Memories of 2016

Whoa, 2016 was quite a year! So much happened in the world – tragedies, triumphs, the unthinkable, the magical. This year had it all. In many ways I’m glad to bid farewell to 2016, which for me had its fair share of ups and downs just like any year.

A definite highlight was visiting beautiful Japan for two weeks in March. Tokyo, Osaka and Kyoto were all places I had longed to travel to for many years and it will be hard to top my birthday from now on, having spent the day at Disneyland Tokyo – a magical place in every sense. I shall never forget my first trip in the Land of the Rising Sun – eating delicious food, seeing the sights with my own eyes, entering historic temples, smiling at the pandas and flamingos at Tokyo’s Ueno Zoo. Getting a feel for Japanese culture was just incredible.

Closer to home it’s been enjoyable spending afternoons at wildlife sanctuaries where cute koalas and wallabies can be fed and petted. It’s been so much fun creating a new studio feature wall and launching Mishka Mail back in August. I feel so grateful to every single customer who bought a subscription and every blogger that reviewed our kits on their blogs. Thank you!

It’s been so exciting to place our first print advertisement in a funky Canadian hobby magazine called Uppercase for their special 30th issue.

Other highlights include riding a bicycle at the beach in Port Melbourne, eating some delicious meals, writing and receiving some awesome letters from international pen friends, winning auctions on Ebay and listening to lovely concerts at outdoor summer venues.

2016 has taught me that life isn’t about chance encounters that happen to you, it’s about how YOU chase each and every opportunity to make moments for yourself. I’m entering 2017 with this very notion in my mind and have a lot that I’m already looking forward to. Here’s to a beautiful and successful 2017 for you all!

Happy New Year!

Phillip Island Weekend Getaway

Last weekend my family and I took a roadtrip to a beautiful part of Victoria that is Phillip Island, for a relaxing bonding weekend away. After a 90-minute drive in our car we stopped at Maru Koala & Animal Park to see all the beautiful Australian animals that call our unique country their home. It was a small but really nice park allowing tourists and visitors to see all sorts of animals including Tasmanian devils, Wombats, Donkeys, Sheep, Horses, Kookaburras, Cockatoos, Dingoes, Peacocks, Emus and the ever-so-cute Koalas, Wallabies and Kangaroos. For an extra fee people could hold a baby wallaby and have their photo taken patting a koala. Adorable!

After a quick gelato we drove to Cowes and checked into our resort motel. With crystal clear blue waters and soft sand between our toes, it was a beautiful day to arrive in paradise with not a cloud in the sky. After some shopping in the wonderful boutiques in the area we were off to a nice restaurant for dinner. In the evening we took a dip in the spa and pool at our accommodation and relaxed. I loved it!

The next day started with an early check-out and a quick drive to see if we could spot any seals at The Nobbies. We were disappointed not to see any seals but the views from the boardwalk were absolutely incredible. Pyramid Rock not far from there also offered some amazing coastal views with vibrant landscape vistas.

All in all our weekend away was a well-deserved break that we all really needed and a great way to spend some quality family time together. I had a great time and returned home fully refreshed and happy.

Hello there…

Welcome to the newly renovated Graceful Avenue website! We trust that you’ll find it easy to navigate through as we wanted to create a simplistic user interface with a clear vision for our brand. Here’s the latest news from us:

1. You can now sign up to our exciting Newsletter, giving you the chance to see our new products before anybody else. You’ll also receive exclusive offers and discounts to use in our Online Shop! We are very excited about this new venture.

2. We can’t wait to grow our brand, so very soon you’ll get to see our Wholesale Catalogue with the opportunity to flick through the virtual pages of our exclusive Mishka Collection card range.

3. On the menu up the top we now have a “Stockists” section where we’ll be thrilled to update you on which lovely retailers have chosen to stock our products. If you’re a retailer please get in touch!

4. As the year approaches Christmas (can’t believe it’s nearly November already!!) we are hoping to do a few local markets and events so keep your eyes open for that too!

5. We also have a new email address to go with our new domain name: info@gracefulavenue.com.au so please take note of that.

Overall we’ve been super busy with business/admin stuff lately and that’s why it’s been a bit quiet on the blogging side of things. Here is a photographic summary of life in Melbourne during the last fortnight for your entertainment. Please check in again soon.

Kangaroos in Lysterfield Park

My family and I spent last Saturday afternoon in Lysterfield Park, located in the suburb of Lysterfield, south-east of Melbourne. The weather was perfect, it was so sunny and warm and there were many people by the lake enjoying their day off work. Lysterfield Park is great because it’s totally free to visit and if you’re lucky enough to spot them you can see real kangaroos in the wild! These symbols of Australia are so beautiful, so intelligent and very fast at jumping through the trees. They are certainly hard to find as they camouflage beautifully against the similarly coloured vegetation and bark. However, once you spot them you’re rewarded with some excellent up-close-and-personal photographs of these amazing creatures. At one point we were standing only a few metres away from a beautiful mother Kangaroo and her baby Joey, who was peeking out of her pouch! A breathtaking moment and one that makes me truly grateful to be back in my home country, the land “down under”.