We hope you are well rested after Christmas and New Years break, even those of you that still have the kiddies home on school holidays!

We’ve got a few exciting events in the pipeline for this year including the return of Blogopolis, but firstly, we’d like to kick-start the year with the re-introduction of Nuffnang Mini-Meets.

What are Nuffnang Mini-Meets?

These are small, blogger-organised and hosted, blog meets that can take place in any city right around Australia! We want to give you more time and a small budget to get together and hang out with all your blogging mates!

There are, however, a few guidelines to keep these mini-meets in good, working order…

1. A Nuffnang blogger shall nominate themselves to host a blog meet in their respective city. Hosts will be responsible for everything from organising the blog meet, choosing the venue, sending out invitations, promoting the event and monitoring RSVPs. Attendees do not have to be Nuffnang bloggers.

 2. The mini-meet must be Nuffnang branded.

 Example: “Nuffnang Melbourne Fashion Meet”

 3. We will allocate a capped budget of $150 to each host. Each blog meet will receive the same budget. To ensure this budget is fairly allocated, your blog meet will need a minimum of ten (10) confirmed RSVPs. It is not logical or fair to offer a $150 budget to a blog meet with, say, only four attendees. If RSVPs are below the minimum required, the budget will be revised and lowered in accordance with the number of attendees and made known to you prior to the event.

4. The number of monthly events that we can provide budget for will be capped at three (3) per month. We will make sure we provide budget to a mix of hosts and blog meet categories, keeping the process open to provide an equal opportunity to all bloggers.

5. These blog meets are strictly a brand/advertising-free zone. We want our bloggers to enjoy each other’s company over a coffee, pizzas, etc for a few hours without having to worry about brand discussion and product pimping.

6. After the event, the host will be required to email through a scanned copy of the bill receipt along with their direct debit bank details to info@nuffnang.com.au. The amount owing (up to $150 – or the agreed value if attendance is below 10, please refer to point 3) will be reimbursed into your account within five working days.

7. If you are interesting in hosting a blog meet, please email info@nuffnang.com.au with the subject line “BLOG MEET”. In the body of the email, please also include your:

- Name
- Blog URL
- Blog Meet City
- Blog Meet For… (ie: Parents, Foodies, Fashionistas etc)
- Month and estimated date you would like to host event (please, no requests for further than two months in advance)

 We will look through all requests receive and approve three per month.

Once a month we will endeavour to blog a wrap up post of all the Nuffnang mini-meets that were held for that month so please feel free to take a heap of photos and share them with us! We’d also love to see a twitter hash tag created for each event!

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What do I have to do?

All you have to do is post on your blog, explaining how you would boost your ‘Vitamin Me’ levels with a $5,000 dream holiday to Queensland. 

Comment below with the link to your original and creative blog post and you’ll go in the draw to win, thanks to Tourism Queensland and Nuffnang Australia.

The entry can be in the form of text, picture or video, and could range from your favourite Queensland recipe, to fashion range, to favourite Queensland destination.

What is Vitamin Me?

Sounds easy enough, but I bet you’re wondering what exactly Vitamin Me is? Well, it is arguably one of the most important Vitamins of all! It can be found in many forms, but is best attained by experiencing exciting adventures, soaking up some arts and culture, consuming delicious food and wine, or enjoying some beautiful scenery and wildlife. Not surprisingly, the richest sources are found in Queensland. Want to find out more about Vitamin Me? Head over here.

If you need more inspiration, head over here to see how Ben Southall does it. Remember the ‘Best Job in the World’ competition? Well, Ben is the lucky guy who won and scored a gig as Tourism Queenslands Global Tourism Ambassador. 

So how far would $5,000 get you in Queensland you ask?

1. A swanky holiday for you and a friend sipping cocktails and living the high-life at the Versace, Gold Coast.

2. A short break in Brisbane for you and three of your blog fans trying out the 48 Hot Spots.

3. Get the blood pumping in the adventure capital – Tropical North Queensland. Try drift snorkelling, jungle surfing, stand up paddle boarding to Low Isles or scuba diving the Great Barrier Reef.

