Ramblings of a Brit girl living in Sydney

Everyday musings on life in the Motherland vs. life in Oz

Monday, April 19, 2010

Love, actually

I'm so caught up with all the other social media in my life (Twitter, my work blog and Facebook) I almost forgot I had this blog and I've been very slack lately. Back in February, I celebrated my two year 'Australiaversary' and promised a bigger update. It's taken me two months, but better late than never!

A big reason I've had less time for this is that I have less time to myself these days and that's because back in November, I met Damian and promptly fell in love. The fact that it took almost two years to meet someone special in this country is actually a good thing in my mind. And that's because before I met him (WAY before I met him) I was already very sure I intended to make Sydney my home forever. Much as it would be wonderfully romantic to stay on the other side of the world for a man, my love affair with Sydney came first and consequently I know I'm here for the right reasons (not that he wouldn't be a good one). Needless to say he has made my already lovely life in Oz even lovelier.

So, apart from meeting the man of my dreams, what else is there to tell you about the last 24 months (actually, 26 now) in Oz? I'm still associate publisher of Dynamic Business magazine at Loyalty Media and I still love my job and my colleagues. We're officially relaunching the mag in June which is massively exciting. I've moved house and now live in the very proper North Shore suburb of Mosman (it's very posh and quiet and lots of old people live here!) which is a short walk from the beautiful Balmoral beach (nothing like Balmoral in Scotland where the Queen holidays). It's also home to Taronga Zoo, in my opinion the most amazing zoo location in the world. I moved because I decided I was too old and too Monica-from-Friends to flatshare anymore and I have absolutely loved living on my own for the past six months.

At the beginning of December, I was lucky enough to fly (business class, thank goodness, as it's a bloody long way!) to Moscow on a work trip and it was an incredible experience. Over Christmas, my best friend Dani and my friend Traf and his wife Jo came here for Christmas and New Year which was amazing. We had a young person's BBQ Christmas in Melbourne and the aforementioned Damian flew there to surprise me on Christmas Day. Swoon. In February, Dad rocked up for 3.5 weeks; his second visit since I moved here. There are perks to having a daughter living on the other side of the world, especially when it's been snowing a lot in England.

And speaking of England, I'll be back again in July for a visit and to help my little sister celebrate her 27th (that makes me feel old!) birthday. I'm already having palpitations trying to imagine how I'll fit everyone in. Again. And that's just my really good friends. All of them...

Saturday, February 27, 2010

Two years tomorrow

Wow. Tomorrow I'll have been living in Australia for two years. This will warrant a much longer and more reflective post when I have more time next week but seriously, where did that time go?!

Friday, September 25, 2009

iSnack 2.0, the new Vegemite

I've blogged on Marmite v. Vegemite before but I couldn't leave this unmentioned. It is too good!

Vegemite (the somewhat similar but totally inferior Aussie version of Marmite) came up with a new recipe, mixing cheese spread and Vegemite (I know, gross!) and ran a competition to name it. And the winning name was iSnack 2.0.

How ridiculous is that?! Further proof: Marmite is better than Vegemite.

Monday, September 7, 2009

I'm becoming Australianised...

G'day,
I haven't posted many musings lately on Oz versus UK life and I wonder if that's because I'm becoming more and more Australian? On Saturday night, I met a friend of a friend for the first time. We'd both heard of each other through the mutual friend, but when I went and introduced myself to him, he replied: "You can't be Jen! If you're Jen, how come you haven't got a Pommy accent?"
I'm also getting a bit tired of the friends in the UK who demand that I "stop talking in that Australian accent, you sound like you're off Neighbours" when I have a phonecall home. Seriously, I haven't completely lost my grasp of the Queen's English but my voice is slipping deeper and deeper into an English/Aussie hybrid. Funny thing is I'm worryingly proud to sound a bit Aussie. Don't tell anyone.
My dad's gonna be heaps pleased, no worries.

Saturday, August 22, 2009

Sex and the City movie jewellery from Oz!

Listen up, Pommy girlfriends, if you want to (shock horror) take some fashion forward tips from Australia! This lady's Samantha Wills, a seriously cool jewellery designer from Sydney who was the cover star of the July issue of my magazine. Word on the street is that SATC stylist, and the woman responsible for Carrie Bradshaw's look, Patricia Field, recently bought up a load of Sam's pieces for the new movie. Wow. SJP could end up wearing the Serendipity necklace which I myself own. I can really see her wearing it, so my money's on Carrie in Samantha Wills! Check out the amazing collection at www.samanthawills.com.au

Saturday, July 25, 2009

Pommy pants!

Tonight, I'm off to my friend Amanda's themed birthday party. Her nickname is Pants (don't ask), and over here that means trousers. So everyone has to wear some crazy pants and I decided to give mine a distinctly British feel! What do you reckon?

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

One word: cricket

OK, so I don't understand and have no interest in cricket, but I couldn't let the fact that England won the second test in the Ashes go unmentioned on this blog. Done!