Wednesday, September 23, 2015

Sunday 13 September - He said yes!!!!




 




Current location: Sydney Park
11.11am, GETTING ENGAGED!!!!! Today, at about 10.45am, I asked the love of my life to marry me. And he said yes!! We'd been talking about getting married for a while, I'd been thinking about proposing for a couple of months, and then this week, I decided to actually propose. Aaaahhh it was so exciting! I definitely recommend it, it was so fun!

All week I've been stockpiling 'props', without Andy noticing, then this morning I told him I was going out for a run with Jess and Allison. What we were actually doing was frantically printing things, creating things and then running to a little spot in Sydney Park and hanging things off trees!

He then thought he was meeting me and our friend Ducky in the park (I'd told Ducky to meet us half an hour later), and when he arrived, I think he was a bit hurried and hot and bothered, but he walked up the hill with me to where I'd laid out our little picnic spot. As we got closer, I told him I had a little surprise and to close his eyes. His response: 'Is it a dog?!' Sorry love, it's not.

Then he opened his eyes, saw the 'Will you marry me?' bunting, I got overwhelmed, pointed and cried, and he said yes and then we lived happily ever after.

It was awesome! We couldn't stop grinning, and then my little engagement elves (Allison and Jess) popped up with Champagne and we all squealed and celebrated, and then Nick (who knew) and Bree (who didn't) turned up and we all squealed a lot more, then Nick went off and arrived back with lots of and lots of Champagne, and some more gorgeous friends turned up, and we all squealed and celebrated for a couple of hours in the incredible sunshine.

AAAHHH it was the best! The day just kept getting better, and hotter, so we jumped in the car and went to a beautiful beach for a swim and a squeal and a celebration and lots of grinning.

The evening brought a lot of excitedly telling our families (who'd just woken up in the UK to a message from me saying 'Tell me when you're awake' and so probably were quite panicked – sorry sisters!), then we went to our friend Zoe's birthday BBQ and squealed and celebrated and drank more Champagne. This has been the best day!!!!!! I'm so glad my Aussie Wonderman said YES!

Saturday 12 September - Manly moments







Current location: Manly
11.11pm, On the way home. For accuracy's sake, we may not have actually been in Manly at this point; maybe we were on the ferry or the train, I can't remember. But anyway, on our way back from Manly.

I'd had such a fun day! Andy and I went to the beach in Manly – it was an absolute scorcher of a day; it was about 26˚C and it felt like summer! We had a sunbathe and a nap on the beach and a walk, and then Andy went to watch the AFL with some friends, and I went for a 10km run with Jess and Sha (I'm still in training for the 9km Bridge Run). It was SUCH a perfect afternoon/evening for a run, and we went up to north Head with the ocean in front of us and a gorgeous sunset to inspire us. It's stunning in these parts!

When we got back home, we rehydrated with some rose (and a bit of water but mainly rose) and got ready to go out and meet the others for dinner at the Skiff Club. I was pretty overexcited I think, and just had the funniest night of laughing and eating and drinking, and just really enjoying the feeling when you know summer is coming and you have friends to go adventuring with!

Friday 11 September - Sssshhhh



Current location: Alexandria
11.11pm, Asleep. I had to be asleep before Andy got home, because I didn't want him to ask me any questions about my night (I'm a terrible liar). I didn't want him to ask where I'd been, because where I'd been was up the coast to see his mum, dad and brother. I had gone up to ask them how his bro would feel if I asked Andy to marry me. That picture of my face was when I'd just arrived at their house to ask them... I was pretty excited!

Friday 18 September – Friends from near and far







Current location: Paddington

11.11pm, Leaving the pub. Our friend Em was up from Melbourne, so a few of us met in the pub for some Friday night wines (the best kind) – including a guy from 20 minutes away from where I'm from in Cornwall. We spent 20 minutes figuring out if we know any of the same people (we do) before realising Facebook would do the same job for us in seconds. (Officially 44 mutual friends, in case you were wondering).

Thursday, September 17, 2015

Tuesday 15 September – Thank you thank you thank you





Current location: Eveleigh
11.11am, Being overwhelmed. It turns out that, when you get engaged, everyone is SO NICE to you! I can't believe the amount of flowers, balloons, Champagne, cards and lovely wishes we have had from all over the world. We are so lucky to have such beautiful people in our lives.

Tuesday 8 September - Tuesday club!


Current location: Eveleigh
11.11am, Having my second coffee of the day. I'd already had one at 'Tuesday Club', as I'm now calling it. After the gym each Tuesday, some of my friends and I go to the cafe next door and have a coffee, juice, brekkie etc – and it's fast becoming one of my fave times of the week!

Sunday 6 September – The roast to end all roasts








Current location: The road, NSW
11.11am, Driving back to Sydney. We had a yummy lunch date with our friends Chrystal and Marc, and they made us an incredible roast dinner with all the trimmings. It was raining outside, and the red wine went down very well!

