Hubby & I don't really celebrate it, but we DO celebrate a little bit of nerdy goodness. :) Have a great day! xox

AAAAH!

So it's been a mere 10 days since our wedding, and our super amazing videographer Amy Nelson-Blaine {Wedding Cinematography} has already created a snapshot of our wedding day on film.

Highlights? Oh yeah, there are plenty:

Aly & Jason - Wedding Film from Amy Nelson-Blain on Vimeo.

I've held off on plugging a little project of mine for the past month - mainly because I wanted to see if I could stick to it properly, but also because I wanted to let it grow a bit before I share it. See, I kind of forgot to set myself resolutions this year - though that was kind of accidentally on purpose, you know? Rather than make a big song & dance about resolutions, I decided I'd focus on trying a few things out this year. These are the top contenders:

So even though I'm spending my Halloween somewhere in Vienna and Oscar is still chillaxing back in London with Jase, I'm magically able to share some cat-costume goodness with you all. Behold, Oscar: rocking the 'stache:

I've been nagging my little brother to come and visit us here in London since the day I arrived here myself.

Other than travelling with our parents to California when we were younger, he has never really travelled outside of Australia. His interests didn't lie with travelling; they were with fixing up cars and spending money on the latest gadgets. We were offering him free accommodation in one of the most notoriously expensive cities in the world, and he didn't want to save for the flight to come and visit? He's crazy! I couldn't understand it. After a while, I gave up asking him about coming; he'd turned me down so many times, I knew he wasn't interested.

My little brother is actually not so little. In fact, he's considerably taller than me and possesses a metabolism that I covet, which enables him to stuff himself full of food and never gain a pound. Ridiculously unfair.

I wasn't always such a great big sister. Or maybe I was trying to be, but I didn't really know how to be one. And let's face it, he was an annoying little brat growing up - always irritating me, knowing all the right buttons to push to send me over the edge. I can't even begin to tell you how many times he managed to start something, see me snap in a spectacular fashion, and then sit back grinning while I copped all the flack from my parents. Brothers, I tell you.

He had his share of girlfriends as a young'un. And being the big sister, I judged them all and deemed them not worthy. If you know me at all, you'll know that I can pull off a pretty incredibly stern face. These girls, they were just babies. I'll admit it, I never want out of my way to be nice to them. Why would I? They weren't going to last. They weren't right for my brother, and I wasn't going to waste any time on them.

Until he met this girl. She was gorgeous - the kind of girl who cannot take a bad picture. She's sweet. She's funny. They're a perfect match. I love how she changed my little brother, and they give me the warm fuzzies.

The cuteness, it blinds me. Also, I wish J & I could get some sweet shots like that! These two make it look effortless.

Fast forward a few years, and I randomly get am email from my brother - telling me he's going to be here in September. Say, what? They are coming to London! A few phone calls, frantic text messages and late night emails later, and I found out the details: the pair were going to be in London for a week, followed by a week frolicking around Italy together before he heads back to Australia for work, and H heads to Europe with her girlfriends.

I am so, so excited for them to be here. They'll get to see our cosy little apartment and they'll get to see the city we've called home for the past three years.They'll get to travel internationally together for the first time. When they were planning, they mentioned wanting to visit Disneyland Paris, and having been there a few times (hi, I'm obsessed!) I began throwing a million ideas their way to help them with their planning.

Then something awesome happened; they invited us to go with them! Unfortunately Jase is working so isn't available, but I jumped at the chance to visit one more time - so from this Monday to Wednesday, I'll be off in France with my sibling and relishing being a third wheel. Paris, je t'aime! It's one of my favourite cities.

But aside from all of that, we do have one more ulterior motive to be so excited about their visit. My brother doesn't know it yet, but Jason is planning on asking him to be a groomsman on our wedding day. It would be awesome to have him involved, I can't wait to see his expression. I hope he'll be as excited about it as we are!

Did you, or are you planning to involve your siblings in your bridal party?

I've only ever shaved my legs.

It seems crazy in this modern day and age where new and improved hair removal treatments are coming out by the truck-load, but that's all I've ever done. I'm mostly happy about that - apart from losing several layers of skin across the last decade since a sharp razor combined with some dodgy co-ordination skills does not an unscathed leg make.

