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!