HAPPY NEW YEAR 2015

Happy New Year!

Can you believe we're already five years into the New Year? Someone posted a status on Facebook today to say that Easter Eggs were already on sale at the supermarket, and you know what I thought? I thought, "Yussssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss!" Haha... guess it was just one of those chocolate days.

I'm feeling really good about this year.

For the past few years I have kept a tradition where every new year I write a summary of the last year, and some goals for the year ahead. The idea was that it was supposed to be a reflective (present) and amusing (future) record. I went to write my spiel a few days ago and ended up chucking my paper in the bin. It felt like I was just rehashing old stuff and was kind of pointless. I need to look ahead, not behind. So I may be done with that tradition. I am also resolution-free. I never keep my new year resolutions; how long until I learn that? Guess I just did! Resolutions can be fickle things, but goals and plans, they're very important. But the drive needs to come from somewhere stronger than the buzz of a new year. Gotta turn them into plans.

To directly contradict myself, however, I do love the buzz of a new year and the feeling of a fresh start.

Here are some of the quotes on my corkboard that will be staying up this year:

There are only two options: make progress, or make excuses.

Instead of complaining about your circumstances, get busy creating new ones. You either suffer the pain of discipline, or the pain of regret.

Create the highest, grandest vision possible for your life, because you become what you believe.

Work hard in silence; let success make all the noise.

A goal is when we chase a dream. If we do not set and chase the goal, it is only ever going to be a wish, at best. We all need dreams to give us drive. Without them we get bored and sad. A dream is something we would like to happen or have. It gives us a reason to live and strive. 

Lately I have been making an effort to declutter (activities, not possessions... I still like those) and simplify. Sometimes I have my finger in too many pies...aka projects. I'm going to write a post on that subject in the future - something called 'decision fatigue'. It's the reason why I deleted Words With Friends. Small example, but just a gesture to eliminate some clutter from the 'to-do' list. That's the point though, I think. It only has to be a few of the small things, to make more room for the important stuff.

Already this year, I achieved massively by moving my business HQ to one spot. Last year I spread the work between Wollongong (businessy stuff) and Mum and Dad's place (kitchen stuff) but it's all here in one space now. It already feels so much more organised.

Hope you had a very happy Christmas and new year's eve! We had a very relaxed Christmas with family, and really fun NYE spent with family, too. We also celebrated the arrival of Lindsay's second nephew - lots of exciting times =)

Til next time, here are a few recent pics x

Just before Christmas we met up with two of my housemates aka family members from when I lived in London in 2007-8! We hadn't seen each other since then, and had the best day!

Palm Beach morning followed by lunch at The Boat Shed - so good! Little bit of succulent + cactus +pots inspiration...

Lindsay and I went camping at Currarong. Okay, GLAMPING. I made that tablecloth! (Yeah, I sewed a straight line...) And see our camp kitchen?! I love it.

Making fairy bread with the girls on NYE. Very thorough, they made sure to do lots of taste testing along the way.

<3

Road Trips + Wild Flowers

This morning I went on a short solo adventure to Robertson, about an hour* south of Wollongong. *It was supposed to be an hour, but ended up being an hour twenty. See, I had a group job interview assessment thingy lined up for this morning at the Illawarra Fly, a place that offers guided rainforest walks. I was sitting on the fence about this job for a few reasons, but got up this morning and decided there was no harm in going to check in out. Anyways, I took a few wrong turns along the way, and arrived at the destination 20 minutes late. I would never hire someone who was 20 minutes late for an interview. I took this as a sign. 

I decided to have a sticky beak at the Fly anyway. The walks are $25 (guided or unguided) - I'll come back another time with the Lindsay. On my way out I decided to 1. Take a selfie of... myself, with my new dangly tree-of-lifey mirror thingy and 2. Stop off at this totally cool little flower stall and pop a couple of 2$'s for some protea stems! It was the cutest little ramshackle of a set up, with scissors, curling ribbon and a wrapping paper dispenser (which had no paper, but who cares).

Definitely followed the dangly thingy's instructions and created my own happiness today. :)

COME FLY WITH ME

This week seems to be flying by. Two more sleeps of being a 30-year-old... ah well, who cares! Living it up this morning with two cups of Lipton. Yeh!

Last weekend Lindsay and I headed to Port Stephens; for Christmas, his parents gave us a holiday package for a weekend away - such a great idea. We did next to no pre-planning about what we'd do over the weekend, which turned out to be a good thing. The view from our balcony was stunning, but it was a little too chilly to venture out. So, we did what any normal people would do and headed to the shops to stock up on drinks and, you know, activities from the toy section of Kmart. Completely normal.

