Wow. Scary. Exciting. Fast.

Those are just a few words to describe my life and the things happening with this blog at the moment.

My holiday was a bit of a whirlwind and being so close to Christmas, I kind of left off at a crossroads where there has been a lot going on with the blog.

It's really exciting and I'm looking forward to seeing how everything turns out but suddenly everything seems to have gained momentum all on its own and things seem to be happening very fast.

I now have an ABN, my own domain, a totally new look and design coming for the blog. I hope the change over goes smoothly and I really hope everyone likes the new look. After a meeting with my designer and a lot of backwards and forwards with new ideas and half formed sort-of-kinda-like-this I'm really excited to see the finished product.

It's pretty cool in a way. But it also terrifies me.

When I registered for my ABN something quite strange happened. My heart started beating really fast and I actually felt a little sick. Suddenly everything seemed to get very real. Don't get me wrong, I am super excited! It all just takes a bit of getting used to, I'm not the best at dealing with change.

They say that change is as good as a holiday, and considering I've recently had a lot of both, I think I can be forgiven for having a little 'holy crap' moment.

But you know, as one year draws to a close and another is about to begin I can't help but feel like it could be the start of big, new, exciting things for me and this blog.

And you know what? I couldn't have done it without you! To all of you who've read my blog this year, offered advice, boosted me up when I needed it, given me something to blog about, commented and just generally shown your support - thank you. Without you, this blog would be nothing. I truly appreciate you.

Onwards and upwards my friends.

I am a woman of simple pleasures. The little things make me happy. I am surprisingly easy to please. Although I am also easy to disappoint.

A random text.

A silly note.

Catching my eye at THAT moment.

A little something left on my pillow.

A kiss on the cheek at a gig.

An ice cream and a walk along the waterfront.

Changing the words of the song to my name.

A picnic by the water.


Sliding into a freshly made bed of clean sheets.

Little things that really mean nothing in particular. They probably wouldn't warrant a second thought from most other people. But to me, they are the essence of living. Not everyday can be Christmas. Not everyday holds big surprises or major announcements of things so exciting that you can't sleep the night before.

But everyday holds it's own little treasures. I delight in these. And I delight in my ability to see and enjoy them. It's not always easy to do but it is very important. I often hear people with children relishing the way their children's wide eyed wonder reminds them of the joy and beauty that there is to be found in everything.

I don't have kids around me to do this, so I try to make it my mission to do so for myself and maybe at the same time help someone else notice these things as well. No one should have to miss out.

Animals are also great at doing this. Hint hint ;)

I always find myself reflecting, loving and feeling grateful at this time of year. I hope all your Christmases have been full of joy, love and gratitude and all the other wonderful things that this time of year brings like family, food, drink and presents.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas. Or is it?

For the first time in a long time, Christmas is going to be a fairly low key affair for me. They say having divorced parents is great for double presents and while that is true, they forgot to mention the twice as many places to go at Christmas thing.

Usually rushing around between families, this year my mum and step dad have opted out of the Christmas craziness and are currently off cruising around New Zealand. Which means I only need to go and spend time with my dad and my step mum.

They are currently managing a caravan and holiday park in Pittsworth, west of Toowoomba so my sister, brother-in-law and I will be slowly making our way there on Christmas day for a nice, chilled celebration with a big Christmas dinner.

We'll be staying at a cabin at the park for a couple of days (yeah, no roughing it for me please!) so I think it will be a really nice chance to just chill out, relax and have a few drinks and quality time with the family. All things I have really been missing of late. I'm also hoping the weather holds out so that I can take advantage of the pool.

I have the whole Christmas week off work and I intend to do very little to be honest. I'm saving myself for the epic New Years Eve party we're going to. Large property, space for camping or sleeping in the car, big pool with waterslide AAAAAND an adult jumping castle!! Really, need I say more??

A nice early little Christmas present for me is I also have another 6-page feature in the current issue of Cruzin magazine! It went on sale on Wednesday so if you haven't already checked it out you can either buy a copy, sneak into your newsagent and have a look then put it back or take the even lazier option of trying to decipher the text on the first page from this image.

It's been a strange year. Lots of bad things have happened to so many people. But I am very grateful, there have been many good things that have also happened to me in the last 12 months. But I have to say, I have a very good feeling about next year. I can't explain it, but I feel that in the way this year has been so unkind to so many people, 2012 will hold lots of good things for everyone.

Thanks for all your support this year. Thanks to you guys I have achieved much in the short time this blog has been running and it's very encouraging for what else I can achieve next year.

I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas, a wonderful holiday season and I hope you all find a fun or cosy way to see in the new year with those you love. Take care over the Christmas period, but most of all ENJOY YOURSELVES!!

After a nice big sleep recovering from our huge day along the Great Ocean Road, we headed out Thursday further up the mountains to a lovely little village called Olinda. Think Montville/Maleny, lots of BnBs, lovely little cafes, lots of 'handmade' shops and beautiful foresty views.

