deondergangvanmijnouders

Hi there! Happy Monday! Just quickly wanted to update you on the Springtime Blogging Workshops, here in Shanghai! So if you're not local, skip over today's post and I'll bring you my Megan Nielsen T Shirt later this week! In January, I was knuckling down the details for a Springtime Session of Blogging Workshops ... that I wrote about here ... and just wanted to announce that my workshop is now included in the Mini March LitFest (along with a bunch of other actual authors & interesting talks!)... ! So happy! Our first workshop will be about Food Blogs (there are AMAZING foodie bloggers in Shanghai! The restaurant scene is - as you can imagine - diverse & plentiful!) and my first guest will be the delightful Nancy of Plus Ate Six . We'll host a little Q&A with Nancy and run over some ideas that make a good food blog! Thank you again for your comments about Blog Ads last week ! I'm firmly on the fence about them, however with some time, we'll see. Foo...

Hey there, if you read my blog in a browser or through bloglovin' you'll see I've added some Google Ad things and an Amazon Ad thing recently just in the side banner bit of my blog. Of course, this has nothing to do with sewing (however I hope they're showing content that relates to sewing or educating ones life), but a little to do with what I'm up to in Shanghai. This year, I've been elected (lol) Blogging Workshop Guru by the Shanghai Blogging App group, and personally requested by the awesomely gorgeous Michelle at M on the Bund & Glam Bar to run the workshops with them... it's a lovely setting and perfect for afternoon gatherings (Um, and cocktails at night time!). But while I've been blogging (and working in media making & content creation for around 14 years), I haven't really tried affiliated links or ads, and lots of bloggers or potential bloggers are keen to talk about monetizing. Some even begin without a following... and some us...

Hey! Happy Thursday! I'm keeping busy this week and have been really *happy* for I've got lots of personal stuff going on and I'm loving Shanghai to bits. Not being in full time work is still very different for me (especially this week as everyone here and online returns to work), and now that I've got a few extra curricular activities happening, it's even weirder. I think I've become a freelancer. And a board member. And a voice over artist. (!) I'll get to it all, but firstly I wanted to let you know about the Blogging Workshops I'm hosting! Late last year, my friend Liv & I co-hosted a workshop for the Shanghai International Literary Festival... we only expected 10 or so people, but when more than 20 peeps confirmed their attendance, we were so happy! I've been working alongside the Shanghai Bloggers Society (my friends Line & Nando who started the app last year) to bring a springtime series of monthly blogging workshops to Shanghai f...

The first day of the year, and I’ve got a little news for you. I’ve been putting off updating my ‘About Me’ section of the blog because since moving to Shanghai, I’ve felt so many changes, and I was waiting to see where those changes shifted in real life and online. And you know what? I’ve outgrown myself as Veronica Darling here… and (yay!) for the first time online, from now on I’m going to update my blog as Amelia… my real name in real life!. Because there’s no real difference these days between online and real life, but there was when I started writing online in 2001. And so HEY, my name is Amelia and it's lovely to meet you again here! I know it might be a bit of a surprise to some of you and might take a little while to get used to seeing the change, but for as I’ve grown so much in the 8 years of writing in this space, I’m sure you have to. A lot of you are real life friends, and a lot of you I’ve met through this blog! So it’ll make real life catch ups & emails a littl...

As a non-style blogger, I came about thinking of personal style this past month … as like a lot of sewing bloggers, I really enjoyed Bimble & Pimble’s Sewing Themed Photo a Day Instagram Posts… called ‘bpsewvember’ … and after posting a day on the subject of ‘Style’, I just started thinking and thinking of this self expression and where I sat with it right now. In my wardrobe these days I’ve built up loads of colour on top of my usual black base… and last week (especially these photos) I’ve started to feel a little Grace Kelly in Sneakers. SHOCK. Would she EVEN wear sneakers, she’d deffo do shorts and slacks… but Skechers? No. Yellow Skechers? Definitely not! But I love the stripes and capes and flick of the hair. I even wore stud earrings pretending they were pearls. I felt great with this everyday style. I know this is not consistent though, Grace Kelly in Sneakers is just a quick and satisfying look for a couple of days. I’ll start to feel too Mummy (not with these Skechers th...

Lately, I've been doing a lot of talking (not uncommon!) but in particular ... about self promotion, personal online presence, blogging, social media. And I've been invited to do some group talks and workshops around Shanghai. If you've been reading my blog for a long while, I've often just left my writing here to be about some personal stuff but always sewing and creating stuff. I don't see myself being a 'ALL IN' or 'MY WHOLE LIFE' kind of blogger, but rather someone who loves the digital space, and appreciating the slow craft of sewing and how it's helped me find my true writing voice. Reflecting on writing here and self publishing somewhat regularly for 8 years, or so, is a hard task for me... I am very outgoing and have flashes of shyness so sometimes being truly person here on the blog doesn't come as easily as saying how much I love floral fabrics or shopping at the market for supplies. But, of course, when I'm not sewing much and ...

Thank goodness Future Islands wrote Seasons (Waiting On You) because now when I feel like the shift in temperature, the wind a little chillier, and the sun a little less strong... I have this song in my head. And so we're feeling the autumnal vibes around Shanghai this week, especially after a sunny holiday in Australia. The weather here makes us cough a little more, as our lungs and noses adjust to the pollution level... because that air in Australia is just so clear. And through this season and climate change (and that red moon last night), I am again confronted with all the millions of possibilities and choice of this fantastically great city! Last night I went to the comedy festival, the FIRST Shanghai International Comedy Festival, and will represent an Australian colleague today at a comedy discussion forum. I'm overjoyed to be meeting new people and sharing some stories about Australia's comedy industry. Also my friend and I are constantly working over new projec...

