Sometimes when writing Tres Lola, I am just bursting with the urge to tell you about all the stuff that's kind of fabulous to me, which I often do, on twitter, but sometimes I'd like more than 140 characters. For this reason, once a week, I'm going to take a wee break from the usual style of articles and share more. After much pondering, I've come up with the rather uncreative title of 'Weekly Words'. But don't let my not-so-hot title writing skills put you off, I'll try and keep the post full of fabulous to make up for the lack-lustre title. This will be a space for me to share the motivation behind my posts. It will also be a place for me to share the stuff that has been playing most heavily on my mind and going on in my world. I'd love to hear about what's been going on with you too.

So here it is, the inaugural Weekly Words, feedback is appreciated, so do let me know if you believe this feature to be utter rubbish, though telling me it's not too rough would also be awesome...

I don't know if you guys read Problogger and Zen Habits, but I do and recently I listened to an interview Darren of Problogger conducted with Leo Babauta from Zen Habits. When it comes to blogging, Darren and Leo know their stuff. Leo was speaking about where he gains his inspiration for blog posts. What he said was something that I think really resonates and sums up what is true for most bloggers and certainly for me, "My life is my fountain of ideas...you can never really run out of ideas when you look at your own life, what works and what doesn't and what you can share with others".

This week I posted my second article on how to wear harem pants, the first post I did on harems is one of the most popular posts on Tres Lola and the post I did this week is a follow up that talks about how to style harem pants both casually and a little more formally. I followed my own advice and got into the casual harem look when I popped into town for a coffee this week (see image above left). I also wrote this week about relationships, how to get over break ups by focusing on rebuilding self-esteem and also how to know if it's time to give your best buddy the flick. The post about toxic friends elicited a surprisingly strong reaction in the comments, on twitter and in emails which got me to thinking - when it comes to friendships, we've all had our fair share of bad experiences, but we've come out the other side with greater tenacity and confidence.

Speaking of friendships, I'll be making my way to Sydney's north shore tomorrow to celebrate Australia Day by the pool at a BBQ hosted by one of my Sydney best girlfriends. I'm sure our soundtrack for the day will be Triple J's hottest 100 countdown - an annual music poll that catalogs the hottest 100 songs from the past year according to the listeners and an Australia Day tradition. But as the nation pauses to enjoy a day away from the office, indulging in BBQ's and sunshine, the plight of the Aboriginal people won't be far from my mind. Many Australians refer to January 26th as Invasion Day, and with good reason. History recognises that Captain Cook colonised Australia in 1788, but long before he arrived, the Aboriginal people called Australia home. Our history is full of shameful occasions of abuse against the Aboriginal people typified by experience of the stolen generation of Aboriginal children. While we now live a much more harmonious existence, I'll continue to believe we white folk have a lot to learn from the traditional owners of this land.

Before I sign off, I must turn my attention to Haiti. By now, most of us have contributed what we can afford to one of the many campaigns to help earthquake devastated Haiti. What I'd like to ask each of you to do will not cost anything and it won't take more than 2 minutes of your time. Long after Haiti ceases trending on twitter, Haitians and those working with them will be continuing to rebuild their nation. The road ahead is long and the path to full recovery is many years off. To give Haiti a real chance, we need to ask that the International Monetary Fund drop Haiti's $641 million debt. It's a roadblock in Haiti's road to recovery but by coming together we can demand real justice for Haiti. Let's give Haiti a chance - to add your name to the list of thousands who have already signed on pledging their support, please click here.

"...even as [donations] flow in, Haiti is sending money out--to pay off national debts run up by corrupt governments in years past. Haiti should not be worrying about debt to the International Monetary Fund as families are digging through rubble. At a moment like this, global financial institutions won't be able to ignore a worldwide outcry. Help lift a massive burden from Haiti's ability to rescue, recover, and rebuild -- let's raise a million voices for emergency debt relief for Haiti." Avaaz


This ridiculously long post was written on a slow train to Sydney made pleasant with a soundtrack of Queen, Peaches, Florence + the Machine, Lisa Mitchell and the Prodigy.


What's been going on in your world this week?