Noties

There is an EPIC store on Rundle Mall (that's a street name, believe it or not. caused much confusion when I was looking for THE rundle "mall", only to realize I had been walking on it for the better part of an hour) called Smiggle! I stumbled upon it on aforementioned rundle mall stroll and was so delighted with it's range of colourful, playful and adorable creations that I went back for a second time the very next day. They are based out of Australia, have stores in Singapore too, but sadly have not made their way further west (actually I guess the correct term would be East, although everyone just refers to North America as "west", regardless of their geographical location, that I figured west would make more sense).

 http://www.smiggle.com/

Behold, my new notebooks, sure to motivate me in all scholarly endeavors:

I also bought a calendar....for only $1.95! I've had to make do with ripping the pages out and taping it to my wall, since nails and other pointy objects are not permitted to be pushed (or hammered) into my room's walls:

Happy last day of February! Oh! And a LEAP DAY!!!!

What will you do with your extra day?

(I spent mine lazing in bed, reading blogs, and just being all around self-indulgent)

hahahhahahaha

I titled the last post because I had something really ironic to tell you and then...........I forgot all about it!!!

Today I bought a handful of second-hand DVDs (okay, FOUR!!! I don't really watch a lot of TV or movies so that's a really ambitious purchase!) and got home, so excited to watch one of them. Turned on my laptop, went to insert said DVD in the slot and....uh oh, WHERE IS THE SLOT???

I conveniently forgot my laptop does not have a DVD player.......whooopsie daisy!

I guess I wasn't meant to go on a movie watching binge after all.

Irony

Hi y'all!

Today was the first day of classes for me, environmental law: kind of dry but I'm hoping things will get more interesting as we get more into the class. The prof is really nice and knowledgable, he used to be a policy adviser with the Australian government, in the environmental sector. The background he gave us on Australian law and policy making really helped clear things up about their parliamentary system-basically, the system is VERY similar to Canada's.

I went on the most epic grocery shopping trip yesterday, went all out and as a result my fridge is STACKED with fruits and veggies....love it! This next picture is mostly for my beloved kaykay, who requested some food pics way back when. I have made 3 of these sandwiches in the last 2 days, SOOO delicious!

Wow, after enlargin git it really doesn't look that appealing....but I swear it's really delicious! I got these multi seed buns and piled on (in no particular order) spinach, feta, tomatoes, cream cheese, mustard, pepper  and olives. And I also made guaqamole (spelling?)!

I have this weird, painful, exzema outbreak on my palms and it hurts to do even really basic things like type or hold a fork so unfortunately I must cut this post short. Luckily, I have a doctor's appt tomorrow morning so my hands should be back to full usability and typarifficness soon!

Love you!

oh!

And here are pictures from the parade last night!

 They have mounted police too!

Mawson Lake

Hiya!
I went to check out the mawson lake campus today, since my classes start at 9am this monday there, I figured it would be a lot smarter to get a feel for the campus ahead of time. It's about a half hour bus ride from the city, way up north, and it's all new developments, brand spanking new houses that look kind of out of place. Everything's just so NEW! But the university looks cool, I was a bit heat-dazed because the thermometer hit around 40 degrees celsius today and there was very little shade among all these new buildings. I do feel a lot better having gone there ahead of time though, much more prepared for scholarly success! Now, if only I had a proper book bag haha.

I also went to get my hair did today by a lovely girl named Katie. She was so much fun! Usually I like to bury my nose in a magazine and just zone out until the process is finished but we chatted nearly the entire time, she told me about some great vintage shops and bars I should check out. And she had so many questions about Canada...well, "the states" as she kept calling it, and she kept calling me an American, no matter how many times I tried to correct her lol. When she saw me drinking my green tea with a spoon she even asked if that was a Canadian thing. Hahaha, I'm weird.

Anywho, tonight there is a house party that Diego invited me to and apparently it's right in my neighborhood which is excellent because after all the heat-drenched walking I'm feeling decidedly lethargic.

Here's some Mawson Lake:

 My classes are this building-I hope there's a real planetarium!

 note all the scary looking warning stickers on the glass behind!

Robert Sturman Rocks my Socks

Wow! I just got home from such an amazing yoga class! The teacher, Sue (also the studio owner and a very kind soul), closed the practice with a quote from Robert Sturman. I wish I could remember the exact quote but I am just going to butcher it so all I can tell you is it went along the lines of "one day I woke up and decided to be the human I've always dreamt of being. No more fantasies, etc etc" (it was much more poetic than that I swear).

After class I was speaking with Sue about how much I liked the quote and she told me a bit more about him. Sturman is a yoga teacher and photographer, who has brought yoga to prisons, engaging the residents there with yoga and self-development. How cool is that??????

Sue has photos of Sturman's work all around the studio and it's SO inspiring! I couldn't find exact replicas of the studios' prints but I've included some of his other work below:

ps. Sue gave me a ride home after class and told me about her dreams of starting her own studio, and now her studio, after only one month of being open, is KICKING it!!!! Yay for following your dreams, regardless of how scary it might feel!!!!

pps. Fringe festival starts tonight! Woohoo to following dreams of going out and  paaaartyyyyyyying!

