John Williamson

Last Friday night, I stepped out of the office at 5pm on the dot. Marc picked me up and we made our way to Ballarat. We went to see John Williamson live in concert and it was fantastic!

If you’re not familiar with the guy, John Williamson is a popular Aussie country singer – he’s known for his songs like Waltzing Matilda and True Blue – both beautiful, patriotic songs.

So after a little bit of traffic on a Friday evening, we drove the hour’s drive to Ballarat and met up with Marc’s parents, aunty and uncle at a local Irish pub for dinner before the concert. I can’t really remember how we all got to organising this little concert outing – I think it was actually my idea!

Last year when Marc’s uncle passed away very suddenly, one of the songs played at his funeral was a beautiful song written and sung by John Williamson. The song was originally written for the memorial of the Bali bombings where hundreds of Australians were killed. A couple of months after Marc’s uncle’s funeral, we caught a John Williamson special on tv where he sung many of his hits. Marc and I were completely glued to the tv and his songs really picked us up… Not that we were feeling down or anything but I guess that’s what John’s music does to you! They’re mostly upbeat and very entertaining. His lyrics are very ‘Aussie’ and takes in a lot of the culture here in the land down under.

Needless to say as soon as we heard he was playing in Ballarat – unfortunately he was only performing in country towns and not the city itself – we booked tickets! Marc’s parents are also fans and his aunty and uncle were in town from Sydney that weekend so they joined us too. It was very much a family affair!

John certainly did not disappoint. He sung all my favourites and more. I wouldn’t say I’m a huge fan of country music but there’s just something about his music that I love. I love that his music says so much about Australia and the people and animals who live on this land. Only Aussies or people who have lived in Australia and have immersed themselves in our culture would fully appreciate his songs, lyrics and the full meaning behind them.

I’m proud that since having lived in this country for nearly 16 years that I have come to fully appreciate and live many parts of this culture. And I’m happy that I’m able to appreciate John’s music because to love and to appreciate his songs makes me feel damn proud to be Australian. It is not very often when you get the chance to feel proud of your country in your everyday life. Listening to his songs remind me of that feeling each time I hear them and I’m grateful for that!

The Kardashians

I just watched the final episode of Kim & Kourtney Take NY and for those who haven’t seen it yet, it pretty much shows the end of Kim and Kris’ marriage. I have to admit and I won’t be embarrass about it that I have been a huge fan of the Kardashians since day one. Say what you will about them but at the end of the day, I find them funny and their show entertains me.

When Kim & Kris first announced they were getting divorced, a lot of rumours started flying around that it was all a set up, a publicity stunt, they were never really in love in the first place, it was all for TV and for their show. That’s fine, if that’s someone’s opinion. Really, I don’t think anyone knows for sure what the real deal is except those on the show.

I do realise and acknowledge that a lot of the Kardashian series have scripted stories and set ups but I have always believed that what Kim and Kris had was real and that they just fell out of love and that Kim had no idea what she was really getting herself into. I felt that even before I watched the latest K&K Take NY series.

Watching the final episode tonight really confirmed my beliefs and if I’m wrong, then big deal and those Kardashians are Oscar winning actresses! I actually shed a tear or two watching the episode tonight as Kim poured her heart out to both Khloe and Kourtney. I believe that she got caught up in the fairytale of all that was happening around her. I believe that she had a dream of being married and having a house full of kiddies by the time she turned 30. I believe that when you have a dream that big and that special, that when you think you’ve fallen in love, that you want to believe it’s right and it’s meant to come true even though a part of your heart isn’t so sure.

Now I can’t believe I wrote an entire post about the Kardashians but so be it… I’m a little sad that the series is over but Khloe & Lamar starts up next week, so yay to that!

The wedding

I’ve just spent the entire weekend obsessing over the royal wedding.  I’m actually at a point where I’m kind of ‘scaring’ myself. I mean, the last few weeks, I’ve been more than a little excited about the whole royal wedding thing. I was beside myself on Friday just counting down the hours at my desk to when I could leave work, head home and plant myself infront of the TV for the rest of the night. By the way, LOVE the time difference between England and Australia. Perfect royal wedding viewing time! (the wedding was Friday @ 8pm our time, perfect no?) So anyway, when the wedding finished… I felt like I wanted MORE. I stayed up for the balcony kiss (or two). And I stayed up to watch them leave Buckingham Palace – where they drove out in Prince Charles’ Aston Martin… which I thought was SO cute and fun. And ever since Friday night, I’ve just been OBSESSED. I’ve been refreshing the Telegraph on my iPhone on the hour, every hour just to see if there are any updates on the couple.

