I have the coolest Mom on the planet

I'm sure everyone says this...well, I'm sure every girl that gets along with her mom says this, but in my case it's totally true.  My parents have always been really supportive of everything I've done and my mom has always been with me every step of the way.  I remember her getting directions to Pittsburgh for my first visit up to Pitt.  She drove with me all the way from Virginia to Ohio, when I moved to Cincinnati for my first job out of college.  And of course, there have been countless visits to Chicago, although I think those may have partially for a chance at an Oprah siting.  So when I moved to Australia for six months of course, I hoped that she would be able to come out to visit, but given the cost and the distance and such a relatively short period of time to come, I wasn't sure if she would make.  As always, Mama P didn't disappoint.

Not only is my mom the coolest, but she has some of the coolest girlfriends ever.  One of her friends that I think I've known all of my life is a flight attendant, and was able to get my mom a buddy pass from Newport News, Virginia to Sydney, Australia.  Now that's a friend!  The caveat with buddy passes is that you have to fly standby.  We didn't think there would be any issue with that, as mom was flying in the middle of the week.  What we didn't count on was the Oprah effect (man, she's come up twice already in the post... damn, that Oprah).  She had just done her shows in Australia and clearly it hit home back stateside, because everyone and there brother was on there way to Sydney.  Mom ended up getting stuck in LA for an extra 4 or 5 days, but eventually she made it.

The eagle has landed, the eggs are in the basket!!!  Mama P is Sydneyside!!!  Now, anyone that's seen me and mom my together knows that we're besties, but it was extra special to have her in Sydney as I was nearing the end of my assignment, was totally homesick, and basically just ready to get the heck out of there.  Having a little piece of home was exactly what I needed to get through my last three weeks on assignment.

So I've got Mom in tow for our Aussie adventure.  And an adventure it was.  One of the funniest memories of having here there was picking her up at the airport.  I pick her up, we walk to the car, load her bags in the 'boot', then I go to return the cart that her bags were on.  I walk back to my car and my mom is seating in the drivers seat... which is the passenger seat in the US.
Me: "Uuhh... you driving home?!"
Mom: "Huh?"
Me: "You're in the driver's seat.  You didn't notice the steering wheel?!"
Mom: "Oh!!!  Whoops!"

I had to work during the day obviously while my mom was in town, but she made quite the adventures for herself while I was gone all day.  Every day I came home it was a new story of a new friend she made at the Chinese Friendship Garden, or the QVB building, or the Opera House.  By the time my mom left back for the states she knew all of the door men by name (and their full life stories), she was besties with the coffee shop guy in my building (they exchanged email addresses), and pretty much knew Sydney like the back of her hand.

We had a great time together - the zoo, the free bus (mom LOVES anything that's free), the Australia museum, the Chinese New Year parade, our favorite croissant and the french bakery in The Rocks...

It was just what the doctor ordered.

Thanks again, Mom for being so awesome.

Australia Day

According to Wikipedia Australia Day is the official national day of Australia and commemorates the arrival of the first fleet in Sydney.  I take everything that's on Wikipedia with a grain of salt, but based on my Australia Day experience that seems about right.

Australia Day reminded me a lot of the 4th of July in the US.  While it's not their independence day, it was a day full of Australian pride and patriotism, and it's also in the middle of summer.  Of course it's a day off of work which is always nice, but it was great to be a part of another country's national day.

I wanted to have an 'authentic' of an Australia Day as possible, so I met up with my two Irish friends.... luckily we have some Aussie friends as well, so we spent the day in a park in Balmain, had a bbq, and soaked up the Australian summer sunshine.

I thought this was the coolest thing ever

The Aussie gang

I was even able to try a traditional Aussie treat - lammington.  I have no idea if that's how you spell it.   It's basically sponge cake covered and chocolate and coconut.  Quite tasty actually.

The flags are a nice touch, right?!

Yet another glorious day in Sydney.  And at this point it's the end of January so my time in Oz is quickly coming to an end and my mom is coming to visit soon!  I can't believe I've actually made it this far.

Happy New Year

Okay, so we may or may not be over 7 months into 2011, but I still need to share what I did for New Year's Eve this year.  Normally New Year's is a disaster - I feel like this is universal for everyone.  There's always a lot of planning, a lot of hubbub, long lines in the snow in Chicago in open toed shoes (so necessary), and an even longer line at the bar once you actually get inside the venue.

Well, I have to tell you this was hands down the best New Years Eve I've ever experienced.  For one thing it was summer time - holla!  I've shared a bit how strange it was being in Oz during Christmas, and the strangeness just continued through New Years.  My New Years preparations typically involved planning the cutest outfit that still provided so at least some level of warmth while waiting for the non-existent cabs on New Years Eve in Chicago.  This year was just a little different  - just slightly.

My husband and I and two of my great friends in Oz rang in the new year in amazing Sydney style.  We took a ferry to Goat Island in Sydney Harbour and had a picnic to watch the fireworks.  Now, this sounds amazing on it's own, but it gets better.  I've pretty much just droned on about how beautiful Sydney Harbour is, well Goat Island is a part of the parks district island and is just on the other side of the Harbour Bridge - where the fireworks take place.  You literally couldn't get a much better view of the  show.  Apparently this was the first year that the city opened this island for fireworks, and only about 780 tickets were sold so it wasn't over crowded at all.

