I'm Sorry!

Dear Loyal Blog Readers,
I would like to take this time to apologize for my lack of writing lately. Life has been mighty busy down under and I feel like now is the time to catch you all up on the events in my life.

Since we last spoke, I have moved, learned how to drive a manual car, got a job and attempted to put my winter coat away.

Since it is still fresh in my memory, let me start with our move. The BF and I have our own place...AT THE BEACH! Now, this will be amazing when it's not pouring rain. The beach neighborhood happens to be in a pretty trendy part of town as well, so we are now the coolest people you know. Luna Park is around the corner from us and once a month there is a farmers market maybe 200 meters from our front door. HOW COOL ARE WE!?!

Now, in the midst of looking for a place to live, I landed a job with a performing arts school here in town. They have over 3000 students. CRAZY! My job is to manage 3 of their venues around town. Part of the job requires me to drive the company van around. Well, it is a manual, so guess who had a crash course in stick shift driving!? Yeah, well I'm a pro now. Plus, the van came in handy when it was time to move.

Its officially spring here in Australia. I have been told that Melbourne is fashionably late when it comes to spring. It will go straight from winter to summer in a few months. Meanwhile, I'M COLD! BRING ON SUMMER TIME!

Re-cap

A few weeks ago, Simon, our friend Flip and I went to see the opening night of Mary Poppins here in Melbourne.
It was a beautiful night. We got all dolled up and painted the town.
Not only did we get to see a bunch of friends and see this amazing show, but we got to crash the opening night party (thanks Disney :))
The party was beautiful. They had live music, a candy bar, a chocolate fountain,made to order food bars, and mini-pies etc. It was practically perfect.
They also had traditional London cabs. AMAZING!

Home Sick

In the past couple of days there have been a few events that I haven't been able to be at...because I'm in Australia.

I would like to pay a little tribute to the new Mrs. Lauren Bryan.
She was married to an amazing man, Joshua Bryan!
I adore this girl.

Of course, she made an absolutely beautiful bride.
I wish all the best for this wonderful couple and all of the adventures they will have in the future.

The day after the wedding there was a massive get together at a dear friends home in Portland. Because I like to torture myself, I decided to skype with them. Not going to lie, I almost cried when I had to hang up.

LOVE YOU ALL!

The day after said party, I decided to skype with my mamma and niece. Every time I skype with my mom I get painfully homesick. Makes me feel like a 12 year old girl. I WANT MY MOMMY!


Today, after I got home from an extremely long day, I had a beautiful message left for me on my Facebook page. The title was "Hello from Jonah" with a picture of my favorite little boy. Not only was this video taken at my favorite time with the Bonnett's (DINNER TIME), but little J was eating his din din out of a coffee filter while wearing a bicycle helmet (100% AWESOME SAUCE!). Thank you Jason for letting me see my favorite little man.


On that note, I'm having a great time in Oz right now. I have started some part time work with some promo companies, which has proven quite fun. I am meeting some amazing people and getting to see parts of Melbourne I haven't seen before.

250 days until I see American soil again. :)

Super Goat!

Hey Guys!
Sorry I have been lacking posts lately. More to come soon. I promise.
In the meantime.

I stole this from a friend, but its me...

***Capricorns are ambitious, disciplined, humourous, materialistic, elitist, grounded, prudent and serious.
I am a Capricorn, and I am trying to let my super goat out.

Must Be Christmas!

Here I am, back after a short hiatus while vacationing with some awesome family.
I must say that this little jaunt I took around Australia was a nice breath of fresh air. Melbourne is wet, cold and leaving me jobless at the moment. Getting out of the city was a nice way to take some weight off my shoulders. I have to say that living in a big city is something to get used to. Public transport, people everywhere, everything available at your fingers with no idea how or where to get said things. I have always had the freedom to jump in my car and go wherever I want, whenever I want. Now, there some restrictions. Need something from the supermarket? TOO BAD! You'll have to wait until its not pouring rain outside!

Yesterday, BF and I decided to have a little dinner party. The theme? Christmas in July! Everything was screaming Christmas, minus the presence of Santa Clause...and maybe a sailor or two.

