Law Ball

Well, i was partially wrong. Alcohol does solve some of the world's problems.

I rocked up at 8pm, an hour (fashionably) late, looking rather nice, if i do say so myself. Nice, yet with an air of 'kill me, i'm too miserable to be here'. For the first two hours, it was all i could do not to bail. El became my personal champion, introducing me to lots of people - seeing as i didn't know all that many people there. El's mates (one who looked uncannily like Barney from How I Met Your Mother, the other who was tall and had an awesome red tie) were pretty hilarious. El at some point had told Barney of my troubles and he was sympathetic. Everyone else just thought that i was soft because i wasn't drinking much and they didn't know why. Also, i got about four comments about how cool it was of me to 'come stag'... i didn't even realise i was supposed to have brought a date? But thanks everyone for pointing it out.

Anyway, after two hours it was fairly clear the El wasn't going to let me leave for awhile yet. So we danced u a storm, spent ages commandeering the couches in the bathroom (ahhh, rest for our poor feet) and danced some more. I actually felt a bit crook, on top of my misery, so was pleased that i was doing as well as i was. Apparently, there was supposed to be an ice-sculptor, but instead there was a trio of breakdancers, which was quite interesting. It was fun watching themselves throw themselves in the air and spin around the floor. Even Mr.Music got into the dancing, which was cool - and he managed to have some girl following him round who was convinced that he was german and didn't speak english... Oops.

I stuck it out until midnight, when we were all kicked out of the Hyatt. I said bye to El and the girls and got lifted off the ground twice by the RedTie Guy in a farewell, which was interesting - nobody ever lifts me up, it was weird... But then RTG walked me to a taxi rank. He was quite the gentleman. We talked about poke'mon and Canada and Geology... it makes plenty of sense if you were following the conversation. He waited in line for me, gave me another hug goodbye and saw me off safely. It was very sweet.

Somehow, it was a survivable night. Dancing was fun - Barney said i was a good dancer (and he'd know, he was really awesome), El and Kirst were lots of fun, hanging in the bathroom was cool, plenty of guys sleazed onto me and plenty of girls said that i looked gorgeous, and RTG was sweet. Apparently, wine, dancing, boys and compliments are enough to temporarily pull me out of my misery. I'm glad i dragged my butt out last night, i needed the distraction.

Now it's morning (really, nothing looks better in the morning) and the doom and gloom outside are somewhat matching my emotional state. I'm going to work to try and get some study done - i've not got much done in a few days. And i'm going to try and recapture the dancing-induced happiness from last night so that i can make it through another day.

So, i was partly wrong in saying that alcohol doesn't ever help. If i hadn't had a few wines last night, i wouldn't've been dancing and i would't've been cheered up. The moral of the story? Everything in moderation.

Parrrrtay!

Well, i survived the 21st last night. Thankfully, those who hate me have reached a stage where they just ignore me all together, which at least means that there is no bitchiness to my face. I choose to see that as a positive. I hadn't seen the boys in almost six months, so we had plenty to catch up on. They're such a nice group, they have never made me feel bad. I didn't know heaps of people really well, but the boys took me under their wings. It was a small party, i felt pretty pleased to be invited. Clearly they don't hate me. Drinks were cheap, speeches were good, dresses were pretty - i wore my new clothes and didn't feel completely ridiculous. Hodgey and i decided that we needed to go to England. He's all for dropping everything and moving there, i'm all for a vacation. We're still negotiating. One of the other guys, who is pretty much a CK model, chatted to me for ages, being a fellow quiet party buddy. No idea what we were talking about half the time, but i know eventually we came to a few consensus; 1) Definitely, Maybe is an excellent movie and Ryan Reynolds is hot (though we disagreed on one point; CK said it was depressing because people don't get endings like that in real life); 2) 27 Dresses is awesome, Katherine Heigel is a great actress and John Marsden has a perfect smile (CK has declared that seeing that smile will cheer him up, no matter what. I agree); 3) we should try to live life like we're in a movie - as in, do those things that you think only movie people can get away with (i'm talking slapping people, throwing water on people who piss you off, jumping on people and throwning your legs around them instead of just giving them hugs, doing movie star dip kisses...) - we've agreed to try and live our life that way for awhile and keep each other posted. It was a bizzare conversation, but it lasted a long time and saved me from more awkward standing around. Hodgey and i skulled some Franges (his expense) and i caught up with TinyTim for the first time in ages, which was good fun. After a few of the boys got kicked out for being too 'rowdy', we moved on.

We taxi-ed to Hindley. The birthday boy peed in an alley and missed getting arrested by *this* much. We queued for Electric Circus, but while they said they'd express myself and the other girl that was with our group, they wouldn't let the boys in and we'd have to wait forty-five minutes if we all wanted to get in together. So we bailed to the Dog and Duck, where there was no line and a cheaper cover charge. Woot! Once inside, the other girl there and i attempted to bond. I actually do law with her, but apparently, three years in, she had no idea about that... degrading, but she was nice, so i let it slide. We bonded over some fashion disasters.

Then the boys started to hit their stride. Drinks were knocked back. Spurts of dancing were indulged in. I met a friend of theirs who attempted to make me dance by grabbing my hands and somewhat pinning me against the bar... it was awkward and i'd not drunk enough to even pretend that it was ok. Follow that with some creppy guy coming up to me and the other girl and hitting on us, very creepily. Lucky for her, her bf stepped in and got all 'protective'. Unlucky for me, i had no such boyfriend. Hodge eventually saw my distress and came to save me. After awhile longer, we were all pretty zonked and headed out.

When i was saying bye to the boys, they all seemed sorry to see me go and said it had been great to see me again. I really do love those boys. They're just so generous and nice. It's an awesome change from most of the people that i know. I taxi-ed home with a few of them and we had a bit of a goss about which girls were hot and which guys they thought were good enough for me. Classic. And informative.

