Izzy & Avie.

Credit to Nina for the photo and for spending the day with my girl.

Snapshot.

Today

New Years Resolutions... Here's hoping.

So, every year I make a few resolutions for the coming year. It is the optimist in me trying to overpower the ever present pessimist. So, here goes. It is worth a shot, hey?

1. Read More.
I am pretty sure this was on the list last year as well. I easily read about 15 books a year, by and large due to a daily 40 minute train commute and being one half of a child-less couple. Well that all changed. Since I acknowledge I spend waaaaay too much time on social networking sites I can at least incorporate a little reading time into each day. Even with a toddler. I think. I have several books on the shelf at home waiting to be devoured and I would also like to read/re-read the Dark Tower series by Stephen King.
But first up; a refresher with Ina May.

2. Take my vitamins and drink more water.
Thrilling stuff, really.

3. Work Out.
I will be honest and say for once in my life the vow to take more physical exercise has little to do with vanity and weight loss, well, that is probably about 10% of the reason.
I swear I have such low energy and also do not sleep well. I can only partly blame Motherhood for that one and the rest is purely not taking better care of myself. I am hoping that by getting out in the fresh air and pounding the pavement I will feel a little better and have a little 'me' time as well. Possibly looking better will be a by product.

4. Get back to nature.
As a lead on from resolution No. 3, I am going to aim to spend more time (particularly on weekends) enjoying the great outdoors with my family. I don't think we do it enough, and I mean PROPER walks, of the mile(s) variety.  We always have a great day out together when we do and live in such a beautiful part of the country, with so many amazing trails and national parks on our doorstep it seems silly to waste that..

5. Be more assertive.
For those that know me this may seem like a laugh. For those that TRULY 'get' me will know I struggle badly with this. When I am bothered by something, I let it eat away at me, consume me (Hello? Insomnia?!) and that is far from healthy. There are a couple of people in my life that I struggle with finding the words to stand my ground (they are also people I MUST have in my life.)
Here's to finding the right words to not get walked over, and most importantly, feel that I have said what needs to be said in a constructive way.

I think that is it?

Best keep it short and sweet.

Wish me luck.

Home is where the heart is and my heart is in...

... Farnham.

We are happily nestled in our new home in Surrey. It feels so good to put the move behind us and focus on the coming year. It is pretty safe to say that we are starting to feel more settled in general; G in his new job and the three of us in our new digs.

We are still without broadband (what is up with that, 'customer service'?)  and will unfortunately remain that way until the end of the month but am stealing a few minutes at work to catch up on my favourite blogs and tell you about our home.

Our house is cosy and has fantastic views over the town (am I starting to sound like I am in real estate agent?) It is only a rental but we are easing into the new surroundings and making it 'ours'. It covers all our needs; 3 bedrooms, garage, storage, walk to train and town, great location and most importantly, is within budget.

A's bedroom is huge in comparison to the last and adequately fits her too many toys, clothes, dolls house and other what not she has accumulated in her 21 months.

From our living room and bedrooms we can see Farnham Park and the castle, a far cry from our old view of multi storey car park and Burger King.We have moved  a mere 10 minute drive from our old place yet in a country like England it is not surprising that we have passed into another county. We couldn't be more excited to be in Farnham as it is a place we have grown to love over the past 4 years of residing in the UK. Many a Saturday had been spent wandering the boutique stores, charity shops, dining in the restaurants and spending time in the park. It is such a truly beautiful town; cobblestone streets, lush parks, streams, Victorian buildings and old world charm. I feel much safer living here and also generally much more positive as it is a wonderful place to have our children and the schools are bar none (well, so I hear.)

Even the cat seems impressed.

Being able to walk to town is a huge plus for us with a toddler and an even shorter work to the train station which G uses every day. A direct line to London will always be a plus in my book when we seek a little hustle and bustle.

As we settled in over the Christmas period we spent many a day moseying down to Gostrey Meadows Park with the girl, grabbing a take-away coffee from Morello's and whittling away several relaxing hours in the playground. We also took the opportunity to do all our Christmas shopping locally which was so easy and felt great to support local business.

