Post-trip depression

So I’ve been back from Thailand for over a week now. It was pretty darn fantastic. Highlights included: elephant rides, cuddling tigers, full moon party for new years, great shopping, excellent food and the friendliest people I’ve ever come across. It was really a great experience and I want to go back already.

The downside is that now I’m back in Palmerston North at work. It’s so depressing. I legitimately believe I’m suffering from post-trip depression (if that’s not a thing, it totally should be). Everything is so boring, banal and mundane here.

I definitely need some spice added or I might just go crazy.

xx

Those moments you're just like YES

I love those days and moments when you're just like YES cause things are going well. I had a day like that on Sunday. I was back in Hastings for the 22nd birthday of my best friend. I love going back to Hastings, especially in summer. It's where a lot of my favourite people reside and in summer the weather is beautiful and they have the best summer fruit and there's lots of lovely things to do outside whilst soaking up the sun.

So anyway, I had a lovely lunch surrounded by lovely people, then bought some deliciously juicy strawberries from the strawberry patch and chilled back with friends before driving back to Palmy. Even the drive there and back was good because I had new music on my ipod and a new car that is super smooth to drive. Ahhhh bliss.

I got to spend time with this gorgeous birthday girl, which is always a pleasure:

xx

Adventure time!

So I'm officially going! Thailand come at me! My friend and I have booked our flights and are off out of here on the 23rd of December! To say I'm really excited is the understatement of the century. Just some of the things I want to do in Thailand include:

• Ride an elephant
• Go on a hilltribe trek
• Go on a river cruise
• Visit some fantastic temples
• Go to the Full Moon New Years party on Ko Phangan
• Stay at least one night in a 5 star hotel (accomodation is crazy cheap)
• Visit the amazing markets
• Eat amazing Thai food
• Drink amazing cocktails on an amazing beach

I'M SO EXCITED!!!

xx

What's been up lately...

Apologies for my delay between posts, I have been all over the place lately and haven't actually found the time/have been too lazy to sit down and write. But I will be better from now.

Over the past few weeks I have been on the hunt for a job, which is getting more and more desperate/depressing/scary/worrying as time goes on and my savings keep whittling down. Thankfully my hours at my current job have picked up a bit again but still not enough. I have lost count of the number of jobs I've applied for online, but the problem with online job-hunting is that all those jobs are applied for by hundreds of people, and there will always be someone more qualified or better for the role than me. It's hard to not get really down about the lack of success, but I'm trying to keep my head up!

In talking about my monetary woes though, I have myself to blame for a lot of it. I've been travelling around a lot lately, which hasn't helped my funds! I had the 21st of one of my dearest friends in Hamilton one weekend (which was awesome!) then was up in Hamilton again the following weekend for the Parachute music festival (sooooooooo much fun) which was a real money-killer. Fortunately since then I've been able to curb my spending quite a bit, and I've had some decent work shifts too.

Here are some pics from my life lately...

Social social social!! Sorry some of the pics are terrible quality (they're from an iphone).

My next step is to go door-knocking with my CV. I am dreading this very much, but I must do it.

Ly xx

Oruawharo

Today I attended my Grandparents' 60th wedding anniversary luncheon. 13 members of my family met at the beautiful Oruawharo Homestead in Takapau, a place that is a bit off the beaten track but well worth a visit. It is an absolutely spectacular building, with so much character. It kind of reminds me of a Jane Austen era type home. My favourite room of them all (and there are many, many rooms) was the library which featured a wall of floor to ceiling bookcases and comfy chairs for reading. We had a lovely luncheon consisting of tea, devonshire scones, club sandwiches, ginger gems, mini savouries, strawberry tarts and fruit juice. All served on gorgeous tiered plate stands. After lunch we took some photos in the gardens and then played a bit of petanque (which I'm useless at btw). Unfortunately I didn't get very many photos. I forgot my proper camera, silly me. It was all so instragram-worthy too :(

I discovered a wooden swing suspended to a big old tree and quite enjoyed that for a while:

Visit Oruawharo if you ever get the chance.

xx

Food

I love having a camera on my phone. The ability to snap something you see while out and about is excellent.
Another thing I love is food. And therefore, I will often combine these two loves. I have been eating out quite a bit over summer (as you do) and so my phone has a fair amount of pictures of what I've been putting in my mouth....

YUM. 

xx

Oh hai there :)

Hey there readers, sorry for my absence!

Our flat has been between internet plans so I've been relying on phone internet for the past wee while, which is simply not viable for blogging. But I have now returned!!