Despite me being worried about being on the outer for the whole night, things turned out ok. Sure, it was awkward at times, and there were moments when i felt like a total third wheel loser, but by the time we hit town i was back to being the awesome girl who parties with the guys. All was well. Geez, getting ready to go out is psychologically draining. But everything seems to work out ok in the end with that group. I'm looking forward to the repeat coming soon. Woo!

Run, Walk, Crawl on the FlindersONE Pubcrawl

Last night was the first pub crawl for the entire of Flinders uni. There were so many people involved that they split us into four colour groups and we went to different pubs on rotation. Loz and i had pre-drinks at mine (drinking in pairs is better than drinking alone!), then went into town. Somehow, Loz had the pubs muddled up, so we went to the Winston, and got free drinks at Electric Light before we realised that we were supposed to me at the Elephant. We met up with Elmo and his girlfriend and headed over there for another drink. All along rundle there were people in coloured tee-shirts. As well as our crawl, there were about three other pub crawls out... so tipsy uni students more or less took over the town.

After the Elephant we went back to the Winston. Even though it looked kind of dodgy, we ended up having lots of fun there. A bajillion uni students out for a good time are destined to make fun no matter where they are. Winston to Elephant for a quick drink stop and then over to PJs (where we were supposed to start the night...). Loz and i stuck around for another few drinks at PJs before we gave up and headed home. Yay for pub crawls!

We got home around 12am, which was fairly decent - fitting a big lot of partying into a mere four hours. I fell into bed exhausted. I'd had a pretty fun night; Loz's friends are all pretty awesome and they all seem to like me, which is lots of fun. Naturally, i managed to argue (via text, which is always dangerous) with one of my mates and that put a dampner on things, but i'm trying to ignore than and focus on the fact that Loz's mates don't think i'm a freak and they like hanging out with me! I like making new friends.

Birthday Drinks

Ohh, how indebted i am to the wonderful Jo at A1 Computers, who fixed my computer within the day. Hurrah! Even though that means that the hours and hours i spent last night re-writing the first half of my essay is more or less a write-off, because now i've recovered the original... but whatever. All is well. And i'm taking a quick study break to tell you all about my awesome sunday night, and then it's back to the grindstone.

I'll admit, in my emo-state, i wasn't all that keen to go out at first. Loz turned up in her fancy, summer wear and my nice winter outfit had to be redesigned. Eventually, i hauled myself out of the house. We hit up Fumo Blu first... and started to steadily make our way through the cocktail list. Conveniently seated right at the bar, we had none of that pesky waiting in line. We could just hail the bartenders over to where we were perched on our very slippery seats. We tried quite a wide range; there was the sickly sweet 'toblerone', and the bitter 'laced nikkers', then the blue 'blue smoke', plus an appletini and a number of pink wonders - 'manik pink', 'gone in 60 seconds' and a 'moulin rouge'... We shared them all and ate all of the fruit from the glasses. Tasty!! SB joined us and we continued to party in the blue lit wonderland of sugary drinks.

Next stop: the Elephant. Another round of drinks infront of us, and some guy turned up to our table. He introduced himself as Atilla. Apparently, he's Hungarian and his fathers name is also Atilla. As in Atilla the hun. It's very popular over there... however, some dude called him Laurence, so who knows what his real name was. The dude had just turned 18, but tried his luck on with us older ladies, going so far as to trying to pimp out his mates to us too. Atilla was pretty funny, so i was happy to entertain him. I got three birthday handshakes and an apology for his being too stingy to buy me a drink to celebrate.

We left the young men (emphasis on the young) and Loz and i made our way down dodgy old Hindley street, past gaggles of creepy men making appreciative noises at the two girls freezing their asses off in the bitingly cold weather and their silly dresses. We found Jive and went in to meet up with Loz's friends. Then it was time for tequila!!! Yummy. And raspberry vodka, because we'd not had a pink drink in about an hour and a half. I ran into an old school friend who i'd not seen in yonks - since our last town encounter - and then it was time to dance. Loz and i hit the d-floor for a bit of a boogie... and they had the BEST music EVER - - - they played Fratellis, Razorlight AND the kooks. It was beyond awesome. You never hear good music like that in the clubs i frequent. Hurrah!! Some more crazy dancing went down, and Bobbert (Loz's bf) and i did our usual love (hey Loz, we're in love, you're out) / hate (hey Loz, ur bf/bff sucks) routine. Loz's friends are really nice and they all made an effort to be nice - but in the kind of way that doesn't make it seem like an effort. The boys made a fuss of me and my birthday, and decided i wasn't smiling enough so made it their job to make me smile even more. Fun times. Then it was time to leave.

Loz and Bobbert grabbed some pizza, then we stood in line at the taxi rank for forty-five minutes. Without shoes, because our feet hurt. And shivering, because it was freezing and we were barely wearing any clothes. I saw another guy friend of mine in the line who i'd not seen in awhile and he was nice and warm, so that was nice. Finnnnnally, we made it into a cab and home.

3.30am. Not bad! It ended up being an awesome night out. Good friends, good drinks, good music, good dancing... It was lots of fun!! Thanks to Loz for pulling me out of my funk - and shouting me an awful lot of drinks! Hurrah for birthdays.

Birthday Girl!

It's official, i'm no longer a teen. Welcome to my life in my twenties... scary! Goodbye immaturity, hello 'the best years of my life' (or so they say).

Yesterday was an interesting day. Let me preface the recount by saying that last year i had the worst birthday i've ever had and spent the entire day miserable thanks to the somewhat selfish actions of others. A year later, i was ready for a cheer-tastic birthday. With that in mind, i have two versions of yesterday to tell you.

