I’ve believed in angels for as long as I can remember.

When I was 8 years old I saw angels for the first time in my bedroom on the morning of my dad’s funeral. Ten months later on my 9th birthday I saw them again, but with party hats on. When I saw them they appeared as black shadows all around my room and were no larger than one foot tall. Some might say they weren’t angels – maybe it was spirits from my soul family on the other side. But to me it felt like angels and there is no doubt in my mind that it was a gift from my dad from the other side.

My dad and I would always listen to Cold Chisel and adored everything about Jimmy Barnes. The song Angel in my Room was always one of our favourites and it played at my dad’s funeral. If you look at the lyrics beelow there is almost a very literal description of what I experienced those two mornings.

An angel in the shadows of my room. They literally appeared like shadows even though the sun had just come up. It’s quite amazing because I know my dad believed in spiritual things just like I do now. I wish he was still here on earth so we could share conversations about our beliefs and experiences. I know he communicates with me in other ways but I often wish I could just have a human to human conversation with him again.

There’s an angel in the shadows of my room
And she watches me when I’m all alone
When my sad heart is hurt and crying
That’s when she comes to me
And she leads me home

Last year when Kyle Gray announced his new Keepers of the Light oracle cards I actually missed the whole thing. At the time I didn’t know much about Kyle Gray except that he had another oracle card deck called Angel Prayers. At the time the word “prayer” put me off but I have since got the deck and absolutely love it.

I’m going to share with you some experiences I have had connecting with the Keepers of the Light. I might sound a little bit crazy, but all I do to connect with them is hold the card and look at it, then ask “[Name], please show or tell me what I need to know”. Usually I start hearing things – not physically, but it’s like I can hear words in my mind. Other times it’s just a feeling I get if they come close enough. Some are easier to hear and feel than others.

“I just want you to know I’m around.“

Hope – I have the word HOPE tattooed on my wrist and I also plan on calling my future daughter Hope, so when this was the first card I pulled from the Keepers of the Light deck, I knew it was the deck for me. Hope (as a concept) is the reason I am still alive today. When I went through the darkest times of my life I always had hope for the future and knew everything would work out the way it’s meant to someday. I always knew my dreams would come true. To connect with Hope who embodies so much potential and light is an amazing thing to do and she is an incredibly positive energy

Holy Amethyst had an amazing energy. It was so supportive and full of love. It felt like she was teaching me how to love myself and showing me that I am worthy, no matter what I’ve come to believe about myself. The second I connected with Holy Amethyst I felt overcome with emotion and started to cry. Connect with Holy Amethyst if you truly need some love and kindness.

Commander Ashtar is a butt-kicker, but in a loving way. He’s like a supportive father who just wants you to reach your full potential and to step into your power. He wants to say “you can do it!”

Archangel Michael – A true protector. He helps us all to protect our energy and to stay physically protected. Michael helps me come back down to earth. It’s almost like he gently guides my soul back to my body after every time I connect with him. After first connecting with Archangel Michael I simply started to ask him “Archangel Michael, show me what I need to know”. The next few nights I had dreams that I could remember in the morning (which NEVER happens as I rarely remember dreams) and I know it was thanks to Michael. What people don’t realise is that angels are around us all the time and all we have to do is ask for their help. They can’t interfere unless we ask. When I asked him if there was anything he wanted me to share, he said “I just want you to know I’m around“.

Freya – Wow wow wow. One of the most powerful and fiercely strong keepers of the light I’ve ever connected with. The artwork on the card looks just like a Freya I knew when I was little and I always admired her, although I tended to admire a lot of people that were older than me. Freya is the girl to pick you up off the floor when you are at your lowest and show you how strong you are. She is the ultimate feminist and badass bestie who’s got your back.

“Inspire, motivate, encourage. To all: Follow your heart. Do what feels right. What feels good.”

The Holy Spirit – There are no words I can say that will do justice to this energy. It is powerful beyond our understanding. “God” is a word I struggle with like I mentioned in My First Time at Church post and I even struggle with “holy” sometimes, but when I get this card I know there is so much out there that is bigger than me. The Holy Spirit makes me realise that I am part of a whole and that I am not a lonely soul just floating around down here by myself. It speaks to how interconnected we all are and expresses oneness. The word that comes to mind when I connect with this energy is “mission” – a soul mission.

Joan of Arc – I have an unexplainable connection to Joan of Arc. I admire her so much but she also intimidates me. In my mind she always looks about 14 years old (despite being 19 when she died) and she also has quite a passionate energy that comes across as angry at times. She is a fighter and a leader – she is not submissive. Joan of Arc is potentially one of the strongest females we have ever had here on earth.

Charity – Charity was an energy that was not very forthcoming with information. She kind of stood back and spoke really softly. She told me that she helps to guide people towards God and the light. She told me that sometimes it’s for our own good that we go through tough times but that if we ask for help and healing we will be given it on an energetic level from heaven. She wants people to think about how and why they give to charities – is it for the right reason? Is it just to lighten your own load and get crap out of your house, or is it because you want to help others?

Kuthumi – The answers are within. Those were his final words to me that he wanted me to share with those of you who are still reading this post. Kuthumi kept repeating that we need to look within, instead of outside for validation. True validation comes from within. People think they know how other people should be, instead of focusing on how they want to be. True wisdom lies within us all from our experiences in this lifetime and past lifetimes, but if we keep looking outside of ourselves for answers we will keep feeling lost.

At this point I started channeling the energies as you can tell by the change of format from being about my own personal thoughts on each of the Keepers of the Light, to what they were directly telling me.

All of the text below in italics were my part of the conversation, the rest was them.

Master Jesus –  I am so happy we have connected. I am here to help you walk along the path. What path? The path of life, of course. What is my responsibility in this lifetime? Heal. Help. Grow. What is my life purpose? Inspire, motivate, encourage. To all: Follow your heart. Do what feels right. What feels good.

Lady Venus – We have met before. I help you more than you know to help you to be your true self. Lady Venus, have I incarnated from your realm? Well of course. Many people have. The world needs our love and support. Donald Trump… he needs us. He will learn from us, we have much to teach people like him. Trust your inner voice, your instincts and intuition. Earth beings receive many messages from us that are ignored or suppressed. We won’t give up, we will always give messages. How many starseeds are there on the planet right now? 6 million. Are these all from your realm? No. Have faith, have trust. You are loved and supported.

Krishna – I apologise for thinking you were a female all this time. Its okay. Yin/yang – both energies reside in each and every being. What do you want to share with us? Many people on the planet are going through a rough time, but there is love and support available to everyone. Have I been an Indian in a past live? Yes. You have had many lives. What was my role in that life? Caretaker, mother. How many children did I have? Four. 3 elder boys and one girl. What is your message to me? We all need to go through tough times to make us stronger. Things have not been easy for you lately but it will help you in the long run. With each difficult experience your soul grows and learns how to cope with something new. You get stronger and richer with each experience.  Peace, love and understanding is with you all. Especially the people who display none of those qualities. It is your path to help people reach peace, love and understanding. You radiate love and you are named after peace in this lifetime. It is your soul mission. How do I do that? Be you. Seek out those who are in pain and lost. Those who act up because they don’t know how to cope. You can help them.

