Party Time! With some sobering moments...

Tomorrow is my one niece's 3rd birthday, and last Saturday was her party. It was a great day, and actually the first time that I've been in Sydney to celebrate with her. For me that was a very special thing, and definitely brought home to me that I was here and back in Sydney, and that there wasn't anywhere else on this planet that I would rather be. The party went off without a hitch, and the birthday girl remained excited and enthralled throughout the day. For the kids, I think their two most memorable moments were the Fairy who performed for them and painted their faces, plus the swimming pool cake!

For me the last week has been one of quite positive moments with regards to my job. I've met quite a number of people and they have all been receptive to what I'm offering and selling into the Australian market; Facebook and all that is possible with regards to advertising, building a brand and the tools to make it happen. At the same time I know that I have a long way to go, and most of all I need to win some business. That is the most important thing that I am after right now so I need to meet lots more people and discuss, inspire, be passionate and market the business in the right and best direction.

I've now been back in Sydney for about a month and I have to say that one thing that I am shaking my head about almost every day is how expensive it is for certain things here. I pay $9 for a salad sandwich and a bottle of water, or I was told that a daily train/ferry/bus ticket was $20; "but that gets you all the way to the Blue Mountains" (2 hours from the city centre)...which wasn't so helpful when all I'm doing is traveling between the eastern suburbs, City and North Sydney and I also paid $9 for a Corona at a bar in the City. What the?!?!? Milan is cheaper for these things. Hence my head shaking, but also wondering and wanting to challenge myself to find cheaper alternatives. So I'm taking a wander every lunch time to see if I can find a less expensive yet still healthy alternative to that $9 sandwich...stay tuned.

On Saturday morning I woke up to read and hear about the awful massacre and bombing that took place in Oslo on Friday. I still don't understand how one person could have so much hate, anger and be so calculated to plan the day and the whole act for years. I've never been to Norway, but the first thoughts that come into my mind about this country are: peace, nature, happy people and eternal summer sunshine. However this is also what I think about all of Scandinavia. Perhaps I'm naive in these thoughts, but almost every article and Tweet that I've read have all remarked about Norway being a peaceful nation. So I'm not alone in thinking that. I have been impressed with the reaction of the Norwegian Prime Minister. He hasn't talked about hate nor of revenge, but rather of humanity and love, and that is not only honest and inspiring but also politically astute. I'm sure that all Norwegians are feeling an extreme shock at the moment, and I sincerely hope that they can help each other to heal and hope once again.

It was also sad to hear about the passing of Amy Winehouse. Such a beautiful voice, and such a shame that she couldn't find her own internal peace. She will be remembered and hopefully always for her music rather than some of her life actions.

Finally, Australia has a Tour de France winner! Good on you Cadel Evans! Australia is super proud and this has warmed our sporting hearts and also been deemed as one of the very best victories by an Australian sports person ever. Although there are some debating that fact, I will say that I was watching eagerly late Saturday night, and shed a little tear once he had officially finished the time trial and there was no way he could lose. I was thinking about how long and hard he has trained, and also for the over 3,500 km's that he had cycled for that winning moment. It was also fantastic to see the massive number of Aussie's lining the Champs Elysees cheering and celebrating Evans' win - for me that just shows the Australian spirit and that makes me feel proud to be from this beautiful country.

Here are some yummy cupcakes from my niece's Birthday party!

Final Milano Pics

Here are some pics taken in June of Lake Como and Milano:

1) Looking towards Villa d'Este, Cernobbio, Lake Como

2) View of Lake Como from the end of Como town

3) Castello Sforzesco, Milano

4) Arco della Pace, Milano

5) & 6) Triennale Museum, Milano

Is it a tiny bit sad that...

So it's a Saturday night, and here I am watching old re-runs of "Sex & The City", (the episodes where Carrie is just starting her relationship with Aidan), and simultaneously online dating...I'm messaging actually with a guy that I was in contact with in Italy. He's just been telling me about how he likes having relationships with older women and how he recently had a little fling with a 55 year old. He's 28. I'm not going to judge, I mean in my age bracket, which is late thirties, it seems to be becoming more of the norm that women have a relationship with a younger guy. The last little story I had in Milano was with a guy seven years younger than me, and I personally didn't ever feel that there was an age difference at all. We have a lot in common including a great love of travel, and we have remained friends.

I've re-started on the same site I was using in Italy, and have re-located my profile to living in Sydney. I just made the location change last weekend, so I'm getting back into the swing of things. As much as I do really want to meet a nice guy, I'm still a bit ho-hum with the whole thing, however I think this is also due to the fact that I've only been back in Australia for nearly three weeks and I'm still having moments of being in limbo-land. Also when it comes to meeting men I've always thought that the best way to meet a guy is through friends, and I still believe that but since I started with online dating earlier this year I've realised that the whole concept puts me in a "dating mind space" and generally more aware of myself and to meeting a guy.

