Well hello all!
Okay – I cannot believe how long it has been since I last updated this thing and once I get my camera hooked up I will be posting pics left, right and centre. So what has been happening lately….
So much has happened I do not know where to begin. First things first, I have now moved from St Albans into my own apartment and am now a proud resident of Queens Park….Not sure if I should be saying that so loud as anyone which has ever been to Queens Park knows it looks like the kind of place you need to wear a bullet proof vest BUT it is in London, 4 stops from Paddington and is what they call an ‘up and coming suburb’.....that is Agent talk for is still a bit dodgy but getting there.
Anyhow, I absolutely love it and am so happy. It is closer to work and the best bit CLOSER to London!!! I have been spending so much more time in the beautiful city that is London Town and that really is the whole reason for me being here to explore. Moving into Queens Park was a laugh and a half. Shez kindly offered to drive me in and help me unpack my things and then we decided to take a drive to Ikea to try and buy some pretty things to hide the fact my little apartment looks like it once belonged to a Russian underground gambling ring. Anyhow, we had to drive through some pretty dodgy suburbs and then we finally hit Harlesden….Now I do not want to offend anyone who lived/lives or knows anyone who is related to anyone from/in Harlesden but it is a dead-set ghetto!! Honestly, we drove through there and we may as well have been in South Central LA. I was half laughing at uncomfortable stares coming from the side of the rode at the two ‘extremely white girls that stuck out like sore thumbs’ yet half wetting myself when we got stuck in traffic at the realisation that neither of us knew where the locks were on our nice, new hire car. It was unbelievable and I am laughing as I write this just thinking about it and am actually quite surprised we did not get to witness a drive-by shooting….long story short – do not go to Harlesden.
So we shopped at Ikea and took a REALLY long detour around to Queens Park as it was dark outside and we did not want to risk disappearing into the seedy underbelly of Harlesden. We got back to the apartment and whilst I tried to figure out how my oven worked Shez unpacked my things and put up all my new pretty trinkets and throw pillows and my apartment now looks amazing. I love it.
So apart from that all is good. Work is good but really quiet – London has hit a recession so all of the temporary EA’s lost their jobs last week which was rather sad – I am just so grateful I am on a maternity contract and get to stay. I absolutely love the Execs I work for and am hoping that there is some miracle that can take place between now and October which lets me stay in the country. Still no Mr Darcy, I have well and truly given up on all hope of finding a man over here and am focusing solely on finding a better aerial for my television so I can receive better cable channels….a much more fruitful goal in my eyes.
I surprised Sheridan last week with Backstreet Boys tickets so we went and watched them at the O2 Arena. SUCH a good concert….so cheesy and right up my alley. I have decided from now on that I still have a crush on nick Carter – even though the guy looked like he was fresh from rehab and still battling withdrawals (not an exaggeration I have video footage) he still makes my heart melt….sad but true I am a 90’s sucker through and through. We danced, sang and screamed with about 5,000 other Generation Y tragics and it was the best night I have had in a long time.
P.S from now on I would like to be addressed as Mrs Carter in all official correspondence…Ahhhh Nick.
Mum, Dad and Pheobes arrive in 6 weeks and I am so excited! I have not seen my Dad or Bell for nearly a year and I miss them so much. We are heading to Spain for the first week that we are here and then I get to show them around London in 0the second. I seriously cannot wait – especially for Spain as I miss the beach SOOOOO much. I never considered myself a real beach person but when you have not had the ocean and sun for a year you really do miss it. I have even resorted to becoming very ‘English’ and at first sign of sun I race out to the park and lap it up just for some colour….funny I remember laughing about this when I first moved over here well guess what….the smile is on the other side of my face now.
Well I cannot think of anything else that is really exciting…..We have another long weekend this week so I am heading back into St Albans to party on with the QC Family. Jimmy is the latest addition to the family – he is a guy from Melbourne who is over here for 6 months.
So once again peoples that is me in a nutshell for the moment. Not very eventful but I will post some pics tomorrow.
