"home is the place where it feels right to walk around without shoes."

something a little bit odd occurred to me as i was processing the layby of a newly married couple (there was a lot to layby, so we had a nice chat) - i think one of the most exciting moments of my life will be the first homewares shopping spree i will have with my new husband when we move into our new home. sure, there may be a few fights here and there as we make our way through target, myer and harris scarfe (and best of all - IKEA!), but it will be so exciting. deciding the best pattern of the bedspread, shape of our plates, how many pillows we'd like... i know it's kind of sad for me to get excited for something so lame, but it's what i do get excited over. i get excited for the stupid things in life.

in my opinion, the most idyllic house to live in would be the gorgeous 'rosehill cottage' from the holiday. it would be so warm and cosy. here's a picture so you get the general idea (or you could just watch the movie and have your heart warmed forever):




well, i'll find it exciting :)

"winter is the time for comfort, for good food and warmth: it is the time for home."

winter makes me happy. i'm not a summer girl by any means, except for things done in the early evenings and night, especially going to the beach and the water is just the right temperature. i love that. winter is yet another factor in the equation that equals a very happy claire. winter and all that comes with it (because absolutely anything can be associated with winter, warmth and good lovin') is pretty much the bulk of claire's happy equation. i'm not saying that just because i love winter doesn't mean i don't like going outdoors like people seem to be obsessed with in the summer. the thing is, when it's raining, i WANT to go outside. it's like it's almost calling me to just get out there and run around until i'm soaking wet. then you can just warm straight back up again after getting out of a nice hot bath, into the uggies and trackies, and then snuggling up on the couch with your coffee and a good book or chick flick. the thing i hate is how christmas is in summer in australia. and then as much as i want to experience a white christmas, it won't be at home, whoever i am with. home doesn't mean literally in my home, but with my family, my friends and my community. i wouldn't want to be anywhere else BUT home during christmas. if global warming can do anything crazy (and good at the same time), it would be to let adelaide have a white christmas, just for once.

then my holiday season can be spent roaming around rundle mall doing last minute christmas shopping singing the carols that involve the words 'white', 'snow' and 'fire' without feeling like an idiot. that would be amazing.


claire is happy :)

"wake at dawn with a winged heart and give thanks for another day of loving."

i had the greatest day yesterday. full of small, beautiful things that didn't fail to make me smile. started with a four hour shift at work, serving some of the nicest customers and learning the tips and tricks of the refund counter. then finding a lovely warm jacket that will keep me warm in canberra for our english studies trip to canberra. then going home, relaxing and figuring out what to wear into the city for a trip to eckersley's with my lovely boyfriend and his sister. then finding a park in the frome st u-park and laughing at david's horrible park. then walking out into the rain straight to eckersley's and getting 20% off my four new watercolor brushes, which i paid $22.90 for. then walking to rundle mall with our eckersley's purchases and looking around the clothes in myer. then finding a lovely $15 top (the last one on the rack) and trying it on, fitting perfectly. then walking down further rundle st to the amazing cafe called cocolat. then buying a cappucino and sharing a piece of horribly naughty chocolate cake. then walking back to the u-park and then paying $11.00 for parking (ridiculously outrageous according to david). then driving back to david's house, saying a quick hello to his parents before they went out. then patting monty the cat before he started attacking kayla's feet. then watching the most beautiful movie i have seen in a long while - the holiday. so lovely. then driving back home at 11.30pm with the goodnight kiss that made my day. i want to do it all again today.




i freaking love my life.

"you'll come to find that love is, actually, all around."

in the words of the prime minister:

"Whenever I get gloomy with the state of the world, I think about the arrivals gate at Heathrow Airport. General opinion's starting to make out that we live in a world of hatred and greed, but I don't see that. It seems to me that love is everywhere. Often, it's not particularly dignified or newsworthy, but it's always there - fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, husbands and wives, boyfriends, girlfriends, old friends. When the planes hit the Twin Towers, as far as I know, none of the phone calls from the people on board were messages of hate or revenge - they were all messages of love. If you look for it, I've got a sneaking suspicion... love actually is all around."




i love love.

"i believe in an open mind, but not so open that your brains fall out."

i've told a few people this recently, but i have come to realise how much i admire those people that are smart. like smart smart. as in physics smart. those people that can just look at a plane and figure out in a second how it was designed and put together. all i know is that it's got wings and an engine that somehow makes it stay up in the air. i couldn't care less for all the intricacies of the design.

i thought i was at an advantage that i have an awesome calculator on my nokia, but then i meet the people that have one in their head, that works just as fast. sure, i can calculate 63 + 5 in my head (67 yeah? - kidding, ha) but i have to actually take the time to set it out in my brain like we did in year 4. all lined up perfectly beneath each other, with the plus symbol on the side to remind myself that i am adding the two numbers together. i then mentally take over the spare number if it is more than two digits and i eventually get the right answer. and then i meet special people, like the brother andrew or the bf david, who can just work it out like that. i'm standing in allan's music the day i buy christmas presents and i see a harmonica for $28 with 30% off. so, as i do, i grab out my phone to find the awesome calculator function, and before i've even unlocked the keypad, david just says "its $19.60". WHAT. so, i still seek my calculator function on the nokia, and sure enough, i will pay $19.60 for this harmonica (that i still haven't learn to play). i nod down at my phone, embarrassed at trying to prove david wrong, then look up to see the little smirk on his lovely face and then think to myself 'you find people like me funny, don't you?' i know you do.

actually, makes me feel bad when this is the most work i do in maths class, ha.


and to think my dream job is an accountant. oh i laugh at myself sometimes.

"coffee is the best thing to douse the sunrise with."

one of life's greatest moments is when you meet a friend for coffee on an early morning in winter and you sit down with that friend, all huffed and puffed because you can't believe you just paid $6.00 for that cup of coffee. you spend five minutes discussing with the friend how you could have easily paid $3.00 for some plastic coffee at mccafe, it would taste just as good wouldn't it? but then the extremely cute waiter with black thick rimmed glasses and a little apron at the waist waltzes out of the kitchen and places this in front of you...




... so, your eyes glance down at the coffee and you forget everything horrible you just said about the ridiculous amount of money you just paid for this baby. then, while you're drinking it, you can't help but get excited for this time next month when you can finally afford another coffee worth $6.00, and until then, you're just going to have to stick with the $3.00 plastic coffee from mccafe. it gets me every time.

AMAZING!