connection hic ups

Happy little toothpick man at Vue de Monde, Melbourne

After getting enthused about blogging again, I hit a road block. That is, one tiny thing was no longer available to me. That's right...no internet. After fighting with a telecon/internet provider for 3 weeks it's finally here. {Yes, I realise it sounds like I'm constantly fighting with faceless corporations. It's NEVER my fault, I swear}.

Anyway, I'm {almost} back on track...Can't figure out how to have the phone and internet connected at the same time but it's all good. Baby steps...

Wedding status: bridal shoes BOUGHT; menu tasting BOOKED; guest list FINALISED; bride starting to stress that there's only 3 1/2 months until the 'big day' TICK. Ooh, I also have a make up trial this weekend {fingers crossed I will love it - I don't think I can bear dealing with another person}

House status: only weeks after moving in, discovered a tree is blocking my pipes and causing me hell. Front yard has been an excavation site for 3 weeks. Had a fight with Sydney Water about who should pay the gargantuan bill for this {actually, wasn't a real fight; more like a kind but firm man telling me I had no hope and me sobbing into the mobile...all while the Optus dude was installing my phone. Good times}. It's all good. As someone told me the other day, 'it's only money'...

Fiance living abroad status: cracks are starting {?} to show. Can't wait until my life is normal again {?}!!

I hope that life has been treating you well.

Love,
Cat x

Hello! Is there anybody in there?

My poor little blog has been abandoned for awhile. In fact, my complete online presence has pretty much disappeared. The reason for this of course is that I've been incredibly busy over the past few weeks and have literally had no time to keep you up to date. Or to find out what my blogging friends have been up to. Now that things have slowed down a bit I'm looking forward to catching up with everyone's lives.

I'll give you a bit of a snapshot of what I've been up to lately. Here goes:

1. My June photography challenge was a complete failure. I lasted 15 days only to have it fall by the wayside as I lost motivation. Does that make me a blogging failure?

2. Tetsuya's was fabulous! I wish I took some photos but it was the kind of night where I was enjoying the food, wine and great company so much that I didn't want to pause for anything. Our table was very quiet when we walked in, completely in awe of finally making it to the renowned food institution. By the end of the meal though (after 5 ½ hours, 11 courses and matching wines) we were all much more relaxed. Shamefully, I believe there was even some immature bean throwing. I'm not going to expand as I do not want to implicate anyone or make you think less of me!

3. I FINALLY finished painting my house. Six weekends and countless nights after work. Blood, sweat, tears, tantrums and about a thousand McDonald's meals later and IT'S ALL DONE! I can't emphasise how excited I am about this. Despite my grumblings, I am incredibly proud of what I and my band of workers (thanks Mum and Megan!) have completed and I feel a sense of achievement and a real sense of ownership of my house now.

4. Following on from painting the house, I've been busy moving myself and my furniture into it. More about that later because the next point is without a doubt the best thing about the past few weeks...

5. My beautiful fiance was in town for the past 10 days. He's gone back to PNG now but the time he was here was perfect. He helped move me into my house, we caught up with friends and family, cooked meals together and went to some beautiful restaurants (I probably don't need to add here that I've also put on 1000 kgs in the past week!). The only blemish to the week was a terrifying few hours where he couldn't find his baptism certificate and I was convinced that it was irreparable and that we couldn't get married at all! Needless to say, some irrationality, tiredness and emotions were at play there and I was about due for a meltdown anyway. Trav came to the rescue and you'll be pleased to know the wedding's still on.

That's a very brief summary of what I've been up to. I haven't started to mention my new couches or my op-shop bedside table find (a future work in progress). I haven't mentioned I made the beef, red wine and onion pie again or the yummy nutella and raspberry dessert (again, from Donna Hay Seasons). But I think that's enough for now. I don't want to saturate you with too much information after such long famine!

I hope you are well and happy. I'd love to hear of any exciting news that you've been up to lately. Thanks for sticking by me and I'm looking forward to getting to know you again.

Love,

Cat x

hello again

Image from We Heart It

I must apologise for my absence on the blog-front. I was in a bit of a slump last week and knew I could not do my little blog justice. I am happy to announce I have crawled out of the dark abyss and am ready to resume life again.

I'm very excited tonight as I'm heading out for dinner to Tetsuya's in Sydney! I've been wanting to go there for about a decade and tonight's the night!

