What is everyone's take on Valentine's Day? Don't give two hoots! My husband and I both have birthdays in Feb, and we agreed early on in our relationship not to bother celebrating VDay.

 

Do you like traditional Valentine's Day colors (red, pink, white, more?) ? Yes, yes and yes. I just love colour!

 

A Favorite love poem? Not a poem as such, but one of my favourite pieces of writing about lurve is this excerpt from Captain Corelli's Mandolin (it was read at my wedding)...

Love is a temporary madness. It erupts like volcanoes, and then subsides. And when it subsides you have to make a decision. You have to work out whether your roots have so entwined together that it is inconceivable that you should ever part. Because this is what love is. Love is not breathlessness, it is not excitement, it is not the promulgation of eternal passion. That is just being "in love", which any fool can do. Love itself is what is left over when being in love has burned away, and that is both an art and a fortunate accident. Those that truly love, have roots that grow towards each other underground, and when all the pretty blossoms have fallen from the branches, they find that they are one tree and not two. Louis De Bernieres

 

What's everyone's favorite semi-obscure (or underappreciated!) animal? I'm a fan of the tapir, and the numbat.

 

What is your favorite sign that spring is coming? The morning light, when it changes from that bluish quality of winter to the pale yellow that lets you know spring is coming. And the cherry blossom coming out, so pretty!

 

Would something hand knit be nice for you? Definitely. I have a huge appreciation for anyone with the patience to knit!

 

What is your favourite kind of love story? I actually prefer love stories that have kind of a bittersweet ending, I find them the most memorable. I really like the novel "After You'd Gone" by Maggie O'Farrell... without summarising the whole plot, the love affair ends in a devastating way, but the story still has a lot of hope in it. I like that, it's kinda like life.

 

Would anyone like receiving naughty/sexy things?

TOH and I are going to recommence TTC soon, so it couldn't do any harm! I'm not into full-on kink though.

 

Who on the thread likes attending Ren Faires, SciFi/Comic Cons & the like? And do you dress up for them?

Never have... that's not to say I wouldn't, but I don't know if those kinds of things are all that common in Aus.

 

Do you need any accessories for your phone, computer, mp3 player, etc.? Not so much... my husband is my 'tech support' (I even got him a sign to hang above his desk at home) so he tends to take care of that kind of stuff for me.

 

For those of you with pets, would you like pet things? Toys, treats, etc? Treats always go down a, uh, treat for the furbabies. The dogs are turbo-drooling destructomatics (and too dumb or attention-deficient for fetch), so toys don't last long.

 

'nother Q - the Qaire mentioned used books, but what about used CDs, DVDs, etc. Why not?

 

Top 25:

Make You Happy - Josh Pyke

Piazza, New York Catcher - Belle & Sebastian

Better Than - John Butler Trio

This Boy's in Love - The Presets

Tell Her This - Del Amitri

Hand Me Downs - Bob Evans

To Her Door - Paul Kelly

Baby I Need Your Loving - The Temptations

Oxford Comma - Vampire Weekend

Don't Think Twice, it's Alright - The Waifs

Crazy - Icehouse

Ladyhawke - My Delerium

Little Lion Man - Mumford & Sons

Dreaming of You - The Coral

What Are You Waiting For? - Gwen Stefani

I'll be Seeing You - Billie Holliday

43 in the Shade - Mark Seymour

Winter - Joshua Radin

Khe Sanh - Cold Chisel

Rock the Casbah - The Clash

Back in Black - AC/DC

You and Steve McQueen - The Audreys

Heads Will Roll - Yeah Yeah Yeahs

Lullabye - The Dixie Chicks

Jungle Drum - Emiliana Torrini

 

Interested in receiving gifts representative of Witch's country or culture? Yes plz

 

WoW Don't play, far too scared to even try it as it seems to possess a supernatural ability to turn previously functional people into obsessed zombies who stay up till the wee hours playing, and lose whole days at a time without knowing where they went. No offence to WoW'ers, just sayin'

 

Mix CDs yup, sounds good.

 

Favourite candy anything that combines chocolate and hazlenut (or coconut) is generally good. I love sour candies too.

 

Plush microbes I first saw these a couple of years ago and I think they're super adorable. However, I possibly already have more stuffed animals than would generally be considered seemly for an almost 30yr old!

 

Sewn things sure! No allergies.

