Liebster Award

Firstly, a big thank you to the lovely Aaliyah from Eyeshadow Eyeliner for nominating me for the Liebster Award. What is the Leibster Award you might ask? Well, it's an award that is given to new blogs with fewer than 200 followers. It allows bloggers to promote there blog and meet lovely fellow bloggers along the way.

The rules for the award are the following: 

• Nominees must link back to the person who nominated them.
• Nominee must list 11 facts about themselves.
• Nominee must answer the 11 questions asked by the person who nominated them.
• Nominee must than choose 11 people/blogs to nominate that have less than 200 GFC followers.
• Nominee must provide 11 questions to be answered by the people they choose to nominate.

Ok so here goes, below are 11 facts about me. I have tried to make then different to other facts I have given about myself, I don't want to rehash old info.

1. I have only been blogging since the beginning of the year (after thinking about doing it for about 12 months).
2. I choose not to go anywhere without makeup on - it makes me feel well presented and put together.
3. I spent my childhood doing ballet,jazz and modern dance from ages 4 till 11 however I retained none of the skills or coordination that I learnt.
4. I love football (soccer), watching not playing although I did play for a season a few years ago. My favourite position was the bench!
5. I am addicted to Mexican food.
6. I love energy drinks, Blue V is my favourite.
7. I am a very indecisive person whether its a small or large decision. What to have for lunch at work can sometimes take a good 10 minutes of pondering.
8. I would spend all my time in pyjamas if it were socially expectable - Peter Alexander PJ's of course.
9. I have what has been described as quite a high pitched voice. My work colleagues say my voice gets to such a high point that only dogs can here me.
10. I have to set 5 alarms each morning to wake me up for work because I'm a very deep sleeper and lazy when it comes to getting up.
11. I am about to start studying Graphic Design. I still am unsure about whether I'm creative enough to do it but I'm excited.

Next, here are my answers to the 11 questions posed by Aaliyah...

1. What is your most used website?
Blogger and Google.

2. Do you prefer shimmer or matte eyeshadow?
Shimmer - love me some sparkles!

3. If you could have an unlimited supply of anything what would it be? 
An unlimited amount of money would be pretty great!

4. What are your top 3 beauty products? 
I love Face of Australia Primer, Revlon Colourstay Foundation and Rimmel lipstick in Drop of Sherry.

5. Do you prefer ankle boots, mid-calf boots, or tall boots? 
Ankle boots.

6. What is your favorite type of candy? 
Reece's peanut butter cups.

7. How often do you check your emails per day? 
What feels like every 3 seconds but I really just glance at my iphone email about once an hour during the day.

8. Do you prefer volumizing or lengthening mascara? 
Volumising.

9. What is your favorite color for nail polish? 
Red, Black or Grey.

10. Do you have any pets? 

Yes, two adoreable cats called Baxter and Harry.

11. Which season is your favorite? 

Spring!

Now here are the blogs I nominate! Unfortunately I only have 4 nominations but they are all wonderful!

Full of light
Girl in Flight
Caudill Clan
Whats New Nini Kat

To the lovely blogs nominated, below are my 11 questions for you!

1. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?
2. Are you a Facebook or Twitter person?
3. What is your all time favourite movie?
4. Sweet or Savoury?
5. Who is your favourite person in the entire world?
6. How do you like to spend your spare time?
7. Are you a Mac or PC person?
8. If you could change the world in one way, what would you choose?
9. What is your favourite animal?
10. Tea or coffee?
11. What do you enjoy most about blogging?

Go forth and spread the Leibster love! I look forward to checking out your responses!

Currently....

WATCHING...

Lots of soccer! I have become a very obsessive fan over the past few weeks. I think it's because the finals are so close and I have a husband who loves his soccer.

Being super busy over the past week has meant not a lot of TV watching (this could be seen as a good thing...) so I have lots of our regular shows to catch up on!

Any recommendations for good movies that are out now/recently? Remember I'm in Australia and we can sometimes be a month or two behind you cool American kids. We have quite a few free movie tickets that expire at the end of March that I really want to use. Is 'Beautiful Creatures' good? Disclaimer: I realise this movie seems silly but I love teenage type movies and add in a supernatural element and I'm usually hooked!