Twice we have walked along the North Downs Way,  for us a 2 mile circuit which includes a drink or two at the pub and feeding the horses , much to A's delight. I will blog more on this later once I can upload my own photos.

The town has some great places to visit and I look forward to dropping in and saying 'hello' over the next year; The Barn, the ceramics cafe, The Maltings, scrummy restaurants and our new 'local' The Mulberry which serves the most delicious gourmet burgers. We were regulars of the monthly Farmers Market and now have the advantage of walking there.

Most importantly, feeling excited about making some very happy memories in our new home and enjoying the company of visiting friends and family. Things just seem to be getting better and better.

Ciao for now...

With the house move comes disconnection from the virtual world.

It looks like we won't have internet access until at least mid January, so for now... 

Happy Holidays x

It's beginning to look alot like...

I admit I really do love this time of year.

Growing up in Australia in the heat I really cherish the Northern Hemisphere Christmas. After spending the first 24 years of my life lazing in the pool on Christmas day (okay, okay, that is pretty great too) it is lovely to be having Christmas Day the way I had always envisioned, snuggled up in the house from the cold, sometimes snowing outside, having a hot Christmas dinner and warm mulled wine.

I love seeing the Christmas lights adorning the High Street, neighbours decorating their houses and, I'll confess, Christmas carols playing in the stores. To me, it is the quintessential holiday season experience.

I have been enjoying my share of Christmas foodie treats as I figure I cannot indulge in too much of that delicious mulled wine so fruit mince pies with lashings of cream it is!

One hard part to this time of year (and being an ex-pat) is missing my family. We were lucky to be back in Australia last year for December and it was my first with my parents, brothers, Grandmother and Aunts in 6 years. I am so happy that Avalon had her first Christmas in sunny Australia.

This year, will be a bit more harried as we will have moved into our new house only 12 days before so our tree and decorations will be going up late. My best friend of 22 years arrives (I cannot wait!) with her baby boy and partner just after our move and they'll be with us on and off for the following 3 weeks... it is going to be a lovely (although not restful) couple of weeks.

20 months today and the girl's favourite reading material...

Avalon is 20 months old today so I thought I would share some of her favourite books; ones she loves read to her and also the ones she 'reads' herself, holding the books herself and turning the pages. It amazes me how much she remembers from the stories being read to her.

So her are some of her favourites on rotation...

Oui Monsieur Garrel

I love French actor Louis Garrel.

I first saw him in The Dreamers and since then in Mar Mere, Les Chansons d'Amour & Dans Paris. 

I don't have much more to add other than the usual fan girl gushing but I highly recommend The Dreamers as it is one of my favourite films, I love all things 'Paris' and I lose myself in the feeling that Bertolucci's film evokes.

Suffice to say I think he is just beautiful.

This blogger has the right idea...

Moving right along...

So now that hubby has got himself a brand spankin' new job in the city, we have to move out of our house which was a 'perk' of his previous job. This move has come about very quickly as here we were thinking we had a good 3 months to find a new family home but no, last Thursday we recieved a letter informing us that we had a grand total of 3 weeks to move out. Thanks MOD, you really do offcially suck.

Feeling more than a little flustered and with much thanks to my friend Nina who is a pro at finding perfect rentals, we found ourselves a new house quick smart to rent in a lovely town 10 minutes away in the Surrey countryside, 10 minutes drive from where we are living now. 

The house ticks all our boves; Within our budget,3 bedrooms, garage, basement, loft, fire place and apple tree-- it will do us just fine. We are a 5 minute walk from the town and a couple of streets away from the train station with direct rail to London. I am grateful (if not a little relieved) that it appears to fit our needs.

So with this being said, I am not sure how much time I will be spending around the bloggershere as I will be keeping busy packing up our life from the past 4 years. Hopefully I can update soon but until then-

Onwards and upwards, friends!

A lotta love for L-Town

Last Saturday I caught the train into London to meet up with my good friend Brooke to see The Rum Diary in Leicester Square. A day all for me! I could drink coffee hot and natter with a friend, spend way too long looking at materialistic pretty things with the added bonus of a trip to the cinema.
Brooke and I worked at the same sushi restaurant a hundred years ago, well  8 years ago to be precise, and haven't seen each other since I got married in 2007. A catch up was well and truly overdue.

