2019 Life Update #2

Hello!

I hope you are all doing really well.

This week's Wedding Wednesday is being replaced by this little life update, mostly because I have run out of scheduled wedding posts & don't have time this week to write more!  I hope you have been enjoying them so far & normal service will resume next week.

So.  It's May.  I say this all the time, but how fast is the time going!?  This year is just crazy.

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March started out relatively chilled.

I went to Orange with one of my bridesmaids, for my wedding hair & makeup trial.  For those of you that don't know, Orange is a wine region about 3 hours from Sydney.  We made a bit of a weekend of it, so we headed out on the Saturday morning, then spent the day just eating cheese & drinking wine.  Really lovely!  Stayed in my first ever Airbnb (yes I know I am a little late to that party haha) - it was really nice!  Had a dinner at the local pub & then spent the evening doing wedding things; predominantly writing a list of all of the things left to do, along with folding my napkins.

On the Sunday, we went for breakfast before going to the trial.  My lady is amazing!  So chill & just really great at her job.  Fun fact - it actually worked out cheaper for me to pay this lady to travel from Orange to my wedding than it was for me to use anyone locally for my hair & makeup.  Totally insane.  

We went for a quick lunch before driving all the way home on Sunday afternoon.  Such a gorgeous way to spend the weekend.

March also saw me start getting back into the gym.  I might talk about this separately another time, but for now, the short version is that, with my new job, using Virgin Active as a gym was no longer feasible.  Which was super sad because I freaking loved it there!  Once I settled into my new role, I joined the gym at the University where I work.  It might not be as awesome, but it's pretty good... & it's definitely a lot cheaper haha.  Loved getting back into training - I had forgotten how much I loved it.  Now I just need to find a new yoga studio & it will be perfect.

On the 16th, I went to a cheese making class with Kat & Court.  It was actually a mozzarella & mimosa class - in the morning on a Saturday.  Haha.  It was so good.  I really enjoyed making cheese (making my own cheeses has actually been on my list for ages!).  I drove, so I didn't get really stuck into the bottomless mimosas, but it was awesome.

The second last Sunday in March saw me finally head back to an old favourite of mine - Shelly Beach.  I haven't spun in a long time & I really enjoyed getting out there again.  Not only do I miss it, but Mack & I want to spin at our wedding, so the time was definitely right to get back into it.  It's funny how hobbies come & go; how some things just fall by the wayside whilst other things take over.  Despite being seriously busy, I think this is one that needs to weave its way back into my regular schedule!

On the 29th, I went with my sister & Dad to see Tim Minchin.  I am thrilled he is back on stage doing his sarcastic, topical, relatable musical comedy!  I have seen him play a predominantly musical show on the steps of the Opera House & I have seen Matilda, both of which were freaking amazing.  But I missed the boat in seeing his old school shows live.  Now I have - & he did not disappoint.  Such relevant, slightly dark humour haha.  It definitely helps that a lot of my views & opinions align somewhat with his.  My Dad & sister hadn't really seen much of him before, so it was lovely to enjoy that with them.

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Before I knew it, it was April, where life went from busy but chilled to full on manic.

Mack's boss sent Mack & I, along with his parents, on a Harbour cruise lunch, as a thank you for his parents helping him out at work.  Which is super lovely!  It was nice to head out on the harbour for a degustation lunch & just spend some time together.

We also caught up with a couple of friends of ours at Korean BBQ.  We don't see these friends enough, but when we do, we usually go for KBBQ haha.  It has become somewhat of a tradition!

I finally made it up the coast to see my parents new house (they have lived there since December!); I also got to hang out with my sister & gorgeous nephew, as they have now moved up there as well.  It was literally a weekend of walking along the beach & eating food & just hanging out.  I definitely don't do this enough with my family.  Dad did rope me into a beach bootcamp on Saturday morning though - really fun, but also really hard work.

Mack & I finally got around to going for a morning walk over the Easter long weekend; something we haven't done for ages & we would love to get back into it.  We just went to Lake Parramatta near our house, but instead of walking, we opted for an hour on the lake in a pedal boat.  Something we have never done as a couple before, so that was cool.  It was really lovely - such quiet time together.

Both March & April involved fine dining experiences!  Tara came up from Melbourne in March & we got in my belated birthday dinner from February.  I headed down to Melbourne on the last weekend of April & we got her belated dinner in there (from October... lol) as well.  Keep an eye out for the fine dining reviews on both of the restaurants coming soon - Nel. & Eureka 89.

