January’s been serving up healthy doses of the good life, with a few thrills and spills to keep things interesting.

Beach Break

I was lucky enough to spend a few days with my family and boyfriend on Bribie Island, at a quiet little beach town.

Our days revolved around the water. We went for swims in the morning, followed by a dip in the pool. Mum and I read books on a picnic blanket by the ocean in the afternoon and we watched afternoon turn into evening from the rooftop spa. We ended most days with a beach walk and the occasional BBQ on the balcony, overlooking the ocean.

I especially enjoyed teaching my little brother about different types of jellyfish as we walked along the beach one evening. There were a couple of types washed up on the sand, and he saved me from stepping on a tiny bluebottle.

Bluebottles are super painful to be stung by, but they’re also very small and near-impossible to see in the ocean. If you get stung, most lifeguards will have some vinegar to apply to the sting but it’s best to avoid them in the first place!

Fashion Exhibitions with my leading ladies

On Saturday, Mum, Georgie & I visited the Future Beauty: 30 Years of Japanese Fashion exhibition at GoMa, followed by the Undressed: 350 Years of Underwear in Fashion exhibit at the Queensland Museum, which details the history of underwear with garments from the London’s Victoria & Albert Musuem.

I’ll post more about the exhibits soon, because both gave me a lot of food for thought about the fashion world, the real word and women throughout history.

On the way out, Mum bought us each an awesome notebook to remember the day, “Smart Women Read Between the Lines” which is dedicated to chronicling and remembering the best books you’ve read, your to-read list and much more. Absolutely love it, particularly as I can be so scatterbrained about things like this!

It was SO nice to spend some time with Mum & my sister, I’m going to miss my family like crazy when I move!

Girl time at the Gold Coast

I spent the weekend on the Gold Coast with my best friend of 22 years – she was born the day after me! The plan was to hit the beach, eat fish & chips by the water and go out in Broadbeach (Surfers Paradise’s classier neighbour) on Saturday night.

Things didn’t go quite to plan, as by the time Saturday night rolled around we were both feeling kinda sick, so we stayed in instead. We still made it to fish & chips at Charis Seafoods, which was doing a roaring trade with local families but was worth the long wait. We stopped in at Baskin Robbins on the way home for old time’s sake – it was our first job! I worked at the Milton store (now closed) and put in a good word for Chloe when my boss was hiring at his other store, near her house. Walking home by the broadwater, we had beautiful views over the water to the sparkling towers of Surfers & Broadbeach in the distance.

One of the best work shifts of my part-time working life was the night that our owner let Chloe work at my store with me one night – your best friend and an ice cream shop, what more could fifteen year old girls want?

The next day, the weather was miserable and were both sick, so we skipped the beach and opted for lots of veggie juices and shopping in the beauty department at Myer. After Chloe bought some new makeup, we wandered through the fragrance section and I fell in love with Giorgio Armani’s new fragrance, Si. We were really impressed by the salesgirls’ ability to match her instantly with the correct shade, but the service was much friendlier at Chanel than MAC – the MAC girl was pretty rude.

Lunch was at Lola’s Cafe in Broadbeach, which was delicious. Their fresh fruit & veggie juice menu is amazing, can’t wait to try one when I return to the GC with David!

Sunsets

One of my New Years Resolutions is to see more sunsets. Not just to see them, but to stop what I’m doing and enjoy them. Already I’ve seen lots of sunsets, but this one over Brisbane is one of my favourites. My Dad and I went to a hill in Hamilton to take photos, and my boyfriend very patiently sat with us while we snapped away – and stopped to just sit and enjoy it, of course!

Packing Limbo

I’ve never moved house before. Packing up my bedroom for the first time is surprisingly sad, even though I’m super excited for life in Melbourne with my boyfriend. At the moment, my bedroom is in a state of limbo and I can’t stand being in here.

It looks a little sad with my favourite posters taken down from the walls, most of my books packed up and that the only items that remain have a big question mark hanging over them – do I trust the shipping company not to break/lose these sentimental items? Will these fit in my new apartment? Can I leave them here? I can’t imagine another space being so 100% me, so it’s a little weird dismantling it.

Of course, it’s a natural part of life and experiencing new and exciting things, so I’m grateful for the opportunities and experiences ahead!

InstaLove

This week I was so excited to get re-grammed by the official @queensland page and reach 2000 followers!

The most popular post on my account, @wanderbug_world this week was from Port Douglas in Tropical North Queensland with 238 likes (this is also the pic that was shared by @queensland).

Par Avion

I was so stoked to get my annual postcard from my Canadian friend Craig this week. I am so impressed at his dedication to getting postcards out to all his friends, particularly as he takes the time to write a personal message in each. It was so lovely to get some nice snail mail and to read his kind words about our catch up in Brisbane when he visited a few months ago.

Not only was I inspired to try the same thing throughout the year with my own friends scattered around the world, but also to keep travelling, keep making new friends and most importantly, keep in touch!

One of the best things about writing this blog is the people I’ve met through it – I’ve already got one wonderful pen pal from Chile, who I love to talk to.

Currently reading

Over the holidays, I’ve been reading My Life in France by Julia Child, which combines my two greatest loves – Paris and food.

At the beach, I started reading Breakfast at Tiffany’s, a classic that has sat un-read on my bookshelf for too long. I am really enjoying it and it reminds me a little of my favourite book, A Spy in the House of Love by Anais Nin.

L’Official Australia has also just launched! I was so excited to find it in the newsagent this week, because I used to read the French version and loved it. It’s France’s oldest fashion magazine and I loved the retrospective they did of different covers through the ages. I’m definitely going to tear out some of the full-page cover prints and frame them for my new apartment, I particularly love the ones from the 20s and 30s.

Porter magazine is still my favourite fashion mag, and this issue is no exception. As always, I need to read it with a pen and paper because I’m always jotting down businesses, ideas, songs, books or movies from the magazine to look up later.

Wise Words

“Promise me

you will not spend

so much time

treading water

and trying to keep your

head above the waves

that you forget,

truly forget,

how much you have always loved to swim.”

Tyler Knott-Gregson

The week ahead is busy – I am back at work today, flying to Melbourne tomorrow to pick an apartment (!!!!) and have my going away party this weekend. How was your week?

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