Hi there! Come on in, make yourself at home.
What can I get you? Coffee, tea, perhaps a vodka, lime & soda? Whether you’re one of my six awesome Bloglovin’ followers, a Facebook or real life pal, or have ended up here via Meet Me At Mike’s – you’re more than welcome.
Having just graduated from the amazing Blog With Pip course, the lovely Ms Lincolne has invited her students to this linky ‘A Cup of Tea With Me’ party at her place. While I’m strictly a coffee loving girl, if you need a milky chai to get you by, go for your life. Pull up a chair, I’d love it if you wanted to stay a while and chat.
For those who haven’t been here before, my name is Annette and I’m the girl madly pulling the levers, great and powerful Oz style, at I Give You The Verbs. She’s the new kid in blog town, so she’s often hanging out by the front gate, waving at the neighbours and seeing if anyone wants to play.
Here are five fascinating factoids about me:
I live in the best city of them all, Melbourne town.
I remember the 1980s with immense fondness – the music, the fashion, and the awesome John Hughes films.
IKEA is my happy place.
When I was in Grade 2 (I think it was 2) we had a school excursion to my backyard, because my dad was, and is, an avid bird lover and we had really big aviaries full of tweeting, flapping, colourful birds for my classmates to admire. Oh, the sweet smell of street cred….. what a moment!
I have tied-for-first-place girl crushes on CJ and Donna from The West Wing.
Blogging is pretty new to me, and I am really enjoying working out what I want my little patch of the interweb to be, from how it looks (I’m not a swirly pastels girly girl) to what kinds of things I’ll share. It’s got a bric-a-brac market stall vibe at the moment – things I like, things I’ve baked, and posts on some of the stuff that tumbles around my noggin. These things include Instagram fun, GTKY posts like this one, and other musings, like this one about LoveChild. My blog’s tagline – Wanderings, Wonderings and Words, sums it up pretty well.
I’ve wanted to have a blog for quite a long time – I dipped my toe in a while ago, but it didn’t stick. What I didn’t know then, but am convinced of now, is that I needed a fairy-blogmother aka Pip Lincolne to teach me, encourage me, show me the ropes, encourage me some more, answer my eleventy billion questions and remind me to Just Start! I also needed the awesome group of Pipsters I have met via the course to be my travellin’ pals and sisters in blogging. We’re rocking the #Pipsters hashtag like a virtual Pink Ladies gang, and I love it.
By the way, my blog’s catchy tagline – Wanderings, Wonderings and Words – wasn’t my work, it’s one of many gifts I received from my fairy-blogmother Pip – credit where credit is due, it’s easy and nice to do.
And that’s the story of how I Give You The Verbs went from a jumbled dream in my head to a real live blog, bobbing around in cyberspace.
Thanks for taking the time to have a cuppa with me. You’re welcome back anytime, feel free to bring a friend and stay for lunch.
Bye for now!
Annette

Coffee please Annette! White and one.
One thing I miss about the city is Ikea, I could go nuts in that place!!!
Looking forward to meeting you in August xx
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Carla, white and one is easy to remember, just like me. Hmmm maybe there’s a Brisbane IKEA you can get a hit in when we’re there? Let’s have that vodka, lime & soda at problogger.
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My girl crush goes to Ainslee in West Wing. Yes. That does say a LOT about me and most people don’t see it coming.
I love being in the virtual Pink Ladies gang with you 🙂
I also love that you see yourself as the wizard of oz.
I’m not usually one to ‘get’ pop culture references, but I was totally with you on this post – yay!
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Do you blame it on the bossa nova too Heike?
If I’d tried One Direction references I’d be lost too, best to stick with the classics!
So which Pink Lady are you? Rizzo, Jan, Frenchie??
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Mmmmm, chai latte!!! Yes please! And later I’ll join you in a vodka, lime and soda!!!!
This is a really fun post, Annette. Thanks for giving me a spot of inspiration for my own blog 😀
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Hi Shell, thanks! Sometimes we need a bit of inspiration – I’m contemplating a post about 80s power ballads and their odd lyrical content and childhood sandwiches…. listening to the radio and reading Enid Blyton this morning got those ideas bobbing around in my head. Cheers!
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Great post Annette – I loved your little story about your Grade 2 class excursion to your backyard – can just imagine how chuffed your were!!
Have loved being a #pipster this last month and a big thanks to you for being so kind and helpful!
See you round on the inter webs!!
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It’s been a great group Jess, I’ve loved it. I keep looking for your blog as ‘Are We There Yet’ – it’s so catchy.
#Pipsters forever! Just like the Spice Girls.
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xxx yeah! love your posts…ur funny funny and clever too x
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Shani, I’ve been secretly hoping for funny – THANK YOU!
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Love this post. Nice to get to know a little more about you. I love your writing – so witty and full of verve!
xx
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Thank you Sarah xx
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Ikea is my happy place too! Luckily for me my family loves it too – only downside is it’s a 5 hour drive from where we live! Been nice meeting you via Blog with Pip!
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Bec, that’s practically a weekend adventure! Cheap motel, meals in the IKEA cafe, good times. Or skip the motel, and hide in the toilets at closing time and have your own Night At IKEA adventure!!