I hope you have been well and that, whatever you're up to tonight, it's spectacular!

Love,
Cat x

When will this day be over?

Image from Deconstructing the Narrative

Two things that totally freaked me out today:

1. Nearly causing a fender bender by pulling out in front of a truck. I was totally distracted and didn’t see him coming. Only realised when I heard the screeching breaks. Pretty terrifying plus it shook me up even more as I had my pregnant friend in the car.

2. A strange IT thing happened where emails that I’d sent in 2005 suddenly reappeared in my inbox. Reading some of those emails took me back to a time when I was a very different person. There were lots of emails from people (ex-friends) that I used to be really close to. It’s hard enough trying to forget some of the situations I was in without having to relive them 5 years later.

Is this day over yet??

Cat x

Every 4 years I come alive!

Day 15, photo 16 Esse

My beautiful cousin (and MOH!) recently went to an Italian festa and brought back one of my favourite treats for me. Esse! Well, I don't know if that's the proper term but it's what I've always known them as. Hard, chewy biscuits with a distinct honey flavour. I love them!

Regarding the World Cup, it's nice to hear other people's opinions and to know that there are other crazies out there like me that have a strong emotional response to a game that happens once every four years.

I texted Travis the other day to say that I was downloading the World Cup schedule. His response was 'who are you and what have you done with my fiance?'. To explain, I am not usually a sporty person. However, I've always been a World Cup fan. But I realised that Travis and I weren't together at the last World Cup so he's never seen this side of me before. It came as quite a shock to him! Plus it's funny to think that Travis hasn't always been around yet now I couldn't imagine my life without him.

Has your partner ever surprised you with their hidden habits? Or have you surprised them with something supposedly out of character?

Cat x

Bounce Back

Day 9, photo 9 - collection of gifts from colleagues

Have you ever had one of those days where you hear one bit of bad news in the morning and it completely ruins your mood for the rest of the day? That's the day I had today.

One tiny work-related piece of disappointment totally destroyed my outlook on life for the entire day. When I think about it, my day was actually ok. I heard from Travis, I caught up with a good friend and my beautiful aunty and I made a break through with the wedding plans (FINALLY sourced teacups and saucers for my kitchen tea). But my dark mood clouded everything.

Some primary schools are running a program called 'Bounce Back', teaching kids about resilience. Part of it is encouraging kids to think themselves out of negative thoughts. In otherwords, to bounce back.

So this is a message to myself:
BOUNCE BACK CAT!

Hopefully that's done the trick and I'll be back to normal soon. In the meantime, where's the chocolate?

Cat x

Monthly challenge

Unfortunately I can only dream of taking photos like this everyday.

I recently read an article in Marie Claire magazine where people were given a challenge to do something every day for a month. The challenges ranged from wearing red lipstick every day to doing 10 push ups a day. It got me thinking about whether I could commit to doing something out of my usual routine every day for a whole month. I'm very much a 'phase' person, meaning I enthusiastically jump into something for a few days or even weeks but then inevitably I lose interest and look for my next amusement. Health kicks, beauty routines, attempts at avoiding swearing or whingeing have all made their way in and out of my routine at some point.

I'm also very easily dissuaded, meaning I can think of a million excuses NOT to do something. If you want to feel better about not going to the gym or breaking your diet or just generally avoiding something, I'm the girl to come to. I will make you feel fabulous about doing absolutely nothing.

So thinking all this through made me realise that maybe, just maybe, it would actually be a good challenge to take up. I wouldn't want to do something awful or unrealistic but I thought I should choose something that I enjoy doing but don't do as often as I like. Wearing red lipstick did come to mind but it's not that realistic for me as I drink a lot of water during the day which would either a) ruin my lipstick and I'd have to keep reapplyin, which I don't have time for or b) result in me not drinking water and possibly suffering from dehydration for the whole month. I thought about it some more and have come up with this...

The challenge I have set for myself is to take a photo a day. This might sound easy but I think it will still be challenging for me to find something interesting to take a photo of every day. I love taking photos but I don't see my day to day life as something that warrants or inspires photo evidence. However, my attitude is changing and I'm hoping it might give me a new perspective on some of the sights I take for granted every day. Starting from tomorrow and going until 30 June, I will keep my little camera on me and aim for at least one interesting photo a day.