Version 1... all started well with the family dinner on tuesday night. I share a birthday with my dad, but he was off to sydney early on wednesday morning, so the celebration was a night early. The fam turned up, we had a lovely roast and mum made chocolate cheesecake for dessert (wow, was it rich and delicious). I spent the night afterwards studying and talking to a friend whom i love very much. All in all an excellent birthday eve. I woke up the next morning, opened some more pressies - and opened the front door to see Mr.Music standing there with pink cupcakes made specially for me!! Sweetest thing ever. Then i headed off to spend a lovely morning with a friend, just hanging out. It was pretty much the best feeling, and i was really happy. I headed up to uni at lunchtime - not to go to class, but to have lunch with Loz, Mr.Music and the SouthAfrican. The SouthAfrican made me close my eyes and he put 20 candles on a muffin in the middle of the uni restaurant. So adorable! I made more birthday wishes (no, of course i can't tell you what they are, then they won't come true!) and we whipped our hands around trying to disperse the smoke and avoid the smoke alarms going off. SA and i had chinese for lunch and made a customary trip to the health food store, this time for dried fruits. Yummm, forbidden mango. That night, mum brought me a cupcake with a candle on it, because a birthday can't go by without making wishes. So i wished my birthday wish again. Do you think that'll make it come true?

I got some lovely cards, a new wallet, some earrings, a gigantuan coldplay mug, dvds, some money... plus 19 birthday messages, 41 facebook posts, and one person wish to bring me smiles. When you look at it that way, my birthday was awesome. I have some awesome friends, who care a lot about me.

I try not to think too much about birthday version two. The one where my computer external harddrive was hit by a power surge and i lost everything on it. Or the one where a friend of mine who i care about SO much really, really hurt me. I did spend a good few hours of the day in floods of tears - the unattractive kind, where my face is swollen and my jeans are wet from tears. Being hurt by people makes me miserable at the best of times. Being like this with someone i love this much near kills me. I'm praying that it's going to get better, which is the only reason that i'm not an dysfunctional mess right now, thank goodness, as i have a huge assignment to get done. In that respect, my birthday wasn't so great... but i still cried less than i did last year, which is a massive improvement. So it wasn't a totally sucky birthday.

Well, now that i'm officially old, i'd better start being responsible. I'm going to start by beginning my 3000word essay that's due in less than a week. And following that up by going out friday and saturday nights and partying... woot. 365 days until i turn 21! I like birthdays.

Partying With The Old Timers

Tonight was my dad's long awaited 60th birthday party. He was so excited - it was quite cute! There were heaps of people at our place; family, friends, work mates... Dad's speech was funny and clever, it got lots of laughs. My brother, Pon, decided to do one too (much to the fear of the rest of the family), but surprisingly it was touching and heartfelt. One of my dad's oldest mates did the other speech, and it was really funny, as we'd known it would be. A perfect combination of speeches.

I spent most of the night saying hello to people i hadn't seen in a long time, and answering the 'what are you doing at uni' question. It seems that once you've stopped growing, the question changes from 'wow, have you grown?' to 'well, what are you up to?'. I said the same thing so many times. Everyone thought that i was gorgeous, and was emphatic in telling me so, which was very nice of them all. Also, almost everyone said that i was looking just like my mum. Mum's quite pretty, so i suppose that's a good thing. People said i looked like dad too, which is nice - i like my family resemblance. For once, we actually managed to take some family photos, yay!!

There were photos on rotation of dad throughout the times. When he was young, he was tall, dark and handsome. No question. Lucky mum. My little brother Nick will grow up to look like him. Some of dad's mates have decided that from certain angles he's a dead ringer for Colin Firth. I reckon that's pretty cool - i have a dad who occasionally looks like Colin Firth!

I spent an hour or more on the couch with one of dad's interstate friends who i've always got along with well in the past. She's so lovely. She's buddhuist and alternative, with two boys (one a tad older and one a tad younger than me). We talked church, family, life, uni - and even love, when the whole horridious love-triangle crap from last year came to light. I love this woman - she makes me feel like i'm actually a great person. She was so proud of me for all of the things that i do in my life. She thinks they're so worthy, that i live a well-rounded life, that i'd be a great psychologist, that i'm mature and that i'm going to be great. I love her.

I missed all the yummy finger food, so eventually i got into my pjs and ate chips on the kitchen bench, while mum cooked party pies. Yum! Everyone was amused to see me go from all-dolled-up, to little-miss-casual. It's nice to hang out with dad's friends sometimes. They adore me, and think i'm so clever and pretty. It's like one big fan club.

So, even though i wasn't really looking forward to a night with boring adults, repetitve questions, blah blah blah, i had a pretty good time. My feet hurt from my shoes, about four people ran smack bang into the glass doors, i missed the food and i'm super tired, but i made grown up conversation, made people happy, and saw my dad smile and laugh like i rarely see him do. All four of us kids were together, which we hardly ever are, and mum and dad were so pleased. I wore a pretty dress and kept mum happy. All was well.

Report on the enormous week that was Mal-FUN-ction is to come when i get a moment free...

Night Life, Day-Scape

The roommate waited while we got all dolled up (me in my awesome new hot pink $10 strapless dress) and hit TGI Fridays on Chapel Street. That was tres cool - a restaurant called 'thank goodness it's friday'? Love. It. The giant burgers were only shadowed by the enormous cocktails in mini-fish-bowl glasses that accompanied them. Mine was an Ultimate June Bug, Loz had Ultimate Magheritta and the Roommate had Ultimate Mud Slide, full of choc. Mucho yumminess. Dinner took a long time, so it was after eleven by the time we made it to the Crown plaza for an adventure in a Casino.

We went to one of the four(!) clubs inside the casino after paying $20 to get in (ouch) and being pulled to the head of the longish line by the bouncer 'cos we were so pretty (woo!). Inside was pretty cool... they had fancy pants shots, good music, a few cute guys, a token 'funny-guy' with hilarious pink and feathered sunnies on and plenty of odd, sleazy men. We danced awhile, basking in the glow of being the centre of attention of the sleezy dudes, smiling at the old people and gradually working up the courage to manouvre closer to the cuties... but then Loz was feeling tired, so we had to bail. Damn! I was having fun!! We had to skip the pokies and the shiny light, getting home just as the huge party in our downstairs bar was getting good, but Loz was wiped so i farewelled the roommate and we went to bed around half one. Still, seeing Melbourne at night was pretty cool! It was all bright lights, shiny things, loud music and fun. When we come back, i'm definately hitting the town again!

