No Longer A Jaffy

Guys, It’s official. By some miracle I managed to weasel my way into second year Uni and escape the ‘Jaffy’ (ie. Just Another Fucking First Year) label that’s automatically pinned to you when you begin your first year of University.

I can now navigate the hallowed halls of building 80 with ease, and offer directions to the nearest stairwell for those unlucky few who decided that waiting for a lift in building 12 was a good idea. I know that the vault is not the name of a torture chamber below building 16, but a cool study space that has heaps of nooks and crannies to get comfy in.

I’m going to be like every single person who reflects on their first year at uni and say that my first day seems like it was yesterday (Shut up, I know it’s corny). I was young, naive, excited and had no idea where I was going or what I was doing. I met up with some friends I’d made briefly during orientation, and spent the entire day wondering just how long I had to wait from the start of a lecture before it was appropriate to take a pee break (during which I meticulously planned the most discrete way to escape the lecture theatre from the front row).

Basically, my first week was just like every other first years’. But over the year, I learnt some nifty tips and tricks to getting through the year relatively unscathed and have now decided to put together my own little survival guide. FYI, I know that there are thousands of these articles on the internet, but they’re mostly filled with the general ‘be confident and don’t worry about asking questions’ shit that’s drilled into us on the daily.

So LISTEN UP JAFFIES, HERE’S HOW TO SURVIVE YOUR FIRST YEAR OF UNI.

First thing’s first, here are some the basic tips that helped me in my first week: 

• Download a map of your uni onto your phone before your first day (If you google *your uni* map, you’ll usually be able to find a PDF version that you can save to your iBooks app and access 24/7)
• Put your entire timetable into your phone calendar. Carrying around a piece of paper is tacky and becomes tedious when you’re stressing about showing up to the wrong building 5 minutes before your lecture starts.
• Make a friend. It sounds so silly, but having someone to talk to can relieve a lot of the stress that everyone holds during the first week. Plus, when you’re running late to that class/lecture again, they can save you the embarrassment of scouting for a seat by saving one for you instead.
• Get your student card made on the first day, and connect to the WIFI ASAP (Uni’s already draining you of every cent you own, so why not take advantage of the free internet?)
• Take notes on your laptop. I know that you’re probably used to hand-writing notes from VCE, but lecturers ain’t got time for you to perfect that lovingly handwritten sentence. Instead, focus on perfecting your touch-typing skills so that you can smash out your notes in your lectures without falling behind.
• Also, forget pretty formatting when it comes to taking notes. A simple bold will do for heading, and dot points for anything that comes in a list.
• AND FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, ORGANISE YOUR FILES! If you’re on those people who saves each document as ‘sgslgjskgskflsk’ on your desktop, I will find you and I will kill you. You’ll also majorly regret it when your tutor asks you to read out a quote that you were meant to write down during the lecture, and you’re stuck scrolling from ‘lslkemrlesb’ to ‘senbciskdms’ to find it.
• Lastly, always bring snacks. Snacks and a solid lunch from home is what got me through those long 8-hour days and made Friday afternoons bearable. Also, bringing food from home will save you a shitload of money in the long run (don’t be like me and blow over $100 on food in your first week #rookiemistake)

And now for some more unconventional tips:

• Don’t dress fancy (past the first week anyway). Unless you’re studying fashion or have an ever-changing wardrobe filled with fabulous pieces, don’t worry about bothering to wear something new each day. Seriously, as long as you’re not stark naked, people won’t give a shit about what you wear. It’s Uni, not a fashion show.
• Wearing black is ALWAYS good idea, especially when you’re running late and know that you’ll be sweating a lot (black doesn’t show sweat as well)
• Find all of the secret entrances to your lecture halls. At RMIT, I know that there’s always at least 2 different entrances to each theatre, so find the ‘path less travelled’ and save yourself 5 minutes (Gracias for the tip Tim Halls).
• Most student unions host weekly free lunches/give our free food, so make sure that you know when and where to find these goods. For RMIT kids, RUSU holds a ‘Chill and Grill’ at the City Campus each Thursday at the Alumni courtyard, YAY FOR FREE FOOD AND DRINKS
• Speaking of food, the Asian Beer Cafe in Melbourne Central offers its infamous pizzas for only $5 each to any uni student when you flash your student card.
• Don Dons near Melb Central is also a godsend when you only have $7 to spend, and 3 people to feed.
• And finally, always pee before your lectures, even if you don’t need to go – you’ll thank me later.