4. Why not opt for a low key caravanning adventure to Outback Queensland, exploring country pubs and towns on your bucket list. 

The competition opens today, 24th January 2012, and runs until 3pm AEDST 10th February 2012, so get your posts in quick! The entries will be judged by Tourism Queensland and based on originality and creativity. The winner will be announced right here on the Nuffnang website on Monday 13th February 2012 (See full terms and conditions here).

Happy Blogging!

Right now, we have the following product exclusive to our Nuffnangers: a trip to the Melbourne Museum for you an your kids to see a feature performance Tiddalik the Thirsty Frog and experience the rest of the Museums many displays and activities.

We are sure you have all read the Sponsored posts that some of our bloggers wrote about their Melbourne Museum experience, just in case you didn’t, here they are!

http://planningwithkids.com/2012/01/05/school-holiday-activities-melbourne-museum/

http://www.racheldevine.com/blog/2012/01/04/learning-at-the-melbourne-museum/

http://www.crashtestmummy.com.au/2012/01/05/kids-activities-tiddalik-the-thirsty-frog-giveaway/

The Experience we would like to offer you:

Tiddalik the Thirsty Frog performance at the Melbourne Museum

Campaign Key Messages:

The story of Tiddalik the thirsty frog is a Victorian Aboriginal creation story about a small frog who drinks the entire world’s water supply, leaving all the plants and animals thirsty and withering. The animals need to find a way to make Tiddalik return the water – will they succeed?

Tiddalik the Thirsty Frog Performance – Highlights

• Suitable for children of all ages, each performance runs for approximately 20 minutes.
• Tiddalik the Thirsty Frog is a collaboration between Bunjilaka Aboriginal Cultural Centre, Melbourne Museum and Ilbijerri Theatre Company
• Live performances run from 3^rd to 31^st January
• Shows run Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, Sundays. No show Saturdays or on Australia Day 26th January
• Show times: 11.30-11.50am, 1 – 1:20pm, 2 – 2:20pm
• Other activities for Kids running alongside the performance
  • Tiddalik the Frog mask painting
  • The Bunjilaka Aboriginal Cultural Centre (follow up the Aboriginal creation story with more exploration of Aboriginal Culture in Victoria
  • Frogs Alive exhibit where you can explore and learn about the real life Tiddaliks! Runs 11am – 3pm

 Things you may like to include/ tips for your post:

• Lots of photos of your kids at the museum enjoying the Tiddalik show and the other exhibits
• What were the highlights for you and your kids?
• What tips would you have to help other families prepare for a day at the museum?
• Encourage your readers to leave comments on the post in order to win a pass for the museum
• We will be giving you a total of 3 passes for this experience (for yourself and for your readers to win!)
• HAVE LOTS OF FUN!! :D

If you would like to participate in this unique opportunity, please note that there are some requirements:
1) You have to be a part of Nuffnang and have a Nuffnang Ad Unit on your blog http://www.nuffnang.com.au/blogger/add-ads/
2) If you are interested, email your blog URL and address with the subject line NN/MelbourneMuseum to producttalk@nuffnang.com.au
3) We will select the first 13 bloggers that suit the experience the best and send the passes out to you!
4) Once you have written up and published the review on your blog, please once again, email the blog post URL to the above address.

For greater transparency, Nuffnang requires that your post includes the text “Product Talk by Nuffnang” and link it to this page. As this is not a paid Sponsored Post, this shows your readers that this post was made through Nuffnang’s Product Talk and that you have received an item in exchange for a review. The disclaimer should appear at the beginning or near the start of the review.

Miyagi Kyo – Poached pear, honey ginger biscuit & marscapone

Creole Crush – Watermelon sorbet

Elixer Honey Gin – Hazelnut Chocolate icecream, strawberry sorbet, honeycomb

The Golden Grape – Passionfruit mousse, brandy snap

Blood Orange Cosmo – lemon ricotta cake, lemon curd

Mojito – Mango, rum & chilli, mint sorbet, coconut wafer

For all cocktail recipe ideas you can check out the Schweppes Perfect Mix site

It was a fantastic night full of chatting, eating and drinking and was enjoyed by all. Those who attended would agree that they were treated to culinary brilliance and delicious cocktail mixing. It was also great to have our excited contest winner Lisa Wood in attendence. Lisa wrote a fantastic post about her favourite Schweppes cocktail, and won a trip to Melbourne to attend the event! A big thank you goes to everyone who entered the contests. Be sure to keep your eye out for more contests like this in the very near future.

