best of the best

Fabulous Aussie author Bronwym Jameson has inspired me to write a "best bits of 2005" list. I used to do this every New Years Eve when I was a kid. Fave movie, fave song, not of the year past but in that moment so that I could track back how my tastes change. I can't remember when or why I stopped but now is as good a time as any to continue.

FAVE MOVIE: The Notebook – I only saw it on DVD this year which is pretty much how I see all my movies nowadays bar the big blockbusters - I'm a total big screen sucker for those! As to The Notebook - how romantic can you get? I mean really!

FAVE TV SHOW: Arrested Development – "They're illusions, Michael. Illusions." Followed a very close second by House - how on earth did they make a drug addict with a bad attitude such a sexy hero? Also loved Gray's Anatomy and Lost to bits!

FAVE SONG: The Reason by Hooberstank I played until the CD player refused to play it any more. Also adored Ben Lee’s The Gamble.

FAVE MOMENT: Meeting my godson Lachlan and my close friend's son Tom for the first time. They are simply dreamy, feisty, handsome, chatty young boys and I adore being Auntie Ally so much.

FAVE HOLIDAY SPOT: Palm Cove – think palm trees, coral, a white sandy crescent beach, and nothing but discreet resorts. Heaven. Seriously. Hubby and I spent much needed rest there snorkeling on the Great Barrier Reef. Yum!

FAVE PURCHASE: New kitchen – I can’t believe anyone managed to live with the old one for the last 40 odd years. Jeez!

FAVE BOOK: This was the hardest of all! I enjoyed much of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. Winced my way through A Million Little Pieces. Cried through Alice Sebold's The Lovely Bones. Adored several Jodi Piccoult novels including My Sister's Keeper which kept me guessing the whole way through. And I loved many Harlequin novels including Joan Kilby's Whistler trilogy, Barbara Hannay's The Cattleman's English Rose, The Business Arrangement by newcomer Natasha Oakley, Nicola Marsh's Impossibly Pregnant which I feel blessed to have lived through from its inception, and Trish Wylie's Her Unexpected Baby which was one of the best Harlequin's I've ever read.

Hope you all had a fabulous 2005 with many many new favourites...

Ally