friday night dessert dates...

I love my random, spontaneous, crazy dessert dates. You never know where we will end up! They started as an outlet from work on a crazy busy Friday night. After work, why not de-stress with a delectable sweet treat? It was often the only thing that would help with the night we had had at the restaurant. Now, our dessert dates have morphed into weird and wonderful adventures. It wasn't a midnight quest for ice-cream spanning the entire Campbelltown region, nor was it the infamous run in with the Minto Madman this time.

On this particular Friday night, after we left birthday celebrations at a local club, we decided to go for ice-cream. Like I've said, this is not an unusual decision by us. However, this time we had another lovely lady along for the ride. We dropped off the men, and us girls headed out to Minto Maccas. Really where else were we gonna go at 1am? Honestly, we really should know better. It is rare that this family restaurant ever has a working ice-cream machine. Unfortunately for us, it is also our closest venue. After they had indeed confirmed our suspiscions about the lack of ice-cream we sighed loudly and headed off to Glenfield. Reason escapes even the best of us at this point in the night!

We played leap frog with a stupid car full of p-platers on the way there...probably due to the fact that I had to be hypo and wave as they went past. We finally arrived at Glenfield and headed straight to the drive thru, when the other car darts in front at the last second. We wait patiently to pick up our order. After all we are not teenagers any more (well most of us) and we wouldn't dream of yelling obscenities at the cars in front of us...

The funniest point of the night? Was it when the car in front of us yelled at the poor girl serving to "give this to the car behind us" ('this' was in fact a subway napkin with a number on it...how romantic!) to which the girl replied with no, as we yelled out the window for them to piss off. Or was it in fact when they realised they had left their drink behind and the girl would hold it just out of reach so the guy had to get out of the car to get it? (this was by far the funniest thing I have seen and I wish I had recorded it). No, I think it was when, as we were eating our ice-creams (yes we finally got them!) in the parking lot (classy gals that we are) dutifully ignoring the boys in the car beside us, Kate turned around and realised...shock horror...she knew them!

It was a crazy fun filled night reminding myself that I'm not too old to participate in stupidity!

♥ M

PS: Anyone feel like ice-cream???

Operation; Think Happy (pt 4)

"I pledge to list 7 things that makes me happy, that makes me thankful, that makes me love life!"

1. Re-visiting something that I haven't done in years...bowling!!!

2. Remembering the reason why I don't go bowling...hehehe

3. Having lovely lunches in beautiful locations

4. Reading...reading...and reading some more

5. TV shows that make me laugh so hard my stomach hurts...regularly!

6. Thinking about and then buying birthday presents!

7. Thinking about what the future might hold...

♥ M

Getting back to basics...

So last night i finished a book that I completely adored.

Dear John by Nicholas Sparks. I haven't seen the movie, though I certainly do intend to after finishing the book. Obviously if you know anything about Nicholas Sparks, you will realise that it's a love story. And it was, which I usually stick my nose up at. But this one was...hmm wonderful! It made me laugh, cry and gave me warm fuzzies inside.

You need to read it. Now. Off you go!

♥ M

Spontaneous night time adventures...

I love my big, crazy Greek family. I mean sometimes I wish I could be a fly on the wall watching our interactions and gatherings. Last night was a prime example, a spontaneous birthday dinner for one of my cousins.

Here I was thinking it was only going to be immediate family - I guess by now I should know never to assume this, or maybe I should have realised by now how HUGE our immediate family is. Either way we all divide up; women in the kitchen, men manning the BBQ. Now the kitchen house is quite small, which is probably why we always pray for good weather so we can eat outside. (Not that this will stop us, Christmas was held under tarps as the rain poured down around us.) I have no idea how we managed to fit about 20 women in the kitchen, bustling over the stove, washing up dishes, making food on the limited counter space and many children running around our feet plus one new gorgeous baby girl (I'm not biased just because she is my cousin), without seriously injuring someone, but hey I guess it's a talent!

Once all the food is ready and laid out on the massive table (and I'm not kidding you, I could barely see the table cloth under the mass of dishes), we all proceed to eat. And eat. And eat. And then when we are finished doing that we eat some more! It's a hard job, but someone's got to do it :)

And of course, that's just the main meal! After years of gatherings, functions, birthdays, weddings, christenings, and any other reason to get together I've learnt one thing. And this must be you're lucky day because I am going to divulge this valuable piece of advice to you, "Always save make room for sweets!" It's true! No matter how good you think the food you just ate was, believe me, nothing can compare to the sweets my aunty's and cousins make!

Oh and did I mention the massive bottle of Moet we cracked open? Or maybe how glad I am that I didn't have to drive home?

Yeah, it was 3L...

