30 Days of Music - Day 4

Good morning and welcome to Day 4 in my participation in the 30 Days of Music challenge. On Day 4, i need to tell you:
What song do you play when your feeling happy?

As soon as i read this prompt, one song popped straight into my head - " All I Wana Do " by Sugarland. I get the feeling that some of you may never have heard of Sugarland ( who are great country music duo ) and this would be the part where i get to prattle on about eclectic my tastes are. That, however, shall remain to be seen with my future video choices. What i will say is this a sweet country/pop song thats fun and sexy and great for singing along ...all the things i want to do when i'm happy. Hell, i've even started playing this song when i want to GET happy - you know, like on Monday mornings on the way to work. And this song will definately be making the playlist for my wedding reception, simply because its so joyful and makes me want to get funky with my fella  ( as influenced by lyrics such as " I dont wana get baby, lets turn off the phone ... " ). What song gets you in the happy mood?

Operation Slimdown - the " Wooty Woo! " Edition

Ok, i'm cutting to the chase here, no mucking around like usual - I'VE DONE IT!!!  Wooty woo! yes, i have reached my 10 kg goal. In fact, i've lost 10.3kg in 14 weeks. So in a little over 3 months i have achieved the goal which i gave myself 10 months to achieve ....and i'm kind of proud of that. Although i consistently lost weight every fortnight, it hasnt been super easy. The first two weeks were a little difficult - i had the occasional temptation ( like my BIL's birthday cake... ) but also just coming up with meal ideas ( especially for lunch at work ) that didnt involve any bread, rice, or pasta was a bit tricky.

And i have slipped and slid a little, in places. I'm constantly tempted by Portuguese tarts from the bakery near my work, and i will put both hands up and admit that i dont do enough exercise ( although my incidental exercise makes up for it ...a bit ). But i'm happy with the way i've done things and i'm happy with where i'm at. I have already said that i would like to push on from here - officially 67.5kgs - and get back down to at least 65kg. The smallest i've been in my adult life was 61kg and even though at the time i thought i had a rockin' bod ( which i did ) i look at pics now and think maybe i had a bit of Lollipop Head Syndrome going on ( for other examples please see Beckham, Victoria and Bosworth, Kate ). So 64/65kg might be a good medium for me...

Now that the official goal has been met " Operation Slimdown " will cease to exist in its current form. This means no fortnightly updates, and no fortnightly measurements with a tape measure ( although i will keep a constant eye on those damned scales... ). Thanks to all you regular readers and commenters for supporting me on the journey, and good luck to the rest of you who are still pushing on!

30 Days of Music - Day 3

Todays prompt:
What song has the highest play count on your iTunes?
Now, before we get to the clip, let me just say this - i dont have an iPod. I mean i do - i have a really old iPod Shuffle, one of the tiny square ones - but i dont use it. Havent used since i stopped goingt to the gym. Consequently i dont really have any playlists on our iTunes and most of the music is Micks. So what gets the most plays?

Naughty By Nature - " Holiday ". I know this one came out when i was in high school and its a great track to dance around the house to, but its definately more of a " Mick " song than it is an " Amy " song. Still, if i had an iPod i still might have this on my playlist, just for a bit of dance-y fun!

30 Days + Music = Challenge!

Alright, so i may be a little late jumping on this bandwagon but after discovering that the very funky Tutu Ames is doing a 50 day music challenge i thought " hey, thats something i'd like to get in on! " .... except that i dont think i could quite keep it up for 50 days, so i decided to go with the 30 Day Music Challenge thats being touted on Facebook ( search it... its got its own page ). I planned on starting yesterday except that i went roadtripping for the day with my parents and Flynn to a beautiful, HUGE, manicured garden ( pics and post to come! ) so today i'll be catching up with the prompts for days one and two of the challenge.

Day One: What is your favourite song right now?
Cue " Party Rock Anthem " by LMFAO -

I am just loving this song right now - it makes me wana dance, and the film clip is a total cack up! Its not a song where you have to think about the lyrics, you just listen to the beat and go with it. Its fun, and right now, fun is what i'm into...

Day Two: Song that was #1 when you were born?
Ok, when i Googled this i got some conflicting results for the week of my birth, so i went with the song that was #1 the year i was born...1984 -

I have to admit, seeing as this was released the year i was born, i hadnt really heard the original version until i heard - and loved - the remixed version used in Baz Luhrmans " Romeo and Juliet ". But, thanks to Baz, i love this one too - Prince is definately funky, and kind of edgy and just a little bit " What the?! " ... which are all the things which make this song great...

So, lets consider my blog a jukebox of my personal favourites for the next month. There will be other posts too, of course, and maybe more than one a day sometimes. If you feel like playing along, go check out the page on Facebook and getting your playlist happening!
*Edit* A couple of people mentioned they love " Purple Rain "...but that was the wrong link! It was supposed to be a video for " When Doves Cry " which means that my " Romeo and Juliet " reference now makes sense!

Polly Dolly - Wedding Belle

Time for this weeks Polly Dolly challenge - the brilliant fashion meme brought to you by the lovely Dani over at Danimezza. When i saw this weeks challenge i got just a little excited, because this week Dani wants to know what we'd wear to our....

