Penguin Friends.And explored the city to take some photographs, as we do!

I met up with a couple of friends, Dayna first of all, who is my spirit animal.

We also dined with the lovely Tash, aka Scribbles & her beau, then we headed to Giapo for Gelato (I got Vanilla Creme Brulee & Bueberries!) & to my beloved Starbucks for a cream-topped Hot chocolate.

We made a bed fort, hung out with our good friends Finn & Jake (*COUGH*watched Adventure Time*COUGH*)..what else would you possibly need on a holiday?

Next up, I’ll tell you all about my love affair with Wellington!

Also, I’ll get to meet some long term blog friends! I have dinner plans in place with Scribbles already, & hope to also meet up with the delightful Kim- both ladies I have known & adored for many years!

The hardest part about holidaying is leaving this face behind. HE MAKES IT SO HARD. The only dog I’ve ever known who cries actual tears when he is upset.

In fact, I think he was hoping we would accidentally pack him in with our luggage. SORRY PUPPALUP. No dice.

I love Perth, but I certainly love escaping once in a while. Especially when it’s as hot as it is over here at the moment. Makes for some good beaching & pretty photos, but I’m busting to get back to my other love, the rain. I’ll leave you with some sunny day pics from this past week.

I’m out guys, because I need to be up early as hell, still have a ton to do, & I’m just about this tired right now..

So if you know me even slightly, you know I have a profound love for music as a whole. If you know that, you know I have a profound love for one band in particular, Lydia.

This is music that is so much more than just that to me. They have got me through everything, good & bad. Each & every song feels like it was written just for me. Regardless of anything, Lydia just make everything okay, always.

I never, ever thought I would get to see them play. I never though I’d get that opportunity, being in Perth, somewhere they had never been, & that they had previously announced their breakup. When they came out & said they would record another album, as silly as it is, it felt like it was just for me. After everything I had been through, I needed this.

Last night, I saw Lydia play. I stood 3 metres from them, & I listened to them sing my most favourite songs in the world.

After that, I met Leighton, the lead singer. Although I was terrified, had no idea what to say, & didn’t know whether I should approach him or not, I knew that if I didn’t, I would never get the chance again, & I would regret it for the rest of my life.

So it went like this…

Leighton – “What did you think?”
Me – “Your music changed my life, seriously”
Leighton – “Thank you, that’s exactly why I make it”
*hug*

YES. WE HUGGED. I shook the whole time, & the whole car trip home. Ridic. Unforgettable.

Oh I have missed you so.

I hope you all had a wonderful New Years & that 2012 is going fantastically for everyone thus far. Mine has been just lovely, as expected. Last year I sparkled & shined just as I promised myself, & this year…well I’m going to do the very same thing. Really though, did you expect any less? I got it tattooed on myself for christs’ sake, I’m not going to go changing my mantra anytime soon!

As my loveliest long term readers know, I pick a song at the beginning of each year. Normally a song I already love, but seems to have substantial meaning to me at this particular time. I write an important verse from said song in the front of my journal, & I know that anytime things aren’t going amazingly (because we always have highs & lows, regardless of how much we sparkle & shine & twinkle & glitter) I can look at those lyrics, or skip to that song on my ipod, & just know that everything is beautiful & everything will be just fine.

This year, I’ve picked an old favourite, “re:Stacks” by Bon Iver. This song has always had a lot of meaning to me, but right now, the last verse in particular -
“This is not the sound of a new man or crispy realization,
It’s the sound of the unlocking and the lift away.
Your love will be,
Safe with me..”
& of course, the title line of this post, “Everything that happens from now on..”

This year is bringing a lot of change. Though I sometimes feels it’s not at all possible to go through much more change considering this past year- Absolutely every facet of my life seems to be the complete opposite of this time last year, in the best way possible. The only thing that has stayed the same is myself! I’m so excited for what the future will bring, for every aspect of my life.