When we woke up the next day, we had that 'it's almost the end of the holiday' vibe...

Melbourne, Baby!

We were thrilled to find that all of the trams were free because of the heat, so we caught the 96 into town. First stop? Krispy Kremes! Donughts and a chocolate milkshakes, because we're so super healthy. Stop two? Neighbours store! Where we bought Neighbours books and learnt all about the super cool show. Third? The Aquarium!

There were PENGUINS! They were adorable and fluffy... but their cages were so small and their snow was dirty. It was sad to see such lovely creatures in captivity, but at the same time it was great to see them strutting around. There were Nemo fish, Dory fish, glow-in-the-dark jellyfish, enrormous manta rays, sharks, giant (sad looking) fishies... it was pretty cool. At the shark show we heard all about how humans kill over one hundred and fifty million sharks per year, often simply cutting off their fins and leaving them for dead in the water. Not cool. People suck a litte bit. We bought shot glasses (as has become our tradition) and skedaddled up to China Town. Woot for Chinese knick-knacks! We caught a showing of Bride Wars - which i recommend - to escape the heat. And then, with my impressive skills, i scored us a chinese buffet for $20, which ewas totally delicious and filled our hungry tummies. Y.U.M. We ate at the 'Empress', because that's what we are. We planned to hit the Moonlight Cinema showing of Twilight but it was sold out!! We were crushed. So we hit the bunks in our third floor hostel room and read our Neighbours books. We're incredibly wild.

Saturday saw us shop til we were ready to drop. The DFO on Spencer Street is amazing. I scored so much cheap stuff! I got two dresses for $10 each, one reduced from $90 and the other from $60. I got a scarf for $5 instead of $30. And a bag for $20 instead of $50. The shopping world was a good place. We even scored giant bags to haul all our extra stuff home in, as it looked like we'd be flying home and had a car full of crap to somehow move interstate. We went to the Queen Victoria Markets and got chinese lanterns, jewellery, engraved braclets (with our name on one side and love from each other on the back, because we're super cool) and chocolate milkshakes. So far, if you're interested, the best milkshakes are the famous ones from Cheeseworld. We caught a maze of trams to Chapel street, where we panicked about being in the wrong place, before realising we were in the right place. Then we looked but didn't touch until we hit Diva and Sportsgirl (woo!). By this time, we barely had enough minutes to hoof it back to the DFO and pick up our massive sports bags and hot foot it back to the hostel in time to meet up with the Contiki roommate.

Finally it was time to see some of that famous Melbourne night-life!!

What Happened In Vegas

(btw, nothing happened in Vegas, it just happens to be what i'm watching right now...)

Bri and Rudolph kidnapped me last night. Rudolph and i were feeling bitter and cynical, so apparently Bri decided that we needed a night on the town. Somewhat against my will i threw on a dress and went with them. We had macccas for tea and then pre-drinks at Bri's... Galliano, vodka, orange juice, Kalour, orange nector, frangellico, crusiers...

We walked into town and stopped by Bri's workplace where we somehow scored a bunch of drinks and hung out with one of the locals for awhile. Then we all walked to the Havvy, and had a few drinks there with a few other guys that we knew. The guys were pretty keen on our leaving with them, but Bri and i held out and went with Rudolph to the Marble Bar - where the old guy from Bri's pub wasn't let in (apparently he was too drunk, but it looked more like they just decided he was too old). So we headed to the Cumberland instead. We took turns stealing the bartenders cool hat, and Rudolph and i were attempting to waltz or samba or something... bizzare. More drinks.

They kicked us out at closing and the three of us headed back to Bri's house. I was nearly dying at this point - i've got to say, it's rare that i drink too much, but last night was NOT good. Once back at Bri's i got well aquainted with the bathroom before collapsing into the spare bed. Not my finest hour. Perhaps that's the consequence of going out when you're mad at the world? Damned kidnapping.

In the morning we all felt like shit, so we sat around looking at the tv for awhile before Rudolph and i left. Before the feeling-like-crap set in, it was a really great night. Random friends, cute boys, good conversation, fun dancing, a pretty dress. All was good. So i think all in all it was an ok night.

Major downside? I lost my claddaugh ring somehow and am fairly devestated... i loved that ring so, so much that i would do anything to find it, but that's not going to happen. Stupid stupid. Stupid. I'm beyond crushed. Furthermore, i spent most of the day dying, with the world spinning - i think something hit me pretty hard last night. And i have blisters on the balls of my feet. Ouch. I hate drinking too much. Last night i didn't think that i had more than i could take - but i think the fact that i rarely go out on the town these days has left me more susceptible? Really, i hate being like that... not my plan for the rest of 2009. I'll be avoiding it as much as possible from here on out.

But i had fun with Bri and Rudolph and i laughed, so that's the main thing i guess. I'm going to look on the bright side and not think too much about all the crappy stuff. I just have to keep reminding myself of the good, rather than dwell on the not-so-good. Wish me luck! I'll need it.

Starting The New Year

Thursday night Miha and i went to the Ed with another girl. It was a chilled night, a few drinks, random conversation. We made friends with one of the bouncers, who was writing two books (one a historical overview, another a fictional piece about the clubbing scene, which was why he got the job at the Ed!) - he was a hoot, asking our opinions on all sorts of things. Very bizzare. I called it quits pretty early, but all was well in the world.

The next night we had farewell drinks for George at the Maid. We got dressed up all pretty, arrived, did the small talk thing with the girls... and then i'd had enough. Sometimes, it's just so hard to be around people - making conversation seems like such a monstrous task and it's just not always do-able. Miha caught onto my mood (i felt so bad for dragging her down with me!) and we bailed pretty early. We got chocolate sundaes at Maccas, drove to Windy point to eat them and just chatted. I talk to much - when given the opportunity, i'll just talk and talk about things. It's rare that i have the opportunity to talk unfettered and comfortably and about the things that i don't really talk much about... i have issues. And i'm quite possibly bitter and cynical. I should just shut up. Poor people trying to get a work in edge wise. Still, it was good - and we started making travel plans, which is always cheery.

