A Cheapskate's Photo Journal

At the commencement of 2014 I was feeling refreshed, energised and inspired. I had a million ideas running through my head of things I wanted to achieve, new things to try, and places to go. While I didn't end up setting any goals, I did actually end up extracting some of these whirlwind ideas and putting them into play (a rare occurrence for me!).

One of my summer holidays goals was to take more photos of Chris and I. Considering we have been dating for nearly three years, we probably only have a handful of photos of us together, and of those less than half would actually be decent! I have also been pondering how I can better utilise all these photos I take of my day to day life on my iPhone. I've been known to always sneakily pull my phone out in every situation to take a quick snapshot (most usually of my food), but then I never do anymore with it than perhaps post it on instagram. Inspired by the mindset of simplicity that Elsie has towards scrapbooking over on A Beautiful Mess, I decided to make a photo journal of 2014 in order to utilise all these pictures.

I wanted to create something that would suit my lifestyle. I would love to have copious amounts of supplies but a) I don't have the money, b) I don't have the time to spend hours creating beautiful pages, and c) I am really, really not that creative! With this in mind, here is what I ended up picking up:

Yep. A notebook from Kikki K, a bunch of sticky notes, glue, scissors, and a pen. As for my photos, I simply print them out at the library (I do have a printer at home, but have you seen how expensive printer ink is?!).

With simplicity in mind, and about half an hour, I was able to throw together a few pages from out first week of January. Chris and I went for a random camping trip, which was a perfect way to kick of the year. 

They are no masterpieces, but I love that at the end of the year I will be able to flick back through this book and reminisce over these days. I hope I can keep this up! I aiming to print photos over roughly once a week and setting aside half an hour or so to put together the pages. Are you trying anything new this year?

Reanna.

Being Fancy: Dinner on the Colonial Tramcar

Trams have become a rather iconic part of Melbourne over the years, and even more iconic is probably the famed fleet of tramcar restaurants. I have often chanced upon one slowly crawling along the St Kilda tram lines, and fantasised about dinner upon it. However, I never investigated them anymore, feeling such an indulgence would be far too fancy for myself. This Christmas just gone, however, Chris and I were lucky enough to receive a voucher for an early dinner upon the Colonial Tramcar Restaurant. Naturally, we were far too excited - any gift involving food, wine and Melbourne is sure to please us. We booked in our dinner within a matter of weeks and eagerly leapt on board our tram,

The trams themselves are simply amazing to behold. The indoor decor was beautiful, representing past colonial times with plush cushions and brass fittings. The staff were wonderful and enthusiastic, as well as ever willing to ensure your wine glass was full. 

The early dinner included a three course meal of appetisers, a main, and dessert. All of it was delicious, though nothing incredibly spectacular. The wine, on the other hand, was fantastic. Experiencing the atmosphere of eating and enjoying each others company on these quaint trams was by far the highlight of the night. 

I wish I had captured more photos of the interior of the tram, but as you can see above the mood lighting was not helping my (poor) attempts at photography!

If you are ever in need of a gift for someone, or just a fancy date night with a bit of classic Melbournian twist, try it out! Have you been on any fancy date nights lately? I love going out for nights like this, I really feel like it's a great way to spend quality time with my quality man.
Reanna.

#100happydays

While aimlessly scrolling through my twitter feed the other day I came across the 100 Happy Days Challenge. Intrigued, I followed the link to their site, and within five minutes I was signed up.

There isn't much to the challenge, you just fill in some details, link up one of our million social networks and choose a hashtag (you can customise your own or stick with the basic #100happydays).

But what is the challenge?

The challenge is asking you take aside some time in your busy, day to day life to be happy. To appreciate little moments, to stop and smile for a moment. Every day for 100 days they ask you to submit one photo that made you happy - anything at all - onto your selected social media outlet, and link up with the hashtag. At the end of the 100 days you will be sent a little booklet featuring your photos from throughout the challenge. But that isn't even the main benefit: by taking aside a moment each day to appreciate what makes us happy in life, we can feel a bit better too.

I am only about a week into the challenge, and am sharing my photos over on my instagram feed. While the premise of the challenge is quite basic, I think I personally can take a bit out of. I often get caught up in the little things - negative things - and forget about everything else I have in my life, and how lucky I am to be where I am right now. The challenge is reminding me each day to take a moment to think about what has made me happy today. It also gives me an excuse to be a bit more of an instagram pest than usual!

Here's a few of my first few days of the challenge: 

Day 1: Picnic-ing on the Maribrynong River // Day 2: Laneways in the neighbourhood // Day 3: First day of work at the Australian Open!

Could you take the challenge?

Reanna.

Returning, ft A Cup of Tea With Me!

This holiday period has been a lot busier than I anticipated! It has, however, been wonderful, featuring several getaways, tonnes of delicious food, chill out time, and reflection. This blog hiatus has been a bit longer than I initially planned, but I think it was needed in order for me to wrap my head a bit more around the direction I am taking here.

To ease back into the blogosphere, Pip over at Meet Me At Mikes has created a little interview for her Blog with Pip students to partake in. It is far too hot in Melbourne right now to even consider tea (four days of 40+ degree heat while working at either a bakery or the Australian Open is going to destroy me!), so let's go with iced tea. That still counts, right?