Nuffnang would like to say a big thankyou to Schweppes for sponsoring the event. Check out their Facebook page for news and great competitions. Also big thanks goes to Shelli from Codenamemax (@codenamemax) for helping to pull the night together and of course the Stokehouse (@stokehouse) for our fantastic venue, friendly staff and brilliant desserts.

If you were there and wrote a post about the night we would love to know! Please leave the URL in the comments section below.

We’re getting in on the act and are very excited to be hosting an exclusive, invite-only Nuffnang Foodathon event at the iconic Stokehouse in St Kilda on Thursday 8^th December from 7pm. This intimate event will bring Melbourne’s finest food bloggers together to enjoy a night of delicious desserts matched to delectable Schweppes cocktails as we watch the sun set over St Kilda beach. And guess what? We want YOU to join us!

We’re giving one lucky Nuffnanger a chance to join us in Melbourne at the Stokehouse next Thursday night, with flights from your capital city and overnight accommodation in a double room at the Tolarno Hotel on Fitzroy St in St Kilda, just a short stroll from the Stokehouse.

WANT TO JOIN US?

To win your way to this fantastic event, show us how Schweppes helps create your favourite cocktail whether it’s a classic, or one of your own creations. Share your Schweppes cocktail in a blog post and post the URL in the comments below. We’d love to see photos of your creation so we can try make it here at Nuffie HQ!

Entries close at 2pm on Tuesday 6^th December with the winner announced 9am on Wed 7^th. Be prepared to pack your bags and leave the very next morning.

** We have extended the entries to close 2pm, Wed 7th with the winner announced 4pm, Wed 7th.  Good luck!

For a bit of inspiration, check out the Schweppes Mix Wiki here

I love Christmas, partly to do with the present receiving aspect of it but that definitely is not the main reason. When I was younger we moved here from England without any family, just us, so Christmas to me has not really been about spending it with all of your family. Every year it makes me sad that we can’t see grandparents, cousins but we do have close friends also from Europe who don’t have family so we spend time with them which seems close enough to family for us!

We spend our mornings (always super early as I am way too excited to sleep!) getting ready, having our Christmas breakfast and opening presents. Christmas breakfast is always fun, we have croissants and the mini packets of those cereals that you love when you are little but grow out of yet we still have them lying around for Christmas as it is such a tradition. After pulling our Christmas Crackers I make sure everyone hurries up with what they need to do so we can go into the front room and open PRESENTS!

I tend to be very bossy on Christmas day as I always in vision it to be perfect and I don’t want anyone to ruin it for me…I know it’s not my day but for some reason I turn into a crazy person until I have my first drink!

After opening up presents (we do it one by one and the person that just openend the present has to go to the pile and close their eyes and pick the next one) my mum and I start making the food, mmmm Christmas food is always so YUM. We do not do traditional food but we do do delicious steak, prawns, fish and amazing salads…it’s all about the different salads with me, they are the tastiest!

The Germans (our closest family friends) usually come round around 1pm, this is when we start getting our drink on! We always plan outdoor games and try to each year have a theme. Last year was English Fair theme and we had games such a tug-o-war, bobbing for apples, a trivia quiz, coconut shy…etc. It is so much fun having games instead of just sitting around, it brings out so much laughter!! This year our theme is Moroccan…I am not sure what games we will be playing, maybe we could hire a camel! haha

I wish I could tell you what happens after the games are played..but I usually can’t remember so I can’t let you know…let’s just say everyone sips on tea and politely talks about the days events.

One thing I do love about Christmas and it doesn’t seem to happen over here that much, are the lights that people put up on their houses! Sometimes it can be so stunning and amazing and you can just see the effort they go to. I am pretty sure there would be professional Christmas light decorators but wow they do an amazing job and it just makes me smile! One Christmas I will have my house looking like this:

What is your one Christmas wish?

