Monday randoms

One: Proof of Marriage! Two: A happy reunion :) Three: A taste of Vanuatu.

Notes:

Secret Diary of a Call Girl. This is a strangely addictive show, despite the fact that it stars Billie Piper (what were her big hit again?) I've just finished season 2, with season 3 waiting in the wings. I mean its about an "escort" (which we all know is a polite way of saying high class hooker), so maybe that's the appeal. Not to say that prostitution is appealing to me in any way. Not exactly. But i always walked the risky line right?

Work. WHAT is it good for? Meh, fine, it funds my life. Except that i really, really wanna be back on holidays, and I'm desperately trying to scheme a way to have some more time off. The fact that i have no annual leave left WILL NOT DETER ME!

We have movie vouchers that need to be used up in the next four days, and there are literally no movies that i want to see, which is a first. Actually none. It's so bad I'd consider Rango. What a disappointment.

My 'books-to-read' have dwindled down to a mere TEN! The hugest of achievements. I mean the shelf is looking almost bare, which is thrilling. On the clothes front, for various reasons I'm trying to buy very little, but the fact was i needed new pants. So i picked up two pairs over the weekend. But i will not buy boots this winter. I will not.

Mr and Mrs

I'm back! And I'm married! And tanned!



We actually got back on Thursday night, but i promptly got sick (I'm sure the plane was contaminated), and spent most of Friday on the couch watching 2 seasons of Secret Diary of a Call Girl. (In other words, life is back to normal.)



The rest of the weekend has been a whirlwind of washing clothes, grocery shopping, and moaning about being back in Sydney. Back to work on Monday, BOO. Reality has, alas, reared its ugly head. But we're off to see Maria and Peter and Jack tonight, which will cheer me up immensely. The Pest claims to have missed me, but i won't believe it till i see it.



There is obviously a lot to talk about, but this will have to be done in stages. For now, let me just say that our wedding day was, in a word, amazing. Its a total cliche, but it really was the best day of my life. I can't even believe how perfectly the day went, and what a fantastic party we had. Everyone had such a good time, and i honestly wouldn't have changed a thing. Of course, none of this would have been possible without all the help we got from our family and friends, some of whom travelled great distances to be with us. I'm not going to thank everyone individually here, but i WILL just say two things - firstly, my parents are really and truly the best people on the planet, who literally gave us the most beautiful day, and respected everything we wanted, and partied all night with us on the dance floor. Thank you so much - i will never forget how much you've done for us, and because of you our wedding day exceeded all of our expectations.




Secondly, our bridal party was made up of the most wonderful people, who mean the world to us - it was a big bridal party, but i think that's just testament to how lucky we are to have so many amazing friends and family, who are always there for us, and who did so much to make our day special, let alone possible! Some of my best memories of the day will always be dancing the night away with you guys - so thank you.




I've seen SOME photos from our fantastic photographer, but i haven't got them in my hot little hands yet, so i will save the wedding post until i do - though i can't wait to share the photos, because from what I've seen, they are A-MA-ZING! And of course, you'll be wanting to hear all about our honeymoon, right? That'll be coming up too, once we sort through the 800+ photos we took. (I know, we're freaks.) Ten sunny Vanuatu days of cocktails, seafood, swimming...WHY DID WE HAVE TO COME HOME???




SO! Plenty to tell, and I'll get to it soon, i hope. In the meantime, don't think that just because the wedding is over, we'll be able to relax and take it easy. That's just not us. We have a move coming up (more on that later), several visitors to look forward to, two weddings, birthday parties, and a mini-break or two...and of course we're always looking towards our next big adventure, which (scarily! excitingly!) will probably be here before you know it. But again. That's a discussion for another time.




As a last note, i will say that married life gets a big tick from me. (OK. It's really no different to living-together life. And actually, we've only been back from our holiday for three days, so who can really say. But, you know. It's nice to make it honest and all.) Pics coming soon!

Gooooooing to the chapel and we're....

......goooooonna get maaaaaaaarried....

