Wednesday Wisdom - The Best Medicine

Laughter is the sun
that drives winter
from the human face.

- Victor Hugo (1802 - 1885)

The most wasted of all days
is one without laughter.

- E. E. Cummings (1894 - 1962)

He has achieved success
who has lived well,
laughed often, and loved much.

- Bessie Stanley

The human race has one
really effective weapon,
and that is laughter.

- Mark Twain (1835 - 1910)

Laughter is the closest distance
between two people.

- Victor Borge (1909 - 2000)

Man is distinguished
from all other creatures
by the faculty of laughter.

- Joseph Addison (1672 - 1719)

At the height of laughter,
the universe is flung into
a kaleidoscope of new possibilities.

- Jean Houston

Laughter is an instant vacation.

- Milton Berle (1908 - 2002)

Shared laughter
creates a bond of friendships.
When people laugh together,
they cease to be young and old,
teacher and pupils, worker and boss.
They become a single group
of human beings.

- W. Lee Grant

Laughing is the sensation
of feeling good all over
and showing it principally in one spot.

- Josh Billings (1818 - 1885)

And in the sweetness of friendship
let there be laughter
and the sharing of pleasures.
For in the dew of little things
the heart finds its morning
and is refreshed.

- Kahlil Gibran (1883 - 1931)

I was irrevocably betrothed to laughter,
the sound of which
has always seemed to me
to be the most civilized music
in the world.

- Peter Ustinov (1921 - 2004)

You don't stop laughing
because you grow old.
You grow old
because you stop laughing.

- Michael Pritchard

I don't think I've ever gone through a whole day without laughing at least once, and I hope to keep it that way! Once I've had my morning caffeine hit, it doesn't take much to set me off...in case you haven't already noticed, I'm easily amused at the best of times. What makes you giggle? Is there something that makes you laugh even if you're in the most terrible mood?

P.S. Don't forget to enter this week's bright and smiley Giveaway Goodness!


[Please click on images for original sources. All quotes via The Quotations Page]

Fashion Photography, Fruit and Faux-Flowers

There's something about the beautiful fashion photography of Camilla Åkrans that sends me off into dreamily distracted trains of thought. Her recent shoot for Sisley had me lusting over ornately lavish furniture, and her latest editorial for The New York Times Style Magazine has me daydreaming about fruit and faux-flowers. Who knew that "the lady in the tutti fruiti hat" could inspire even me, possibly one of the least health-conscious people in the world, to crave some delicious fresh fruit?!

That's it. This weekend...I'm buying an apple tree. I really am! I'll need all your best apple recipes, stat! Apple pie, apple strudel...apple anything! And if you have any orange recipes too, I'll take them! My tiny little Washington Navel orange tree is bursting at the seams, and there's only so much orange juice one girl can consume!

If only Camilla could know that her photography had inspired a completely undomesticated junk-food-o-phile to embrace her secret (and previously undiscovered) love of fruit and cook up a fruity bake-fest! How proud she'd be!

P.S. Don't forget to enter this week's Giveaway Goodness! <3

Giveaway Goodness Take Two

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the second (slightly delayed) installment of... *drum roll*

This week's fantastic giveaway comes to us from husband and wife team Ben and Fiona O'Brien, also known as Ben the Illustrator and Fi the Imaginator! This adorable duo is behind Wish You Were Here - a collection of vibrant, optimistic prints that are certain to bring a smile.

They've just launched their much-anticipated Patternscapes range, and the unashamedly cheery illustrations are already creating waves on the likes of Apartment Therapy! And guess what?! If you're the lucky reader, you'll get to chose your very own signed Wish You Were Here Patternscape print!

From snow capped scenery to skateboarders, sailing the seas and suburban street life, this is a collection that I suspect we'll be seeing much more of in future - a textile range is already in the works!

To be in the running you just need to do 3 tiny things:

1. Head to the Wish You Were Here store and find your favourite Patternscapes print...
2. Leave a comment on this post telling us which piece you love and why!
3. Include a valid email address when submitting your comment so we can contact you easily if you're the lucky reader!

Easy peasy! You have until 11:59pm AEST this Friday Saturday to enter, so off to it! The winner will be selected with the Random Number Generator, then contacted by email and announced here too. Please note that late, multiple or invalid entries will be discarded prior to the random selection process! (Gotta be cruel to be kind!)

Good luck!

Giveaway Goodness Goes To...

Happy Monday everyone! I'll confess...I'm not much of a Monday person, but I suspect that's about to change - it's time to announce the winner of the first giveaway here on That Unreliable Girl! One lucky reader will get to select any item from The Shiny Squirrel that happens to be $30 or less! So with a little help from random.org, the very first...

Congratulations Loupita! Now you have the tricky task of deciding which eligible print will be all yours! You'll receive an email shortly to confirm your win and your details, and then your print will be on its way!

Thank you to all who entered, and a huge thank you again to The Shiny Squirrel for sponsoring such a fantastic giveaway! And more good news everyone - there's another giveaway coming up later today, and it's a goodie too! Watch this space...

Friday Forest Fashionistas

I promised you a little dose of fashion with a dash of forest, and here I am, keeping my word - and ruining my hard-earned reputation for being completely unreliable! I guess it is technically Saturday morning here, so at least I'm unreliable in one hemisphere. Phew! That makes me feel so much better.

I thought I'd end on this last image because, let's be honest, this is exactly what I'm going to be doing this weekend. Well, lazing around at least, but perhaps not in a tree. But maybe I WILL laze around in a tree, if the opportunity arises.

Have a great weekend everyone! Be sure to visit again next week to see who won the fantastic Shiny Squirrel Giveaway, and get in early for the next giveaway which will kick off on Monday!

[Click on images for original sources please!]

Welcome to Autumn

I've spent most of my life in a region that didn't have any discernible change from Summer to Autumn (aka Fall for US folk), so I'm still ridiculously excited about seeing the seasons change before my eyes. This is only my second Autumn in Sydney, and it appears that the season has already devised its own annual greeting just for me - because nothing says "Welcome to Autumn!" quite like a massive leaf smacking you in the face!

With all fairness to Autumn though, I did need the wakeup call; I'd been walking all day along footpaths covered in fallen leaves, feeling them crunch under my shoes, and I even had to dodge a few mini-leaf-tornadoes...but it wasn't until the suspiciously oversized maple leaf hit me in the face that I started to pay real attention. So thank you giant reminder leaf, otherwise I might have been missing out on this...

I've been trying to decide which is my favourite season, but I think I love them all fairly equally, though for very different reasons. I love the changing colours of Autumn, the fashion of Winter, the blossoming of Spring, and the long, hot days of Summer (preferably spent at the beach!)

Which season do you most look forward to? And which season are you happiest to see the back of?

[Click on images for original sources]