LISTENING...

Nothing new this week. I've just had my iPhone on shuffle replaying lots of songs I love. 'Same Love' gets played at least a few times in our house each week, I still find it to be such a powerful and well written song.

PLANNING...

We found out this week that my hubby will be going overseas again for about 10 days for work. This time he is off to the UK and Germany. I am incredibly jealous, plus neither of us function at all when we aren't together so Gav has offered me a BIG shopping spree whilst he is away to try to minimise how miserable I will be. That boy knows me SO well. So, I have roped in a few friends to go for a shopping weekend in Sydney. We will shop all day, stay in a nice hotel, have dinner and cocktails at a great restaurant and then shop again the next day. This is like my girl heaven! I will still be majorly sad the other 8 days he is away but those 2 days in Sydney are going to be pretty great.

THINKING ABOUT...

How much I am going to miss Gav when he is gone for 10 days. We have been together for 11 years this year and have spent no more than one day apart in that time except when he went to America for 10 days last October. It doesn't sound like a long time but we are incredibly close and to not see each other every day was even more difficult than we thought. There were tears on both ends of the phone during that trip. Plus at that time, our little cat Harry just had a major cancer scare and was transitioning onto a new diet to help with the condition he has. He went from being a big cat of about 5kg to weighing only 3.3kg - he is now back over 5kg thankfully! At the time, he was sick after everything he ate and I had him at the vet every few days - definitely the worst time for Gav to be away. Both our cats are now very healthy so I'm sure this trip will be much easier for us both.

LOOKING FORWARD TO...

Girls night out Saturday night! Whilst I regularly catch up with friends for coffee or lunch dates we haven't had a girls night out in so long. Plus its an event to raise money for charity so its a feel good night as well.

READING...

During the craziness over the past week I have somehow managed to devour not one but two books! That shows my priorities, right? First i read Mindy Kaling's book 'Is everyone hanging out without me' which was laugh out loud funny. So many times in the book I would start giggling to myself like a crazy person. The second book I read was 'The Younger Man' by Zoe Foster. I could not put it down! If you are not from Australia you probably wouldn't be familiar with Zoe Foster but she is an author, insanely knowledgeable beauty expert and former writer/beauty editor of Cosmopolitan magazine. Plus she is married to a very popular radio/tv personality and they are just adorable. The book is somewhat based on the two of them getting together. Anyway her writing style is very funny, if you like a good Chick Lit book along the lines of Lindsey Kelk or Paige Toon you will love her books.

MAKING ME HAPPY...

I know I tend to harp on about him a lot but my husband Gav truly makes me happier than anything else in the world. I get so excited driving home from work knowing I'm going to see him. We are both too impatient and excited to just talk to each other when we get home that we usually call each other as we are both driving home (on handsfree of course) and purge all of the good and bad points of our days and any silly stories we have. There isn't a day that goes by were I'm not hugely grateful to have him to share my life with.

What has been going on in your life over the past week? Feel free to leave comments below, I love hearing from you guys!

I Return! // Welcome New Followers!

Hi Everyone!

Wow, I cant believe its been a week since I last blogged! Work, family, and friends have kept me super busy and slightly stressed over the past few weeks but I'm nearing the end of the craziness. I plan to get back to blogging regularly - 4 times a week is my goal. I have lots of posts planned! Stay tuned over the next few weeks!

A big WELCOME to my many new followers that have joined from the group giveaway over at Tales of a Twenty Something. Thanks so much for following my blog, I hope you find something enjoyable here! Over the next week or two I plan on visiting each and every one of your blogs.

Unfortunately that's it for now! I have been up since very early this morning for a work function so I am currently falling asleep over my laptop - my bed is calling my name!

Sweet Dreams!

Currently...Week 5!

It's that time again....my weekly currently post!

WATCHING...

This week I have been trying to catch up on my favourite shows; The Office, The Mindy Project, Chicago Fire, Smash, How I Met Your Mother, New Girl.