Alright, I think I’ve given you enough info you to at least make it through the first month, let alone the whole year. If you ever need someone to pester with the endless array of questions that I’m sure you’ll come up with over the year, I’m always just a fb message/text away (and don’t worry, I’ll never get annoyed at you for asking) 😊

Adios Amigos *Insert Jaffa lolly emoji – which I’m pretty sure is non-existent, but let’s ignore that for this post*

P.S. Shoutout to everyone who contributed to this post (Mainly the lovely ladies of Hi, Tim and my #Adsquat) who also helped me survive year one; let’s make second year less of a spectacular disaster. 😉

Triangles Are My Favourite Shape

So you know how I mentioned wanting to get a tattoo in my last post? Well I kinda sorta actually FINALLY got one yesterday *insert shocked emoji*

THAT’S RIGHT, I GOT MY FIRST FREAKING TATTOO! THIS IS NOT A DRILL PEOPLE, I AIN’T FUCKING WITH NO PENS ANYMORE – I HAVE THE REAL DEAL ON MY BODY FOR LIFE! I’M GOING TO SEE IT MORNING, NOON AND NIGHT UNTIL THE DAY I DIE.

Okay, now that I feel like I’ve sufficiently emphasised my point through the elaborate use of caps, I’ll calm down and go into a little bit of detail.

So, if you’ve been keeping up with my ramblings over the past few months, you would know that I’ve hinted at getting a tattoo for a while now. It’s something that I’ve wanted for just over 2 years now and I sorta feel silly deliberating over something so small for such a long time, but I guess I had to be 100% sure before I took the plunge.

Oh yeah, I should probably show you what I actually got before I start incessantly rambling about it:

 

TA-DA! ∆

Disclaimer: That picture was taken approximately 2 hours after I had it done, so of course it’s going to look red and swollen and rough around the edges (don’t hate on my baby).

I’m not sure whether you’re all interested hearing a big ol’ spiel about the process of actually getting it but basically I rocked up at ‘No Regrets Electric Tattoo’ in Chelsea on Saturday (20/2) and officially booked in for Monday (22/2) at 6pm. Two days later, I was lying on a bed with a random dude inserting ink into my arm via a menacing buzzing machine. Needless to say, I can see how that scenario would scare the living shit out of any normal person. Yet, I was surprisingly okay during the whole spectacle.

I brought along one of my closest friends, Bian-CA, who also happens to be an even bigger perfectionist than me, to make sure that the tatt looked perfect and to ensure that I didn’t get too intimidated by the whole experience to settle with something I was unhappy with.

Anyway, once Dane (the awesome tattoo artist who’d been highly suggested by Anthea from work) and I had decided on the size and placement of my tatt, we got down to the actual nerve-wracking act. I’d read up on pain zones and braced for the worst, but honestly, I didn’t feel any pain at all. I just felt like I was being stung over and over by a few tiny mosquitos (which I joked about when I was getting it done) for about 10 minutes until it was finally over.

When I first looked at the finished product, the only thing that crossed my mind was ‘Fuck, the lines are too thick.’ Legit, that’s pretty much all I could focus on. Now, to an outsider this probably sounds like I was being overly dramatic and freaking out for no reason (which of course I was) but to put it in perspective, I’d always dreamed of having a nice dainty pen-thin tattoo.

Here’s a photo of what I wanted vs what I ended up getting:

Hopefully now you can see why I might have initially freaked out a bit (only internally of course)

After leaving the parlour and sending a mysterious #noregrets snapchat of my bandaged wrist, I finally had some peace and quiet to sit down and actually process what had happened. Surprisingly, I didn’t cry about the whole line-thickness debacle (mainly because Bianca had assured 100 times that the lines still looked really clean, sharp and nice). However, there was a point where I did get a tad emotional before I finally decided to stop being a sook and embrace it for what it was.

It’s now a day later and I’ve decided that I love it.

