i had a fitting at Etch this morning. i love that store. the outfit i'm modeling is by Salasai. we got to preview the new Lonely heart range too. i dig it- lots of lace garments. aand i have another fitting this afternoon at a store i've never heard of, and one at North Beach tomorrow morning. i think that's all i'm doing in the fashion show besides my own garments.

and i need to sell tickets..if we all sell 20 each, we'll reach our target, which is just enough to cover the costs of our trip(which is what we're fundraising for). so if YOU want to come, please please let me know! and please come!  tickets are only $15. it's in two weeks, wednesday 15th.

and this isn't another ploy to get you to come to the IC show, but it's just funny that La covered her car in posters..

we.

are.

genius.

tiredness fuels empty thoughts, i find myself disposed, brightness fills empty space, in search of inspiration, harder now with higher speed..

..so i look to my eskimo friend.

i've been trying to find out who the opera singer is in Damien Rice's song Eskimo, but no luck.

it's amazing, makes the song so epic. it gives me shivers haha.

if anybody knows who it is..please let me know.

and i'm guessing the girl in this photo with Damien Rice is Lisa Hannigan. she has a pretty voice too.

i've been listening to this girl today too

her name's Camille. a french singer from Paris. i really like her album Le Fil.

raphah and yada.

today i ended up going to three church services- CLC in Hamilton, my church CCC, and Mosaic because La was singing. and it's amazing how God has linked this all together- all three sermons, although on different 'topics' were based around the same thing, and so i've heard the message God wants me to hear put in three different ways. i shouldn't just say 'hear' though, cause it's the message he wants me to understand, to truely know , to really have it abide in every part of my being, and to live out in all of Christs fullness. and God keeps bringing this one word to me- 'yada'. it's hebrew and can be translated as to perceive, understand, learn, recognize, believe, accept his claims, conform, be willing, obey, see, or experience. it's the word used in Psalm 46:10 when the Lord says "be still and know that i am God". that scripture has been on my mind a lot lately. i also like the hebrew translation for 'be still'. the word used is 'raphah'. which means to slacked, abate, cease, consume, draw, find, faint, be feeble, forsake, leave, let alone, be slack, stay, weaken. 

those two words have given new life, meaning and action to that verse for me.

to 'be still' doesn't in any way restrict the mobility of Gods people- but it requires us to cease what we are doing, surrender and in humility acknowledge that we are weak, and that God is our strength and power. and this leads us to 'know' him. which is much deeper than knowing about Him, or having a surface relationship with him. and it's in the context of practically, spiritually and emotionally rather than intellectually..if that makes sense. to truly understand God and his power, to the small extent that our brains can reach, we need to lay aside ourselves.

and that's never been an unknown concept to me, but my selfishness is limiting God's ability to reveal himself to me, and today has been a reminder about where it all needs to start from. i feel like i've been refreshed, and i'm really excited for what's coming up for me.

on another note; this is in a few weeks to raise money for Invisible Children. please come.

hamilton.

so as soon as i got back from wellington, i went to hamilton..

and this time i have pictures! here are a couple from robbie/anas/libee/chubbs 's flat warming..

and then i stayed with this lovely girl :)

and a couple more..

i wish i got to stay tonight as well. but i've had a long weekend and not much sleep so i'm looking forward to tonight.

wellington.

i'm here on a school trip, but i haven't seen the teacher all day. me jo and frances are having lots of fun.
we just got back to the place we're staying after getting lost in the city haha. spent the day shopping, i really love all the vintage stores around. i didn't bring much money though, and now i'm flat broke. but i picked up a couple cute things :)
the place we're staying is pretty funny- it's a huge building painted like a zebra, but it's nice inside, we have our own little kitchen and bathroom. i'm just on here while we wait for our food to cook. soo hungry, and i'm almost out of money for food so we did some supermarket shopping.

last night we went to WOW. it was a m a z i n g . . .
it was almost like a freak show though hahaha, there were a lot of wacky outfits and make up etc. we couldn't take photos so i have nothing to show, but i'm so glad i went. probably won't go next year though, i wouldn't say the $115 ticket(and those were the cheap seats..) is gonna be worth it. i have lots to save for(i'll update on that soon!)
we've taken a few photos on frances's camera, so i''ll get them off her when she gets back to tga in a couple weeks and post them :)

last night here tonight- i wish we were staying for longer, frances is but the rest of us head back in the morning. gonna be a long drive.

gotta go, foodtime!

this is the latest.

made it yesterday and today. not sure how into it i am yet. might wear it to World Of Wearable Arts on thursday.

i think i have enough of that fabric left to make some shorts or something for summer (it's the same stuff that my last skirt is made out of- and all for $3!)

not much time to update, super busy trying to get stuff for school etc done by tomorrow.  

ciao..