Anyway, the grand plan was to have a traditional Christmas/Thanksgiving dinner. Turkey, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, etc. Well, we were able to get everything BUT the turkey. Who knew it would be so difficult to find turkey breasts in Australia. Kangaroo mince? sure! Lamb? plenty! Turkey? DREAM ON! I ended up cooking a delicious (if I say so myself) pork roast.
So the menu was as follows:

Pork Roast cooked on bay leaves with a rub consisting of onions, garlic, butter, white wine, lemon zest, thyme and sage.

Gravy with said pork roast drippings

Mashed potatoes with garlic (duh), milk, butter, parmesan cheese

Roasted carrots, parsnips and sweet potatoes with thyme, garlic and olive oil

cranberry sauce made from cranberry's, reduced balsamic vinegar, sugar, cinnamon and sweet chili sauce

and my new friend, who I foresee myself having way too much fun with in the future made a wonderful salad with avo, feta, sun-dried tomatoes and balsamic. YUMM!

For dessert, some Hot Buttered Rum and Pumpkin Pie.
PS - Pumpkin Pie was a new treat for all of the guests last night.

Looks like I'll be cooking thanksgiving dinner down under this year.
I'm also not eating for a week...TOO MUCH FOOD!

Exhaustion...

I feel like I've been a bit under the radar the past few days. Well, it seems as though being surrounded by children 24/7 makes not really care about the internet, phone and your own life much.
This past weekend I flew up to Canberra to see my cousins and all of their amazing, wonderful offspring. In Canberra alone there are 5 kids...all under the age of, now 7, since we had 3 birthdays on Sunday. Since I have arrived activities have included dance classes, birthday cakes, school pickups, birthday party, museum, Wii, arts and crafts, lots of french braids, sleepovers, etc...
I am only on my 4th day of the trip and I'm already tired.

Tomorrow, we go up north to see 3 more of the baby cousins, plus 2 more this weekend. Yes, with the clan that is traveling up tomorrow that makes 8 children...under the age of 9...
Wish me luck!

il cioccolato ha coperto l'uva passa

Just a quick little update before I head to my 5th day of Hot Box Yoga...yes, it is as amazing as its name.

- Bulk! Shopping at Costco was a little taste of home. Bought some chocolate covered raisins...in bulk and have devoured about half of them already. OOPS!

- YAHOO! I am officially a licenCed driver in Australia. All I had to do was prove that I am a resistant / citizen, show them my current US licenSe and pay them a little mulah. It is easier for me to get a drivers licence here, 8000 miles from home than it is for me to get an Oregon drivers license. Crazy? I think so.

- Canberra. I am going to Canberra (the country's capitol) on Friday for a little family time. 2 weeks with some pretty awesome folks and their kids. Family time is just what the doctor ordered. I am 150% positive that I will update you all on the cuteness of dance classes, birthday party(s), football games, rugby matches and beach time in the next week. Stay tuned.

- Jobs! I'm still on the hunt. BF and I decided not to move to Sydney for the job I was offered, so the hunt in Melbourne was been a roller coaster for the past few weeks. Yesterday, I went on a job interview for a marketing team member position. Yeah, the interview was a giant scam. They wanted me to stand outside of the train station handing out flyers and bugging people about certain company's. I walked out before the interview was complete.

- Yoga! The studios here in Melbourne are gorgeous. It is a nice break from the stress of living in a new country and finding a job.

- Friends! My friends her in Australia are great but I can't help but miss all of my friends back home. I just spent 2 hours on skype with my best friend. I haven't laughed that hard in a long time.

That's all for now folks...
Peace out!

If you get to close, they will bite!

As I sit in my warm apartment there is a hint of denial. I woke up this morning in a toasty bed and a beautiful day peering through our window. What you all don't know is that I'm basically living the life of a visitor at a zoo. The tigers look nice, but if you get too close they will bite. Yeah, that's what its like if I go outside. The tigers will bite and make me freeze my ass off. Instead of opening the doors and letting the beautiful sunshine in, I sit and listen to LMB's Summer Mix. This is me trying to live the summer that all of my friends are living back at home.
Yesterday was the summer solstice parade back at home. Here, it was 40 degrees Fahrenheit...

