50 THINGS.

I found this tag on Niina's blog the other day and because there are a few new faces around here, I thought it would be a good way for all of you to get your creeper on and get to know me more. If you do this tag afterwards, let me know so I can check it out :-)
1. I changed my degree for the third time now! 2. I got stuck in the side of a trampoline and been flipped upside down.  3. I started a blog ;) 4. I learned all the words to R. Kelly's 'Ignition' (ahem, to impress a boy in primary school - unsurpisingly, he didn't really like me after that) 5. I've watched every episode of Gilmore Girls at least 7 times. 6. I've read the HP series 3 times. 7. I got engaged (worked hard to get that one done!) 8. I was promoted to Assistant Manager at the age of 17. 9. I pulled hot tea on myself when I was little and have a burn scar from it. 10. The first time I saw snow was about 4 weeks ago!

11. I saw a live football match in England between Arsenal and Chelsea. 12. I did a River Nile cruise. 13. I played competitive tennis as far as you can go before playing on a state level. 14. I played 2 seasons of soccer and our team came dead last both times... 15. I have a "Nike" burn scar on my elbow from working the fries at McDonalds. 16. I got my learner's driver license first go - woo! 17. I wore a formal dress that cost 50c. 18. I've read two books in one day. 19. I've stayed awake for close to 48 hours. 20. I've met Internet people in real life! (cue Bobbi!)

21. I completed a 40 hour famine. 22. I ate McDonalds 3 times in one day. Yes, I'm an amazing person, I know. 23. I got an HD and a Pass all in the semester. 24. I pushed my brother down the stairs one time. To be fair, he pushed me down the stairs another time. 25. I could read by myself at the age of 4. 26. I came 5th in the state for a subject during my HSC and got the 4th highest overall rank for my school. 27. One time, I rode a camel. Actually, several times I've ridden camels. 28. I joined both my primary school and highschool choirs. 29. I've never broken a bone. 30. I took a selfie with Harry Styles' car!

This is not a joke. This is his car. I preceded to hyperventilate after this photo...
31. I chased down a thief in Belgium who stole our backpack. (Story to come!) 32. I stood on the Great Pyramid of Giza.  33. I committed to a 12 month gym membership. So far, so good. 34. I've eaten kangaroo. 35. I partially tore a ligament in my wrist. 36. I've driven from the bottom to the top of New Zealand. 37. I've been to the largest IKEA in the southern hemisphere. 38. I've only visited the East coast of Australia. 39. I have spent time in 13 countries. 40. I ate reindeer (and it was good!)

41. I kept a giant gobstopper hidden in my room for months because I wasn't allowed to have it. And yes, I would lick it periodically and put it back in the bag. *I am laughing hysterically right now and Justin said: Wow, you were such a rebel...* 42. I threatened to leave home when I was 5, walked to the end of the driveway and stopped because I wasn't allowed to go past that point. *still laughing hysterically* 43. I swallowed a tequila worm on my 18th. 44. I used to dance around my living room in a pink tutu pretending I was Leisel in the gazebo scene from The Sound of Music. 45. I visited the gazebo they used in The Sound of Music! 46. I sat on the kitchen bench for a really long time to avoid a cockroach. 47. I sang in the Sydney Opera House. 48. I did a barista course. 49. I saw Disney on Ice. 50. I am staying at a complete stranger's house in a few days times and yes Niina, I'm excited! Although... Kinda worried I'm going to wake up one morning and have her staring at me like this... 

Image stolen from her blog. 

a letter of acceptance!

When I left highschool, I jumped straight into a double degree of Arts and Law. After persevering for 2 years, I realised that I really, really did not like studying Law. I really enjoyed all of my subjects at school so it was the first time that I was studying something that I didn't enjoy.
And it really disheartened me. I could not work out why I was struggling and why I just couldn't remember anything of what I was taught. I had no interest in Law. So I made a bold decision to change my university and change my degree.
Cue 2012. I moved to a big university in the city and began studying Arts and Education. I felt like I was on a more correct track than previously. Except... I hated the university. And the people who went there. And the lecturers. I felt so insignificant and when I asked for help, no one answered me. I wasn't inspired or motivated to learn. 
Thinking about staying at that university for another 4 years literally made me cry. There was no way that I would have the mental strength to do that. I was mentally, physically and emotionally drained. So I made another bold decision. I decided that I wanted to go back to my old university and simplify my degree.
I applied to study just Arts at my old university. When I say Arts, by the way, I'm referring to social science. The other arts is called Creative Arts. Since day one, I have loved studying English at university. So I decided that I would skip the whole double degree thing, because whilst I liked education and the concept of teaching, my heart wasn't 100% in that either. 
I am so thankful and lucky to have been accepted back into my old university. I found out a couple of days ago and have just been letting it sink in. I genuinely felt that I would not get offered a place. Now that I have though, I am going to make the absolute most of it.
I am going to major in English and in Public Relations. I love English and I'm really interested in PR so I'm going to bite the bullet, ignore those voices (real and imagined) that don't think I can do this and just pursue my passions. 
Hopefully this will help me get closer to what I want to achieve in life. Already though I feel relieved and confident. Uni doesn't start back for over a month but I know this mindset will carry through until then.
I am so excited for 2013 to be the start of following my passions. What will this year bring for you? Are you pursuing your passion?
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outfit post: colours of the world

