A New Year!

First of all, happy new year to all (or you small bunch) of readers out there. Hope you all had a magnificent new year wherever you were. I've been reading a few other blogs recently and most of them are posting about new years resolutions etc etc; However, I'm not so good at new years resolutions, so instead we'll call them goals I aim to achieve. Same thing? Probably. 

2012 was a good one for me, although I kind of just plodded along, lived a student life and didn't actually achieve a hell of a lot. I've been thinking about what this year will bring. Here's what I hope to achieve. 

-Be more creative and do more things I love. This pretty much means blogging, writing, and scrap booking. {Something which I haven't done the last six months}

-Get into DIY. I love houses and interior bits and pieces, so with the help of Pinterest I hope to do a few things for my bedroom or my flat which I'll be proud of and can keep forever. 

-Do something that is going to help me in my future. Now this ones a bit vague, but since I'm in my last year of study, I feel like I need to be creating a magazine or at least writing for one. We'll see how this goes!

-Maybe, finally do a half marathon. Eeeek. Every year I say I'll do one, but the excuses come out and it never gets done so surely this is the year. 

I've got a few plans for these goals up my sleeve so will keep you updated. In the meantime, here's a few bits from Instagram. 

1.That chair was $2 in a second hand shop {such a great buy!} so I'm getting it recovered for a bit more than $2 but I can't wait to have it in my room. 2.Christmas Day swims. 3.NZ Sun. 4. NZ Beach. 5. Lolly bangles. 6. The most perfect poached eggs (obviously not made by me.)

Happy new year people, may it be a good one.

Back soon oxo

A Kiwi Christmas

I don't know if you're feeling the same way, but I don't think it feels like Christmas is literally one week away. One week?! Usually I'm so excited at this point and have wrapped up everyones presents and am now onto wrapping up everyone else's for them.. But this year, not so much. 

I am really unsure of why I feel like this, but nevertheless, Christmas is only seven days away and then before you know it, we'll be in 2013 starting a whole new year! 

A New Zealand Christmas is less about sleigh bells and snow, and more about sun, sand and barbecues in the backyard. Some may go to Church and others will be opening presents and eating all day long. For me, Christmas is just about spending time with friends and family, enjoying a pressie or two and relaxing! 

For those of you not from New Zealand, above is what we call the "New Zealand Christmas tree." It's a Pohutukawa Tree. But don't worry, we don't put a branch of Pohutukawa in our lounge, we're still the same as the rest of the world with out Christmas Tree and find a cute green one that smells delish. 

Wherever you are in the world and whatever you are doing, Merry Christmas. I hope you have a fantastic day. Enjoy x

The tattoo trend

I went home on Sunday for dinner with the family, and on the TV programme, 'Sunday' was a feature about New Zealand women and their tattoos. According to them, New Zealand women are the most tattooed women in the world, which is scary, but believable. It was an interesting feature, which got me thinking about just how much our lives are changing, and the more accepting we are becoming of sub-cultures like this. In some cases, this post relates to a previous one about young girls and how fast they are growing up. Tattoos are something I don't desire to have but I'm not completely against them. This is vastly different to the generation above me (including my mum) who sat there gobsmacked at the television because she does not understand why anyone would get ink on their skin.

The woman featured in the programme was going through the process of getting all her tattoos removed. She got her first one when she was 14, but has decided that she doesn't want to be ''that'' person anymore. She looked like such a gorgeous woman, but had bright coloured tattoos all down her arms which makes the public perceive her differently.

It seems to me, that although older people aren't so accepting of them, young people are becoming much more understanding of friends or other people with tattoos, because it's part of the norm now. We have grown up with it all around us, and for me personally, I believe it's the individuals decision, and if they one day regret this decision, they only have themselves to blame.

Some of the small tattoos I've seen, I actually do quite like, but the sleeves I'm just not so keen on. This one below is a bit intense for my liking.

Although....Celebs like Katy Perry, Lea Michele (has 14!!) and Miley Cyrus all have quite a few small tattoos, which may seem desirable for people of my age (and some of which I think are quite cute -  just don't tell my mum.)

Although I'm not saying, "don't ever get one of those, they are hideous," just because I have no intention of getting inked (my friends would laugh and wonder what I've done) I would just hope that young girls don't go jumping into anything, and that they double think how their actions could impact their future.

Here's a really interesting article which shows just how the NZ tattoo culture has changed