Kate tagged me to share 6 random holiday traditions/facts about my Christmases in Australia!

1. We always got a real Christmas tree. ALWAYS. We were the only house in our family to do so (the others didn't want the expense or the mess). It doesn't smell like Christmas without the smell of real pine in the house. We'd usually get it a week or so before Christmas so it still looked nice on Christmas day.

2. We hung our stockings (my mum made them when my brother & I were little and embroidered our names on them) on the dining room chairs. I think we did this because the dining room and family room (where the tree was) were one big room. Our only working fireplace was at the other end of the house. For a few years we set out huge paper footprints (to protect the carpet from the mess) to lead Santa through the house from the chimney to our stockings.

3. We used to go to church on Christmas Eve and we loved it when we were old enough to stay up late and go to midnight mass. It was the only time we'd go to church once we were teenagers. When I moved back to Australia for a few years we didn't go to midnight mass because my brother didn't want to go and my dad didn't care, so they'd stopped going.

4. On Christmas morning my parents would always set a time that was the earliest we were allowed to wake them up. Once we were up, we'd open our presents from Santa (in our stockings) straight away. He always brought many awesome little gifts, some wrapped and some not. Stockings are my favorite part of the presents and I'll miss not having anything to do with them this year. Then we'd have breakfast and showers, then sit down by the tree and open presents from each other one at a time. We always got presents from our cats too!

5. I have a pretty small extended family in South Australia - my paternal grandparents, my aunt & uncle, and 3 cousins. We actually got together almost every Sunday night at one of our housesanyway, but Christmas was always special still. There was a 3 year rotation for hosting Christmas, but when my grandparents moved to a smaller place about 6/7 years ago (we all miss their house!!) it became a 2 year rotation between my house and my aunt & uncles'. We got together early afternoon for a late lunch, followed by presents, and we'd usually stay through til nighttime.

6. Christmas is in summer (though we often have summer rains fall in Adelaide on Christmas day), and bbq is usually a big part of the meal. Traditionally, turkey (usually a turkey breast pressed roll) and potatoes are cooked in the oven, meat (sausages, steak, chicken) are cooked on the bbq, and we add a prawns, nibbles, and a ton of salads to that. Desserts were pavlova, mince pies, trifle, and pumpkin pie. I never really liked most of the Christmas foods.. way too much meat for me!

I tag:

That's Just Fabulous
Peeptoe Pumps and Pearls
Janelle
One Fabulous Mom

Adorable Animals

I'm watching Ellen and she showed some pictures of these adorable tiger cubs (gosh, I want one!!) who have been adopted by a chimpanzee. Sooo sweet!!

Things I've Done

I copied this from Danielle.