After a few drinks, a battle of Pick Up Sticks and some juggling practice, we wandered over to the Soldiers Point Bowlo across the road. As luck would have it, there was a bitchin' bowlo-esque cover band playing, by the really cool name of Jumpin' Jukebox. The lead singer did a pitch-perfect Elvis and Roy Orbison impersonation - I was very impressed, and jumpin' in my boots to join the swing dancers on the floor. After a while, Lindsay became frightened that I would drag him out to join the 60s crowd. The fear was evident on his face. We left the bowlo and ventured over to the Sally Shores pub underneath the hotel, where we found a bar tender, exactly seven patrons and a guy on a guitar taking requests. "The Gambler", said I, and he strummed it out while we found our confidence within the folksy confines of 'The Sally'. The happy, local drunkards pleaded for one last song and, to my joy, Pete (guitar, vocals) belted out Denver's 'Thank God I'm A Country Boy'. "I dare you NOT to get up and dance with me", said my eyes to the boy, and he understood. We formed a dancefloor on the carpet alongside Pete and stomped it out good and proper.

We got chatting to a fella who, still dressed in his fluoros and beanie from work, had clearly been at The Sally since knock-off. We found out he was an Irishman who'd been living in the area for twenty-something years - accent still intact. Ollie was his name, and he was well known in town, well, at The Sally at least. Ollie would have been in his fifties. He worked in construction and had a partner, and a Great Dane named Sox. I'm not sure, but he may have been more fond of Sox. He was friendly, softly spoken and polite, yet fond of the F-bomb at the same time (still gentlemanly enough to address me directly and say "excuse my language" - this goes a long way, amiright, ladies?). We'd been chatting for a bit when one of Ollie's mates said goodbye and asked him what he was up to in the morning. He said he might go for a fly. I thought he meant fishing, but on questioning, it turned out he owned a helicopter and he offered to take us for a ride in the morning. It was pretty obvious to me we were dealing with a genuine bloke, so we exchanged phone numbers (Lindsay's, not mine). Ollie went to put the number in his phone, but I said, "I'll write it down for you on paper. You might not remember in the morning what name you need to look up in your phone." Such was the flow of beer.

I wasn't sure if we'd hear from Ollie, but true to his word he called in the morning, told us the conditions were good, let on he was feeling better after an initial hangover, and arranged to pick us up at 11. Before we left our hotel room, Lindsay said, "Should we be leaving a note, in case we don't come back?" "Nar", I said. But I did send my brother a text.

Ollie picked us up and drove us out to a paddock, where the hangar sits, where the chopper resides. I'd be lying if I said there wasn't a slight tinge of relief at the sight of an actual helicopter. The chopper was tiny. I'd known it was a 2-seater, but was still surprised by its compactness. Ollie wheeled it out of the hangar and commenced flight checks, talking us through the process. We decided to send me up first. I was hooked up with headphones and a mic. It was so exciting! We pulled up into the air effortlessly - it felt so light - we were a little glass pod adrift in the breeze. Although we were flying 170 kph, it didn't seem like it. Ollie flew me around for 15 minutes, conversing with the traffic controller, all "Victor Bravos" and "Charlie Tangos", as I took in the sand dunes, treetops, and ocean undulating from turquoise to cobalt. I even saw some dolphins. It was a dream! I'd been wanting to fly in a helicopter for ages - and this was such an amazing and frankly, serendipitous, treat.

Lindsay had his fly, and then although Ollie wouldn't let us even buy him lunch as thanks, he suggested a "hair of the dog" at The Sally. Of course he did. He'd downed 2 mid-strengths by the time we sipped our way through a cider. We said our thankyous and goodbyes and he told us to give him a call if we're ever back in town. Phone number or not, I have a pretty good idea where we might find him.

Unexpected adventures and making friends with strangers. Love :)

Pick Up Sticks, Canadian Club and M&Ms with my love and partner in crime.

Jalapeno Poppers (goats cheese) and Rib Eye Meatlovers enjoyed at Murrays Brewery post-flight. Highly recommend you stop here - 3443 Nelson Bay Road, Bobs Farm Port Stephens NSW 2315. 

TWILIGHT MARKETS

 

Wollongong Twilight Markets run on the first Friday of every month on Flagstaff Hill, from October through to March. Last Friday I decided to take a half day and get down to le boyfriend's place [that's us below in yellow and white] and head to the hill. It was a beautiful summery evening and such a treat to spend it on the bright grassy hill overlooking the ocean. We enjoyed a couple of bottles of wine as the sun set, listened to live music and sampled the yummy market food. 