We stopped in for a short but sweet and rather moving visit to a restaurant and beer house to pay our respects to the memory of Derani and The Man's dearly departed little sister before heading back to one of the little cafes for a coffee and some delicious cakes. The food there looked wonderful and we were tempted to indulge but we were saving up for dinner that night! It was a lovely, relaxing day and we spent ages just chatting and enjoying the beautiful surrounds.

Then we headed back home for an early Christmas!

The man and his sister's and little niece's first Christmas together in a long time, things understandably got a little emotional but it was such a beautiful and fun night which we continued to celebrate long into the night. And sadly, I knew I was waking up to what would be my last full day in Melbourne. But I couldn't be glum for long, because on Friday we were off to my favourite diner of all time!

You might remember from my last trip to Melbourne how much I raved about Misty's Diner. If you're ever in Melbourne you seriously have to go there, even just once. The food is ridiculous! I suggest wearing comfy pants and not eating much beforehand.

By the time Monday came, we were glad to be heading to the beautiful mountains in Warburton for a change of pace and hopefully some rest! Bex was lovely and dropped us off to The Man's sister Derani in good ole Hank where big cuddles and excited 'they're here!' exclamations were plenty.

After all the big hellos we headed back to Derani's place for a wind down but not before we saw The Man's gorgeous neice showing us her awesome horse riding skills. We then came home to a lovely home cooked meal. Ahhh just what we needed, and how can you not enjoy views like this?

We were so lucky with the weather! We had glorious, warm sunny days everyday! After a good night's rest we were treated to an early part of our Christmas present...Honey Hands Fisher came direct to our door to give us a massage! Seriously, this was the best, most relaxing, most amazing massage I have ever had! I have never been so loose, felt so good or been so relaxed in my life. After an hour and a half of full body massaging I reluctantly had to relinquish the table so The Man could have his turn.

Feeling well and relaxed we took a little walk down to the main town and had a little poke around. We sampled some of the famous local pies - delish! - then pottered on home again but not before we went by 'Bob's House'. A renowned local eccentric, Bob's House has to be seen to be believed...in fact we saw it and we still weren't sure we believed it! I tried to get some good pictures but they really don't do it justice!

It was such a fun day, like a mini road trip and we had lots of fun being silly and singing along like crazy to music in the car. Unfortunately because we were stretched for time we didn't make it all the way along or even as far as the apostles but we did get as far as Lorne, which was pretty cool because that's where The Man grew up so I got to see his old family home and all his favourite haunts. It was such a lovely day! But also quite long, we didn't get home til about 8:30 pm but it was totally worth it!

Our first weekend in Melbourne was HUGE! We stayed with the lovely Bex in Doncaster who took extremely good care of us and was the best drinking buddy.

We were pretty exhausted after spending all of Friday travelling. I was up at 7:30 to get ready, pack the final things and drive down to Kingscliffe where I was leaving my car in preparation for my work Christmas party on my return. I then caught the shuttle bus to the airport, flew to Melbourne, met up with The Man, caught the Skybus to Spencer St Station where we walked a few blocks, big suitcase in tow, to catch the bus out to Doncaster. We got off the bus and walked about a km, again huge suitcase in tow, to Bex house.

By the time we arrive my arms and legs were killing me and I just wanted to go to sleep. AS IF THAT WAS GONNA HAPPEN!!

We cracked a beer and ate some Doritos while we waited for Bex to get home from work. After a very joyful hello and lots of cuddles later we decided to hit up The LuWow as we had heard so much about it and were dying to check it out! The three of us high tailed it to Fitzroy where we met up with Link, frontman from The Meanies (for those of you unfamiliar, The Meanies are a late 80s early 90s Aussie pop punk band who toured with the likes of Nirvana, The Lemonheads, Beastie Boys, Pearl Jam etc) We had fun with Bex and Link for the rest of the weekend.

The LuWow is AMAZING!! It's a new tiki bar in Fitzroy that really just has to be seen to be believed! We had THE BEST time there and I'm quite sure it would be impossible to have a bad night at this place. The staff are friendly, the drinks are delicious, the decor is unbelieveable and the music ROCKS!! Oh, and so does Gina the door girl, she took a shining to us and was just the lovliest, friendlist lady and she...'looked after' us both nights - what a gem!!

Well as you all know, the last week and a bit has been a whirlwind of fun times, hard partying, massive shopping, not enough sleep, too much to drink and some of the best fun I've had in a while.

From Melbourne on Saturday I flew back into the Gold Coast Airport and was whisked straight to Salt Resort for the work Christmas party where I tried to pretend I wasn't totally exhausted and hungover.

Getting home on Sunday I spent the rest of the day in bed dozing and feeling the holiday come down set in. I felt really sad. And lonely. Call me a sook but coming home on my own was hard. Knowing my man was still down there, enjoying the place and too busy to be just a phone call away.

I don't begrudge him. Not in the slightest. I am so happy for him to be down there and doing the things he is doing. But it did make me a little sad.