01. Bought everyone in the bar a drink
02. Swam with dolphins
03. Climbed a mountain
04. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive
05. Been inside the Great Pyramid
06. Held a tarantula
07. Taken a candlelit bath with someone
08. Said “I love you” and meant it
09. Hugged a tree
10. Bungee jumped
11. Visited Paris
12. Watched a lightning storm at sea
13. Stayed up all night long and saw the sun rise
14. Seen the Northern Lights
15. Gone to a huge sports game
16. Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa (they were restoring it when we were there, weren't allowed to climb up)
17. Grown and eaten your own vegetables
18. Touched an iceberg
19. Slept under the stars
20. Changed a baby’s diaper
21. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon
22. Watched a meteor shower
23. Gotten drunk on champagne
24. Given more than you can afford to charity
25. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
26. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment
27. Had a food fight
28. Bet on a winning horse
29. Asked out a stranger
30. Had a snowball fight
31. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can
32. Held a lamb
33. Seen a total eclipse
34. Ridden a roller coaster
35. Hit a home run
36. Danced like a fool and didn’t care who was looking
37. Adopted an accent for an entire day
38. Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment
39. Had two hard drives for your computer
40. Visited all 50 states
41. Taken care of someone who was drunk
43. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country (foreign to this country, yes)
44. Watched whales
42. Had amazing friends
45. Stolen a sign
46. Backpacked in Europe
47. Taken a road-trip
48. Gone rock climbing
49. Taken a midnight walk on the beach
50. Gone sky diving
51. Visited Ireland
52. Been heartbroken longer than you were actually in love
53. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger’s table and had a meal with them
54. Visited Japan
55. Milked a cow
56. Alphabetized your CDs
57. Pretended to be a superhero
58. Sung karaoke
59. Lounged around in bed all day
60. Played touch football
61. Gone scuba diving
62. Kissed in the rain
63. Played in the mud
64. Played in the rain
65. Gone to a drive-in theater
66. Visited the Great Wall of China
67. Started a business
68. Fallen in love and not had your heart broken
69. Toured ancient sites
70. Taken a martial arts class
71. Played D&D for more than 6 hours straight
72. Gotten married
73. Been in a movie
74. Crashed a party
75. Gotten divorced
76. Gone without food for 5 days
77. Made cookies from scratch
78. Won first prize in a costume contest
79. Ridden a gondola in Venice
80. Gotten a tattoo
81. Rafted the Snake River
82. Been on a television news program as an “expert”
83. Gotten flowers for no reason
84. Performed on stage
85. Been to Las Vegas
86. Recorded music
87. Eaten shark
88. Kissed on the first date
89. Gone to Thailand
90. Bought a house
91. Been in a combat zone
92. Buried one/both of your parents
93. Been on a cruise
94. Spoken more than one language fluently
95. Performed in Rocky Horror
96. Raised children
97. Followed your favorite band/singer on tour
98. Passed out cold
99. Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country
100. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over
101. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge
102. Sang loudly in the car, and didn’t stop when you knew someone was looking with the windows open
103. Had plastic surgery
104. Survived an accident that you shouldn’t have survived
105. Wrote articles for a large publication
106. Lost over 100 pounds
107. Held someone while they were having a flashback
108. Piloted an airplane
109. Touched a stingray
110. Broken someone’s heart
111. Helped an animal give birth
112. Won money on a TV game show
113. Broken a bone
114. Gone on an African photo safari
115. Had a facial part pierced other than your ears
116. Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol
117. Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild
118. Ridden a horse
119. Had major surgery
120. Had a snake as a pet
121. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
122. Slept for 30 hours in a 48 hour period
123. Visited more foreign countries than U.S. States
124. Visited all 7 continents
125. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days (technically, it was a kayak trip.. but same thing)
126. Eaten kangaroo meat
127. Eaten sushi
128. Had your picture in the newspaper
129. Changed someone’s mind about something you care deeply about
130. Gone back to school
131. Parasailed
132. Touched a cockroach
133. Eaten fried green tomatoes
134. Read The Iliad and The Odyssey
135. Selected one “important” author who you missed in school, and read
136. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
137. Skipped all your school reunions
138. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language
139. Been elected to public office
140. Written your own computer language
141. Thought to yourself that you’re living your dream
142. Had to put someone you love into hospice care
143. Built your own PC from parts
144. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn’t know you
145. Had a booth at a street fair
146. Dyed your hair
147. Been a DJ
148. Shaved your head
149. Caused a car accident
150. Saved someone’s life

Disneyland!! And life in general

Last Thursday I went to Disneyland again, finally! I had been wanting to go for ages but didn't actually do it. I love all the Halloween decorations. And I L-O-V-E love the Haunted Mansion Holiday ride!! Haunted Mansion has never been one of my 'must-ride' rides, but I'm sure I must have been on it decorated for the holidays last time I lived here. I don't remember it being so cool though. I rode it early on during my visit and then went back at the end and rode it twice in a row. Haha. I'm going to try to go to Disneyland as much as I can while it's on (does Haunted Mansion change after Halloween or after Christmas?).

I also rode most of my favorites. I went on Peter Pan, which I haven't been on in a while. Also my 2 other favorites, Indiana Jones and Pirates of the Caribbean - both of which actually stopped for a short time while I was on them. Haunted Mansion did that the first time I rode it that day too.. maybe I was a curse. Pirates was the worst though... my boat stopped between the scene where the piano plays itself, and the scene after it, and the music did a few repetitions (changing up and down in volume, I think because they realised it would be annoying for it to stay so loud) before we started moving again. Then all the boats were nose-to-tail and constantly stopped, started, and bumped into each other for the rest of the ride. The people in front of me were riding for the first time and I felt like saying to them 'trust me, it's usually sooo much better'. The ride was closed earlier in the day and for a short time after I was on it too, so obviously there was some issue.