When all you guys are freezing your butts off in November, I will be sitting on the beach in shorts. I have to keep that in the back of my head so I don't die of seasonal depression.

A Little Big Box Love

We went wandering through a newer area of town the other day (The Docklands) and stumbled upon a Costco. Of course, because I have my trusty Membership Card with me at all times, we just had to go in. The BF had NEVER, yes I said NEVER been into a Costco. This is sacrilege people! WHO HASN'T BEEN INTO A COSTCO!?!

Anyway, I rant...

We arrive into the goodness of all that is Costco and the BF falls in love.

BF - "They have free samples of beef jerky?"

And just like that, I lost my boyfriend to a big box store. I have accepted this little turn of events though because I have had a little love affair with Costco since I was a wee one.
People, let me just tell you. If you are ever in a different country and are feeling the slightest bit homesick, just go into a Costco and all problems will be solved. EVERYTHING was the same. I was on the phone with my mom at the time and the same exact products that I was rambling about are in the Santa Barbara store. Crazy, right?
We will be going back tomorrow with a car to pick up all of the necessities...


Along the same line, we were having a little issue with our shower. Yes, this is related.

You see, whoever designed said shower forgot to put half of the glass door on. Yes, it looks hip and stylish, but when we have to build an ark to get out of the shower into our newly man made lake there is one upset Teeny. So, I went on a mission! To get a shower curtain and tension rod. Sounds simple, right? WRONG! Trying to find a tension rod in Melbourne CBD is really not as easy as it sounds. Of course after multiple stores and epic failure written across my face, another idea pops into my head.

Teeny - "Why don't we try IKEA. They have EVERYTHING!"
BF - "Everything, even coffee?"
Teeny - "Actually, yes! Even coffee...Wait a second, have you ever been to an IKEA?"
BF - "NO..."

...and the clouds got dark and the earth got swallowed by a giant man-eating rooster.

Who hasn't been to IKEA!?! Of course at this point we jump on the next tram out to Richmond and the adventure for our tension rod continues. For everyone else in the world who has been to an IKEA, we all know that first timers need at least 8 hours to just wander. Well, BF had to be at work 90 minutes from when we walked into the glorious yellow and blue doors. This was a speedy, yet very successful first time trip. We got our tension rod and even picked up some dinner (hot dogs and soft serve)

He has now fallen in love with IKEA as well.

I better watch out or I might lose my BF to some god awful big box store....like Wal- Mart.
EWWWWW

Picture tour

New blog post coming soon...I promise

But, for your viewing pleasure, here are some pictures of my adventures around Australia so far.

Si and I at Darling Harbour in Sydney


Me in my true form


Anyone missing a cow?


Or a dinosaur?


Ice skating


Our new friend we found in Melbourne CBD


Love him!

HAPPY FATHERS DAY!

Happy Fathers Day, Dad!

I love you!!!!

Mummy, I hope you're proud.

So, like a good little Aussie, I went out drinking on Friday night. The reason being was a little concert/show called the Ten Tenors. We have a friend who is one of the ten and I couldn't pass up the opportunity to go see it live with every senior citizen in Melbourne. Needless to say, with a name like The Ten Tenors, one would need wine...right?
Anyway, as most of you know I am not the worlds best drinker. (I'm sorry Mom. I know I've let you down. Please forgive me.)So, with that said a friend and I downed too much wine for our own good. She however is much more seasoned wine-o and was able to hold said wine. Long story short, the night ended WAYY too early and Little Miss Teeny has had a rough go since then. For all of you still celebrating Saturday, its Sunday here. Yes, that means I've had this damn hangover for 2 days. BOOO.

Welcome to Australia...I guess. eek

A little catch up.

So, one week ago tonight, I was on a plane somewhere over the Pacific. This week has gone by so fast, but at the same time I feel like I have accomplished more then most people would accomplish in a month. With that said, I'm exhausted!