Although this post has focused more on the whole experience of getting my tattoo, rather than its’ actual meaning, I don’t think I need to delve into into the mushy stuff too much. Long story short, the triangle is a tribute to my favourite band Alt-J and the overall impact that music has had on my life.

SO YEAH, THAT’S THAT!

I guess now I just have to look after it and channel my inner-vampire for the next few weeks until it’s safe to expose my lovely little tatt to the sun. In the meantime, I’ll be on the lookout for a really butch gang to join and a nice ol’ motorcycle to cruise around in #thuglyfe.

Adios Amigos! *instead of inserting an emoji, try holding down Alt and J at the same time on your keyboard to see what comes up*

P.S. Today’s shoutout goes to Bianca’s boyfriend Tim who managed to drive us from Bentleigh East to Chelsea at the speed of light during peak-hour traffic to get us there (almost) on time. Gracias señor, couldn’t have done it without you.

 

It’s Been Two Weeks

It’s been two weeks, and I STILL haven’t been privy Andy Warhol/Ai Weiwei’s seemingly spectacular exhibition at the NGV yet *sad face*. I also haven’t had the spare time or motivation to spend 2/3 hours writing up a proper new blog post because that shit takes serious concentration. Granted, I’ve written 2/3 drafts, but I haven’t had the chance to sit down and spend some quality time on this blog. (I’m sorry it’s not you, it’s me, I promise)

With that said, here’s an update on what’s been going on in the last few weeks:

– On Australia Day, I took a day trip with the fam-bam down to Red Hill on our quest to find the perfect punnet of strawberries. We made a pitstop at Mt Martha beach on the way, and I swear we bought out half a cherry orchard on the way there when we stopped at the ‘Ripe n Ready’ cherry farm. I was the designated driver for the day, so I managed to clock up 4 hours of driving experience! #gettingthereslowly

I may have gone back for seconds… or thirds

– A few days later I FINALLY visited the infamous Doughnut time in Top Shop Emporium with Hannah. I’m actually considering making a separate post about this experience because it was heavenly and so aesthetically pleasing and delicious 😍 JUST LOOK AT THEM ALL! We had their new vegan donut called  ‘Glen Coco’ (All of their doughnuts have hilarious names, see below)

– Courteney and I made a sequel to a truly tremendous ‘Snapchat Concert’ we made two years ago. This probably sounds like such a trivial point in the scheme of things, but once you watch the video you’ll understand why (post about it coming soon I promise, with BOTH the original and updated concerts).

– I had an epic catch-up with my uni friends after almost 4 months of being heart-wrenchingly separated by a sea of suburbs and 2 train lines. We all ventured into the Queen Victoria night markets where we indulged in some spectacular sangria, got henna tattoos and somehow ended up in a penthouse drinking wine on a Wednesday night #rebellious. On that note, I think I should mention that I’m planning to get my REAL tattoo soon #staytuned.

Such henna, so design, very friends, wow

ft. 5/7 of our ‘Ad Squat’ (No, that’s not a typo) 

– I caught up with my uber-awesome friend Liz, with whom I experienced my first visit to Melbourne’s cat cafe. That’s right. A cafe full of cats. Just… Cats… Everywhere – it was so peaceful, and they were all adorable, and the whole experience was just bliss.

– I’ve recently been chosen to be a student ambassador for TongLn – a new online marketplace for students to sell, buy and trade their books/clothes/accessories. I heard about the opportunity through RMIT’s career hub newsletter last week (which pops up periodically in my inbox and I usually ignore) and lo and behold, a week later I was officially welcomed to the team. I could rave about it for a plethora of paragraphs, but for the sake of your sanity I’ll keep this point short and sweet in lieu of a full blog post on this topic.

So yeah that’s life at the moment, thrilling, tiring, and ever-changing. I have a few exciting things planned for the next few weeks (including the start of Uni after my 4-month hiatus) so keep your eyes peeled (Wow, what a disturbing mental image).

Wait! Holy shit I forgot to add that I WON TWO TICKETS TO ATTEND A CHEESE FESTIVAL NEXT FRIDAY! You’re probably sitting there thinking ‘oh lawd, how sad must her life be if she’s getting this excited about a cheese festival’, but hear me out!

