This weeks theme is gifts to self – although of course the ideas below also making lovely gifts for others.

As I wrote in my first ever post, while I love thinking of and giving gifts to others – I’m certainly not a self sacrificing type. I also love giving myself little gifts! J

I think giving yourself little gifts is really important – they can lift your spirits when you are feeling down, spur you on to complete something, reward you for hard work…

Saturday: I freely admit I am a bit of a nerd – so this gift idea may not float everyone’s boat – but anyway here it goes…

As I’ve previously mentioned we moved to Sydney a little over 12 months ago. We moved into an apartment in Surry Hills and during my ‘lady of leisure’ time (ie. before I managed to find a job!) I spent a bit of time exploring the area. I loved walking down the fabulous streets and little lane ways and wanted to learn more about the history of Surry Hills, but every time I went to library the relevant books were out – ok, ‘bit’ of a nerd was probably an understatement.

ANYWAY, today I found quite by accident Chirstopher Keating’s Surry Hills: The City’s Backyard in Gleebooks. So I snapped it up as a gift to self! J

Ok – you might not be that interested in the history of your suburb, but I’m sure you have a ‘nerdy’ friend like me and some day you may need to buy that friend a house warming gift. A history of the suburb they have moved into or even a historical map of Sydney (yes, I also LOVE maps), may just float their boat!

By the way – has anyone else checked out the Grand Designs Australia yet? The second episode is set in Surry Hills – we just went for a little walk by the house this afternoon!

Friday: I am a big fan of quotable cards. I know they have been around for ages (since 1993 to be exact!), but I just really like them. For a couple of years I have just had these two favourite quotes on my fridge, but I recently added to my collection.

Over the last couple of months or so I have been trying some new things in my life. I have been working on finding the ‘creative me’ with the help of Julia Cameron’s The Artist Way. A crucial element of this process is the writing of morning pages every day. While I write my pages I now drink my morning tea in a mug with this quote

I have also been getting into yoga and I am trying to be more mindful in my daily life. To remind me to be more mindful during the day I have placed this card next to my computer. It helps when things are at risk of getting a little out of kilter…

Thursday: A theme within a theme today – champagne related gifts to self! Thanks to a post by Champagne Jayne last week I reacquainted myself with a picture that I coveted for my walls when I was a poor uni student. After seeing it again I quickly tracked it down online.

The other champagne related item I recently bought myself are two hollow stemmed crystal champagne glasses. I got them from a vintage shop on King Street, Newtown.

I think they are beautiful – when you pour the champagne, the hollow stem creates a continuous bubbling affect!

For those of you that like your champagne glass history: these glasses apparently date to the victorian era 1880-1915. The style was banned from public use for sanitary reasons because they were hard to clean and are no longer made.

Wednesday: I feel like a new woman this evening after just getting my hair cut and coloured – always a great present to self!

Tonight I also ‘gifted’ myself membership to the Moonlight Movie Club. Check out the 2010/11 program, which was released today. If you join the club before 31 December 2010, you get 5 tickets for the price of 4! As a member any more tickets you buy only cost $11.

I love nothing better than getting together some friends, a yummy picnic and wine and heading to Centennial Park for a movie under the stars!

Tuesday: So I found out about Books & Nooks a couple of weeks ago on twitter because a couple of people that I am following were going. I checked out the website and thought – A Life in Frocks at The Victoria Room – sounded like a fun way to spend a Sunday so I signed up. The book arrived a couple of days later – all wrapped up beautifully – like a present for me! Looking forward to Sunday, 21 November – I’ll keep you posted…

Monday: My next gift to myself – a winnie the pooh christopher robin quote handmade original print from Raw Letter Press.

I just came across this tonight and I love it!

I’m going to hang up it up in my new ‘creative space’ for inspiration and for those times when I just need a little reminder.

Now I just need to decide what colour….