Polly Dolly - Wedding Belle by Amy1984 featuring t strap shoes

So - i'm getting married in 6 and half months so i was a little bit enthusiastic to get in there and create this set. Seeing as i've already bought my beautiful wedding dress and the only one i could find that was similar wouldnt clip to Polyvore, i decided to do an alternate to what i'm actually wearing. That is, i've decided to style a set with a short, cocktail length dress ( instead of a full length gown ). ( Also, we are actually having a cocktail style reception, but i've gone traditional full length gown instead ). Anyhoo, it took me ages to settle on this Alexander McQueen dress, which mirrors my "real " choice in that it is also Grecian-inspired. The braided updo compliments the style of the dress and the natural toned makeup is flattering to the overall look. I've also stuck with the royal blue/yellow-gold theme we are using in November, hence the gorgeous t-bar shoes, sapphire jewellery and my dream bouquet. Throw in the perfume i will wear on the day and the song i hope to walk down the aisle to ( " Bless The Broken Road " by Rascal Flatts ) and there you go - my kind-of, sort-of almost-close-to-the-truth wedding set!

Baby Lovin'

Welcome to another Blog This! challenge...and yes, i know its been ages since i've participated in one but i thought, seeing as i'm a member of the writing staff over there, it was about time i put my hat in the ring in a challenge again. ( If you're an Australian blogger, and you dont know what Blog This! is, please go click on this linky right here and check us out - and sign up! ). This fortnights challenge is a photographic post - the Blog This! team want has gotten bit clucky and we want to see babies or kids - whether the pic is of you, your kids or some random children you borrowed off the street....

Aww.... look at that chubbins right there....aint she cute? ( The correct answer is " yes " ). Yep, that chubby cheeked little muffin there is me, Baby Amy, when i was about 6 months old. And yes, I am sitting in a flower basket, because it was the 80's and thats what Pixie Foto thought was cutting edge back then. Please not the awesomeness of my fluffy hair, my toasty home-knitted cardigan and my great big baby smile. Apparently my mum had this picture taken and entered me in a baby competition - which i did not win. But come on, look at Baby Me? How could you not vote for cheeks like that?

Wishful Thinking

I wish i was finding it easier to get past this.
I wish random little things didnt turn my mind to you.
I wish i didnt have to see your car driving around town, or worry about bumping into you somewhere.
I wish i'd never met you.
I wish, in my heart of hearts, that i really believed that.
I wish you hadnt made me feel so bitter. I want to be a better person than that.
I wish you hadnt lied, and kept up that lie, leading me on.
I wish you could see that thats exactly what you did, instead of denying it, and then giving me no chance of showing you evidence of the fact.
And i wish i hadnt found those photos. I simultaneously love and hate the way photos can call up memories. Memories i wish i didnt have.

I was cleaning out the bottom of Flynns wardrobe on Friday which, despite being his cupboard, is actually the storage spot for all of my old bills, correspondences and paperwork. There was plenty of crap in there that just went straight into the re-cycling bin but amongst it all i found a folder of photos of me and my ex-best friend. I wish i hadnt found them. For those of you who are new around here or those of you who missed it - my "best friend " dumped me late last year, saying she just didnt want to be friends with me anymore. There are, of course, more elaborate details to it than that ( me sending her a text announcing my pregnancy, her not speaking to me for a month or so and then saying i shouldnt be having a baby, "forgiving " each other, then me being ignored after she fell pregnant and gave birth to her own child and me expressing my disappointment and anger about it here on my blog... you know, just to name a few )but basically, in the end, it came down to the fact she didnt want to be friends with me anymore because, apparently, i'd changed. Not knowing how, or when, this change had come about she said she didnt really want to talk about it, but that the first time she noticed the so-called change and was annoyed by my behaviour was late 2008.

Stumped, i mulled things over. I pondered what i'd done, when i'd done it; i cried myself to sleep some nights and i cried in the shower most mornings for weeks on end; i talked things over, to myself, trying to figure things out. And then, after all that, i re-read through 2 years worth of emails.... and thats when i realised. She lied to me. Despite my angry and ill-thought-out blog post which was pretty much the beginning of the end ( and which i regret ), despite how angry she was at me for it and despite how many insults she threw at me, horrible characteristics she attributed to me.... SHE LIED. She lied to me for over a year and, in doing so, manipulated my feelings. She made me feel like the lowest being on the face of the earth for something as simple as a text message....BUT SHE LIED. She lead me on, and i have proof. I found it, with the photos. A copy of an email ( in regards to some advice i asked her for ), dated 25th March 2009, which ends in the following paragraph:
P.S. At the end of all this, I love that you value my opinion so much, but it IS your life and only you know how you feel so only you will know what's right. Either way I will be there for you no matter what happens. Mwah Mwah


LIAR. She said that, 5 months after i supposedly changed and offended her with my behaviour. 5 months after she realised she didnt really like me anymore. Why would she say that, if she didnt mean it? Why would she then still email me, the same old friendly chat, but deliberately go out of her way NOT to see me when she came home for the weekend? Why would she then, after " the text " and supposed forgivness, play happy friends with the rest of our peers but ignore me? Because she's a liar. And she lead me on, and manipulated me into thinking we were still close, and just waited til all that negligence and ignorance did my head in, and i made a mistake, so she could end the friendship but still be the " good guy ".

And, to be quite frank - thats not fucking fair.