 

The hubs and I also went to a short film festival on the weekend called FlickrFest and it was amazing! Neither of us had ever really seen short films before but it was so great, we laughed, felt sad, and I covered our eyes in some parts (I don't do scary) - it was a good mix of movie genres.

  

LISTENING...

I am loving anything by Loon Lake at the moment and my song of the week this week has been "Lay It Down' by the Rubens.

PLANNING...

We are still planning to move house however there aren't a lot of options available at the moment. The Newcastle rental market is crazy right now, rents are high and vacancy levels low. Fingers crossed something we like will pop up soon in the location we want.

THINKING ABOUT...

I've been thinking about how I am going to manage 2 Design Units when my course starts in March as well as work full time, blog and have a social life. Things will be busy but I'm excited.

LOOKING FORWARD TO...

I am very much looking forward to a busy weekend catching up with friends and family. It's my mums 50th Birthday party on Friday night so I cant wait to get dressed up and have a fun night celebrating with my family and the billion guests my mum has invited. We then have an engagement party on Saturday for a close friend of Gavin's. Everyone is so busy these days that we don't all get to catch up often so events like this are always good. I can see Sunday being pretty much recovery day after 2 big nights out. Sleeping in till noon? Yes please!!

READING...

Nothing new this week, its been a very busy work week so by the time I get home of a night I'm exhausted.

MAKING ME HAPPY...

My kittens (technically they should be could cats given that they are both 5 but kittens just sounds nicer). They are always super affectionate and can sense when Gavin or I are feeling a little down or stressed so they show even more affection. They truly are like our little fur babies.

Here is a pic of both boys napping...so cute!

Again, if you would like to take part in the weekly "currently" post, leave a comment below with a link to your blog so that I can check out your post each week!

Hope your having a super week!

Weekend in Review // The Week Ahead!

I can’t believe it’s Monday already, I feel like this weekend flew by! I’m feeling really drained and tired today plus a case of Mondayitis isn’t helping! I love my job but after having such a fun weekend always makes it hard to come back to work.   

Here are a few instax photos from our weekend drive through the countryside. How did you spend your weekend?

This week is shaping up to be super busy! Work is crazy at the moment as we are short staffed and I have a deadline looming for the publication I design which is making me stressed. On the personal side of things, Gavin and I have a busy weekend coming up with an engagement party, family BBQ at our house and my Mums 50^th Birthday Party. Busy but all fun, I just have a lot of last minute design work I need to do for my mums birthday. I am happy though that I bought a new dress yesterday which I can wear this weekend – buying a new outfit always makes me even more excited for a night out!

I am trying to stay on top of things at the moment but when work is busy and my personal life is busy I find I can get overwhelmed really easy. I just have to keep reminding myself ‘This too, shall pass’! How do you stop from getting overwhelmed during stressful times? 

Happies and Crappies - Week 4

HAPPIES

• I had a really perfect Valentines this year. Gav & I exchanged sweet presents and cards featuring love puns - so funny! After work we got all dressed up and went out for dinner to a great restaurant, ate amazing food and just chatted about our life and our plans for the future. Just percect!

• This week I have felt really happy, content and settled in my life. Its a great feeling! Despite the fact that we are looking to move house in the next month and we are both really busy with work, I just feel very happy with where life is at the moment and the direction we are headed in.

• My Firmoo glasses arrived and I love them! They are very good quality particularly considering the price. I will be ordering from Firmoo again for sure.

• Gav had to go away for work this week, it was only one night but it meant I was home alone! Normally if he has to go away I pack the kittens up and stay with my parents but this week I was feeling brave! I grabbed pizza for dinner after work, watched my favourite shows and got a great nights sleep. I wasn't scared once - feeling super proud of myself (I realise this seems like a weird thing to be proud of but I hate being home alone over night even though we live in a safe neighborhood). Jenna 1, Irrational Fear 0!

CRAPPIES

• I have not completed any C25K training this week! Ahh, feeling guilty about this but its been a busy interrupted week. I am starting back Monday morning - no excuses!

