Fantabulous design: New Year's resolution 2009

WISH LIST
The holidays are over and I wish everyone all the best of everything in the coming year.

As the world goes into economic meltdown, it is clear that 2009 is going to be a challenging year. Times may be tough, but in every challenge is an opportunity, and I’m looking forward to the future with optimism and creativity.

Each year, I start with a list of things that make me go ooh! …
They don’t need to come with thousand-dollar price tags. A great deal is fantasy – I don’t wear couture, but I certainly enjoy seeing it. And I gasp with pleasure when I have the opportunity to admire one, and why not? Dreaming is free …
What about your dreams?
Here are mine for 2009:

+ To manage a vacation at some pretty place.
I don’t own a private island, but I will have a romantic holiday on one.

http://www.greatbarrierreef.org/

One of Australia's most remarkable natural gifts, the Great Barrier Reef, is blessed with the breathtaking beauty of the world's largest coral reef. The reef contains an abundance of marine life and comprises over 3000 individual reef systems and coral cays and literally hundreds of picturesque tropical islands with some of the world’s most beautiful sun-soaked, golden beaches.

+ I just want to be cozy and
comfortable with big hug in bed.

Winged headboards:
http://www.ochre.net

+ Less is more
Rather than filling with lots of inexpensive furniture, leave some empty space and make room for the pieces you really love.

http://www.zarahome.com

+ Painting sometimes.
I’m off to Sydney next week to visit the Claude Monet and the Impressionists exhibition at the Art Gallery of NSW. It’s a chance to see one of the most significant visual movements in our history.

This well-rounded exhibition is 60 paintings deep, all on loan from the Boston Museum of Fine Art's extensive Impressionist collection. With 29 works of Monet's alone, taken from the 76 that the institution has been accumulating since 1889, this is the most comprehensive collection of Monet's to be exhibited in Australia since the blockbuster, Monet and Japan, at the National Gallery of Australia in 2001. Rounding out the exhibition are works from other visionaries including Cezanne, Renoir, Pissarro, Degas and Sisley.

When a whale of an artist like Claude Monet comes to town, it's hard to find an excuse to not see it.

Here’s a glimpse of his work. I encourage you to explore the site further to get a better sense of his works.

Claude Monet
Charing Cross Bridge (overcast day) 1900
oil on canvas, 60.6 x 91.5 cm Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Claude Monet
Water Lilies 1905
oil on canvas, 89.5 x 100.3 cm Museum of Fine Arts, Boston"Paint what you really see, not what you think you ought to see; not the object isolated as in a test tube, but the object enveloped in sunlight and atmosphere, with the blue dome of Heaven reflected in the shadows"
Claude Monet
http://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au

+ Be my own Boss.
I’ve been considering a new business venture and it’s been a bit frustrating trying to settle on a name, especially one that’s still available for business registration, domain, blog, username, etc. The search process seems endless.
But every cloud has a silver lining and because of that search, I found this: PickyDomians.Com

If you need a great, memorable, easy to pronounce domain name that EXACTLY describes what your website is all about - you are in the right place. This is what we do. We find available domain names that are descriptive, concise and are easily remembered. And if we can’t find one, or you don’t like any available domain names we suggest – you don’t pay anything. PickyDomains.Com is completely RISK FREE.

They also offer a service “FREE FOR BLOGGERS”

"Simply mention PickyDomains in one of our blog posts
and send us a URL of your post"

And these are always at the end of my list:

+ To laugh until my stomach hurts

+ To feel butterflies in the stomach.