Suddenly it's New Years Eve again

I can't believe it was 365 days ago that I was celebrating NYE at Opera Bar and here I am about to head out to Opera Bar again for what I'm sure will be another amazing New Years Eve.  Pics will follow but here are some from last year to keep you entertained.

Food, beach, tunes, drinks, flowers, bridge.

I thought the period between Christmas and New Years was meant to be quiet given the craziness on either side of it?

On Friday night I went to my cousin's birthday dinner which ended up being a really fun night.  The birthday girl made a 3 layer chocolate meringue torte with mocha creme patisserie which was beyond amazing.

I was all ready to leave my house in my new perspex Maison Martin Margiela x H&M booties but did a last-minute footwear change and opted for Louboutin booties instead (the perspex booties are a size too big and I haven't worked out how I can manage that.  Thick socks + full length insoles and they're still too big - any other tips??)

Aforementioned 3 layer chocolate torte

On Saturday I went to the beach with mia famiglia and I GOT BURNT.  My back is very red and I'm feeling very sorry for myself and had to go out and buy some aloe vera because of course I don't have anything at home to deal with sunburns.

On Saturday night my boyfriend's band played at The Star - if any Sydneysiders are keen to come along, they're playing at The Star again on 11th Jan.  I think they're also doing a gig in Bondi in Jan.  They're a covers band so they'll play stuff you know (old and new).  Andy Lee (of Hamish and Andy fame) said, "I think Furnace and the Fundamentals are Australia's premiere cover band" after they played at Hamish and Andy's Christmas Party.  Ling's come along before so she can vouch for them.

I had another footwear crisis and ended up changing shoes again just before we left the house.  What's wrong with me?!?!

(Please ignore white boy in the background putting his belt on) 

Yesterday I went for a leisurely walk and discovered a rose garden near my apartment.  Beautiful!

 

Christmas Eve. Christmas Day. Boxing Day

So I'm a few days late on the Christmas wishes.  I have no internet at home til at least the 8th of Jan and I've maxed out my monthly data limit :(

How was your Christmas?  Did you attempt the Boxing Day sales?

Merry Christmas from my family to yours!

Hehe

My cousin made an amazing pomegranate pavlova for Christmas Eve

My Christmas period was pretty standard - working Christmas Eve then popping over to my extended family do followed by my immediate family's present opening party.

I LOVE PRESENTS

Christmas Day at Wayside Chapel volunteering to feed the homeless followed by lunch/dinner/games with Tom's extended family.

Yesterday something strange came over me and I had the urge to GO TO A PHYSICAL SHOP and do some Boxing Day Sale shopping.  No idea why, I don't even go into stores the rest of the year.

I wore my new Seed Espadrilles which are beyond ridic comfy for my wide-ass foot.  Also wore my new scarf I got for Christmas and my used-to-be-white-but-now-pink tee from Everlane.

Westfield Bondi Junction was a nightmare.  We eventually got into the centre and bought a single item - Maxwell and Williams tumblers.  That's it.  Then we went down the road to Eastgate shopping centre and picked up some pots+pans from Aldi, and a fruit bowl from Kmart.

Do you like me $5 Kmart fruit bowl?

Half price Maxwell & Williams tumblers

Our ex-flatmate came over and we had our annual leftover ham meal - Jamie Oliver's Turkey con chilli but we use ham instead because we always have heaps of ham leftover.  This year we also decided to have the Heston Blumenthal pudding from Coles.  Yum yum yum.

Aaaand now it's the 27th and I'm back at work in an office that only I seem to inhabit.

Lipstick Virgin

I caused a bit of controversy on instagram the other week when I declared I had bought my first lipstick.

I have used red lipstick very infrequently in the past using a freebie I got somewhere but haven't touched lipstick in a decade or so.  The last few times I attempted red lipstick I felt ridiculous.  I felt like a 5-year-old who had been through her Mummy's makeup drawer and just looked wrong.  I don't know what compelled me to do so but I decided I'd try a bright pink instead.  Fuchsia seems to suit my skintone quite nicely so I impulsively threw a Bourjois lipstick (Fuchsia Graffiti) into my Asos shopping cart and hoped for the best (I also found out you can get it from Priceline).

Can I just say, why on earth haven't I been wearing lipstick all these years?!??!?!  I'm yet to go to raid my sister's makeup drawer and try some other colours but I'm over the moon that I found a lipstick that doesn't make me look like an idiot.

Do you wear lipstick?  If you don't, why not?

11 minutes.

That's how long it took me to drive to work this morning.  I love school holidays + Christmas holidays + free parking at work.

Actually I'm a bit disgruntled to be here today.  I came to work excitedly last Friday ready for my last day of work for the year (despite a marathon 7am til 1pm meeting) and looking forward to some time off.  At 10am my boss told me I would be working over the Christmas 'break'.  Not happy Jan.

Then we went for a team lunch/drink and I forgot all about it.  I had a Pink Octopus cocktail, it was delicious.  I also had some fish which was also delicious.

Good to see the rest of Sydney getting into the festive spirit -

I had a Christmas and Kris Kringle dinner with friends which is our yearly tradition.  The Kris Kringle game always proves to be very funny and it's always a late night.  I told a friend I would shame his butter consumption publicly because frankly it's disgusting.