White Eagle – You’ve been ignoring my messages. You feel like you have no family but you have such a long line of spirits up here looking after you. They love you so much. What do you want to share with us? There are many broken families, many people hurting from family trauma. On the other side, many spirits come to an understanding of how their actions have impacted you throughout your current live. Past life karma is very heavy within families on the planet right now. Understanding can heal much of it. If you surrender the pain and trauma to heaven you will be more free – free to heal and to attract the love you deserve, not the love you think you deserve. What message do my ancestors have for me? They send much love to you – if you could feel it, you would be brought to tears. Is there anything they want me to do or accomplish this lifetime? Just be you. Follow your heart and it will lead you to wonderful things. Huge accomplishments that will make you noteworthy for years after you’ve left earth. Why am I here all alone this lifetime? You’re not. They are around you every day. Why don’t I feel it? Because you have locked yourself away.. put yourself in a loveless box. How do I get out of the box? Visualise it being thrown into a deep ocean. You will never see it again. You will then feel their love around you. Feel the light on your skin when you are outside. They love to be outside with you.

“Just be you. Follow your heart and it will lead you to wonderful things. Huge accomplishments that will make you noteworthy for years after you’ve left earth.”

So how can you connect to the Keepers of the Light?

1. Buy Keepers of the Light. It’s a really good price and tends to retail for $20 but you can definitely get it cheaper than that – the lowest price I ever saw was $9.74 so keep a look out for any sales.
2. Familiarise yourself with the cards. Look at each one of the cards when you get them. See at their faces, their outfits, their surroundings. Read the key words on the bottom of the card, or turn to the book if you want more information.
3. Then simply close your eyes and ask them a question. I usually start with something generic to get the conversation to flow.
4. Don’t be discouraged if you don’t receive answers right away, or at all. Don’t freak out if you do get messages – try to be in a calm, meditative place where you are alone so you can be open to as much clarity as possible.
5. Remember: You don’t need to use the deck at all to connect with the keepers of the light. Just use your own intuition and energy to connect with theirs and receive some guidance. 

We are all capable of connecting with the keepers of the light. We just need to be open to it.

SKAM (translated to “SHAME”) is one of the most successful television programs to come out of Norway, if not THE most successful. There are two dominant themes throughout the series: first loves & identity. However, there is another theme that has remained present (albeit in the background) throughout the seasons: religion & spirituality. I will get to that soon but first I want to give a little background on the show and the characters.

If you have been living under a rock and never heard of SKAM, it is a series based on teenagers that attend Nissen High School in Oslo, Norway. It doesn’t sound ground-breaking when you read a one sentence synopsis, but the format of the show is unique and unlike anything that has come before it. Clips are released in real time throughout the week on the NRK website, and then combined into one episode that airs on a Friday evening. By doing this it targets both the teenage crowd (their target market) by allowing them to live their lives alongside the characters which keeps them engaged 24/7. It also targets the older crowd who are used to more traditional media and sitting down to watch an episode of a show on television each week.

To make the show even more realistic, we see their social media posts on screen. Messenger conversations, YouTube channels, Instagram posts, FaceBook accounts, and Tinder are utilised in a way that we use social media these days as millenials in a way that no other show has done yet. As a viewer you can follow the characters you love on social media for extra content, blurring the lines between the actors real lives and the characters.

You can compare television shows like UK’s Skins to SKAM’s format but SKAM is even better. It’s less gritty and peculiar than Skins, but just as juicy and entertaining. SKAM focuses on one character’s perspective each season, as opposed to each episode as seen on Skins. This allows you to dive deeper into a character’s story arc and follow their journey in-depth throughout the 3-4 months in which the season takes place.

All the characters make mistakes like any other teenager, but SKAM never judges or pities their characters, leaving you to come to your own conclusions and space to come up with theories to fill in the blanks. SKAM trusts that you are a smart individual and doesn’t treat you like you are an infant like some series tend to do. If I had to pick one word to describe SKAM apart from amazing, it would be heartfelt.

Warning: This post will contain spoilers up until episode three of season four.

“It’s 2016 and the world is progressing.
Don’t you get that it’s [religion’s] nonsense?”

The first season focused on Eva; a girl who had no friends apart from her boyfriend and his best friend. We follow Eva’s journey while she finds a new group of friends and navigates her messy, seemingly perfect teenage relationship. Eva never mentioned her religious, spiritual or personal beliefs and most of her moral compass was influenced by the people around her. Spirituality was not a factor in Eva’s season apart from the offensive remarks made towards Sana who is a Muslim girl in Eva’s friendship group.

Fan-favourite Noora was the focus of season 2. Noora is a strong feminist and loyal friend that we fell in love with in the first season. We followed her journey of falling in love with the teenage heartthrob/fuckboy, William (aka Willhelm). We mostly see her struggle with her feminist identity and navigate her way through her feelings for William as her judgement is clouded by love and she feels not like herself. Unlike Eva, Noora’s moral compass is completely internal which is why she found it so challenging when William challenged her views. Spirituality and religion was not much of a factor for Noora either as she was so self relient and introverted when it came to her values. When Noora began questioning her own ideals during her relationship with William, Sana gave her the following advice: “If you say you’re in favor of a world full of peace you actually have to try to understand why others think and act the way they do.”

Note: Season 2 also deals with darker themes that may trigger some people so please be sure that you will feel safe watching.

“If you say you’re in favor of a world full of peace you actually have to try to understand why others think and act the way they do.”

Season 3 was the most popular by far and focused on Isak who is struggling with his sexuality and home life so he moves into Noora’s old room once she leaves to move to London (spoiler: she returns). His relationship with new student Even is complicated, messy, on and off, and devastatingly beautiful. To quote Ronan Keating, life is a rollercoaster for Isak. Although Even is not the first boy Isak has had a crush on, he is his first real relationship and like Eva and Noora, we watch him navigate the waters of his first love.

Isak’s mother is very religious and sends him regular Bible passages via text message, causing Isak to roll his eyes and question if his parents will accept him if he is gay. He stands up for Sana (his biology partner) when a teacher calls her hijab a burqa, but struggles to understand her faith himself. He once asked her, “no offence, but why are you actually religious?” Towards the tail end of the conversation Sana asks him what he believes in, his reply is “I believe in science. The theory of evolution. Nothing else.” Despite not identifying with any religion, Isak is still somewhat interested in the metaphysical and has his own beliefs about parallel universes and infinity.

Towards, the end of the season Isak finds out that his boyfriend Even once memorised the Quran in Arabic. Although this has not been discussed further in the show yet, there are many fan theories about what this could mean in the context of the fourth and final season with Sana as the main character. Even’s secret past at his old school has not been exposed yet, all we know his that he “acted crazy” and was friends with Sana’s older brother at one point. This is going to cause a lot of drama between Isak and Even as they have never talked about it and Even continues to hide what happened even when questioned about it.

“Can’t we just agree that there’s a lot between heaven and earth none of us know about? Instead of sitting here criticising my religion, just respect that we have chosen different beliefs.”

After being a scene stealer in the first 3 seasons, Sana is now the main for season 4. Sana is a muslim girl who is a badass, a fiercely loyal friend and an all-around adorable munchkin (but don’t tell anyone). Continuing the theme of the show of ‘first loves’, Sana’s season seems to be heading towards being about her first relationship (she is not in a relationship as of the time I am writing this during episode 3) as she is crushing on her older brother’s friend, Yousef. Yousef is a sweet, caring, funny, smart, attractive boy who works at a kindergarten and wants 12 (yes TWELVE) kids so he can have his own football team. Being an introvert, Sana keeps her cards close to her chest and doesn’t let on to her friends about her crush.