The ‘Cheese Please’ festival features a “delicious line-up of champion cheeses from the winners of the 2016 Australian Grand Dairy Awards” ie. people who know their cheese. When I heard that ONLY 100 people would get a ticket to this free event I crossed all of my fingers and toes before entering the draw to win 2 exclusive tickets.  After putting my heart on the line I had to wait an agonising 3 weeks before I was told whether my cheese dreams would be fulfilled. I’d actually forgotten about the whole thing until I checked the ‘promotions’ part of my inbox yesterday where I was blessed to find a congratulatory email waiting for me!

ALRIGHT ALRIGHT that’s enough from me for today – hopefully this post makes up for the past two post-less weeks.

Adios Amigos *insert cheese emoji*

PS. Today’s shoutout goes to my current idol Gabby who QUIT HER SHIT JOB TODAY AFTER THREE YEARS! YES GABBY YES, I AM SO DAMN PROUD OF YOU! Y’all have to drop what you’re doing and read her ‘McFired’ post, I promise it’ll be the highlight of your night: http://bit.ly/McFired

Going Global

You know what’s really surreal? The fact that I have people reading my blog from all around the world. Now, I’m not talking about 100’s of people, I mean more like the occasional visitor from the USA or more recently, Japan.

To all of these international visitors, I would like to say a big THANK YOU for stumbling across my blog and gracing it with your presence. There’s something extra exciting about seeing a new flag pop up under the ‘countries’ tab on my dash, even if it’s only one or two visitors.

This short blog post is dedicated to EVERYONE who’s stalked me over the past few months from all corners of the earth – YOU ROCK! The following unintentionally threatening image is dedicated to all of y’all.

Adios Amigos *insert globe emoji*

Gracias, Danke, Arigato, Merci, Terima Kasih

Hi 2016

Man oh man, I can’t believe it’s already 2016. Yes, I know this is what everyone says at the start of each new year, but hey it’s true! It seems like 2015 was such a crazy roller coaster (as expected when your friends and family are all lovably insane ❤️) and now I’m ready to take on the new year!

All that corny shit aside, I’m actually pretty pumped for this year. I’ve got second year uni (holy shit I feel so unprepared), another 2 months of work at Thinktank to go, and my Europe trip in June to look forward to. Right now, I’m actually looking forward to working out at the gym. It’s been a solid 2 months since I graced those hallowed halls, but I’m sure I’ll be welcomed back with open arms (and intimidated by how ridiculously good everyone looks after the indulgent Christmas period). Seriously, some people seem to eat like cows during December and still remain in top shape – please teach me your ways. I, on the other hand decided to use the excuse of my surgery to boycott exercise for that whole period and eat as much nicecream as possible (nicecream, not ice cream you read that right).

Now, I feel like I haven’t posted a life update in a while so here’s what’s been going on:

– I trekked to Ocean Grove with Michelle for 4 days to escape the post-Christmas craziness. It was actually such an awesome, relaxing trip, where we basically just ate watermelon 24/7, swum, tanned and burnt to a lovely crisp.

Watermelon is love, Watermelon is life

– At Ocean Grove, we were blessed to meet the most laidback guy ever who taught us the importance of just saying ‘fuck it’ and enjoying life. He was also the host of our Airbnb Apartment, and had the best hammock known to mankind. (Shoutout to Bill, you legend)

– After a chill 4 days at the beach, Michelle and I said adios to relaxation and hola to non-stop partying over NYE and NYD. We decided to be all fancy and booked two nights at a hotel (Oaks on Williams) in which we spent our time binge watching free-to-air TV and ordering room service. Needless to say, we had an awesome time and I would definitely do it again. I feel like the whole Ocean Grove + City trip was the perfect combination.

DAT VIEW THO

– On NYE we watched the fireworks from our balcony and danced the night away until we somehow ended up back at our hotel in one piece (there’s a few details missing, but I’ll leave that to your imagination). The following night we experienced Ms Collins nightclub for the first time and met these two guys who were legitimately loaded. Obviously they had nothing better to do than shout us drinks throughout the night and then later at Crown (until 4am), but hey, I ain’t complaining.