As we were strolling through a park in London today, inspiration hit me. I looked down at my incredible ensemble (pronounced on-somb) and realised that I needed to share the amazingness that fell together on my body this morning. 
Conveniently, it just so happened that my brown hair, boots and gloves matched the trees. My green coat blended wonderfully with the foliage. My black pants and bag tied in nicely the sculptures we just happened to chance upon. 
I call this outfit 'Colours of the World'. For those of you who require my guidance, I'm going to break this down for you...
Tip #1: Camouflage
A common theme in outfit posts is to ensure you contrast from the background. This is for aesthetic purposes. I call this "a social construct by society to make you look stupid". The best way to achieve aesthetic success is to blend in as much as possible. Note the slight lean I have adopted.

Tip #2: Don't Look at the Camera
If you have particularly amazing eyes, look directly down the lens. Do not smile. Be intense. If your eyes blend in too much to the background i.e. you have brown eyes and are standing near trees, it is best to look off into the distance, as though thinking about the best way to showcase your beauty. Note the angle of the arms and the flawless integration of props - I am really working on blending in. To the point where I lose one leg. #achievementunlocked 

 Highlight your flexibility as a model to potential model agencies by showcasing BOTH sides of your face. Whilst some of you might argue that you have a better side, I strongly recommend you fix the crap side and aim for dual perfection. Note how well I have achieved that.

Tip #3: Feature, Feature, Feature

It's incredibly important to encourage your photographer to move closer to you and pay attention to detail. If you have something worth highlighting, such as this exquisite waterproof black bag, it is absolutely necessary to feature it. Note the hand on the bag, reminding you that it is in fact ME who owns this bag and NOT you. 

It is also necessary to feature your pigeon toes, if you have them. If you are unfortunate enough to not possess pigeon toes, my suggestion is that you buy a pigeon (or steal one from the local park) and study closely the way in which it stands.

If you'd like more suggestions on how to improve your outfit posts, please send me an email!
Author's Note: The coat is in fact sage green... It just doesn't look it in any of these photos. 
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THE TOWER OF LONDON.

It snowed today here in London. Whilst we were at the Tower of London. It was practically a dream come true.
Words cannot express how much I have wanted to go to the Tower of London. I have a serious obsession with Henry VIII and his six wives. Particularly Catherine of Aragon. And Anne Boleyn. Well, the entire Boleyn family. And the Howards. And Wolsey. The list goes on really. The point is, the Tower of London is the place to be if the Tudors are your thing.
Just being there was enough, but I won't lie, seeing the Crown Jewels was a pretty big side perk. There is a lot of bling happening in one room. 
London so far has been really, really great. There is just so much to see and do - it's massive! Thankfully, we are here for another few days yet so there is a bit more time to see as much as possible. After this, we are off to Austria and Sweden. There is too much excitement happening over here.
Oh and the icing on the cake is that we are missing a heatwave in Sydney. I'm talking 40+ averages. I am definitely a cold climate person, so London, keep up the frostiness!

WHERE WE ARE: THE ENGLISH COUNTRYSIDE.

Hullo guvnor!
And that's the first and last time I shall be saying that. Funny as it was, I'm not sure how well that'll go down... Thanks to our stay in Ireland though, the word 'tanks' in place of 'thanks' is now a regular part of my vocabulary. Travelling with me is such a joy...
For the past couple of days we have been driving through England. We picked up a car in Edinburgh, Scotland and have hit York, Morton-in-Marsh and now Bath. We leave tomorrow for London.
I'll be writing about Dublin and Edinburgh soon but just know that my penchant for drinking in the AM was strongly encouraged in Ireland and that my previously unknown LOVE of men in kilts was wonderfully brought to my attention in Scotland. I am so, so grateful for these two things. 
Now, I just need to get Justin drinking in the AM and wearing a kilt... 

Oh Bath, you are so pretty. And witty. And gaaaay!

PARIS.

