The Beautiful Mundane

It’s Saturday. The early morning light is dancing through my windows. The birds are singing. Today is a beautiful day.

When you hear the term, “live your life to the full,” what do you think of? Chances are, it involves lots of travelling, adventures, and plenty of experiences that you can’t have today. We hang maps on our walls which remind us less of the places we've already been and more of the places we dream of being. The question is, just how much life do we miss while we wish we were somewhere else, doing something else?

In order to celebrate this moment, you have to find out what turns your mundane into beautiful. For me, creativity is definitely one of those things that helps me appreciate the now. If I'm making something, even something small, it can brighten up a day instantly.

We're so quick to believe the lie that our everyday lives have to be social-media perfect, every second of every day. This lie robs us of so much joy that can be found in this very moment. Look up. Look around. What is something that has made you smile today? It can be something small. It can be something that seemed insignificant at the time. But by learning to notice these moments, your mundane can become something really beautiful.
Have yourself a beautiful day!

hello autumn

Just some pretty autumn tones from my favourite season of the year. Happy Autumn, everyone!

My Floristry Vol. 1

 Hi friends! I know that I haven't posted in a little while, but as you can see, I've been quite busy lately. I wanted to share some of my latest floristry creations! These are some of my favourites. I do love my job. More posts soon!

xx
May

that sunflower trip

My mum and I made the last minute decision to go on a two-day road trip this weekend. For a long time, we've wanted to drive to the Toowoomba region during the sunflower season to explore. And more recently, we've been talking about taking a drive beyond Toowoomba to Warwick to look at some of the beautiful old buildings of that region. So we set of in search of flowers.

We stopped at the little town of Crow's Nest on the way to go op shopping and to check out the beautiful autumnal leaves in the park.

Next stop: Toowoomba for a little shopping. We visited the sweet flower market there.

We stopped by Laurel Bank Park, which is a beautiful park with many nice gardens and little walks.

After a little while, we left town and headed south. During our trip, we saw a total of five sunflower fields, two of which we stopped at to take photos. The first spot was along the highway at the exit for Cambooya. At least six other cars were parked along the side of the road, everyone enjoying and photographing the beautiful sunflowers.

Further down that same road, we found another field called 'Mayfield.' :) We found ourselves among some of the same people who were at the first field. Evidently some were expert sunflower-photographers as they had stepladders to take great photos from above.

It wasn't easy to capture the feeling, and the sunflowers stretching out for what seemed like forever...

After taking a scenic drive through a few little towns, we arrived in Allora, where we were spending the night. The town was home to a few historical buildings, including the house where P.L. Travers, the author of Mary Poppins, lived.

We spent the night at the hotel and then drove off to Warwick the next morning for exploring. The local art gallery was running an exhibition about miniature houses and buildings, which was the cutest. I loved how much attention to detail went into each model.

We drove by the amazing Abbey of the Roses, which looks like this. Unfortunately, we couldn't go in, but I did take the below picture over the fence.

After spending several hours in Warwick we started the drive home, stopping a few times at other pretty places that caught our attention.

It was an awesome trip, and we did it on a pretty tight budget as well. We took most of our own food, so it ended up costing about $10 each in food. Accommodation was $25 each and the fuel, we estimated, cost about $60 for the trip. So in total, the trip cost us about $130. Not bad for a beautiful weekend getaway!

wanderlust

Among my goals and plans for 2018 was "travel more." But without the time and money to make this dream happen, it's so easy to fall into the jealousy and comparison trap. So I came up with a small list of what to do when you want to travel, but can't, in the hope it will help me and anyone else going through this right now.

go on a mini trip

This one kind of goes without saying, but if you don't have the ability to do that NZ road trip or visit France, at least travel as much as you can. Plan a day trip, or even an afternoon trip. Be a tourist in your area for a day. You might be surprised what beautiful locations are right outside your door.

create a travel fund

Even if you can only afford to save $20 a week, at least that's something. That's $1,040 in a year! Determine what matters the most to you. If travelling is really a priority, surely you can give up something else in place of it. 

plan for the future

Start a Pinterest board or a pen-and-paper list of the places you'd like to go. Start researching routes, accommodation, and activities. If you can't be there in person, at least 'be there' via the internet. :)

make the most of it

Whether it's a drive home or a walk to the shop, we are constantly embarking on small adventures. Learn to appreciate the beauty around you, right now. Stop and look at the view. Watch the sunset. Spend a few minutes gazing at the stars. As Henry Thoreau said, '...only that travelling is good, which reveals to me the value of home and enables me to enjoy it better.'

Happy travels, friends!