Every time I prepare to set off on a bout of travelling, I always wonder if I should bite the bullet and go for a professional leg waxing. A few weeks of not having to constantly be aware of the fuzz and bristles sprouting from my legs would be heavenly.. but alas, I am on a budget. And paying someone to cause me great pain and discomfort seems like a not so pleasant way to spend my limited shiny dollars.

I also have the pain threshold of a flea. Well, it's not so much about the pain itself, it's more that I can't stand the mere thought of pain. You know how ripping off a band aid hurts, but only for a quick second? I'm the kind of person who sits there and thinks about how painful it's going to be - essentially working my fears up to make it way more scary and painful than it was ever going to be. I think I got more than my share of the over-thinking genes.

I've had one short-lived experience with waxing, if you can call it that.

When I was fifteen, I decided I'd been a wimp for too long and I really ought to give it a go before I declare myself a non-waxer for the rest of eternity. Of course back then I was also not rolling around in the moolah, so I decided to take the budget approach and buy a home-waxing kit. Applying strips then ripping them off quickly? I can do that! It seemed pretty simple, and they had lots of diagrams to go along with it AND step by step instructions. I'm sold.

I followed the instructions word for word. I remember setting up my own little sterile area of my bedroom, ready to go. I had a towel underneath me (perhaps I was expecting an emergency, like accidentally waxing off my entire leg or something?) along with a few bowls to catch the used wax strips and a mirror. Don't ask me what the mirror was for: maybe I thought I'd get brave and venture on to other areas, once I'd mastered my technique. Preparation, ftw!

Ha. Haha. HAHAHAHA.

I had no technique.

Once I'd applied my first strip, I proceeded to sit there and admire it for a while - look! It's on straight! No bubbles! In reality, I was completely terrified of the fact that it had actually had to come off, and so I sat. And I waited. Eventually I decided to just DO it already, but just as I'd gripped the edge of the strip and began to count myself down, I wimped out. Repeat this a few times, and I'd turned into a big quivering heap at the mere thought of getting this ONE strip off, let alone continuing with the rest of my leg.. and other leg.

What I did next was what no woman should ever attempt to do when home waxing: I started peeling the wax strip off slowly. What followed was a lot of yowling and whimpering and me becoming a very, very frightened young woman, because WOW, THAT HURTS. Don't ever do that. Peeling slowly with gooey wax = slow, torturous death. By this stage, I had gone from slightly smug and highly self confident teenager to a flailing, panicking mess:

Come to think of it, looking back now it kind of reminds me of that scene from Friends, where Monica and Phoebe are experimenting with the wax strips that are supposed to be "pain-free". Only they persevered and kept on going. I couldn't do it. I wimped out after a few dismal attempts at removing the strip, slouched off to the bathroom in defeat and had a hot shower to soften off the strips before peeling them off in a big, gooey heap.

And then I shaved my legs.

Looks like I'll be sticking with my trusty razor for my upcoming travels.

Are you a leg shaver or a leg waxer? How do you cope with the pain factor?

Also: I'm a guest-poster for Britt who is off on her honeymoon as we speak - come check it out & leave her some love!

Since I'm feeling smug and self righteous this lovely Friday morning IN SEPTEMBER {wowsers} I intend on chilling out today. The coming weekends will see us begin the packing voyage, host the in-laws again AND my brother & his girlfriend, and me heading off to Paris for a few days. Busy, busy. To celebrate all things short and sweet, here's the next batch of snippets from my life - from my 'Life in 140 characters or less' series. And if you're not already..