We have discovered through the medium of social networking that we share a love of film- the quirky, the arty, the off-beat and the foreign. The release of Hunter S. Thompson's The Rum Diary was the perfect excuse to meet up after many promises to do so. Johnny Depp? I. Am. There. Say. No. More.
Firstly no trip to London is complete without a sojourn to Camden Town. I used to spend (literally) every weekend there in the two years I lived in Pimlico. I know that place like the back of my hand and has such an amazing energy and buzz that of course, I had to stop by before heading to Leicester Square.

Bubble Tea and Chinese food were to be had, along with browsing the hundreds of stalls that adorn the markets. As good as I remember.

In the 6 years I have been visiting the markets they have tripled in size and I could easily spend an entire day there. Alas, this day I had but 2 hours. Tea, food, debating black rimmed glasses t(oo much?) and the purchase of a new pair of earrings and it was back on the Northern Line to Leicester Square for me.

Brooke and I wandered Covent Garden in search of coffee, discussed the virtues of Johnny Depp over popcorn and the films we love and recommend over Thai food at Suda.

It was really revitalising to have a day just to myself. I knew G and A were having a great time together at home as now that G has started his new job (more on that later) he is doing longer days than he used to (about 4 hours longer.) He hardly gets to see her but for an hour or two at night so taking that day for the two of them was a special as it was for me to be reconnecting with an old friend.; Brooke AND Camden.

With all the changes coming our way over the next 12 months (more on THAT later) I wanted to appreciate this time now, 'recharge my batteries' so to speak and have some 'me time.'

Covet

Four words.

Christian Louboutin Lady Peep.

That is all.

Wordless Wednesday

Goofing around with G's new phone...

Yes I will.

I ♥ NY

*I shall add a warning now-- this will probably be snooze inducing boring to anyone but my family but here you have a journal entry I am afraid... also due to visitors from Australia, this post comes to you about 3 weeks late.

So we are back from 3 wonderful days sent in the Big Apple.

We had a brilliant time although are all very tired and still having a little trouble with jetlag.

We flew from Heathrow to JFK very early Friday morning, Avalon was great on the flight, as was Grant- she was entertained between the cartoons and the books we had brought with us, walking up and down the aisles and having a snooze on Daddy... The flight was only 7 hours, which after the flight to Australia, really didn't feel that bad.

JFK airport was a little crazy, customs in particular, and luckily as we had Avalon we got fast tracked through customs- a blessing as Avalon was starting to get really tetchy.

We had hired a car service to take us to our hotel in Manhattan which was different for us, always travelling by public transport when on holiday... It was amazing to see the Manhattan skyline as we drove through Queens, it was a sunny and clear day and felt my excitement rise as I saw the Empire State Building.
The drive was about 40 minutes and we arrived at the Hotel Pen around 1pm... The location was brilliant, on 7th Avenue and directly across from Madison Square Garden. After check in and a quick freshen up, we decided to make our way out as my dear friend Katie had recommended going to the top of the Empire State Building on that day as the weather was looking less promising for the rest of the weekend.
We stopped for a slice of pizza (disappointing) and walked to the Empire State Building, past Macy's and down 6th Ave.

The views from the Empire State Building were breathtaking and gave us another view of this wonderful city.
We walked on down to 5th and Avalon had a play in Madison Square Park before heading back to the hotel for an early night via take out sushi from Wholefoods.

Saturday morning we were up bright and (very) early... We left our room before 7am and decided to walk toward Times Square in search of a truly 'American breakfast'... We found Juniors (French toast, Maple Syrup & Bacon... OH MY!)

After breakfast it was onto Central Park (albeit a minute part of it) with lots of running (Avalon) and dog petting (also Avalon) along the way. We found ourselves outside FAO Schwarz and witnessed their daily ritual of the store opening- a show within itself. The store is home to the BIG Piano, made famous by Tom Hanks in 'BIG' and Avalon took great delights in running up and down it's keys... We made our way down 5th Ave, with a quick Starbucks break to rest our aching feet, for lunch we had Tacos, beans and rice from Calexico which was DELISH (I love Mexican food!) and happened upon a great market in Union Square, where I bought a great turquoise ring (a girl can never have too many)... We were starting to feel the burn in our legs again and by the time we got to Greenwich decided to cave to the ease of the subway to go to Ground Zero.