Vodka is a friend of mine. Oh, and so is Michelle.

Overall, I’ve had a pretty swell start to the year and already made fantastic memories which will undoubtedly fuel my conversations for the next few weeks. I’d write out my list of resolutions/goals, but the only one that really matters right now is my promise to keep this blog updated. You’ve heard it here first folks, I promise to keep posting about all the exciting/random shit that happens this year, regardless of how stupid/embarrassing it is because HEY, THAT’S LIFE!

Adios Amigos *insert watermelon emoji*

!Hola Europa¡

Guys, I’m excited. Like, very VERY excited. So excited that you’ll have to excuse all the bad grammar and constant repetition of the word ‘excited’ to follow.

Now, you may have deduced why this post exudes such a dangerous level of enthusiasm from its title, but put simply: I’m literally days away from booking my Contiki escape to Europe next year. For months I’ve been meticulously planning this trip and slaving over countless tour deals to find the perfect one; and I think this is it.

Let’s be honest, this synopsis does a better job summarising the tour than I ever will

The tour: Contiki’s London to Athens Tour (Covering France, Spain, Italy and Greece)
The traveller: Moi
The excitement: 100% Real

Okay, okay I’ll calm down now (or just avoid that dreaded ‘e’ word unless the end of this post at least) to explain my plans a little further. Basically, I’m planning to spend a few days in London with my Mum, before she jets off to Barcelona to embark on a Mediterranean cruise with the rest of my family, and then start my own Contiki tour by myself. I could have gone on the cruise too, but I would honestly enjoy some time with people my age and prefer to stay away from ships that remind me of the Titanic.

Speaking of people, you’d think that being a solo traveller would scare me, right? Well not really, I actually think it’s a great way to immerse yourself in the trip and get out of your comfort zone (oh god, I’m starting to sound like one of those motivational speakers). That said, there’s an open invitation to anyone who wants to join me on my trip. I’m sure I’ll get homesick at least once on the tour, and it would be great to have someone to cry with whilst we eat Vegemite from the jar.

If you’ve never heard of Contiki tours then man, their SEO must really be letting them down (ha ha excuse the media jargon). Basically, it’s an organised tour for people aged 18-35 which includes travel, accommodation and food. Granted, it’s budget travelling so I’m not expecting 5 star hotels and a first-class experience, but I figure it’s a great way to discover Europe for the first time. I love the idea of having everything organised for me the fist time I go over, so I can just focus on experiencing everything each country has to offer!

So after months of research and planning, I think I’m almost ready to secure my spot and book my flights! I’ll keep y’all updated as things happen and hopefully give you a summary of the trip when I’m on it, but man it feels good to have finally decided to go!

(It seems that I’ve replaced the word ‘excited’ with exclamation marks, so apologies for that señors and señoritas)

Adios Amigos *insert plane emoji*

26/12/15 UPDATE: Guys guys guys, I’ve officially booked my flights to/from Europe and my Contiki now! After a solid 4 hour Boxing Day shopping session and spending waaaaay too much money, I decided that I may as well go all-out and chuck another 5K away. Oh well, it’s a future investment that I definitely won’t regret!

30/03/16 UPDATE: Well well well, who’d have thought that I’d end up having to change my plans almost COMPLETELY because Contiki decided to pull my tour date *annoyed emoji face*

Long story short, not enough people signed up for my departure date, so they cancelled the tour only 24 hours AFTER I confirmed + paid for my non-refundable London accomodation with mum 😦 Not to worry though, after a hectic 12 hours of planning, I pulled together a brand new itinerary which involves me going on the ‘Quest to Rome’ tour and travelling to Germany for 3 days with mum after London to sightsee and visit relatives. Whilst the tour change means that I’ll have to give Greece a miss completely, I’ll at least have the opportunity to meet my step grandad in real life and drink some German beer (all for the sake of ‘experience’ of course)

So DON’T WORRY, I’M STILL GOING TO TRAVERSE EUROPE FOR A MONTH – Just on a slightly altered route 😉

#Peoplefirst

So we have this pizza menu that’s been hanging on our fridge for the last two years. Each time I open the fridge I briefly catch a glimpse of the company’s slogan ‘Life’s too short to eat bad pizza’. Labelling it as just another corny slogan, I’ve never given the saying much thought. However, I’ve been thinking a lot about it recently and realised that my life motto runs along similar lines.

