One Great Big Rambly Catch-Up !

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Aloha, Welcome back to my slice of the internet! If your an old friend, how i've missed you all; and if your new- the warmest of welcomes to you :) If you've flicked back a few post's I mentioned that I'd have to be taking a break from my blog for a short while, 31 days to be precise, to focus myself on University exams and just sorting my life out in general. Little did I know that a short break was going to take me away from the keyboard for over eight weeks! But before I put all that into the past lets have a quick catchup of whats been going on in my world for the last few months.

// Uni // has been over for four-ish weeks now, and I can't even begin to explain the relief that washed over me as I walked out of that last exam. I'm far from a model student and the studying side of uni has been a massive learning curve for me- the practical side i've got down pat but sitting in a lecture for three hours or spending my friday nights locked up in the library does my head in. Having said that I probably don't apply myself as much as I could- in the words of almost every single teacher I ever had! 

// Party Party! // Exactly six days after my final exam I turned the big Twenty-One- quick someone chuck a pensioners card this way. My dad actually turned 50 {if anyones getting that pensioners card it him} two days before me so a party was definitely on the cards. I was adamant on having the party at my home in Sydney so after lots of sweet talking and the promise of long sunny days in paradise I managed to con my entire family to fly up- it's quiet obviously the logical thing here. Airfares for 1 vs   the entire family. Good job Amy.  Given that the party was planned in less than a week it turned out brilliantly, lots of laughs, homemade pizza and good times. Plus the recently renovated bath from our old bathroom that conveniently sat in the front garden all week waiting to get to the skip bin ended up spray painted gold and sitting in the garden bed full of drinks. It's actually still there and I have a feeling it's not going to be moving for a while ha!! 

// Family Time // Since my fam had a few extra days after the party before they jetted of back home we decided to do the whole 'Sydney' experience. Nursing sore heads the day after celebrating we made our way down to Wollongong. I don't know if this is actually a major iconic place for them to visit but it is one of the most beautiful places on the planet for me, so any excuse to go down for a visit. The day was super overcast and I actually had to wear a jumper it was that cold but I find gloomy weather like that almost comforting and romantic. After stopping at Stanwell Tops, which on a good day can look incredible, we ventured off in search of coffee. We ended up in that cafe that overlooks the Bulli rock pool, the coffee was okay but the view made up for everything and the rock pool looked almost inviting with the thick, grey storm clouds rolling over top. We also made it into the city for one action packed day. Instead of the usual spots to visit, which would have well and truly bored my family to bits, we decided to split up and half went art gallery hopping throughout The Rocks while the rest of us went to the Fish Markets. Now you've probably just spat your cuppa onto your screen thinking why on earth would anyone want to go hang out around the docks and walk out stinking like a fish punt? And normally I'd agree with you- if it learnt for how incredible it actually was to see all the fresh seafood that was there. It was seriously amazing! We ended up sitting on a dodgy old bench overlooking the water eating fresh prawns that would put anything from wollies to shame. 

// The hunt for the perfect Christmas tree // Okay i've got a confession to make- I never knew there was such thing as Christmas tree farms until two weeks ago. Who would have thought there was a place where there are rows upon rows of pine trees just waiting for you to chop them down. Crazy stuff!! With the spirit of christmas within us and armed with a sad looking hand saw we pick out the biggest  tree we could find and started sawing it down. Sawing it down is a giant overstatement, five minutes of vigorous swinging this dangerous contraption around we were about three centimetres into what seemed like a never ending stump. We were eventually saved by a smart man armed with a chainsaw who must have either felt extremely sorry for us or just wanted to shut our winging up. Im betting on the second one there. Another thing I learnt that day; Pine trees are very heavy. Like really, really heavy and hard to drag. We must have had everyone around us in stitches of laughter because we looked hilarious! We did eventually manage to get it into the house and have it decorated, it's possibly a bit big for the room but that's the whole point right?! 

// Tassie // And after all that rambling I'm finally up to now. I made it home for christmas which was a quiet affair this year, just nine of us and whole lotta turkey. It was bliss and just what we all needed after an intense few months. I couldn't be happier to be back on my little Island. It's incredible to see what I used to take for granted every day, I mean seriously where else in the world in your major city right on the docks and you turn around and theres a breath taking mountain right behind you? It may get a little boring at times but as much as I love the hustle of Sydney I think that deep down i'll always end up back in good ole' Tasmania. 

Right- thats the cut off point, my teas gone cold and my brains starting to forget how to spell, thank the lord for spellcheckers hey! I hope all you lovelies had a christmas full of love and laughter and are getting ready to tide in the new year with fresh starts and lots of champagne. 

Lots of Love,

A x

Long Time No See.

Wow, long time no see hey. It makes me sad that my poor little blog has been left to wither away on the internet all by its lonesome. I really don't want to make excuses because it's nobodies fault but mine and the university of western sydney- thank you very much for giving me more assignments than humanly possible to complete in a semester; Which is actually the real reason that i've left you all in the lurch for so long! As much as I don't like to admit it Uni definitely has to come before blogging :( If I were a super organised person I could probably squeeze everything in, but i'm not that kind of person. Im one of those people who has a 2000 word prac report due in three days time and i'll decided to go on a road trip (See above photos! Definitely better than the library) or i'll have an essay due in 12 hours but still manage to find time to watch six episodes of Great British Bake-off! Thats just the kind of person that I am. So What i'm trying to say is that the next four weeks until my exams are over its going to be pretty quiet 'round here, all my waking moments will be spent practising my cranial nerves and memorising functional groups of chemicals. Oh the joys of science hey! So i've got precisely 31 days plus a few for recovery and then we'll be back and at em' Wish me luck ;)

Rockin' Curves and that Ridiculous Wand !!