 

Mardi Gras? In Australia, the only context in which Mardi Gras tends to be mentioned is the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras (which looks like awesome, hilarious fun but I'm not in the target market!). The 'flash your boobs for plastic beads' mardi gras madness hasn't made it down under

 

Make-up / girly samples? Love make-up and skincare, so this would make me smile.

 

Natural sea sponges? Natural sponges are ace! Though I'd probably paint with them rather than using it in the tub.

 

Nail polish? Sure, I'm a big fan of nail polish. I like most colours, but especially unusual neutrals and really bright, happy colours. Also deep dark reds and charcoals, and anything with sparkles. (Okay, you get the idea - I'm not too hard to please!) I haven't tried any of the BPTP claw polishes yet, so any of them would be a hit, too.

 

BPAL boxes? Hell yeah! My blossoming collection would love a proper home.

 

Miraculous yard sale find? Oh, love this question! For me it would be a vintage nipping press, for hand bookbinding. Hehe, dreams are free!

 

Tea/Coffee/Hot Chocolate: I'm a tea girl. I think there's nothing in the world that smells better than coffee beans, but I don't wanna drink 'em apart from the occasional after-dinner espresso. Tea however - I'll try anything. Love both herbal blends and black tea.

 

Recipes: Absolutely! I love cooking, so feel free to shower me with recipes for your great-great-grandma's famous fudge cookies or whatever!

 

Posters/pictures/art: Yes, in favour of this.

 

Paintbox soaps these look gorgeous and the fragrances sound wonderful, but TBH I haven't used regular soap in years - I tend to use body wash and liquid hand soap.

 

Salted caramels never tried 'em, but nothing ventured nothing gained!

 

Sock dreams socks are not something I give a huge amount of thought to (other than to say I loooove above-the-knee socks in winter), but these do look amazing.

 

Fantasy bakery I tend to crave savoury more than sweet things, so my choices would be:

croissants (I'm assuming that as it's a fantasy bakery the croissants will not take up permanent residence on my thighs as they normally would?)

a cheese and herb scroll

fig sourdough bread (to have with cheese)

a sausage roll (every good Aussie bakery has 'em)

a raspberry jam tart (for dessert)

 

Alcoholic beverages I'm not a big drinker, but I do enjoy the occasional glass of a nice, mellow red wine. Suspect potential customs issues make this possibility non-viable though.

 

Steampunk I've not got into it so far, but definitely open to it.

 

Energetically-charged item or gift Sure! DH and I are hoping to start a family soon, so fertility-boosting objects of power would be perfect

 

Significant upcoming events Nothing in particular on this front.

 

Alicia's earrings Very pretty!

 

Burlesque I think it's rather awesomesauce, but I'm not into it myself.

 

Villainess hadn't heard of it before now, but it looks fabbo! I'd just like to send a shout-out to whichever little witchy added this question - I totally needed another thing to spend money on, so cheers!

 

Frankenpolish yes

 

Cost breakdown not bothered either way - I don't need to know, but if you want to brag about your awesome bargain hunting skill, have at it.

 

Keys Love old timey skeleton keys! Beautiful.

 

Witch's identity being new to both the forum and switchwitching, I have zip-zilch-zero chance of guessing correctly anyway! It would be nice to find out at some stage though, so that I can sing your praises to the world and his dog.

 

Ninja vs lotsa packages whatever works for you, dear witch.

 

Eye colour green

 

Nighties don't tend to wear them, as I'm a violent sleeper and invariably wake up in the middle of the night with the bastard thing wrapped tightly about my larynx. I sleep in jammies in winter or cotton undies and singlets in summer.

 

Flowers white tulips (only white ones, though!), cherry blossom, sunflowers (natch), orchids, viburnum (snowball)

 

Vegan baking can't say I've ever tried it, but I'm game

 

Dog sweaters awww! My woofies would love sweaters! Ms. Bella would probably like something in hot pink, to go with her stylish pink collar, and Wile E. looks handsome in red or royal blue. Disclaimer: my beasties are not elegant lapdog-type creatures... they are running, digging, slobbering, playfighting machines... heavy-duty fabrics required!

 

Lip balm in favour, but I'm forever forgetting to take it with me. Fruity flavours would be nice - mango or pineapple or pink grapefruit or something.

 

Hair stuff definitely! Hair things are the bestest.