♥ M

Operation; Think Happy (pt 3)

"I pledge to list 7 things that makes me happy, that makes me thankful, that makes me love life!"

1. Seeing many familiar faces and catching up on the in's and out's

2. Graduation!

3. Feeling all special and grown up...well kinda

4. Galaktoboureko - and if you don't know what that is, you're missing out on the best cake ever!

5. Knowing that we are over half way in booking Europe accommodation...

6. Dancing and all kinds of night time craziness

7. Spending hours lounging in front of the TV watching cooking shows and then spending the next 2 hours craving whatever food they were cooking!

♥ M

amusing incidents (pt 1)...

Today en route to Thai with my lunch date we walked past a few other eateries. One man sitting outside eating his lunch was wearing a pirate hat just like Captain Jacks! Arrrrrr...

Campbelltown is an interesting place...

♥ M

Operation; Think Happy (pt 2)

"I pledge to list 7 things that makes me happy, that makes me thankful, that makes me love life!"

1. Spontaneous lunch dates with the most awesome of friends

2. Holding my brand new baby cousin for the first time

3. Trying new things - like that new recipe (win) or hitting a golf ball (fail miserably) but altogether having a good time!

4. Expressing my inner wogginess

5. Reading countless stories filled with nonsense and fluffiness for hours

6. Being on school holidays - even though uni holidays were SO much better!

7. Kicking my cousins butt at the Easter egg challenge last Saturday after midnight church!

♥ M

Operation; Think Happy (pt 1)

I've decided to start something that was passed from a friend to a friend, Operation; Think Happy! I've been inspired by some of these lists (and been mentioned in some too) so I think it's time I put my little bit of positivity out into the universe. So enjoy my first foray into what makes me happy this week!

Inspired by the wonderful Holly Homemaker

"I pledge to list 7 things that makes me happy, that makes me thankful, that makes me love life!"

1. Fireworks. I guess I really am just a big kid.

2. Easter chocolate. Why is it that it always tastes different better than normal chocolate?

3. Knowing that holidays are just around the corner!

4. My sore feet, always a tell tale sign of how good the night before was.

5. Lovely surprise presents.

6. Spending time reconnecting with people I thought I'd lost long ago.

7. Midnight phone calls from someone special.

♥ M

I'm feeling inspired...

I've just been reading a friend of mine's blog that's filled with all kinds of awesome. And so, once again (and I'm sure quite positive it won't be the last time) I am attempting the blog again.

Things have been absolutely insane! It's my first year out of uni and I'm not missing it at all missing it terribly. I miss seeing my friends around campus, having completely random conversations over coffee whilst we wait for our next class, but most of all I hate knowing that it's time I need to grow up, even if it is just slightly.

For the last year I've studied to become a teacher and I'm happy to say it's now what I'm doing. I always thought I wanted to be a primary school teacher...I used to love little kids. Suddenly at the end of my undergrad and within 2 weeks this all changed to becoming a high school teacher. Family members called me crazy and wished me luck, friends thought I was plain outright weird and had suddenly crossed to the other side. I always felt it was eventually what I needed to do with my life. The problem is I'm not too sure if it's for me now...

I'm working on a part time maternity leave contract at one school and trying to casual other days at other schools in my local area. It's hard, I won't even try to deny it. Some times I leave class repeating 'don't cry' under my breath until I make it to the sanctuary of the staff room. I never realised, kids can be so mean! And it's ridiculous that they can even effect me. I'm an adult for god's sake!

In saying all this, you have the good days too. The days where you walk out of class hoping knowing that at least one kid walked away learning something. The days where you think, "wow...I just had an impact on a kid's life". It's those days that, in a job like this, you remember in these dark moments where you start thinking 'why do I even bother???'

I do however enjoy how I've perfected my teacher voice :)

♥ M

embracing the love...

I'm not really a big fan of the day we know as Valentine's Day. Whether it's because it seems like such a commercial 'holiday' (and I use that word loosely), or whether it's due to bitterness stemming from the many years that I never had anyone to share the day with, or even a combination of the two, I'm not too sure.

When my boyfriend and I first started dating I think he thought he'd hit the jackpot. I told him I just wasn't really 'in' to Valentines and so I didn't really want anything. It wasn't until the actual day that I realised that yea I do care a smidge!

4 years on, we've never really celebrated the event. I've tried to enforce the cheap presents/ only cards rule. And I have to admit it works fairly well. Honestly, i'd rather spend the day together and have a beautiful card than spend massive amounts of cash on presents. And since our anniversary is but a month later, i'd rather celebrate THIS as it's a day all about US!

So this year we followed the 'no presents and only cards' rule. So you can imagine the shock I got when I woke up this morning and my boyfriend presented me with a beautiful long stemmed rose. We ended up heading out for breakfast brunch which was lovely.