Whilst pizza is definitely an important part of my life, you know what else is pretty damn important? Work. It seems that this topic is almost taboo in certain conversations. For example, you aren’t supposed to bring it to the dinner table or discuss it on a romantic night out. But what if you truly love and cherish your job? What if by some rare feat you’ve found an occupation which brings you endless joy and makes you smile when you wake each morning? Impossible, right?

Well okay, the smiling in the morning part might be, but it seems that I’ve somehow managed to nab a job that fits that ‘ideal job’ description. Being an Account Manager at Thinktank Social is honestly the best job I’ve ever had, I actually love it so much. Like, I could fangirl over it. The people are awesome, I’m actually learning a shitload and I get to interact with real clients – and real money *gasp*. It’s honestly a dream come true. I’m the kind of gal who likes to push and compete with myself and constantly stay on the ball, which is why a job in social media is so exhilarating. It’s ever-changing and growing, and I can’t wait to see what the landscape will be like in 5 or even 10 years from now!

Now, back to my life motto point. Like that pizza company, I believe that life’s too short to be stuck in a job you hate. One of my biggest aspirations in life is to wake up each day looking forward to work. Now, of course there will be days when you just don’t want to leave bed or you might be under the pump with tasks, but in general I want to enjoy what I do. Right now, that’s working at Thinktank Social. In the future, who knows?

If you haven’t figured out by now, I’m not the kind of person who likes to settle for less than exceptional. I’ve had past jobs that seemed great at the start, but then little issues came up and some ended up being dodgy, so I just quit. That’s not to say that I didn’t try to make things work. I invested months into these jobs and did what I could to repair any serious issues that came up, but there’s a point where you realise that you could be better off somewhere else. Right now, I feel like that ‘somewhere else’ is Thinktank, and I absolutely love it.

Speaking of love, I’ll end today’s post with a quote from our dear friend ‘Anonymous’, who seems to have authored many of life’s great sayings.

‘Find a job you love, and you will never work a day in your life’

Adios Amigos *insert pizza emoji*

P.S. Today’s shoutout goes to Kurt Stanley and his amazing photography page. I seriously hope he keeps following his passion! Check out his photography page here: https://www.facebook.com/kurtstanleyphotography/?fref=ts

Sonia, Stop banging on the Piano!

If you ever wind up at my house on a typical evening, you’ll probably hear my mum angrily yell out the title of this post more than a few times.

Alas, that’s what you get when you decide to enrol your 9 year old child in private Piano lessons. It’s also what happens when you realise that the household will be forever plagued by frustrated bangs on the piano from said child as she exercises her impatience during her practice sessions. It’s something I went through as a child, and now it’s my little sister’s turn to learn the timeless art of playing the Piano #mems.

That said, I’m actually grateful for the 10 years that I was forced to learn the ways of the piano. I skilled up to the point where I can pick up songs without sheet music and make a half-decent attempt at sight reading new music. Surprisingly, it’s a pretty handy skill to have. I usually get away with giving Grandma the gift of a piano concert for her birthday each year along with her other presents. She loves it of course, especially when I try to learn typical Russian songs from her childhood.

There are some songs that I’ll never forget though. Songs such as ‘Mad World’ by Gary Jules, and one of my old exam songs that I slaved over for 6 months. Speaking of, Mad World was actually one of the songs that I picked up without full piano sheet music. I remember hearing it in a movie last year and being inspired to learn it somehow on the piano. For a solid hour that evening I searched high and low on the internet for a copy of the sheet music, but alas, all I could find was the first page #pray4katia

Anyway, after a solid 3 sessions of procrastinating on a random school piano, I finally ‘mastered’ Mad World, and now it’s one of my favourite songs to play. Yes, it’s hella depressing when you actually listen to the lyrics, but it’s also so emotional and moving and god I’m getting emotional just thinking about it. You know what? I actually recorded myself playing it last night and it wasn’t a half-bad effort, so I’ll the recording down below for anyone to listen to if they’re interested.