 

As usual, don't forget to check out the blogs of the 'hosts' of the weekly Happies and Crappies post - The Vintage Modern Wife and Scissors and a Whisk.

What have been your Happies and Crappies this week? Feel free to leave a link to your Happies and Crappies blog post in the comments below!

Currently...Week 4!

Ahh! With Valentines Day and a busy work schedule I completely forgot about my weekly currently post! Anyway, belatedly, here it is!

WATCHING...

SMASH! I loved the 2 episode season premiere and am so excited to see what happens throughout the season!

I have also been watching the below You Tube clip over and over again and it always makes me laugh hysterically. It is well worth a look!

  

LISTENING...

Nothing really new this week. I've just been listening to a play list Gav and I made for our trip to Kiama last month. Re listening to it makes me remember how great the trip was.
 

PLANNING...

Its my beautiful mums 50th Birthday part next weekend so I am busy planning decorations and a bit of a photo montage - the cheesier the better!

THINKING ABOUT...

How there are so many good, kind people in the world. I have had so many lovely blog comments this week and they really brighten my day!

LOOKING FORWARD TO...

This weekend! Tonight we have a Jets game (if you haven't already noticed, I'm soccer obsessed!), tomorrow I have a gorgeous friends baby shower and tomorrow night we are going to a short film festival. Sunday will be spent as a lazy day, maybe a picnic for lunch and shopping for my mums 50th present. Any present suggestions?

READING...

Unfortunately a busy work week has meant I haven't had time to read anything this week apart from blogs. Hoping my Mindy Kaling book arrives soon so I can get stuck into it!

MAKING ME HAPPY...

My blog! Like i said before I have received such sweet comments this week and I am really starting to feel a part of the blogging community now. I just wish there were more of us in Australia to have meet-ups and cool blog conferences like you lucky Americans!

Again, if you would like to take part in the weekly "currently" post, leave a comment below with a link to your blog so that I can check out your post each week!

Happy Wednesday!

 

Valentines Day Love

Happy Valentines Day to my super sweet, amazing followers!

Today is Gavin & I's 10th Valentines Day together (that makes me sound old!). Over the course of our relationship we have both celebrated and not celebrated Valentines Day for various reasons. 

But this year we made a point to celebrate! We said no over the top gifts, just a $20 limit and homemade presents encouraged! We are going out for dinner though to an amazing restaurant we have been dying to go to. As part of Gav's '12 months of Dates' Christmas present (I'll blog about this soon) I included a voucher for 'Rustica' and tomorrow we finally get to use it! Follow me on instagram (@mrsjennachapman) to see photos!

And now to my amazing and super sweet Valetine - Gavin. I know we tell each other everyday how we feel but I just wanted to make sure that today you know just how crazy I am about you. You are my world! Love you to the moon and back bub! And just like I already told you today, if you were a transformer you'd be Optimus Fine! Hehe

A Weekend In Review // Instagram & Instax Photos

Gavin and I love our weekends! We usually pack so much into our days off but this weekend was fairly quite for us.

On Friday night we grabbed some takeaway for dinner and had a picnic by the beach before heading home to watch our favourite shows.

On Saturday we did a little shopping in the morning before heading down to Sydney to watch the Newcastle Jets game. We made  a stop at Ikea on the way - as you do. Who doesnt love Ikea?

Disaster stuck at around 1am on Sunday after we just arrived home from Sydney - food poisoning! I guess it serves me right for ordering a cheeseburger from McDonalds at 10pm  but gosh darn I was starving after the soccer! It was definitely the sickest i have ever felt. Positive note: I don't think i will ever want McDonalds again!

Exhaustion from being sick all night prevented me from getting out of bed at all on Sunday, luckily i have a super sweet husband who took great care of me.

Here are a few photos from the weekend:

1. This is our fav spot for a picnic in Newcastle - King Edward Park

2. Cinnamon scroll and Pepsi at Ikea for only $2.25 = bargain!

3. This photo isnt actually from the weekend but rather Thursday night. I just loved the glass jar water glasses at the Mexican restaurant we went to for dinner.