Two more quiet nights to ring in the new year. Nothing special, nothing horrible. So far, if the year continues in this vein, then i can live with that!

Welcome To The Year 2009!

Well, so far, 2009 has been pretty quiet. Miha and i were in Goolwa for NYE, staying with her parents. When we arrived, we played GuitarHero for around six hours. And finally, we hauled ourselves off the couch to get ready. First, we checked out Victor Harbour - there was a cool concert going on, and the place was packed. There was also a plethora of underages walking the streets, which was oddly discomforting. The line for the crown was huge, so we left for the Port Elliot pub. There seemed to be a 70s theme, with a weird band, and sixty year olds in ridiculous outifts... it was fairly hilarious. There was exactly one good looking guy (for the record). Miha and i had a drink and a good chat, until we counted down to midnight and blew out of there.

The drive that begun 2009 was so much better than the end of 2008. First, we found the top of a multi-coloured sombrero on the side of the road and swung a u-turn to pick it up. Awesome. Then, speeding along the back roads... we got pulled over by the police. The following conversation ensued;

Them: Hey girls
Us: Hey (quivering in fear)
Them: Do you know how fast you were going?
Us: No...
Them: Do you know the speed limit here?
Us: No...
Them: So you just thought you'd go as fast as you wanted?
Us: Well, you were driving so close behind us, and it was kind of creepy, so we were just driving faster...
Them: Ok. Well, you were going 83kmph in a 50kmph zone... just keep an eye on that
Us: Ok...
Them: So how was your night?
Us: Meh, pretty crap. So we're headed home
Them: Where's home?
Us: Um... beach road? We're not quite sure where we're going
Them: Want directions?
Us: Yes please!!

The nice policemen directed us to the house, and we drove off, giddy and slightly hysterical with relief. A few minutes later, they drove up behind us again and flashed the lights - we freaked out again; surely we couldn't have done anything wrong! It turned out that they'd given us the wrong directions. So we looked at their GPS system for awhile, and they eventually just decided to drive in front of us and guide us home! It was very cool.

The next day, a million of Kath's relatives turned up (i was kissed by many a Greek relative, and confused by lots of Greek being spoken). We had lunch and played more GuitarHero (by this time, i was semi-pro, and nobody would be able to tell that i'd never picked up a toy guitar before!), before heading into Victor. There were carnival rides and things, which were so exciting! We all got fake tattoos - mine was the Chinese symbol for happiness inside my left wrist, in case you were wondering - and one of the girls for her face painted as a hot pink cat. On the way home, we got pulled over by an RBT. One look at our driver, a hot pink cat, and the cop pissed himself laughing, called over his partner, and the two of them just kept laughing. One said he wished he had a camera, and we piped up that we did! So we ended up with a hilarious photo of her on the boot, arms pinned, breatho in her mouth, pink face grinning. Unbelievably classic.

The rellies left and we played more GuitarHero, instead of going out, and then watched Anime until we were falling asleep on the couch. The next day, Miha's parents took us for coffee, then we packed our stuff, cleaned the house and drove home. It wasn't a majorly exciting new years, but nothing bad happened and there were definately a few hilarious moments that made it all worth it. I think a new years without guys and drinking was definately a good thing. It started the year off on a good foot.

BRING ON 2009!!

Night Out With The Boys

Saturday night was Hodge's 21st. Really, i have a bit of a crush on that whole group. Everytime we see them we have so much fun. They're nice, they don't make any snide comments about how i look or how i act, they think i'm an absolute 'chiller' (not entirely sure why, but apparently it's a consensus), and we're always out until all hours dancing the night away. Woot! This weekend was no exception.

We spent four or five hours in the Griffins Head, listening to witty speeches with funny stories, catcnhing up with people that we'd not seen in awhile, drank franges (champagne sunrise) aplenty and, once we'd suitably settled into a tipsy comfortable-ness with old and new friends, started to dance. Atmostphere - good. Cute guys - check. Free drinks - yes! Compliments - plenty (the phrase 'all kinds of divine' was used in reference to my attire). Smiley Annabel.

After we got shepherded out of the GH, we walked to the Duke - this turned out to be more of a feat than we had expected. Aside from a general idea of where the Duke was in relation to where we were, we weren't to sure how far we'd have to walk. It turned out to be quite a way. The boys complained about the distance as much as the girls did - though i disparaged any right they claimed to have to complain. Eventually, we made it in at half price and without a line. More dancing, of the sweaty, loud and crowded variety ensued. Much jumping, yelling along, etc. I fended off one of the guys (whom i didn't know) who had a propensity to be butt-grabby in the most extreme way - i have no idea what the attraction to that is. Another guy was much less disgusting, earning himself the fabulous reward of my good favour. He was a sweetie. Granted, he and a friend wanted Bri and i to leave with them and take the party back to theirs, an offer which i declined in a very lady-like manner. But all was well, because he stayed with me anyway (even though his friend took the road less travelled and left Bri all alone).

My feet didn't last much longer, so we bailed and did the ever-dreadful taxi-search, culminating in a guy giving up his cab for us but warning us that the driver was creepy. When Bri got out, she called and stayed on the phone with me until i escaped the cab. That way, if he tried to kill me, she at least would be able to tell my parents.

It was an excellent night out. Wooooot for 21sts!

Rockin' The Kasbah

Last minute, we tried to round up a bunch of youth group kids to take to Westbourne Park Church - they were having an end of year, beach-theme, dance party. We ended up with one kid. But we went anyway. Got to support the youth groups in the area!!

