Colour Me Red

The lovely Sigrid McCarthy from Colour Me Red wrote this great article not so long ago! I'm even in it! I definitely recommend you check it out. She also posted a little interview with me over here! I'm just so busy with uni at the moment, but it really makes me wish that I had a bit more time for some sewing projects.

Thanks Siggi!

xxx

a love note to teaching

On Friday I began placement at my new school – the beginning of my second teaching rounds! It has been quite a few months since I finished my last placement, so I was feeling pretty nervous!

I spent the day following my new mentor around, observing her classes. I had become a bit unenthused about teaching over the holidays – not hugely excited about going back to simultaneously being a teacher and a student. By the end of the day, however, my attitude had completely reversed. I had reverted to my old super-excited-to-be-a-teacher self.

It was so lovely to spend the day sitting in on English classes. I got to listen to discussions on The Wife of Martin Guerre, Antigone and Romeo and Juliet. I’ve since been re-reading To Kill a Mockingbird in preparation for the classes I will be teaching next week!

I feel so genuinely excited. So excited to know that I will be spending the rest of my working life reading, teaching and learning about books. I know that books are only a tiny part of what I will be doing. I know about the hours and hours of marking, the crowd control, the mediocre pay and the fact that I will have to teach Lord of the Flies/1984/Of Mice and Men every single year. And I know that most kids won’t be half as excited about To Kill a Mockingbird as I will be. But there is something so lovely about knowing that books and language will be the vehicle behind it all.

I never thought I would be a teacher. I always saw it as a bit of a cop-out – the predictable and obvious next step after doing a Bachelor of Arts.  I never really thought I would be suited to the job either. I am ridiculously, painfully shy. I often feel quite literally sick at the prospect of meeting new people and am almost incapable of having a conversation with people I don’t know very well. I was surprised by just how easy those kind of problems are to overcome in the classroom. I guess there just isn’t really any time for anxiety when you have a room full of twenty-five teenagers to control.

Now I’m not expecting some kind of To Sir with Love/Dead Poet’s Society experience, and I know I have a long way to go and a lot to learn. Maybe I’ll feel differently in 10, 20, 30 years, but for now, I can’t think of any career I would rather! 

Literate and Stylish

Eep I'm a little bit excited! Today a post I wrote on one of my favourite books is over on one of my favourite blogs - Sometimes Sweet! I love Danielle's Literate and Stylish series! It's such a great idea.

Thanks Danielle!

xxx

fred williams: infinite horizons

I’ve been a bit down lately. My sister is very unwell and I am feeling pretty unexcited about uni this semester. It’s funny how no matter how much you tell yourself that there is no point in wallowing about in your own self-pity, nothing seems to make a difference. I woke up on Tuesday feeling pretty miserable. I really dislike going into the city every day and my sweetie little sister is constantly in the back of my mind. I have a big break in the middle of the day, so I decided that instead of catching up on some of the homework I am already way behind on, I would hop on a tram and make my way down to Federation Square to see the Fred Williams exhibition at the NGV.

It was such a beautiful exhibition. The colours have been floating about in my head ever since. There’s something kind of therapeutic about looking at artwork. I tend to find that my favourite paintings are the ones that really draw me in and have an ability to kind of distract you from the rest of the world. I loved all of the variation in colour. Each room of the exhibition seemed to have a colour of its own – from the rich reds and oranges of the You Yangs paintings to the brilliant greens and blues of the seascapes.

I think that there’s also something really beautiful about seeing your own landscape represented in art – the landscape you have been surrounded by growing up. In general, I don’t have as great an appreciation for Australian art as I think I should. I am surrounded by the Australian bush almost every day, and it is something that is very important to me. It is lovely, and kind of refreshing, to see similar scenes depicted art.

The exhibition is on until the 5^th of August. And it is free for students! I would definitely recommend checking it out!

XXX

Napoleon: Revolution to Empire

Yesterday, I went to see the Napoleon exhibition at the National Gallery. While I wasn’t looking forward to it as much as I have looked forward to the Winter Masterpieces in previous years, it was such a great exhibition! I particularly liked the drawings from the early Australian explorations. I’ve always found early colonial drawings very interesting. The exhibition focused on the early French connections with Australia, which is not something that I had previously known a lot about. I also loved the botanical drawings from Malmaison - Josephine's garden in which she cultivated a lot of Australian plants and kept a lot of Australian animals. 

I really loved the historical aspect of the exhibition. It follows somewhat of a chronological order. The first room focuses mainly on the Ancien Régime. The exhibition then documents some of the French Revolution, moving on to Napoleon’s reign. I love the fact that it is not only art that is being displayed, but also a lot of other interesting items such as military uniforms, guns, furniture, crockery and clothing.

The exhibition is on at the NGV for a few more weeks. I’d definitely recommend checking it out!

images

A Love Note to Winter

Recently, I’ve found myself dreaming about summer a little too much. Like a lot of people, I spend most of summer yearning for winter and winter looking forward to summer. I missed out on a lot of summer 2011/2012 due to being overseas.  While I did spend a couple of stinkin’ hot weeks in southern Mexico, America and the northern parts of Mexico in December and January were freakin’ freezing!

In the back of my mind, I’ve already started planning this summer – summer dresses, icy-poles, trips to the river and the beach, etc. etc. etc. Not anymore! I have made a little pact with myself to spend the rest of winter focusing on all of the indoorsy things that I really love about winter. Snuggling up on the couch with a good book, drawing, baking, doing crafty projects.

It’s so lovely to spend the day doing some drawing.

The other day we made these delicious grapefruit yoyos! They are just the same as my passionfruit melting moments, but with ruby grapefruit instead of passionfruit. So delish!

I’m currently reading this book. While I’m only about half way through, so far I am really enjoying it!

And as always, sewing is my favourite way to spend a wintery afternoon.

I'm also a bit excited to be spending the rest of today listening to this. 

Tomorrow we're heading off to another one of my favourite winter things - the Melbourne Winter Masterpieces! 

XXX

Weekly Wishlist: Pearls and Lace

I'm definitely starting to get a bit prematurely excited for warmer weather at the moment! These are a few of my current favourite pearly lacey pretties. I love these collar brooches! Such a simple way to pretty up a plain top.

1. Dahlia Lace Prom Dress  2. Asos Bunny Earrings  3. Topshop Pearl Collar Peplum Top  4. Dahlia Collar  5. Paper Orchid Cupcake Wrapper  6. Asos Collar Brooches