"have a good day ayla"

boy- you make my day.

:)

today was my first proper day at school in what seems like ages- and there are cherry blossom trees everywhere! it made me so happy! 

and i spent the morning trying on dresses haha- it's for a fashion show that we're putting on the fundraise, and the newspaper is coming tomorrow to take photos.

 it should be good. we're getting sponsored by heaps of stores and designers. i'm modeling for Etch in it as well as my own stuff. and then we get all the money from it(it's meant to pay for our Wellington trip but the dates didn't work out so we're having it after and getting reimbursed)

and now i'm off to work. i finally got a job and i'm so thankful.

fresh air.

so lately i've been finding it hard to breathe. it's sort of been all the time but if i focus on it it comes in more intense bursts and it freaked me out a couple times.

i don't have asthma or anything- i think it's something metaphorical that was turned physical.

you see, lately i've found my prayer times and my study times getting shorter and shorter each day and seeing my time and thoughts consumed by "wordly" things. and it's almost like i've been cluttering my freedom with those unnecessary things. and i'm not going to go into much detail because i'd rather focus on the present and the future than the past, but it's been creeping up on me and slowly, slowly taking away my freedom to breathe.

so tonight at church i was standing there in worship, we were singing lead me to the cross, and i decided to let it go.

and it was like a flood of fresh air, there was no difficulty in my breaths, it didn't feel like i was in a bubble with less oxygen than everyone else;

but i felt like i regained my freedom.

everything i once held dear, i count it all as lost.

Lord i lay me down, rid me of myself, i belong to You..

lead me to the cross.

the best things in life are things like what i did yesterday.

morning:

pancakes for breakfast on the deck, in the sun, at the flat with the gang. it's not that we had pancakes for breakfast or that we were even having breakfast..but that we were together. it was so nice!

afternoon:

me and Ngaire climbed up the mount, down the mount, and halfway round the mount. and it was so worth all the views. it was beautiful. on the way down we took the track through the bush, and that was just as pretty (i did run straight into a tree that was sticking out and it got me smack bang in the forehead. but that was just funny)

evening: 

quality time with Mike. that was good. we don't get that much now that he's got a girl.

night:

acoustic show at the Orange Zephyr(love that place, when i own my cafe, kudos to the Zeph for inspiration) and then hangs with La. we lay on the bonnet of her car and stared at the stars. now that was AWE-some. 

there's something about the way the world looks and feels from the top of the mount on a sunny day and the way the stars make me feel when they smile and dance for me on a clear night. it's like the specks of glitter are the glimmer in Your eye as You rejoice over me.

from up there, from down here..

i know;

that You're everything that lets me breathe.

Sophie Scroll

The real damage is done by those millions who want to ‘survive’—the honest men who just want to be left in peace. Those who don’t want their little lives disturbed by anything bigger than themselves. Those with no sides and no causes. Those who won’t take measure of their own strength, for fear of antagonizing their own weakness. Those who don’t like to make waves—or enemies. Those for whom freedom, honor, truth, and principles are only literature. Those who live small, mate small, die small. It’s the reductionist approach to life: if you keep it small, you’ll keep it under control. If you don’t make any noise, the bogeyman won’t find you. But it’s all an illusion, because they die too, those people who roll up their spirits into tiny little balls so as to be safe. Safe?! From what? Life is always on the edge of death; narrow streets lead to the same place as wide avenues, and a little candle burns itself out just like a flaming torch does. I choose my own way to burn.

dreams and sewing machines.

thank-you Loula Mae.

ecspecially for this one:

that's my last fashion show..and that's me doing the supreme winner walk! 

haha..praise God!! i won an overlocker. so so so thankful :)

and if we're doing a thank you speech- Rachel pretty much gets ALL credit for this one..for entering me, paying for me, driving me there, for forcing me to go hahaha.

anyway, this is my new blogspot, i'm not sure why i keep deleting and making new ones. i did it with xanga like 4 times.

i think it's cause the name of my fashion label keeps changing(Miss wants me to start one for level 3 next year, but i think i'll leave thinking too much about it until next year comes)

yesterday i got about 3 metres of the best fabric for $3!!! 

this is what has come of it so far:

there's so much i can do, it's so hard to decide! i've been trying t0 find a picture of the kind of dress i want to make out of it but i haven't had much luck. i'll just post a picture once i've made it.

and these are my most recent 'makes'..

(the shorts)

i need to name my overlocker. any suggestions??