Christmas

I can't believe Christmas has already been and gone, this year has just flown by!

Usually my family goes back to our home town, Gunnedah, for Christmas, but this year we stayed at the Coast for a family Christmas. Saturday morning Luke & I woke up a little later than expected and hurried ourselves to my parents house to open presents and have breakfast before Luke had to go to work (yep :( on Christmas). My parents bought us all a family holiday to Fiji in March next year! It was a pretty amazing present! After we opened presents we had pancakes & fruit for breakfast, then I had to rush Luke off to work. 

When I got back to my parents house, we had cups of tea and played cards while my Dad & my brother-in-law Allan made lunch. It was such a lovely, sunny day, totally unlike the last couple of weeks. It really hasn't been a proper summer here this year. I picked Luke up in the late afternoon, and we had drinks, and the neighbours came over for drinks and Christmas dinner. To finish a lovely day off we watched Bridesmaids and drank whiskey.

I hope everybody else had a lovely Christmas.

And a big congratulations to Hannah from A Cup Of Subtle Tea!

Train Ride From Hell

1. On the train, 2. Pizza for lunch at Twelve in Newtown

3. At the T2 store in Newtown, 4. City dwelling

5. Baby deer button I bought at Beehive Gallery in Newtown

6. Cappuccino's & fries at The Newtown Cafe

7. Playing dress ups in Sportsgirl at the QVB

On Thursday Lara & I ventured to Newtown in Sydney for coffees and last minute Christmas present hunting. I didn't think I would get to see Lara again until the new year, so our little city date was perfect! We looked at so so many stores, I bought some T2 for my friend Holly, and a little baby deer button. I don't normally where pin buttons, but it was way too cute and I think it will go perfectly with a lot of my day dresses.

After spending the majority of the day browsing Newtown's finest, we had cappuccino's and fries at Lara's favorite cafe in Newtown and then made our way to the Queen Victoria Building. We looked around there for a while & I bought some big green circle earring studs from Sportsgirl. We left QVB and headed to Central, only to find we had missed a train by minutes and had to wait around for an hour or so for the next. 

Oh how I wish we had of made that train though.

When we first got on the train it was fine, nobody seemed to be hectic and there were transit officers on the train. After about an hour two men boarded the train and seemed to be quite inebriated. They sat in the carriage upstairs, closest to us so we could hear them having drunken quarrels and being generally disruptive. They were escorted by the transit officers to a non seating area of the train to be spoken to, were let off with a warning, and the next stop the transit officers got off. After they got off, the two men were being exceptionally disruptive, which I was fine to listen to as it wasn't directed towards me. However things started to get a little bad when a man, who seemed to be homeless, sat behind Lara & I. Immediately I could smell him, and probably a month's worth of wear on his skin. It was rancid. We stayed put for as long as we could take it and then moved without a fuss. 

We had been sitting in an empty carriage for maybe ten minutes before the two men upstairs started to get really loud, it was at this point that Lara contacted the emergency number on the train to have a transit officer ready at the the next big stop. The next minute we heard a super loud thud and we looked around and one of the men had fallen down the stairs flat on his face. And he didn't move afterwards. We kept our distance and watched to see if he was going to get up, and the train came to a stop and other passengers pushed him aside with their feet to get pass. Nobody asked if he was okay, or even showed their concern. His 'friend' came down to try and make him get up, proceeded to kick him square in the face, and then left him laying there. The next big stop was the one I had to get off at, and I saw the transit officers give the train a quick once over and heard them saying it was all good to go. I went over and asked them to go back on the train because I felt so horrible my friend was still on there alone. We went back into the carriage where the unconscious person was still laying flat, and they picked him up and plonked him on the foot path. While this was going on, his 'friend' had got off the train and was standing next to the train yelling at the transit officers. He boarded the train again, walked straight up to Lara and yelled in her face to not mention what she had seen to anybody, and then got off again. And then the train left. And that was it, nothing was done about the apparently hurt man, drunk or not, he is still a person and deserves to be treated like so.

 I am truly disgusted nobody did anything, and even more appalled that people pushed him aside with their feet to get through the walk way. What happened to human spirit?

Date Week

This week has been quite eventful so far. After my work Christmas party on Sunday evening, Luke & I stayed in bed most of the day and left our little bat cave in the early afternoon. Just in time to have afternoon coffees and a late lunch at one of our favourite cafes, which also happens to be a two minute walk from our house! Two Birds Gallery makes the most amazing cappuccino, and these dandy lentil burgers that make any mood a happy one. After our lunch date, we went to the movies to watch the third Twilight movie while it was still showing here. I've only just started to show an interest in the Twilight stories, and I'm still not convinced. Like, they're entertaining and Edward is the biggest babe, but.. I don't know. Its kind of like my interest for Miley Cyrus, fleeting & seasonal. Afterwards we came home and finally got around to unpacking our new bed sides (that arrived Friday). I'd put off unpacking them because I couldn't bare the thought of having them sit next to our bed without any lamps. So after they were unpacked, we quickly ran to the shops and bought some super cute ceramic lamps. I'm going to post pictures later because they're too cute not to!

