alegria

some days are just... well... poo
and today = one of those

on these days i try to remember the wonderful phrase i found on the programme from when mum, dad and i went to see the
cirque du soleil alegria a few years back

if you have no voice... sing
if you have no legs... dance
if you have no hope... invent

i hope to be singing, dancing and inventing for a long time yet!
x

the verdict!

so melbourne...

only 4 complaints - and really only the first two are actual complaints!

1. the city isn't all that clean in comparison to here

2. wayyyy more people smoke than i like/ am used to

3. hook turns are crazy/madness yet awesome and intruiging
(poor kris - i kept asking him to do them
even when there was no need...
the best one was when the tourist loop bus did one!! :)

4. it was freaking cold. like you would not believe
but cold = awesome

so... it was amazing and i had so much fun!!!
thanks again mama

i ♥ u!

melbourne part 2...

thursday

started off the day with an extremely nutrious "liquid breakfast"... one of 7-11's famous slurpees, much to mum's disgust. especially seeing as i bough laura one too... oops

we then spent the morning and quite a bit of the afternoon rummaging through shops in fitzroy - clearly the arty-farty and quite hippie-ish, yet expensive-ish suburb of melbourne. lots of super-cool ideas to be found for sure. the highlight for me was finding this huge babushka to pose with!

mum wanted to check out the first arcade built in melbourne - the block arcade, so we went off to find it late that arvo... there was an awesome as shop douglas and hope - totally out of my price range, but super cool stuff!!! the arcade itself was gorgeous, totally mosaiced floors and domed sculpted ceilings...
bet that rent ain't cheap!

our last stop for the day - my choice... max brenner for hot chocolate and dippable strawberries... yummmm. it's the best chocolate you'll have, if you have a chance - go for gold!!! i cannot even begin to tell you how good it is!

friday

a visit to acmi at federation square to catch up on all the latest (and oldest) moving image technology

and st pauls cathedral for my inner catholic...


then on to the mcg! i really think i dealt with the lack of football a little too well, but don't tell doug - he might feel
obliged to disown me!

it is a freaking huge place though!


lunch at salsas... this place is incredible!! i discovered on monday (much to my joy) - that it's opened at the galleria... yum yum yummmmmmm. may i recommend the chicken and 5 veg bowl?

after lunch the melbourne library - where laura and i climbed 5 flights of stairs to take pictures in the domed roof area, pretty impresive architecture if you ask my opinion...

above the "reading room", how odd that a library would have a reading room. out there, i tell you...

we also checked out the shop til you drop exhibit in the front gallery area - very fitting for melbourne you might think

and saw ned kelly's armour! freaking awesome!


our last stop of the day was back at central station below the shot tower and museum (pictured below... with the shopping centre part of melbourne central built around it - truly a sight to behold!!) to watch the waltzing matilda clock strike 5 before making our way home for dinner at the local indian restaurant... what a day!


saturday...

our last day in melbourne began with a trek up to the botanical gardens on the hill - to visit the anzac shrine. as predicted mum and i got a little (okay maybe a lot) weepy. i can't help it okay. people being patriotic makes me all crazy like... plus knowing my own grandfather went to war just sets me off again. it was a beautiful place though... so peaceful and i loved it!


the greatest bit though, in the middle of the "temple" area - they had this stone which works so each year on november 11th (remembrance day 11.11) a beam of light crosses it at 11am. ah the wonders of ancient technology... and it's one of my favourite scriptures!!
john 15:13
greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay
down his life for his friends...

such a powerful reminder of what's really important in life

after a last trek on the number 35 circle tram...
a free link around the city for loser tourists like us,
to get back to the apartment and collect our cases...


and one last visit to typo (the newest of the cotton on chain... stationery!! yummmm)
to get a christmas present for all my mateys...
(just wait and see - it's pretty freaking awesome!!)

kris collected us girlies again (we love you krispy!) and we went to the crown casino for dinner... and the flame show for miss laura

and scoped out all the incredible ceilings that it has to offer,
exhibit a.

before we made our way back to the airport for
the long trek home.
laura has been sick for quite some time and was an absolute trooper all week, other than the odd cough, she was amazing... until the plane landed at 12:50am sunday morning - and halfway into the airport - the puking started

but as uncle aaron always said, "it's not a real party... unless someone pukes."

so there's not much else to be said...

thanks mum/ nonna
we had the bestest time ever, ever, everrrr
and we love you!!! xxx

melbourne...

monday

on monday 16.08.2010 at 0130hrs (nope unfortunately i'm not kidding...) me, mama and miss laura got on board the dodgiest flight i've ever seen... ever - thankfully their cheapness outweighs their dodginess... (tiger airways - we ain't fancy - but we cheap eh!) and made our way to melbourne! :)

upon our arrival (at 445 perth time... ugh) we were met by the lovely kris and chauffered to our apartment, where we dumped our bags and set out to explore...