Since my last blog post:

• Two of my flatmates (including the bestie) have moved out. There are currently only two inhabitants, and its weird not having the loud ones around anymore. 
• We had one last party at the flat before these two moved out. It got cray. Jac and I dressed up as cats, we were pretty darn cute.
• I've been working a fair amount, which is good because Christmas is super close! ahhh!
• I've become a fan and user of Instagram.
• I've watched heaps of Game of Thrones. It's amazing.
• Had the most lovely weekend in Hastings with the parents. Lovely food and great company = bliss.
• Caught up with a few friends, which has been nice.

Jac and I had a pamper day and did these face-mask thingys. One of mine was electric blue, as you can see. This is my take on 'blue steel', Derek Zoolander eat your heart out...!

Got given this super cute gift for being a valued customer at 278 on Cuba. It's hot chocolate in a jar! Choc drink powder, choc bits and marshmallows...just add to hot milk and voila! So cuuute :D

xx

A list of randoms

• I lost my phone battery on Saturday night. Not the back panel that houses the battery or the sim card, just the battery. wtf. So bought myself the cheapest phone I could find, $39. It's actually awesome and super easy to text with. I love it's simplicity. In saying that though, I really want an iphone.

• I want to belong to a book club one day. I love the idea of reading a book a week and then getting together to talk about it over drinks and canapes. It would also keep my mind young I believe (this is assuming I join the book club when I'm older).

• Going to see Taken 2 tonight! Excited! Loved the first one so hoping the second one is just as good. Have heard good things from one friend. Also, Liam Neeson is awesome.

• They have a 'guess the number of jelly beans in the jar' competition going at the local New World supermarket. The thing is though, it's only black and white jelly beans. WHO would want to win that? Pretty sure those are the two flavours everyone hates..green and pink are where it's at!!

• Only 10 weeks till Christmas!!! whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat!! This means summer though! woop!

xx

Girl time

While it's fun to hang with the boys at times (and can be a great deal less stressful), there is nothing that beats a good 'ol girl hang sesh. I personally think there isn't much that beats just chilling with the besties watching movies with some sweet deliciousness and great conversation. In saying this though, the bestie and I were talking about how it would be fun to have a night doing totally girlie things that we never do, like slathering on some face masks and having a grooming sesh whilst listening to some really relaxing music. So this got me to thinking about other ideas for nights with the girls, and after doing some 'research' I came across a few ideas I want to try some time...

• Scouring youtube for make-up tutorials and spending a night practicing all sorts of different looks (I'm not too good with eye makeup so would probably fail miserably but it would still be fun!)
• Find some awesome craft to do and have a night being totally crafty with glue and sequins and glitter!
• Learn a dance routine from youtube! Then bust it out in town later?
• Pick a nationality and dedicate the night to it - French food, french movies, french clothes, speak french...etc etc
• Clothes swap! 
• Get in the kitchen and cook up something completely random from scratch - not allowed to buy anything, that's the challenge!

Really want to do some of these things over summer, with those beautiful souls I love spending time with. Especially want to have a pamper party type thing - could be heaps of fun! Do you have any other ideas for fun girl night activities?

xx

A Blonde Urge

So I'm naturally blonde right, but have been dying my hair dark since year 13, so for about 3 years. I like having dark hair, but recently have kinda had an urge to go back to blonde again! Defs not the shade I was though, which was borderline ginge. Though I really really want long dark hair one day, I'm thinking that maybe in the interim while it grows longer I could be blonde coz it's super easy to go back to dark again from blonde. Plus, it'll be so much easier to maintain when it's blonde, as my regrowth will be blonde so won't have to dye as often!

I know the mothership will like this idea, as pretty much every time I see her she tells me how she misses my blonde hair (plus I'm sure she won't mind not having to dye my hair every time she sees me either hah).

One thing that is holding me back atm (other than the monetary factor) is that to go back to blonde I'll have to bleach my hair first, and bleach is sooooooo bad for your hair. But since I'll be dying it less when it's blonde maybe it will be healthier in the long run so will be worth it? It will be a big change and is quite a risk I guess but I'm a pretty chilled person when it comes to these kinda things and keen to try new things and I reckon change is good!
Kinda keen to get my hair done this summer! A prezzie to myself for finishing my degree!

I really like this shade...

                  

Plus, if I don't like it, I can always easily go back to dark hair.

But I'm still kinda iffy atm, coz I don't think I'll suit blonde again!!!

Help! Thoughts please!

