Wishlist

Just a few things from my current wishlist.

Apple Ipad...

Canon Ixus 2010 Touch (in Black)

Jenga...

Louis Vuitton Keepall. My next LV...

Boyfriend blazer from the Gap...

Tickets to Fuji Rock Festival 2010 in Japan. Went in 2007 and it was out of this world!

xxx

29 Things To Do Before 29

James is turning 30 in 8 weeks. I can’t believe it. The dirty 30!

James’s fast approaching birthday has triggered off some feelings about myself turning 30 next year. So i stopped thinking about 30 and I’m focussing on 29.

Inspired by fat mum slim whom I adore, I have written a list of 29 things to do before 29. I realise it’s only 5 months till I turn 29, so I have to get cracking!

1. Book an overseas holiday for the McKinnon trio. We are heading to Bali next month to celebrate James's 30th Birthday.

2. Participate in a charity walk. We walked in the Mother's Day Classic Walk on May 9th 2010, a charity event for the National Breast Cancer Foundation.

3. See my friends from high school more regularly Have even contacted more older friends and 2 are coming to Abigail's 2nd Birthday party with their toddlers.

4. Start a new hobby. Photography, flower arranging, cooking, are all on my list!

5. Hold a stall at a Sydney market to sell all my old designer clothes

6. Accompany James on a business trip overseas

7. Lose 30kgs... (Realistically more like 15-20kgs)

8. Organise a weekend away with my girlfriends

9. Finish reading the Sookie Stackhouse novels

10. Unpack every last box of goods from Singapore

11. Try a new restaurant every fortnight Been to a few new places. Am keen to try Chinatown more though. Dumplings!!

12. Sell my Panasonic Lumix camera on ebay

13. Minimise waste and clutter in the apartment

14. Start swimming on a regular basis at the Ian Thorpe pool

15. Massive overhaul of my wardrobe. Donate to goodwill anything purchased before 2007. Have thrown old clothes out. And have resisted to buy lots of new clothes. Just a few essential pieces.

16. Avoid vouchers expiring!! Why do I always do this??!! At the moment, I have a voucher for Gold Class, 2 x County Road, 1 x JB Hi Fi, 1 x itunes and 1 x David Jones gift card. Start shopping!! Finally used all the vouchers. Woo!

17. Have a mani and pedi more often. Treat myself to a session at the spa Have been to the Day Spa a few times this year and loved every minute of it. Wish I had enough money to get a massage once a month!

18. Try a new haircut or colour. I had my hair cut ONCE in 2009 and James forced me to get it cut on NYE of 2009, haha. 12 months without a haircut! Appointment at Desmond and Molly Jones in Surry Hills on 18/05/10 for new cut.

19. Be inspired by new music and appreciate the music scene in Sydney. Have been to a few gigs, which has been more than enough. Am getting too old!

20. Start planning my 30th Birthday extravaganza

21. Perform a random act of kindess to a stranger  Spent 15 minutes in a car park helping an older lady try and fit 2 yard chairs into her car. Had to unpack the car, squash the chairs in, then repack her shopping bags around them. It felt great to help someone in need.

22. Print off all Abigail’s baby photos and put them into her album

23. Have an inspiring outing once a month to an art gallery, exhibition, theatre or festival. Date night in May to the ballet.

24. Try and have 2 or 3 mini breaks before the end of the year. Hunter Valley, Gold Coast and Dubbo are all on the cards so far. Many trips to the beach house, and a 3 day vakay to Qualia.

25. Sit down and learn how to cook some of my Grandmother-in-law’s famous family recipes like Rice Pudding, Lasagne etc

26. Take Abigail to a West Tigers or Waratahs game

27. Spend more time with my family. Have seen the family consistently for the last few months. And it shows. I can FEEL the love!

28. Get off my butt and try yoga Let it be known! 23rd June 2010, I went to my 1st Yoga class. for 90 minutes, I bent and pushed and stretched at a power vinyassa class in Rozelle, Sydney. I nearly threw up numerous times on the drive home, haha.

29. Stop buying expensive stationary! Avoid Kikki-K like the plague! Haven't bought any new stationary since before Xmas. But I DID win some in a giveaway by Georgie Love. WOO!