Hope all is well with you and will speak soon!
Lots of London Love,
Mrs Carter xoxoxoxoxoxo
Monday, May 19, 2008
Monday, February 4, 2008
My London Australia Day & Happy Birthday Shaun!
Hello All!
Well as per usual I have been massively slack with my posting and to make up for it I have included a few pics of me over the past couple of weeks so hopefully you will all enjoy. Well, SO much has happened in the last little while and I have been a very busy little social vegemite to say the least. First I think I’ll tell you about my Australia Day which was the biggest most celebrated Aus Day I have ever been involved in.
I have finally settled into a 9 month contract at work and in this particular building there are more Australians than English!! So it was only natural that when the Friday before the 26th came around we celebrated in true Australian style and had an afternoon tea with all those lovely little snack food treasures I miss from home. Sheridan and I stayed up to all hours of the night before making little green and gold iced biscuits with pictures all over them. I, in typical Felicity fashion consumed more icing than I put on the biscuits and was literally buzzing around the kitchen like a 4 year old on a green cordial sugar high for most of the night – the only problem with that is like a 4 year old on a sugar high I crashed in a big way and had THE WORST sugar hangover I have had in my life!! When I got to work I could not even look at my beautiful plate of green and gold iced biscuits with ‘That’s Gold’ slogans and little pictures of the Harbour Bridge all over them as I felt too sick. I thought it would be better to stick to the salty variety of snack food and indulged in Burger Rings and Twisties!! I forgot how much I missed those little cheesy devils.
So onto Saturday….Shez and I woke up at 8:30am which is quite good for us considering we were tipsy enough on the RWF beforehand to stay up and watch the Disney movie Jump In….we were both so tired but determined to make it into London to Celebrate with other homesick Aussies at the lovely Slug and Lettuce Pub in Fulham London. We went up to the station dressed in out Australian flag earrings and gold scarves and made our way on a packed train into my lovely London Town with our very good friend Ange. I am SOO glad we arrived early as there was a line-up of people already out the front decked-out in anything remotely Australian from Dunlops and stubbies to a Steve Erwin Costume and of course the quintessential wardrobe item for the NRL male fan…the football jersey…no Knights fans I’m afraid : (
So we got in and nabbed a table and set ourselves up with a couple of £6 jugs of Snakebites which like the animal that they are named after are more lethal than I gave it credit for! Lordy!! It tastes like cordial and goes down so well that we went through too many jugs than I like to admit!! We danced to some good old fashioned Australian tunes and I swear that at one stage I could have sworn I was in my beloved Newcastle, surrounded by boys in football jumpers, the best of NRL Biffs ion the big screen and Barnsey playing in the background with people screaming the words so patriotically like the freakin national Anthem…rather funny really. So we kept on dancing the night away and made a couple of buddies for the night and then it was Homewood Bound on the bain of my London Partying existence…the tube!!! Once we stepped foot on that tube there was absolutely no mistaking what country we were in….let’s just say after about 6 different tube line changes and countless train cancellations, I was more than over it and not even my gorgeous Fosters hat and my little cricket player figurine that speaks could cheer me up. I must admit though the tube rides were as always so much fun! We all must have looked so classy in our matching hats and in true Shez and Flick style we managed to entertain everyone on our carriage and made some friends from all over the world – you see a bonus of the tube is that it is a one-stop-shop for international relations…where else in the world can an Aussie, a Scotsman and a Welshman meet and laugh all the way along the Central Line…I ask you. So once we got back to St Albans we dropped Ange off at home and then went to bed to wake up to a very lazy Sunday.