We didn't spend long at ground Zero... it felt 'silent' despite the bustle of the city, so much construction still taking place and the rain decided to fall. We walked to the closest subway, past a small group protesting (a much bigger protest was taking place around Brooklyn Bridge) and headed back to the hotel before meeting up with my friend Katie and her fiancé Shern for dinner.

It was so great to see Katie, she is an old friend of mine from Australia and we worked together for a couple of years almost 10 years ago (wow... that long??) In the last couple of years we have managed to catch up once in Germany and once here in the UK- she is now making her home with Shern in Philadelphia... I couldn't miss seeing her- she has such an amazing light and spirit about her, I feel lucky we had this opportunity.

Another relatively early night for us (the joy of travelling with a toddler) and we readied ourselves for our last day in NYC.
Sunday morning we checked out early and headed toward Bloomingdales for a bit of a looksie... We were too early for the Sunday trade and shared a bread basket and a couple of coffees in the Upper East Side at Le Pain Quotidien and also saw Dylan's Candy Bar. The rest of the day was spent wandering... more markets, MOMA, Bryant Park and lunch at Hard Rock Cafe in Times Square (I have a dirty confession... I love playing tourist!)

We made a quick stop at the Disney store for Avalon and then made our way back to Hotel Penn to rest our weary legs and wait for our car service back to the airport... literally a fly by weekend!

I am so very grateful to my husband for organising such an amazing trip for us... and all the friends and family that, as part of my birthday gift, made it possible...

Affirmations...

Feelin' the funk

So I am feelin' the funk... and not in a good way.

I should rephrase and say I am actually in a funk. A low. A downer. Not a great place.

I have some 'stuff' going on at the moment  (that is as explicit as I can be presently) and I have been trying to work through my feelings these last few months with the help of a couple of trusted friends and the dear hubby.

The way I have been feeling changes on the daily, but the undercurrent of funkiness is always present, and to be honest, I thought it would have shifted by now.

I wish I could divulge more, but even in this forum, I am not sure I can fully relate what is going on- too many would not understand  where I am coming from and as I am still dealing with these feelings and issues myself, I am not in a strong enough position to share further.

I apologise for being so vague, but I have had to make half-arsed excuses to friends of late of why I am 'not around' and it (I am) tiring... trust that (most) will be revealed and I hope then that I can explain myself further.

As I said to my husband (my absolute rock!) just 2 nights ago, right now I am just putting one foot in front of the other. That is the best I can do.

EDIT: I should add that due to this 'stuff' there has been no reading whatsover going on, so no book club to speak of. I hope to be back on it soon.

Song of the day...

So I have a quick 5 minutes to post today's song of choice... this little ditty always makes me feel happy inside and kept me in contented company on my morning commute to work today...

Pardon my absence...

So I was halfway through blogging our fantastic trip to New York when I got sidetracked and before I knew it, my parents were here from Australia (2 days earlier than I had anticipated) SURPRISE!
So I shall not be in 'bloggerland' for about a month as they are here until Halloween and all is BUSY, BUSY, BUSY!
*maybe* I can get a spare few minutes to post during work hours... but if not, I'll see you in November.

Food for thought

New York, New York

I can hardly contain my excitement! This morning, out of nowhere, my wonderful and amazing husband surprised me with an early birthday card he and Avalon made that included inside a flight itinerary to... 

NEW YORK CITY!

That is right, we are off to the 'Big Apple' this weekend! All three of us are going to take in the sights of Manhattan and surrounds. I have always wanted to travel to NYC and am absolutely floored that Grant has managed to organise this as a surprise present for my 30th birthday, with the inclusion of our families. Considering I was hoping for a pair of wellies, My Lovely has certainly surpassed any expectations I had for birthday gifts.

Top marks, Dear husband and family.

Feeling very thankful... very blessed... and extremely spoiled.