And so my final words on the subject of Valentine's day are...

a) Even if it's just wishing that special someone a happy valentines day and buying them a card, it can really brighten their day

b) Surprises when you least expect it are all kinds of awesome and help remind you of the love you have for your each other

c) It doesn't matter if you're single, everyone deserves a bit of love! And you can find this in your friends and family so go out with a beautiful smile on your face and leave the bitterness at home

♥ M

well hello there little blog...

I have decided that apart from my resolution to write more, and we can definitely see that's going well, I have decided to add a new resolution for 2010.

This year I will also try to be more optimistic and positive. I like to think of myself as a logical person and because of this I often find it's hard to be either a glass half full or a glass half empty kinda girl. So this year I'm going to start looking at things with yellow tinted glasses.

Why yellow? Yellow screams sunshine and happiness to me. And so for that reason I will be taking a leaf out of the yellow crayons book. If crayons could smile, I'm sure the yellow one would be grinning, don't you think?

It would be most appropriate if it was a beautiful sunny day outside. Sigh...oh well :)

♥ M

midnight madmen...

Last night as I lay awake in my bed trying with all my might to actually fall asleep (that's what you get when you have a nap in the late afternoon) I suddenly heard loud voices coming from my next door neighbours.

Now I am already not too happy with them as they leave every single one of their outside lights on ALL night (well until about 3 or 4 am), one of which shines directly into my bedroom and no matter what I do with my blinds I have light shining in illuminating my room. But this I have grown used to, I can handle that after 6 months or so of dealing with it.

But late night screaming at each other? Seriously? What is so important that you must have a screaming match at 1am? And of course I had my window open as it's just so damn hot I needed a little breeze stagnant air entering into my boiling bedroom before I could even attempt to sleep. And it's not even the first time! I go to bed most nights and I can here the TV on as if I was in the same room, clear as day. I mean have a little consideration of others!

And so my final point today is, remember just because you want to be until 4am every night, doesn't mean we all do.

♥ M

a community service announcement...

So I was driving home from sushi tonight (well not me driving, my mum was) and I noticed a very bright light coming towards us at rapid speed! Suddenly the light divided into two lights, directly heading our way!

And this is about the point in time, somewhere between me thinking about all of the 'go towards the light' jokes and actually wondering what the very bright lights coming towards us were...Ii realised it was just another car. (yea you prob already knew that...give yourself a pat on the back)

And this got me thinking. When did car head lights become so damn BRIGHT?!!! Like so bright I had to squint to see the road in front of me! It's ridiculous!

You do not NEED to have your lights THAT bright! It's a hazard for anyone coming in the other direction...

So your community service announcement for tonight it, TURN YOUR DAMN HIGH BEAMS OFF!!!

many thanks

♥ M

going strong...

Well look at this, this is the second day (in a row mind you) that I am blogging...

Maybe this exercise will actually work after all! Mind you I don't really have anything to write about :)

The heat is sweltering in Sydney's south western suburbs today, and when you don't have the luxury of air conditioning it's just...hmm whats that word I'm looking for...bleh. And what better thing to do on such a day? Attend a baby shower! BINGO! I got to dress up and play baby games whilst not uttering the word baby otherwise I would forfeit my pin...Seriously guys who comes up with these games?

Perhaps the key is to get some mimosas going whilst you play them...I know that would make them a lot better for the guests!

Europe update: We missed out on the beautiful penthouse in Rome that we were going to rent for 5 nights :( but we have most likely booked another nice apartment for us to stay. AND we have found our accomodation in Santorini. It's just gorgeous! Right in Fira with views of the caldera.

Well I must depart as I did say this post was going to be a whole lot of nothing, so I can finish guzzling down the rest of my cool now warm bottle of lemon, lime and bitters and start dreaming of Santorini...

♥ M

we're going in...

Welcome to the world of panda-marnie-um where things are not always as they seem, but most of the time it's safe to assume they are.

I've decided that 2010 is THE year.

THE year to start working...though this is not of choice. I recently finished my degrees and so I'm entering into the big wide world of full time employment.

THE year I'm finally going to travel to Europe. Yes ladies and gentlemen, in August this year (and I can finally say THIS year) I will be embarking on a 9 week adventure through the countries of Europe. Sadly I still don't think it's long enough but it is longer than some people will ever have, and hey I'm finally going so I don't think I can really complain too much.

And most importantly it's THE year I am going to start writing more. I've realised over the last year that I miss writing so much but with uni and assessments and working 3 jobs, it kinda got pushed too far down the list for me to care anymore. Well now I have no more excuses (no matter what I say from here on in).

It's going to be interesting for all of us, that i'm quite sure of.

until next time...

♥ M