Blog-osaurus Rex

So I think it's safe to say that it's been too long since I've posted a new blog.  A month...that's a long time to catch up on.  So much has happend.  Where to start?

I guess the last time I filled in the blogosphere of my happenings was when I got back from Geelong with Katy, Andrew and Zeke.  It seems like ages ago.  My life has changed a little since then.

Here's the short version:

First and most importantly!!!  Marcelle coolio has joined the Australian fiesta, and sad to say, our little Española, Maria, has left it.  Also, Matteo, the other roommate at my place has returned from his summer break at home in in Italy.  That's the next news, my place is no longer my place.  I've made the move from my shared double suite with lady Kiernan in Fitzroy to my new pent house suite in Brunswick.  Marcy moved into my side of the bed though, so I still spend plenty of time on that side of town, even though I don't live there anymore.  Oh yeah!  And a got an awesome little bike to transport my sleepy self to work at 7:00am.  I can say, the crisp morning air and freezing hands (because I have yet to get myself riding gloves, lazy as I am) really wakes you up in the morning.  Another major change, I just put in my two weeks notice at my cafe because I managed to land a place where I can get lots of hours, unlike Síyía where I was only getting about 35 hours a week.  I'm definitely going to miss my work mates there, but I think I'm really going to enjoy this new restaurant that I'll be working at (I'll save the in depth story on that place until the next post seeing as I have so much to catch up with this blog).  Actually, I'll save a lot of details until the next blog, including the grand tour of my new place, but all I can say is get ready to be wowed by my new digs and my new housemates.

Oooooh!!!! and more big news!!!! The Canadians are finally joining us.  I'm suuuupppah excited for Cam and CK to get here so soon.  It's 10 days away (or so I've been told).  I'm stoked :-D  More, more and more to come.

Phew, that quick catch up is actually longer than the normal short and sweet posts I'm used to.  This is what you get for procrastinating Andrea.  Ok, here are some photos and their anecdotal captions.

One of Maria's 100 million going away dinners...I think.  There were a lot, so it was sort of hard to differentiate after a while.

Summer is rearing it's lovely little head sporadically in Melbourne.  Maria, about a week before she left us :'-(

A lovely view on one of my last days living at a walking distance from my work.

Beer, laundry and musica in the back yard

I loved that jasmine bush.

Katy at work, serving up her fish and chips.

and Marcelle is here too!!!!

Haha, Maria got drunk at her final going away drinks and accosted the street musician, her favorite drunk pass time. 

A sneak peak at my new digs...aaaand my awesome new bike!!!!

Just something interesting (and a little gross) that made 7:30am a lot more entertaining at Síyía.

Walking to the city with M-cools.

To meet K-dawg for a post work pint on the river.

Just cause Marcy is pretty.

So long, Geelong

As I've mentioned before, I work with a really cool guy named Andrew (or should I call him Fergie as his Geelong friends do?).  Anyway, he's from Geelong, a little city about an hour outside of Melbourne that is nestled in a little bay, not far from the beautiful beach towns of Torquay and Barwon Heads.  Last week Andrew invited Katy and I to go to Geelong with him for the weekend, where he had to take care of his dog, Zeke, as his parents were off on an epic European vacation.  Of course, Katy and I jumped at the opportunity to escape the city for a weekend and see a little bit more of Australia, not to mention hang with Andrew and his friends, and I'm really glad that we did.

Andrew and I got off work around 4:30 on Friday afternoon and we rushed to gather our things, and get on the road in an attempt to miss the traffic.  We managed to get out by 5:00, but missing the traffic didn't really happen.  No matter though, we all just had a fun little road trip, listened to some good jams and had good conversations (while Katy and I tried to fight off the driving induced narcolepsy from which we seem to suffer, oops).  That's where the sugar rush from the pack of double dipped Tim Tams came in.  For my American brethren, Tim Tams are the most delicious, most fattening, and sinful snacks you can get in the grocery store prepackaged cookie aisle.   It's like an oreo on crack, dipped in chocolate....twice.  Yeah, that dangerously delicious.  Apparently, there's something called a Tim Tam Bomb where you bite off both ends of a Tim Tam and use it as a straw through which you drink a coffee, which then soaks the inside of the Tim Tam with coffee goodness, thus making it EVEN MORE delicious.  It is one of my life goals to try a Tim Tam Bomb...just saying.