Yesiree. I am now pretty much a day away from the big day. Which actually i can't believe, given how long we've been talking about it. Ca-razy. I was actually deluded enough to think that everything would be done by this week, and I'd be able to relax and enjoy the build up....um yeah. No. Didn't happen. This has to have been one of the most stressful weeks of my life. I've been running around like a madwoman. Sleep? What's that again? My mind's been going a million miles an hour trying to keep track of everything and everyone.

But. Today i tried on my finished wedding dress, and it was all worth it. I actually felt excited, genuinely excited, for the first time. I mean when you're dressed like a bride, you really feel like a bride right? We had our rehearsal tonight, which was fun...(read: nerve-racking). I know I'm kinda the bubbly type, which most people take to mean confident in all situations, but really, I'm a little nervous about the church bit. All eyes are on you, so you really better hope you don't drop the ring, or stuff your lines up, or faint. All of these possibilities are giving me nightmares, but i think it's too late to back out now ;) (Did we consider eloping, Jo? Why did we scratch that idea again?)

Despite that bit, I'm REALLY looking forward to - marrying Jo, obviously - but also, the party afterwards! Woot! Dancing the night away with our family and friends really is the fun part.

Even though this week has been a bit of a stress, I've had a great couple of weeks leading up to this - a Hunter Valley hens weekend, high tea and cocktails, a rehearsal dinner tonight, and a last hurrah with some good friends after work last week. And it really was quite the hurrah, let me tell you. We started our night at one of Sydney's best kept secrets - the Shady Pines. You'd never find it if you didn't know where it was - which is in a back alley, in a decrepit-looking building without a sign - but once you walk in, you may as well be back in the Wild West. It's got a real Saloon feel - in an awesome way, not in a cheesy Gold Coast Movie World way - plus, you get free peanuts all night! And the drinks - delicious. Tequila is their specialty, but personally i enjoy the vodka and fresh juices.

Kat and I and some sort of enormous drink.

So, Shady Pines, closely followed by everyones favourite Japanese pastime, Karaoke. Because honestly, there's nothing like belting out the classics with a bunch of your pissed friends. It was completely fantastic, obviously, with highlights including a very heartfelt rendition of Wonderwall by Oasis, a cracking Sweet Child of Mine by the Gunnies, and of course our personal favourite, Living on a Prayer by the great Bon Jovi. Lauren and I took advantage of Turnsie's drunken state by knocking him to the ground whenever we could (and knocking him back down again every time he tried to get up. We're pretty awesome friends like that.) We had a great night, even if i couldn't talk the whole of the next day.




I really do have the best bunch of friends, including these two crazies. We call ourselves instigators, because THAT is what we do. (What? That's a really cool name.)

Turnsie, me, Lauren

I've been able to spend some time this week with some great people i haven't seen in ages, like our adorable flower girl, Jo's niece Lauren...

And of course his cousin and one of my awesome bridesmaids, Christina. We always have way too much fun together, and i hope she'll forgive me for ditching her for an hour to write this post...(anyway, foxtel's there. it's everyones friend.)

So this is it from me! I won't be back in touch till we get back from our honeymoon in Vanuatu, and when i return it shall be as a married woman! I know I've said it before, but it's really nice (after all the talking and planning and fighting) to know that it's all for the sake of marrying Jo, who i love beyond words, and can't wait to call my husband.




Wish us luck!

I'm a teeny tiny bit busy...

...but I'm still taking the time to write. Because it clears my head and i hope in years to come i can look back and remember all the stuff i used to do when i was young and free and unmarried... *winks*




This post is going to be all over the place. As always, we've been supremely busy - and not just with wedding stuff. I'm not one to let my social life suffer for anything. There's been lots of fun in the air, despite the stress of organising a wedding. For example, Valentines Day. We're not usually Valentines Day people, because it's a bloody huge rip off if you ask me. Flowers magically triple in price, and most people i know agree that you don't need one set day in the year to show your someone special that you love them. All the same, Jo was a doll and got us tickets to see Breakfast at Tiffany's at the Orpheum, my most favourite cinema in Sydney, and it was quite a lovely evening. We rushed home for eggs on toast (romantic dinner, no?) and then hightailed it to the Orpheum for some champagne before the movie. Inside, it looks like this:








So you can see why i love it. And of course, Audrey Hepburn has a face that deserves to be watched on the big screen.




