Happy Weekend!

Misty winter afternoon by Burt Kaufmann
The weather has gotten quite chilly lately, and unfortunately I seem to be coming down with a cold, so I'll be spending a lot of my weekend nestled indoors with blankets, mugs of tea, and my lecture notes!

How will you be spending this weekend? Whatever you do, here are a few links to make it a little sweeter. ♥

If you're free this weekend and in Brisbane, why not check out Paniyiri? So much good food!!

Have you seen this TED talk on why 30 is not the new 20? Definitely thought-provoking!

Arrested Development Season 4 Trailer!!!!! Plus, this interactive visualisation of running jokes in Arrested Development is great and now I'm REALLY excited about the upcoming fourth season!

Interesting advice about how to share your cause/beliefs without being a total jerk.

This video is hilarious: A Facebook Update in Real Life!

ModCloth's new summer lookbook makes me want to go on a roadtrip with my girlfriends, wearing headscarves and cats-eye sunglasses!

This asparagus tomato basil couscous would be great to bring to work for lunch!

Webcomic of the Month - Dinosaur Comics

So, this is T-Rex!


T-Rex and I are pals. He lives in my house and we watch TV together a lot. He also happens to be from my absolute #1 favourite webcomic on the entire internet, past, present and future: Dinosaur Comics!

Author: Ryan North
Updates: Weekdays normally; Monday through Thursday currently
Synopsis: Dinosaur Comics is a comic about talking dinosaurs! It's also a fixed-art webcomic, meaning that each new comic features the same art, but the dialogue changes!
Extras: Alt-text when you hover over the comics on the website; extra text in the subject line when you click the "Contact" link; and the comic's title on the 'Archive' page!
So here's some real talk: I actually struggled a LOT with writing this blog post. The problem is that I have SO MUCH love for Dinosaur Comics and it has influenced my life in so many ways that it is nearly impossible to condense all of those feelings and thoughts into something that people might actually want to read! Part of the charm of the comic is that the humour and fun comes from the writing, since the art never changes. And Ryan North is a brilliantly funny, witty writer (he also writes the Adventure Time comic and is releasing a choose-your-own-adventure version of Hamlet!) - just read his 'About' page! T-Rex as a character phrases things in such fun and amusing ways that I find myself unconsciously emulating his way of speaking.

I could really go on at length about how fun this webcomic is, but for now I'll share a tiny sampling of the fun with you!





Bonus trivia: Ryan North is #1 on my list of 'people I want to meet in real life one day', but I fear my reaction to meeting him will be to freeze up and lose my ability to function, much like when Troy met his hero LeVar Burton on Community!


TL;DR: Go read Dinosaur Comics!!

My 23rd birthday, in pictures

I turned 23 on Saturday! I celebrated by hanging out with friends at home and then heading out to Grill'd for dinner and cake. It was a lovely, relaxing, fun day, and I'm looking forward to my 24th year of life (especially since it will include a fifth season of Community)!

Happy Weekend!

Balloons for Sale by Dave Clark
It's an early weekend round-up today, because tomorrow is my 23rd birthday!! I'm pretty excited because my birthday weekend will pretty much be three days of quality time with friends and family. Pals + food = fun times! Troy approves!


On Sunday I'm taking mum our for high tea to celebrate Mother's Day, so it's going to be thoroughly fun weekend. I hope all of you have a lovely weekend, too! Here are some links to make it a little sweeter. ♥

I'm a little obsessed with Daft Punk's new single Get Lucky (there's a cool surprise at 2:20!). Here's a one-hour loop (SUCH good studying music!) and also a sweet cover by George Barnett!

My brother bought me registration for the Home Ec eCourse, and I can't wait to get started with my sewing machine!!

A great reminder from Adulting that it's okay to freak out when big things happen. Speaking of big things: you can now order the Adulting book!! I'm super excited to read it!

Loving Rachel Denbow's indoor garden!

This tealight candle votive DIY project is really cute! I'd love to give it a try!

Elsie and Emma from A Beautiful Mess are closing their local boutique! They've shared the story of the Red Velvet store, and it's a lovely look at how dreams grow and change.