So that brings me to this weekend and what a weekend it was! Shaun had his birthday on Saturday night and it turned out to be a really cool party. Sheridan and I got ourselves all prettied up and made our way up the girls’ house for dinner and a few drinks. Shaun had some of his friends up from London that he knew from back home and they came up later in the evening for more drinks and a Singstar challenge. We all left in taxis to go out to a nightclub (one of 2 in St Albans) called Batchwoods which honestly is unlike anything I have seen before. It is set on 33 acres of land and feels like an old Estate Home equipped with manicured gardens and a gravel drive. We went in and headed straight for the disco room to dance the night away to classics like Greece Lightning and tracks from Dirty Dancing and Fame…(I love my cheese). What an awesome night!! Batchwoods has definitely been added to my repertoire of places to go in St Albans and I even managed to have a few dances with some boys (wonders never seize). There was such a huge mix of people there and with 3 levels to choose from you could NEVER get bored!! So after we all managed to get home I stayed up til about 6am and then went to sleep for a grand total of 3 hours and woke up the next morning feeling refreshed, a little seedy but still refreshed which is never a good sign after you have been out on the town for such a big night…..cut to Felicity having to lean onto a trolley for support as she mozied on through the aisles of Morrison’s trying to think of what food she may need for the week. I went home where Shaun cooked an amazing bacon and egg brunch and then somehow managed to convince me to go for a walk in minus degree weather…. We went to a place in St Albans I had never been before and was really impressed! We have a massive cathedral which I will go back and take some pics of and then you walk down a cute little park path down to a huge park which Shaun has not dubbed the ‘Hyde Park of St Albans’ it is actually quite big and it has swans and ducks everywhere…such a nice walk AND I got to see squirrels which I still embarrassingly get over excited about much to Shaun’s amusement!! So I got back to the house and my massive night finally caught up with me and I fell asleep and the rest as they say is history.
So I will leave you with this little snippet of the weeks happenings and as usual I am missing you all and even though I adore London I am craving a dose of my Australia…the sun, the beach, the food and of course the company!! A special shout-out goes to Becca who I spoke to on Friday night, so, so good to catch up. Shaun said he has never heard me laugh that much before and it made me miss home even more!! Thanks to all who have emailed and texted and I will speak to you all soon!
Lots of London Love – Flick xoxoxoxoxo
Well as per usual I have been massively slack with my posting and to make up for it I have included a few pics of me over the past couple of weeks so hopefully you will all enjoy. Well, SO much has happened in the last little while and I have been a very busy little social vegemite to say the least. First I think I’ll tell you about my Australia Day which was the biggest most celebrated Aus Day I have ever been involved in.
I have finally settled into a 9 month contract at work and in this particular building there are more Australians than English!! So it was only natural that when the Friday before the 26th came around we celebrated in true Australian style and had an afternoon tea with all those lovely little snack food treasures I miss from home. Sheridan and I stayed up to all hours of the night before making little green and gold iced biscuits with pictures all over them. I, in typical Felicity fashion consumed more icing than I put on the biscuits and was literally buzzing around the kitchen like a 4 year old on a green cordial sugar high for most of the night – the only problem with that is like a 4 year old on a sugar high I crashed in a big way and had THE WORST sugar hangover I have had in my life!! When I got to work I could not even look at my beautiful plate of green and gold iced biscuits with ‘That’s Gold’ slogans and little pictures of the Harbour Bridge all over them as I felt too sick. I thought it would be better to stick to the salty variety of snack food and indulged in Burger Rings and Twisties!! I forgot how much I missed those little cheesy devils.
