Six years later..

Recently got a gym membership from the cash cow Fitness First. I'm like six years late.. as everyone had their FF membership ages ago.

I was always one that refused to pay for a gym membership, choosing the local park instead. Fresh air... the smell of grass, trees, watching the kids play soccer, families with their pet dogs...

But the weather has been quite bad lately, and so I have now conformed and am getting my credit card deducted fortnightly some ridiculous amount of money!

I've been to the gym 3 times already. And I swear, there are no fat people in my gym. I'm dead serious. The people that run alongside with me on the treadmill are all either skinny, or have amazing bodies. They all look fit as a fiddle.. and I tell myself "Run faster Jules, run faster!"

Had my first Body Jam class today.. it was bad. And I thought I could dance!

My poor baby. He hasn't been too pleased about his new 'I-now-have-a-gym-membership' mum. I promise to still take him to the park.

average wedding

It puzzles me sometimes... how Grumpy picks the most 'suitable' times of the day to discuss wedding plans.

We did the guest list while having teriyaki beef with rice and salmon ramen at Wagamama before a movie. I was planning on a wedding of 50 people. Our list is now 75.

Sometimes he emails me at work with some random comments about the wedding.

Today, before he was getting picked up to go out for a drink with his mates, he talks about wedding cost. So I told him, the average Australian wedding costs more than $50,000. He was... not happy Jan!!

And then I showed him the article on news.com.au 

Here are some key points:

What Aussie couples are spending on their nuptials: 

* $49,202 on their wedding, up $10,000 from 2006

So okay.. where are we going to get $49,202... that will be a mystery..

* Average wedding costs 25 per cent more than in 2006, 76 per cent more than 2001

I guess we factor in the inflation and stuff..

* Couples spend an average $10,476 on reception, inviting 97 guests at $108 per head

This one, I sort of agree.. the venues I've been looking at, in fact, cost more than $108 per head.

* Average spending on wedding dress up from $1900 in 2006 to $2220

* 36 per cent of brides spend $2000-$4000 on wedding gown, while 12 per cent spend more than $4000. 

I still haven't got a clue on what type of a dress I want. Mum told me, girl, get something simple you can wear a few times.. What?! You want me to recycle my wedding dress? In fact I had a similar discussion with Dopey's friends and they were saying I should just rent one. They were B-O-Y-S,  of course. Might as well just buy something from Kookai and wear it for the wedding.

* Less than one third tie the knot in a church 

I don't mind this one, because I'm not a Christian.

* More than half opt for outdoor civil ceremonies 

Very risky, especially with unpredictable weather.

* Bride's average age at first marriage is 27.6, 29.6 for men

Yeah, that's us. Average. Average people. Pfftt

* More than one third marry interstate - nine per cent overseas

There have been many people here in Melbourne asking me "Where is it?" 

Me, "Where is what?" 

Where is the wedding? 

Of course I will have one in Melbourne and one in Malaysia. Everyone (especially friends at work) seems more interested in the Malaysia one. I wonder why. I start telling people now the Melbourne one is cancelled, then everyone can make their way to Malaysia for a holiday.... 

* One in five grooms have skin and hair treatments ahead of wedding

I hope Grumpy will be one of the five grooms. I call him Jimbo now, because he looks like Jim Carrey in Me, Myself and Irene. 

* Average engagement lasts 16.7 months

Okay, then what happens after that? The wedding is off? Oh dear.. But I have been warned about this. About people that have been engaged for 5 years... they're never getting married.

* Cost of a bride's engagement ring up 15 per cent, with average costing $5116

Plus Grumpy had to pay for an air ticket to Europe, 30 hours of travel (and transit), lost luggage and no sleep. Priceless. 

* Wedding band is up 25 per cent for the bride, costing an average $1507, and up 28 per cent for groom at $1096. 

I don't know, recently.. I have a tendency to look at people's wedding bands.. strangers in the train... at work, in meetings, I look at my colleagues fingers.. my bosses.. weird.

* Average spending on a cake is $387. 

My cousin had cupcakes for her wedding cake, and it was so delicious. Very common these days. I ate both my share and Grumpy's, and wanted more..

pilates with Carlos

CNY was spent with Grumpy's extended family here in Melbourne. This little prince charming is the son of Grumpy's cousin.

I absolutely love this photo. When he was playing the organ with his bum. That was before we all got told off by some horrible aunt. Haha note how gorgeous the girl on the right is.... She's so sweet, she gives all of us a toothache.

My package from Dublin arrived recently. It was some stuff I could not take with me at that time, because my luggage was well and truly over the 30kg limit. My old boss from Dublin also surprised me with a gift - the entire box set of Dawson's Creek. I know, I know, Dawsons Creek is sooo old. But I like it. She lent me Seasons 1-3 over there, and I watched them all in Dublin. When I got back to Australia, I bought Season 4. Cost me a whopping $50.. jeeeeeesus. I was contemplating to get Season 5, only because it was expensive.