Ooh another mascara; one would think I was a mascara hoarder. I do have a serious soft spot for them but what actually happened was a massive pre-spring clear out of everything I owned, including all my mascaras that were either not my style or a little manky! I was left with only one lonely tube {this baby from revlon!} So in typical me fashion I managed to somehow accumulate more tubes than I had before. Total logic right there ;) I picked up this Rockin Curves Mascara by Revlon a few weeks ago and although there are a few design flaws namely that ridiculous wand  I've found myself using it more days than not! I'll be pretty blunt and say that the brush on this thing puts me off to no end. The pointy end of the wand being so curved makes it quite hard to get it into the corners of your eyes without mascara ending up all over your face. You really need to have some time and patience if your going to use this, it's definitely not an early morning mascara. Seriously I can hardly put my pants on straight first thing in the morning let alone sit there and concentrate on my lashes.  All that aside I really do like the formula of this mascara; it is a little on the thick side so I do scrape the sides of the wand back into the bottle a few times to prevent those spidery lashes going on. My favourite thing about this is how black this is- its a very intense black which I didn't realise when buying that it's got Extreme Black written all over the bottle. Smart move there Amy! It's probably not the most casual of mascaras but if your going out for drinks with a girlfriend and don't feel like using falsies maybe give this beauty a whirl. You'll be surprised! 

Scrub away your spots!

Finding a face scrub that works with your skin is a tricky job. Sometimes they seem like a miracle worker for the first few tries and then it all goes down hill. Other times they just straight out don't work or they sort of do but your not totally sold on it? I think what it really comes down to is what's in the product that works well with your skin- and in my case that's Salicylic Acid. I have combination oily skin so for me my t-zone gets a little greasy throughout the day but the rest of my face is fairly normal. I seem to get the majority of my spots on the lower half of my checks and around my neckline so not really where my skin gets very greasy. This St Ive's Blemish control Apricot scrub has become my holy grail, must use every morning product. It's quite an abrasive scrub so you only want to use a little bit at a time and although I really do want to use it every morning I tend to use it every second day just so I'm not overusing it and doing any unwanted damage to my skin! It works really well at removing any dead skin and leaves my skin feeling so smooth and refreshed but not tight like some scrubs can. I haven't noticed a huge difference in the size of my pores although they weren't huge to begin with! I've probably been using this for about six months now and i've only just brought me second tube so a little bit does go such a long way with this! The other bonus is that this smells so so delicious- it's like going to a spa in your own bathroom and did I mention how cheap it is? It's normally only $10 but theres 20% off at priceline at the moment so if you've got oily/ combo skin like me why not go pick up a bottle :)

Chai Laneway Markets // A tea lovers Paradise

It's well known on this little slice of the internet that I am a tea nutter. But if I was only aloud one type of tea for the rest of my life it would most definitely be the humble Chai. It's sweet but spicy, has a punch of flavour but mellows itself out as you sip- it's simply divine! So you can imagine how my heart raced when I found out there was not only a tea festival going on but one devoted entirely to Chai Tea. So early Saturday morning early for me- not so early for the normal population I managed to drag myself out of bed gather some clothes and get out the door without waking anyone in my household up. Quite an accomplishment in our house as the walls are paper thin and I'm not very delicate; mum used to complain that as a toddler I would never walk just run from point A to point B and I don't think I've ever grown out of it! 

By the time I got to the Markets, which were actually held in an open air piazza of the local shopping centre, it was well after 11 and I was in desperate need of a coffee. I popped into Coffee Traders for a quick latte and snoop of the local paper before braving the sudden snap of weather and venturing out into the market. The smells that were in the air was enough to draw a huge crowd; regardless of the awful weather! It was a Chai lovers paradise out there, if it was possible to overdose on Chai well I think I came pretty close to doing it! The chai chocolate fudge was to die for and something that I'd never even though of doing before. The original Foxi iced Chai is something i've never come across and will be lusting after coming up to those hot summer months!  

There was also plenty of options for non-chai lovers too; macaroons in every flavour you could think of, Farmer Jo's musli had an unbelievable selection of homemade artisan oats and musli. It was probably a good thing my bag was bursting with goodies by the time I got to them otherwise I would have brought far more than I actually needed. The Chai Room had the most amazing ginger masala Chai that I have ever had with a punch of spice that mellows out and leaves the sweetest taste in your mouth; i'm going to be chasing them around markets from now on just to get a pot of that ginger masala blend. But if your more of a chai latte kinda girl don't worry, we won't judge you  Chai Me has hands down the most sensational Chai Latte Spice I have ever tried, even my friends who aren't huge fans of chai loved it- and thats saying something! By the time I had meandered around every stall the weather had taken a turn for the worse and I decided to make the long drive back home. An hour and a half later I was curled up in-front of the roaring fire with a book and a steaming mug of chai tee; the perfect way to spend a saturday - absolute bliss!