Here is a little list of what I've been up to.

ENDLESS WINTER: When I left Portland two and a half weeks ago, it was moderately cold. The rain was still coming down and there were little summer-like teases going on. I think there were about 2 days since last September when I could justify not wearing a sweater. Then, I was then greeted by beautiful 80 degree weather in Santa Barbara. I got myself a little sunburn/tan. Needless to say, the 8 days in Santa Barbara were truly lovely. Well, as I got off the plane in Melbourne my body went through a little shock. I knew that buying a plane ticket to Australia in June was foolish of me but the fact that it is full on winter down here SUCKS! People, I'M COLD! I didn't bring enough winter clothes with me. The fact that tank top weather isn't for another 4 months is slowing killing me from the inside out. I hope all of you folks in the northern hemisphere are enjoying the sun and beach and picnics BLAH BLAH BLAH!

SYDNEY: Simon and I wet to Sydney on Monday. Our flight was supposed to leave on Sunday afternoon but the airline that we booked is actually worse then Delta. Tiger Airways...EATS HUMAN FLESH! Without going into a complete rant about them, I will just say that we were booked 20 hours later then our original flight. We didn't believe we were in Sydney until we got off the plane. The reason we went was for an interview, that I will post about in a future blog once I know whats going on with the outcome. Sydney is an amazing city. My favorite (or favourite...depending where you're living) part of it though is the people. On Monday we had plans to have dinner with a friend and his girlfriend at a local Thai place that was home of the last supper back in December. All day Monday I was trying to make plans with all of the other folks that I wanted to see, yet it was difficult because our 3 day trip turned into a 1.5 day trip. EATS HUMAN FLESH! Long story short we got to the restaurant and Simon had planed a big reunion of the Miranda Sings Sydney cast. He had planned it 2 weeks prior and all of them had kept it a secret from me. SOOOO sneaky! He got me though. Not only did we have a great dinner with these amazing people, we got to eat gelato afterwords (for those of you who know me well, you know that is my weakness).

YOGA:
This will be my last little snippet tonight. The day after I arrived in Melbourne I went on the search for a stellar yoga studio. I hadn't done a class in about a week and my body was definitely feeling it. I found a place that is a few blocks from Simon's work so we could go into the city together. The first class was incredible. 90 minutes of pure bliss. It felt so comfortable to be back in the groove, even in a studio that was brand new to me. The morning after that first class I got up and was in a hurry to get to another class. I was clearly in to much of a hurry, because as we were walking/running up the stairs of the train station I fell...on my face...literally. People, it was the most ungraceful thing I have possibly every done. We all know that I am prone to accidents, but come on. LANDING ON MY FACE IN PUBLIC!?! We decided not to go into the city and go back home and relax instead. My body was too tired and jet lagged to be out in public, clearly. Thankfully, after 4 days of letting my face and left knee heal I was able to go back to the studio tonight. I explained, in my very American accent (they didn't know the term "eat it"), my story to the guys at the studio. I'm pretty sure they were all secretly laughing at me...BASTARDS!

That's all for now folks.
Goodnight from the freezing cold Southern Hemisphere.

Ch Ch Chaanges

disclaimer: I am posting this blog while sitting in my Melbourne apartment. Obviously, I didn't have internet on the airplane.

I am currently sitting in seat 47k of VAustralia’s non-stop flight to Melbourne, Australia. I have the entire row to myself. SCORE. Apologies for not writing sooner. My week in Santa Barbara was HECTIC! From the goodbyes in Portland...To the 16 hour drive (without stops)...

To Santa Barbara...

To diving head first into my favorite part of the year...

I Madonnari was a huge success this year. Every single year it seems to get bigger and becomes more and more of a success, making it a yearly landmark for Santa Barbarians.

All week people would come up to me and say, “Are you ready for this big adventure you’re about to take?” and I wouldn’t know how to respond. The amount of time I had to think about the trip was minimal. A little confession … I didn’t start packing until 10pm LAST NIGHT! 22 hours before I move my life to AUSTRALIA!!! The land of koalas, good beer, a cute blonde boy and of course my extended family.