OK, moving on, now I'm listening to the new song by the Chili Peppers and hopefully my Saturday night street cred has gone up a notch!

This week I went to my second Inter Nations drinks here in Sydney and there was a huge group of people there. It was great to meet another Aussie who lived in Italy for 10 years and she told me about a Meet Up group which is for Italian conversation. I'm pretty happy about that as I want to keep talking Italian. So I'm going to keep an eye out for their next meeting. On Thursday night I went with two friends to see the musical Hairspray. Now I'm one of those people who isn't generally a big lover of a musical, and I know it sounds crazy, but I get bored, or lose focus usually. However Hairspray was brilliant. It's really fun and feel good with great music and I enjoyed the story too. Then last night I went for dinner at a friends place, and it was really great too. Good conversation, laughs, stories to tell, hugs with the kids and excellent food!

This morning I met up with my Mum, and her two sisters plus friends of theirs for breakfast and a wander around The Rocks markets. It's rare to enjoy the company of my Mum and my Aunt's together, and I love hearing their stories, and spending time with them. Tomorrow night we will be together again for dinner with my cousin who is flying in from London for a couple of weeks. Luckily the weather was nice and considering its the middle of winter here in Sydney actually not too cold. The markets were good, although they are really targeted towards tourists visiting Sydney. There is an additional section to the main markets now too where there are a few clothing designers, and the clothes were nice. This afternoon after leaving everyone else I went off to wander through the main shopping area in Sydney city. I walked through the Strand Arcade which for me is still so beautiful and I love the shops in there. One of my very favourites Dinosaur Designs has a lovely store on the 1st floor. I checked out the new Westfield which has been nicely designed, and now has GAP and Zara stores. Finally! I hope that these brands do really well over here in Australia and then others like Topshop, Mango and H&M can hopefully also open up. It was fairly busy overall as I believe that this weekend is the last for the current sales season. Zara particularly was heaving. It feels very familiar to walk into the new Zara store with clothes that I've seen in their stores in Milan. Strangely comforting.

So whilst in the Westfield this afternoon I decided that I'd really love a back massage. I haven't had a massage for I'd say more than a year and it was really nice, however at certain points it really hurt. The guy was really strong, and I even had to ask him to tone it down a bit. I did float out of the store though, and that felt good! So I continued my wandering around the city before returning home to look in the mirror and see that I had big mascara blobs under my eyes. So attractive I thought to myself...not! I had to laugh as I realised and could finally understand why at a certain point one girl had walked past me and given me a really odd look. Funny!

I've now switched to the film "Julie & Julia"...and its reminded me that I'm hungry and better make myself some dinner.

Plus I have to say who cares if I'm at home on a Saturday night. I'm happy, and why not enjoy a night at home relaxing?

Buona serata tutti!

Early Days

I've been back in Sydney for two weeks tomorrow and actually I can't say that the time has flown or gone slowly. I feel like each day has been filled with something different and every day I'm remembering something new about my hometown. I've found myself for example watching a whole lot more TV than I did in Italy which actually isn't saying much. To be honest (and yes I'm generalising here), Italian TV is very average, and has a Benny Hill feel to it. In most part as well the TV content is dictated by Silvio Berlusconi, hence the "veline" (women prancing and dancing around the stage wearing just a bikini) who get so much air-time. So far I've only found a couple of TV shows that I would like to continue watching over here in Aussie, and I've particularly found that there is an incredible amount of reality TV with everything from the Kardashians, Masterchef, Dancing with the Stars, and the Australian version of The Amazing Race.

There has been moments where I've missed Italy and everyone over there so very much and then something special has happened here and brought me back to Sydney. Last Friday for work I went to a meeting in the city and I hadn't even thought about the address however as the elevator arrived at the 31st floor of this particular office building and I stepped out I had the most magnificent view of Sydney harbour in front of me including the Harbour Bridge, Opera House and then the view continued out towards the heads. In the last week its been super windy and because of this the air is not so smoggy and this definitely added to the overall impression and also it was a beautifully sunny, not a cloud in the sky day. That was a beautiful moment for me. I needed that view and that realisation to hit me that yes, I'm in Sydney. The lunch and wine at The Opera Bar afterwards wasn't too bad either!

