Post-Summer Plans

I have no idea what my plans are come September. I'm not sure if I love this, or hate this. It's sort of just... there. In the back of my mind. There are a few things on my wish list: I'd love to do an abroad work experience with my current work (although I need to get my self in gear and actually ask about the possibilities), I've  been invited to meet up with some of my Australian (well, British and South African) mates in South America in September. And finally, I'm thinking that perhaps a visit to my Australian family in Adelaide may be in order. Rundle Street in the summer; love it.

I recently was looking though a friends pictures of his current Sydney adventure and it reminded me how much I love Sydney as a city. The Rocks are my absolute favourite part. I want to live here. 

Decision, decisions...

Where in the world?

Guess what? I've been at a new job for 1 week. It's still in the realm of communications and web (all the things I enjoy) and still sort of in the non-profit sector, but vastly different from the last job. Oops. Looks like I missed writing about that --will need to be more diligent in the future! 

If you know me, have met me or read my blog, you likely know my affinity for New York City. In fact, I was just there over new years. And... I'm going back! Not for long this time, but enough time to take in some sights-- perhaps catch up with some friends and do some much needed shopping (and while the dollar is at par!). So very excited!

And is a strange series of events, over the course of 24 hours, I heard from 5 people from my time in Australia. 5 people I haven't heard much from over the past 8 months and then all on one day?

Is the world trying to tell me something? Time to go back to Australia?

Genoa St. Reunion

I've been sick for what feels like forever (3 days). After doing nothing, feeling awful, and watching (or partially) watching about 20 movies, I was happy to get a call from my former Australian roommates.  L & A were in town! These two are fantastic-- not only did they take me on some fantastic road trips and adventures in my first term in Australia, they were amazing roomies.

We met up at Starbucks and reminisced about the good times in Australia. They feel the same affinity for the beach life as I do. There's something so je ne sais quoi about life there. And not just beach side life, city life too.

Balcony views from Genoa St.

As you can see, we had a pretty sweet place. I can't tell you how much I miss swimming daily.  Beach swimming > Pool swimming  maybe? Either way, sea salt in the air ruins my hair but makes me feel so good! 

Have I convinced you to go yet?  

The Real World: Sydney (again)

I visited Sydney a bunch of times over the last year. The Culture. The Shopping. The Sights. The Sounds-- I couldn't get enough of it!

This is one a few photos from a photoshoot around Sydney when my friend SB came to visit! I absolutely love this dress from Myer! (Pretty colours, one shoulder ruffle... cute, non?)

Really, if you haven't been to Sydney, you need to add it to your list of places to visit!

That being said, if you haven't managed to make to Australia at all, I highly recommend it! (and miss it dearly!)

View Pacific, It's been swell

I've spent today packing my belonging back into 2 suitcases and 1 carryon sized bag. It's amazing how much I've managed to accumulate over the past year (not nearly as much as I had imagined, though). So far, it's all in the bags and fits well! Fingers crossed that I can close them tomorrow!

So the apartment itself was kind of crap. It was lacking in just about everything a typical apartment requires: stove, bedside tables, dresser, decent cutlery... but it did offer some pretty nice views of the Ocean:

And it is featured in the handy dandy Lonely Planet:

Good Value? Questionable. But really, steps from the beach and a block from Elkhorn and 2 from Cavill- it's pretty hard to beat that! 

"You can undercover your eyes. They're not Australians, they're New Zealanders"

Flight of the Concords AND Aziz? Yes, please!

Creative Inspiration

Sometimes things spark my creative side. I miss that.  I haven't drawn or painted in... over a year (oh that's bad!).

I find the Surfers lifestyle slightly uninspired (unless, of course, you are inspired by streets full of bars and kebabs). The beach life is amazing, but it lacks in most things artsy... but hey, to each their own!

Then I wandered into a few stores in Byron. I wish I could remember the store, but it was an independent designer shop that was full of cutesy clothes and fun things- like this:

TEACUP lights! I mean, I probably wouldn't put it in my place (not that I have a place to put things) but I love the idea and it fit the shop so well! 

