Sydney Cellar Door

What up people! This weekend was a fun one...full of culture (a wine festival counts, right??), beaches and dance parties.
Friday night we hit up Oxford Street...an area of Sydney full of beautiful people and outrageous fashion. At the bar I found myself getting caught staring...creep!...but the fashion is that amazing.
*I have realized that everyone keeps to themselves really well here; they mind their own business much more than Americans do. And I like it. BUT...I will take pics of their wondrous fashion next time because at the end of the day I am American.
Maybe it was the neighborhood we were in that draws such fashion...

After Oxford Street we did a semi bar crawl...

Kat, Trina and I

and then ended up back in Coogee with a live band rocking out to American music, they even played born in the USA!!! (which Josh claims was written by an Aussie)....and finished the night with some techno. I felt like I was back in Acapulco...or was it Texas...?

Somehow he didn't know my sweet friend Heather from Baylor?

Saturday began like this...

Combo and strong skinny cap(pucinno) from the local hot spot Gusto's

The Cooooog!

Then we wandered on to the Sydney Cellar Door, Sydney's largest outdoor wine festival. There were about 90 wineries from New South Wales 14 wine regions. It was lovely.

Katrina was unable to participate in the wine tasting due to her over-consumption the night before...haha.

Joshyyyyy Josh

PS Rose is big here...although I can't say I've developed a taste for it quite yet. 

The bats tried to join us and our bottle of wine in the park (uninvited guests!). This pic goes out to my little Batman nephew Keane :) (miss you!!!)

 

Oh...and I had my first Aussie barbie (BBQ) last night! We enjoyed lamb sausages and salad. And then a huge spider showed up on the porch and I nearly lost it. (!!). I met 3 new fly boys (pilots) and a flighty (flight attendant...although I'm not sure that's really what they call her). Really great peeps.

That's all for now...tataaaaa!
L.

Schweinshaxe

So I conned Ollie into being a tourist with me. (yay!). Like I said, I've been living in Coogee and haven't spent much time in the CBD of Sydney. So here we go...the pictures that every legitimate traveler needs to take.

Look! It's the Sydney Harbour Bridge!

Opera House fun fact: The original estimate of construction cost was $7 mil, while the final cost came to $102 mil.

Outdoor restaurants in The Rocks...the oldest part of Sydney.

There's always time for pondering....

Hope you love my postcards :)

The Argyle = sickness.

Ollie took me to this sweet Bavarian pub, The Lowenbrau Keller, where we enjoyed some brews and brezels...

And Schweinshaxe!

It's hard to tell what Schweinshaxe actually is since we devoured it rather quickly...but it is roasted pork knuckle...and it ain't right! So yummmmy. Ollie then gave me a crispy bit of it and as I began chewing it I asked him what it was (yes at the same time...incredible manners I have!). He finally told me I was simply nibbling on the cooked fat of the piggy. Thanks Ollie friend.

xo.
L.

The little Belle is here!!

Bellemy Lynn Jorgensen. I am already in love with her (and her name!). Joe and Mollie added this new lovely little one to their family on February 19th at 1:23 pm. She was 7 lbs. 10 oz. and 19 3/4"...model material.

I mean what a sweetie....cannot wait to meet her!!! Congrats you two...love you and miss you bunches!!
L.

Two little rats...

Their names are Joshua and Oliver...and they are my two new besties.

Our days have consisted of early morning surfs (ok I swim and get wrecked by the waves), lots of coffee...I mean heaps!..., eats, and best of all...laughter. These two are hilarious. In fact, there were two instances in one night where drinks were spit back out in an instant burst of laughter (maybe because I was the one telling the jokes?!!) :). I am so grateful that they are here.

I am still trying to keep up with them and their rubbish accents. I often take a few seconds to respond as I translate their words in my mind. And if for some reason they don't understand me, they'll ask me to "speak a bit more quickly"...jokes on the Yank!

They enjoy dancing together though...and that makes me happy...

Soooo....Tropfest was in Sydney on Sunday! It was sweet. Tropfest is the world's largest short film festival. There were thousands of people in attendance. Everyone made a picnic and enjoyed the show!

PS here is a little diddy to enlighten you about Aussie culture: Sunday was supposed to be stormy, but lo and behold it was another hot one. Well as we entered the festival, the MC's were giving a shout out to the local weatherman...all together now: F*** Off Dave Rexroth! (for an incorrect forecast). I mean thousands of people in city park! What??? Haha...ok I thought it was hilarious.