At first, Shirtless Buddy and i were pretty freaked by the enthusiastic dancers and beach-ily dressed people. So, while the SouthAfrican threw himself into the dancing fray, we stood like total loosers on the fringe, various people - some actually pretty cute - trying to convince us to dance. Eventually, i dragged ShirtlessBuddy into the mini-crowd (i think we looked stupider standing around...). The next hour or so was spend dancing, jumping, laughing. The SouthAfrican is such a ham; his excellent, jealousy-inspiring dancing meant that he can do all sorts of silly things, walk around with glow stick sunnies and a blow up pool ring around his neck. Classic.

The SouthAfrican won the inevitable Macarena contest. Then, Shirtless Buddy wowed us all with his awesome breakdancing skills. He'd never actually break-danced before, but his usual hand-standing and showing off stood him in good stead. He totally blew everyone away, and won. GO YOU! I was so proud. We danced some more, ShirtlessBuddy still pretending that the whole thing was lame (even though he'd totally decided that it was awesome). Then the SouthAfrican decided it was time to bail, so we dragged ShirtlessBuddy away, to his dismay.

Afterwards, ShirtlessBuddy and i were going to watch a movie - but in the usual confusion that stems from a conversation between a teenage boy and a girl who never asks people to do things, we got so tangled up, that i ended up just dropping him home... where we subsequently just went on msn and complained about how bored we were, and how we should have watched a movie. We decided to watch one next week instead.

Now, i think it's time for bed... becuase i've got to be up early for work, ew! Screaming babies, supervisors who don't love me, water water everywhere and not a drop to drink. It's such an awesome job!! But tonight ended up being awesome fun, so all is well. Three thumbs up for youth group dance parties!!!

Busy Little Bee...

Yesterday was insanely busy. I worked at Stateswim in the morning with my little babies, came home, showered and had lunch then headed to church. We took the youth group to the beach. The weather, by some small miracle, was warm and sunny (take THAT adelaide weather-people!) and we were all hyped up and excited.

My contiki roommate is over from melbourne for the weekend, and she met us at the beach, so we had a joyful reunion. Then i went for a swim (in my awesome new bathers, which i adore) and muched around with the kiddies for awhile. They dug an enormous hole that we eventually all climbed into - and then buried four people in it. It really was a huge hole. Best hole ever. I got all sandy when i was crash tackled by some of the boys (that's the part of the beach that i don't like!!) but i forgave them. We had a BBQ and then headed home. I dropped the roommate at the tram station, laughed at poor Dr.B because he fell on a bee and his butt got stung and we stopped off for iced coffee from the IGA on the way home. It was a good afternoon... but we didn't get home until 8pm.

Ridiculous lines from the afternoon:
* 'Don't be afraid because i'm not wearing any pants' - from one of our boys in a towel
* 'If you're not digging, get out of the hole' - from our possessive hole diggers
* 'I fell on my butt and got bit by a bee... the bee's butt stung my butt!' - irrepressive youth leader

So Loz and i hurriedly got ready and kept the taxi driver waiting while we did the barest minimum to get ready. The taxi dropped us in town and Loz and i saw that there was no line at Fumo Blue, so we headed down there to split a fruity cocktail. We ran into El down there, so stayed for a chat for awhile.

Then we headed to the Elephant to wait for the roommate. We ran into El again there, so joined her crew. The roommate finally showed up, and we all enjoyed some hilarity for awhile. Then we danced upstairs to the awesome, 'just have to sing along' music.

Next stop? Swish (can't go wrong with swish). We survived the walk - even if i had to take off my gorgeous heels to make it. Some more dancing... but we couldn't last long because Loz and i could hardly stand. We felt awful for piking early but the pain was killer! And after our long day we were nearly asleep on our feet.

Even though we left at one, it took us over an hour to find a taxi - and we didn't get one before we'd walked from one end of the city to the other, battled lines and pushy people, changed positions to wait a million times and eventually found a taxi driver who didn't seem to purposely avoid us! We didn't get home until after two and i tumbled straight into bed... my feet had never been in so much pain!

But it was a good night, even if it was pretty tame. It was nice just to hang out in town without having a huuuuge night. Plus, it was fun to spend some time with the roommate, despite her interesting idiosyncracies. I'm still exhausted though!!

End of Year CELEBRATIONS!!

Thursday night, we got all dolled up for a night on the town to celebrate the end of exams, because it felt like we'd been waiting forever to be free!! Loz came over and we put on our pretty new party dresses. Then a bunch of the other girls rocked up for pre-drinks. It was nice just hanging around outside with the girls. We ran out of ice, so got a little creative - we used flavoured Zooper Doopers instead. Not only did they keep things cool, but they tasted more flavoursome and were all sorts of pretty colours. Yummy!!

We headed to the Havvy next up - and ran into half of adelaide there. Drinks were cheap (lines were enormous... insane). We stayed an hour or so, just chatting and chilling. The Havvy is definately an awesome place on a thursday night... but now it seems like the rest of adelaide has figured that out and the place is always packed!!

Next stop was Marble Bar - the line wasn't too insane, so we got in pretty quickly. Time to dance! We met some randoms to buy us drinks. And then we invented the randoms game; take as many photos with as many randoms as you can. It's pretty simple. And pretty hilarious. Everyone we bounced up to and said 'hey, photo?' to was obliging - seemingly pleased to join in onthe fun. One, of course, stole our numbers and spent the rest of the weekend messaging me incessantly, which was annoying... gah. We danced for awhile, and i hitched a lift home with LozK around 2am, so it wasn't an insanely late night. But it was heaps of fun!

We ended up with 268 photos. When we posted half of them onto facebook, we ended up with over 90 comments. So apparently, everyone else agreed that the night was good fun too. A perfect end to exams.

Saturday Night's Alright To Party

Yesterday was super busy... i worked 9-12 at stateswim with a charming selection of screaming, neck-grabbing kiddies, before racing off to a job interview (which went well, even if i was all chlorine-y). When i got home around 2, i had a crucial nap before i got ready to be at church at 5.

Tonight was our Youth Social.