Off the topic of Aussie junk food...

We spent an amazingly relaxing weekend brunching, slamming coffees, taking Zeke on beach adventures, perusing markets that specialized in selling absolutely random junk that you would never ever ever need, hanging with Andrew's friends, eating ice cream in a New England-esque beach town, watching footy and playing beer fueled Pictionary, where Katy and I proved to have an uncanny mental link rendering all competitors utterly helpless to our superiority.  If that epic run on doesn't sum up our weekend for you, I'm afraid you'll never be able to understand how much I truly enjoyed this beautiful weekend in Geelong.

Maybe the photos will help :-)

Massive, and I  mean massive, hip high, piles of seaweed were washed up on the beaches of Torquay.

At Cartel, where we were served coffee after coffee after coffee as if it were winery offering us tastings...except it was espresso, and we are mere mortals who left with racing hearts and mountains of energy

I started collecting these beautiful little periwinkle shells.  That's Andrew just tossing the tennis ball for Zeke.

Om nom nom, fresh crab claw.

Katy and a sea urchin, post mortem

I found one that was still living and chucked it back in so it could live the, I predict, 20 or 30 extra minutes before it gets washed up on shore again.

Andrew or Fergie...whatever you want to call him

Das one big ass sea weed youz got there

The first penguin I've seen not hiding in rocks.  Poor fella probably got lost and ended up getting washed up here in Torquay.

There was lots of pretty seaweed...not like that boring brown Florida seaweed.

Just Katy being pretty at Andrew's friends' place.

I swear, Australians have a complex.

Waiting for fish and chips in Barwon Heads.  Zeke looks hungry ;-)

Yummm, fish and chips.  Also, fun fact...the winner of this year's Tour de France, the first Aussie ever to win, Cadel Evans,  is from Barwon Heads.  It was funny, every shop window had big yellow signs of congratulations to Cadel on his big win.  Granted...it is a big deal.  Go Cadel!

A pretty sunset at Andrew's folk's place.

Cheeeeese!  Lots of love from Oz!!!

Coffee, Coffee, Coffee, Coffee

My workmate Andrew has taken to making me extravagant coffees when I arrive at work.  I guess you can say that I'm thoroughly entertained by them, because every time one lands in front of me I can't help but take a photo.  Ahhhh, how easily I am entertained.  Also, I have to note that it's dangerous that my job allows me to drink as many cups of delectable coffee as my little heart desires!

In case you're wondering, and am so not addicted coffee at all, at all...

See!  It's my name.

This was the morning after I saw the midnight showing of Harry Potter...which was aaaamazing(ly hilarious because a twenty something year old balled through the entire thing)  [and no, that girl was not me]

It's supposed to be a giraffe. 

He said it was supposed to be a pussy cat, which made me giggle because I'm a child.

A bunny!

He really tried for a frog...I commend the attempt.

Same Same, but Different

Ho hum, so another week has gone by without anything that eventful of which to speak.  The best news of the week is that my workmate gave me his spare space heater (yes, thrilling, I know).  Work is work.  I spent a long Saturday morning hanging out on Google+ with my favorite blonde curlycue, the tannest man in Vancouver and my dearest Kittylady, after which Katy and I spent a sunshiny day trolling the streets Fitzroy where I finally got the eggs benedict that I've been craving ever since I tried them in Miami with an adorable Kiwi last year.

On Tuesday Mirella left so now we're back to three here in this little drafty (yet well heated ;-) house.  We threw her a little going away dinner on Monday night that was a swanky affair, to say the least.  Maria made a delicious empanada gallega, we had delectable quiche,  and adorable little mashed sweet potatoes served in the halved oranges.  It was a great night to say the least, but the house is noticeably quieter without Mirella's laugh hanging in the air.  I miss that little Frenchy.