A shout out to the lovely Ness [...get it...] whose birthday we celebrated. x

AT THE SHOW

a picture blog of our day at the sydney royal easter show :)

HUNTER VALLEY TREASURES

A couple of weekends ago we found ourselves in Hunter Valley Wine Country, NSW (a.k.a. 'The Hunter'). On the Saturday morning we visited the Handmade in the Hunter markets on the grounds at Kevin Sobels winery.  The markets run on the 2nd and 4th Saturday of every month, and are worth a visit if you're in the area and looking for something to do instead of in between wine tasting. The markets are small and quaint, but being quite the treasure hunter, I made some lovely discoveries.

Firstly, a jar of Coconut & Lemon butter from Casbar's Kitchen & Garden. HEAVENLY, I tell you! I could happily eat it by the spoonful; only the fact that I gave this to my Mum as a present is stopping me from doing so. For at least a few days. Secondly, some wax melts from Julz Soy Candles & Melts. I bought the tropical scent and the musk scent, which you can see relaxing away in my melting pot. This musk is OUT OF THIS WORLD! My room smells precisely like sweet, sweet musk sticks. Make sure you stop by if you're in that neck of the woods.

Here are just a couple of pics from our weekend...

WE'VE ALL BEEN THERE

above: trop pants for trop fest; lazy afternoon gathering

Last night I attended my first ever Tropfest (the world's largest short film festival); we went to the screening at Wollongong Botanic Gardens. Aside from the cool change that we weren't prepared for (but which made us really appreciate our warm beds!) it was a great night, and something I would love to do again. The atmosphere was nice and laid back... picnic blankets spread out across the lawn in front of the big screen. A few musical acts entertained the crowd until the sun set around 8pm and the screening started. The Tropest Signature Item for 2013 was a balloon (each film entry has to contain the signature item for that year) and they'd brought a hot air balloon into the Gardens for the occasion. I've been dying to go hot air ballooning for a few years now and seeing one up close fuelled the flame... it's on the To Do list for this year.

16 finalists were screened last night: some funny, some serious, most of them thought-provoking and powerful. My favourite film gave me goosebumps, and ended up being the winner. Here it is. Enjoy!

THE CUBAN

This post is a little late coming, but better late than never. Over the summer holidays, me and Lindsay [27/M/Boyfriend][hello Lindsay...][first and last blog intro] went on a road trip up north, from Sydney to Broadbeach, stopping at a couple of locations in between. We stayed at Broadbeach for four nights (not far from Surfer's Paradise... a little away from the hustle bustle). Last night I found myself raving on about one of the dinners we'd had while on holidays, so I thought I would come and post a recommendation, should you happen to find yourself venturing around the area...

The Cuban
Cnr Surf Parade & Elizabeth Ave,
The Oracle, Broadbeach QLD

Great sevice, al fresco dining, delicious cocktails [I had the Mai Cuban] and food that makes your mouth water one month after the fact [SEAFOOD PAELLA!]

GOOD SHOW

A classic knees-in-photo shot

Had a lovely day at the Sydney Royal Easter Show yesterday. I love how they drive the award-winning pigs around the showground in a victory lap. Just thought I would share that. Saw Dr. Harry in the morning. And the sheepdog demonstration was a definite highlight. Made me want to quit my job and go be a sheepdog trainer. Did I mention I have over 400 emails at work to attend to? Probably 500 by tomorrow. It's not fun. Turns out I've started at the company's busiest time of year. I spent most of Friday in a (well-masked) panic. As grateful as I am for this job, at the end of the day it's not my destiny to be sat behind a desk. Maybe a few more years, then I'd like to say goodbye to the office world. I'm good at my job, but want to find something I'm good at and that I love. And be as excited as Buck the Sheepdog is to turn up to work.

[click to enlarge]

Back to the show. No showbags for me, but a couple of other cool little finds. First up, Alpine Berry Farm, home made jams and spreads. Yuurrrrrrrm. I bought the Dewberry Jam, on account of curiosity. Still have no idea what a dewberry is, but the jam is most de-lish.

I also found these swell Pipduck gumboots, perfect for socialising in the rain. Gumboots with pink lining you say? Otherwise known as the perfect unnecessary must-have. 

I haven't been to the Easter Show for a few years (I worked there for 5 years, back in the day, in the showbag pavilion... so I've been to the show about 60 times) and was so excited to see what they've done with the petting nursery. Chookies and lambs and goats just wandering about and free for patting. I was patting this teeny lamb and he let out a bleet, it was the cutest thing ever in the world, he nearly ended up in my backback. Also saw a chicken peeping its beak out of a crack in an egg. Amazing. Well done, Easter Show!

And here are just a couple of random photos from a little at-home lazy family Sunday lunch, with pomegranate champagne.