On Tuesday I wanted to sleep in (again, I know!) and start a new illustration, but my Mum called me and invited me over for a lunch date to make rum balls and have coffee and toasted sandwiches. So, thats what I did on Tuesday! My favourite part about Christmas, besides getting to spend time with my family, is rum balls & my Granny's home made mayo! Girlfriend knows how to make a good sandwich sauce! It's usually this time of the year that the rum balls start rolling in! 

I hope everybody is having a great little week! 

Featured Sponsor / Giveaway!

This is my very first give away on this little blog, and I'm so super excited about it! 

Lost Cabin is my featured December sponsor, and also happens to be one of my favourite blogs! 

Toni runs a super cute Etsy store selling cute vintage clothing and accessories. And I was more than delighted when I saw the scarf that is going to be up for grabs for one lucky reader!

Hello dear readers,

My name is Toni and I blog over at Lost Cabin. 

I am simply delighted to be guest posting on Tastes Like Love today.  When Lauren asked me what I'd like to do a post on....I must admit, I had a little bit of writers block.  The Mr. suggested, "Why not do a giveaway? You have heaps of stuff lying around." (I think he is hinting at me to clean the studio we share).  At the moment it's just easier to close the door and ignore it..hee hee. 

So I'm going through a bit of a head scarf phase - partially to just deal with the in-between phase my hair is in at the moment.  I sorted through my collection and picked out one of my favourites.  Now I'm no expert in tying these babies, so I've put together a little inspiration board of some gorgeous belles of yesterday and today. 

image credits:  1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9

Up for grabs is this gorgeous nautical head scarf that I collected from a little town in Northern NSW a few years ago.  It's oversized, so it's perfect for trying out plenty of different tying styles. 

To enter all you have to do is:

1. Follow Lost Cabin via GFC

2. Follow Tastes Like Love via GFC

3. Leave me a comment below

Winner will be announced in the first week of 2012

Thank's again for having me Lauren. 

I hope you all have a lovely Christmas and amazing 2012!

Toni xo

Thanks Toni, I want to win this! 

But I'll be just as happy to see one of my lovely readers win it!

A Weekend Post On A Wednesday

I’ve been a little busy this week and haven’t had the chance to post about my weekend that has just passed. It was one of those weekends that I didn’t have a spare second to really do anything. 

Saturday I worked all day, and finished a little later than usual. 

When I got home I had to get ready to drive to Newcastle, which is about an hours drive from my house, to go to my best friends dinner party. As I was getting ready, I was picking stuff up around my house to take, and my camera had been playing up and I turned it on to see if it was feeling well enough to go out for the evening and it was officially broken. I was a little flustered and annoyed so I drove to the shops, ran in to Dick Smith, picked up another digital camera similar to the one I had (but purple!), paid for it and ran back to my car. 

Quickly came home, got the rest of my things and drove to Newcastle. I hadn’t been able to see Lara in a couple of weeks, but it was so lovely getting to see her before Christmas, firstly so we could exchange awesome gifts, and also because the dinner party had a Hanukkah theme to it! It was such a beautiful evening, she had gone to so so much preparation. She cooked a three course meal for like 15 people! I struggle to make to the right portions for Luke & I!

Lara bought me the most amazing birthday/Christmas present, because I hadn’t seen her since my birthday the gift got rolled into one. I was lucky enough to be gifted with a Maxwell & Williams ‘Kimono’ series tea cup that I’ve been wanting for ages, and she picked me out the most perfect one!, babushka measuring spoons, a Playboy cover to cover collection from the 50’s, a copy of Samson & Delilah (so I’ll get into Heaven after catching up on a decade of Playboy), the cutest printed tea towels, hand wipes because I’m addicted to any sort of wet wipe, and some antique souvenir travel tea spoons. It was a bit of a monster gift!

I left Newcastle just before midnight as I had to work the following day. I’m so glad I got home just in time to get enough sleep, because we were so super busy for most of the day, which was good because it made the time just fly by. Sunday evening was our work Christmas party, which was such a great night! We were able to bring along partners, so Luke was my date. My boss is such a lovely lady, she made all of this lovely food, and her girlfriend made killer cocktails throughout the evening. I didn’t take photos at all which I’m now a little team sad about. But I did get one photo, and it’s awesome enough to make up for the fact that I didn’t take any more! 

December Sponsors / Part. Two

This is part two of my December Sponsors!

You may recognize a few of these bloggers from my previous sponsor posts, and if you haven't, then go check them out! 

If you're interested in being a part of my next sponsor post and participate in a button swap,

visit my sponsor page for more info!

 

Welcome to the Lost Cabin. 

Home to a Mr, Mrs and one damn cute baby.  A cosy place of gathered treasures, things that inspire, and all that makes life rosy. Remember all blog followers get 20% off at the Lost Cabin Etsy store. 