In other news, a little bird told me recently that Marcy and some Vancouverites we thinking about join the party down under.  I figured I'd take advantage of this little soap box I am standing on to put forth my official opinion.  You guys should cooooooooooooooooommmmmmmmmmmmmeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That is all...now onto to random photos of my life.

Lunch in St Kilda with my main ladies last Sunday.

om nom nom, a muffin and a macchiato

Maria and those orangey sweet potatoes

Bye Mirella!  We miss you.  (if you look closely they wrote a little message in the pastry)

Haha, screen shot!

It was sooooo good.

My best attempt to throw up a gang sign...nice one

The most adorable couple I know, Daniela and Jason.

My favorite Spanish ladies

The Day to Day + Independence Day

Occasionally I'll have those aha sort of moments when I say to myself, "holy crap, I'm living and working in Australia right now".  I must be one of the luckiest people in the world that this is actually an option for me.  I'm really am enjoying myself, just exploring, meeting people and living the day to day life here.  Another thing that gets me is that I'm able to do all of this with one of my best friends here with me.  I don't know where I'd be if it weren't for Katy.  I love that girl to death and I'm so glad that we get to have this adventure together.  

A little reiteration for anyone who may have missed a post or two, Katy and I are currently sharing a room in a cozy little house located in the heart of Fitzroy, a really cool part of the city.  We share the house with an amazing Spanish girl named Maria, and this past week we've also been sharing the place with her friend Mirella who is visiting from France.  I work about a 7 minute walk from where we live in a little greek cafe called Síyía.  I have really chill coworkers and lots of regular customers who make work a fun and bustling place to be all day.   Other than that, life is simple.  Some nights we go out dancing, sometimes we go exploring or simply run errands.  Nothing particularly exciting or interesting to speak of.  

On the 4th of July we had an Amurika, fuck yeah! gathering at our place where we had our 2 friends from the states, Maria and Mirella (she's was raised in LA).  We had some drinks, got dressed in patriotic garb and made our way down to the sparsely populated bar on what here is just any other Monday night.  To say the least, the other people in the bar didn't really share our enthusiasm for the holiday.  Regardless, it was a fun time (what was less fun was getting up for work the next morning eeek).  

On the tram to Sydney Rd, Maria tries to rummage up some coin-age to pay her fare.

Just preparing for some shopping at Savers (the worlds biggest thrift store)

These stores have anything and everything.

Daniela's interpretation of the statue of liberty...I think she did a pretty good job.

Smushed in the corner of the beer garden of a bustling bar on Sydney Rd.

Katy doing her best Martha Washington.  How I wish that hairdo had held together long enough to make it to the bar.

I see the resemblance.

Texas. Florida. California. Florida. Spain.   We made Maria an honorary American for the night.  By our logic, we owed the "discovery" of the new world to good 'ole Chris Columbus, so this darling Spanish chica was welcome to celebrate our independence.

Now that's patriotic...

I'm employed!!!

Fear not family, I will not die of hunger on the cold winter streets of Melbourne, I'm a working woman now.  I was getting a little worried myself because it is so expensive here and since I didn't have a job for the first 2-3 weeks since arriving, Australia was hitting my savings pretty hard (especially compared to the cost of living in SE Asia).  Anyhow, I landed an all-arounder type job in a neat little Greek cafe a short walk from my place called Síyía.  My boss and coworkers are really cool and I'm already picking up a lot of great tips and hints for my one day cafe.  Hopefully they'll teach me soon how to make proper Melbournian coffee.  I though I knew how to make coffee, you know, spending over 4 years working in coffee shops, but apparently it's not even close to meeting the high Melbourne standard for coffee.  So I'll wait, cook up some paninis and greek goodies, server customers and hope the coffee comes in time.  Anyhow, today was only my second day, so I'm sure all that will come in due time.

Other than that, nothing much new or exciting to report.  Write me emails!  or skype me or whatever.  I'd love to hear from whoever actually follows this odd little blog of mine.

I've been slacking on the photo front, but here's an oldy that got left out.  Gotta love that pumpkin hat.  We miss our favorite little pumpkin headed Canadian these days.