In her own words, Sana’s main struggle is being “a muslim girl in a faithless country”. Balancing her home life, her spirituality, and her friends is a continuous juggling match and she is going to drop the ball eventually. She is on a russ bus with her friends and has not told her mum about it yet. Her friends have no concept or idea of her culture and beliefs; her friend Vilde in particular has made offensive comments in the past (Sana just glares, rolls her eyes and moves on as she is used to it). In previous seasons Sana has been an enigma; we have had jokes made about her “magical hijab”, reflecting just how naïve most of us are to Muslim culture.

Julie Andem, creator of SKAM, said the following in relation to creating a character like Sana, “The point was to make a character that chooses her own relation to her religion. She has strong faith, but she doesn’t need to relate to the whole package the culture is trying to push on her.” It’s incredibly interesting as the season 4 trailer when reversed plays the song “Don’t let me be misunderstood” which was performed by a women who converted to Islam.

The first three episodes of Season 4 were quite peaceful but most of us knew it wasn’t going to last as Julie Andem said, “shit’s about to go down”. She wasn’t wrong. At the end of the third episode, Sana finds out that Yousef (the boy she’s been crushing on) is not Muslim like she had assumed he was. Although it remains to be seen how she will proceed knowing this news, it’s safe to say that it will cause a lot of inner turmoil for Sana.

But I’m just a soul whose intentions are good
Oh Lord, please don’t let me be misunderstood

As someone who identifies with new age spirituality, attended a Lutheran high school and has mostly as athiest or agnostic friends, I am incredibly fascinated by Muslim culture and Islam. All I have heard about Muslims prior to SKAM is what is depicted on the news or shared on social media which is incredibly racist and xenophobic. There is a lot of fear in Australia about Muslims and I am so grateful that a show like SKAM exists and has reached me on the other side of the world thanks to the internet. This season of SKAM has come around at the perfect time. We need to be educated and we need to have our eyes opened instead of living in segregation and ignorance.

One of the most interesting things is how SKAM plays on the prejudices we have internalised so much that we don’t even realise how judgemental they are. This is shown through the character’s own prejudice. Isak has internalised homophobia and despite questioning is his sexuality and living with his roommate Eskild (who is an openly proud gay man), he claims in Pride (click and scroll for full clip translation), “There’s nothing wrong with being gay, it’s just that I’m not gay gay. […] You understand what I mean. You talk about sucking dick and Kim Kardashian and lavender scents out loud. I mean, I totally respect that you’re taking the gay package all out, I’m just not like that.”

Instead of Eskild having an immediate hot headed tumblr-like reaction, he takes the time to educate Isak in a calm, quiet way, ending the conversation by saying, “and now I don’t really want to talk more with you, so now you can just sit here and think about what I said”, then calmly leaves the room. There was no shouting, yelling, accusing or abuse. In such a simple yet thoughtful way SKAM shows us how to treat each other and how to have important conversations with the people in our lives. Isak is not a villian for saying what he said which was quite offensive and thoughtless, but he is flawed like the rest of us. Flaws do not mean you’re a bad person. Being uneducated does not mean you’re a bad person. It just means you have something to learn.

“Islam says the same as always. That all people in this world are of equal worth. And that no man shall be slandered, violated, judged or ridiculed. If you hear someone use religion to justify their hate, do not listen to them. Because hate doesn’t come from religion, it comes from fear.”

SKAM’s success is unprecedented, especially for Norwegian entertainment. One-fifth of Norway watch SKAM on a weekly basis, and in 2016 it became popular worldwide thanks to social media (Tumblr in particular). Unfortunately, it was recently announced that season 4 was going to be SKAM’s final season. The fandom remains confused, devastated and in disbelief at the news as SKAM was perfectly set up for six seasons, but we keep on carrying on and are enjoying this season while it lasts.

A US version of SKAM called SHAME is currently in development. This has caused both excitement and concern amongst the fandom as SKAM is a precious series that is dear to our hearts. We hope that SHAME does justice to the original, whilst not being a direct copy. It will be interesting to see how they approach the spiritual and religious themes portrayed in SKAM, as America is a very religious country with 70% of the population identifying as Christians, 30% being agnostic or atheist, and less than 1% identifying with Islam. The United States are known to be a very racist and intolerant country when it comes to Islam and depending on the team hired to write the show, they may fail to straddle the line between depicting the racism that Muslims face, and being downright offensive.

If you’ve watched SKAM please come chat about it with me in the comments below! I would love to hear your theories, analyses and straight up fangirling about this wonderful show. If you’ve never watched or even heard about SKAM, I hope I’ve inspired you to watch it and I hope you love it as much as the rest of us do.

Here is part two of my first shots with the Lomo’Instant. I’ve definitely had a lot of dud shots with this camera but for the most part it is an enjoyable camera to work with. I rarely change up the lens or use the coloured gel filters, but maybe in future I will need to break those out.

I’ve always loved Instax photos and can not believe how many doors the Lomo’Instant has opened. My favourite feature is definitely the self timer/remote shutter and I am still having issues with the focus settings. Hopefully I’ll sort that out in time…

Having disposable cameras at parties is one of the best things you can do. It’s super fun and everyone looks awful in photos – what isn’t to like? No matter how great or terrible we look, you can’t deny that the photos are natural and that they capture the moment.

All photos were taken on Fujifilm ISO 400 disposable cameras.

View more from the Disposable Diary series here.

On Saturday night I hosted a Christmas party with my high school friends.

It was so good to catch up with everyone in person as it’s been over a year since this group got together. I absolutely love hosting. Getting to create an atmosphere that will make for the most joyous and enjoyable experience for everyone at the event is really satisfying and fun for me.

As most of you know, these days it can be hard to truly connect with people on a human level. I often say that we are turning into robots – constantly relying on our phones, computers and self serve checkouts at the grocery store. It seems like basic human connection is not enough and we need to constantly be connected to the world at the same time, but this night proved me wrong. People still want human connection and friendships. We still want to laugh around the dinner table while taking pictures wearing silly glasses and hats. We want to create genuine memories and have honest conversations about life.  It’s a shame that this group doesn’t come together more often. I’m going to try to change that next year.

All photos were taken with either the Fujifilm Instax Wide 300, or the Lomo’Instant Wide. The Lomo’Instant Wide was perfect for this event thanks to the remote/self timer.

It is rare that I find an oracle deck that I truly connect with. The Sacred Creators Oracle is one of the few that I completely vibe with. If you identify as a creative or even better, a spiritual creative, this is a deck you need in your life. It’s the perfect one to keep in a home office for a quick message each day, to reinvigorate you, or inspire you when you are overwhelmed.

The Sacred Creators Oracle is a relatively new deck and was initially crowdfunded on Kickstarter earlier this year. I believe it is the first deck by Chris-Anne and I am desperately hoping she creates more decks in the future. The quality of the card stock, the book, and the box is incredibly beautiful and is one of the best I have ever seen. Both the cards and the box have a matte finish which is lovely and smooth to touch. The box is quite large and very sturdy cardboard. It’s not a small paper box like most tarot cards come in.

The colours show up beautifully. The sides of the cards have a shiney gold gilding, but it’s not the type of guilding where all the cards are stuck together and you have to try to separate them – they were all already separated and felt so beautiful to hold. The size of the cards is perfect – similar to a regular tarot deck like The Wild Unknown.

