The Song - Les Passants

So it's time for another blog post. Just a quick one, because I want to go to bed to catch up on some much needed zzz's. I can now celebrate because I'm on holidays! Yay holidays! I also wanted to quickly share with you the song that has been most frequently played on my iPod this week.

My friend Carolyn shared this clip with me last week and I absolutely loved it. It is by a French singer known as "Zaz". Her style is a mix of jazzy, acoustic, soul and French which I find irresistible. Anyway, the song is called "Les Passants" - which means roughly "The Passers-by".

What I adore is how much she obviously loves what she is doing. It's not as though she is singing for an audience, for money (as they are obviously busking) or for the other band members; rather, she's just doing what she loves - making music. I think this really shows through her interaction with the music, melody and rhythm. In my opinion, this is quite a rare quality nowadays, and seeing how much joy it gives her brings me joy as well. Her voice is also very unique, but that's enough from me. Have a listen for yourself.

Until next time :)

The Holiday - Double Feature

I know I posted about Christmassy stuff yesterday, but hey we've been getting into the spirit, as it were. Last week Luke, Carolyn and I went to St. Mary of the Angels Church in Wellington for a Carol Service. I have to admit that although I don't agree with a lot of Catholic practices, they do get their carols right. What with a beautiful choir singing and the Salvation Army band playing, we were in carol heaven.

The church's architecture is stunning. Although it probably pales in comparison to some European churches, it's still very pretty.

Candles + Carols = Christmas Perfection

Until next time :)

The Holiday - Gingerbread Men

Last weekend Luke, Rebekah and I spent practically all afternoon and evening cutting out, baking and decorating gingerbread men. We also did this last Christmas, and thought it was nice thing to turn into a kind of tradition. This year we used the gingerbread recipe from taste.com.au. This might make hard enough gingerbread to use as decorations on the tree, although we didn't try it this year.

First you bake the gingerbread and hopefully don't eat too much of the batter (I am very guilty of this, which probably explains why it often takes me a while to eat the cooked ones).

Next you lay them all out and prepare your icing.

Icing 120 gingerbread men is by no means an easy feat. Here's a photo of Luke slaving away.

Ta-da! They look good enough to eat, don't they?

Until next time :)

The Verse - Isaiah 9:6-7

For unto us a Child is born, 
Unto us a Son is given; 
And the government will be upon His shoulder. 
And His name will be called 
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, 
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
(verse 6)

On Sunday evening Luke and I went to our church's carol service. Luke and I love singing carols. I think Luke especially enjoys it because he didn't really grow up with them (long story, and probably his to tell). There is so much great theology in carols - more than a lot of modern Christian songs have. And when I reflect on how this baby grew up and died for my sins, I have to confess that I often get tears in my eyes. Anyway, our pastor Nick read these verses on Sunday. There are so many prophecies about Jesus in the Old Testament, but I thought this one was especially good for Christmas. However, like a lot of prophecies, this one refers to both Christ's first and second coming.

"A Child" refers to Jesus being born of the virgin Mary - while "A Son" refers to Jesus being God's Son as well as a Son of David. Although God humbled Himself by becoming a man and sacrificed Himself by dying on the cross for our sins, He will also one day reign - "And the government will be upon His shoulder."


I really love the next few verses, especially when I think about them in relation to the last lines of the carol "Silent Night" - Jesus Lord at thy birth. Even as a baby in a manger, Jesus was Lord. He was the Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace - He still is and will be forever.

Silent night, holy night
Son of God, love's pure light,
Radiant beams from thy holy face,
With the dawn of redeeming grace
Jesus Lord at thy birth,
Jesus Lord at thy birth.

God being born as a man, dying for us and being resurrected to give us eternal life - this was the greatest sign of love the world has ever known, or ever will know!

 

The Dress - Candy Cane

So what was the colour of the dress that I wore to the Full Swing Christmas Party? No, it wasn't sepia. It was red of course! I was trying to channel some kind of Christmas red-and-white-striped candy cane thing.

Dress: Thrifted

I know I bought this dress in Melbourne, but given that it was way back in 2007 I honestly can't remember where - can you blame me? What I do remember is that I loved it at first sight and my very generous sister bought it for me. See Laura, I'm still wearing it! I used to wear this dress without a T-shirt underneath, but I think it looks a lot cuter with one. 