Blog  /  Etsy 

 

My name is Danielle, my guy's name is Wil and we JUST got married on November 11th-my birthday. We dance salsa. We laugh at anything. We eat (a lot). We have tons of fun, go on lots of adventures, take a billion pictures and share them all on Danfredo Rivera.

Blog  /  Twitter  /  Facebook  /  Pinterest 

 

Call me Melina. 

An Argentinian native living in Los Angeles, California. The girlfriend of an amazing boy called Sebastian. Loving, caring, sweet, honest, funny, and creative. Blow candles on April 20th. Addicted to Oreos. Camara in hand and I'll take a thousand pictures.

Only A Flight Away is my little blog about my personal life, my long distance relationship, my friends, my family, and everything that revolves around me. You will find me having a margarita or baking a cake. Decorating the house or exploring new places. 

In three words my blog is MY ONLINE JOURNAL.

 

Hi, I'm Hannah.

I am a twenty-something girlfriend to a wonderful man, James, finding her way through a new city and making a place we can call home in Virginia. I am a crafter, baker, planner, DIY-er and all around silly pants enjoying life in this new city and spending way to much time inside.

A Cup Of Subtle Tea is my online diary and scrapbook. A place to keep in contact with family and friends back home. A place to share recipes, ideas and my passions. And a place to make new friends because who doesn't love making friends! It is my "life" style blog :)  

 

I'm Melissa -

and I'm the face/creator/writer/photographer behind Simply, Melissa Ashley - a blog about everyday life, my little obsessions, photography + pretty much anything else I care to share! Currently I live in Boone, NC where I attend Appalachian State studying Public Relations with a focus in nonprofit organizations and a minor in Sociology, so it's only natural I like meeting new people, so don't be stranger!

If I'm not blogging, you can find me with my Nikons + Canons, thrifting, buying anything with a bow, "pinteresting," Netflix-ing everything, crafting, writing for Her Campus App State, writing for www.mycollegeroadtrip.com, hosting wine tastings for Shelton Vineyards, serving at Primo's Italian Restaurant and somehow managing to make room to practice graphic design, enjoy diy projects + travel.

Follow me on my journey!

 

My name is Grace Fleming – insert “Lynne” when needed. 

Her Umbrella is just a collection of my life’s little decorations – whether it’s a love for sampling the world, empty candy wrappers, books filled with scribbled ideas or stupid people that keep showing up – they’ve all found a place underneath, adorning everyday with a little more sparkle. I fancy myself a freelance creator, loving all things in the media and loving the work that goes behind it.

Blogging about fashion & motherhood (and everything in between!)

Proud mom of 2 & a wife to a man who has shown me what unconditional love is.

Believes everything is beautiful if your heart is in the right place. Always seeking & learning.

Believes in sharing & giving.

 

Hi! My name is Betsy. 

My blog is a mixture of daily life, photos, crafts, and baking. I love posting about friend's blogs and sharing about what people I love are doing. I love photography, so I try to include pictures in all of my posts and will often describe what I've been up to through photos.

 

Hi everyone! We are two close friends, Daphne and Gracie. 

We live in Athens, Greece that recently started blogging. 

So let us introduce ourselves :)

We both love eating, sewing, crafting, shopping, watching movies, cooking, blogging.

We are both students (Daphne is an engineer and Gracie is a journalist) and we are trying to juggle between our university obligations and our hobbies. 

We started blogging because one night we were talking about how much we admire some bloggers and youtubers and how inspiring they are to us. We decided we can do this as well! So here we are now on this wonderful blog inviting you over to our place.

Blog  /  Post 

 

Hi! I'm Amanda. I'm a 23 year old animal loving vegetarian who enjoys photography, vintage, music, reading, crafting, thrifting, and blogging. :) Though I'm a Midwesterner at heart (yay Wisconsin!) I'm currently an East Coaster living in Washington, DC. 

I spend most of my time working hard as a Veterinary Technician at a clinic near my house, but when I'm not there, you can usually find me browsing Etsy, sipping chai tea, or hanging out with my amazing boyfriend, Andrew and lovely kitty, Mia.

Originally I intended for my blog to be a mixed bag, but since I've started blogging, I've been doing a lot of traveling, so it sort of turned into a travel blog (which I'm okay with!) but I plan on changing that up a little bit and writing more about the things I listed above. Hopefully you'll stop by and find something that interests you! :)

Blog  /  Etsy 

There you have it! All of my December Sponsors!

If this is your first visit to Tastes Like Love, I did Part. One last week, go check it out!

Do you want to button swap? Yeah?

Check out my sponsor page and send me an email!

Start Your Week Off With..

• Girls love cats by Little Tranquility 
• The proposal story by Oh, Lovely Day 
• Some things Emily Is A Secret wants you to know
• Table for one for Honest To Blog 
• Photo holder ornaments by Imprintalish 

Make sure your first coffee for the week is in an extra big mug for the things Emily Is A Secret  wants you to know!