Category: General

Personal reflections, life updates, and thoughtful posts from Nightwolf’s Den, sharing stories, insights, and moments that don’t fit neatly elsewhere.

Is teal the hot colour for nails this summer?

Well it is this February! Chemmart Pharmacies along with Ovarian Cancer Australia (OCA) are holding Colour for a Cause this month as part of Ovarian Cancer Awareness month.

Chemmart Pharmacies around Australia are stocking a limited edition teal nail polish pack during February with proceeds going to OCA to assist the delivery of its awareness, support, advocacy and research programs.

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During February, call into your local Chemmart Pharmacy to see if they are one of many stores offering an in-store manicure for a gold coin donation, which will also be passed onto OCA.

And girls aren’t having all the fun with guys being challenged to sport some teal nails in February. So guys, man up and go teal this February. My dad went teal on his thumbs and even some of the Melbourne Rebels rugby union went teal. I dared a few of the boys at Hawthorn FC via Twitter but none have done it yet.

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Check out this gorgeous mani over at More Nail Polish (I’m a little obsessed with her blog lol) and has another planned for 26th February (today) – Teal Ribbon Day.

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Mum & Dad got in on the action

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and Miss K and I have had some fun

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Have you gone teal with your nails this February? I’d love to see them if you have 😀

Fan-fairy-tastic party food

Invites were sent, RSVPs given, decorations and games planned, it’s time to think food…

The first thing on the list is fairy bread because what fairy party, well any kids party, is complete without it! Ours were cut into butterfly shapes. (and cause I was totally into party mode I forgot to take some photos)

Then cupcakes. We priced buying some cupcakes and at $8 each! I made my own.
Vanilla cupcakes with fairy sprinkles

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and orange jelly cups which were more of a pain than I thought. I was hoping to get the orange out neatly so I could make caramel oranges (another yum recipe for another day) but it didn’t happen. We did get a batch of yummy orange juice instead 😀

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and I decided last minute (like Saturday night) to make giant chocolate freckles and honey joys

plus the usual sandwiches, mini savs (cocktail savs/franks), mini party pies, mini sausage rolls and mini quiches. With 10 little people and 10 adults there wasn’t a lot of food left – which I think is always a good sign 😉

and then there was the cake. It turned out ok. It got eaten so must have been alright.

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And with that, another party is done and dusted. Next year I guess I’ll have 2 parties to organise! Any tips for me?

Planning a fan-fairy-tastic 4th party

Miss K turns 4 this Sunday. Wow, feels strange typing that. Seems like yesterday I was still pregnant with her. Now she’s turning 4 and I’m pregnant with her little brother/sister (place your bets – I’m thinking a boy but I thought that last time round lol)

Anywho, I digress. When asked what she wanted for her party theme the answer was a very quick ”fairies” closely followed by her getting my well worn copy of the Women’s Weekly Children’s Birthday Cake book and saying “with this cake please”

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Insert a huge sign of relief from me cause that should be a lot easier than last year’s cake

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mine looked nothing like this. The jelly melted and ran everywhere.

So we have a theme & a cake. I did a search for free fairy printables and found lots. We decided on this cute fairy invite and after much looking decided to use some of these fairy party printables

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Yup, this year I’m not making my own bits and pieces like invites & decorations. Don’t have the energy. Plus why reinvent the wheel 😉
Next on the list was food choices. Still keeping it simple but that’s another post.

P.S. Happy Valentine’s Day 🙂

A little Thrill just in time for Valentine’s Day

Awhile back I reviewed the Thrill by We-Vibe and I’ve got a couple to give away to some lucky ladies.

In case you missed my review….

  • It’s won international rewards
  • It’s really quiet
  • Waterproof (so you can play in the shower or bath)
  • It’s got 8 awesome settings
  • Up to 2 hours play time

Thrill Shelf Talker MULTILINGUAL PDFs

For your chance to win one of THREE Thrill by We-Vibe (valued at $169), enter via the Rafflecopter below. Australian entries only please. Winner drawn Monday 10th Feb 2014 at 8pm

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Time to go teal!