My weekend in Melbourne was really fun.  Tara & I got our nails done, had brunch, went for dinner, stayed up too late, went op shopping all day, went for dinner again, stayed up too late again & then I went home.  Haha.  It was just a really, much needed break from normal life & just time to hang out with my best friend!  For once, we didn't have to be anywhere, we didn't have to cook 6 months worth of food.  It was just fun quality time - loved it!

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April sounds just like any other month - it is busy, but should be pretty chilled.  Something which happened during this month, which I'm not going to talk too much about here, is Mack & I have been part of the crew which is building an installation for Vivid 2019.  If you knew Mack well (which isn't likely that you do haha), you would know that it has been a goal of his for years to do the LEDs for an installation for Vivid, so I am thrilled he finally gets to do that.  I am just hired hands for this one, helping build this creation with many other talented people, but it is pretty much taking up all of our time.  If you don't know what Vivid is, check it out!  If you're in Sydney from May 24 to June 15, come & check it out.  I will share pics of our install next time.

See you then!
Hx

PS last month also saw me girl up a little bit... I bought my first ever makeup brushes, along with the Morphe x James Charles palette.  Such a pretty palette, I love it.  Tiny, irrelevant side note, but I'm a bit proud of myself hahaha.

2019 Life Update #1.

Hi!

I hope you are all doing really well!

Now, if you have been following my blog for a while (particularly the wedding series) you will know I'm a little behind on posts.  2019 has taken off in a direction I didn't see coming & whilst everything is really quite awesome, it blindsided me a little & chaos has reigned for a few weeks.  But never fear!  Finally catching my breath & getting back on track.

Based on the crazy that has ensued so far, I think the life updates will be once every 2 months this year, not every month like they were in 2018.

So, without further ado, here we go with the first life update of the year.

January actually started off very chilled - the first 2 weeks of the year, I did very little... & it was wonderful! Haha.

The first super fun thing of the year was a trip to the Hunter Valley for work.  Wine tasting & a tour of the De Bortoli winery.  It was a super hot day (think 45 degrees...) but it was really fun!

I then spent a couple of days helping my family make decorations for my cousin's Bar Mitzvah.  The theme was black & silver, so we spent a while dipping things in silver glitter & using fairy lights to make everything sparkle.

There was a fair amount of baby time!  With Charlie's baby (my nephew) & our friend's new bubba, there was lots of baby cuddles - Mack doesn't love babies haha, but it was great for me.

We celebrated 2 birthdays - my friend Kat & Zac.  One was a picnic, one was a house party - both were super fun.  It was really lovely to have some chilled out friend time.

On the Australia Day long weekend, I drove down to Melbourne & embarked on an epic cooking weekend with Tara.  Yes - that's right, another meal prepping blog series is on its way!  Mega Meal Prep will be coming soon, starting in March :).

What I really didn't plan for, the thing that really blindsided me, was getting a new job!  I wasn't looking at all, but something came up & I had to take it, so the chaos came from handing over my old job & picking up a new one!  Super fun.  I now work for Venture Cafe Sydney, a global not for profit, planning their weekly events.  I'm still settling in & getting used to everything, but I think it's going to be great!

Mack also got a new job at the same time as me - so it's been quite a few weeks of us both being totally exhausted haha.

I took Mack to his first Bar Mitzvah celebration.  Haha.  My cousins are Jewish & we went to the party to celebrate.  It really is just a fun evening of food & dancing.  We were both so tired, but it was a lovely evening.

My birthday then came around again, on the 22nd.  I had the day off work so I started the day with breakfast with Kat, followed by a visit to my old workplace to hang out haha.  Super chill & lovely.  Mack then took me out for dinner, to Our Place.  Always such a joy to have dinner there - still one of my all time favourite restaurants.

I spent the last couple of months learning how to crochet also.  I love learning new skills, so I'm super excited to continue learning this one.  I learnt, finally, how to crochet the magic circle, & I also started figuring out how to make gloves (I made one so far & it wasn't perfect, but getting there!).

Our interstate book club also began.  The first book of the year was Bridge of Clay by Marcus Zusak, which is divided into 8 parts, so we had 8 weeks to read it (first discussion was on the 26th February, which we do online through Facebook events, as we are all living far apart).  I have to say, this book was a really tough read.  I won't talk about it here, but might start a whole series just on that!  Our next book is Zika by Donald G. McNeil Jr..  Watch this space.

I wrapped up the month by attending the MEA dinner with my old team.  I wrote the submission so it was really lovely to be invited!  Such a wonderful evening, even if we didn't win.

And then, just like that, it was March already.

Stay tuned for the meal prep blogs and, of course, the wedding posts!

See you again for another update!

Hx