September has been beautiful and busy here in Shanghai. Lots of events, people in town visiting and it felt like Design Week, Photography Week, Art Week, Fashion Week (and so on) was all at once! My evenings were so full up and it was really great meeting people outside of my usual social circles. I love hearing people's stories! As always, people with different cultures & nationalities are in Shanghai, so over the space of a week, I was hanging with Mexicans (my girls!), eavesdropping on two Danish women from different backgrounds (one Chinese Danish!) and giggling with Chinese Australians while talking about kite surfing with a New Zealander! And that was just one day. This year, I joined the Shanghai Blogging Society with their newly launched App (now with about 50 bloggers, but we started with 20) and I feel instantly connected to a bunch of new people and great ideas. If not for blogging, I’d not have met Line, nor Marta, nor Sandra this year or been involved in these di...

August & September are busy months now in our family & world… it’s taken me a little while to find a rhythm to our days and weeks! Birthdays and parties and then visiting friends and relatives have made me soooooooo happy! I’ve pretty much eaten and drunk all the dumplings and wine and as I catch a moment to myself this morning, I’m like: IT’S now autumn/fall. It’s almost OCTOBER! We’ve been in Shanghai for one whole year so I know how to handle the season changes… but it still feels like it should be gearing up to summer holidays as Australia tends to have a season change around now and then it’s all GO til Christmas. But in China, we’re all busy with school days for Felix and crazy work hours for my husband, and then it’s the Chinese Golden Week holidays and we’ll be travelling back to Australia for a short time. The year’s broken up so different in China to Australia, not to mention the northern/southern hemisphere thing! This week, I’ve also been workshopping a workshop (!)...

I never really thought I’d be sitting in a cafe in Shanghai, having soup noodles for breakfast and a very delicious latte, while Mariah Carey sings ‘I can’t live (if living is without you)’ on the stereo…. and a song I sang at the Eisteddfod (the performance contest/festival in our area, growing up) …. we just don’t know the funny places we’ll be in life, and what memories will pop up with particular songs or music. When I started singing with my teacher Faye, I was probably 14 or 15 years old and sometimes I didn’t really think I could sing well, but after a lot of performances (Barbara Streisand’s The Way We Were was the first song I ever sang alone in public) and theatre shows… I finally felt very good about my voice. I didn’t think I would be just a ‘singer’ or a performer… I loved doing it, and I loved being in plays, but my theatre group was a special group that you only find once in a while and you know I started my radio career and somewhere in your twenties you sort of focus o...

Moving to Shanghai last year has been quite inspiring for me, but also incredibly challenging. Learning a new language, leaving our friends and family and putting my radio career on hold for a bit; these and many other things are all contributing to the ups and downs of our new life in China. There are over 24 million people living in Shanghai, with around 150 000 foreigners (I think around this many in 2011… so maybe more now) and without speaking or reading Hanyu/Mandarin, you can float around in a little English speaking bubble by yourself. But earlier this year, I started hunting down other bloggers in Shanghai, and came across Line Fricke’s blog Shanghai Habits . I then got in touch after seeing her Instagram post about a Shanghai Blogging Group… and last week, we all joined together to help Line and her project partner Nando Fonseca launch their new project, the Shanghai Bloggers App . My blog, along with many other wonderful local bloggers, are all featured on the app, and there...

Hey there, if you don't mind, I'd love to talk P.A.Ms: Personal Administration Matters! (with photos of flowers from the local flower market in Shanghai to help balance the admin-ish mood) My friend Myf shared this term "PAM" with me years ago... & because a woman called Pam is always amazing, having a little nickname for your personal biz really helps... so today, I have a bit of a blah post, but a PAM post is needed everynow and again! My PAM today is to let you know that I've actually updated my url to a DOT FREAKING COM. I have no idea why it took me so long! I've also let the Bloglovin ' support crew know too, and have connected with Feedburner (have no clue about that yet, but #learningshit is my motto in life) and now I seem to have Disqus issues... only because my usual Admin settings have changed and blah blah blah, I've tried to sort that out... So today, I thought I'd let you know that I'm in a pickle while things get sorted out...

Hey! How was the weekend!? Today, I wanna talk about this blog, and maybe some areas where I’d like to take the blog… AND see what you think! I’m brimming with blog content ideas, and I’m trying not to bombard you with too many too soon (and at the same time try to set up my blog as having regular posts again)… but one thing I’ve noted after being in Shanghai for a short and quick 6 months: There is just SO much creativity and so much create-ing in this town. In the English speaking world, I am overwhelmed, and I’m only seeing these amazing glimpses in the local and (tricky for me, but maybe one day) Chinese speaking Shanghai art & fashion scene.  So, as I started to plan my sewing projects and to ‘get back’ my sewjo mojo and body love (to make my own clothes & feel happy!) … I have started to also say ‘YES’ to all things, and because I’m not working my usual radio job here in China … I also have the independence and time. For the first time in my life p...

Why HELLO! It's been a while, right? I'm so glad I actually told you what was coming up , because otherwise it'd be a bit DUR what happened to Veronica Darling and her little darlings Husbie & Baby and all the sewing? The SEWING?! What happened to all the stash !? Time has gone so uncontrollably fast! Well, the greatest thing is that we are A-OK and living in Shanghai, China, not Melbourne, Australia as last year. We moved in September and are SLOWLY settling in... there are a million reasons, but it takes a long time to get into daily life (for me, anyways) in China. It's amazing, crazy, sad without friends and family, but happy to make new friends, and all those other things... like getting lost without knowing the usual places to go but then amazed by other places that you accidentally stumble upon. The whole world as you know it is upside down. (We did not speak ANY Mandarin before we got to China - only Thank You = Xie Xie) (It's really hard moving to a new...