• Go away morning, can't you see I'm asleep?
• Oscar freaks me out when he sleeps with his eyes open.
• EVERYONE ON MY FACEBOOK PAGE IS PREGNANT RIGHT NOW. /end caps
• I'm a bit embarrassed at how many little tins of rose-tinted Vaseline lip balm I have accumulated. {four?} I am addicted to the stuff.
• I have exactly 0 calories spare today; the obsessive-compulsive part of me really likes it when that happens.
• Jason is about to head off to a stag do involving paintballing and strippers. Hopefully not at the same time - that might be painful.
• Jase is being an ass-hat this morning and I'd rather like to punch him in the face.. but I will be a lady and restrain myself.
• I don't understand why you have to pay for checking bags.. I miss the old days when that was included in the cost of your ticket.
• I'll say it.. and you'll probably hear me say it again on the weekend.. but I'm NOT looking forward to the Notting Hill Carnival this year.
• Kind of ironic that they are cleaning the streets for carnival, when one day from now they'll be a mess of glass, chicken bones & vomit.
• I would seriously do a LOT of things for a few hot cinnamon donuts from the van parked across the road from us.
• Watching British documentaries on childbirth is an interesting way to spend a Thursday evening.
• So I wore a dress out today to the wedding.. with a new bra. And wowsers, my boobs looked ginormous. Not doing that combination again!
• I could get out and walk faster than this stupid bus.
• I just saw my first fox! Crazy noises coming from the backyard so looked out our window and saw him jumping over the fence.
• Sometimes I surprise myself with really petty thoughts.
• Would anyone like to make me a cup of tea?

Your turn: what's happening in your life right now? You have 140 characters or less to tell me.. go!

Newly arrived in laws + super early starts + keeping people entertained + too many cups of coffee = brain dead Aly.

Instead, here are some snippets from my life, summed up in 140 characters or less. Twitter, I was late on the bandwagon, but I'm beginning to love you so. {Not enough to start using the hash tags though. Sorry.}

• Bought the cutest scarf today; I can't wait to wear it! Wait, how do I wear scarves again? 
• Got home to a little package from one of my Aussie girls. Mix CD of obnoxious 90's music!
• I hate when word verification programs are impossible read. Do they purposely want you to fail? I don't understand it.
• Walking along south bank and going to meet @emilyjv - if I don't tweet again in an hour, she was an axe murderer, send help!
• Help!!!! No, I'm kidding. Had a great brunch with @emilyjv and now headed for London Bridge. :)
• I'm not going to tell you how many Jersey Shore episodes I watched this weekend.
• So 90% of my Twitter friends are at Blogher. And I'm in my pj's geeking out on the laptop at 8pm on a Friday night. Are you jealous?
• Why does Twitter want me to follow Taylor Swift?
• You know what makes me unhappy? TECHNOLOGY THAT DOESN'T WORK. I hate this scanner/printer/devil machine.
• I just looked up and Oscar was quite literally sitting IN an open kitchen cupboard.
• Right folks; if all goes well, my updated domain should be live now. Test it for me, let me know if it works! http://www.breathegently.com
• I think Jason is trying to kill me. Every time he shops, he buys 'strong flavour' onions that leave me crying and puffy eyed when I cook.
• Just ate pineapple and now my mouth feels all kinds of strange.
• I AM SO EXCITED THAT WE HAVE JUST BOOKED HAWAII FOR THE END OF THE YEAR, WOO. /end caps

I've been trying to think of ways to add simple challenges on to 'The List' for the past few days now - and came up with the perfect one, with thanks to V at Simply Charmed. You see, I'm a big fan of anything Disney. I am obsessed with the theme parks, I own quite a few of the films and there have been several occasions over the past few years throughout my childhood where I came home from visiting the Disney store with giant stuffed animals. I have a real soft spot for Eeyore, I'll admit it. But how can you not? He's so gloomy all the time.

I spoke too soon after being in such a good mood the other day; by mid afternoon, I'd hit the wall and gone into a bit of a slump. As soon as the boy got home from work, he made me a cup of tea and we had a bit of a chat - and we somehow got onto the subject of children.

You all know Oscar. He likes fish-smelling food, appearing out of nowhere like a ninja to attack feet in his general vicinity and knocking heavy items off our bookshelf in the wee hours of every morning to make sure we wake up to give him a midnight snack. He's also just a tiny bit feral, but we still love him.

Oscar is one spoiled cat. He's an only child, and he knows it. He has more cat toys in our little flat than I care to admit, and he's got both of us wrapped around his razor sharp talons of doom paws. Despite the growing number of mice and jingly balls that are taking up residence under the lounge and in dusty corners of the room, sometimes I just can't help myself. Friends, I'd like you to meet Lobster.