The guidebook is wonderful – 270 pages of information on each of the 67 cards, as well some some spreads and other information. Each of the card meanings have up to 4-5 pages worth of information which is great as sometimes I get stumped as to why I’ve picked the card that I did. The book is so well done and I’m really glad that Chris-Anne poured so much love into it.

My favourite part of the book is how each card meaning as different sections that are individual to the card. In most tarot + oracle books it is the same layout – card meaning, affirmation, etc. Chris-Anne really goes into detail and has personalised each card – each one stands out as it’s own message and doesn’t just feel like it belongs to a group which I love.

I actually started working on my own oracle card deck early last week and was surprised to see how similar my visual concepts were to this deck. I will definitely need to do some tweaking while ironing out the details (my concept was a watercolour background with a scribbly line art drawing on top with a key word or phrase).

Please pick up this deck if you are a creative, self-employed, or if it resonates with you. It is a very uplifting deck but it also helps you work through any issues or problems you may be experiencing, both personally and professionally.

For those of you who were following me early this year you might remember that I did the 90 Day Instax Challenge which I absolutely loved but I think for a few months after that I just stopped using Instax cameras. It made me realise that there weren’t a lot of things in my life worth taking photos of and that I had to change that before I did another challenge like it. I’ve been trying to live more which has meant trying to be more present and less distracted, especially when hanging out with friends or family. 

I hope you enjoy these pictures taken with the Lomo’Instant Wide and the Fujifilm Instax Wide throughout the year. 

This year I discovered one of my favourite places on Earth: Crystal Castle.

I went there for the first time a month ago with my friend Simone and her baby girl Lilly and it was wonderful. Before we got there I was feeling really down and low energy, and even just being five minutes away from there I started to feel so much better. It is located in the Byron hinterland with very little phone service, and I think that keeps it pure. When we actually got in there and had a look around and started to walk among the crystals, I felt even better.

At Crystal Castle you have your choice of different nature walks and psychic readings. Both Simone and I got a psychic reading and loved it – it was actually one of the best experiences I have ever had. The lady that read for me was so positive and saw so much potential for me, which made me feel a lot better and gave me the motivation and the pick me up I needed. She was on point with my personality and my gifts. I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop and to get some negative information or difficult information to handle but it never came which was such a beautiful feeling. Sometimes it’s nice to have someone see all the things you have going for you, whether you are in that energy or not. We didn’t do any of the different nature walks that day as we had the pram with us and the weather wasn’t too nice, so when the opportunity came to go with some of my other friends, I was excited to explore more of what Crystal Castle had to offer.

Brittany, Janice, Sarah and I made our way down to Crystal Castle last Sunday, despite the weather report telling us there may be rain and lightning. We got incredibly lucky as there was no rain and no lightning! It was a beautiful, sunny, humid day which was beautiful and such a relief. I didn’t get a psychic reading this time, but I did get aura photos and was disappointed to learn that my aura was still red. I think it will remain that way until next year when I make a lot of changes to my life and I start a new journey.

My favourite feature of the grounds is most definitely The Wishing Tree. Thousands of wishes and intentions have been set and hung on the tree over the years. Some have fallen onto the ground. My friend Janice said that maybe all the wishes that have come true are the ones that are now on the ground. I loved that. I certainly hope mine will fall to the ground someday. I checked where I hung my wish and intention last time and it was still there.

I’m so glad I took my DSLR as it was a beautiful day and I didn’t want to have to wait for film to be developed! I hope you enjoy the pictures as much as I enjoyed my day there.

If you ever get the chance, I highly recommend visiting Crystal Castle. There is truly something for everyone, whether you consider yourself a spiritual person or not.

I’ve been wanting to do a “Top 10 Vinyl Records” post for a long time now, but I had no idea how to classify them – should I pick my favourite albums, the records that were hardest to find, or the ones that had the most value personally. I decided to choose this specific Top 10 based on rarity, colour, and price.

When purchasing records I always look out for any exclusive or limited edition versions. For example, a couple of months ago ‘Purpose’ by Justin Bieber was released on vinyl. I had preordered it on Amazon and it was a standard black vinyl edition. Just before the release date Urban Outfitters announced they would be releasing an exclusive clear vinyl of the album. I immediately cancelled my Amazon preorder and purchased the Urban Outfitters version, even though it cost a little bit more. I really love coloured records and although I included a few picture discs in this post, I’m not too fussed on those.

There are two records I am dying to get: English Rain by Gabrielle Aplin (Blue), and A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out by Panic! At The Disco (Gold). They are both astronomically expensive so if I ever see them at a decent price I will pounce on them straight away. But for now, here is my Top 10…

 

What I Paid: Not sure exactly but it was around $120

 

Fall Out Boy – Infinity on High (2 x 12″)
Hot Topic Exclusive
Colour: Clear with Blue with White Splatter
2500 copies pressed.
What I Paid: $24.55 USD

Joan Jett – Bad Reputation (12″)
Hot Topic Exclusive
Colour: Transparent Purple/Opaque Lavender split
What I Paid: $18.99 USD

Clueless Soundtrack (12″)
Urban Outfitters Exclusive Picture Disc (still available)
Colour: Yellow Plaid
What I Paid: $35.98 USD

The Perks Of Being A Wallflower – Soundtrack (12″)
Urban Outfitters Exclusive
Colour: Transparent Green
What I Paid: $22.98 USD

5 Seconds of Summer – Self Titled (12″)
Limited Edition Record Store Day Release
Colour: Picture Disc – album cover on one side, graphic design on the other
What I paid: $40-60ish on eBay

Justin Bieber – Believe (2 x 12″)
Limited Edition – only 1000 copies pressed for the VIP package on his Believe tour.
Colour: Picture Disc
What I Paid: $50 for the record + full merch pack from when Justin was in Australia. The insert is signed. It now goes for $500+ on eBay.

Ryan Adams – 1989 (2 x 12″)
Barnes and Noble Exclusive
Colour: Seafoam Green
What I paid: $30.60 USD on eBay – Available for $18.99 at Barnes and Noble

One Direction – Midnight Memories (7″)
Limited Edition Record Store Day Release
Colour: Picture Disc

Maroon 5 – Songs About Jane (2 x 12″)
Limited Edition – 500 copies pressed
Colour: Red/Peach/Black Swirl
What I Paid: $105.12 USD

I’d love to do my Top 10 Records I own in the future so do let me know if you are interested in that. Please leave me a comment if you are a vinyl collector – I’d love to hear about some of your favourites in your collection.

We need to live more.

These words that have been circling my head for the last few months, and honestly, I’ve been trying to do it, hence why I have been pretty inactive on this blog. I’ve done my best to leave fear behind and have been out in the world trying to find the things that fuel me and make me happy, whilst trying to achieve some of the goals I have that have always been a bit more difficult for me to accomplish. In doing that, I have become extremely drained and desperate to travel. Tangalooma Island is only 2 hours from where I live which was perfect as we were only able to go for a couple of days.

The first 2 days of the trip were great – exactly what we needed, but on day three is where things kind of turned for the worst. We went Quad Bike Riding and I accidentally went into a wall that has left a huge, nasty bruise on my thigh. Janice got a bruised foot from doing something that she doesn’t even remember. Then I had my first and only panic attack on Day 3 after I got off the Banana Boat. We managed to end the day with a lovely dinner at Tangalooma’s Fire & Stone restaurant which made up for the kind of crappy day we had.