The amount of emotions that have been flowing through my head are overwhelming. Last night I sold my car. This car took me to Wolf Trap for the first time. It kept me safe on my way to North Carolina, and of course when I decided to make the second trek cross country it carried most of my belonging to Oregon. Crying over a car sounds stupid and petty, but I did it. Thank god it went to a good home and knowing that I will get to drive it again makes me ease up on the crazy amount of emotions.

Bottom line dear blog readers – I am going to miss everyone dearly. This is the beginning of something good. I can feel it!

Don't Look Back

"As you travel through life there are always those times when decisions just have to be made, when the choices are hard, and solutions seem scarce and the rain seems to soak your parade!

There are some situations where all you can do is to simply go and move on, gather courage together and choose a direction that carries you towards a new dawn.

So pack up your troubles and take a step forward - the process of change can be tough, but think about all the excitement ahead if you can be stalwart enough!

There could be adventures you never imagined just waiting around the next bend and wishes and dreams just about to come true in ways you can’t comprehend!

Perhaps you’ll find friendships that spring form new interests as you challenge your status quo and learn there are so many options in life, and so many ways you can grow!

Perhaps you’ll go places you never expected and see things that you’ve never seen or travel to fabulous, faraway worlds and wonderful spots in between!

Perhaps you’ll find warmth and affection and caring - a “somebody special” who’s there to help you stay centered and listen with interest to stories and feelings you share.

Perhaps you’ll find comfort in knowing your friends are supportive of all that you do and believe that whatever decisions you make, they’ll be the right choices for you!

So keep putting one foot in front of the other and taking your life day by day.

There’s a brighter tomorrow that;s just down the road.

Don’t look back - you’re not going that way!"

Goodbyes

I had to start my goodbyes this past weekend. Goodbyes are the worst! Not only is moving supposed to be one of the most stressful activities, but mix in saying goodbye to some amazing friends and colleagues. Those two mixed together makes for a very emotional Teeny!

Last night I had to say goodbye to one of my rocks in Portland. Not only has he been such a wonderful friend, he also has been my yoga partner. Without him I don't think my love for yoga would have grown out of control over the past two years. We definitely fed each others addictions. We both decided that we weren't going to get emotional during the airport drop off last night. What he doesn't know is the second I left the departures zone at PDX I lost it! Blubbery, blotchy faced, teary eyed mess.

I love you Yogi! Come down to Australia. There are VERY cute boys waiting for you.

On a little side note - I am in complete denial that I leaving this week. I refuse to talk to Jess about it because I know we will both lose it. Proof!

Here's to new adventures!

CHECK!

To-do lists are on my mind.

Thankfully, unlike the other night, I am able to say that items are being checked off left and right.

I recently signed up for a website called livingsocial.com and it seems like they have read my mind. Oil change for chump change - CHECK! Schedule awesome haircut appointment (don't worry, pictures will be posted next week) - CHECK!

Next up, packing. Maybe if i bribe some friends with pizza and beer they will help, not only with the packing but maybe taking boxes of stuff home with them. HINT HINT!!!

On a side note, Portland has to decided to join the rest of country and be sunny. Yesterday our little yoga group had class outside on the esplanade. Here is some photographic proof that the sun shines in Portland....sometimes.

Procrastination!

As I try to check off my mile long to do list I find myself procrastinating. I have always been an A+ procrastinator. There is a part of me that knows it will get done, no matter the amount of stress and worry. The past few days been full of happy hours, hulu and yoga instead of packing, packing and oh you know, getting my life organized for an international move. As much as I enjoy packing and change of address forms, martinis and totchos always win.

As I was looking at my to do list today (which is multiplying faster then bunnies in spring time) I found myself in a very relaxed frame of mind. I knew that if I came home and did nothing having to do with the move, that maybe the stress headache that has been tortureing me for over a week now would settle down.

So, instead of packing up shoes and looking for jobs in Australia, Jess and I did this with our evening.

Thankfully, they ALWAYS forgive us!