Aussie Aussie Aussie!

This weekend was a long weekend because it was Australia Day weekend! I've decided that Australia Day might be one of my favorite Australian holidays. Everyone is so happy to be out and enjoying the summer weather. And the more over the top and cheesy the Aussie accessories, the better. What's not to love?!

The stores in Kirribilli got into the spirit.

As did these people.

In the morning, I went out on a walk to Circular Quay. Two big cruise ships were anchored in the Harbour for the celebrations.

The morning was cloudy, but the sun was peeking through.

In the afternoon, T and I went out. A pop-up store opened in Milsons Point station with all the necessities for Australia Day.

We decided we probably didn't need any flag-themed accessories, but we walked up onto the bridge to watch the ferry race.

Then we walked down to the point to watch the 21 gun salute and a fighter jet flyover. We got to see the guys loading and firing the cannons. This dad in front of us had two little girls who did not like the noise AT ALL.

In the evening, we headed out to the Domain. As the final performance in the Sydney Festival, the Sydney Orchestra performed a free concert in the domain. We and about a thousand others packed a picnic, got a spot in the grass, and watched the show.

The final piece was awesome: it had music, cannons, and fireworks! Amazing!

It was a pretty great Australia Day!

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Festival village with Emma

On Tuesday we met up with our friend Emma. We met her about a year ago when she was fresh arrived from England. We haven't seen her for a few months as her family from home has been in visiting. (Sound familiar??)


We decided to meet up at the Sydney Festival Village in Hyde Park.

We grabbed some food truck dinner: Emma and Toby had dim sum, and I had a grilled sandwich from this cute thing.

We walked around the village for a little bit. The Sydney Library system had a cute little reading area set up. You could take a book and then grab a little spot for reading. Such a fun idea!

We walked around for a bit, catching up on all the things we've been doing since we saw each other. Emma traveled the east coast this spring and told us all the things we have to see there. Then we parted ways, left the village, and went home. It was a fun change from the usual Tuesday nights!

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Sunday walk on the foreshore

On Sunday morning we got up early to do some Skyping. Then, since we had so much of our day left, we walked up to Cremorne Point. It wasn't too hot yet, but it was almost East Tennessee humid!

The power boxes along the street in Kirribilli have all been cute-ified.

There were lots of swimmers in the pool at Cremorne Point. What an amazing place to go for a swim!

It was a lovely walk and a lovely start to the morning!

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Saturday in Paddington and Leichardt

Saturday was a beautiful, hot day. Since our last weekend went by in such a flash, we decided not to do too much this weekend - but we did want to get out and enjoy the day some.

So we started our day with a trip out to Oxford Street in Paddington. There are lots of boutique stores on Oxford Street, one of which sells Birkenstocks. Toby claims these are back in fashion, and he wanted a pair as his summer sandals. So off we went!

After a successful purchase (yay!) we wandered back down Oxford Street toward the city.
We stopped in to check out St. Matthias church.

The Paddington Markets were on too, but we didn't stop for too long.

We did stop into the Reservoir Gardens to sit in the shade. The city has transformed part of the old reservoir system into gardens, and they are really cool! I'd been before but it Toby's first visit. He liked them!

Then we decided on the spur of the moment to jump over a few suburbs to the west for lunch. We'd been to Leichardt a few months ago for the Italian Festival, and when we there, we promised we'd come back to try out some of the places we'd sampled. So we decided Saturday was the day!

We had really great food! The arancini was just as delicious as it was the day of the Italian festival. Mmmm! And of course we took some cannoli home with us for a treat later. And the atmosphere was fun - lots of Italians about!

Also, while in Leichardt, we got to see things like this shop:

And these guys on the train. They were traveling with the giant teddy bear, blasting Jay-Z and eating cookies.

It was a super fun, entertaining day!!

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Stonehenge is here!

It's Sydney Festival time and as part of that, Hyde Park has been turned into Festival Village. And it looks awesome! It's got an old-timey carnival feel to it, and there is a giant bouncy Stonehenge!

The kids (and some grownups!) love it!

I was on my lunch and there was a line - that's the only reason there's not a selfie of me bouncing around. =\

Australians are pretty aware of sun protection (as they rightfully should be). I really noticed when I was walking through the village: when there were lines to stand in, people could borrow umbrellas so they were in shade as they waited. There was a also a whole tent for little kids to make their own decorated sun hats! I didn't get a pic of any of them, but it was really cute.

It was mainly families out for the day when I was there, so not all of the activities were up and going. But it definitely looks like some cool stuff goes on at night!

I wonder if I can convince Toby to go out with me one night next week?? =)

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I think T might be a spy...

This was in our mailbox on Sunday.

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A very happy birthday!

The big 3-0 birthday was on Friday. I had to work, but I still had a good day. Toby made me an amazing birthday dinner and I had gifts from home to open that night! (Even though, as Holly reminded me, I got to stay 29 an extra day since I was born in America.)

On Saturday we had a picnic get together to properly celebrate. My birthday sort of snuck up on us with all the fun stuff we'd done over Christmas, so we didn't have time to prepare too much. But we put together some food and drinks, invited some people out, and then it was a great day! We got a spot in Lavender Bay park overlooking the harbour, and the weather was perfect! I was so happy we did it, and I was so touched by how many people came by to celebrate with me.

I didn't take too many pictures, but I got a few.

Oz the dog

Oh yeah, we ate cupcakes too!!

It was a wonderful day, and I ended it by feeling so blessed with the friends we've made here that would spend their Saturday celebrating with me.

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