(I tried to add the mp3 file but WordPress is being a bitch and not letting me tonight, so I’ll update this post with the audio file tomorrow)

Now as usual it’s past 12am and I have to get up at 7am for work tomorrow. So to preserve some of my sanity, I’m going to sign off for tonight (lol sign off, what is this? MSN?)

Adios Amigos *music note emoji* xx

P.S. Today’s shoutout goes to the magnificent Madi Collis who is one of the most loyal girls I know ❤ THIS ONE’S FOR YOU!

My new love

Guys, I’ve fallen in love. Not with a guy, but with a surprisingly hilarious show that prides itself on being shamelessly outspoken: Gogglebox Australia.

Featuring a number of different families from around Australia, the show documents their various reactions to a number of popular TV shows aired throughout the week. From Bondi Vet to The Bachelorette, this show covers it all. Each family’s observations are cross-cut to create a running commentary throughout the program which reflects their, often hilarious, opinions of each week’s roundup.

Wow okay, when did I start sounding so formal and commercial? (I must still be in work-mode from last week). I feel like I could be that person who updates Wikipedia articles and writes IMDB summaries for fun. You know, if someone paid me to whip up quick summaries of all the TV shows/movies I watch each week, I might just ditch my job and do that full-time.

Anyway, that’s enough fantasising about a job I’ll never have. How about I elaborate on my flourishing relationship with Goggleblox instead.

It all started in the midst of my fatigue-driven Tuesday evening as I hit my sickness low last week. Having grown tired of watching the same genre of shows over and over again, I decided to opt for something a little more left of field. Now, I’d seen ads for Gogglebox on TV, but in all honestly they made it look pretty shit. I mean, what’s so interesting about watching people watch shows? I could just stare at my little sister watching her Minecraft videos 24/7.

Despite my reservations, I thought ‘eh why not?’ and decided to watch a few eps starting from Season 1. Seeing as the show only started airing earlier this year, I could actually remember seeing promos for a bunch of the shows they watched. I think that’s what made me love this show so much – that ‘omg I’ve seen this!’ reaction I had with over half the shows featured on Gogglebox.

It’s also been interesting to discover new shows you’d never even thought of watching before. I don’t think that I’d ever willingly sit down to watch an episode of ABC’s documentary series ‘Australian Story’ if it wasn’t Gogglebox. In a way, this show acts as a massive promo reel for all these other TV programs, which helps people choose which ones to watch each week. Sometimes I’ll stop my episode of Gogglebox to watch a show that the families are about to start reviewing and then re-start the episode so I know what they’re talking about. Yes, I’m that dedicated.

Ultimately, it’s the people who make the show. Whilst all of the ‘families’ play to their stereotypes to an extent, I feel like there’s still a ‘real’ element to them. They’re not afraid to say what everyone’s thinking, and that’s why I love them. Believe me, if they think a show is shit, they’ll tell you. Take Mick and Di for example. Sure, they may be categorised as the ‘old grumpy’ couple, but with lines such as ‘just google it Mick’ and ‘what a little shit’ from Di, it’s sorta hard to keep them in that stereotypical box.

If you need anymore proof of how hilarious some people are on this show, I’ve chosen some of my favourite one-liners below. Whip out your popcorn and enjoy:

Over the past 6 days, I feel like I’ve actually come to know and love all of the families as friends. From Tom’s sassy remarks to Holly’s constant complaining, I’ve learnt to expect certain reactions from different people. Maybe I’m getting too obsessed with the show, who knows? All I know is that I freaking love it and I’ll probably cry in a few days when I finally finish catching up on the last 4 episodes.

Okay, now this post is starting to cross the fine line between being analytical and lighthearted, so I think I’ll wrap it up there. Basically, if you haven’t watched Gogglebox yet I highly recommend you do. If my lengthy, loving review has sparked even the tiniest bit of interest for this show in you then I reckon you could come to love it as I have. All it takes is one episode, and then you’ll know if it’s the show for you.

