Sydney Adventures


Last December (yes I know these photos are almost two months old!!) two friends and I went for a short trip to Sydney. And these are our stories!!
Bondi Beach was better than expected. It was actually amazing!!!!!!!!!
YUM CHA!!!
Pancakes On The Rocks!
The absolute best Japanese restaurant I have ever been to. Yum!

And that's pretty much a recap of my trip. I hope you enjoy the photos as much as I enjoyed my trip!!

XO Samantha

Fill In The Blank Friday

1. My favourite place I've ever travelled to is probably Singapore or South Africa. Then again, those are the only two other countries I've visited recently (ish).

2. New York, San Francisco, Vietnam, Japan, France, Italy, Hawaii, Greece, Morocco, Spain are just a few of the places I'd love to go to someday as soon as possible. I won't say no to free tickets/accommodation!!

3. I pass the time on transportation by listening to music, reading, doing silly things like making jokes and making fun of people (in a nice way) with my travelling companion (or the voices in my head if I'm alone).

4. My three must haves when I travel are my camera, music and a large purse so I can carry everything with me!

5. My favourite travel companion is anyone that will be fun and help me with no. 3!

6. The craziest thing that's ever happened to me whilst travelling is.... I honestly don't know. I enjoy the randomness and adventure.

7. The most exotic food I've ever tried whilst travelling is eel, chicken feet, ostrich, crocodile, buck and that's all I can think of but I'm sure there's more!

8. If I could live anywhere else, I would live in New York, San Francisco or maybe France. I am currently thinking about whether to move to New York in the next few years!

How about you? If you could live anywhere else, where would it be???

Hope you have a fabulous Friday and a wonderful Weekend!
XO Samantha

I'm Starting Again!

The blog world is a very inspirations place and I love coming across posts that I am able to connect with, that motivate me to be a better person and a better blogger!

Here are some posts I have found recently and some of my thoughts towards them:

I recently came across a new (to me) blog by Meredith and more specifically, her series on blogging for confidence, and it inspired me!

Although I would usually consider myself a fairly confident person, I realised that this is not always the case. I realised that there are a couple of ways I can improve my confidence to be able to improve my blogging. 

1. Be confident when it comes to taking photographs in public. This is stopping me from taking photos of the things that interest me, which limits what I have available to share!

2. Be confident when it comes to my writing and my posts. Stop worrying about whether or not people will like what I have to say!

Another blog which has been one of my favourites for a while is Creative Comforts. I was reading through their archive and came across a blogging guide by Ez. There was one particular tip that stood out to me:

" Find the thing or things tat make you tick and let the blog world know. Shout it from the rooftops, parade it in the streets! "

Conclusion:
This is a personal blog. It is a piece of me. I shall no longer be concerned about others and what they think (not in a mean, I'm-going-to-go-around-insulting-people way) and I will come out of the little blogging shell I have begun to create.

Be prepared for more posts about the things I love. If you're wondering what to expect, I love retro stuff, crafty stuff, travel, adventures and decorating and I shall be parading it in the (blogging, online, virtual) streets.

I hope you like what I have to say, if not, well, that's just too damn bad!

Fill In The Blank Friday

1. The last thing I ate was a bag of Niknaks. I love South African food!

2. The last song I listened to was the Long Slow Goodbye by Queens of the Stone Age.

3. Using the letters in my name, I can spell Samantha - Man, tan, ham, mat, hat, sat, Sam, ant, ants, math, maths, than, and that's all I can think of.

4. If I had to dress in one colour for the rest of my life I would pick probably blue. I don't wear blue that much, but it would be too hard to stick to one other colour. 

5. If you were to look into my bag right now, you would find my iphone, lucas paw paw ointment, some lip gloss, my pretty purse from Leah, some random pens and fine-liners, a note book, my diary, my ipod and earphones, asthma puffer, gum, panadol, some bobby pins, some safety pins, sunglasses, my other glasses case, a water bottle, some deodorant and I think that's it. Wow. This is really ridiculous. Why do women carry so many useless things in their purses???? Or is it just me???