He may not look it, but Lobster is deadly. You have to watch those giant claws and glittery hind legs. He moves fast. And those eyes. They're always watching you. Oscar, prepare meet your nemesis. Mwahaha.

I'm back from our Swiss getaway, and have the Lindt choccies in the cupboard to prove it. Ah, bliss. If only every weekend were a long weekend . . .

So, as promised, I'm going to post six pictures today. If all goes well and my blog doesn't explode, I'll put a poll down the bottom, and you can cast your <extremely important> vote. In a couple of days time, I'll check out the stats, and reveal a winner! It's all very exciting, as I'm sure you can already tell.

(I'm not entirely sure if we've decided what the winner will get yet. I propose that if I am deemed the winner, I'll get unlimited hair brushing sessions for the rest of my days. I also propose that if Jason wins, he'll get the chance to provide these unlimited hair brushing sessions for the rest of my days. I'm sure he'll be pleased.)

Picture 1:

Picture 2:

Picture 3:

Picture 4:

Picture 5:

Picture 6:

And now, if my little polling gizmo-gadget loaded properly, cast your votes if you will!

I spent today working up in our North London office, which is one heck of a commute from where I live - so I'm feeling a trifle buggered and slightly incoherent. It doesn't help that I've apparently lost my mind, because I've been scatterbrained all day.

I left the house without a coat on in 8 degree weather and didn't realise I was cold until I was already on the train to work. I didn't charge my Ipod (and conveniently forgot to pack a book in my handbag) and so spent the commute bored out of mind, having resorted to reading the Metro (ack!) and people-watching. And halfway through the way, I had the sinking feeling that I forgot to use deoderant on one of my armpits this morning, because something was just not right with that.

Crazy.

I think tonight I'm going to skip dinner and instead curl up with some America's Next Top Model reruns. At least that way I won't accidentally leave something cooking in the microwave for an hour or set the cat on fire, because at the rate I've been going today - nothing is spared!

Apparently during NaBloPoMo, I'm nothing if not a follower - so when I saw some of these cool little gadgets floating around the blogosphere, I couldn't resist.

Here's my most randomly random mix of songs I love, dredged up from the depths of my Ipod and streaming free straight to your speakers! Have a flick through, pretend not to notice that half of my music collection is from the nineties, and comment!

Update!! - I've had so much fun with this player, I decided I had to create another one. (If only ALL the songs I wanted were available on that site.. but still. Music!

I'm saving at the moment - saving rather madly, in fact. I've been in London for almost a year (seriously?) and so over the next few months, I need to work Visa-wise what my next option is. I've already decided on my plan of attack, but it's unfortunately a very pricey one. Not only do I need to pay for the Visa alone, I also need to return home to start the ball rolling, and wait there while it's processed. Trust me when I saw it's a lengthy and painful process.

Suffice it to say that for the next couple of months, I'll be saving.

I did make one little splurge earlier this month, though. The first was a Christmas tree, a tiny 3 foot pre-dressed plastic tree. I flew out on Christmas last year, so I kind of missed it here in London - and there is no way I was going by this Christmas, the first one Jase and I will be spending with JUST US, without a tree. So, bought! I'm not sure how Oscar is going to take to this, seeing that he's now discovered how to jump great heights; like on the top of our huge chest of drawers and onto the waist high kitchen counters. Bugger.

The second? A boxset of the Harry Potter books, all of them. Now anyone who knows me, will remember that I already have all of the HP books, and have been a die hard Potter fan for years. Unfortunately with the great move, I couldn't bring them with me; so I've been contenting myself with the movies as a substitute while looking for second hand copies in the meantime.

After eleven months I've still had no luck; and all the second hand copies I've seen were on sale for almost the same price as the new ones! The set I got was from Amazon, and came with a cute little box, and all the paperbacks neatly inside. It's adorable. Well pleased with that purchase - not so pleased with Amazon though. Silly, silly little people - they shipped me two of it, thankfully haven't charged me for both yet, but I now have to go and return the second one... not happy, Jan.