Sydney is one of the first major cities in the world to ring in the new year, so they always have a spectacular fireworks show.  I mean, we've all seen fireworks, and to be honest, I was more excited to just hang outside with my husband and friends on December 31st, but wow....  I don't know the exact number of what the city spent on the fireworks display but it was several millions of dollars.

My vocabulary isn't nearly good enough to describe the evening, but I was able to capture a little bit on video.  (Be forewarned, we were a little in awe, so there are a few swear words.... okay more, than a few.  If there are young ears around just put it on mute.)

I had so many new and different experiences down under, but this was a once in a lifetime experience.  And the cherry on top was that I got to share it with my husband.

The strangest thing of all was after enjoying the New Years Eve festivities, sleeping in and having a lazy New Years Day morning - it was still the middle of the day on December 31st back at home!  I sent my friends and family a note from the 'future' and told them all about 2011.  Hopefully you all listened and have had a great year so far!

Fiji and The Hunter

Sounds so exotic, right?!

Okay, so here's the thing.  My vocabulary is well below subpar when it comes to describing Fiji.  (I guess I shouldn't plan on quitting my job to be a travel writer anytime soon.)  Beautiful, really and truly doesn't do it justice.  I don't know what it is about the South Pacific, but it really is an amazing part of the world, and the islands there are just breathtaking.

We turned Fiji into our second honeymoon in addition to our Christmas break, so the hotel had a bottle of champers (Aussie for champagne) and a nice note ready for us when we checked into the room.  Bonus!

 
We stayed at the Hilton resort on Denaru Island in Nadi, Fiji.  Denaru Island is a small island just a few kilometers from Nadi where all of the resorts, hotels, and golf courses are.  The people are insanely friendly and warm.  'Bula!' is the word/phrase that we heard incessantly throughout our visit.  It means hello/goodbye/thank you - sort of a catch all.

The resort was gorgeous - seven pools, two restaurants, a cafe, and a few bars.  We enjoyed several lazy days lounging by the pool, sipping cocktails, and just catching up on all of the little things that you can't fully capture in a weekly skype date.

It was purely perfect.

There actually isn't really a ton to do in Fiji.  Besides laying by the pool, walking on the beach, and snorkeling...well, yeah, that's about it.  It was perfect for us since we hadn't seen each other since Thanksgiving, so we were happy to just laze, graze and catch up.  And how many other people get to say they spent Christmas in Fiji?!

After a few blissful days in Fiji, we jetted back to Sydney for a day then hopped in a car for a road trip up to the Hunter Valley.  The Hunter Valley is a wine region in New South Wales a few hours north of Sydney.  My husband, who his friends say was raised by wolves, was happy to get out of the city for a few days and see another side of Australia.

I must admit that we were hoping to see some Aussie wildlife once we were out of the city.... and of course by we I mean my husband.  You know how I feel about animals - we should both be scared of each other.  I'm just sayin'.  So my hubby's eyes were peeled on the drive up for some kangaroos or wombats or something interesting and Aussie.

The drive up to the Hunter winds through the hills, forested areas, and lots of water.  It's a beautiful, relaxing drive, especially after driving only in Sydney traffic for so many months.

We stayed at a really quaint bed and breakfast type hotel called The Carriages.

It had sort of a carriage house with about eight rooms/suites.  We checked in, dropped our things off, and set off to explore the different wineries in the region.  A few tastings and some dinner later, we head back to the hotel to find the front porch full of people.  Including people sitting right in front of our room.  Hmmm....

Well it turns out that there was a wedding and they thought they had booked all of the rooms... all except one I guess!  They were a great couple and it was fun meeting some new people and hearing about their wedding.

My favorite thing about The Carriages was that each day they would leave a little basket in front of your door for breakfast each morning!  Tell me, that's not the cutest thing you've ever seen!

I think we really enjoyed exploring the area and driving around just as much as the actual wineries and tastings.  It was a great change of pace and interesting to see more of Oz.  And fortunately for me - no run ins with wild life.  Whew!

It's Been Longer Than I Thought

I logged on tonight, expecting to do a quick blurb about how I've been SO busy the past 3 months.  Then I saw that my last post was in January... whoops.  Yowsa!  Okay, so I've been really busy....

Don't sweat my pets, I'm planning to blog about it all!  I think with finishing up my time in Oz, spending time with my mom while she was out in Oz, then finally getting back stateside, I've been busy... well, living life and not writing about it.

Not to say that things have slowed down at all, but I'm trying to make it a priority to start writing again and writing on a more frequent basis.  That and I have the insane idea about starting another blog... but that's for another day.

The point is, sit tight, stay tuned, we'll be back in two and two.  Promise!

Operation Hubby Drop 2010

In case you can't tell I've been missing my hubby just a bit since I've landed here in Sydney. I've had a great time but it's always more special when you have someone to share it with. Even though I had my quick trip back to the states for Thanksgiving I was still pretty anxious to get Olson back over to Sydney for a few weeks.