February is Ovarian Cancer Awareness month. You may notice a change in my profile pictures around social media as I go teal for the month to show my support for those currently battling Ovarian Cancer and for the families who have lost a loved one.

Ovarian Cancer is a disease where some of the cells in one or both ovaries start to grow abnormally and develop into cancer. There currently is no screening test for Ovarian Cancer. If your doctor suspects ovarian cancer, there are a number of tests they can perform to help decide whether your symptoms are due to ovarian cancer or other causes.
 
 Do you know the symptoms?

Women who are diagnosed with ovarian cancer report four types of symptoms most frequently:

  • Abdominal or pelvic pain.
  • Increased abdominal size or persistent abdominal bloating.
  • Needing to urinate often or urgently.
  • Feeling full after eating a small amount.

Most women who experience these symptoms don’t have Ovarian Cancer but if you experience these symptoms regularly over a four week period, please discuss your symptoms with a doctor and if other reasons don’t rule out your symptoms ask to be tested for Ovarian Cancer
 
What’s on?

  • If you are in Canberra, check out Old Parliment House as it goes teal.

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  • Visit your local Chemmart Pharmacy as they are holding fundraising and awareness events and activities in stores throughout the month.
  • Speaking of Chemmart Pharmacy, they are launching a new teal nail polish, with proceeds going to OCA. Wear teal nail polish throughout February and post photos to the OCA Facebook page (and check out the male celebrities who have been dared to Teal up on Teal Ribbon Day (26 February) to raise awareness. Challenge your friends to go teal in February

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  • Wattle Valley WNBL Teal Ribbon round – 7 to 9 February
  • Queen of the Lake (9th February).  This annual fun run/walk is hosted by OCA partner Brazilian Butterfly at Albert Park Lake in Melbourne and funds raised through participants’ sponsorship are donated to OCA. For more information and to register for this event visit www.ovariancancer.net.au
  • Teal Ribbon Day (26th February). OCA partners Chemmart, Brazilian Butterfly and My Size sell teal
    ribbons for $2 each throughout the month. If you are in Canberra OCA are holding a breakfast event at Parliament House in Canberra on Teal Ribbon Day.

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  • Afternoon Teal events

How can u help?

  • Buy a teal ribbon
  • Host or attend a Afternoon Teal event
  • Buy some Colour for a cause nail polish from your local Chemmart
  • Donate to OCA

I’ll be posting more through the month with information and sharing our Afternoon Teal event – Scrap til You Drop 2014.

Build a boat for the chance to win

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Spirit of Tasmania is currently running a competition where you build your own model of the Spirit.
There are four age categories each with a fantastic prize

  • 7 and under: WIN your choice of Lego valued at up to $350
  • 8 – 10: WIN your choice of Lego valued at up to $350
  • 11 – 14: WIN a Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 (10.1” 16GB WiFi White)
  • 15 and over: WIN a Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 (10.1” 16GB WiFi White)

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You’ll need to be quick though as the competition ends on the 27th January.

So build your model, take a photo and fill in the entry form.

Good luck!

100 things in 2013 – Final tally

Well here we are at the end of 2013! What a year it has been
This year I blogged about my 2013 Goddess Workbook list of 100 things to do.
Things in bold are started, strike thru is finished. Red is didn’t do 🙁