And then she gave me the entire set, Seasons 1-6! I was very happy indeed. BTW, I waited for four seasons for Pacey to pop Joey's (Katie Holmes) cherry and while I haven't finished Season 4 yet, Dawson is still a virgin! And that is one of the little things I like about Dawson's Creek. It is nothing like that tv show which everyone is watching... what is it called again? Oh rite.. Gossip Girl...

Grumpy and I have been going thru some crazy highs and lows in our relationship. Seriously, we can't stop fighting. He blames my hormones, I blame.... him. But we're okay for now.

And while he attempts to pick up a new hobby called golf, I got myself a gym membership! So far I've only been to the gym once. Today at work, I told the guy next sitting next to me, that while I am very interested in attending gym classes, I am nervous at the same time. Reason being, I've never been to a gym class before, and I'm just worried I will look like an idiot. His response was "Jules, if you can go to Ireland for six months on your own, I'm sure you can manage an hour in gym class" Okay, so that's Thursday nights pilates with Carlos.

Work has been going quite well for me personally. While the message that is always being sent out is 'recruitment freeze' and cost cutting, smaller bonuses this year too, the good news is, I was recently promoted! I am quite pleased about it. This promotion is quite an interesting one as I will no longer report to the Absolute Retard.. what a relief! I will soon report to bosses in Europe and will be supporting the Asia Pacific region - Singapore, Hong Kong and Australia. Fingers crossed, I hope the new role will work out well for me.

throw up

Finally, the weekend is here, and I haven't really got anything planned, except to meet up with friends tonight for dinner. Mr Happy insists we go to this Japanese buffet place tonight. I had Japanese on Thursday night for dinner with Grumpy and Dopey. Then yesterday, Dopey and I had Japanese for lunch in the city. And tonight, Japanese buffet with Mr Happy. 

As of tomorrow, I will probably not want to have Japanese food ever again.

This reminds me of pasta. After Grumpy and I spent 7 days in Italy, we have been avoiding pasta since. But that was in August last year. So maybe we should start having pasta again.. 

I was telling Little Miss Drink-A-Lot recently that if I see one more wedding picture on Facebook, I was going to throw up. Seriously. Then I wake up this morning, log on to Facebook and find out I've been tagged in a wedding picture I attended recently.. 

I guess its not too bad if I'm in the pictures.. 

But while I was just browsing the Internet, I stumbled upon a wedding photographer's website.. and I saw this picture here:

Isn't it beautiful? 

No, I don't know her. Yes, she is a stranger. But I love how she's got her dog in her wedding photos..  and that is what I want for my wedding photos!

I pick up the phone and ring Grumpy immediately (he's at work) "You won't believe what I just saw!!! I want this photographer for our wedding!"

I don't really remember what his responses were, but there were many 'No's'. Such a party pooper.

Yes and No

It has been one month since I arrived back home to Melbourne. It has been a crazy month.

Am I happy to be home? Yes and No. 

Its great to be back with loved ones, I've sort of settled back in comfortably now. Oooh to be able to sleep on my Sealy Posturepedic is an added bonus. 

But I must admit, I do miss Dublin a lot - it was a different lifestyle over there. Europe is amazing, and I can only hope that I will have the opportunity to return there some day.

When I left Dublin, it was minus 2. At Dublin airport, the plane couldn't take off on time because there were frost on the windows, we had to wait for the ground staff to de-ice it.

After that was completed, we were ready to take off, a passenger in economy found a guy unconscious. So we went back to the parking bays and waited for the paramedics.

I told myself, maybe this is a sign that I wasn't meant to leave? 

With only a 3 hour transit in Abu Dhabi this time round, and due to the fact we were delayed in Dublin, I pretty much had only an hour there. Wasted no time to book in for a neck and shoulder massage at the Etihad lounge.

Then as we prepared to depart Abu Dhabi to Sydney, a little boy in Business refused to put on his seat belt. I tell myself, I'm 26 years old, and I work soooo hard... to earn a Business Class flight paid by my company, why is this two year old here with me in Business, screaming at the top of his lungs? Finally after the kid calmed down, we were okay to take off. But it wasn't any more pleasant during my 13 hour flight as my sleep was occasionally interrupted by crying intervals every now and then. Arab kids should really have their own childrens business class section. 

Arrived Sydney and it was like 31 degrees. Minus two, then 31. Fabulous. 

One of my luggages did not arrive with me to Australia. Why does this always happen? Everytime someone does an Aus - Europe, Europe - Aus trip, you are bound to lose one (or all) of your suitcases. Happened to Grumpy when he arrived Dublin, and many other of my colleagues. I got my bag about 2 weeks later, and until today, I haven't unpacked the suitcase. I'm terrible. Maybe I'm secretly wishing that my company sends me back to Dublin soon, and I can just take the bag with me without much hassle? *wishful thinking*

What was the first thing I did when I returned? Got my nails done. Bliss! Then a haircut for Aud50. Cheap as chips. My haircuts in Dublin would set me back at least 60 euros each time. 

