my life right now

Central Park ....

Totally amazing that in the middle of New York City is a park so huge you feel like you are in the middle of no where! We cruised around on bike taxi's -

We saw a Broadway show Jersey Boys - it was amazing, the music had us singing along & toe tapping all night. I had to take a photo of Dad outside a restaurant we made him go to called Pasta lovers! He is so fussy & ate hamburgers all across America & you guessed it that is what he had that night too!

For our last day we hit the shops, mainly Macys. Dad isn't much of a shopper and was going to read the paper sitting outside. He asked how long we would be and suggested an hour, lets just say in an hour we didn't even cover the first floor! Macys is 9 floors and a whole block, it has a McDonalds inside & a few Starbucks! A shoppers paradise, as tourists from another country we also got 10% off - what could be better?

We ordered an airport shuttle & we got a limo!

Don't you love Nerida's face above! Totally over the flight. I didn't mind the flight home, I watched lots of movies, they ran out of breakfasts & tried to give me a crazy curry but then I got bacon & eggs from first class - score.

So that brings us back home & to the end of our trip. We had a fabulous time, so many memories & lots of fun & laughs.

Back in the USA ....

I am almost to the end of our trip - sad.

The day after the wedding we said goodbye to Pam & Tom ( I was ridiculously upset, I will see her sooner rather than later as her Dad, my Uncle Ken has moved to Perth for 2 years so they will visit) & headed back to NYC.

This time we stayed in an apartment one block from Times Square, pretty great if you ask me! I was worried about Dad & all the people but Mum was the one who was a little over whelmed. We had dinner at a hamburger place - they had hamburgers that were so big & they brought out a plate of pickles - yuck!

This first day showing Mum & Dad New York was great. We got tickets on a hop-on hop-off double decker bus, got off at the Brooklyn Bridge and walked half way over, went to ground zero & then on the Staten Isalnd ferry - can't believe it's free! Nerida & I went to a roof top bar and had cosmos ( for the bargain price of $14 USD each! ) & then went out to dinner at The Hard Rock cafe. Only 2 more days left.

Work today was o.k, we had 2 big storms this afternoon, thats all from Mazza, bye.

Super productive

I am happy to say I have all my jobs crossed off my list! I even vaccumed out my car, I normally avoid it & then go to the car wash & get them to do it, but good on me for having a spotless car, even if it only last a few days!

The weekend was really good & relaxing, just what I needed. I went to a lovely baby shower thrown by Kimmy the best party planner/caterer around. We joke we should go into business, wedding planning or event planning, we work out the theme, Kimmy does the food & I do the photos, probably wouldn't pay the bills!

 

How cute are the cupcakes - tiny babies feet!

I did some more Yesterday & Today pages, still loving the old photos

I also finished this

I know what you are thinking, I turned 30 in 2007! I did this Heidi Swapp A year to Remember on-line class and she did a weird layout with masks & no photos for the Sept month. As it was my big three O I wanted a special page, I couldn't think of what to do so I didn't do anything! Today I whipped up this layout - an MP original I might add and now the calendar/album is totally finished - feels good.

I also watched some awesome movies - well 2 were awesome, can you guess which 2?

Trying to feel calm about going back to work tomorrow. Bye for now.
 
 
 
 
 

This is fun ....

The lovely Jackie awarded me this

RULES
1. You can only use ONE word!!!
2. Pass this along to 5 of your favorite bloggers!
3. Alert them that you have given them this award!
4. HAVE FUN!!!

1. Where is your cell phone? kitchen
2. Your hair? ponytail
3. Your mother? amazing
4. Your father? character
5. Your fave food? Italiain
6. Your dream last night? none
7. Your fave drink? wine
8. Your dream/goal? happiness
9. What room are you in? study
10. Your hobby? scrapbooking/photography
11. Your fear? loss
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? Happy
13. Where you were last night? home
14. Something that you aren't? skinny
15. Muffins? nah
16. Wish List Item? Cannon 50D
17. Where did you grow up? Quirindi / Willowtree
18. Last thing you did? clean
19. What are you wearing? trackies
20. Your TV? big
21. Your Pets? nope
22. Friends? wonderful
23. Your Life? o.k
24. Your Mood? content
25. Missing Someone? Pam
26. Vehicle? RAV 4
27. Something your not wearing? makeup
28. Your fave store? Myer
29. Your fave colour? pink
30. Last time you laughed? yesterday
31. Last time you cried? Friday

32. Your best friend? Neri
33. One place that I go to over and over? work
34. One person who emails regularly? Neri
35. Fave place to eat? Newcastle

I will have to come up with 5 people to pick, stay tuned.


  

The things you find ......

I found this when looking at all the old photos I am using for Ali's class, I had a good laugh, feels like a million years ago! I also found these unfinished layouts, I gave myself a stern talking to & vow to finish them.

Now to my December Daily album, the album is quite plain & so are the pages, I hope to jazz them up a bit when I add the photos.