Another shop had all the jewelry displayed on a tree branch spray painted gold with sparkles on top!:

Ok, I'd definitely put this in my (potential) place.  Love it!

Perhaps this is cause for some art creations... Maybe a little drawing? Sculpture? Awesome gold painted tree branches that I can cover in GLITTER? Umm Yesss!

May 2-4 Jungle MAYhem Canadian Kegger in Oz

May 2-4 weekend is the first sign that summer is beginning. Hello, long weekend! (and Happy Birthday to the Queen!) So when you attend a Uni in Australia that's practically full of Canadians, there is bound to be some traditions brought over. You see, keg parties are not really a "thing" here. You can't just tap a keg, you need to get the whole set up which equals big bucks, so people tend to stick with goon and bottled booze at parties. But not the Canadians I know---They pull out the big guns here!

Saturday night turned into a Jungle* themed kegger at the guys 2 story apartment. $10 cover, Prime location and a perfect set up! Several balconies to hold a massive amount of people (surprise, surprise mostly Canadians) and more beer and Jungle juice (I have no idea and I don't want to know) than anyone could possibly drink.

I brought my camera and managed to get one picture. Ah, probably a good thing...

HAPPY MAY 2-4 WEEKEND CANADA! 

*One of the guys hosting the party and I actually attended a Jungle Party up in Cape Tribulation (just north of Cairns). This was a locals party and the house had no outer walls (what?), the people hosting were total hippies, they had a DJ set up with the flashing lights, someone brought their pet dingo (this is how I know I'm in Oz) and one of the guys was a fisherman, so he brought a bunch of Snapper and cooked it on the barbie! Oh and how could I forget-- there were FIRE THROWERS throwing fire on the lawn. I tired and narrowly escaped a multitude of burns (fire spinning without the fire). It was probably the craziest thing I have seen. The night ended on a cassowary bird hunt in a car with a local. Questionably the most frightening moment of my life. 

Channeling my inner hippie

Today turned into another fantastic road trip. Destination: Byron Bay!

I sort of dropped the ball on several opportunities to go over the last year, so when I got the invite this time, I couldn't resist. Byron Bay is about an hour from my door by car and just over the Queensland/ New South Wales boarder, so really, I needed to get here before I left.

We managed to get a little shopping in prior to hitting the scenic spots and grabbed lunch at Fresh, this delicious restaurant just off the main strip. I have never had banana/ coconut bread quite like it before-- and with passionfruit butter. YUM! Need to keep this place in mind next time I go!

We did some more wandering and drove up to the point/ lighthouse. I know I look pretty chill in the first picture but inside I was saying "LOOK AT THIS VIEW!!!" over and over. So soo soooo pretty!

Here's Helena (my roomie) and I at the sign. Did you know that this exact point of Byron is the most easterly point of the Australian Mainland? 

Now you do! 

And up here is also this amazing lighthouse. I'd like to live in this lighthouse... sigh. 

Turned out to be a great day in Byron Bay! The only downside (and sorry for harping about it all day J, S and H) was the realization that Byron Bay Organic Donuts- the BEST dark chocolate filled donuts I have ever had (remember here when I went on about them?) were gone. GONE. Closed up and now a SUSHI place. Seriously? Totally bummer. But hey, the upside: I just spent the day in Byron Bay! 

Meet the worlds tiniest horse...

I stole this from my roomie, Helena. She is not from around here. And she thinks Australians have a " underlig" fascination with animals. Seriously, this was on the Channel 7 news. THE NEWS! (see next line):


Noter nedre högra hörnet. 7 NEWS.  NEEEEEWWWSSSS!!!


Note the lower right corner  7 NEWS.  NEEEEEWWWSSSS!!!

Jag har sagt det förut och jag säger det igen - de har en underlig fascination för djur här. Så underlig att djurinslag får högre prioritet än det mesta annat när det kommer till nyheter. Spännande?

I've said it before and I'm saying it again- they have a weird fascination with animals here. So weird that animals get higher priority than anything else on the news. Exciting?