We found out Donald Trump was elected President on the boat ride home on Day 4, which was the worst possible end to the holiday. I think his Presidency will stir up even more passion and fight in those of us who believe in a globalised world where every type of person is accepted. People have fought for generations to get to where we are and we aren’t going to stop or give up now. Everyone woke up feeling divided today, but I think over the next four years we will unite and come to understand that we can’t keep living the way we have been. We can’t keep on living out of hatred and fear. Love really is the only answer to all of this and I think it’s up to those of us who still believe in love to be the ones to make the change, and do their best to change the world for future generations, as those who came before us did for us.

There’s not a lot I can say to introduce this…

See more posts from The Typewriter Sessions here.

Have any of you noticed that the hot topic of the moment is “being single“? Even though I have been cutting back on social media lately I still have been bombarded by videos and blog posts on it and I thought that as an expert on the topic myself that I should share what being single has been like for me for the last (nearly) 25 years.

I have never had a boyfriend. In a way I wish I had experienced a high school or university relationship but those times in my life were very tough and I think it may have made me even more fragile at the time.

Why am I single?

• Up until the age of 21 or so I was too shy and lacked enough confidence to ever tell anyone I liked them.
• I have self sabotaged by setting up my friends with the guys I’ve liked, just so were are around me but didn’t have the “misfortune of dating me”.
• I have a protective bubble – like a force field – that knocks back people from metres away. I’m working on eliminating this bubble but it takes time.
• I’ve not met a guy in years that I have been attracted to. It’s made me question my sexual orientation and I’m probably somewhere on the bisexual scale but when I picture my future I picture myself with a husband.

What are the benefits of being single?

• You get a whole bed to yourself.
• You don’t have to work around anyone else’s routine; you can do what you want when you want.
• There’s no need to compromise when you’re single. It’s the time in your life where you truly get to live the way you want to live.
• You have a lot of time to pursue the things you’re passionate about.
• You can work a lot and start to make a lot of money. I have two jobs which keeps me pretty busy and I love having the extra money at the beginning of the month.
• There’s no relationship drama. The amount of my friends with boyfriends that tell me all about the drama they experience with their partner makes me grateful that I am not dating them.
• You learn what you need from a partner. I think this is such an important one. If more people were single in their late teens/early twenties I think there would be a higher success rate for long term relationships and people would be happier in their relationships. I know that anyone I am going to date needs to have similar values to me as those are my foundation. Similar interests would be great also as my hobbies and interests take up so much of my time.

Do I want a boyfriend?
Well of course. But in a way I wish I was already coupled up so my lifestyle didn’t have to change too much and we could just sit on the lounge watching tv and movies.

Am I happy being single?
I think so. Being single has really helped me get to know myself and overcome a lot of issues that I’ve had since childhood that other people would call “baggage”. Sure, everyone has baggage to some degree but I think I just have a carry on case now and I can carry that myself. If someone else wants to open the case and take a look that is great, but the case is mine and mine only. My baggage isn’t the size of a shipping container that I want someone else to transport around. I think being single really allows you to put time into yourself and improve yourself.

I don’t think I am the happiest I could be in life but I’m definitely not miserable and I don’t think my happiness lies within other people anyway.

What would I recommend doing if you are single?

• See a psychologist. I don’t think there is a single person on the planet who doesn’t need to see a psychologist at some point in their lives. The best time to go is when you’re single. I went from March 2013 to December 2014 and in that time I overcame a lot of grief and depression I had felt from when my dad passed away when I was 8. I learned to love myself a bit more, and I gained confidence in myself. If you are going to see a psychologist I highly recommend seeking out one yourself. I found mine by googling “psychologist [suburb]”. I looked through the list and instantly found the one for me and I loved her. If I wasn’t her patient I would have wanted to be her friend and I know she felt the same way.
• Try some hobbies and find what you love doing. My personality is drawn to the arts so I go to concerts, craft a lot, take photos, write, and recently got really into spirituality and personality types. It’s great if you can find something that changes a lot or is something that is constantly evolving so it can be a lifelong hobby or interest if you want it to be.
• Learn to take care of yourself. This is a great point that Hannah Witton mentioned in her video on the topic. You will gain confidence in yourself and know that no matter what happens you can keep yourself alive and do everything yourself when you need to. This involves knowing how to manage your money and do taxes, cook healthy recipes, even exploring your sexuality, going to the movies alone, and doing everything just for you.
• Take photos of yourself. I’ve noticed that people take more photos when in relationships which sure, makes sense. But you don’t want to have periods of your life missing just because you were single. Take photos of yourself so you can remember the time in your life where you grew and learned so much.
• Expand your circle. This is easier said than done but if you are able to expand your friendship group, definitely do so. If you want to meet new people and possibly form new relationships or friendships then you need to expand your circle. You never know who you will meet through someone else.
• Buy yourself flowers. Don’t wait around for a guy (or girl) to buy you flowers.

I’d love to hear about what being single has been like for any of you so please leave a comment so we can chat some more.

A year ago (almost to the day), I discovered a tape of Super 8mm film. It was addressed to my grandmother and had been hidden in a memory box of all of my dad’s old things. I was so excited to find it because I have always loved the warmth and nostalgia of Super 8 film.

I highly recommend getting any old film or VHS tapes transferred – although this held up pretty well seeing as it was from 40 years ago, film won’t last forever and it’s great to have a back up of your previous family memories.

The type of film this was shot on was Agfa Chrome Super 8.

It took me quite a few months to finish this roll of film. I believe I started in early December and finished in February. Then it took me another 4 months to get the film developed. Sometimes that is the beauty of film – capturing something that is fleeting, forgetting about it, and then rediscovering it months later.

These photos were taken on a Fujifilm 400 ISO disposable camera.

View more from the Disposable Diary series here.

I finally got the film developed from a disposable camera I purchased in Sydney! I was so excited to get it back, and I still have another 2 cameras that I used in Sydney to get developed. I can’t wait to see the other photos.

Monia and I at bowling before The 1975

We played as Harry Styles and Zayn Malik

The 1975 at the Hordern Pavilion

Went to Luna Park with Dianna – it was really fun but I’ve got to say, Luna Park is not what it was back in the day haha.

Fortune Telling. He told me someone was jealous of me.

This must have been just after I cut my hair. My hair now is pretty long again but I really like the way it looks here.

Failed mirror selfie

Timezone with Janice

My brother aka my favourite person on the planet

Having dinner before Little Mix

Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre

Waiting for Little Mix

My favourite old boots. The insides and outsides are ruined but I will wear them until the day they completely fall apart.

Empty train

All photos were taken on a Kodak Disposable camera.

View more from the Disposable Diary series here.

A couple of months ago I was given a Pentax Espio 738 by a family friend. I was pretty excited to use it due to the self timer feature and the ease of use of the camera. It’s been really fun to use and I enjoyed carrying it around with me – in fact it is still the only camera in my handbag.

The shots aren’t fantastic, but I’m hoping they will improve as I use the camera more and put a higher speed film in there.

A few months ago I was browsing Amazon when I stumbled across the Linestrider Tarot. I was immediately struck by the bright white aesthetic and the seemingly simple images and knew I had to get it.

The Linestrider Tarot was originally funded on Indiegogo and had a limited print run in 2015. It was then picked up by a major publisher and released in May 2016. For just $28 you can pick up the deck as well as the guidebook which is 272 pages.

The second edition release now comes in a large, beautiful box which includes both the deck and the book. The issue I have with the box is that it is so large and impractical. I think I will end up ditching the box eventually and keeping the tarot deck in a silk bag, and keeping the book with my other spiritual books.