I know you've been waiting anxiously for this...so here is the winner of the short film:
Animal Beatbox

These two were my favs...I mean can you get enough of that sarcastic humor?? Love.
Silencer
Bird Therapy

Ciao Ciao.
L.

Adriane, the Texan.

Adriane and Johnny have a sweet little love story. She is from Trenton, TX and he is from Newcastle, AUS. They met in Vail. He came to visit her every two weeks (he is a pilot, people). He moved to Vail for the summer. Now they're in Sydney together. Oh love. Pretty adorable.

Anyway, Adriane is the sweetest and we are buds. I am so thankful to have her here to explore with! She moved here only a little over a month ago so we have plenty to see together. Yesterday we walked the coast from Coogee beach to Bondi beach. It is about 4 miles and seriously lovely. There are 4 beaches along the way and the trail is feet off of the coast. I liked it. Here are some shots I snapped:

Right around that cliff is Coogee

Just some oldies out there bowling

Ocean front view...prime real estate for the deceased.

I felt like a creep, but thought it was too cute.

Adriane and I 

Bondi beach

It was a lovely day...I am still getting used to this hotness and humidity!

PS For those of you who aren't aware...my sister-in-law Mollie was due on Feb 14th and the baby is just too comfortable to come out already! I am freaking out over here! We don't know the sex of the babe or the names they've chosen. They will induce her tomorrow if she doesn't have the babe today. Yayyyy...so pumped. Please keep them in your prayers...we need a healthy babe and momma!

Lates.
L.

I made it I made it!

I set foot in Aus around 8:40 on Wednesday morning. I felt great...thanks to the Tylenol PMs! I popped about 4 of those a couple of hours into our 14 hour flight and slept for 8 hours...who am I??? I warned the grandmother and college student next to me that I was going to be out of commission for a bit...and boy was I. It turned into a big joke once I woke up....like they were seriously concerned about me...as if I had fallen into a coma of some sort. Then I said I was sore (bc my sis and I got a little work out in at our hotel in MN that morning) and they were like...yea, honey it's bc you haven't moved in forever! Haaha...BUT I was the one ready to get after it once I landed, so they can tease all they'd like.

My sweet friend Ollie came and swooped me up from the airport and we were off to meet up with our friends Johnny and Joshy for coffee. I met Ollie and Johnny through my good friend Jorgen, who studied abroad in Newcastle years ago. They often come out to play in the CO mountains...so I've gotten to know them over the years. (They are amazing).
And here we are...

So, Ollie and I are ordering up our coffee and I ask the woman if they have a restroom I can use. She says yes and hands me an ashtray. I take it, thinking...you're in a foreign country Lisa, this will make sense. And then I look at Ollie like...help me out here friend....! He laughs and asks again and finally I am pointed in the direction of my destination. The boys were laughing...yea you just take the ashtray, find a corner and let her rip! Anyway....

Ollie has a huge test he has to be studying for so we left him for the beach! We headed back to Johnny and Joshy's house (where Johnny's gf Adrianne lives as well) to get suited up for our swim. It is summer here so everyone is beautifully sunned, just glistening in the sand and I am....white. Seriously white. Like coming straight out of the CO winter, white. So I put on my suit and a load of sunscreen and we were off! They live on Coogee beach....the coast is steps away from their place. It is GORG. I will post pics of the view later. Their slogan is bare basics....meaning, necessities only to the beach! I did not follow that rule on day one however...I wore clothes and shoes too. I am a rookie, get over it. Ha. There are baths and beautiful cliffs and rocks...so much goodness right next to them. We went swimming, saw some crabbies, did some body surfing (yes I ate sand plenty of times). It was sick.

Next stop was smoothies at the house...this sums it up well...

Yes. That is real.

We rounded out the night with nachos and beers...here are my lovely new roomies for the moment :)

Adrianne and Johnny

Please notice how large Joshy's hand is compared to mine.

Tata for now!
L.

LAX

The journey has begun...that is if I can get through 7 hours at LAX. It's Valentine's Day. I'm alone (well the bartender is here I guess)...and I am spending all of my time at Al's Beach Club Bar! There is no beach, but there is a bar...and college basketball is on (and K State just beat KU!).

Here was my view last year:

Suite on the CA coast

Here's my view at the moment:

Sweet bar in the Delta terminal........

Haha...ok please don't feel sorry for poor old me....this Sam Adams is tasting rather delish :)

See you in Aussieland.

xo.

L.