Coming back to work today has been a bit of a crash back into reality. Lots of emails to answer, work to catch up on. Not to mention all the blog reading to catch up on! Sheesh, talk about stuff going down while I am away!!

I have so much to share with you, plenty of fun pictures, great times, heaps of shopping and wonderful memories but I need to catch my breath. Sort it all out, regroup, find the time among the mad dash of the last week before Christmas.

So it will all come throughout this week. Which means no Tattoo Tuesday tomorrow. But I don't think you'll mind too much ;)

And in the meantime, enjoy this hilarious clip from my work Christmas party. Unfortunately (or fortunately?) this went down after I had already left. The guy with no shirt is the partner of one of the ladies at work, the guy with the shirt was from a fundraiser for the mentally handicapped. Watch the clip, I see a handicap but it certainly isn't his!

Tomorrow is the day...I'M OFF TO MELBOURNE BABY!!

As you can tell, I'm rather excited. I also won't be blogging while I'm away so I thought I'd record a little goodbye message, just to let you know I care :)

You can follow me on Twitter @SheriBombBlog and on Instagram @sheribombblog to keep an eye on what I'm up to.

To everyone going to the Christmas Blogger Meet, have fun!! Wish I could be there but, ya know...Melbourne ;)

Things seemed to have slowed down a bit lately. I don't know if it's just this time of year, people are busy and don't have the time to read or comment and life is hectic.

There is a lot going on behind the scenes, but it feels like there is this lull in interaction and traffic, well except for my post about boobs which unsurprisingly caused a spike. I guess the tattoo posts also generally illicit a bit of a response but otherwise...crickets.

It doesn't particularly bother me, although I do wonder where everybody went. If people are actually reading and just don't have time to comment or if I'm just sitting here talking to myself.

Perhaps I'm not giving much to comment on? Or is it just the natural ebb and flow of things. The tide has been in, and now it is time for it to spend a little time out to sea?

It makes me wonder, should I be doing more? Trying to make my content somehow more appealing, more interactive?

Maybe, but then this little space is mainly for me and I just get a kick out of others enjoying it. So I don't really want to change anything to try to please anyone. I'm quite happy pleasing myself in this little corner of my world.

So, I guess I shall just ride it out. Things are about to get quiet on here for a week or so anyway what with me running off to Melbourne for a week.

So maybe we can both take a turn at taking a break? Come back when we have more time and are both feeling the inspiration. I guess by then I will have plenty to share.

Maybe it's just new to me, being relatively new to the blogosphere. I have a feeling that this little ebb and flow just happens. Nothing new. Get used to it.

But I wonder, especially to those more experienced in all things blogging...

What do you do when things slow down? Do you try to combat it or just ride it out?

Yay! Get excited, it's time for some more ink and unlike the last couple of weeks, this is one you haven't already seen!

This tattoo has a number of meanings interwoven into one big life lesson and is also a bit of an homage to the very early and traditional roots of the tattooing craft. This one is one my left inner bicep and yeah, it was a little sensitive in there! Also done by Mark (Suicide Beatnik) of Voodoo Tattoo, it combines iconic imagery of sailor lore.

Put these all together and you have my tattoo - a reminder to stay grounded, heading in the right direction and strong, no matter what life's stormy seas send your way.

It was then I realised, just like sailors, tattoos tell your story and mark you with where you have been in life.

You know when something bad happens and you just sit there thinking about it? Feeling sad, angry, sick, anxious, pissed off? And stewing about it only makes you feel worse? I know this, but sometimes I can't help it, I can't stop myself. It's then I realise I need to distract myself, calm myself down and make myself feel better.

The only way I know how to do this is with music.

No matter how I'm feeling, music never fails to lift my soul. There is just something about it, the effect it has on me. I feel at my happiest when I am enjoying music. When I am at a gig, I love the way I feel it through my body, even if I'm not dancing. It feels like all my organs inside my body are moving to the music.


I guess that's why I blog about it so much, it makes me so happy and I guess I just struggle to find a way of showing my appreciation to the musicians who give me such happiness. The clapping, the cheering, the big hugs after the show...they just don't seem enough.

I sometimes wonder if they know exactly how happy they are making people. After an absolutely spectacular show I saw, I was so happy I was on the biggest high. I just couldn't wipe the smile off my face. I was so happy I wanted to cry. And I saw the musician and I just wanted to go over to them and shake them and yell 'thank you so so much you have no idea how happy you just made me!' Of course I didn't do that, that would be hysterical.

But that is why I try so hard to support the musicians I know or enjoy. To show them my gratitude for being them and doing what they do. For providing me with my most pure happiness, aside from puppies.

So to all the musicians out there, thank you.

I am SO very excited to announce that the charity pin up calendar I've been involved in is finally ON SALE!! Just in time to get yourself prepared for the new year and of course, make great Christmas presents!

Everyone seems to be blogging about all their Christmas lust haves so I thought I might was well jump on the bandwagon. Tis the season afterall.

We all know I'm a lady of simple pleasures, so behold - my letter to Santa - I promise I've been a good girl!

Dear Santa,