So onto Saturday….Shez and I woke up at 8:30am which is quite good for us considering we were tipsy enough on the RWF beforehand to stay up and watch the Disney movie Jump In….we were both so tired but determined to make it into London to Celebrate with other homesick Aussies at the lovely Slug and Lettuce Pub in Fulham London. We went up to the station dressed in out Australian flag earrings and gold scarves and made our way on a packed train into my lovely London Town with our very good friend Ange. I am SOO glad we arrived early as there was a line-up of people already out the front decked-out in anything remotely Australian from Dunlops and stubbies to a Steve Erwin Costume and of course the quintessential wardrobe item for the NRL male fan…the football jersey…no Knights fans I’m afraid : (
So we got in and nabbed a table and set ourselves up with a couple of £6 jugs of Snakebites which like the animal that they are named after are more lethal than I gave it credit for! Lordy!! It tastes like cordial and goes down so well that we went through too many jugs than I like to admit!! We danced to some good old fashioned Australian tunes and I swear that at one stage I could have sworn I was in my beloved Newcastle, surrounded by boys in football jumpers, the best of NRL Biffs ion the big screen and Barnsey playing in the background with people screaming the words so patriotically like the freakin national Anthem…rather funny really. So we kept on dancing the night away and made a couple of buddies for the night and then it was Homewood Bound on the bain of my London Partying existence…the tube!!! Once we stepped foot on that tube there was absolutely no mistaking what country we were in….let’s just say after about 6 different tube line changes and countless train cancellations, I was more than over it and not even my gorgeous Fosters hat and my little cricket player figurine that speaks could cheer me up. I must admit though the tube rides were as always so much fun! We all must have looked so classy in our matching hats and in true Shez and Flick style we managed to entertain everyone on our carriage and made some friends from all over the world – you see a bonus of the tube is that it is a one-stop-shop for international relations…where else in the world can an Aussie, a Scotsman and a Welshman meet and laugh all the way along the Central Line…I ask you. So once we got back to St Albans we dropped Ange off at home and then went to bed to wake up to a very lazy Sunday.
So that brings me to this weekend and what a weekend it was! Shaun had his birthday on Saturday night and it turned out to be a really cool party. Sheridan and I got ourselves all prettied up and made our way up the girls’ house for dinner and a few drinks. Shaun had some of his friends up from London that he knew from back home and they came up later in the evening for more drinks and a Singstar challenge. We all left in taxis to go out to a nightclub (one of 2 in St Albans) called Batchwoods which honestly is unlike anything I have seen before. It is set on 33 acres of land and feels like an old Estate Home equipped with manicured gardens and a gravel drive. We went in and headed straight for the disco room to dance the night away to classics like Greece Lightning and tracks from Dirty Dancing and Fame…(I love my cheese). What an awesome night!! Batchwoods has definitely been added to my repertoire of places to go in St Albans and I even managed to have a few dances with some boys (wonders never seize). There was such a huge mix of people there and with 3 levels to choose from you could NEVER get bored!! So after we all managed to get home I stayed up til about 6am and then went to sleep for a grand total of 3 hours and woke up the next morning feeling refreshed, a little seedy but still refreshed which is never a good sign after you have been out on the town for such a big night…..cut to Felicity having to lean onto a trolley for support as she mozied on through the aisles of Morrison’s trying to think of what food she may need for the week. I went home where Shaun cooked an amazing bacon and egg brunch and then somehow managed to convince me to go for a walk in minus degree weather…. We went to a place in St Albans I had never been before and was really impressed! We have a massive cathedral which I will go back and take some pics of and then you walk down a cute little park path down to a huge park which Shaun has not dubbed the ‘Hyde Park of St Albans’ it is actually quite big and it has swans and ducks everywhere…such a nice walk AND I got to see squirrels which I still embarrassingly get over excited about much to Shaun’s amusement!! So I got back to the house and my massive night finally caught up with me and I fell asleep and the rest as they say is history.
So I will leave you with this little snippet of the weeks happenings and as usual I am missing you all and even though I adore London I am craving a dose of my Australia…the sun, the beach, the food and of course the company!! A special shout-out goes to Becca who I spoke to on Friday night, so, so good to catch up. Shaun said he has never heard me laugh that much before and it made me miss home even more!! Thanks to all who have emailed and texted and I will speak to you all soon!
Lots of London Love – Flick xoxoxoxoxo
Friday, January 11, 2008
Hello All!
Well I have been so bad in updating my Blog and unfortunately have changed my work computer so do not have many pics to post. Firstly I hope you all had a great Christmas and New Year and thanks to all who sent texts on the day. I was certainly homesick to say the least but managed to get through the holiday season with my fellow Australian Orphans and we had a great time. Sean and I went up to the supermarket on Christmas Eve to shop for our roast and I had to fight back tears the whole time, I missed my family Christmas and I missed my Newcastle and my friends but of course I got over it and managed to celebrate in style.