Saturday 5 September – Back together again







Current location: Ettalong Beach, NSW
11.11am, Eating some brunch and waiting for Andy and Jess. We were going up the coast for the day/night, to celebrate Father's Day (tomorrow) and catch up after Jess' month-long trip to the UK. I love a lazy weekend up the coast! We went for a lazy beach walk, made a yummy sausage-based dinner (well, Jess made a yummy sausage-based dinner and I flitted around a bit calling myself a sous chef) and then watched my amazing friend Helen win the Rowing World Championships (that's what we're all watching on the tiny screen in the bottom picture)!

Friday 4 September – LOLing on the platform



Current location: Central Station, Sydney
11.11pm, Laughing. I have absolutely no idea why, but at the time, it was the funniest thing ever. Andy and I were both wetting ourselves laughing (not literally, obvs) but no recollection of what was hilarious. We'd been out for some drinks with our friend Em and had lots of bubbles, so that may have contributed!

Wednesday 2 September – Do the plank


Current location: Eveleigh
11.11am, Texting this picture to my friend Allison. She bought me this gym towel, so I thought I'd say thank you with a plank!

Tuesday 1 September – First day of spring


Current location: Eveleigh
11.11am, Looking out the window. I sit by the window at work now, and today, the first day of spring, was a great day for window-gazing. It was sunny and beautiful, with not a cloud in sight!
So long, winter!

Sunday 30 August – Baby mama time








Current location: Alexandria
11.11am, Running. Allison and I went for a run this morning, as we are in training for the 9km Bridge Run. In the afternoon, we hopped in the car and went down to Cronulla for Keeley's baby shower. She's such a cool mum-to-be!!
Her friend's house, where the party was, was beautiful, with a really sunny deck and views of the ocean. We played some cute baby shower games (guess the size of the bump, a Keeley-related quiz etc), and feasted on some deeeeelish food and sparkling wine.
Work is going to be so quiet when Keeley goes off on maternity leave – we'll miss you Keels!



Saturday 29 August – CC Strikers!




Current location: Northern beaches, NSW
11.11am, In the car. Andy and I were on our way to watch his soccer team, CC Strikers. It was Grand Final day, so ordinarily Andy would have been playing, but he tore his MCL this week, so he is being a sad panda but a great supporter and teammate. 
It was a beautiful, hot, sunny day, and it was an ace game to watch in the sunshine, with the boys eventually winning 4-2. Wooooo Champions!!!!

After the game it was time for celebratory drinks with the boys, and it was so LADS LADS LADS! So much banter, and beer, and I didn’t stop laughing all day!
In the evening, we went to one of the boys’ houses for a BBQ, and to carry on the celebrations. It was such a fun day/night, and a great hoopla to honour great sportspeople!


Wednesday, September 9, 2015

Friday 28 August – Friday buzz




Current location: CBD
11.11pm, In Low Bar, drinking with Colin and Andy. I’d been out for after-work drinks for a colleague’s leaving do, which was really fun. Then I left to go to our friend Christabel’s graduation (she’s just finished design school) and met Andy and Colin there too. We celebrated with Christabel for a bit, then as she went out with her design buddies, we went to enjoy some Friday boozing. There’s nothing like the buzz of Friday night in the city, I love it! (Maybe because I don’t go out in the city very often!)

Thursday, September 3, 2015

Sunday 23 August – Weekend over!


Current location: Alexandria, Sydney
11.11pm, Sitting on the couch. Today was hungover but fun, with Andy playing in a soccer semi-final, then a netball match (which we lost but played well in), then going for dinner at Rochy and Juler’s house. A well-spent weekend with my fave person!

Saturday 22 August - Perfect coastal day









Current location: Ettalong Beach
11.11pm, In a bar. Potentially drinking limoncello (this happened at some point, but no idea if it was at 11.11). Today was the most awesome day... I went up to the Central Coast last night and had dinner and an evening of chats with Andy's parents. Then this morning, I got up and went for a haircut, then went to the markets with Val. It was a super hot, beautiful day, so after shopping, we walked back home through the sea (just paddling) and then went to the beach with Dana the dog, and had so much fun swimming and playing with her. Andy arrived in the afternoon, just as the sun was setting (third picture down is from the ferry stop), and we went back home and got ready for the evening while I Skyped my sister. 

Once we were all glammed up, Dave, Val, Andy and I went to Toto's, my favourite little cocktail place, for a drink before dinner. We ate at Safran, which is a really divine Turkish restaurant – and Dave and Val's best friends, the Pointings, happened to be dining there at the same time as us! After a really yummy dinner and a few wines, we all decided to go back to Toto's together... It's a pretty small bar so it was a bit of a Lawrence/Pointing/Higgins invasion!

Many drinks later (and many little plastic flamingos later), the Lawrence/Higgins part of the invasion went home to eat cheese and chat some more. Such a good day/evening/night/place/crew!