Back Down Under

Hi, remember me? I'm the owner of this blog... and by owner I mean person who posts whenever she feels like it, then abandons her charge for weeks on end, then--when almost everyone has given up hope of a return--swoops back in to feed the blog-reading addiction with one more post, therefore renewing the hope that someday, SOMEDAY this blog might be maintained with regular updates. Sadly, regular updates are probably not in this particular blog's future, but hopefully we will all be appeased with not-so-regular, though invariably narcissistic and even occasionally semi-entertaining updates.

Mediocrity at its finest.

But in my defense I have been quite busy since returning Down Under from the City that Never Sleeps. And for those of you who were taking bets, NO I did not inadvertently get lost in Bloomingdales and miss my flight. YES I am now back in Australia and have been since last Saturday (after skipping over October 30 entirely... I still don't understand how that happens). So going directly from October 29 to October 31 had me landing in Australia on Halloween day, which was also a great excuse for not having a costume.

WILL: Honey, where's your costume?
ME: Sorry, I was planning on buying it on October 30, but that's right-- IT DIDN'T EXIST FOR ME.
WILL: Well how do you suggest we be Macaroni and Cheese without the cheese? Hmmmm???
ME: I'm sure you'll think of something, dear.

Although not having a costume wasn't as big a deal as I'm making it out to be, because a) upon landing, I slept through most of Halloween after my twenty-five hours of traveling, and b) Australians don't even celebrate the infamous holiday. (No Halloween, no Thanksgiving... makes the Holidays more like a holiday)

Upon landing in Australia I was also met with another semi-welcome event: summer! I swear that in my brief absence, summer has hit in full-force. When I left we were still fighting to stay in the 20s (that's high 60s, low 70s Fahrenheit), and I had to take a jacket with me everywhere. But over the last week and a half we have had pretty consistent 30-degree weather (that's in the upper 80s, low 90s Fahrenheit). I must say, the first few days of warm weather were quite welcome, but I'm beginning to regret my constant supplications for summer to arrive. Considering we have no air conditioning, no car, and not even an air conditioned office, this could be a really long summer season.

My travels (and by that I mean the trips themselves) were mostly uneventful. Except for the flight from Newark to San Francisco, where I practically had to fight to the death to keep my carry on from being checked through to my final destination. Unfortunately the flight was completely full and, being as I was one of the last ones to board, I hadn't laid claim to overhead bin space. Of course, after emphasizing again and again that my final destination was Melbourne, Australia, and how there was no way on earth that I would check my carry on through the whole way because it was filled with many valuable and breakable items (really, Fritos and Oreos... both very breakable and, in Australia, valuable as well!), I managed to snag a spot in the plane's coat closet. But not before one of the flight attendants told me that my only other option besides checking the carry on was catching the next flight out on my own dime. Whatever happened to customer service??? (not-so-subliminal message: never fly United!)

The trip itself was lovely. I had so much fun at Carissa and Taylor's wedding. They were both beautiful, New York was beautiful, and they threw a rocking good party! Unfortunately the weather was a little off on the day of the wedding, but the reception, meeting up with old friends, and the overall glamor of the wedding more than made up for it. It was SO GOOD to see old friends again, and I REALLY hope to see more of them in Australia soon!

After the wedding my family came to NYC to visit. My sister even flew in from San Diego, where she had moved less than a week and a half before, just to see me... well, me and the MET. But we all had a really great time walking around the city (and walking, and walking...) and keeping Carissa's apartment safe from burglaries :-). I'll try to post some pictures later.

Alright, I am sad to say that this post has taken me the entire day to write, and I am now officially tired. Jet lag still sneaks up on me at the oddest of times. Farewell, and goodnight.