One change that will be happening very soon is I’m cutting back to working 4 days a week at work. I’ve never *not* worked full time before, so it feels very odd, but I’m so excited! I won’t be working Fridays anymore (I KNOW RIGHT, LONG WEEKEND EVERY WEEKEND!) & I plan to make good use of my extra time. I have some super exciting business plans on the horizon, which I will be sharing with you very soon, so I’ll primarily be working on that, but also, making a lot more time for myself. I have always said how disappointing it is that I never seem to have the time for my creativity anymore, so I am MASSIVELY excited to have an extra day a week dedicated to crafting & baking! Just for the fun of it. I hate that I only seem to find the time when it’s obligatory creativeness, & I really don’t want to lose the joy out of it due to that.

So with any luck, very soon I’ll have a lot more crafty bits & baked goods to share with you all again, & I can get back to my ridiculous lickmycupcakes roots! I also plan to continue taking a GAZILLION photos & spamming the crap out of everyone on instagram, & taking “real” photos as well of course. I plan to do a lot of adventuring this year, so the photography goes hand in hand! At the end of this month myself & my Batman are heading to New Zealand to explore, I absolutely can’t wait! I love travelling, especially to new places, & we have so many other great trips to plan for in our future.

Some things of course, will stay the same. I’ll keep wearing ridiculously fun clothes. Fluffy skirts, boots & silly dresses for the win!

I’ll hopefully start sewing my own, which I’ve been wanting to do for a million years (yes, I am that old, shut up.) now that I will have the time. I made this one- which I adore! It is absolutely horrendous on the inside, because I completely winged it, didn’t use a pattern, didn’t even hem it properly, but it works for me! AND YOU GUYS IT’S GOT SPACE KIDS & DOGS IN ROCKETS ON IT.

I’ll make sure I keep up my little pamper nights, even moreso now that I have my Fridays to myself. It’s fantastic therapy for the soul to hop in a bubble bath with some music on, a facemask & some lovely body scrub. I do my best bouts of thinking in the bath.

And of course, I’ll continue hanging out with the best friends a gal could have, as much as humanly possible. These guys were my light through the worst possible time, & they made the last year so, so fun, & so, so great.

And finally, I’ll continue enjoying every day & seeing where this guy leads me. For absolutely ever & a day.

You always seem to be a pretty important night in my life. Good, bad, sad, amazing- regardless, you are always unforgettable & life-changing. Let’s make a baby.

This past year has been the absolute best of my life, hands down. It started off with a blank canvas, & somehow moulded into exactly what I want my life to be. I am SO excited for 2012. I have the most amazing Batman, the most amazing friends, the most amazing plans. OH AND CAKE. There will always be cake.

I WAS ON A TEE SHIRT.

Christmas was awesome. See for yourself. YEH. THAT.

TRUE FACT: I got a Justin Bieber singing toothbrush for Christmas. IT’S AWESOME.

And of course, baked many things. *Licks screen*

ALSO. Not only did a buy a UKU-FUCKIN-LELE, I bought THIS ONE.

Now to learn to play, then thrash out some hawaiian/metal covers.

So many great things in store. I’m not even sure I can handle the excitement of my life, welp!

Wishing you all a wonderful New Year, & I’ll see you on the flip side. (Did I really just say that? Shit.)

I have to remind myself, as much as I love you guys, I blog for ME. I have always been about blogging for me, because I enjoy it- not to make other people happy. Truth is, these days I say most of what I need to say through my photography.

I use the term “photography” ever-so-loosely. The majority of it is done through my iphone, & shared on Instagram, where I’m just shy of posting 1000 photos. Add me if you wish, lickmycupcakes, of course! It’s a wonderfully creative form of journalling I suppose.

On that note, a run-down of how I have been spending my days- through photos.

Baking.

Rocking out.

Sketching like a creeper.

Floofing.

Geeking it up.

Dressing up in Batman inspired outfits for work.

Loving on our little home.

Making out with Dinosaurs.

Coordinating.

Being protected by my Guard Dogs.

Munchin’ on this guy.

Speaking of this guy- I have some news. I’m getting married. WAIT, WHAT?! Haha, okay, so maybe not right away, but one day, one day I’m going to marry him. We talk about it every single day- & I’m not going to lie, we spend a lot of time emailing each other wedding & engagement photos shoots. I am so happy to have found him, at what seemed like a weird time, but in reality was the best possible time I can imagine.