Marc thinks I need help. I may. I just may.

Didn’t she look completely stunning? For a commoner, I thought she made a perfect princess on the big day.

47 days and counting

One night this week, a girlfriend and I managed to watch the long awaited Eat Pray Love. Ever since, I have been wanting to ride a bike like never before. Weird, hey. Julia Roberts just made it look so relaxing, riding her little bike in the rural villages of Bali. I really, really enjoyed the movie. Of course the book had alot more in it, but you can never really squeeze every minute detail into a 2 1/2 hour movie can you? I wasn’t left disappointed so that’s all that matters. I love Julia Roberts any day of the week. The one puzzling question I did come out of the movie with was, how in the world I never really noticed James Franco before Eat Pray Love? Shameless! Complete hottie. Javier Bardem was beautiful. Something about him, or rather Felipe, made me just want to hug  him and not let go.

So yes, everywhere I go now, I just feel like riding a bike… we plan on doing a fair bit of bicycling when we’re in the States though… San Francisco and New York specifically. You know how the saying goes “it’s like riding a bike”… you just don’t forget how to. Well, I’m sort of counting on that because the last time I was even near a bike was, seriously, easily 17 years ago. Speaking of San Fran and NYC, holy shit we only have 47 days to go! I swear the last month or so has flown. I might have just panicked a little this week on how much we still have to do before we leave… wrap up work (I’ll be leaving my job, more on that in a later post), visiting the travel doctor for whatever vaccinations I need, suspending our gym memberships and whatever other subscriptions we won’t be using for two months, lodge our tax returns… too much to think about right now, it’s hurting my brain for a Friday night.

We are simply excited more than anything else though. Most of our travels have been booked… flights and accommodations… we just need to come up with a rough itinerary of what we want to do and see. It’s just so awesome that our Aussie dollar is doing so spectacular! I think it’s a huge sign that we were just meant to do the States NOW… don’t ya think?

I feel like so much has happened in the last couple of weeks but this post is getting a little too long… to sum up a little and maybe I’ll continue more in future posts, Marc’s little nephew arrived, one of my best girlfriends had her second baby (insane!)…. sometime last week Marc and I hit our 8th year together… that’s right, EIGHTH. Dylan had a little sleepover last weekend which was a good mixture of hard work and just ton of fun. More next time!

I’m going to ‘Keep up with the Kardashians’ right about now. Have a fab weekend!

Eat Pray Love, Take Two

I was given this book as a birthday present a couple of years ago. For whatever reason I only managed a few pages and the book sat on my shelf for two years before I picked it up again last night. I watched Oprah and there she was with Julia Roberts and Elizabeth Gilbert talking about this ‘fabulous’ book. I knew I had to give it a proper chance because the first time around, I mustn’t have been in the ‘reading mood’ because if a book is good, that’s it, it’s good. Clearly it’s one of those books you can’t put down which I’m not sure how I put it down in the first place when I was given it… because now? I just CAN’T PUT IT DOWN. Maybe it’s all psychological because last night I watched Oprah and Julia and they are two of my most favourite people in the world. Yes, that must be it.

Speaking of Oprah, one of the many cities we will be traveling to in December is the windy city of Chicago. Marc still thinks I’m joking when I say I’m going to stake out Harpo Studios and wait out on the street for Oprah. I don’t care what anyone thinks, she is a God to me.

So my birthday month is going well. I had a superb 29th birthday! I came home from work to the most lovely bunch of red roses waiting for me… from the boy, of course. To be honest, I was completely shell shocked. The boy is the loveliest guy in the world, the most kind hearted, caring and generous man I’ve ever met. But romance hasn’t always been his strong point. To me, flowers are romantic. When he got me flowers last week, it was probably the third time he’s ever bought my flowers this entire time we’ve been together… and I honestly don’t care too much for flowers, but when I do get them, I LOVE them and I’m completely weak at my knees and tears come to my eyes. And that’s exactly what happened when I saw them on my birthday…

Valentine’s Day

Last night, a girlfriend and I decided to hit the movies to watch the long awaited Valentine’s Day! I loved it! A typical chick-flick… I love nothing more, seriously. I actually went into this movie with very, very low expectations. Yes it has an all-star cast and everything, but I’m very weary with all-star casts… sometimes it means nothing. Like with He’s Just Not That Into You. Had a great cast, but I didn’t enjoy the movie at all. So, Valentine’s Day turned out better than expected and I’ve even got it on my DVD collection list. I love how at the start, the individual stories seemed so separate, but as the movie goes on, everything and everyone sort of starts intertwining… nicely done.

Oh, and Anne Hathaway? I heart her. Completely.