I found that channeling a whole candy cane image comes a lot easier when you have an actual candy cane. 

 

 Mmmm... candy cane.

Until next time :)

The Holiday - O Christmas Tree

Like millions of people across the world, we  put up our Christmas Tree on December 1st. Although it won't win any competitions for the tallest or prettiest tree around, it's still our Christmas tree and that's what makes it special.

Since it's about 1 metre high, it didn't take very long for four of us to decorate.

How cute is this Christmas Bear? It was made by my second mother Cheryl, who is a whiz with a needle and thread.

Luke placing the precarious star on top.

Our newest decoration. This year Luke and I started a new Christmas tradition: go to Kirkcaldie and Stains (posh Wellington Department Store) and select 1 tree decoration. They have a fantastic Christmas Store - a real festive wonderland, with so many decorations you barely know where to look.

I saw this Darth Vader Christmas decoration, and although I know Star Wars has nothing to do with Christmas (despite it being represented in the Wellington Christmas Parade), I just had to buy it for Luke.

Ta-da! One Christmas tree decorated. 

Until next time :)

The Outing - Full Swing Christmas Party

On Saturday night Luke and I headed off to the Full Swing Christmas Party (Full Swing is the place where we learn swing dancing). And what an evening it was! So much fun. The organisers did such a wonderful job. The venue was this cute little vintage hall at Breaker Bay in Wellington. And honestly, it was like travelling back in time. The old hall, the ragtime band, everyone dressed up in vintage clothing; just some good ol' fashioned fun. So let's travel back in time, shall we - sepia photos and all.  Of course, you can't dance on an empty stomach. First things first: we had an amazing pot-luck BBQ.

As you can see below, the hall was beautifully decorated with fairy lights. So pretty!

We had live music from the Roseneath Centennial Ragtime Band, who were in a word awesome (I loved the old piano, such a neat sound). In fact, they were so amazing that we bought their CD. At times I thought they were personally trying to kill us due to the sheer speed and length of the songs they played; at times the dancing felt like it was more about endurance than enjoyability. However, they sounded great and were good fun, and at the end of the day that's all that matters. Also, when I asked a new friend of mine what had changed his mind about going home early, he said "The band told me I wasn't allowed to leave." Later on I found out they'd actually offered to give him a ride home. I thought that was so sweet.

There was also a traditional lindy circle. This is when everyone gets in a circle in a tagteam fashion, and you steal either the lead or follow. It went for a long time, which gave most people a go, including those who normally chicken out in these kinds of things (i.e. Luke and I). :)

This photo was snapped by Clive J Pigott of Artful Dodge Photography, and I have to say it's a keeper.

But one of the highlights for me was the Jack & Jack and Jill & Jill competition. Now, let me explain. Sometimes at these sorts of events, they have a Jack & Jill competition, which is when you get partnered with a complete stranger and have to dance in front of everyone. The winner is crowned based on audience appreciation. However, this time they decided an interesting twist would be making guys dance with guys and girls dance with girls. Interesting and hilariously entertaining. Luke was asked to put his name down because as always there weren't enough guys, and I thought I might as well register for the girls too.

The Jills were up first, and I was lucky enough to be partnered with an amazing dancer, Alisha, who fortunately knew how to lead. (Phew!)

We decided the only way we would win was if we really hammed it up. So ham it up we did.

And amazingly, somehow we managed to win the Jill division. I only gave the audience a little encouragement  to cheer... Well, I encouraged them a lot, actually, but you know it's up to them whether they respond or not.

Next the Jacks were up. I swear I almost cried from laughing. While the girls were quite co-operative with each other, the guys were less so. And the general consensus from them was "Following is hard!" But to be fair, quite a lot of girls have at least tried leading (due to the lack of guys), whereas not many guys have ever experienced following. You can see Luke in the back of this photo.

I then saw Luke, who had been following, get picked up by his lead and twirled around the dance floor. I apologise for the blurriness of this photo, but I was laughing very hard.

Unfortunately, Luke and his partner didn't win despite his acrobatics. However, Alisha and I were in the finals. I have never danced so hard in my life, but it was really fun and exhilarating. The song we were performing to changed to blues style (a type of dance neither of us had learned before), but we gave it a shot and won! Mostly due to Alisha's amazing leading abilities.

It was an awesome night. 

Until next time :)

PS: Alina also made this adorable little signature for me. So cute!