first stop... federation square to collect bulk tourist crap to ensure we see everything!!

then a wander of the city... ending in chinatown, before getting on the tourist loop bus and letting them take us around the city until we could check in to said apartment (which btw was amazing!! highly recommend...)

tourist loop bus was fab - get to see the whole city, sight by sight from the warmth of the bus... only thing is - when you're as tired as i was?? i fell asleep with my head against the window, and only woke up because i started to drool. shamed out!!!
needless to say... we had a very early night!!

tuesday
queen victoria markets!!! we had a great old time browsing through piles of crap and the occasional wonderful find for the morning...

we made a quick pit stop to grab some churros (yummo)

before heading to harbourtown where miss laura got 6 outfits - that's right - you read correctly - 6 - for $20 and i got an awesome seconds shirt for $5. fun fun fun.

we also ran into some old family friends - the blues brothers!!

dinner that night was enjoyed at the pancake parlour (if you ever have the chance - get to it!!) awesome savoury pancakes, followed by maple syruped and icecreamed ones for dessert, and i simply ♥ their interior design crew!

...what could possibly be cooler than this giant tree indoors??

that's right... pretty much nothing.

wednesday


we stepped back in time and boarded the titanic, via the exhibition at the melbourne museum. this was a very awesome experience, seeing everything full scale, rooms and corridors and even the grand staircase. i loved it! we were all given boarding passes and the chance to find out our fate at the end of the tour... mum and i lived, although my husband and her father were a goner, as well as laura, her husband and her two kids. eep.


after the titanic exhibit, we ran off to central station to meet jo whose mum had kindly brought her to the city to see me!! oh - how i miss that girl!

we spent the next couple of hours after lunch poking around in the shops at dfo and gasbagging and catching up on the months its been since we saw each other last... :(

that night - kris and i went off to the crown casino and had dinner there at the pub (freaking awesome!!) and then wandered around, buying some perfume on the way ( i could not believe it - it's like it was made for me, a perfume bottle with little stars that float around in the liquid!!! meant to be!)


it sucks - going away... cause i see all my friends who don't live half an hour, and when i remember how big the world is - it makes me sad :( we had such a blast though, i swear we were laughing so hard that the people at the tables either side of us must have thought we were totally nuts!! (thought??)

highlight of the night...? massive pillars that go off each hour on the hour, with huge flames in a pattern - heaps of fun!

but... that's not all - then add on the fun of loking for kris's car in the multi-storey for an hour at 11 o'clock at night. sigh. no wonder he can't keep a gf. haha :) as if you'd think to check where your car is... how silly!



stay tuned for tomorrow...
part two of melbourne week to come
x

off on an adventure!

early sunday morning, saying goodbye to the goodlets of kalgoorlie as nonna, aunty jade and laura take off on a week long adventure to melbourne!!!

mum and dad and kids wave goodbye...

laura raring to go!!

5 hours of this most of the way to perth...

so making your own fun is mandatory!

can't wait, can't wait!!!
:)

i'll be back in a week to tell you all about it!
xxx

benny boy @ soccer

and with saturday arrived the cutest thing i have ever seen...
our ben playing soccer! adorable!
his team wooped some ass against the private school kiddies...
and won with ben scoring all but one of the four goals.

maybe we have the next beckham in kal!!

laura turns 12

friday the 13th saw mum, dad and i making the trek up to kal to go to miss laura's 12th birthday. in honour of black friday - guests had to enter the house under a ladder, wear black or inside out clothes and dance under a pile of open umbrellas whilst eating black cats and spiders. yum.

"put your hands up, they're playing my song..."
there's a party in the g-o-o-d-l-e-t house :)

blowing out the candles and making sure to touch the bottom when cutting for extra bad luck!

opening bucketloads of awesome gifts!

i think we can quite safely assume that friday the 13th wasn't unlucky for laura!

happy birthday missie!
xxx

6 more days!!

more days until mama, miss laura and i

go to melbourne for a week!

i am so excited that it's not even funny...

any suggestions of places to go, things to see

(and obviously great places to shop)

would be greatly appreciated!!

:)

tv... at my own pace

i don't watch tv

as in... i never walk into the loung room and switch on the tv to watch something that's on

never

but... i do love tv on dvd

a little too much

cause you can watch as much or as little as you want in one sitting

and don't have to wait a week for the next episode

i have seen the following shows... in full

and would highly recommend any of them to the friends

(and randoms) that may be reading my blog

- now or ever

... in order of awesomeness :)

how i met your mother

one tree hill

supernatural

glee

gilmore girls

ghost whisperer

gossip girl

ugly betty

kyle xy

six feet under

get on it!!

and report back...

with any awesome ones i may have missed!