Paris is unequivocally the city of love. But I didn't love it.
I liked it. But I didn't love it. Something wasn't quite right for me. It was enough, but if Paris and I had  a real relationship, I'd be settling. 
There were elements of the beautiful that you expect of a European city but my heart didn't sing. Everything that you imagine in Paris to be lovely though, was indeed lovely. We stayed in the Latin Quarter which has a softer vibe to it. It's the perfect combination of old and new. 
We saw the Eiffel Tower, the Arc de Triomphe, the Notre Dame and the Louvre. And by saw, I mean we saw the outside. For some reason, even though we came in the off-peak season, Paris was so busy. The line to enter the Louvre was so long it was laughable. I'm not sure if this tarnished the potential relationship Paris and I could've had, but the fact of the matter was, standing in really lines isn't going to make me like anyone.
The one thing that I cannot deny though was that I did fall in love with one particular aspect of Paris. Whenever you look at any of the magnificent buildings, you have to look up. And when you look up, you see where the buildings meet the sky. That was my favourite part. When you walk around the buildings, you realise that they have remained fixed for many years and we just wander in and out and around of them. And they just sit there, sitting taller than the rest of us and with one arm outstretched, reaching for the sky. Except that from down here, it looks like they reached the sky. 
Everything looks different when you readjust your point of view. 

 Please note the lady to the right of us doing what I like to call, the poo dance.

That time I bought a beret and was tres chic until Justin's head stretched it out. Good times.
We are presently attempting to drive through England, so stay tuned for posts on Ireland and Scotland!  What have you been upto lately?!

HEY HELSINKI, I LOVE YOU.

I have always operated under the assumption that I was born in the wrong hemisphere. As extreme as that may sound to you more normal folk, here me out.
I hate the Australian summer. Actually, I hate summer period. The heat does nothing for me and one of the things I dread most in this world is going to the beach. I feel more comfortable in jeans and jumpers than I do shorts and singlets. I hate wearing thongs! They give me blisters and it just feels uncomfortable and my feet are too exposed and I'm a freak.
All of this weirdness though, fortunately, culminated in me a supposed love of cold climates. When planning for this trip began many moons ago and Helsinki was put forth, I was somewhat indifferent about it.
Finland? Who wants to go to Finland? And then, I researched it. And I really wanted/needed to go to Finland. The first time I worked out that the average temperature in Finland during the time we were going to be there would be -10 I nearly cried from happiness. That sounded like heaven!
I would like to point out at this stage that Justin was quick to remind me that I had never experienced a really cold climate, and having never even seen snow, I should be prepared for the fact that I may not actually enjoy the freezing cold.
Well, I was right. I love freezing cold climates and I love Helsinki. I absolutely cannot wait to go back. Every single local we spoke to thought we were absolutely mental for coming to Helsinki in the winter and abandoning an Australian summer. I'm going to let the pictures speak for themselves but trust me when I say that it was truly a magical winter wonderland. Oh and also, the usual consumption of amazing food and drink occurred. 
Plus, there were snow angels and snowball fights and people slipping over on the ice (NB: neither Justin nor I!) and hot wine and new leather gloves and false fire alarms and matching shirts and all round happiness. I miss you already Helsinki and I am already planning my return.

 Told you there were cute photos of Justin's Mum to come!

 Senate Square, Helsinki.

 An actual, good snow angel...

 As opposed to this... By the way, laughing not crying!

So you can gauge what we were dealing with. A lot of snow!
P.S - I may have tried reindeer and really loved it... It goes against all of my Christmas morals but Rudolph was seriously delicious; that's not my fault!

HELLO 2013.

Happy New Year!

The Notre Dame, Paris. These past few days have flown by. After Prague we traveled to Brugge, Belgium. Prague was a bit of a disappointment -- there were far too many people and the city had a harsher vibe than anywhere else we had traveled. Maybe I'm just a softie but I could not look past the overwhelming amount of people and the way the city seemed to be catering to tourists in that really tacky kind of way.
I felt uninspired and unmotivated to document that part of our journey. I didn't want my photographed  memories to reflect the negative experience I had.
I don't quite understand the hype everyone has about Prague. Admittedly, on the first day and in the first few hours, I thought that perhaps I had been mistaken about my negative attitude towards Prague and I was ready to give it another ago. For awhile I think I did actually like it.
... But that quickly wore off. I just struggle with crowds of people and a lack of character in a place. 
After Prague we caught an overnight sleeper train (which is a story for another day I tell ya...) and arrived in Brussels and then got driven to Brugge.
Brugge was lovely. It was beautiful and calmer than Prague and it had a beautiful atmosphere. It seemed as though the town liked being Brugge and it didn't need the tourists to form its identity. But sadly, coming off the disappointment and the overwhelmingness of Prague, I didn't document Brugge.
I think this makes me the worst traveler in history? The flip side of this, however, is I now have motivation to return to Brugge and share its amazingness with you guys. Many amazing meals were had in Brugge and many fantastic drinks were consumed (read: so much beer) and the town itself is just comfortably classic. 
We celebrated the New Year in Brugge and it was a relatively quiet affair (read: cards by the fire, amazing Flemish Beef Stew and in bed by 10.30. Yes you read that correctly!) 
As for right now, we are in Paris and tomorrow we are seeing the sights. I also have a story to share that involves one of our bags getting stolen, but I will end this post wishing you all the absolute best for 2013!

Okay, Justin's Mum managed to snag a couple of photos in Brugge. I wasn't kidding about the drinking beer thing...