Wish me luck,
xxx

City Living

Some days I really have to pinch myself.

This is what I wake up to every day. We live right in the middle of the city of Sydney, some days I love it, others I hate it.  I love the convenience of the city, everything is within walking distance. I loathe the pollution, the noise, the sirens, traffic and insane drivers.

Abigail is not allowed on the balcony unless we are out there with her. We have to constantly clean the balcony, due to pollution and dirt. Some nights I find myself sitting outside, watching the boats sail by, breathing in the salty breeze. The suits have commuted home to the suburbs, the buildings are quiet and dark.

A beautiful autumn afternoon in March...

xoxo

Mother+Daughter Day - Wildlife World Darling Harbour

Date: Sunday 14th March 2010
Weather: Sunny but fresh
Mood: Lonely. Sorrow. Need a change of scenery.
Action: Walk the 500m down to Wildlife World in Darling Harbour to see some animals!

This wasn't Abigail's 1st time to a Wildlife Park. She has been to KLCC Aquaria in Kuala Lumpur and Australia Zoo on the Sunshine Coast in QLD.

After paying the $31.95 entry fee for myself (kids under 4 are free), we walked into the dark tunnels to discover all the wondeful animals and reptiles.

Abigail's favourite animals were the kangaroos, koalas, snakes, butterflies and wombats. She also liked the possums and bush mice which freaked me out! She was a little scared of the crocodile in the main tank and didn't seem to like th spiders at all. She must take after her father in that regard. James suffers from terrible arachnophobia.

It wasn't very busy, even on a Sunday afternoon. Mostly American, Japanese and Sth American tourists, taking photos, counting all our venomous snakes and spiders.

xoxo

Summer of 2010

November 2009:
Jonahs at Whale Beach. Mathilda Markets. Swimming Lessons. Gymbaroo. Wedding in the Hunter for our dear friends Wassim and Jennifer. BBQ's on the balcony. Britney Spears. New Moon. Swan Lake.

December 2009:
Gymbaroo. James travelling on business. Engagement parties. Fleetwood Mac. Farewell party. Bon Voyage Tim. Christmas time. Presents. Stress. New Years Eve on the balcony. Watched fireworks. Bed.

January 2010:
Started road trip on Jan 1st. Drove to Noosa with an overnighter in Glen Innes. Noosa. Australia Zoo. Bindi Irwin. Kangaroos. Crocs. Rain. Torrential Rain. Seafood. Beach. Drove home to Sydney with an overnighter in Armidale. Park. Play equipment. Too many stops at McDonalds to change nappies and buy happy meals. New beach house on the Central Coast. Bliss. Views. Salty breezes. Relax. Sleep. Read. Day Spa. Pool. Beach. Terrigal for lunches. Remembering my childhood. John Butler Trio. Oceans. Guitar. Tears.  Home from beach house. 2 days later, off to Melbourne. Stress. Away from Abigail. Avatar 3D. Tennis. Roger Federer. Icon. Legend. Crush. Serena. Venus. Andy Murray. Friends. Cookie. Shopping. Rockpool. Nobu. Home.

February 2010:
Mumford and Sons. Banjo. Vaccinations. Gymbaroo. Taylor Swift. Beautiful friend. Car shopping. Nightmare. Sales pitch. Negotiate. Land Rover purchased. Beach house for an extended weekend. Friends. BBQ. Winter Olympics. Valentine's Day. Overhyped. Family time. Old friends. Chinese food. Dumplings. New places. Open your eyes. Hugs and tears. James travelling back to Singapore. End of summer.

Britney Spears at Acer Arena, Sydney. This was the ONLY song she sang LIVE.

Fleetwood Mac at Acer Arena, Sydney. Stevie Nicks was amazing!!

James and Abigail on Christmas Eve, 2009

Christmas morning at the in-laws house. Santa remembered our house, yah!

New Years Eve 2009. We had a quiet BBQ on the balcony, just the McKinnon trio. Abi slept through the fireworks, thank goodness!

Drinking with Dora at the Surf Club in Noosa, January 2010.

Kisses from Abigail at the Surf Club.

Abi dancing to Bindi at Australia Zoo. Beerwah, QLD, January 2010.