:) xx

A quickie ;)

Been very busy lately. Here is the lowdown: palmy, wedding, party, day of rest (hallelujah), meanest game of Risk ever, epic work week, 3am wakeup for a 5am start, rugby, mingling with All Blacks (!!), sober d, crash after being awake for 25 hours straight, tennis, thai nomnom, massive cleanup, last day of work YUSS. Heading to Palmy tomorrow. Excited!
Whilst perusing a favourite blog tonight I came across this awesome underwater dog photography by Seth Casteel and because the pics are hilarious and I love dogs, just had to post it :)

Hehehe these pics made me laugh out loud
xx

Prettiness xx

Some pictures that make me smile/feel happy on this beautifully sunny Hawke's Bay day (made that much lovelier by the fact that it's a day off for me. yuss).....









have a fab day readers
xx

Happy Days + Crazy Nights

Sorry for the long delay between posts! I'm so much better when I'm at uni and get into my regular routine, so bear with me! Life highlights since my last post include: A 7.5 hour Downton Abbey marathon (with the bestie and some lovely nosh), another great night with friends which involved new card games, playing on the playground at the park, excessive rhyming and a 2am visit to McDs, slushies with the sister, night-time tennis and work (which has been surprisingly bearable lately). Looking forward to a busy weekend coming up too, I'm working at a Hall & Oates featuring Icehouse concert at Church Road Winery which should be fun!

Some things I've been appreciating recently...

These stairs Jo and I discovered - so cool! And culminating in Charlie Chaplin, even cooler.

 (Charlie's art deco Restaurant in Napier)

Coldplay's superb newest single Charlie Brown

(hmmm what is it with Charlie's lately)

This little doggie, Kobe, my work friend :)

Peace out homies

xx

Field Candy

I like camping. I haven't done a heck of a lot of it, but have good memories from the camping I have done, and want to do more in the future. Even camping out in the backyard with friends was a highlight of my childhood! My friends and I planned to have a backyard campout at some point this summer, though I'm not sure if it'll happen coz we're kinda running out of time. I saw the most amazing tents on KuTE KIWI the other day and just had to reblog them. So incredibly cool. Here are some of my favourites...

FieldCandy

Kayso I pretty much like all of them!! But seriously, how hip would it be to rock up at a campsite with a tent like this! Make a statement much?! Haha.
I love.
xx

The lowdown

After a week filled with awesomeness (last Saturday night, going to the movies, and 2 other movie dates, gym sessions, great work last night and mean car chats with Harriet etc etc) and some lows (working 6 days, having my car number plates stolen), I am finally blogging again. Yay!

Something that has made me really happy lately is that I feel as though I've found my social 'niche' - a group of people I love hanging out with and honestly crave spending time with. Every time is a good time with this group. Having such an awesome group of mates is such a blessing, and I'm gonna be really sad to leave when I head back to uni :(

Anyways, today is my only day off so Ima make it great! Had a sleep in this morning (didn't get to bed until 1am after a 14hr shift and only had 3 hours sleep Thursday so this was much needed), am hanging with one bestie in the arvo and meeting both of them for dinner in Napier tonight! I shall take my camera :)

Oh, and I might play tennis this arvo too :)
This is how I feel when I play tennis...........

Happy. I love Tennis :)

Have a fab day readers!!

xx

New Beginnings

I am becoming slacker and slacker at blogging, and I do apologise. But in my defence, the only computer I can use is ridiculously slow and I am hardly ever home to post. I hope y'all had a great christmas and new year. I saw the new year in with a new friend (a person I clicked with immediately, which doesn't happen too often and thus was very cool), one of my oldest friends, two male specimens and another girl I hadn't met before. It involved lots of dancing and a veeeeeeeeeeery late bedtime of 6:15am. But it was totes worth it :) Since then, I've been working and seeing friends. Oh and my friend and I found an awesome flat for next year too which is exciting!

Seeing as it's a new year and all, I have a few resolutions I want to see through this year, which are...

• Do really well academically seeing as it's my final (and most important!) year
• Get into the habit of eating really healthily. Three meals a day, everyday. Had a mean convo with a close friend about this the other day, and there are things that can defs be improved. Here's to making this year the one where I finally kick those unhealthy habits!
• Keep up regular exercise.
• Be more social, and make more friends!
• Become more self-confident....somehow...
• Go to more gigs!
• Blog more! And maybe get to 10 followers? Tehehe

So these are pretty generic and boring, but they're the ones that I really want to improve on. And finally, I want to keep this in mind (as I tend to care about looks and be superficial way too much, bad ae..!).....................


What are your resolutions?
xx