Hectic.

Here go's with the usual, i've been so busy etc. To put a long story into short mode, here is what I have been up to over the past few months, forgetting to blog! 

In January we celebrated Emily's 22nd birthday, yep one year older and counting. We popped open some wine and hit our favourite restaurant for some din din. Twas lovely, as most of our dates are.

Erin, Emily and myself decided we would start a tradition of weekly dates to catch up, gossip and put ourselves out there for potentials all over the town, this tradition didn't last long as Erin packed up and shipped off to the Sunshine Coast, nevertheless it was a good one-off, ha!

In February, I gathered some clothes, primarily swimmers, and headed for SC to visit Erin. It was lovely to hit the doggy beach where my fave boy Coopie could come and wine and dine together at her humble abode. It was lovely to have some girly time with a beautiful friend. 

February also marked the long awaited visit from my Mummy. Mum and Grandma hit the road, Brisbane bound, to set up camp at my place for a week. Their trip consisted of a brief layover at Hervey Bay which I must say was just what we all needed. The beach, the food and the odd ice-cream was a superb way to spend a weekend with my nearest and dearest. We then made our way to our final destination, Brisbane, with a quick stop to buy a puppy! Welcoming to the family, Hervey. My Grandma recently lost her beautiful puppy, Triska, and it was nice to see her smiling again. It was beyond wonderful to have mum waiting with a home cooked meal every evening I came home from work. I wish I was back at home with her every minute of every day and the time I have with my family I cherish. 

Last but not least was the dreaded Valentines day. I work with some amazing people and fortunately this year I was more then happy with the overwhelming supply of gifts and chocolate I received. So, who needs a man! 

Life is hectic at the moment but again, i'll try promise to stay on top of things!

Refreshment.

I usually start my blogs with "its been a while" or something along those lines so I thought today i'd skip the nonsense and go for gold!

Lately I have been bottling a few things up inside and just wanting to get away from the "real world" in general so I took a bite of the bullet, purchased a very late and expensive plane ticket home and took some time to myself, well with my family but thats the only place I ever want to be. Luckily my spur of the moment impulse trip landed smack bang on my very special grandfathers 79th birthday. 

I was greeted by the fam-bam at the airport right on 8:30pm Friday evening. We got some takeaway, as we do, and caught up on each others lives laughing and enjoying the quality of this time. Mum works weekends and dad was bed ridden with the flu so it was me and the baby sister chill-banging wasting our time doing nothing for majority of the weekend pausing to share mums lunch break and the odd cruise in her car. 

Mornings were bliss with the house quiet as a mouse, I poured a bowl of my favourite cereal and headed out back to sit in the beautiful calm quiet sun with my favourite hound, Joseph. I love taking the time to be at home, it really is where the heart is and there is no where else I would rather be. I think its good to get away every now and then and come back to reality all refreshed and revived for the weeks of work ahead before my next venture home. 

A big happy birthday to one of the two special men in my life, you really are amazing Grandfather so glad I was blessed enough to spend another birthday with you.

2012.

The year 2012 snuck up on us quicker then anticipated! I find it so very hard to believe it is finally here! I spent a number of days um'ing and ah'ing about how to celebrate the ring in of the new year. It was finally decided that a small get together was most necessary to avoid the inevitable 500,000 people rush in the city/valley so we invited our closest friends over and held our first soiree.

If I do say so myself it was such a fantastic night sipping beer and punch explaining our pasts to each other around a feast from the BBQ thanks to Trent whilst the dim noise of the fireworks crashed in the background.

As its the new year, the general tradition is to of course create those resolutions we all fail to keep. This year I have decided against that which diminishes the disappointment of not sticking to them so lets hope this year brings everything I dream of! I wish you all an extremely happy new year filled with love and happiness, I couldn't of started mine off in a better way so I pray it continues that way.

Twas a Merry Christmas.

I have been so flat out busy with the end of year approaching and the beloved Christmas festivities that I forgot to do a Christmas Day blog! Never fear, it is here!

I finished work early, yes early (which was a shock to most) on Friday the day before Christmas Eve and boarded a not so big jet plane Rockhampton bound. The excitement building inside of me I believe was evident to the whole plane as I rushed to exit the plane to run into the arms of my mum. I hadn't seen my family in many weeks with the whole starting a new job thing, heading home for a visit is virtually impossible. I cannot express how much I love being at home with my family its definitely my happy place, it gives me time to catch up with mum and chill out with dad on the couch just watching little nothings on the TV.

On Christmas Eve mum propped herself up and out of bed and headed to work while Jan Jan and I got our cooking pants on and hit the kitchen. We cooked for hours on end prepping for the big day ahead, stopping to have lunch with mum and buy the odd sneaky present in town. It was such an exhausting day that we hit the pillow early in anticipation for Christmas!

This year, like every other, we awoke at the crack of dawn with excitement like we were kids again. Santa had delivered! We thought we'd give secret santa a whirl this year as the cost of Christmas can get a little out of hand and I must admit I wasn't at all fond of the lack of presents involved in this little charade! We exchange our gifts announcing "Merry Christmas, i'm your Secret Santa" in hope it was just what we asked for! Of course the biggest highlight of the day was the massive smorgasbord of food waiting for us to devour.

We ate away at the endless amount of food, popped crackers and laughed at the lame jokes in them. It was the most beautiful day spending quality time with my gorgeous family, I couldn't of asked for better.

The year that was...

Well, 2011 is swiftly coming to an end and I felt it was time to reflect. Now it wasn't an easy task and it did take me many days but I have finally accumulated a list of my accomplishments, some good and some bad, for this fantastic year!