So if I'm missing in action for the next few weeks, fear not. I'll just be going back to Hogwarts with Ron and Hermione, is all.

So . . . I'm booked in for a haircut next week. Because, let's face it, I suck at change - I figured I'd put it out there and see if you style gurus could help me suck it up and maybe, just maybe end up looking decent at the end of my salon visit.

Here's a bit of my (hairy) background: it's finally getting long again, after a bloody long time of restoring it after the choppy layered haircut of death a few years ago. It's always been quite thin and despite being dead straight, it does get a bit frizzy now and then. Despite being dry, the top always tends to get oilier faster, and I'm a very low maintenance girl when it comes to products. (In other words: I don't use anything.)

What I tend to stick with: I tend to grow it all out and long, then get frustrated and chop in a fringe and layers, which I end up hating with a passion. I do think I need a bit of a fringe, but I'm not sure I want more layers. I also don't want to chop it, because the last time I went shoulder length, I sat in the salon and bawled my eyes out for a good half hour. Let's just say I'm attached to the length.

This is sort of what it looks like now. (Notice I've resorted to pinning bits of it back because it looks seriously, seriously awful.) Worst part is, this is on a good day!

Right. Care to help me with advice? Celebrity pictures? Links? I need some advice, stat!

The last few weeks have been flying by. I haven't been doing anything spectacular, but for some reason the days are all blurring into one another. Here's what I've been doing over the last few days.

• Sleep, lots of sleep. I'm on the verge of coming down with something and my head has felt like twice it's usual size for the past few nights. It's not fun.


• Daydreaming about things to see and do in America. Baseball? Hot dogs? Yeah!


• By the way, I fly out in less than EIGHT WEEKS.


• Finally admitting I'm the last person alive who hasn't read Twilight yet, recieving a parcel from Kirby-face, and thoroughly getting into the whole vampire thing.


• Whinging, because all of a sudden, kitters loves Jason more than he loves me. My lap? I don't think so. Jason's lap? Much better. Dude, he didn't even want a cat. I'm the one that feeds you, buddy. I feel so betrayed!


• Did I mention I've been sleeping? [snore]

Moving right along, I have all the respect in the world for people who can photograph well. I'm a point and click kind of girl myself, but never fully realised how tricky it is to capture fast-moving-objects on film until recently. Suffice it to say, that I've ended up with some hilarious shots of Oscar that make my day - enjoy the outtakes.

POW POW POW!

Strike a pose. [Vogues]

I wonder which side of your face I should eat first? [Evil laughter.]

That's it! NO MORE PAPPARAZZI! [Flails]

You know it's Friday when . . .

You stand at the door of your apartment block, wondering why your automatic swipe card isn't opening the main door for a good five minutes, muttering under your breath all the while. And then you look down and notice that you are swiping the reader with your train ticket . . . and not your keys.

It's a long weekend here in London, and I'm thrilled. I am feeling quite ready for some down time, maybe some nice city strolls, and catching up on some book reading.

Fridays. Love them.

It's handy living with someone who is fairly up-to-speed on this obsessive/compulsive blogging habit of mine, because it works out perfectly when sickness arises.

Last night, out of nowhere, I came down with the sudden and drastic 'Oh hell, I think I need to barf, can't move without fear of barfing, but can't actually barf and will instead just feel like I am DYING OF THE QUEASE' illness. Apparently it is going around.

(Seriously, one second I was fine, and the next second I was literally green in the face. I went to bed and slept for twelve flipping hours. Feel fine now.)

By the way, all in favour of Jason doing a regular guest blog for me, please raise your hands. I am trying to inflate his ego by showing him the comment love on yesterday's post, but he's playing hard to get. Silly little man. We will get him back, oh yes!

I spent most of today skulking around the house in my fluffy pink dressing gown, although I did pry myself out of it to take a shower just before dinner. We're being homebodies, because the wonderful British transport system has shut down our train for the entire weekend; very handy, that. I have lost count of the number of Roswell episodes I've watched today, but I'm thoroughly enjoying it.

Other than that, life is quiet right now. Quiet, but comfortable. I like it like that.