Strange to think that I was married just a year ago, thinking everything was fine. Come December my life was upside down. Come this December I will be SO happy to apply for divorce & move on from all that pain. Toward my future.

• This adorable Panda Print by Nearsighted Owl. I am drawn to it.

• Bon Iver’s “Calgary” – such a beautiful song & video.
  
• The Origami Squirrel pin from Hugaporcupine. And the Origami Bunny. And the Bear. Actually just all of them.
• The Modcloth “Too Much Fun” dress in Peacock.
• Dear Photograph. Everyone’s seen it, but we all still love it!
• A Beautiful Mess‘ DIY Dress Up E-course. I’ve just signed up & I’m super excited to get started. But first I need a new sewing machine…
• Beautiful Swear Words. Typography AND bad language? I’m so there.
• Not entirely sure why I don’t already own a Steve Buscemi Ring.
• Marenviks. The blog of a gorgeous 16 year old Norwegian girl, documenting her eating disorder & her beautiful photography. When I stumbled upon this I knew I had to read it, so I translated it & read each post back for as far as I could stay awake for.

Spending Christmas in July with my lovely family (of friends!) + Friends who buy me plastic dinosaurs for said Christmas festivities! + Daydreaming about weddings (yes, I’m insane). + Living with my own personal superhero. Every day is so damn fun! + Instagram. ALWAYS. It’s been forever & a day but it is still such a staple in my day to day life & has completely changed photography for me. I’m lickmycupcakes on there, follow me! + Building up bookmarks. I’m such a nerd, I take great joy in finding new blog/design sites/DIY tutes to add to my collection of bookmarks. + Counting down the days go by until I can officially start over (start divorce proceedings)- dark I know, but important to me nonetheless. + Ordering rad new glasses. Excited to be able to, you know..see again! + Days like today. No work, a puppy to cuddle, movies to watch, a new book to read & an entire internet to peruse!

Definitely not just a house.

Most definitely a home.

A home where ice creams are eaten, board games are played, bad tv is watched, dinner is served. Where puppies are floppy, blankets are electric, and buses say hello.

My home.
Our home.

I have been spending most of my time nerding out at/about work lately.

It’s probably not the most exciting job, or the most creative, or the most challenging. But I make it fun, & I enjoy it. And Gumby is there.

I like to think I could get to where I want to be fairly quickly. That being a trainer. I have always wanted to be a teacher (amongst other things, such as a cake decorater, a writer, an illustrator, a wedding planner, a pin-up model (in a fantasy land where I’m more attractive & not so awkward), a cat lady, a pimp & the list goes on..) so it’s fairly up my alley.

I have never really been a career-focused person. I’m definitely more creative than academic, & I hadn’t thought a lot about a career path the past, oh, 9 years, because obviously my plan for the immediate future was very, very different. Since there is no baby-making, home-baking (soul-shaking luh-uh-uh-uve! There is though..the love part anyway, I just felt the need to bust out into En Vogue.) plans going ahead I have had a lot of time to put my time into other things. And filling my time with work helps to fill some of those voids.

I really enjoy teaching people & moulding them & watching them improve & grow under my guidance. Training new staff has always been so fun to me, (yes I’m THAT much of a nerdlinger) so I decided very early on in this job that this was the path I am (initially at least) wanting to take.

I’ve only just moved out of the training environment into the “real” area of my work myself last week, & I did have the option to skip this middle step & jump right up to the next stage, which I definitely would have done, but unfortunately they just cancelled this months recruitment so there won’t be any moving up in the world until August.

When I do move up to that next step however, I can definitely start working toward my goal a bit more proactively. For now I am just starting my development as early as possible, making it known that that’s where I want to be & I’m willing work to get there. I’ve been spending a lot of time helping out with listening in to new staff, giving them tips & sharing my ideas & experiences, which I’m really enjoying. It’s great to be recognised as someone who can assist others so early on, & assist staff members who have been there longer than me as well as though brand new to the business. And to see them taking on what I’ve taught them already & know they are improving because of it is an awesome feeling.

Oh, & don’t worry. I don’t swear as much as usual when I’m at work.

Actually, wait, I TOTALLY DO.

</boring rambles about work purely because I felt like a ramble. RAMBLE>