homesick...

This time last year I finally set eyes on Kalymnos, and I tell you, it looked nothing like I'd imagined. For one, it was massive! Everyone of my family had been telling me that it was a tiny island with not much to do. Another lie! There was plenty to do!


I cant even describe the awesomeness that was those first few days in Kalymnos, and Greece in general. It was awesome to spend some time with family touring around places i'd been hearing about since i was a kid.

And the beaches! Beautiful clear water, no waves and no sand! Life couldn''t get any better! But it did...the food, oh the food. Words cannot describe the deliciousness of the food we ate that week. Nathan in particular fell in love with gyros...yum!


I miss you Kalymnos...


♥ M

the sun rises (and never sets) in Athens...

This time last year we had arrived in Athens, somewhere i'd been dreaming of for years.

From the moment I stepped off the plane I could feel the heat seeping into my bones. I don't know whether you've ever been to Athens, but Athens airport has the worst customs section. No sniffer dogs, no xray machines, no body scans. Get your passport stamped and off you go! It was just too easy!
First impressions of Greece - drier than expected. No lush greenery covering the countryside, in fact it was more like a gentle scattering of dry green plants. And rocky!

I must admit, at 730am, almost dying in a taxi was not what i had expected. And within those first few minutes, i realised that we had definately entered into another world. I couldn't even imagine driving the way that they consider normal. Blinkers? Optional extras... Lanes? Merely guidelines! Add all of this onto the terror I already felt (i was sitting in the drivers seat AND NOT DRIVING!!!)
Anyway we spent that first day drinking frappes and fresh lemonade (yum!), getting to know the lay of the land, applying numerous coats of sunscreen and failing to stay out of the sun.

We managed to fight the jetlag and heat until about 5 in the arvo when we eventually crashed onto the bed in our beautifully cool and rather tiny hotel room, both of us thinking the same thing... thank god for AIR CONDITIONING!!!



♥ M

one year plane-a-versary...

This time last year I was boarding a plane, dreaming of Europe and ready for an adventure.

sad panda

♥ M

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