Then the weekend came, and Grumpy organised a short getaway to Apollo bay. It was great. I caught up on my sleeping. It was so peaceful over there.

But.. after that trip, I started work again. I was given a new account. A brand new client, big portfolio, and boy, it came with a lot of madness. I do love it though, I love a challenge, and so far, things are going well. Client is happy, my bosses are happy..I'm exhausted, but happy I guess. I am hopeful that things can continue this way at work. Still a circus, but I've sort of accepted it now. 

Attended a disastrous beach wedding, but it turned out well at the end. Just because of the weather (it was pouring all day), everyone was so emotional.

Then there were Christmas parties. 

This is me and Little Miss-whats-for-lunch at our company party at Taxi in Federation Square. It was such a good night. Its nice to have a buddy again.. every morning, we literally go for coffee (+toast) runs together, lunches, then in the afternoon, smoothie breaks.. hahaha sounds like we don't do any work.

This is me and Grumpy at his company's party. Jells park, with lots of food and people yelling 'Sixer!!!' at cricket. Good fun. I didn't know my chinese boyfriend could play cricket. 

As Christmas approached, we had our annual Christmas party which Grumpy plans about six months prior. We were pleased to have his sister spend Christmas with us. She's so lovely... 

And at our Christmas party, like everyone else, we played guitar heroes - complete with guitars, microphone for vocals, and the drum set. I refuse to post this picture up on Facebook as I don't want to conform! Everyone is playing this too! bugger, not special anymore :p It is a lot of fun though.

We were fortunate that our neighbours lent us one of their Christmas trees. Yes, credit crunch time. We couldn't afford to buy one, so what the hell, we borrowed one. It looks nice. Our first 'borrowed' tree in our new home.

I don't know, it doesn't stand straight, so Grumpy did something to it, which makes it tilt to the left even more. The leaning christmas tree of Melbourne.

Grumpy spent a lot of time on the turkey and leg of pork. 

Overall, the christmas party turned out really well. Everyone enjoyed the food, and I tell myself, this is why its good to be home!

And of course I have my dog back now. 

survey in Melbourne

Came in to work this morning, and I got this email from my close friend at work back in Australia:

Dear Trouble,

I have taken a survey in Melbourne and no one wants you to come back….particularly Emmett!

Thought you should know.

*Sydney Boy*

Too funny! He has always called me Trouble, and is probably missing me a lot and counting down the days to my return! hahaha.. Sydney boy is a very dear friend of mine. We were able to meet up in London back in September, which was great. We are constantly texting each other, which drives Grumpy nuts. But thing is, he is your typical Australian gay friend!! He is based in Sydney, but was in Melbourne working with me for about a year. He loved.. absolutely loved, drawing on my arm. I used to go home with pen marks all over my arm, and Grumpy would literally go "WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON AT WORK?!" hahahaThis is his work (see below), although this time, not on my arm:

If there's one thing I look forward to upon my return to work in the circus in Melbourne, it would have to be the good friends I have in the Melbourne office..

It is all about me

Time flies so quickly.. I can't believe it. I've only got 3 more weeks left here in Ireland, I'm running out of time! So much to do, both at work and at home (haven't packed at all).

I've been working til late most nights, stressing out and stuff.

After work I go home, too lazy to do anything, I grab takeaway, and watch Dawson's Creek DVDs. 

But no complains to be honest, I'm enjoying my remaining time here in Dublin. 

Weekends, it is all about me. 

Saturdays - I wake up, then I go for a run around the canal (temperatures are about 2 degrees, I swear I look like a running eskimo), then I get some breakfast, then I'm off shopping in town for the entire day. Shopping in Dublin is amazing... expensive, but it is great because they have so many wonderful labels here which we don't get back in Australia. For clothes, I love to go to Topshop, H&M and Zara. A lot of my food shopping I do at Marks & Spencer foodhall. Seriously I could just live there. They make great microwavable meals - all portions for one (sad, I know). They are actually quite pricey, but what the hell.. thats why I get an allowance here in Europe anyways. I don't buy fruits & veggies in its natural form anymore, I get the ready cut and mixed ones from M&S, packed in nice containers, it makes life so much easier! I love M&S!

Sundays - I sleep in and I run in the afternoons instead. After a run, I fill up the tub with hot water, pour all the bath foams from my Europe hotels collection, I bring my macbook into the bathroom (I can only imagine Grumpy's face if I accidently drop it in the tub!), pop my Duffy CD and just soak in my bubble bath til I prune!

Reality is, as much as I'm loving everything as it is at the moment,  I don't think I can live like this forever, I will end up broke, and become a lonely spinster. 

Although, I am sure of this >>> give me a month (tops) back in Australia, and I will wish I am back here in Dublin!