I'm house-sitting/pet-sitting soon, which will be fun. I'll have a house, a pool, a dog and a kitten for a week or so! Oh, I'm also already cat-sitting so that cat will be going with me too but staying in the bedroom. Craziness. I'm babysitting a few times too, which I'm really looking forward to! I don't know what's happening with an actual job... I'm waiting to hear back from 2 places I've applied. One, I've been to 2 interviews for and from what they said I should have heard from them already so that's a bit odd. I don't actually want that job though because although it offers health insurance it is only 30 hours a week and the shift times aren't great. I would need to pick up more hours/more work elsewhere if I took that job because I can't live on that little money!! The other job I've done a phone interview for and I am meant to hear by mid-next week. That one I really want. It's frustrating though because I want and need to plan ahead and know if I have a job and where. I have a friend who's going to be in L.A for a few days at the end of the month and I want to plan if/when I can do things with her. Also, if I don't get one of these jobs I need to book flights to Australia for November. I'll be going back there for a few weeks to get medications if I can't get a job with health insurance before then. So I want to book the flights asap if I need them to make sure I get decent prices. At the moment I'm kinda in limbo... I spent most of today organising my itunes files onto an external harddrive and randomly watching episodes in a Degrassi: Next Generation marathon (a show I've never watched before). A bit pathetic. I want a good job!!

Princess

On Sunday, the little girl I used to nanny for here turned 7! I lived with her family and took care of her when she was almost 3 til she was almost 4. Wow. I went to her birthday party, and last night I babysat for her. It was so great - the first chance I've had to spend time with her one-on-one. I've missed her so much. She's amazing. On Friday it's my birthday and I'm going to spend the day with her. At this stage I think we're going to Disneyland! I'm sooo thankful that her parents are lending her to me for the day. Aside from always wanting to spend time with her to rebuild our relationship, I really didn't want to spend my birthday alone. So this week is turning out to be a pretty good one.

I need cupboards

At the moment I'm cleaning/organising my apartment.. but that's boring so we won't write about that.

I just caught the end of Serendipity on tv. I love that movie. It reminded me how much I want to visit NYC during the holiday season again! I'd love to go this year but it will probably end up having to wait. I'm expecting to be working then and I don't know what sort of vacation time I'll get. Plus, I want to go with people and I don't know anyone who I think would go yet!

Today I bought Season 3 of The Hills!!! I'm so excited to watch this season since it's so much longer than the others. I'd seen the first 4 episodes or so when I was babysitting my girls back in Australia, but there's so many more to enjoy. I'll need to re-adjust to the format of the show though, which is something that originally put me off Laguna Beach when it first came out. The specific non-reality reality show style isn't something I've watched in months. While I was at Target, I also bought several little sweater basics including this and this. Only a few more things I'd love to get, and will look for tomorrow, and then I'm wardrobe ready for my VaCaTiOn!

Once Bitten, Twice Shy

Today I went shopping at the Burbank Town Center. I didn't realise it 'til I got there, but I'd actually been there once before to go to Ikea. I wanted to go to Steve & Barry's to check out Sarah Jessica Parker's clothing line, Bitten. I saw an article at PopSugar.com about Lauren Conrad's fashion line, which reminded me about seeing SJP's on Oprah sometime last year. Anyway, on the line's website there are tons of cute items on show so I got really excited about going to see them. Well, none of those items were there. At least none of the bright, pretty, memorable ones. The website must have just the summer line on display and the store must not have anything except the fall line. Tons of button-down shirts, boring pants, ugly shoes.. I was not impressed. They had a stack of jeans, I bought 2 pairs. They are super basic, but they were less than $10 each. That's the good part about the store - cheap. I really hope that they'll have some stuff I like another time, because the concept is great and the designs advertised on the website are great. There's just nothing there that I like/want at the moment.

Earlier today, at Macy's, I bought these shoes. I wasn't looking for anything like them, but they were on sale and they caught my eye. Now I just have to face the issue of 'what do I wear them with?' and the issue of getting used to wearing them so that they are comfortable, because at the moment they are not particularly!

One great thing about the long drive in traffic to the center today was the drive home. I hadn't driven into the valley for ages so I've missed my favorite stretch of freeway - driving back into L.A through the mountains by the Getty Center. Love love love that area, I don't know why.

Boots!

I bought these super cute boots today. Yay, ankle boots! They will be so perfect for London... Hence why I bought them. The saleslady kept raving about how great they were while I was at the checkout. When I mentioned I'd bought them because I was going to London in a week and you need boots in London, she was like "so you're going home?". I laughed and said "no, I'm actually from Australia. I'm just going on vacation for 10 days to London to visit a friend". And saleslady goes, "oh". Hard to know if it was her not knowing the difference or my random accent that caused her mistake.

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