We had wanted quite a lot of kids, but didn't expect many. The hall was decorated like outerspace, and the DJ had set up all of these cool lights and smoke machines and stuff (it was very exciting). We ended up with about 40 kids, and a bunch of leaders. Like all socials, things started off slowly, and then, after a round of musical chairs and one of pass the parcel, people started loosening up. The music picked up and everyone spent the next few hours running around and jumping up and down in the hall. It was so much fun! Even the boys danced with Loz and i and we hyperactively flung ourselves around. Plus, we had all of the classics - Macarena, Nutbush, etc. Hilarious. By the time it got to 11pm, i was exhausted... but it wasn't hometime yet.

I left everyone to clean up (oops) and Bri and i whizzed off to a 21st of a guy friend of mine. Despite the worry about being so ridiculously late, and wearing the wrong thing (spots and stripes theme), by the time we rocked up we were so wiped that we were sort of beyond caring. Everyone was stoked to see us, we were wearing the right thing, and we didn't miss birthday cake (all i'd had was an apple since lunch, so this was an important factor). Horrifyingly, i somehow ended up on the slideshow of birthday pictures, a number of times. Naturally, in most of these photos, i looked absolutely ridiculous. I'm issuing a public thanks to whoever was in charge of that.... I'd seemingly danced myself out and had forgotten how to do it properly, but i did my best on the d-floor, complete with more bright lights and smoke. Eventually, Bri and i got everyone in taxis to go home or go into town (the birthday boy couldn't quite manage it). It took us 20mins to get onto a taxi company! Blew my mind.

In town, we seemed to have lost most of the party, but the birthday boy, a few of his mates and a guy dressed like Where's Wally (absolutely hilarious) ended up at Jive with us. I'd never been there before, but when i walked in i decided i liked the place because they were playing my favourite english music... half an hour later, however, good music had changed to obscure music (at least in my books). So, Bri and i prepared to bail. We waited as the boys atempted to beat some girls on the foosball table - and failed - and then they left with us.

We headed to Marble, to see Bri's trusty bartender friend who gives us free drinks, woo! Music was much better (and Wally was highly appreciated - everyone kept running up to him and shouting 'i've found you!'. More dancing ensued. I remembered how to do it, which was a plus. We all took turns in the hilarious Wally-hat, took some craaaaazy photos which will no doubt be quite foul, but definately very funny, and evnetually had to call it quits because the place was shutting down.

We headed out to look for a taxi... but of course the boys had to get into a fight first. Some guy came up to the birthday boy and started asking if he worked at Maccas, and making a big fuss (our boy was wearing a red striped shirt, which apparently looked like the uniform). Of course, he couldn't let it go, and the mean guy pushed him - immediately, about three other guys were with him, and Wally was trying to get the birthday boy to back off. Sensible, seeing as they were big and scary and our boys, while lovely, probably wouldn't win in a fight. Eventually, they backed off, though they continued to walk slowly in front of us, waiting for a chance to start something. We gave up trying to use that street, and went off in another direction, where Bri and i found a taxi home.

It was a good night, and we had lots of fun with the boys - we have a reputation as being troopers - always out with the boys and having fun into all hours of the morning. I didn't get home until 4... however, when i got in, my phone and clock radio read different times. I decided that my phone would be right - mistake. It seems the clock radio was right, as i discovered when i rocked up at church for sunday school this morning and there wasn't a soul in sight. Damnit, i was running an hour early, instead of fifteen minutes late. So now, in an effort not to fall asleep, i'm writing this, until it's 10.30 and i'm actually supposed to be here.

Church starts in a second, and then i have an old scholars choir practice afterwards (which is why i drank lots of water last night - i don't acutally sound too bad now), then band practice before the service tonight... i really just want to go to bed!

But it's always worth it for a good night out.

Those Apple Bottomed Jeans...

It was a long weekend. I had to go back to work on saturday morning, after a month away. All my darling, chubby little bubbas seem to have disapeared, replaced with whining, skinny whiners. One of the parents said 'well, phoebe regressed while you were away, she's crying and won't touch her kickboard anymore'. Great. Screamers? 3. Successively. It's going to be a long time until the christmas break. Bright spot? One little darling who said he'd missed me. Made it all worthwhile... almost!

Saturday night equaled youth group, where we made a mess with ice-cream, i sung in a band with no voice, and shirtless buddy running round wearing my dress which was pretty amusing. After a slew on insults (bad dress, they'd prefer if my friend Bri was around all the time and i only showed up occasionally) and a compliment (my hair looked nice), it was off to the Alma for the South African's 24th. Drinks, dancing, some mocking of a very short blond woman in a white fairy costume and sneakers who was dancing like she was hyped up on red cordial and more mocking of a skinny blonde girl who was wearing a teeny tiny dress and dancing like a hooker.

After awhile, Bri and i took Little M into town to celebrate his 18th. We hit up Marble Bar (free drinks from a bartender that Bri knew) and then the Dog & Duck (because we thought that some of the guys we knew were there - one was). $65 later, it was time to head home. But not before we ran into two hot english guys who wanted to use us to get into the D&D, a bunch of the girls from school and a gorgeous guy that Bri and i know who's moved to Melbourne... poor LittleM got accustomed to the fact that you can't get out of town without seeing people you know, before you have to wait half an hour to find a taxi and get home at 3am.

Question? The song 'Apple Bottom Jeans' by T-Pain played at all the clubs tonight, and raised this all important question... WHAT are 'apple bottom jeans'? Does anybody know?

Sumday morning? Sunday school. We decorated cupcakes (mmmm, yummy - did you know icing came from a can?) Darling little Bobby ran up and grabbed my hand to dance, and later came up to inform me that it was time to go get bikkies. Our sunday tradition. He's such a champ.

Unfortunately, the voice that i'd slowly been losing last night was now completely gone, and the best i could manage was a ridiculous whisper. By the time evening church rolled around, i sounded moronic and the boys couldn't help but laugh.

After church it was time to study, study, study - because my 2400 word assignment was due the next morning and i'd written exactly 250 words... five hours later and i was in bed. Thank goodnes.

Something About Romania, Something About Your Pants Down...