I now leave you all with a classic song dedication which, I believe, should be the official theme song of Gogglebox (kinda fitting don’t you think?) – enjoy it Amigos xx

P.S. Tonight’s shoutout goes to a self-confessed fan, Zoe Finkelstein! Thank you for being an absolute angel with all your support for my blog and all your kind offers to fill my depleting tea supply  ❤

A Rug Called Pablo

GUYS I’M STILL HERE, I HAVEN’T DROPPED OFF THE FACE OF THE EARTH AFTER MY FIRST FEW POSTS!

(Just thought I’d get that out there since some of you were wondering)

Wait, hold up. People are actually reading this blog? WHAT EVEN?! Like, I had over 100 people check it out after linking it on Facebook, and half the likes on that status came from people I hadn’t spoken to in ages! I’m actually quite shocked at the amount of people who took the time to read my posts – I guess I’m friends with a lot of stickybeaks (dear lord, I can’t believe I just used that word. What am I? 80?)

I wonder how many of you will actually come back regularly to check for new content? (I know that’s what I do with Gabby’s blog #number1fan) But don’t worry, I’m not expecting you to be THAT dedicated. In fact, I think I’d be quite shocked to discover ANYONE who would stay loyal after all the random facts and ramblings I’ve filled my previous posts with.

For those of you who HAVE stayed, I just wanted to say THANK YOU FOR BEING EVEN VAGUELY INTERESTED IN MY LIFE! THIS GOOGLE IMAGE SEARCH IS DEDICATED TO YOU:

ALL THE FEELS

Now I know that it’s only been 3 days but here’s a life update for y’all:

• My tonsillitis has gotten so much worse since my first post ugh. I’ve now lost most of my voice and look like the grim reaper 24/7. SOMEONE PLEASE BRING ME CHOCOLATE AND I’LL LOVE YOU FOREVER! (Even though my throat is so swollen that I probably won’t be able to swallow any *sad face emoji*)
• I BOUGHT A RUG YESTERDAY! Okay, this point alone deserves its own paragraph, so I’ll elaborate more under this update.
• My grandma bought a kitten today and I was too damn sick to leave the house to visit it </3.
• I HAVE CONSUMED 24 CUPS OF TEA IN THE LAST 3 DAYS HOLY SHIT. I honestly don’t know how my bladder is still intact – since I’m too lazy to get up and answer nature’s call every few hours.

Basically I’ve been as sick as a dog (what does that expression even mean?) and although I’ve been confined to the house for the next few days, I managed to escape yesterday morning. Where did I go, you wonder? Work. That’s right, out of all the exciting places I could visit, I decided to head over to Cremorne and spend 8 hours in the office. I wasn’t even forced to come! (In fact I suspect that everyone was secretly worried that I’d infect them with the plague). But alas, I just love my new job way too much to miss a single day, so in I went.

Now, about that rug. Funnily enough, I was actually taking a stroll during my lunch break when I came across this furniture store called ‘House of Orange’.
‘What could I possibly find in there?’ I pondered as I entered the threshold.
Everything, that’s what. From chic and sleek to fancy and vintage, this place had it all! I think it’s actually a perfect example of the vibes that I get from Cremorne – quirky yet cool.

It was in this furniture store that I stumbled across Pablo. As much as I wish this was name of the friendly Mexican man who greeted me, it’s actually what I’ve named my new rug. You see, after wandering into a section filled with pillows and homewares I spotted a peculiar bunch of rugs lying on a shelf. Upon closer inspection, the colours of one rug caught my eye in particular. To put it simply: Pablo’s colours encapsulate my life aesthetic in one damn-fine piece of embroidered Mexican material. Needless to say, I quickly snatched him up and lovingly carried him to the counter like a groom holding his new bride. Pablo now resides on my bedroom floor where I bend down and give him a pat ever-so-often so he doesn’t get lonely down there by himself.

The only Mexican for me

Oh shit. This was meant to be a short post hahahahahahahah whoops. See, I told you I ramble! Now I can use this entry as a proper testimony. Ah well, it seemed to distract my brain from focusing on the devilish pain in my throat. Plus, I think my 10th cup of tea is helping soothe Satan too.

That’s all for tonight, Adios Amigos! *insert devil face emoji*

P.S. Today’s shoutout goes to my dear friend Rhianna Moore who’s already secured us a special place in Hell. Wait, does this mean that Satan’s going to win his siege on my throat?

True friendship right there