 

Preserved/canned/pickled things I would love this, but when non-commercial foodstuffs go head to head with Aussie customs, customs usually wins.

 

OPI Alice minis Love OPI and Alice in Wonderland, so mark me down as a yes!

 

Stuffed animals that would be super cute, but I made the mistake a while back of giving my dogs stuffed animals to play with, which they used to practice their dismembering instincts. They enjoyed it so much that they are now permanently on a 'seek and destroy' mission where stuffed animals are concerned, I had to hid all my childhood teddies and my awesome giant Paddington Bear in the wardrobe in the spare room (ooh, Narnia moment! I wonder if Paddington's been to Narnia... ). Anyway, my point is, if you send me a stuffed animal, the gruesome twosome will probably bite his head off and suck his guts out

 

Accessories sounds great, anything goes

 

Hogwarts house one quiz said Ravenclaw, another said Hufflepuff.

 

Space, the final frontier I love looking at the stars on clear nights, but I could not pick out a constellation to save myself (not even the Southern Cross, which should be pretty damn familiar as it's on our flag). Hubs loves Star Trek, but I've never really got into it. He did make me come to the latest movie with him, which I actually really enjoyed. In general I'm not a sci-fi buff though.

 

Favorite animals elephants, I think they are the most beautiful creatures, and I find it really touching that they grieve similarly to humans and hold 'funerals' when they lose a member of the herd. I also love otters, penguins, seals, rhinos. And those emails with photos of baby pandas make me squee at a pitch only dogs can hear. Oh, and hedgehogs... I remember when I visited the UK, I really wanted to see one. I was driving in the countryside with my English cousin, when she suddenly pulled over - she knew I wanted to see a hedgehog, and she'd spotted one. Unfortunately, it had been run over. Tragic times. I never did see a live one... anyway. My favourite bird is the albatross, and of course I love dogs and cats best of all, 'cause they love me back.

 

Something lost and missed when I was eleven, somebody stole my Kero Kero Keroppi sticker book out of my school bag. I was cut up about that for a long time. I think I'm just about over it now, but if my witch found one...

 

Patronus Peregrine falcon, because I've always wanted to be able to fly (I even convinced myself I could when I was little) and I love to wander.

 

Fictional universe I'm not much into fantasy (though I do love Harry Potter - but hey, who doesn't?)... but I would happily up sticks and go live in Moonacre, the fictional village from The Little White Horse, a book I loved when I was little.

 

Languages/countries hell yes, languages are a thing of mine. I learned Spanish for awhile and I would dearly love to get better at that, but it's not all that easy in Australia - not a lot of native Spanish speakers kicking around. I also speak some German, and learned Latin years ago (which managed to be simultaneously incredibly fascinating and endlessly frustrating). As for countries, I want to go anywhere and everywhere in South and Central America, but have only managed Mexico and Cuba so far. I would love to go to Africa, and I have already been to India but would like to go back and travel around much more there. I loved Germany in winter, but would like to see it in Spring or Summer too. I'd like to see more of the US - only been to California and Hawaii so far... for some reason Oregon appeals. And I'd love to go to Canada too, and the Balkans... oh, for the love of god, you get the idea. I like to travel and I want to go everywhere.

 

Personal heroes/heroines Frida Kahlo... the woman possessed extreme levels of awesomeness.

 

Gardening I'm unforgivably crap at gardening, but I do like plants and trees a lot. I actually had a fairly ace little herb garden going at one stage, but then it died a brown and crispy death when I stopped remembering to weed and water it. I do have a birds nest fern (who goes by the name of Ernie) sitting on my desk, which I have not managed to kill in the past 6 months. So maybe things are looking up on the gardening front.

 

Books I love to read. Anything you liked, I will probably like. I don't care how pre-loved it is.

 

Soundtracks not so much. If I hear a song I love in a movie or TV show, I tend to just download it from iTunes instead of buying the whole album.

 

The list in no particular order: Johnny Depp (for the pirate outfits), Chris Fox from The Bill (for the death stares and general sexy Britishness), Gael García Bernal (for sheer male beauty), Gerard Butler (for the accent), Alexander Skarsgård (for the fangs). Yes, that will do nicely.

 

Shoes or purses both please! But if I had to choose, shoes. I has obsession.

 

5ml of your dreams The Star or Candy Butcher, the others on my list are still easily obtainable.

 

Tea loose or bags, it's all good