Then, of course, there's all the children in my life. It's a rather convenient thing, (when you love kids but really aren't in the mood to pop any of your own out), to have family that so obligingly provide wonderful children at your disposal whenever you please. There's my little superheros, for a start, who constantly make me laugh with their honesty.

Jack has been reunited with his old friend Lilo (known to the rest of us as Leah, Maid of Honour extraordinaire), back from the UK for the wedding. Maria asked him the other day if he was ready to marry me soon. "No", he said, but he'd be happy to marry Lilo. Said Maria: "You tell Ornella next time you see her that you don't want to marry her, you want to marry Lilo." He sighed, shook his head, and said "Well. She won't be very happy."

I mean. The kid comes out with some gold. And then there's the puker, who's bubbly personality is the carbon copy of his mother. He's one of those babies that love being around people - which makes bedtime rather a bore. And let me tell you, his screams are high pitched and persistent. He doesn't give in easily. It's as if he's saying "WHAT THE HELL??? YOU'RE PUTTING ME TO BED WHEN WE HAVE COMPANY??? IS THIS A JOKE??? MUM?? IS THIS A JOKE, FOR REALS??" Alas Pukes, it's no joke.

Hmm. What else. We've seen some good movies - True Grit, for example. What's that? Didn't think i was the cowboy type, you say? OK, it's a western, fine. But it's a good one! I really had no idea what it was about, so maybe having no expectations helped. But i thought it was excellent. The young girl in it, i think her name is Hailee Steinfeld, she was amazing. She plays a girl who's father was killed by an outlaw - and now she wants him brought to justice. So she hires a washed up old Marshall (played by Jeff Bridges) to go out and find the killer, and bring him in. With her help, of course. Honestly, it was top notch performances by everyone - including Matt Damon, who plays a Texas ranger on a hunt of his own. Give it a chance people.

We also finally got around to watching The Social Network. That was great too actually, i can understand now why everyones been raving about it. Though i still find it weird that such a current issue has already been made into a movie.

And of course there's the Oscars. Two words for that: train. wreck. I mean, James Franco? What the hell? Anne Hathaway, to her credit, gave it a pretty good shot. I felt sorry for her actually. She talked without appearing to read from an autocue, which i thought was a positive start. And the girl can sing, I'll give her that. But that Franco kid, he really let her down. He looked grey and sweaty and drugged up, and totally disinterested in the whole thing. Neither of them should have been given the job. That's my two cents.

OH, and this book - Room, by Emma Donoghue. I literally couldn't put it down. Reckon i read it in 48 hours, if not less. READ IT PEOPLE! It's so good. It's narrated by a 5 year old boy called Jack. He's lived his whole life inside one, tiny room - never been outside, never known another life but the one inside those four walls. The reason for this is that his mother has been held captive for the last 7 years by her abductor - who is also Jack's father. It's sort of a Joseph Fritzl situation. I felt claustrophobic just reading it. What makes the book so poignant is the fact that it IS narrated by the child, who doesn't know any other life. His friends are the table, the chairs, the stove, the bed. The sight of any living thing - ant, spider - sends him into spasms of joy. And yet he's happy, and doesn't understand why his mother would ever want to leave what is essentially the only home he's ever known. Anyway, that's all I'm going to say. READ. IT.

I want to tell you about my hens weekend in the Hunter Valley, but i don't have any photo's yet, so that might have to wait. Otherwise, this has been my last week at work, yay, so it's been ridiculously busy. But as of today, Friday, I'm DONE for three and a half weeks, and i can't tell you how good that feels. It's been a frenzy of preparations for the wedding of course - we're only a week out, and I'm so excited about what's going to be, I'll call it now, an awesome party. And then, holidays! Woooooot! Vanuatu, for ten relaxing days. I can't wait.

But more than anything, I'm just so excited to be marrying my best friend in the whole world - its nice to know you're going to be spending your life with someone you actually have so much fun with, every day.