bakersville

Lazy Sunday indeeeeeeed...

Not that the circumstances are different from any other day of the week considering my lack of current employment, but this gray sunday is a lovely excuse to stay in, be lazy, and of course, make delicious foooood :)

Today's creations include; an apple crisp made by yours truly (with lots of help from katie's recipe book) which is in the oven as we speak, and will be the first one I've ever made... so we'll see how it turns out. Adam has since kicked me out of the kitchen to create the always delicious baked macaroni and cheese, but in the spirit of deliciousness we have decided to add bacon to it. So there you have it, two mildly experimental creations that are currently filling the apartment with the most amazing smells. I will report back with the results very soon...

(results: deliciousness all around. as expected)

If only someone would be pay me to do this all the time? Ah well, I shall enjoy it while I can because as of now it's just 3-ish days before I start at JayJays, so yaaaay! Back aboard the gravy train!

http://www.jayjays.com.au/

Check it out, they've got some pretty cool (and very cheap!) stuff!

Anways, Time To Eat :)

listen to the octopus

Francois says; wear your sunscreeen!

Greetings Friends and Family!

First of all, I would like to thank you for actually reading this! It's nice to know that people can tolerate my ridiculous and occasionally narcissistic ramblings, let alone actually enjoy them. I appreciate the support because as many of you well know, I have an addiction to writing nonsense, and this is an excellent outlet for it all. So really, really, Thank you.

Anyways, it's finally melting into summer season here in Ausland, pretty much shorts and tank top weather every day now, which is lovely. In light of this, most of the week has been spent outside on the beach. Lovvvve. Lying in the sand day after day under a blue sky without a cloud in sight, you can feel the sun creeping into your near-albino skin and baking you like a pancake. as you may have guessed, saturday I received my first sunburn, and while it was both painful and embarassing I am fortunate enough to live beside neighbors who grow plenty of aloe and choose not to monitor it.

There has been a few bumps on the road to Ausland living - as there is in any spontaneous journey - the most recent being a minor setback in the employment department. The long and short of it is that for the last few weeks I have been given little to no hours, and have been more or less unemployed. This is fantastic on one hand, as it leaves time for all the aforementioned beach shenanigans ... but not so good for the wallet and the whole want-to-save-money-to-eat-food-and-travel-more thing. Luckily, I am currently living in a country where, on the right day, you can buy an entire pizza for $5.90 and 4.4 litres of red wine for $8.99. Thank youuuu Australia.

Well I tried to stay in good spirits about the whole unemployment thing and not get all freaked out, after all everything happens for a reason ... and that paid off today when I trekked out armed with my resume (and a kickass reference letter - thanks lindsbee!) and wandered into a cute little store called JayJays at the Westfield Mall in Bondi Junction. I initially walked in to check out an adorrrrable dress for only $30 (seriously, I have a problem) and walked out half an hour later with a casual job, starting next tuesday! The store had a really awesome vibe and the people were super nice and wonderful, so I am more than stoked about the random change of events that has been thrown my way by the universe. Yay!

In terms of breaking news ... that's really all I can think of. In other not so important yet still vaguely amusing news, events of the past few weeks have included; endless Scrubs marathons, festivals and free champagne at random store openings, chinese food and cheesecake (yes, in the same night), the invention of moth-herding for the screenless apartment, and lots of surfing and surf-watching ... both of which resulted in scattered battle scars on both parties and several awkward tan/burn lines.

And now, it's time to finish the last season of Scrubs ... how will I survive without Zach Braff and all his hilarity at Sacred Heart? How??

week six and a half

Hello strangers! I know it has been a while since my last update, and I apologize. Sadly, the mobile internet stick that was our only connection to the outside world met it's demise a few days ago, so the house has been incommunicado for some time. But we're back up and running now, and one day soon when I am not about to fall asleep on my keyboard, I will recount in more detail the happenings of this sunny week and a half.

In the meantime, I will leave you with a few miscellaneous shots from the last little while;

En route to the Festival in Newtown, just outside of Sydney.

...

Happy Hour Car Wash.

Street Art ... very impressive.

gorgeous boots ... that I sadly did not buy.

Love is still on your side!

~ ~ ~



I wanna be consequence free
I wanna be where nothing needs to matter

happiness for $5.90

Tuesday means cheap pizza night. And, for the second week in a row, I have eaten a whole pizza by myself. Those of you who know me know what an accomplishment that is, and you should be proud. I know I am...