It finally rained today to cool things down, I'm sure the farmers harvesting don't want the rain but I am pleased it is 10 degrees cooler!
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

MIA ....

I haven't felt the best this week, can't shake my cough & sore throat, not sleeping, Tinitus playing up, stressed, overwhelmed - you name it, I've got it so I didn't go to work today. I had a few tests, don't worry nothing serious, hoping to feel more like myself soon.

My linen cupboard has been bothering me for some time. How can one person have so much linen? I have 4 beach towels, I don't have a pool & live 600 klms from the beach! So today I tried to organise it. The problem, is that it is quite small so I had to purge.

 I went from this -

to this, much better

I also finished off these, they were from the June & August double up pack from Pip - Just a tad behind!

I am also going to do Ali Edwards December daily album this year, you can check hers out here. I have wanted to do it for a few years, you get an album all ready now so in December you add photos & journalling from 1st Dec till Christmas day on the 25th. Cool idea, Pip inspired me to give it a go. Stay tuned, I will show you the pages when they are done.

I will leave you with this, love them!

I only have 4 days left of our USA trip to show you, will get on that soon, Bye.
  
 
 
  
 
 

The weekend that was ....

Was just perfect, I really needed a quiet weekend, to relax & re-group, I feel better, calmer when I am organised so that is what I did this weekend. Friday night we had the business awards, Tommy Dean was very funny & quite a good night. Saturday I met Kim down the street for a spot of shopping, finally got some groceries & cleaned my house, top to bottom, inside & out so on Sunday I could .....

I enrolled in an on-line Ali Edward class that goes for 13 weeks, 1st Oct till 31st Dec. I hadn't done anything but now am all caught up & I'm loving my album. She is all about capturing the stories, the everyday - simply photos & words with not too much emphasis on embellishments and the newest trendiest products ( a great way to use up your stash). It is called yesterday & today, I am completing the album on myself. I've realised working with older photos doesn't have to be more complicated than it is, if you don't have photos tell the story or memory anyway. Ali works with different sizes, which I am loving & she gives you digital elements to download/print each week. She works with digital & traditional paper scrapbooking beautifully, I can't wait to have a completed album of all different stories from my childhood up until the present, stay tuned for more.

 

 

I also finished these

The 2009 album is slowly catching up

In my cleaning frenzy I washed a pair of shoes! I know,  but they are so comfortable, I wear them to work & they stunk so I thought I would give it a go, I am happy to say they survived and will now have a longer life. I also washed the squashy pillow, I even cooked, twice!

 
 
 
The hats are from America & are yet to find a home? I also need more coat hangers, I don;t know what happens to them.

Lastly the business awards, black tie so time to frock up, for once I didn't wear black.

 
 
 
 
 
 

 

The Wedding ......

First the details, Pam & Tom had put a lot of work into making their day special & a reflection of them, it was lovely.

What makes a wedding special is the people, in this case Family

I had been planning this trip & looking forward to this wedding for a long time. Pam & I used to say to each other we would make sure we came to each others weddings & I was really touched when she asked me to be a bridesmaid, knowing she has a lot of close friends. The day/night was wonderful, I was so pleased Mum, Dad & Nerida were there to celebrate too.

The Day before ....

I am almost up to the Wedding!

We had a lovely girls lunch at Moosewood Cafe, they have organic, healthy, yummy food

We also had the rehearsal, complete with fire alarm & evacuation, the rehearsal dinner cookout where I finally got to see what pulled pork was & who in fact pulled the pork & lastly the cocktail welcome!

 
We also reunited with Mum & Dad & got to see Ken. My Mum made Pam & Tom a photo quilt for their wedding present, almost made me cry when she gave it to her, Ken said a lovely speech at the dinner, which did make me cry & there was an apple harvest festival in Ithaca over the weekend ( incase you were wondering about the apples in crates ). Jess & Neri are trying the deep fried oreos - I know sounds disgusting but really good!

So today I had a visit from my boss Sam, I got an awesome chicken & chickpea salad from 2400 for lunch & sorted out my hair - no more lighter roots!

Not much else to report, didn't make bookclub ( I really need to get back into reading) & the scrapbook girls were all busy so I'm thinking I will have an early night - somewhat of a change for a Thursday night or this week for that matter, last night I was reading my totally awesome photography book & switched off the light at 12.30am, no wonder I'm tired!

 
 
 
 
 

Cornell & The Spa ....

This was a great day in Ithaca! Neri & I explored the Cornell Campus, so beautiful & then went into town. The girls then went to the Spa at La Tourelle, we had champagne & strawberries & laughed & relaxed. Pam & I have been writing to each other for over 20 years! We started as pen pals then went onto e-mails, now blogs & facebook. I have managed to keep most of the letters & read some of them out - very funny. That night we had a great dinner with Toms family & Pams Mum & then met two very cool chicks for drinks. Lets just say I was tutoring them in the " hair flick" & they were trying to explain pulled pork!

Off to work, bye.