Saturday, October 22, 2011

Friday 7 October - The night before



Current location: Scarborough, Perth, Australia
11.11pm, Starjumping on a makeshift bed. Lauren and her bridesmaids (me, Danni, Shauna and Teegan) are all staying in an apartment by the beach tonight, the night before Lauren's wedding to Corey. Even though we all know each other, it was the first time the five of us have all been together, ever. Such a lovely group of girls, there was so much love there and we were all so excited - giggling a lot, laughing a lot, squealing a lot, dancing a lot. We dragged all our beds out into the lounge so we could have one big sleepover, though there wasn't that much sleeping done.

Wednesday 5 October - Jersey Shore!


Current location: Perth, Australia
11.11pm, Caaabs are heeeeere! Watching Jersey Shore with Lauren and Corey, and eating Red Rooster (like an Aussie version of KFC). Loz and Corz introduced me to Jersey Shore the day after I arrived, and I'm pretty much hooked. We had such a wicked evening, just hanging out and finishing off some of the final touches to the wedding plans. I love these two so much and couldn't think of a more wonderful couple to be getting married on Saturday!

(Picture taken from NJ.com)

Wednesday 5 October - Friends from way back





Current location: Perth, Australia
11.11am, Eating breakfast at a cafe along the river with Lee and my friend Brodie. I met Brodie back when I was 10 years old, and my mum made me go to our local church youth group, as a way to get to know people when we moved to Australia in 1997. Brodie was also made to go, and we've been firm friends ever since. Brodie's family own a big seed farm in Narrogin (the town we lived in) and I have fond memories of us playing in and running through the crop when we were kids. We've stayed in touch and it's so lovely to get to spend some time with Brodes as adults... she has definitely caught the travelling bug and spends as much time exploring other countries as she can, but I was lucky enough to catch her in Oz this time around.

After breakfast, we went to soak up the sun at the beach, and visited the Indiana Tea Rooms in Cottesloe for a coffee overlooking the sea. Next we went shopping in the city, and then headed to the beach again to meet Carly, who is a beautiful and very good friend I met the last time I came to Oz, in 2004. She is a wonderful woman, so sweet and very funny, and the three of us had ciders in the sunshine and didn't stop laughing. Golden girls. x

Tuesday 4 October - Champagne and chatting






Current location: Perth
11.11pm, Sitting in a bar in central Perth (I'm not sure what the bar was called) with Leeli, my Aussie friend I spent a lot of time with in Berlin. She lives back in Perth now and she took me out today for a fun afternoon of sightseeing in Fremantle, which included visiting the Little Creatures brewery for lunch - yum. We went to some beaches, then popped back to the huuuuge mansion (pretty much) that Lee lives in, to get changed and pick up some champagne. Determined to make the most of the evening sunshine, we went for a long walk along the river and then caught a train to Kings Park, which overlooks the whole city. Sitting in the park as the sun went down and the skyline filled with twinkling lights, we finished the champers and headed into the city to prolong the evening. What a joy Australia is!

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Sunday 1 October - A long-awaited reunion






Current location: Perth, Australia!
11.11pm, On our way to the Windsor, a pub in South Perth. I'd arrived in Australia at 3.30pm, where Lauren and Corey were waiting for me. I have know Lauren for 15 years, and in less than a week, she is getting MARRIED! And I am a bridesmaid! It's all too exciting! I haven't seen her for a few years, but within about 10 seconds of us seeing each other again, it was like we hadn't been apart. We cracked open the champagne straight away, dug into some cheese and chorizo, and made a start on catching up. The afternoon turned into evening, which turned into night-time and, all of a sudden, the house was full of people and we were making a party before heading to the pub! Very good friends Mel and Carly came out too, and I was so excited to see them, and just to be back with my gorgeous, fun and much-missed girls again.

Sunday, October 2, 2011

Wednesday 28 September - Summer, at last!


Current location: Soho
11.11am, Being too hot and looking out of the window at the sunshine. After a pretty average summer, weather-wise, it seems the sky has suddenly realised it's meant to be sunny! It's warmed up – today was 24˚C, and sunny sunny sunny, so we spent lunchtime in the park, and there wasn't a cloud in the sky.

Saturday, October 1, 2011

Monday 26 September - Live at the Apollo

Current location: Hammersmith
11.11pm, Getting on the tube with a throng of people, after watching Live at the Apollo. Gemma (my comedy friend; we like watching comedy together) got tickets for me, Andy, Nicky and her to see the over three hours of comedy at the recording of Live at the Apollo, and we saw (in my order of funniest to least funny):
An American man whose name I can't remember