The card backs have changed from a mid-toned purple, to a white and blue ink splatter design. I much prefer this as it goes better with the aesthetic of the deck, and it matches more closely to my own colour preferences.

The cards themselves are very varied in colour – it feels like Siolo has utilised the elements of earth, water, air and fire in the colour scheme of this deck. I find very few of the cards to be positive and uplifting, even the ones that have the most beautiful meanings. Overall this deck for me, depicts struggle and movement, or lack thereof which is quite relevant to my life at this time. I love how decks find you when you most need them.

The guidebook is truly wonderful. It is one of the better tarot books I have come across (The Lumina Tarot being the other) as it brings tarot into the 21st century. You get a black and white full page image in the guidebook, along with two pages of information about the card. Sometimes tarot can be really outdated and old fashioned in the way words are attributed and associated with the cards, but this is a great beginner deck and the guidebook is fantastic if you’re looking for some up-to-date, relevant interpretations of the cards.

Of course it is always good to use your own intuition and form your own card meanings, but if you are unsure or if nothing comes to mind, it’s a great book to fall back on.

I’ve only had the deck for one week and am already loving the readings I am getting with it. I find that there is a dark element to this deck which is similar to The Wild Unknown tarot deck. Even though the colour scheme is very light, the black line drawings cut through that and add a real shadow vibe. I don’t feel it is a particularly happy deck and I probably wouldn’t reach for it if I was feeling down. It is great for self reflection and will help you to gain clarity about situations that could be bringing you down or holding you back.

Please let me know if you have picked up this deck, or if you are considering it. Is it your aesthetic? I like anything white and watercoloured, and tend to avoid decks with black borders so this one is right up my alley.  I have quite the tarot and oracle card collection now so if there are any you would like me to review, please check out the list and let me know in the comments.

Back in 2014 I purchased my first medium format camera – a Lubitel Universal. It was about $60 on eBay and for some reason I was really nervous to use it because I was not confident in my ability to focus or to set the correct settings for each shot. Surprisingly, the results were so much better than I had anticipated! I love when that happens because sometimes you are completely disappointed by a roll – even though the shots I took weren’t very interesting, I am now confident enough to take the camera out and to use it in various other settings and hopefully capture some fun shots.

Let me know your favourite 120 film in the comments below. I used Lomography Earl Grey 100 for these shots.

Sometimes just three or four hours can repair something that had fallen apart over three to four months. Earlier this year I went down to the creek with my friends – Janice and Brittany wanted to go stand up paddle boarding, Sarah and I were happy to just chill out in the water.

Lots of little things had added up to a friendship falling out and this day was the first time seeing each other since hashing it all out. It was a nice Sunday – we swam for a bit and then got fish and chips for lunch. I hope to have more days like this in the summer.

All photos were taken on a Kodak Underwater camera with Kodak Color 400 35mm film.

View more from the Disposable Diary series here.

For over two years I’ve been wanting to write about this show but there was one problem: how do you write about something that has impacted your life so greatly?

Firstly, if you’ve never heard of the Channel 4 television series My Mad Fat Diary, based on the real life diaries of Rae Earl, here’s a quick run-down.

Set in 1996 in Lincolnshire, the show tells the tragic and humorous story of a very troubled young girl Rae, who has just left a psychiatric hospital, where she has spent four months after attempting suicide. She begins to reconnect with her best friend Chloe and her group, who are unaware of Rae’s mental health and body image problems, believing she was in France for the past four months.

The series finale of My Mad Fat Diary airs today (I watched the advanced premiere yesterday) and it conjured up many feelings and memories for me. The episode took me back to the first series when I was a lot like the protagonist, Rae. I have a lot in common with Rae: my father isn’t in my life, I’ve struggled with mental health (although not the same illnesses as her), and I have been overweight the majority of my life. There was a lot I learned from watching her story unfold in that first series – I took the lessons she was learning and applied them in my own life.

I’m such a happy person now that it’s hard to think back to when I watched the first series and related to her depression and mental health struggles. Watching Rae and Kester’s (her therapist) sessions made me decide to see a psychologist myself. I hadn’t seen once since I was about 9 years old and really struggling to cope with my dad’s death. I remember going to see that lady and sitting in the corner and crying. I wouldn’t talk, and I wouldn’t draw anything like she was asking me to as I had no drawing talent. I just wasn’t ready to open up and begin to heal at that time when the pain was so raw.

Around March 2013, one month after series one had aired, I decided to look up psychologists in my area so I could start my own healing process. I came across a picture of one close by that I could tell I would get along with. I continued to see her every couple of weeks for a year and a half. That’s the best way to find a therapist or psychologist – look them up and trust your intuition. I could tell from the picture that she was a warm person who would listen to what I had to say, without being condescending. Everyone has different needs for a therapist; I didn’t need one that would tell me all the things I was doing wrong, I just wanted someone to listen and ask me questions that would lead to self-growth and acceptance.

In My Mad Fat Diary’s series three finale, Rae has to deal with moving on – not only moving to a new city, but moving on from her therapy sessions that she has so heavily relied on for two years. My sessions ended last November, but for a few months before that I could tell that the sessions weren’t worth going to anymore; I was better, and that was hard to accept. I was in denial and disbelief for a while because ever since my dad died over 15 years ago, I never thought I wouldn’t be miserable and grieving. What do you do when you finally realise you’re happy? That happiness isn’t a fake emotion people put on for show? That you’ve healed yourself?

I’ve always found moving onto a new phase of life really difficult. Leaving high school in particular was really hard. Even though like most people I didn’t love going to school or many of the people there, it was still hard to move on without having any direction. Fortunately for me, fate took over and all of a sudden I was 18 and studying at University. Watching Rae take control of her future in this final episode was inspiring and goes to show that no matter what your struggles are, you can do whatever you want and follow your dreams.

There’s many lessons to take from this show, but the most important one is that you have got to love yourself, first and foremost. Everyone has strengths and weaknesses, good and bad qualities, and we’re all trying our best to grow and be good people. You’ve got to look at other people and see the beautiful things about them, but you’ve also got to look at yourself the same way. We’re all our own biggest critics and we need to let a lot of that go and treat ourselves well.

If you’re dealing with any of the issues that were brought up in the show, please seek help. You don’t have to struggle alone and there are people that want to help you get better. I truly believe that just letting your thoughts be heard and getting that negative energy out of your body, is the most healing thing of all. You’ve survived 100% of your worst days so far and you’re stronger and better for it. 

There was a lot more I wanted to say about the show but these people say it better than I do:

Really Funny – Rookie Magazine

In Praise of My Mad Fat Diary – Emzae Music

My Mad Fat Diary Has Gotten It Oh So Right! – Retro and Thrift

My Mad Fat Diary – interview with screenwriter Tom Bidwell – Nicola Doherty

If you watch it please let me know what you think. I’d love to chat with you! 

A few months ago my Instax Challenge ended and since then I’ve not been picking up the camera too much, but I wanted to share these few photos with you. I really do love Instax Wide film and highly recommend it if you’re looking to get into instant photography, as it’s cost effective (compared to other instant film) and the size is great.

Obviously my brother is not as good at taking photos of me as I am of him….

My cousins! I love having them visit & miss them already.

The sun was really, really bright.

Simone & Scott brought their 12 week old baby Lilly over which was lovely.