In 2011 I,

Started a new life in Brisbane - Moved into the most amazing apartment - Found a best friend in someone I never thought was possible - Attended my first wedding - Was a bridesmaid - Spent my 22nd birthday in New Zealand - Started a blog - Studied Interior Design - Got the most amazing job - Made some beautiful friends - Jet-setted to London - Did a Contiki tour around Europe - Touched the Eiffel Tower - Deleted Facebook - Collected endless amounts of interior magazines - Got robbed and lost all sentimental jewellery - Squashed my cat under the garage door - Lived with my best friend - Became obsessed with Instagram - Got my very own Hermes Birkin - Fell in love with the sweet taste of red wine - Got sent flowers - Welcomed a puppy to the family - Watched my baby sister graduate high-school - Fit into my formal dress after 6 years - Witnessed 11/11/11 11:11:11 - Started wearing glasses - Watched a lunar eclipse - Rode the London tube for hours on end - Slurped spaghetti in Italy - Rode a bike through Amsterdam - Ate a baguette in Paris - Gambled at the Monte Carlo Casino - Sat in Piccadilly Circus - Browsed the markets in Nice - Took a Gondola ride through Venice - Took sneaky pictures at the Sistine Chapel - Drank a beer stein at Oktoberfest - Held up the Leaning Tower of Pisa - Made endless amounts of patty cakes - Won $2 on a scratchy - Found love in MAC - Spoke to my family every day - Ate a snail - Volunteered at the flood clean up - Missed my family endlessly - Drank french champagne in front of the Eiffel Tower - Went to an Usher concert - Went to Katy Perry concert - Became overly obsessed with Big Bang Theory - Started eating mushrooms - Dressed my cat in Burberry - Bought a Vivienne Westwood sweater in Notting Hill - Loved unconditionally. 

Who needs a New Years resolution when I never planned any of this?! 

Was your year as good as mine?

Bucket List.

Have you ever sat back and really thought about the things you want out of your life? The things you always say "oh I wish I did that" or the things you never get the chance to do. Well lately I have been doing a lot of searching and trying to pin point the meaning of everything around me and I have decided to start a bucket list of things I want to gain out of my life. Some have already happened and some I can only hope will happen but I think its important to set goals almost impossible to achieve to push yourself to be the best you can be. 

So heres the beginning of my list, everyday I have been adding to it so no doubt there will be plenty more to come!

1. Find the true meaning of love.

2. Get married in front of the Eiffel Tower.

3. Have a baby.

4. Design my dream home. 

5. Build my dream home.

6. Own a tiny shack on the waterfront. 

7. Be somebody's best friend.

8. Travel first class.

9. Take a ballet lesson.

10. Ride in a hot air balloon.

11. Go to Africa and ride an elephant.

12. Cruise around Canada.

13. Hire a combi van and travel around Australia.

14. Sit on top of the Hollywood sign.

15. Own an apartment on 5th Avenue.

16. Grow my fingernails.

17. Shake hands with Oprah.

18. Pay cash for a car.

19. Buy a piece of Tiffany & Co.

20. Adopt a child.

21. Be a bridesmaid.

22. Be a maid of honour. 

23. Be in Times Square on New Years Eve.

24. Get a tattoo.

25. Travel around the world.

26. Make a difference to someone's life.

27. See the Northern Lights.

28. Live in a different country for at least 6 months.

29. Volunteer in the children's ward.

30. Buy a caravan.

31. Make a dress from scratch.

32. See the Eiffel Tower. 

33. Climb the Statue of Liberty.

34. Start my own business.

35. Have an article published in a Vogue Living.

36. Be front row in a fashion show. 

37. Visit the 7 continents of the world. 

38. Have Nicole Richie know my name.

39. Attend the Olympics.

40. Send a message in a bottle.

41. Learn to fly a plane.

42. Swim with sharks.

43. Leave the house without caring about what I look like.

44. Grow my hair long.

45. Go to a drive in movie.

46. Take a picture everyday for 1 year.

47. Make my parents proud.

48. Make friends with a stranger in the street.

49. Get locked inside a shopping centre for the night.

50. Touch an iceberg. 

I can't wait to keep adding to this list. Just looking at it excites me!

Forever Friends.

"Friends share laughter and joy, pain and sorrow and are there for each other through it all. A forever friend knows just what is needed and is one of life's greatest treasures. "

Today I took the day to visit one of my special friends, Belinda, in Toowoomba. To begin I took an extra long road trip, not by choice, through the very back roads Toowoomba bound.

We made our way through to Highfields where we wined (coke) and dined picking away at wedges dipped in sour cream and sweet chilli on the beautiful green grass outside. We gossiped till we dropped, talked about the future and what could have been. We then made our way through the beautiful home-ware shops that made their way around the coffee shop. 

A short while after we cruised along to a cuckoo clock shop that stocked the upmost sophisticated and beautiful christmas decorations that you could ever find. I must admit though, being in a room of approximately 1000 cuckoo clocks kind of freaked me out! For afternoon tea we strolled around The Chocolate Cottage browsing through the beautiful home wares spying every Eiffel Tower possible! We sat down and admired the view with a coke and ginger ale in hand and some beautiful home made chocolate that was just superb! 

All in all it was the most beautiful day and it was so lovely to be able to spend the day with such a good friend doing what we both love doing! I cherish days like these as I only have a few limited good friends and I love the time I get to spend with them, especially when the live far away from me its a rare occasion and something I truly look forward to.

Thank you Belinda for the lovely day and for being such an amazing friend! It's amazing how far people can come in their lives, look at us now! I can't wait for our next date x