So Sean and I celebrated out Christmas on Christmas Eve which for all of you who do not know is when my family celebrates it every year. We cooked an amazing roast pork with crackling that would rival the best of them! Honestly, I was so proud and definitely over ate but hey….that’s what you’re supposed to do over the New Year right? So we hung out at home and Sean called his family back in NZ whilst I made a baked cheesecake to take up the road the next day. We watched our latest obsession in television – Las Vegas (do yourself a favour and get the box set it is awesome).
The next day we walked up the road to the Girl’s house and what a sight that was. We loaded up all of our snacks into Dolly Harriet (our beloved old lady shopping trolley – for a pic of Dolly see previous blog). I had the cheesecake and a bag of goodies along with an umbrella as it was of course raining. 2 weeks of dry, cold weather and the one day there is no public transport or taxis and we have to walk a good 15 minutes up hill…it rains. We finally got up there where the celebrations kicked off and the girls had gone well and truly above and beyond with a gorgeous real Christmas tree and amazing food!! I felt awful as I sat there feeling like Mamma Kas as I had eaten so much the night before, but managed to get through a beautiful roast dinner with the works and as usual I had enough room for dessert. Then the party got started. We all played games and then….the Singstar. Now Singstar has turned into a bit of a tradition with the girls and the QC and we sang non-stop til about 1AM.
The night really picked up when Sean and I in one of our better ideas went into the kitchen and made the best non-non alcoholic punch I have ever tasted in my life and now I am proud to say we are pretty famous for it. Invite Sean and Flick to a party and not only will you get a killer rendition of Sonny and Cher’s I got you Babe but you will also sample the finest rocket fuel (or non-non alcoholic punch as it is now known in close circles) you have ever had in your life. So once I had well and truly rocked out in the Christmas spirit I was ready to go home and woke up the next morning to watch Boxing Day cartoons….I love Christmas.
So that in a nutshell was my holiday. Other than that not much else has been happening. We are still praying for snow but it does not seem to be getting cold enough. Shez arrived back from Newi with some presents from home and a couple of beautiful photographs of Newcastle Beach and Customs House. I looked at them and began to cry, I forgot how pretty it is and even though I have bee fairly homesick I have not really thought about coming home at all until I saw those pics. I really do miss the beach and am dying to get back into the sun as I am currently looking like an Albino with frost bite!! It is dark in the morning when I leave for work and it is pitch black by 4:30pm – it doesn’t really bother me that much but when I compare myself to a freshly tanned Sheridan I realise just how grey I am…hahah Oh well, at least I fit in now, maybe I can cover myself in the fake orange tan that seems to be the thing to do over here….love it. Some people seem to go overboard with the fake tan here and it is perfectly normal for celebrities to look like they have bathed in carrot juice – honestly I was shocked when I was watching TV the other night and all the girls looked like they were a nice shade of Oompa Loompa. Well, if it’s what the cool kids do….
I have been offered a 9 month contract at work which is great and such a relief. It also means I get to move from one side of the building to the other which is a bonus as I work right next to the big court house in London where all of the terrorists are tried. Some mornings when you come into work there are film crews and protesters everywhere, the amount of times I must have been on the news walking to work is ridiculous – oh well as long as they get my good side I don’t mind a bit of celebrity…haha Anyhow, I think the other side of the building may have a different view and they say a change is as good as a holiday so bring it on! I am currently working with a team that is predominately made up of Australians, I love it! It is so nice to have people know what I am talking about. I was a bit of a novelty in my last team which was quite funny really but sometimes it takes a lot out of you being lost in translation.
So other than that I do not have much else to report. My Blogs seem to be getting quite mundane and I do apologise. I need to start getting out more!! Sean, Sheridan and I are going to go speed dating which should be a blast and I’m heading to Dublin in a couple weeks to see my darling Charlotte who is in the process of organising a move to the UK with Ryan.
I will speak again soon and will hopefully have something of interest to write about next time.