My first week at my new job.

There was a really horrible storm the other night and Sarah got stranded at my place for quite a few hours, so we made a comfortable blanket fort which was awesome. It was better in real life than in the picture.

I ran out of film but I should be getting some more very soon!

Well that was a pretty lame attempt at poetry, but it was fun. I’ve never written poetry before except in school when they made us, and I hated it at the time. I’d like to do it some more, it’s really interesting and fascinating to read and to hear. I love that you can convey so much in so few words, and that there could be years worth of story in just one line.

Hello everyone! I am so excited to be sharing this post with you today as I’ve been working on it for a while.

I absolutely love Lush but it can get super expensive when you’re a bath lover like I am, so I knew I had to look into making my own bubble bars. I’ve been pretty into bath bomb and bubble bar DIYs for a long time (you  will know this if you follow me on Twitter or Pinterest) and when I finally started making my own bubble bars I knew I had to perfect the recipe so I could share it with you guys.

Nine times out of ten the results with this recipe are fantastic and I know you will love them. It’s so fun to be able to customise the colours and scents of your bath products. This is a long post so lets not waste any more time. Here’s the recipe…

Recipe (Makes 12-15)

• 2 Cups of Baking Soda or Bicarbonate of Soda
• 2 Cups SLSA – also known as Sodium Lauryl Sulphoacetate. This is a difficult ingredient to find but you can buy it on Amazon or at Aussie Soap Supplies if you’re in Australia.
• 2/3 Cup Cream of Tartar
• 2/3 Cup of Corn Flour or Corn Starch (USA)

Liquid Ingredients:

• 2/3-1 Cup Vegetable Glycerin
• 2 Tablespoons of Oil – I use Coconut Oil but you can use Olive Oil, Castor Oil, Sweet Almond Oil, Cocoa Butter, or whatever else you have, just make sure it’s safe for the body.
• Essential oil or Fragrance oil (optional) – make sure any oils you use are safe for the body.
• Food colouring (optional) – I like to use Americolor and Wilton gel colourants, but you can use mica powders or liquid colouring too – just be aware liquid colourants change the consistency of the mixture and makes it wetter and stickier to work with.

Let’s get started!

1. The first step is to combine all of your dry ingredients into one large bowl and gently mix them. Do not be too vigorous – I like using a silicone spatula as opposed to a whisk or my hand at this stage. You can sift the ingredients if you have particularly large clumps, but it’s not necessary as you will be working the mixture with your hands later anyway which gets rid of any clumps.

2. Next, measure out your Glycerin and Coconut Oil (or oil of your choice). If your oil is in a solid form, pop the mixture in the microwave for no longer than 30 seconds, and then stir to combine them and ensure all the ingredients are in liquid form. If you think it needs longer than 30 seconds to melt, you can put it back in the microwave on 10 second bursts, stirring in-between.

3. You can now add your liquid mixture into the dry ingredients. Again, gently mix with your spatula until you find the mixture isn’t coming together anymore, and then switch to mixing with your hand (make sure to wear gloves – disposable gloves work best, especially if you are going to be adding a colourant).

Tip: You can use your stand mixer if you have one which would really speed things up, but I don’t have one and I would be concerned about the powders flying into the air. If you’re going to use an electric mixer, cover it with a tea towel to avoid that problem.

4. Keep mixing until the texture becomes dough-like and holds it shape. Then what I like to do is separate the mixture into two bowls so I can make two separate logs of bubble bars. You can skip this step if you want all of your bubble bars to be the same scent and colour, but I like to switch it up.

5. Once I’ve separated the mixture in half, I like to add my scent or essential oils. There’s not a precise measurement for this, but I’ve found it’s good to add enough to the point where it’s really strong for you to smell once you’ve added it. If you can barely smell it now, you definitely won’t be able to smell it in the bath later. That overwhelming scent when you walk into Lush, is what you want here. Don’t go too crazy, add a little bit at first, mix it in, then add more if you feel you need it.

6. After the scent is combined and the mixture is holding it’s shape well (add a little bit more glycerin if it is really crumbly and not holding its shape at all), it’s time to divide it in half again, and add your colourant(s). I quite like the look of a single colour with white, but you can totally colour the mixture however you like and do as many colours as you want. I prefer to choose just two colours, but three looks great as well.

Tip: If you want to do a rainbow design with lots of colours (more than 3), I recommend skipping Step 5 and using the entire mixture and creating one single log.

7. Mix in your colourants as evenly as possible – it’s easiest to do with your hands as it breaks up the clumps of colour much better than any mixer or spatula will.

Tip: Stick to complementary colours and looking at the colour wheel. Colours that are opposite each other on the colour wheel most likely aren’t going to look good together (avoid blue/orange, purple/yellow, green/red, etc). I like to avoid yellow as it makes the bath look like urine, and red as it looks like blood, which isn’t very pleasant. Greens, blues, purples and pinks tend to work great, but obviously you can be as creative as you want here.

8. The next step is the trickiest one, and that is to start rolling! To prepare your log for rolling, lay down your first colour on a piece of baking paper (freezer and parchment paper also work – they all do the same job) and flatten it with a rolling pin or fondant roller (or wine bottle, whatever you’ve got on hand!). Try to shape it into a square or rectangle shape, as it will make rolling easier. When you are happy with the thickness and size of your shape, add your second colour on top and roll it out again. If the sides look rough, use the baking paper to fold over the edges to neaten them up, then roll with the rolling pin again to even it out.

Tip: Fold over the edges of the mixture whenever they get a little bit frayed – it will make rolling a lot easier!

9. Once you have an even square or rectangle, it’s time to roll baby! All you want to do is fold the mixture up on itself and use the baking paper to smooth it out.

Don’t worry if crumbs come off during the rolling process, or if your ends seem a bit loose, once you have rolled the log you can add any bits of mixture back on, and can neaten up the ends. Be patient when rolling – make sure you compress the log as well as you can. When working with the dough, the heat from your hands will melt the mixture and make it a bit easier to work with. This can be a good or bad thing depending on how wet or dry your mixture is, but I find it to be a good thing.

10. Once you are happy with the size of your log and are confident that it is compressed well enough, you can start cutting. About one inch sections should be perfect if you are wanting to get around 14 bubble bars (7 if you chose to split the batch and make two logs like I do).

This mixture is actually a little dry as you can see with the cracks. I made pink bubble bars afterwards and added a bit more glycerin to the mixture before rolling which really helped the mixture stay together.

12. Place your bubble bars, place them on a clean sheet of baking paper on a tray and allow them to dry. I recommend putting them somewhere dry and warm – away from direct sunlight or humidity if possible, as the sun can make the colour fade, and the humidity will make them take longer to dry. The hardest part about making bubble bars is waiting for them to dry – it requires a lot of patience and you have to resist the urge to poke them all the time. The end pieces usually don’t look as impressive as the rest, so I usually poke those to see if they have hardened yet.

Musk Stick (pink and burgundy) & Wild Berries (blue and purple) scented

And that’s it! To use the bubble bar you just crumble it under the running water of your bathtub.

Electric Lemonade Cocktail

There are lots of recipes out there (I’ve tested loads of them) and this is the one that works best for me. It’s not a sticky mixture (unless you use liquid colourants) which is great as it doesn’t stick to the baking paper and dries faster. You can expect these to take up to 5 days to completely harden, but it depends on your environment. We’re heading into winter at the moment so yours may or may not take longer depending on your climate.