Adelaide Photos

Hi guys!

Here are some random photos I've taken in the last week. I love the building in the first, such a great decoration idea! The fruit box was in the Adelaide train station and the dog/metal structure was over by the bus station. I wish you could tell how huge it actually is, the picture doesn't do it justice. Let's just say, as a measuring point, that sign its peeing on is the typical size of a streetsign. The car was parked across the street from the hotel I was at last week.

I'm in the midst of securing my volunteer position, finding a job and getting last minute things in order for school this week. ALSO, Fringe Festival starts today, there's a huge parade and Eliza and I are checking out the festivities later today. I'm excited!

Love you!

Bubble Popped

Hi guys,

well, unfortunately all with lululemon did not work out. Everyone on the team was super cool but they don' t have hours right now to hire someone new. They're keeping my name and deets though, so I feel optimistic something may work out in the future.

BUT, in the meantime, I gotta get crack-a-lackin on finding a job. I'm hitting up the Mawson Lake campus tomorrow to do some adventuring and exploring, as well as print off resumes. I also have an appointment with a lady at a senior's home, at which I'm hoping to do some weekly volunteering, AND I'm getting my bike fixed. AND I'm picking up my debit card from my new aussie bank. AND I'm going to try and fit a yoga class in there sometime. Busy day but busy's goooooood!

A friend has invited me to a cheese and chocolate fondue party tonight (can you say delicious!!!!) so I'm wearing my stretchiest pants and heading on over there soon.

Love you all! Sorry for the lack of photos, I went to magill campus yesterday and it COMPLETELY stole my heart! I wished so badly I'd remembered my camera but, it was quite an impromptu trip so I was very prepared. See, what happened was quite the twist of fate. I left home bright and early to hit up a 9:30am yoga class at a studio I'd never been. I biked there but spent so long looking for the studio that, sadly, I missed the start of class.

Instead of getting too bummed about it, I decided that was an opportunity as good as any to go check out Magill. So off I ventured, huge and heavy yoga mat on my back, to see what this campus was all about. It really is as beautiful and nature-y as everyone says. Sadly, I can't yet share those sunshine-y pictures with you yet....but I will, promise! My first class at Magill is next Wednesday so by then, you too will revel in all its birdsongy glory.

Anywho, love you lots all over again!

Oh! (hahahaha just so much to share) Henry booked his ticket wooooohoooooooooooooooo! I'm elated! I encourage ALL OF YOU to follow suit and come visit asap! I miss you too!!!

xoxoxoxoxoxooxoxoxoxoxoxoxoox

Light, Love and Luon

*Sigh*
I'm just so happy! I just got back from lululemon and found out why their manager stopped replying to my emails.....he doesn't work there anymore! I had a lovely chat with the store's keyleader and she has put me in touch with their new manager. I'm so excited about the prospect of working for this amazing Canadian company again! The store is gorgeous, bright and colourful and the two girls working were unbelievably nice, lending me one of the store's yoga mat and setting up a yoga class date with me!

Upon getting home, I was tickled pink when I noticed a shaft of sunlight had crept into my room. I've never been home between 4 and 6 and apparently this is what happens when I'm gone! Love!

Parade of Party

Hiiiiiiiiiiii!

Just got home from the Norwood Wine, Food and Music Festival, aptly named 'Parade'. It was held on a huge stretch of street just east of the CBD, Eliza met me there and it was one heck of a party, everyone walking around drinking wine in the streets and overpriced food vendors making a killing! Lots of fun indeed.

The bus route was a little mixed up due to the road closure so E and I walked back to the city, a short 20 minute jaunt or so, and stumbled upon the Garden of Unearthly Delights along the way. It's the 'Fringe' garden, set up to last the duration of the Fringe Festival which is starting this Thursday and going on through March. The garden is the only stationary spot throughout the whole festival, all other events taking place at various venues around the city. I'm told there are tons of comedy acts, plays, concerts and artistic endeavours put on all over Adelaide for weeks-I'm so excited!

The garden was cool but we just looked around, since a whole group of us are going back tomorrow night. We wanted to save the magic (and our money) til then. We were going to get tarot card readings, just for fun, but the tarot master was busy with one lady for far too long and we got bored of waiting.

After walking back to the city, we both decided to walk all the way back to our respective homes. My hike took a good hour or so but well worth it when I got to watch the skies shift all different colours as the sun set to my right.

 this girl's shorts are awesome and her dance moves even more so! And she did Beyonce covers, making her even cooler!

 the little soya sauce containers stole my heart!

 garden of unearthly delights.....delightful

 one of the creepy psycho clowns kept creeping up next to me and shoving a fake dagger in my face.....he got me everytime, a shriek and all!

my "souvenir" wineglass, which was actually a "mandatory" wineglass if you wanted to drink any wine during the festival