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Great post Annette! Chai for me please..bet you guessed that! 🙂 I am actually afraid to go to Ikea…I always think I will never get back out again and be lost in the aisles for ever!
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Maybe I should start an IKEA therapy group – people are missing out on so much awesomeness… hmmm, there could be a post in that. Thanks Sarah.
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I’m so glad you’ve started blogging and that you were in this class Annette. I don’t know why but my imagination has nicknamed you Verbsy. It will think “Oh look, Verbsy has posted”. Do you hate that? If you do I will tell my imagination to back off.
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Verbsy it is! I like it. I kind of see ‘The Verbs’ as a cocky young rock band, and I’m their manager. Thanks for your encouragement Michelle.
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Hello!
I’ll have a chai latte please – yum!
Thanks for sharing a little bit about you. I thought your excursion story was very cute! 🙂
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Kitty, as I don’t have cute kids or even a cat, I’ll be digging through my childhood for amusing tales to feed my blog. Thanks for popping in.
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Annette, it’s been lovely to meet you via Blog with Pip and to see your blog dream come to fruition. I loved reading this and getting to know you a bit more.
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It is amazing how Pip has brought such a diverse but same group together isn’t it. Maybe we’ll be in the bloggy seniors’ home together one day?
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Morning! May I have a green tea please?? Living in state void of ikea I often drool over the catalogue I picked up while visiting Melbourne a couple of years ago…. Yes. It’s s happy place for me too! I look forward to watching the new kid on the block spread her wings and fly!! Go Verbsy!!
Ps. I love your humour. You make me smile. X
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Morning Cat, alas I only have bog standard Liptons, but the company is excellent, even if the beverage choices are limited.
Thank you so much! I think Verbsy is going to stick, I like it. Cheers. I am so happy to make you smile *blushes*
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Hi Annette, I’d love a coffee white with one please as my daughter is unwell and had me up 5 times last night so I’m a little tired. I am one of your Bloglovin’ followers and love to get your content in my email box. Keep it coming please. It is refreshing to hear someone else (apart from me) admit that they are Ikea addicts. Can I make a confession, the fact that there is an Ikea located 10 minutes from my house perhaps factored into my decision to move where we live. Guilty!
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There is no shaming of IKEA love here Carolyn – I’m about five minutes away from my nearest one and it’s GREAT. With free wi-fi and a free IKEA Family coffee awaiting me whenever I want to get out of the house, I’m one happy girl.
Thank you so much for your encouragement, I’m working on a post that could be awesome or just really stupid right now, so I look forward to hearing what you think.
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Hi Annette,
I’ll take one of those Nespresso pods you’ve tempted me with in your picture! mmm I love Nespresso!!!
I loved the tale of your class excursion to your house – I can only imagine the cred you received for that. My fear of ‘flapping’ birds may have caused some dramas if I werre in your class however – I’ve been known to run, duck and hide in VERY public places due to a bird flapping to close to me!
No classmates visited my home on excursion, however my Mum did bring our beloved Soxie cat to class, only for him to turn unexpectedly and scratch her – not really a settling show and tell for a class of primary schoolers!
look forward to getting to know you more
Megan
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Hi Megan, I think I marched from the school to home like a proud band leader that day… the birds were all caged, so their flapping couldn’t have hurt anyone. Classic about your mum and your cat – they are such fickle creatures!
You’re welcome to share a Nespresso anytime.
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Nice pod placement lovely! Vodka lime and soda would be excellent. We may need an excursion to Ikea in the near future??? (but their coffee is horrible….)
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I do like a vodka at day’s end, and I think a trip to IKEA could be lovely – there are other coffee options there, praise be!
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I’ll happily settle for a vodka, lime and soda please. I ‘m late to the coffee get together, so even if I drank coffee, it would well and truly be cold by now:) As a teacher I can appreciate the wonderful excursion to your backyard-what a wonderful place for kids. Pip certainly is our fairyblogmother! Love your style
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Isn’t she? Thanks!
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Love a John Hugh’s film but can’t say I miss 80s fashion. Love ikea too. I’ve never tried vodka, lime and soda, I must give it a go so that I can comment properly. Always love your posts Annette.
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They were some awesome films Shelley! Cheers.
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Hi Annette truly loved the blog. Keep them coming, a true wordsmith with such a beautiful imagination. Such a shame the newsletter never became reality. Like many other things it has been lost in the void. I miss instanto time too and I’ll let you know that I have not made one of those cappuccionos since you left.
I look forward to more wanderings and wonderings from you.
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Thanks so much Rita, I’m glad you liked it! Instanto forever xx
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Annette, I think I have a girl-crush on you. I love your supportive comments on our fb page and your writing style here is just lovely.
Gonna read you all over.
Cheers
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Carmen, that’s so lovely *blushes/smiles a lot*
Thank you so much! Geez, I really like bloggers.
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I don’t see you being a swirly kinda gal either, black IS the new black baby.
Lovely to meet you, can’t wait to read more 🙂
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Hi Jaz, no, not swirly, though if my gorgeous niece asked me to swirl with her, I’d be all over it.
Cheers, thank you so much for taking the time to visit and comment.
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