Last Saturday I went with a friend to Paddington Markets. For us a visit to these markets is something we both love to do and Saturday was the first opportunity we had to go and so there we were! These markets are I personally think quite unique, and I missed them when I was in Milano. Up and coming designers, jewellers, photography, vintage clothing and crafts fill the primary school in Paddington every Saturday. Then across the road is Oxford Street and more great shops! Saturday night I was down in The Shire as I'd been invited by a friend to watch the rugby league match between Cronulla and Canberra. It was really cold as the wind had really increased, but it was fun sitting in a box and even better that the local team, the Cronulla Sharks won. We went for a lovely Thai meal afterwards at a restaurant in Cronulla called Buddha Beach Thai. The food was all really good, and the restaurant is beautifully fitted out.

It's great spending lots of time with my family, and I'm loving every minute that I spend with my nieces. In fact by the end of last week I was missing them and really wanting to see them. Unfortunately we couldn't organise a visit for this weekend just gone so I'm hoping to see them during the next weekend. It's amazing how much love I feel for these two very gorgeous little girls who I just want to hug every day.

Ciao, and have a fab week!

I Just Have to Complain!

OK, so this is going to be a quick post, but I just have to let out some steam. Today I started back to work in North Sydney, and as I arrived at the office this morning I noticed a Fitness First gym about 30 seconds walk away from the office. Now, I've decided that I really would like to get into some regular fitness again, so I thought during lunch that I'd go to Fitness First to check out the gym, courses and prices.

So in I go, and I met with one of their Sales people who takes me for a tour of the gym, shows me the classes they have during the week from yoga, to spinning, and then the other different rooms on the three different floors. Why are they always keen for you to know where the change rooms are as well on an initial tour of the gym? I never understand that.

Then we sit down to go through the pricing structure. Of course there is a choice of either yearly and month by month and then she comes back saying I get a reduction on the yearly contract because of where I work. OK, thanks, that's great. But wait....if I sign up today for the yearly contract I can also get the first five weeks free! Wow! But I reply that no, at the moment I'm just deciding what I'd like to do so I'll let them know. And I get told that I really have to sign up today for this amazing deal, and why (in quite a strong tone) I won't be signing up today. So I thanked her and left with her telling she'd call me in a couple of days.

Hmmpphhh...I have to say I know that is probably the way they are trained as Sales people by Fitness First but I personally find it a bit over the top, and its put me off them today. So I'm continuing to check my options! Stay tuned!

Welcome Home

"Welcome Home" was written on the balloon that my niece was holding high above her head (and has been sleeping with ever since!) as I walked into the Arrivals Hall at Sydney airport. After many months of dreaming of this moment here I was back in Australia; back to live, not just for a brief three week holiday.

My final week in Milano was exceptionally tiring, stressful and gut-wrenching. Most mornings I woke up early with my head full of all the things I had to achieve in that day. There were a couple more trips to the post office, lots of packing, throwing things into the rubbish, closing of gas / electricity / internet accounts, visits to the office, cleaning and meeting with my landlord. The most important thing was absolutely the time that I spent with all of the friends that I had made during my five years in Milan, both sweet and sad goodbyes. I think I had butterflies flying around my tummy for a week!

On the night before I left I stared at the mountain of bags that I would be taking with me on my flight home and was pretty worried. A friend of mine in Sydney working in travel had been able to arrange an extra 10kgs of baggage allowance with Singapore Airlines however even with that I was still concerned, and rightly so as when said bags were weighed at check-in the next morning, they came in at a weight of 47kgs. I started sweating. I was told they would give me another extra five kilograms meaning I had 35kgs and that I would have to pay for the additional 12. I asked calmly if they could do anything else, could I speak to the supervisor, that I was moving back to Australia after five years living in Italy and I'd be so incredibly grateful of anything they could do. In the end they relented and gave me 40kgs and I paid €293 in extra baggage fees. Done, and relieved I headed off and caught my flight.

I had never travelled with Singapore Airlines before and they were great, and well deserve to be called one of the world's best airlines. Also great was the fact that the flight from Singapore - Sydney had about 20 people in economy class and so I ended up having a row to myself and that made it of course so much easier to sleep.

I've now been home for four days and I'm still feeling what I can only describe as "spacey". It's a combination of jet-lag, not really having a rhythm yet and getting used to the familiar yet not so familiar surroundings of Sydney. I've spent quite a bit of time with my family and I've also caught up with just a few friends. I'm going back to work on Tuesday and I think that is going to be good for me with regards to settling and re-starting my life here. Every day my eyes and self are opening up a little bit more.

Today here in Sydney was a glorious winter's day, sunny and warm, and I was thinking about how happy I was not to be having to live through another European winter rugged up in jacket, scarf, gloves slipping through ice on the streets. Definitely something to be super pleased about!

And here I am writing this post watching the Wimbledon Ladies final. It's getting exciting, so I'm going to bid you a fond adieu; until my next update!