Scarborough Beach

Of all the experiences within my life, few compare to the sunsets on Australia's western coastline.  For half the year of 2009, I would try every evening to be by the shore to bear witness to another glorious sunset over the beach.  Scarborough Beach. 

Prior to moving to Scarborough Beach, I had lived three years in QLD at the base of the Great Barrier Reef; but this new beach had a completely different kind of beauty.  Its sand was powder soft and white; its water was sapphire blue with enormous and angry waves and its seashells were types I'd never seen before.  There was a raw, untouched authenticity to its shore; where tall grass grew right onto the sand and rabbits would hide - real, adorable rabbits on a beach - nothing else I've seen yet beats that.  There were giant pine trees growing at the border line where sand met soil; and Rosella parrots were seen everywhere and  heard above beeping horns and crashing waves. 

This was our first home; Will and I.  A more magnificent backdrop we could never have imagined as we were consumed by our love for each other and took our first steps into a shared life.  It was on Scarborough Beach that Will proposed to me - surrounded by rabbits, gum nuts, crashing waves, those annoying parrots; and a setting sun that still takes my breath away just remembering it. 

Scarborough Beach was where I met Will's mum for the first time; where Will and I had our first argument; and there in that tiny, one bedroom apartment on Pearl Parade that I cooked our first dinner, paid our first bills, ruined our first load of washing and got my first taste of missing my home in QLD so much, that I stayed up and cried in private while he slept. 

It was there on Scarborough Beach that I realised for first time that I would spend the rest of my life with someone, as Will and I sat on a blanket sipping champagne (shhhh, alcohol wasn't allowed!) and watched as the sun set over the beach and that very first, very amazing chapter of our joint life.  At times, I close my eyes and I am right there again.


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My 1st and 2nd miracles in 2012

2012 is already shaping up to be an amazing year! I awoke this morning and stood on the scales, (documenting my weight and being strict was a New Year's goal, remember?) eager to write down my weight and formulate an action plan of fitness to kick start immediately… when I noticed I am already at my goal weight! The hard-yakka I put in for the last three weeks of 2011 paid off!! This was my miracle #1! I get to start the New Year at my goal weight and everyone knows maintenance is easier than achievement, in weight terms.

Elated, I paced impatiently back and forth, waiting for Will to get off the phone so I could tell him my great news… when he abruptly hung up the phone and announced our miracle #2: that our planned two week trip back to Australia in November is being extended to a WHOLE MONTH!! Conveniently, his boss needs him to go back over for work – so another bonus? His ticket will be on the company!!

I can hardly contain my excitement and am so grateful and happy that I could burst! This reiterates how important it is to implement LOA (attraction) practices every single day!

My dream apartment has come true!

On the 30th October 2010 Will, Baxter and I moved into the Mayfair Tower... and on the 7th of November, I wrote this post in my journal, which I wanted to share on my blog:

My head is spinning from happiness!  Last week, Will and I left his mother's house in Peachtree City and moved into my dream apartment in Midtown Atlanta.  The 2 bed/ 2 bathroom apartment (floor plan) is on the 23rd story of the Mayfair Tower high-rise and to me, it's the most beautiful building in Midtown.  The views from our windows are amazing, with one side facing Piedmont Park and the other facing Buckhead. I can't believe how lucky we are and I just know living on 14th St is going to be awesome!

Entrance

The Two Mayfair Towers

View of Mayfair/ Midtown from across the pond @ Piedmont Park

New York, New York: It's a heck of a town!

How many people are lucky enough to say that their first trip to Manhattan was an all expenses paid trip as an Editorial Fashion Writer?!  I am!  Not only had I spent the past year watching Gossip Girl episodes and dreaming of the day I would visit the city of dreams, that never sleeps, where the streets are paved with gold for myself... but I had an all access pass for 3 days worth of runways, models, red carpets and exclusive after parties at Couture Fashion Week!

Almost the entire time I kept smiling and pinching myself, completely drunk on excitement and gratitude!  There’s really nothing equal to the anticipation and atmosphere at a runway fashion show; but there is something else entirely about a couture runway: something so personal and endearing … romantic even!  While sitting in the audience, you are overcome with the knowledge that what you’re witnessing has never been done or imagined by anyone else and will never be repeated in exactly the same way again.  It's like you're the first to hear a big secret and you feel honoured.

The perfect setting for this love affair was Manhattan’s historic landmark hotel: the Waldorf Astoria. Located in the Midtown region of the island, it’s close to all the major attractions like Times Square, Central Park, Madison and 5^th Ave and Grand Central Station, which Will and I explored during free moments (you didn't think this girl would travel alone, did you!?)

Here are some happy snaps of my first trip to Manhattan and NY's Couture Fashion Week:

CFW night 1

Fave Dress



CFW Night 2



The Plaza Hotel; a must-see Landmark

Waldorf Astoria Hotel

Times Square