If you haven’t heard about the Nuffnang Asia-Pacific Blog Awards by now then you’ve clearly been hibernating in a deep, dark cave.

Thousands upon thousands of blog nominations across the entire Asia-Pacific region were received. From these 10,000, there were 11 fabulous Aussies that stood out from the crowd and impressed the NAPBAS regional judging panel, making it through to the finals.

We’ll be flying these guys over to Kuala Lumpur with us to attend this prestigious event on December 16, but before this, they each need your help.

We would love to see our Aussies take out the award for each of their respective categories and you can help by voting for them here!

Aussie finalists are as follows:

Best Micro Blog: @Melburnian

Most Original Blog Design: Eat, Show & Tell AND Lizosaurus

Best Entertainment Blog: Sassi Sam Girlie Gossip Files

Best Food Blog: Grab Your Fork

Best Travel Blog: yTravel Blog

Best Fashion Blog: Sea of Ghosts

Best Photography Blog: Citrus & Candy AND Sesame Ellis

Best Parenting Blog: Childhood101

Hidden Gem: A Beach Cottage

Once you have selected your options, don’t forget to hit “CAST YOUR VOTES!” and once approved, a “Thank you for voting” message will be displayed. Voting is open until 2:59am, 28^th November 2011. You can vote once every two hours.

Let’s get one big last push of votes through for all our Aussie finalists over the next couple of days!!! 

Alternatively you can just use the widget below to cast your votes:

Such are thoughts going through many men’s minds (say that fast 5 times) as they stare at their moustaches each morning in the mirror. Some are bushy, others slowly developing while some are barely there. One thing links them all in N(M)ovember though, they are being grown to support a good cause.

Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock for the past few years you’re probably familiar with Movember (and if not you’re probably really freaked out at the number of Freddie Mercury look-a-likes on your train). Movember has now developed into a fully-fledged charity with men all over the world (well, in Australia, Canada, US, UK and South Africa anyway) curating follicles on their upper lip in order to raise money for Prostate Cancer and Mental health initiatives. In Australia Movember raises money for Beyond Blue and the Prostate Cancer Foundation.

A few years ago Movember was a bit of a gimmick that a few people did, however it has gained momentum and this year there are unquestionably many more mo’s being rocked by a wide range of mo-bros. I also bought a mo-mug the other day, It’s pretty cool, showcasing some of the world’s great moustaches.

This got me thinking of my top five mo’s and great men who made them their own (at all times, not just for one month!)

Ned Flanders

Mo style – ‘The Doormat’

Always immaculately manicured, always perfectodoodily. How does he doodly-do it?!

Freddie Mercury

Mo style – ‘Psuedo-pencil’

A true showman in every sense of the word, his Mo never defined Freddie (he let his voice do that!) but will forever be a part of what made him the entertainer that so many remember.

David Boon

Mo style – ‘The Handle Bar’

Arguably the greatest Mo in Australian sport. Ever. He still has it and it’s still iconic. Awesome.

Tom Selleck

Mo Style – ‘The Gentelman’

A man who commits to a Moustache for as long as Selleck has deserves respect. A sign of his longevity is that many of you will always consider him as Magnum PI while I know him as Richard off Friends. A true man’s Mo, and as The Art Of Manliness sum’s up well, “when pre-pubescent moustaches grow up, they want to be Tom Selleck’s moustache.”

Yosemite Sam

Mo Style – ‘The Extreme Wild-West Fu Manchu’

This Mo has to be applauded. I know there’s a degree of uncertainty about whether it qualifies as a mo as it’s unclear where his eyebrows stop, beard starts and mo fits in the middle somewhere, but anyone who can tuck their mo into the pockets of their jeans is committed.

Amongst all of this you may have figured out that I’m doing Movember too. I’m going ok with it but the curse of being blonde is that my mo is blonde and red and doesn’t really show up too well from distance, but it’s going ok (see below).

I’d love if you could help me reach my target of raising $500 this year. If you could spare $5 it’s such a worthy cause. My Mo-Space can be found here http://mobro.co/TimMullaly.

May the Mo be with you.

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