4. Food poisoning meant my Sunday kinda sucked. Sunday night was spent sitting on the lounge with Gavin watching an aleague match and drinking lots of water.

And here is a Instax photo from Friday night - this is my fav Instax photo of us!

How was your weekend?

Happies and Crappies - Week 3

I love this weekly post - it allows me to reflect on the week I've had and really makes me appreciate the good moments!

HAPPIES

• Gav and I had a mid week dinner date last nigh at a new Mexican restaurant - Casa de Loco. It was AMAZING! The food was well priced and delcious, the service was outstanding and I had the best Margarita I have had in my life! It was also really cute and hipster with glass jars as water glasses and flowers in old Coke bottles. We will be going back for sure!

 

• I have decided to grow out my full front fringe (bangs to those in the US). This is both a happy and crappy, whilst I'm excited to have a new look I also have to tolerate pinning my fringe to the side until it gets long enough to actually do something with.

 

• My Topshop order arrived today and my glasses from Firmoo are finally on there way. I love online shopping!

 

• Ive stuck to my C25K program this week which feels good as I don't normally stick to exercise programs - feeling quite proud of this! Bring on week 2!

• Its been a great week all round this week - feeling very happy and content about life and excited for the future!

CRAPPIES

• I found out just yesterday that my pop had an operation a few weeks ago to remove multiple skin cancers from his face. As usual he and my nan didnt tell anyone as they didnt want to worry us! He is ok now which is the main thing.

 

As usual, don't forget to check out the blogs of the 'hosts' of the weekly Happies and Crappies post - The Vintage Modern Wife and Scissors and a Whisk.

What have been your Happies and Crappies this week? Feel free to leave a link to your Happies and Crappies blog post in the comments below!

Best Friend - It's A Tier Not A Person

Last week I was watching The Mindy Project (I seriously adore this show, anyone else with me?) and Mindy said “Best Friend isn’t a person, it’s a tier” (I'm paraphrasing) and this totally applies to me and my friends.

There are 5 girls in my friendship group; Jill, Jade, Melissa, Candice and myself and we are all best friends. It’s quite random how we all came to be friends. I went to High School with Jade, Melissa and Candice however it wasn’t until after I left school that I started to spend time with them. During our school years we were often in each other’s classes and would chat but I was in a different social group so we didn’t really spend time together outside of school. Somehow we kept contact after I left school and became BFF's.

Jill and I became acquaintances when we were both in Year 10 (different schools) and she was dating Gavin’s best friend. We did not like each other and we both found it really hard to have a conversation with each other. We then found ourselves at the same high school in Year 11 (both our high school junior campuses fed into the same senior campus). We were in lots of classes together but still didn’t get along despite the fact that our boyfriends were besties and we would often see each other on the weekend when the boys got together. It wasn’t until a few years later that we actually started to bond and from then we became BFF's. Whilst the relationship between Jill and Gav's friend didn’t last, our friendship did and Jill became a part of our little group.

This is us all together at my 21st - wow, that's 5 years ago!

It’s now 6-7 years later and we are all still best friends and the girls were all bridesmaids in my wedding. We are all really independent people who have our own lives, relationships and hobbies but when we are together it’s like no time has passed and we have the most fun!  We may not live in each others pockets and talk on the phone every day (or week for that matter) but we catch up regularly and always know what is going on in each others lives. It might not be the typical best friend relationship but it works for us. I always know that they are there for me and that I can call them any time of day if I need something.

These girls mean the world to me and are the best friends a girl could ask for!   

I love this casual photos of the girls that I took in 2011!

And this one is taken on the same day in 2011.

This is from my wedding day (i hate the photo of me but love it of the girls). From left to right: Melissa, Crystal (my sister in law), Jade, Me, Shellie (my cousin) and Candice.

Currently...Week 3!

It's that time of the week again....this is what i am currently up to!

WATCHING...

Not too much at the moment, just my usual fav shows but I am about to watch the movie Ruby Sparks.

I have also been watching bad lip reading clips on YouTube. The Twilight clip is my favourite! Check it out below...