Last night was one of those fantastic nights, when you're expecting to have a terrible time and end up having a blast. They're most definately the best kind of days.

I spent the morning in bed, the afternoon shopping (wow, did i drop a bundle...) and the early evening trying to decide whether or not i was going to go out. BUT, bri gave me my marching orders and decided to come with me.

First stop was youth group. My aim to make a quick appearance and make sure everything was going smoothly ended up being a longer stay, with me helping the kids paint glass rocks and make chocolate scones (or try to!). It was lots of fun, and i was sorry to leave, but i had people from stop #2 calling and telling me to hurry up.

So, i grabbed bri from her place and we went to Little M's 18th birthday party. I can't believe that he's all grown up already! Still, it was a little bizzare to be at his party - i definately felt old. It didn't help that all of his guy friends kept coming up to talk to the two older girls and ask their opinions on uni and stuff... i saw some of the kids that used to go to kids club with me, and i loved catching up with them. So, instead of staying a half hour, we stayed an hour and a half. Lots of fun!

We got to stop #3 - a friend's 21st - just as the speeches were starting. My crippling fears that i'd not know anyone and would be completely freaking out were assuaded when i realised that it wasn't a big party and i knew at least a dozen other people there. Drinks were on the house, speeches (and accompanying props) were hilarious, the photos of me on the slideshow weren't hideous and the dance that one of the boys and i invented was hilarious - as were all the photos that we took. After a few hours of chatting, general hilarity, bubble blowing and high fives. The 'i don't like sandcastles face' made a comeback too.

After we got kicked out of the Hyde Park Tav at closing, we bummed around on the streets (much to the annoyance of the tetchy bouncers) while we waited for taxis to take us to Electric Circus. There was no line (WOOO!), so we headed straight in and spent the next few hours dancing up a storm. One of the boys tried his best to get me to do some crazy dancing... but we eventually settled for the regular kind. I fended off the usual creepy old men and drunken boys, took my turn wearing the giant gold medallion that had been the birthday boy's fake bling, congratulated the guys on their pulls and thanked my lucky stars that i'd swapped my heels for flats before we'd left the Tav. It was an absolute blast!

When EC closed, we headed to Marcellina's for pizza and garlic bread (i managed to score a slice from the ravaging boys, some of whom were crippled from hunger pains...). We had to eat outside, as the place was cold, but that didn't bother us. So, while we ate, one of the boys entertained us with stories about how he came from Romania (which lead to a discussion on the exact location of Romania - which we couldn't quite decide on) and a conversation about the origins of the low-slung jeans on guys. Apparently, it originated in the US from guys paying homage to their friends in jail; the jailed guys all had to wear baggy clothes, because everything was too big. It was a random, but interesting end to the evening.

We split into taxis, and the birthday boy and i shared one home. By the time i got into bed, it was 6am... daylight saving time change-over had been overlooked, oops! I was absolutely exhausted, but i'd had a great night. I forget how much fun i have with those guys, and how easy it is to get along with them. Perfect night out. Wooooo!!!

Hammer Time!

Semester 2 Law Pub Crawl on friday night, woo!! Here's what went down...

We hit up the Duke, Swish, the London Tav and the Bull & Bear in our gorgeous bright red tees. 200 law students drinking and dancing makes for quite a sight, wandering through town, hollering at each other and having a ball. Unlike some, we law-types opt for the comfort zone when dressing for pub crawls, so there was no worrying about high heels and slinky skirts as we let our hair down on the last day of holidays.

Points to note: There was a bizzare little bald man in a suit wandering around all night - and nobody knew who he was! Ayles and i spent the walks between each pub singing 'aaaa boom boom bom, let me hear you say ay-oh... AY-OH!' and making the 'i don't like sandcastles' face, because we are oh-so-cool.

At the end of the night, Ayles, Tiny Tim, myself and some other guy (who rides horses for Australia and you could colour-me-impressed!) found ourselves standing outside of the B&B. After spending a half hour trying to decide whether we'd go home or go on, a bizzare man in a tracksuit came up to us and offerend to hail us a taxi. Transfixed by this odd little man who was prancing around the street infront of taxis, it was all we could do to watch as he lay himself down on the tram tracks when he was the street sweeper coming. Someone yelled out that street sweepers didn't stop, so i was cringing in fear when, thankfully, the street sweeper came to a halt a mere metre in front of him. Phew! We ran away when he started to follow us. Creepy.

As is often common after a night out, we ended up in Maccas before negotiating a creepy taxi driver on the way home. Bed by half 2, it wasn't an incredibly late or an incredibly expensive night, seeing as the boys paid for the taxi.

It was good fun, despite boyfriends and inappropriate men playing too large of a role. But what can you do? I'll take what i can get. Six months until the repeat! WOO!

A Step Outside The Norm

Last night, i attended my second engagement party in as many weeks (further proving that the world is coupling up, but i seem to have missed the boat). However, this one was a little different; it was medieval themed. Sound peculiar? Well, you'd be right. It definately wasn't your regular engagement party.

We were meant to dress up, but i wasn't sure how many of the others would. So, my fear of embarassment won out over my desire to dress up pretty in a medieval costume. I could totally have rocked a medieval dress. Anyhoo, when i arrived, i was amazed to see so many people indredibly dressed up. Kings, Queens, priests, Robin Hoods, Merlins and even a Jedi Knight - it was so cool! I played with the babies and then a bunch of the guests put on a show; the Knights of Eucathla (or something) had sword fighs between one another. The big guy with the hat and the sword was my favourite, while the SouthAfrican went for the dude in the chain mail with the spear. Then the other guests joined in - Dr.B and Mr.Music faced off in a classic duel where they were later compared to birds of prey and the SouthAfrican's scared face whilst he waved his sword in front of him was classic. It was hilarious!

Overall, the night that i'd expected to be awkward and scary wasn't so bad. Enough people that i knew were there, and my favourite darling baby, and the sword-fighting was cool! So, i stayed a few hours before zooming home to bed... still slightly sick and super sleepy!