Canberra turned 100 this year. To mark this big birthday a hot air balloon was designed and created, above is the result. It's called the Skywhale. It's caused a lot of debates. I personally think it is ridiculous and cannot for the life of me see what it has to do with Canberra turning 100. The more I look at it the more I feel like it could go down in history, and maybe that was the intention...but I doubt when people remember the Skywhale that they will remember what it was for. I do think the money could have been better spent, on maybe a lasting monument rather than a hot air balloon.
It been getting colder these last couple of weeks, so when the lovely store Adairs put a whole bunch of beautiful throws and stuff on sale we went and got some. We got two, a super, super soft fur one and a gorgeous, woollen, blue one. They are so very, very comfy and snuggly, we are pretty happy with our purchase. :)
Today I discovered Kid President. He is one awesome kid. I may have spent the last hour or so watching videos of him. I think he will go places in life. :)
It's Eurovision week! Yay! Unfortunately, due to being in Australia we get the final later than Europe, but fortunately we still get to watch it! I was so excited last year when I discovered they showed it on TV here. We'll be watching the final on Sunday, so I've taken the Monday off of work (I know, I'm so awesome, right?). Before the semi-finals, James and I went through all the songs and chose our top 10. We don't really have a particular order for them, but we do have a top 2. I thought it would be fun to share our favourite 10. :)
Those that unfortunately did not make the finals: Bulgaria - Who doesn't like a catchy beat with some awesome drumming skills? Apparently a lot of Europeans...
Latvia - I reckon they would have made an excellent opening act for the final. They also make me think of Top of the Pops. Added bonus: Awesome ipad usage.
Albania - They have their own John Lennon look-a-like. This was probably one of my least favourites of our top 10. So not so bummed.
Switzerland - We may both have a biased towards Switzerland...but then I should have a biased towards the UK and Austria, and I will happily say I would have been fine with both of them out of the final. Sad to see Switzerland didn't make it though.
Those that made it to the finals: France - It sounds like an underwear or perfume ad. It makes me want to turn off all the lights, light some candles and sit in my underwear...maybe with some red wine?
Finland - Upbeat and a tad weird.
Malta - Upbeat, happy, adorable.
Belarus - It's very Eurovision: catchy, and you're not sure if they are speaking English or another language.
And our top 2, both in the finals, yay! Romania - He has an amazing voice. It makes me smile. If you watch his face, he knows he's going to shock a few people, and he knows his voice is ridiculously amazing. Love it!
Greece - Kilts, facial hair, stalker with a thick moustache, and an awesome song.
That's our top 10. We're not really ballad people...so those songs kind of bore us, which means the whole of Semi-Final 1 kind of bored us, and also made us sad since it meant half of the final was going to be boring...Let's hope costumes, commentary and hosting makes up for that. :)
You may remember me talking about trying to put up a cork-board map in our place, well that failed. It just would not stick...we were a little bummed. So, we came up with an idea. We had a massive harbour bridge picture from Ikea for about $15, which we felt didn't quite fit with our new apartment, and for the price we got it at I was more than happy to paint over it to make it work with our new place. It got painted over, the whole thing, frame and all. I then added the names of places James and I would like to visit and we stuck down the cork-board map. We now have an awesome interactive piece of art in our apartment! We are pretty in love with it and can't wait to start pinning photos all over it! :)
I am, without a doubt, a visual person. I can so easily get lost in a photo or a piece of art. I love watching the world around me. I love the visual. Today, through Paris in Four Months, I came across another beautifully visual blog: 8 rue caffarelli. I love getting lost browsing blogs like this. So, so gorgeous. I recommend you check it out.
(Due to 8 rue caffarelli I now want to cycle from Sydney to Melbourne, and have rainbow lorikeets eat out of my hands.)
Yesterday we had a pretty awesome day out. We met up with James' parents and wandered around the markets at The Rocks. We had a yummy brunch at Baroque, which is a french style restaurant, and felt like a little piece of home. They even do a steak with cafe de paris sauce. I got pretty excited about that, so I think we may have to go back so I can eat it. Instead, I had a coffee and pain au chocolat. Yum.
We then walked along into the city and said bye to James' parents. We headed to the Westfield to find some yummy cookies that my boss brings to work on Fridays. We didn't find them...but we did discover Westfield. I assumed all Westfields were the same, but this one was FANCY. Super fancy. The floors were all marble, and it was huge and overwhelming, but I totally want to go back and explore.
We did find a Laduree (which surprised me since no-one in Australia seems to ever understand what I'm talking about when I talk about Laduree macarons). I got excited again, so many memories of home. We got a box of 8 to eat at home with some tea. We then went to the shops to top up on our tea and headed home for a lazy afternoon until Danny Bhoy.
Danny Bhoy was amazing again, and so was the State Theatre where he was performing. :)
We also have a bathroom with a bath/shower, and a washing machine and dryer...but I didn't think you'd want to see photos of them. So this is where we live.
My sister and I have our birthdays 4 days apart. This year we got each other matching necklaces so that we remember each other despite the distance. It may sound cheesy, but we don't care. :) Also, we both managed to get ourselves remarkably similar looking glasses without knowing it (I had mine first, so she's the copycat :P).
Have I ever said that I really love our view? I am still baffled that we have a view like this. Baffled, but happy. :) I can't believe I get to come home to this view.
So, again, I did not complete my 365 project. I think confining it to 'colour' made it hard, plus when you're working 8 hours and it takes an hour to get to work, AND because of the nature of my work I can't really take photos at work...it all becomes a little too challenging and not fun. I can totally imagine myself being awesome at taking a photo a day once I have kids, but until then...I may just avoid doing the challenge. :) It was fun for the 2 and a bit months I was doing though. No regrets for trying.
I got my haircut yesterday. Really it was just a little trim, nothing major, but I always feel the need to document it. I love the little spruce my hair has been given but hated 99.9% of the photos I took to show off how nice my hair looked. In my eyes I was having a 'fat face' day. This is the only picture I kind of liked, notice how my face is mainly covered.
It was lovely having the day off though. It was very relaxing. :) I look forward to more rostered days off.
James was out on the balcony today when a whole bunch of these little guys came to visit. Wanting to share with me, he took photos. :) Apparently they were quite friendly, and happy to let him get close for photos. Cute little guys. Now they just need to visit more when I'm on the balcony. :P
I did! I'm 23 now. Sounds so grown up. I'm going to say that every year, but it really does.
I have had a very wonderful birthday time. Yesterday James cooked a delicious roast, and then we had some pink bubbly whilst I skyped my family and a family friend. Today I was at work, but got lots of cuddles from the kids, had one of the toddlers sing happy birthday to me, made cakes with my babies, and then had some yummo chinese takeaway and white wine for dinner. Awesome!
I also got the sweetest little card from my colleague:
"To Katie. The best thing about working with you is that time not only flies by so rapidly, but so creatively too. It has been a truly great and delightful experience! May you be gifted with life's biggest joys and never ending bliss. :) Hope this day will bring you an extra share of all that makes you happiest :) Happy, happy birthday!!!"
Seriously, how cute is she? :)
I am so lucky to have so many special people in my life. :)
