This year we received a very secretive invite telling us to ‘dress in lazy wear’. So on Sunday, a number of us wonderful photographers descended upon Saxon Cole HQ, dressed in our laziest of wear (Nicole took it a step further with her uggies and bed socks haha, I threatened to wear my snuggie but chose not to). We arrived and were greeted with a huge feast for lunch then were told what was install for us, bowling followed by laser skirmish! Like true children we all groaned to Ma & Pa SC about that not being a ‘lazy wear’ occasion, I also complained of a sore hip which some miraculously got better for my bowling victory dance, however we all went along (some of us having to go buy some socks) and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. We were teamed against a group of 8 year old for laser skirmish… and lost! My hostage tactics obviously failed but we had a ball!

And in true Saxon Cole form we were presented with a super special gift for all our hard work this past 6 months… edible CF cards!! (for those who do not know, a CF card is the memory card for our professional cameras)

A couple of weeks before he was due to leave, a friend told me her dog, a Whippet named Bronte, was also headed there. So when I dropped Wynnie off, I told them that he had a friend here, Bronte, and while he had never met Bronte, I requested they spend some time together, you see… Wynnie is a human stuck in a mini foxie X Chihuahua’s body, he refuses to acknowledge he is of the furry four legged variety, therefor he does not play nicely with other dogs.  He sleeps on the couch, and if he is forced to sleep outside, he sleeps on the table (his bed is on the floor).

So I sent Bugs (my nickname for Wynnie) off to the kennels and even paid extra to have him trained, I told them he HAD to learn to be friends with other dogs, no barking no biting… FRIENDS! He once bit a doberman… a dog with a tail longer than Bugs entire body and tail… that was embarrassing! I had no idea if he had spent time with Bronte but I decided to bring him over to meet her and see, I used my newly taught training techniques and took Wynnie into Brontes yard… SUCCESS! no biting, no barking, he even licked Bronte on the nose! I was so excited, and while they didn’t play, they avoided each other best they could, I was happy!!

I had intended on getting a few images of Wynnie and his new friend but they would not come near each other long enough.

We stayed at the gorgeous Cedars Mount View and were treated to an upgrade to ”The Vue” room.  We took a trip to the Smelly Cheese Shop to pick up supplies for our first evening, then day two we went on a wine tour with Hunter Valley Classic Carriages (we took the bus not a carriage), and visted a few different wineries for some taste testing then visited the Smelly Cheese shop again and picked up a few more supplies. Inbetween all the eating of cheese and drinking of wine, we relaxed, watched the sunset and even took the time to snap some self portraits :D My new favourite photos of me and him.  

Our last day we did a bit more taste testing including beer and chocolate, yummmm (chocolate not the beer). We have returned with loads of wine, chocolate and cheese, enough to last a while.

1. My favourite colour is white, yeah yeah I know it’s not really a colour.. White bed sheets, white towels, white dresses, white desk, white walls.. I want it all… WHITE!

2. When I got my doggie Wynston, I told my parents I found him, when really I got him from a pet shop, they knew right away haha

3. You know how they say your parents are always mostly right.. well at 25 I am just now begining to see that this is very true.

4. I have the biggest sweet tooth, desert is the most important meal of the day!

5. My motto in life is.. “everything happens for a reason”, this has been tested a couple of time but still stands!

6. Growing up, I always wanted a Ferret and a Whippet. I kind of still do!

7. I believe that more than anything we are changeable, we can be going in one direction our whole life but it only takes a moment to change direction.

ok now I am done I am going to tag a few of my friends I would like to know 7 random things about!

beata english – Beez Images

katie kolenberg – HeartStory

renee bell – NFE Design

mikaela danvers – mikaeladanvers.com

leah kua – leah kua

wondering..

how I got so far behind on my 365 updates! *sigh* (could have been the 6 weeks travel) updating now!

wishing..

sunny days like this would last forever

loving..

daylight savings… an extra hour of light… love love love

eating..

blah!! sugar free and carb free day, all I have eaten is 2 eggs and an apple! shoot me now!

blog stalking..

Denise Bovee because she is just AMAZING and her most recent wedding (samantha & bryan) closely resembles my dream wedding!

happy about..

getting out of town this weekend with the boy.

hoping..

this weather lasts though the weekend

just discovered..

Tave – my new studio manager, no not a real person, a program thats going to help me cross off number 7 off my 30 before 30 list

inspired by..

the warm sunshine, seeing as today has been a day to be grateful for the amazing weather, I feel it inspiring me.

And I leave you with some polaroids from my recent travels…

Anyone want a free polaroid of me?? I have plenty to spare! ;) 

So on 29th July, my 25th birthday, I began my quest to photograph something I am grateful for, every.single.day.for.one.whole.year!

I will be using any medium possible to capture what I am grateful for, my phone, my mini Polaroid, my SLR, my point and shoot! If you click on the 365 Grateful link on the menu bar above you will be taken to view my grateful images so far. I will be stopping frequent uploads while traveling for 6 weeks but I will not stop being grateful and photographing every day, I will catch you up when I return on 2nd October :)

I hope this inspires you to stop, look around and be grateful.

Inspired by Hailey Bartholomew of You Can’t Be Serious.
Inspired by life, love, laughter, tears and the every day.

31.7.10 - 

Luna Park, Sydney

grateful for the opportunity to recapture my youth, just for one day!

I took this book on my trip around Europe 5 years ago and it kept me company along the way, I read it a total of  four times, each time it was like reading a new book. When I was thinking about which book to take on my upcoming travels of South East Asia, I knew right away this would be one of them, for sentimental travel reasons and being such a great book. I will be tucking it into my bag this Saturday morning as I leave for the airport. I couldn’t find my original copy from 5 years ago so I purchased a new copy today :)

The boy said to me “why don’t you read a new book?” a simple answer “because I love this one”.