‘Sleep’ essential oil blend

A few extra notes:

• Check out my ‘Bath Time’ Pinterest board for some Bubble Bar scent and design ideas.
• Don’t be scared that the food colouring will leave marks on your bath – it’s very, very unlikely and I’ve never had an issue. If there is any residue left once you’ve drained the bath, you can easily cleanse it away with some soap and water.
• It’s the water pressure that creates the bubbles so it is not necessary to use the entire bubble bar for one bath. Depending on the size you can use a half or a quarter of the bubble bar and that should be plenty.
• Once they have dried out and are completely hard, store in an air tight container or plastic zip lock bag in a non-humid climate.
• Depending on the colourant you use, over time the colours may bleed or fade. It’s not a huge deal and shouldn’t affect the way the bubble bar works in the water.
• If you need some extra instructions or are better with visuals, I recommend watching a video tutorial.

Please let me know if you try out this recipe or already make your own Bubble Bars and what scents or colours you use!

This time I accidentally make up a word and my thoughts are derailed.

See more posts from The Typewriter Sessions here.

At the start of the year my mum arrived home from Brisbane with a Nutribullet. I thought she had gone mad and bought into the Nutribullet craze, but after seeing her first two concoctions I realised that I might be able to get some use out of it and recreate my go-to order at Boost Juice – the Mango Tango Crush. After just three attempts at making it, I’ve perfected the ingredients for the perfect Mango Tango Crush.

Ingredients:

• Mangos (frozen or fresh – I like the frozen ones because it’s easy and it keeps the crush cold)
• Passionfruit Sorbet (you can interchange this depending on other flavours you like – you could obviously use mango sorbet but I like to balance out the mango & passionfruit flavours. We have also tried lemon which was nice but I definitely prefer the passionfruit and think it gives the closest result to the real Boost)
• Passionfruit (I use one passionfruit but if it’s out of season where you are, passionfruit is also available in a can)
• A large handful of Ice Cubes
• Mango Nectar Juice (just less than one cup is perfect)
• Water (helps make sure the mixture isn’t too thick – I use around one cup but sometimes have to add more)
• Black Chia Seeds are completely optional but it’s good to add them for the health benefits

Then all you have to do is put it in a blender. I used the Nutribullet and blended for 15-25 seconds but you can blend until you get the consistency you’re after. I wanted mine less like a juice and more like the consistency of the Mango Tango Crush at Boost – smooth, kind of thick, but thin enough to be able to go through the straw.

In the future I’m thinking of adding some supplements to the drink like protein powder, chia seeds, almond meal, or something else that’s really healthy and good for you. Making your own juices or drinks like this one is a great way to add some extra healthy goodness in there.

Please give this recipe a go – it’s so simple and is just like the real Mango Tango Crush!

Keegan Allen’s Life.Love.Beauty was my favourite book release of last year. It’s hard to describe just how badly I’ve wanted a book like this to be released – I’d always hoped John Mayer would create a similar book, filled with photos, words, lyrics and much more, so we could gain insight into his unique and creative brain.

Predominantly comprising of film photos and poetry, the book give an insight into both Keegan’s professional and personal lives dating back to his childhood. He experiments with various types of photography and 35mm films – it was great to see him utilise Lomochrome Purple as you can see is true love and passion for photography. If you follow him on Snapchat (lifelovebeautyb) you will see that he’s made many videos about cameras and photography which I love.

The quality of the pages is decent. It’s not a high quality photo book that you would pay up to $100 for. I suspect that due to Keegan’s fan base being so young they wanted to keep costs down to make it affordable for that age group which is understandable. The paper pages are thicker than a regular novel, but they are not high quality photo book paper.

I’ve got to admit that I’m a sucker for hardcover photo books that are great on a coffee table, and this is one that I will always have out for other people to look at. I think anyone who loves photography and emotions will love looking through this book. It’s great to look at just a few pages, or to read as a whole.

I would highly recommend this book for any PLL fan and anyone that’s interested in seeing a book made purely of love and passion. Please let me know your thoughts if you’ve picked it up – I’d love to know if you loved it as much as I did.

I’m really trying to gain a bit of perspective at the moment and a part of that was creating a list of all of the things that make me happy. I experienced many, many years being completely unhappy and now that I experience happiness every single day, even as a result of little things, I wanted to create a list of some of those things.

What makes you happy? 

See more posts from The Typewriter Sessions here.

Last month I was fortunate enough to see Passenger perform at the Brisbane Riverstage! That venue is notorious for raining on the night of a concert but fortunately it was beautiful weather and there was not a drop of rain to be seen.

The highlight of the show was Life’s for the Living and the encore – Holes which you can watch on his FaceBook page (I highly recommend it).

It was just a quick post today but I hope you enjoyed it. If you get a chance to see Passenger live, please do so – you will love it.

Dear Erin,

Eight years ago your dad was still alive, you were still living in Sydney (your favourite city in the world), you were interested in boys who were interested in you, and you were optimistic about the future. Then it all came crashing down around you and you lost it all. You lost everything you loved and everything that made you feel safe.

I know you are struggling in the present. Ever since that happened depression has been very much with you. You feel lonely the vast majority of the time, even in a group of all your friends where everyone seems to be having a good time. You think that their lives are so easy because their parents are alive and they didn’t have to go through the things that you have, and that’s understandable. Over time as you deepen those friendships and time goes on, you will see how they struggle, just like you. One of your gifts in this lifetime is understanding. You truly understand other people’s feelings, their struggles, and their pain. You’re a good listener, and you know how to help those people as you have gone through some really hard things too and can give advice. All kinds of people will open up to you over the course of your life because you’re approachable and likeable, even though you don’t see why.

You also find it hard to do anything that isn’t required of you. But I want you to know that life has so much beauty and wonder and growth in store for you. It won’t always be like this – you are strong and you are the one who will change your life for the better. I wish I could give you some practical advice as to what to do to get better faster, but being you, I realise that you won’t take that advice on board because you aren’t ready yet and that’s okay. You’ve always needed to do things in your own time and there’s nothing wrong with not following the crowd.

Eight years from now you will have accomplished so much and will still be working hard to overcome fears and to achieve goals you thought you never would. I don’t want to spoil it all for you, but I want you to know that you won’t always be hurting like you are now. You will be fortunate in keeping your high school friendships for many more years, and you will make some new friends who add so much to your life. You’re going to feel a little lost in your professional life but that’s normal. You might be surprised to find out just how happy you are on a day-to-day basis. What you thought wasn’t possible, truly is possible. I know you’re shaking your head as you read this and that’s okay, because it will be proven to you over time.

Just keep doing your best, sweetheart. Everything in your life has happened for a reason: to teach you about love and loss, the two most important things that we experience as humans. Hold onto that hope and optimism about your future buried deep inside of you – it will carry you through some of the dark times you will experience over the next few years.

I’m rooting for you.

All My Love,
Erin (24)

In December I purchased an underwater camera from a beautiful bookstore called Bookface. Sadly they aren’t available online yet as they have only got two stores so far, but they have everything I love. Mostly beautiful books and knick knacks that you don’t need.

Unfortunately my roll of film was exposed to water so the camera is ruined and I definitely won’t be purchasing another one in future (I’m after a Nikonos at the moment). I still managed to get a couple of decent shots out of the roll to my surprise.

* All photos taken with Sunny Life Underwater Camera with Lomography Lady Grey 400 film.

View more from the Disposable Diary series here.