I hope you'll join me on my little adventure. I'd also love to hear if you've done something similar or if you have ideas for future challenges.

Love,

Cat x

Blog Oh Blog

I Heart Blogs Clip by Sweet Harper on Etsy

Did anyone watch the episode of House last night? The patient he was diagnosing was a blogger who was obsessed with updating her blog and communicating with her readers, to the point where it was destroying her relationship with her husband. At one point, she had to make a decision regarding the type of treatment she would choose and, instead of discussing it with her husband, put the vote to her readers. The best quote though was when she said to her husband ‘I wish you had a blog so I could know what you’re thinking’.

It did get me thinking about blogging and how it affects my life. I started my blog as a way of recording bits and pieces and sharing info with other like minded people. Over the past few years one of my favourite past times is reading other people’s blogs. I often find myself thinking about these people (hopefully not in a creepy, single white female, stalker way) but more just thinking about their lives and looking forward to the next installment. Since joining the blogging world myself, I’m also able to see things from the other perspective. I think my blog is a way of channelling my energy into something positive. It’s a way for me to unwind and feel like I’m connected. I agree with Fat Mum Slim who says that we often show the best side of us and for the most part I agree. But there are some days when I also use my blog as an outlet to vent thoughts and feelings I could not share with people that I see every day.

This all seems pretty healthy to me and, unlike the crazy blogger in House, there are aspects of myself that I don’t share online. While my blog doesn’t consume my life, I sometimes take pictures or think about events in terms of their suitability for my blog and I can see how it could become an obsessive compulsion. Do you know what I mean? Do you ever feel like you’re living for your blog or have you been pulled up for being blog-obsessed? I’d love to hear your thoughts on this.

Love,
Cat x

Happiness is...

...a warm shower, new pajamas and clean sheets... Bliss :)

Cat x

Where do you blog?

Unfortunately NOT the usual scenery I blog to

To my fellow bloggers out there in blog land, I have a question for you. When I first started to read blogs, I visualised the blogger typing away on their keyboard, maybe in their pj's with a cup of tea or at a cafe, Perez Hilton style. Once I started my own online musings, I've found that it's not always the case that my thoughts transfer directly from my brain, through my fingertips to the keyboard and onto you, the reader. Often I find myself writing little notes to you on the train on my way home from work. I think it helps me to relax and I seem to be more energetic and creative during this time. In fact, what you're reading now was formulated on the 5:07pm Museum to Macarthur train.

My question to you is - where do you usually find yourself writing your blog? Do you have little thoughts that you jot down during the day or do you store it up for a big debrief when you get home? I'd love to hear about your blogging habits.

Love,
Cat x

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to my beautiful and long suffering mother. I know I don't always show it but I do appreciate everything you do and love you more than anything. I would be lost without you.

Happy Mother's Day to all my surrogate mothers too. My beautiful aunties that also cop more than their fair share of my troubles. They give me strength and support even when I didn't realise I needed it.

Happy Mother's Day to all the mums out there. To my gorgeous friends that are in love with their children; to the soon-to-be mums that are excitedly awaiting their bubs arrival (including my lovely sister-in-law who is in labour right now!); and to all those that would make fantastic mothers although they may never get the chance...I hope you have a beautiful day filled with love.

I can't let this day pass without mentioning my Nonna, without whom our lives would not have begun. I think of you every day and strive to live up to the legacy you have left.

Love,
Cat x

The sun will come out tomorrow...bet your bottom dollar!

The universe is a funny thing. No sooner does it knock you down, dishearten you and generally show you the nastiest side of people does it pick you up, make you smile and highlights the most luminous side of human nature.

In the past few days I've experience some horrible behaviour and witnessed even worst. Deliberately rude, unhelpful, dismissive, arrogant and downright nasty behaviour, exhibited by a number of people that should know better. To say it was bringing me down was an understatement.

Then...hello...what is that? Sunshine? Smiles? Courtesy? People genuinely happy to see me and going out of their way to be helpful and kind? Yes. Yes. Yes. And yes!

Is this the universe's idea of karma? Or maybe you need to experience the dark to truly appreciate the light? Either way is fine with me. Whatever darkness you might be experiencing, I have faith you will see the light soon.

Love, peace and karma.

Cat x