Sunset at my friend's apartment balcony is always a hit because ummmm well check out the view.

I only STARTED my Christmas shopping 2 days ago.  I am NOT prepared for this Christmas at all.  Still trying to get a few things sorted around the apartment (iinet technician can't come out til 10th Jan so no internets for us but hooray we have Foxtel and hooray we have a microwave).

Hope everyone else is more prepared for Santa than I am!

John Legend and Alicia Keys in concert!!

Ermagosh.  Just ermagosh.  These two.  Amazing.

I'll be honest.  I had no intention of going until I saw photos and videos on Instagram of the Sydney concert and decided I was going to hunt down tickets.  Luck would have it that they were doing a show in the Hunter Valley that weekend and TICKETS WERE STILL AVAILABLE.  Only problem is I was meant to move that weekend but Alicia Keys AND John Legend in concert?  Can't be missed.

So my crazy weekend began.  Saturday morning I moved some stuff, raced home for a quick shower before jumping into the car for the 2 hour drive north.  Arrived and seated ourselves on some very classy white plastic chairs on the grounds of a beautiful vineyard.

The ambiance felt a bit like a music festival with the outdoor stage and glorious sun but a tad more civilised (did I mention plastic white chairs?).  John Legend came onstage for an hour-long set and finished with his new song "All of Me" which is beyond beautiful.  The sun was setting as he sang this last song which made way for a beautiful backdrop of pink and blue.

An hour later Alicia Keys tore it up with her amazing vocals and piano playing.  She mixed the well-known hits amongst the lesser-known songs which kept us on our toes.  She had running commentary throughout which linked one song to the next which I've never seen any other artist do and it really demonstrated her life story.  I'm really sorry I have no photos of her (phone battery died navigating us to the concert) but I do have a short video on my Instagram (I haven't worked out how to embed Instagram videos here yet - is it even possible?)

Everyone loved Alicia and were up on their feet dancing most of the night.  As she began to wrap up, my 2 hour drive home commenced, resulting in a 2am bedtime, and a 7am alarm for Sunday to do more moving.  Sunday night I didn't get to bed til 2am so Monday morning was struggle street.  2 coffees and a bacon and egg roll before 10:30am!

Welcome to Kirribilli

I moved house last week.  Don't know why but this move has been mammoth and completely wiped me out, and I'm a self-proclaimed moving expert by now (having moved 4 times in the past 5 years).

Admittedly up until last night the place looked like a bomb site - crap everywhere.  We spent many hours last night packing stuff away and consolidating the mess to make it look less.... messy.

Before

After

Will show you more pics once the place is completely set up and looking pretty!

I have 2 public transport options - the ferry is just gor-jus and made me very happy travelling to work on Monday morning (although not sure whether that was deliriousness/lack of sleep).  The water is very calming and therapeutic and the fresh air just makes you feel alive.  And the view ain't bad.

Plus I walk past Luna Park which is actually quite pretty after it's been raining.

The other option is the train which is slightly faster but not as pretty.  No pictures here.

We finally did some grocery shopping last night after having a bare fridge for 3 days.  Our local Woolworths is a-mayyyy-zing.  It actually makes me WANT to do my grocery shopping.  Success!

I'm going to leave you with another picture from my ferry rides.  Peace Out.  K Town.

Bruce the Mailroom Guy and I are best friends

He's awesome, he emails me when packages come in for me.  If I don't come to collect it before he does the rounds, he delivers it to my desk.  If I pass him in the hallways he asks whether I've had a chance to collect the parcels and then jokes about how I single-handedly keep him employed.

Bruce asked me to collect a whopping 5 parcels yesterday and by the time I got to the mailroom there was a 6th package waiting for me.

Today I got an email asking me to collect the 3 packages that had arrived.  I wish I could say the 9 packages were all Christmas presents but alas I have been doing some Kay shopping (naughty).

I originally happened upon Everlane when searching for silk shirts but have since discovered their range of 100% cotton tees and converted a few people already.  At $15 a tee it's super affordable although you have to factor in the US parcel forwarding costs as they don't ship to Australia yet (I've heard rumours they might be soon but haven't heard any updates).

An amp stand for le boyfriend for Christmas which they sent in a huge-ass box and charged me for 4.5kgs when the amp stand itself is less than 1kg.  I've lodged a dispute with Hopshopgo and just waiting for a response.

A pair of Sony noise-cancelling headphones and a Panasonic Lumix camera which is super tiny/easy to carry around.  I don't NEED either but I was very angry the last time I was on a plane with a screaming toddler the entire flight so the headphones will make me a bit happier.

These Louboutin booties are super comfy!  Love!

All my containers are Lock & Lock because they keep food fresher for longer but I decided I  needed glass containers so I can heat my lunch up in the container and not have to worry about fumes coming off plastic containers and into my food.  And it came with a free bottle cleaner (strangely, something I actually need right now).

And some 100% cotton towels because our washing machine has made all our current towels hard like sandpaper.  Tom likes it because he thinks it exfoliates him but I hate it.  New washing machine = new towels!

Lastly, here is a pic of me in a sombrero.  For no good reason except because I want to.

Ola!