Jag berätta för er att den lilla hästen ovan inte har dvägväxt. Den är helt proportionerlig och vansinnigt liten. För er som undrar... Som jag är säker på att alla gör.


I can tell you the horse above is not a dwarf- it's totally proportional and crazy small. For those of you that were wondering as I'm sure you all were...


Summary: This horse is not a dwarf. It is totally proportional and it made the 6pm news. And we did not. 

But I neeeeeeed these!

                                                                                                                                                      (via popmag )

Trackies are questionably the best thing for lounging. Sure, they are ugly and no, you shouldn't wear them outside the house (unless, of course, you have a valid reason: running to pick up vodka & juice, doing athletic things- you get the drift). But these kind are super awesome and definitely an Aussie trackie icon. So really, I need these before I leave. 

The Russell Peters Fiasco

A few weeks ago I found out that Canadian comedian Russell Peters was going to do a show in Brisbane. I sort of humm'd and hawww'd about going- but really, it's RUSSELL PETERS and not only that, it was RUSSELL PETERS IN BRISBANE!

If you haven't seen (or heard of) him. Here's an entire show. I hope you have 45 minutes (and non-Australian internet):

Flash forward a few weeks to yesterday: I was going with a few friends (2 from here and one I knew from way back). We were suppose to all drive up together, but things got a little jumbled up communication wise, so KP and I ended up taking the train up... We hopped on the bus at Uni and headed to Helensvale (the closest station). As we were pulling up K made a comment about how many cop cars were there... maybe 5 of 6? We departed the bus and walked up to notice the cops roping the area off and then finally shuffling everyone away where "busses would pick us up and take up to the next train station". wtf?  So we hop on the bus that was heading closer to Brisbane and there was techno beats pumping from the speakers. Some kid yells "can you turn this up?" and the driver does. REALLY? We speculate some kind of train related death* but no one actually confirms it at this point. We finally get to the train, and about an hour and a bit later we're at Southbank.

We have no idea where we're going, so we wander for a while around Southbank- It's probably my favourite part of Brisbane. It's hip, trendy and carries all the clothing which I love (but cannot currently afford). We have a peak at Brisbane from the other side of the water:

We had planned on grabbing dinner in the city, but since the bus/ another bus/ train situation left us a little behind schedule we opted for a quick bite in Southbank. We wandered and found Grill'd - this awesome fresh burger place serving "healthy burgers" (whatever that means...). The food was fantastic! K ran into a guy she knew and his friend ended up having an extra pair of floor seats to the show (we were in the nosebleed section prior to this). So we ate dinner and rocked up to find our new seats were about 15 rows back. Perfect views of Russell Peters face! 

The show was hilarious but there was no photography and no filming  during the acts (this was enforced by his Canadian boys he brought along that walked the aisles making sure no one was filming). Oh and no Canadian jokes- that was a bummer. But all in all a great show!

 I did manage to snap a picture after the show, though. Under the screens were 2 amazing Toronto based DJ's that played before and after the show- cool idea! 

So, due to a series of events (no ride, the train situation, being hungry, picking the right place to eat etc) we ended up with amazing tickets AND a car ride home! Excellent evening! 

*Confirmed by Gold Coast News 

A post a month...

Times flies. I know, I know. The WORST excuse ever... but an excuse none the less! :)

So this week was jammed packed with awesomeness in the states and of course, I'm here chilling (working really hard) in Australia without American television to catch any of the goodness on tv...

Here's what I've missed:

NEW YORK FASHION WEEK .. ugh. The clothes are to die for. I am a big fan of Whitney Port's newest collection and one of the Real Housewives of Atlanta debuted her (questionably terrible) line a few days ago. Ah, the good, the bad AND the ugly! 

MTV VIDEO AWARDS. Seriously, I love this stuff. I've been a fan of MTV for... well my entire life! and I've watch pretty much all of the award ceremonies. Evidently I missed an amazing one because Kanye was a b*tch and stole the limelight from Taylor Swift. Golden. Who else would storm the stage and proclaim someone else as the best? Only Kanye. 

Hmm... I know there was something else happening that I was sad to have missed any converge on, but it seems to have escaped my mind at the moment!