6. When I finish filling in the blanks I'm going to answer some emails, continue watching Friends, drink more coffee and make some new buttons.

7. My all time favourite song to dance to is anything from the 70s and Love Shack by B 52s. 

Hope you all have a lovely, lovely weekend!

I just love this. I think it is absolutely brilliant.   
So how are your new years resolutions going?

5 Facts Friday

Hello there.

I have decided to do a weekly post telling you 5 things about me so that you can get to know me better! So I thought I would start from the beginning!
1.  My full name is Samantha Joy Burton

2. I was born in South Africa and moved to Melbourne, Australia in 1999.

3.  I am obsessed with travelling. 

4. I drink far too much coffee and have for as long as I can remember.

5. I have an insane amount of things stored under my bed/in cupboards/in drawers/in my mother's cupboard/in the study/just about everywhere just waiting for the day that I move out. I have just so many plans for decorating a home that my mother fears for my sanity.

Gift Exchange One Part Two

As mentioned in this post, I participated in the lovely package exchange by Danni from Oh, Hello Friend with Leah from Sang The Bird.

Here is what she sent me!!!
An owl tea cosy!!!
A lovely purse from B.Sirius!
It's already in use...
And safely in my bag!
Gorgeous handmade soap!!
Thankyou so much again!!!!

If you would like to see what I sent her, go here!

XO Samantha

52 in 2012

So I got this wonderful idea from Ashley from After Nine To Five about her goals for 2012 and thought that it would be the absolute perfect way to get everything I want from 2012 and keep track of all the things I want to do in 2012.

This also coincides with my New Years resolution: to make the most of my life. Read about it here!

SO here are my 52 goals to be completed in 2012!!!!!

via A Beautiful Mess
  1. start my plans for starting my own business
  2. get a new job in the meantime
  3. start playing trombone again - haha, yes, i play trombone!
  4. plan my trip to New York in 2013
  5. save up for my trip to New York
  6. improve my graphic design skills
  7. improve my blogging
  8. send more mail - maybe even get me a penpal or two!
  9. learn french
  10. learn more italian
  11. start uni 
  12. get fitter and healthier
  13. start a new travelling scrapbook
  14. read 30 books
  15. keep a clean work space - don't let the clutter overtake
  16. be more creative - write, draw and paint more
  17. learn to crochet properly
  18. go on outings purely to take photos
  19. go camping at least once
  20. bake more
  21. be more adventurous with my outfits
  22. plan my first tattoo
  23. get my full drivers licence
  24. go to the beach more
  25. set up my sowing machine
  26. spend more time with my sister
  27. go to at least one concert
  28. go hiking at least once
  29. improve my HTML and CSS knowledge
  30. get to know blogger friends better - love these girls!
  31. put more effort into styling my hair
  32. make a 2011 scrapbook
  33. make a Sydney scrapbook
  34. visit my friend who is moving to queensland
  35. complete a crafty project at least once a fortnight
  36. take more photos
  37. go on a road trip to bondi
  38. spend more time outdoors
  39. have more girls nights with my bestie
  40. find a red wine i enjoy
  41. read more about ancient egypt
  42. spend more time exploring melbourne
  43. plan birthday and christmas presents early
  44. have a brilliant going away party for my friend
  45. save more!
  46. go on a retro picnic 
  47. host a blog giveaway
  48. have a tea party
  49. attend a dress up party and go all out
  50. complete a 30 photo challenge one month
  51. have a tarot card reading
  52. spend one whole day doing nothing but reading
Wow. This has actually been very hard to sit down and think of, and I'm sure it'll be a challenge to complete, but boy, I am so hugely excited for this year. Just looking at my list inspires me to make the most of it!

I will keep you informed of my progress throughout the year. And I think I will possibly give myself a reward if I complete it all.

Happy New Year to all.
XO Samantha