Lots of London Love, Flicka xoxoxoxo
So Sean and I celebrated out Christmas on Christmas Eve which for all of you who do not know is when my family celebrates it every year. We cooked an amazing roast pork with crackling that would rival the best of them! Honestly, I was so proud and definitely over ate but hey….that’s what you’re supposed to do over the New Year right? So we hung out at home and Sean called his family back in NZ whilst I made a baked cheesecake to take up the road the next day. We watched our latest obsession in television – Las Vegas (do yourself a favour and get the box set it is awesome).
The next day we walked up the road to the Girl’s house and what a sight that was. We loaded up all of our snacks into Dolly Harriet (our beloved old lady shopping trolley – for a pic of Dolly see previous blog). I had the cheesecake and a bag of goodies along with an umbrella as it was of course raining. 2 weeks of dry, cold weather and the one day there is no public transport or taxis and we have to walk a good 15 minutes up hill…it rains. We finally got up there where the celebrations kicked off and the girls had gone well and truly above and beyond with a gorgeous real Christmas tree and amazing food!! I felt awful as I sat there feeling like Mamma Kas as I had eaten so much the night before, but managed to get through a beautiful roast dinner with the works and as usual I had enough room for dessert. Then the party got started. We all played games and then….the Singstar. Now Singstar has turned into a bit of a tradition with the girls and the QC and we sang non-stop til about 1AM.
The night really picked up when Sean and I in one of our better ideas went into the kitchen and made the best non-non alcoholic punch I have ever tasted in my life and now I am proud to say we are pretty famous for it. Invite Sean and Flick to a party and not only will you get a killer rendition of Sonny and Cher’s I got you Babe but you will also sample the finest rocket fuel (or non-non alcoholic punch as it is now known in close circles) you have ever had in your life. So once I had well and truly rocked out in the Christmas spirit I was ready to go home and woke up the next morning to watch Boxing Day cartoons….I love Christmas.
So that in a nutshell was my holiday. Other than that not much else has been happening. We are still praying for snow but it does not seem to be getting cold enough. Shez arrived back from Newi with some presents from home and a couple of beautiful photographs of Newcastle Beach and Customs House. I looked at them and began to cry, I forgot how pretty it is and even though I have bee fairly homesick I have not really thought about coming home at all until I saw those pics. I really do miss the beach and am dying to get back into the sun as I am currently looking like an Albino with frost bite!! It is dark in the morning when I leave for work and it is pitch black by 4:30pm – it doesn’t really bother me that much but when I compare myself to a freshly tanned Sheridan I realise just how grey I am…hahah Oh well, at least I fit in now, maybe I can cover myself in the fake orange tan that seems to be the thing to do over here….love it. Some people seem to go overboard with the fake tan here and it is perfectly normal for celebrities to look like they have bathed in carrot juice – honestly I was shocked when I was watching TV the other night and all the girls looked like they were a nice shade of Oompa Loompa. Well, if it’s what the cool kids do….
I have been offered a 9 month contract at work which is great and such a relief. It also means I get to move from one side of the building to the other which is a bonus as I work right next to the big court house in London where all of the terrorists are tried. Some mornings when you come into work there are film crews and protesters everywhere, the amount of times I must have been on the news walking to work is ridiculous – oh well as long as they get my good side I don’t mind a bit of celebrity…haha Anyhow, I think the other side of the building may have a different view and they say a change is as good as a holiday so bring it on! I am currently working with a team that is predominately made up of Australians, I love it! It is so nice to have people know what I am talking about. I was a bit of a novelty in my last team which was quite funny really but sometimes it takes a lot out of you being lost in translation.
So other than that I do not have much else to report. My Blogs seem to be getting quite mundane and I do apologise. I need to start getting out more!! Sean, Sheridan and I are going to go speed dating which should be a blast and I’m heading to Dublin in a couple weeks to see my darling Charlotte who is in the process of organising a move to the UK with Ryan.
I will speak again soon and will hopefully have something of interest to write about next time.
Lots of London Love, Flicka xoxoxoxo
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