Abi petting a crocodile at Australia Zoo. Beerwah, QLD, January 2010.

Nothing beats chocolate ice-cream in summer. Hastings Street, Noosa. January 2010.

North Entrance Beach. This is a 1 minute walk from the beach house on the Central Coast.

Me carrying Abigail down to the beach, January 2010.

Beautiful Toowoon Bay. Perfect beach weather. January 2010.

James and Abi taking a refreshing dip at Toowoon Bay.

James and I at the Australian Open 2010 at Melbourne Park.

Abigail and I playing in the waves. North Entrance Beach.

My beach babe Abigail.

Swinging through the last few days of summer at Centennial Park, Sydney.

Playing in Centennial Park, Abigail not 100% keen on the spinning pole.

Farewell summer. See you next December!

xoxo

Tears for fears...

Monday night. Massive meltdown. I really needed it though. It's been building up for so long and I finally needed to release.

James flew home from Singapore for the weekend to spend some time with us, he is home for 3 days and flies out tomorrow for another 10 days of business in Singapore. I miss him terribly when he is away. Like most spouses, I know. But I don't live near my family and I often feel isolated and lonely, living in the big smoke.

So the picture above is very similiar to what I resembled, an hour ago on the sofa. Weeping and sulking to my husband.

I usually love a good cry. A soppy movie. A sad book. An emotional ad about nappies or child birth or labour usually gets the tears going.

But lately, my cries have been, well, scary. Mole hills turn into mountains. Things are blown out of proportion. I throw all sense and logic out the window and don't think rationally, which leads to these meltdowns of emotion and fear.

Fear of the unknown. Fear of the future, of change. Fear of losing control, of having no control.

Remember your childhood, when the only thing you worried about was getting roused on by your parents? Or losing a weekend sports game? You never worried about the future.

Fast forward to now. A 28 year old wife and mother. And I find myself constantly worrying. About everything. About finding a playgroup with like-minded mothers. About making sure Abi hits her targets in swim class and Gymbaroo. Making sure I read 5-10 books to her a day. That she is developing normally. That I am being the best wife I can be. Then I stop. And realise, you can't worry about all these things, all the time. I need to learn to ponder on these issues every now and then, but I can't let them rule my life.

Meltdown over.

xoxo 

Australia Day...

was 37 days ago... Can you believe it's already March 2010?!

I finally downloaded all my summer photos and here are a few taken on Australia Day. We had a low-key BBQ on the balcony, just the 3 of us. Perfect weather, perfect company, great food and no plans, what a perfect way to spend a Tuesday in January...

James enjoying the view...

Watching the boats sail by...

Abi tucking into some fresh watermelon, her favourite fruit!

Family portrait... 

My beautiful Abi...

Summer at its best, a gorgeous sunny day...

xoxo

2010...

And I'm only just starting my year now, in mid February!!

Due to taking an extended holiday over January, I feel like I'm starting my year now. I only just opened my fresh blank 2010 diary from Kikki-K this week. And because I'm slightly anxious (hmmm) I already feel guilty for having my head in the clouds since Xmas Eve, when I officially started holidaying.

Can you blame me though for extending my holiday when I woke up every day in January to this?

Am trying to keep fit and have pushed myself to exercise every day this week. I walked 4kms today with Abigail in the pram, and by the end of the walk, I was completely flushed and covered in sweat. Pity me, because I have to walk past a whole heap of beautiful, corporate attired, mid 20's women, who probably think I look like a candidate for The Biggest Loser...

Next week I have an appointment with a dietition to talk about making changes, eating healthy and lifestyle habits. I'm nervous and excited at the same time.

My Pop who had a serious stroke last week has been moved from intensive care to a ward. His speech has been affected and he can no longer walk for more than a few metres at a time, but apart from that, he is ok. I will hopefully visit him on the weekend.

J is off to Singapore next weekend for business. He asked if Abigail and I would like to go with him, which would be fun. I'd love to see all my Singaporean friends, but living out of a hotel room for 2 weeks with a toddler takes its toll... on everyone!

Abigail has just drifted off to sleep, so I'm hoping to have a cheeky nanna-nap while she is down.

xoxo