It always annoyed me those people that are like "my husband is SO amazing! blah, blah, blah.."  Well, SPOILER ALERT!  I have become one of those people.  Because (you guessed it) my husband is SO amazing!  Annoying but true.  He took 2.5 weeks of of work so we could spend Christmas and New Years together.  Awesome.  

Part of the reason I was so excited for Olson to get here was obviously I wanted to see him, but now that I've been in Sydney for a while I wanted show off my new city.  When he was last here we had no idea what we were doing or where we were going, so I was excited to show him all of my favorite haunts and spots throughout the city.  

One of the first big things to share was my amazing driving skills.  Laugh all you want, but you try driving on the opposite side of the road.  It goes against literally everything you've ever learned in your entire life.  And to top it all off, in Australia, the turn signal and the windshield wipers are switched so you're constantly turning on your wipers instead of your turn signal.  So having been here for a while I was quite excited to show off my vastly improved driving skills.  I can even do roundabouts!  The piece de resistance was my parking job.  The carpark (Aussie for parking garage) in my building is super tight so to make it easier, I reverse into my parking spot.  What up!  Who is this girl?!  I don't even back into a spot in America.  If there's one thing I've learned in Australia that's it.  Nice work, Pam.  Nice work.  

Anyway, I had a ton of stuff planned for the trip which I'll write about in a separate post, but I had one big surprise for Chris when he arrived: a sailing trip in Sydney Harbour.  Anyone that knows my husband knows that he is obsessed with all things boats.  We have a powerboat at home on the river, but a sailboat in the harbour isn't too shabby.  

I planned a 'Morning Adventure Cruise' for us with the same sailing company we used for my work team outing.  We headed over to Rushcutter's Bay checked in and waited anxiously to meet our skipper.  

While we're waiting for our skipper to get the boat ready for us, my husband is literally floating through the marina as he starts spouting off marina and boat facts like some sort of marine Rain Man.  This is going to be a great day.  

Our skipper was Nick.  He was this cool older guy who clearly just did the skipper thing for fun because he likes sailing.  The day started with clear blue skies and a slight breeze so once we got out of the slip, he let Chris drive the boat.  I don't think I've ever seen him that happy... except for maybe our wedding day.  

The wind really picked up and it actually got to a point where it wasn't safe for us to have the sails up, so we just kept the motor on and motored throughout the harbour checking out all of the sites - the Harbour Bridge, the Opera House, Fort Denison, and all of the beautiful coves and beaches.  Nick, our skipper, knew quite abit about the real estate market and gave all of the inside scoop on some of the huge waterfront homes in the harbour.  We got all the dirt on the well to do Sydneysiders!

The cruise was for two hours and it went fast and slow all at the same time.  It was fun to just sit back and watch Chris drive the boat and soak up all the marine-ness that he could, asking about all of the marinas and boats and sailboats and races.  He was in hog-heaven.  The only problem was that this was only his second day in Sydney.  Uh-oh... how I am going to top this??  Luckily, we were heading to Fiji the next day....   

The Work Christmas Party

When I think of Christmas the first things that come to mind are Christmas trees, carols, snow, Santa... you get the idea. So as the work Christmas party approached, that's what I had in mind, minus the snow of course. Well they do things a little differently down under. Apparently when they think of Christmas the first thing that comes to mind is costume party. In America we call that Halloween, but hey, who am I to judge?

Each year for the work Christmas party there is a theme and people go all out for it. This years theme was 'Nautical'. Brilliant! That's right up my alley. The funny thing is, last Halloween me and my girlfriend Nicole dressed up as sailors for Halloween. Unfortunately that costume is currently buried somewhere in my storage unit.

Now, what does nautical have to do with Christmas, you ask? That is a very good question. The answer is, absolutely nothing. But hey, it's Sydney, it's summertime and it's hot, so you just go with it.

Since Halloween isn't really a big deal here (I had no idea that Halloween was such an 'American' thing until I moved here) I was pretty excited to get a costume for a costume/Christmas party. The party was right after I got back from the states for Thanksgiving so I didn't really have much time to pull a creative costume together. And by not much time I mean I bought an outfit the morning of the party. It all came together at the end and I was sailor/captain of sorts.

The party was in Sydney CBD at a bar with a large outdoor space so a majority of the party was outside. The weather was great and it started in the evening so it wasn't too hot. It was so much fun seeing everybody I worked with in all of their creative outfits. The theme 'nautical' is pretty loose so there was everything from pirates, sailors, mermaids, Captain Jack Sparrow, and even Sponge Bob.

At this point I've been in Sydney for about four months. It was amazing to see how many people I really have connected with from both offices and how I've really made this my temporary home. It was a great party, in true Pam fashion I buzzed about and chatted the night away. The company had an after party planned for us at another bar so we all flowed over there to dance, dance, dance!

The night went by in a blink, and I enjoyed every minute of it! Just the beginning of my Aussie Christmas experience.

My two favorite Irishmen gearing up for the party

We salute you!

Happy Halloween!  Oh wait... I mean Merry Christmas!