  1. Work out a decent filing system
  2. Double my twitter followers (currently 519. As at 31 December – 626)
  3. Go to ProBlogger event (or get digital pass)
  4. Book ticket for DPCON 2014
  5. Blogger meet up in Tassie
  6. Blog everyday for 1 month
  7. Organise our office
  8. Set up a veggie garden
  9. Get a shed
  10. Set up a composting system
  11. Do Habithacker – Nest
  12. Find an inspirational quote & make it into a piece of artwork
  13. Get the laundry finished (just need to paint)
  14. Paint lounge & dining room
  15. Hang photos of Kara & family
  16. Get curtains for kitchen
  17. Start bathroom reno
  18. Get front yard done
  19. Have parents over for dinner more
  20. Spend a day at the beach
  21. Go on a picnic
  22. Have a regular ‘date night’
  23. Buy a Thermomix (it’s coming soon – yay!)
  24. Do a recipe book cull
  25. Create a custom recipe book
  26. Have more TV free time
  27. Get K into daycare 1 day a week
  28. Learn to make sour dough bread/rolls
  29. Make our own bread
  30. Have a candlelit dinner
  31. Do something for our wedding anniversary
  32. Write a letter to K to open on her 18th
  33. Start putting $$ into K’s bank account
  34. Open a Christmas Club account
  35. Get a new tattoo.
  36. Buy J a tattoo
  37. make/buy Christmas presents through the year
  38. Get our wills written
  39. Finish JYC from 2011 AND 2012!
  40. Swim more
  41. Exercise more
  42. Organise digital scrapbooking stuff
  43. Scrapbook with Mum at least once a month
  44. Scrap with others (does online count?)
  45. Organise a scrapbook event
  46. Do Frocktober again
  47. Read more books – gotta love iBooks
  48. Drink more water
  49. Have a massage (thanks to hubby)
  50. Have a facial
  51. Have a manicure
  52. Create a book of advice for K
  53. Finish our wedding album – redoing in Project Life format (much easier & quicker)
  54. Go see Amanda Palmer in concert
  55. Get my L’s – got the book just need to book my test and find my birth & wedding certificates
  56. Take a burlesque class
  57. Spend a rainy day in PJs watching TV
  58. Banish bad memores
  59. Create a playlist of meditations
  60. Create a playlist of my favourite songs (part 1 & part 2)
  61. Watch 20 movies in our new movies folder (current count 10/20)
  62. Rewatch all 6 Star Wars movies
  63. Rewatch all 3 Lord of the Rings movies
  64. Go to bed before midnight
  65. Do every Fat Mum Slim Photo-a-day in 2013 (you can see my photos here)
  66. Go out for High Tea
  67. Buy mum something special
  68. Organise our MP3 collection
  69. Write J random love notes
  70. Complete a cross stitch
  71. Do 1 art journal page a week
  72. Catch up with friends more often – thanks to FB I’ve been catching up with a close friends lots
  73. Go watch an A League game live
  74. Go to Melbourne
  75. Xbox more
  76. Finally organise our bedroom
  77. Learn to play the guitar
  78. Go visit the snow
  79. Go camping
  80. Improve my cake decorating – thanks to Cake Decorating mag
  81. Photograph a lightning storm
  82. Take more photos of the moon
  83. Create a mini Goddess altar
  84. Watch all the James Bond movies
  85. Write/finish a piece of fan fiction – writing a Doctor Who fan fic
  86. See more of Tassie
  87. Celebrate the seasons
  88. Finish our work website – just our portfolio to go
  89. Work on family tree
  90. Do Fox in Flat dares
  91. Go fishing
  92. Go watch the cricket live
  93. Take K to the footy at the MCG
  94. Go to the dawn service – was sick this year 🙁
  95. Go to the Botanical Gardens
  96. Buy K some guinea pigs
  97. Visit QVMAG
  98. Check out MONA
  99. Rejoin the Goddess Circle
  100. Enjoy life!!

So a few not done but hey, Bring on 2014!
I’ll be back later with my 2014 list 😀

Something totally not Christmas

Hubby & I bought ourselves our first DSLR as an early Christmas present and in the last couple of months I’ve become a bit obsessed with sunsets and moon photography. I’m yet to see and photograph an aurora but it’s on the wish list 😉

Anywho, hubby rang me on his way home tonight & said go out and look at the moon. I did and this is what I saw. No editing, just straight off the camera

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then I turned around to see this. Again no editing.

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