1. Name, state and a bit about what you do on a daily basis 

Hi there! My name Reanna (pronounced like the singer Rhianna, but spelt without unnecessary h's), and I live in wonderful Melbourne, thought I originate from South Gippsland in regional Victoria. My daily schedule is a bit all over the place at the moment, but generally I am full time university student. 2014 marks year two of my Bachelor of Arts (Psychology and Criminology) at the University of Melbourne. Thus far, I am loving it, and love the new life I have here in Melbourne! I also work casually at a bakery (I am so sick of bread) and volunteer with St Vinnies, with hopefully more volunteering on the horizon!

2. Favourite things to do

When the weather is at an acceptable level, drink copious amounts of green tea. Since moving out of home I have developed a passion for cooking at home, with particular interest in healthy spins on meals and cooking as much as I can from scratch. I also love exercising, wandering aimlessly around the city, thrifting, beers in the sunshine, and have recently reignited a love for reading.

3. Favourite place to be

I do love my little apartment that I share with my wonderful boyfriend. We have really created a space that reflects us, and our love for quirky vintage finds (does hard rubbish count as vintage?).

4. Favourite things to eat/drink

Uhm, I don't even know where to begin! Crossways is one of my all time favourite meals when I am out in the city and feeling a bit tight in the wallet. Other than that, I do love a homemade curry, with brown rice and freshly made flatbread, tempeh burgers in fresh bread from the Victoria Market, and stir fry also never fails to deliver. As for drinks, green tea and a Corona with lemon on a hot day.

5. Favourite inspirations

A Beautiful Mess was my ultimate inspiration for following and eventually creating a blog. And the discovery of them came from frankie magazine. I am also beginning to delve in reading Rookie, having been an admirer of Tavi for quiet awhile. 

6. Something I want to know more about

My mind is exploding with concepts I would love to explore since beginning university. I want to delve into some more serious reading, with the likes of Foucault and Fanon continually appearing in my course. I have also recently sparked an interest in feminism and would love to know more about it. Knitting is something I have also recently begun (I am horrendously uncreative!) and I am eager to develop my skills in regards to that!

7. Some favourite blogs

This list is constantly morphing and growing! I love some more popular blogs such as A Beautiful Mess, Skunkboy Creatures and Meet Me At Mikes, as well as many others. Some blogs that have caught my eye recently have been Secrets and Treasures, Chit Chat Chomp, Rose and Vintage, Prudence Claire and the Laughing Medusa.

And there we have it! I am off soak in a cold bath and lie under the air conditioner in anticipation of another hot night here in Melbourne! I'll be back in action soon!

Reanna.

Getaway

Real holidays are finally here. I'm spending the Christmas period in Lakes Entrance with some family, as well as popping off to various other family gatherings for the season. It should be a busy time, but I am looking forward to it. Living out of home has given me a greater appreciation of family get togethers, and the time we do get to see together. 

So during this time I will be taking a short break from the blogosphere. During this time I also think I will spend a bit of time reflecting over where I want this blog to go. I have been feeling a bit disheartened about this venture at the moment, so I hope spending some time brainstorming and working a few things out.

I hope you all enjoy your holiday season! 

Reanna.

Christmas Nostalgia

This year I have been making a bit more of an effort to get myself into the Christmas spirit. Don't get me wrong, I still love the festive season and all it offers, but it has lost that little bit of… sparkle, I suppose? As a child Christmas was pretty much the best day of the year, potentially even topping birthdays and those days you found an ice cream truck in the middle of nowhere. The tumultuous teenage years that saw me try to work out a bit more about myself saw me change my interests multiple times, and we all had those moments of "not more clothes" (not know, clothing vouchers are always a request from me!). Growing older also saw my transition from being a sole present recipient to being a present buyer. I started working when I was fifteen, and I have been buying presents ever since. This used to be bit of a drag for me, but know I love giving gifts more than receiving them. I've also found that now that I am edging my way into adulthood, I always seem to know what I am getting for Christmas. It's still great to get the gift, but the excitement is somewhat lost when you unwrap a gift you chose yourself. My increasing awareness about the consumerist culture of Christmas can often dampen the occasion now too (I recently read this fantastic article and it really highlights this issue in Australia). Having spent my teenage years working in retail, I have witnessed many child tantrums and stressed individuals under the pressure of Christmas.

But this year I am trying to get myself back into this mood of the season. Our little Christmas tree was up on December 1st, I've spent hours trying to find perfect gifts, and planned some Christmas baking. Chris is even on the hunt for matching Christmas t-shirts for us to wear, but I'm not so convinced that I could actually wear one! I'm not going over the top, but I am trying to find the right groove for myself and Chris for the season. I would love to be able to make more gifts myself, but as of yet I don't have the time or expertise to do so!  

And it's starting to pay off. A bit more of a positive outlook and reflection, and now I am counting down the days until Christmas! 

Have you changed how you think about Christmas over the years? Is there anything you do to help get yourself in the spirit?

Reanna.

Snapshots

Mini cacao and spelt pancakes for a quick dessert // Date night in the CBD, ft. Italian beers in the sunshine at Federation Square // Only the coolest of people drink their coconut mojitos with curly straws // Picnic in the sun at Carlton Gardens with friends. It's finally starting to feel a bit like Summer // Chris and I whipped up a heap of homemade pizzas for his family when we dropped by for a visit last week // Freshly brewed chai tea at the Collingwood Children's Garden.

Considering I haven't had much work lately time feels like it is flying by. I seem to always be busy, be it Christmas shopping (I am almost finally done), cooking, visiting family and friends, or going out for evening walks. The sun is finally beginning to come out more, so I am jumping at every opportunity to spend some time outside. I don't want to get my hopes up too much about the weather just yet though!
How is your Christmas organisation going?
Reanna.

P.S. This week I am tagging along over at the Beetle Shack with Stills.