I finally got some sunshine on my days off this week, which resulted in lots of beach time. A few days ago I was ocean-bound and board-ridden once more, but with lack of funds or motivation to rent a surfboard yet again, I braved the waves with the orphaned bodyboard I found for free in a pile on the road a couple weeks ago (I wish I was kidding....) And guess what? - it floats! I have made the not-so shocking discovery that I am officially a body-boarding gal, as it seems that it's the only waterborne surfcraft that doesn't hit me in the face every time I get caught in a wave. Infact, I can actually ride waves on this little thing, right into the shoreline like a penguin in a heatwave. Even in the rain, it's a whole lot of fun.

Yesterday was less water sports and more sandsports, and by sports .. I mean sleeping on a towel. Soaking in the sunshine, armed with a book, music, and french fries. Perfect.

On another note, those aussies have been making me think lately. Being completely submersed in a different culture has more impact on you than you can realize, and it was only today when I thought about these thing and decided to create a memoir-ish-things about ausland and I thus far ...

• Things I've started saying that I didn't before;
  - Dahl (Doll)
  - Good on you (Good for you) *Often combined; "good on ya, dahl"
  - How ya going? (How are you doing?)
  - Heaps (Lots)
  
  
  
• Things I would NEVER wear before, but kind of want to now ;
  - Jumpsuits God they're unattractive, but they look so comfy and, kind of cute, ya know?
  - MC Hammer Pants Goes along with jumpsuits, I can't get over the fact that they look ridiculous, but man they look so comfy. why not?
  - Maxi Dress Whenever I saw people in Ontario with dresses down to their ankles I was like, okay, that looks stupid. But on the beach, it works. Hell, it looks Fabulous.
  - Big Hat Like at the horse races. Apparently it's a thing here. And I can go out in public looking like Audrey Hepburn in My Fair Lady and no one will throw things at me. This is a amgical land!
  
  
• Things I can't stop eating;
  - Avacadoes or, more accurately, guacamole. You can put it on everything. EVERYTHING.
  - Tim Tams What's a tim tam you say?! Only the most delcious chocolate cookie ever known to man. And when it's dipped in coffee, it becomes twice as delicious. The ultimate chocalatey goodness simply cannot be described, I'll have to bring you all some upon my return.
  - Banana Pancakes That's right, I learned to make banana pancakes (thank you to katie's recipe books) and every chance I get I do just that. Toss a little lemon and cinnamon sugar on those bad boys and you got yourself breakfast. yum.
  - Mangos Now, I always watched my sister devor these back home but it never occured to me that I actually liked them... more accurately, I am throoughly addicted to them. Good thing they are in season here, Summer is delicious!
  - SushiGOI - The sushi place across the street from my work/five minutes from our house, ohhh mannn. And at 20% off take out every time, our chopstick collection above the fridge is growing at an alarming pace.

All this talk of food is making me hungry. It's time for tim tams and tea.
Catch you on the flip side, folks!

cocktails and cockatoos.

Sometimes, two days is all you need.


Two days of freedom, two days sans-obligations, 48 hours of workless, magical existence. Don't get me wrong, I love my job, and cargo store has been nothing but fantastic to me and my wallet ... but sometimes getting unexpectedly called off work on a semi-rainy thursday morning just makes the day that much better. What to do with this unexpected day of freedom? Well, we (Adam, Donald, and I) opted to venture out on the coastal walk well equipped with good drinks and good music. After meeting up with some newfound (and Canadian!) friends Sarah and Shadoe, a lovely afternoon unfolded on the coogee coast ...

Onward ho!

"How's the serenity?"

hilltop danceparty.

possibly one of the coolest places on earth

"now look at me mean, like a dragon"

Today, being my usual and glorious friday off, the adventures continued. A plan to head out for a morning/afternoon surf was soon dashed by brutal conditions and vicious waves, maybe enough for the true keeners to handle but being the novice I am, I was .. hesitant. SO, in light of mother nature's unforeseen plans, the four of us (Katie, Adam, Shadoe, and myself) headed out for a downtown adventure! I am now proud to say that after a whole month of being here, I have FINALLY seen (and set foot in!) the Sydney Opera House, in all it's gleaming majesty. It was beautiful ... the performer in me had a minor heart attack when I finally stood beside those sail-shaped rooftips, which contrary to popular belief are not all white and smooth like the sky dome, but all tiled and gold and full of intricacies and details. Pretty cool, if you ask me.

jumping for joy ... literally.

operahouse danceparty.

"oh, they must be canadian"

The next stop was the more-than-magical botanical gardens, which is pretty much like a way cooler version of central park, with a million different kinds of trees and animals and birds and bats and the like. The original plan today was to go to the Sydney Wildlife world, but in the spirit of saving money we opted to go on a free trek around the city instead, and found a wildlife world all our own ...

feed the birds.

AHHHHHHHH

birdlady.

birdman.

"oh hay buuuddy"

♥

[Photo credit: Coastal shots by Donald, Operahouse and Gardens by Adam]