Hyperbole and a Half is back! Allie's last post, Adventures in Depression, was something that I really connected with last year, and the follow-up post is just as unflinchingly honest and insightful. I recommend reading both posts if you haven't already.

Happy weekend!! ♥

Style - Inspired by Community

When it comes to TV, I am a bit obsessive. As in, I will fall in love with one or two shows and will watch episodes over and over again, quote incessantly from them, and get ridiculously emotionally invested in the characters and their storylines. It's partly the reason why I'm only ever following a couple of different shows at any given time - I get exhausted!

For the past seven-ish months, my biggest love has been Community. A friend introduced me to it one day and I was immediately hooked. In fact, I got into it so much that I had to get Dannii to confiscate my DVDs during my exam period last semester so I could actually study!


My love for this quirky, unique comedy has influenced my vocabulary ("duh-doy" and "you Britta'd it!"), my frames of reference (which of my friends most resembles Jeff?), and even my sense of style. Annie Edison, played by the hilarious Alison Brie, is a constant source of outfit inspiration for me!




Colourful cardigans, cute skirts and dresses, simple flats, floral prints - I love Annie's sweet and preppy vibe! These days I'm finding myself picking out items in my closet that are directly or indirectly inspired by the outfits that Annie wears on the show.


The last episode of season 4 is airing this week, and I'm really sad to see my favourite show go. But I'll always have the DVDs to watch when I need a fix, or when I'm feeling bored with my wardrobe!

Chocolate Meringues

Meringues are one of my favourite go-to recipes when I'm asked to bring something to a party or event! They don't contain dairy or gluten, so are safe for my friends with food intolerances, and they're delicious crispy pillows of sugar. What's not to love?

My favourite recipe is for meringues made with just one egg white, which I found on Nigella's website. It's great because I don't usually have the time or inclination to figure out what to do with a bunch of leftover egg yolks - this way I only have one to deal with!



I've changed up the recipe a little by adding some cocoa powder, which gives these meringues a nice little hint of chocolate!



Chocolate Meringues
Makes approximately 16 large meringues
Adapted from this community recipe on the Nigella Lawson website.

Ingredients
1 cup + 1 tbs caster sugar
1 egg white
25ml boiling water
12.5ml (2.5 tsp) white vinegar
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
1 tsp baking powder
2 tbs cocoa powder

1. Preheat the oven to 100 degrees Celcius and line two baking trays with baking paper.
2. Beat the sugar, egg white, water and vinegar together until stiff.
3. Add the vanilla, baking powder and cocoa powder and mix until thick and marshmallowy.
4. Pipe or drop onto non-stick baking paper (I usually drop tablespoonfuls of the mixture onto the trays; it's fastest!).
5. Bake for 1-2 hours - the longer you leave them in the oven, the crispier they will be all the way through. I usually bake mine for 1 hour so there's a bit of chewiness inside each meringue
6. Prop the oven door slightly ajar with a wooden spoon and allow the meringues to cool inside the oven.
7. Variation: You can make the meringues plain vanilla by omitting the cocoa powder and doubling the vanilla essence; they will be very white so you can also add a small amount of food colouring to tint them.

Enjoy! ♥

Happy Weekend!

Love by Penelope and Pip
This weekend is going to be lovely! Today I'm spending the whole day with Dannii - first we're going to our friends' wedding (hooray for weddings!!) and then we're heading to his parents' place for dinner. Tomorrow I'll be spending some quality time with my oven, baking up a storm for a friend's morning tea event (and some snacks for myself for the coming week!). I'm excited about doing so many things that I enjoy in one weekend!

What are you up to? Whatever you do, here are a few links to make your weekend a little sweeter. ♥

This strawberry panna cotta recipe looks both delicious and easy to make!

Some truth-talk from Adulting about feeling sorry for yourself.

Sweet berry lime cake!

Look! A slideshow of behind-the-scenes photos from Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back! Ahhh, nostalgia...

Check out this note-for-note arrangement of Daft Punk's Harder Better Faster Stronger on piano!

Elsie from A Beautiful Mess shared a mini home tour of her living room, and it's lovely! So much decorating inspiration right there.

This is a really thought-provoking article/essay about how a tech writer spent a year without the internet.