 

 

LISTENING... 

I have just generally been listening to my favourite radio station Triple J. My latest fav song is Down The Road by C2C.

  

PLANNING...

To move house!! We have started looking at rentals in the location we want to live so now we just have to find a great place! We have also discussed maybe buying a place next year - very exciting!

THINKING ABOUT...

How amazing my husband is! He is my best friend and the most supportive and kind person I have ever met. Not to mention how super cute he is! I feel very lucky to love and be loved by him.

LOOKING FORWARD TO...

My bestie's and I are going along to a local charity dinner/night out in a few weeks and I'm really looking forward to it. Getting dressed up, night out with the girls, champagne, awesome food and it's for charity = perfect night!

I am also looking forward to the Cara Box Swap! If you haven't heard of it head over to Wifessionals and register for next month. Basically, you submit your details and you are then paired up with someone who lives close-ish to you (if you're in the US the person is usually in the same state, if your from another country you're usually just paired up with someone from the same country). You get to know that person via email over 2 weeks and then you go out and purchase them gifts ($15 min) that suit that person based on the months theme. You then post your gift box to the person you have been assigned and you get a gift box from the person that was assigned you. Its a great way to meet new bloggers and who doesn't love getting presents in the mail right? I've received my match for this month, I will be buying for the lovely Melissa who blogs at The Whimsical Wife. And the person who has been assigned me is the super sweet Sarah from Sarahs Special Moments.

READING...

Nothing right now other then blogs but I have just ordered Mindy Kaling's book "Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?". I'm hoping it arrives soon as I cant wait to get started - that girl cracks me up!

MAKING ME HAPPY...

I have started a running program this week and feel like I have lots more energy. This is making me very happy!

If you would like to take part in the weekly "currently" post, leave a comment below with a link to your blog so that i can check out your post each week!

Happy Wednesday!

Couch to 5k!



5.30am this morning was way to early for my first run - the moon was still out!

 

Over the weekend I decided enough was enough, I really need to make an effort to get fit. So last night the husband and I made the decision to start a Couch to 5k program (granted, Gavin is super fit so doesn't need to do it but he was there for support).

Our first rulk (run/walk - do you think that combining the words will take off?) was at 5.30am this morning. My gosh, it was super hard to wake up to my alarm and actually get out of bed but I knew that if I made an excuse on the first day I would never stick to the program.

The first day program is intended to be easy with a 5 min warm up then alternating 1 minute running with 1 1/2 minutes walking however as I'm very unfit it nearly killed me! Luckily I have a super sweet husband who was there motivating me! The plan is to do a rulk (he he) 3 times a week...hopefully by writing this it will make me accountable for going.

I was going to post this last night but decided to hold off until I had actually gone for my first run. Historically I tend to have these great ideas about things I plan to do but follow through on so few.

 

Hopefully this wont be one of those times!

 

 

Happies and Crappies - Week 2

Its Friday so that means it's time for another instalment of Happies and Crappies!

 

HAPPIES

1. I just ordered another pair of my all time favourite jeans from Topshop - free international postage as well!
2. Gavin and I were out for a midweek dinner date to celebrate the end of Gav's uni semester and we found a new burger place by the harbour in Newcastle. Its called Craft and Co and they have really good sliders and a big craft beer list. It seemed a little pricey at first but was well worth it. I can see it becoming a regular.
3. Excited to go scouring furniture second hand stores tomorrow to try to track down a replica Eames chair to complete this DIY project.
4. Very excited for the Newcastle Jets -v- Sydney FC game tomorrow night. We are big football (soccer) fans in this household and have season tickets to the Jets.

 CRAPPIES

1. I ordered new reading glasses from Firmoo and they are taking forever to arrive. Apparently there was some kind of fault with my lenses when they were made so they will be at least another week.
2. I had to make a few sales calls at work this week to sell advertising space in our publication and it sucked! Ive never really had to do sales before and let me just say I am SO not a natural.

Also, don't forget to check out the blogs of the 'hosts' of the weekly Happies and Crappies post - The Vintage Modern Wife and Scissors and a Whisk.