Fill in the blank Friday

1. My idea of pure perfection would be to be independently wealthy so I could travel any time I wanted to any destination my heart desired, and so I could give in to my inner nerd and be a professional student.

2. Love, in all of its forms, makes the world go 'round.

3. If it weren't for work and my upcoming apartment move, I'd hop a plane to Townsville to see Jamie.

4. Bloggers are truly wonderful people. I've met some lovely friends through blogging, and enjoy this little world I've become a part of.

5. If I had unlimited funds I'd buy you all a trip to your dream destination.

6. I'm glad it's Friday because it's been a stressful couple of weeks and I'm really looking forward to a break.

7. Something I'm excited about is Fall coming!! I know I keep getting reprimanded by you all for wishing away summer, but I am so antsy for a change in season. Summer this year has been nuts, and I'm ready to move on to cooler temperatures, changing leaves, a need for cardigans and lots of soup!

A request for prayers and happy thoughts

Hello, lovely blogging world.

You all know my trusty best friend, Jamie. You know, that lovely lady who lives in Australia and lets me come visit even if it takes me 6 months to get around to blogging about it. The one who drinks red wine with me and is always up for countless selfies and 2 am dance parties.

Well, she's going through a rough time right now and would greatly appreciate a quick prayer and/or happy and positive thoughts sent her way. I would really appreciate it, too.

Long distance friendships are tough, but they're even tougher when one of you is in the midst of a crappy time and you can't physically be there for her (or him). It rips at your heart a little bit.

So, if you have a moment, please direct some positive energy towards Queensland, Australia. Jamie and I will love you forever for it.

What the day holds for me

Cups of Lady Grey tea with a splash of milk because even when it's in the 90's, I love the comfort of a hot beverage.

A quick lunch date with my Mom because she truly is one of my best friends.

Stolen moments for daydreaming; briefly giving into my unsettled feeling that tends to arise when I'm stressed. Australia has consumed me ever since I got back from my trip, and I can't decide if it's due to a shift in me or if it's because my mind and body need a little more then the 2 weeks I gave them to fully digest my experiences.

Juggling my Fire Invoice Auditor hat with my Fire Invoice Trainer hat...I love the additional help, but rarely give myself enough credit as a good teacher.

Reading this blog, which encourages, rather than helps, my unsettled feeling.

Contemplating yoga again.

Itching for an evening jog; just me, my music and my thoughts.

Wondering if I should pick up a bottle or two of wine on my way home. I'm all out and I like having them around in case I need to bring a bottle to a girls night or gift one (unopened, of course) to a friend, but the knowledge that I need to pack for my upcoming move has me second-guessing my usual actions.

Wishing I hadn't brought up the move...too stressful at the moment.

Wanting a chat with Jamie, but unable to find the time for more than just a few random snippets between our crazy schedules.

Needing to see Harry Potter 7.2. Again. I feel like a door of my childhood was just closed.

Fill in the Blank Friday

I feel like it's been a while since I played along with Lauren's Friday blanks, but to be perfectly honest I cannot remember exactly when the last time was...before I left for Australia, maybe? No matter, I'm playing today and encourage you all to link up as well!

Happy Friday!

1. People always tell me I look like my mother, even though I see more of my father in my face. My personality is pretty much all Debby, but I physically look more like my father.
(I've never been told I look like a celebrity, by the way)

2. Friends don't let friends make big decisions without first discussing the pros and cons; they don't let friends walk around with food in their teeth or things in their hair.

3. A sunny day is perfect for drinking coffee on the patio, going for a long walk or hike, reading at the park, grabbing a glass of wine and then wandering around Old Town with the girls.

4. My favorite accessory is a fun pair of earrings. I love earrings, and because I have short hair they are usually visible.

5. If I could afford it I would quit my job, pay off whatever officials I needed to in order to get the residency required to live in Australia, move into a killer flat with Jamie, call it my home base and then travel the world. Yep, sounds like an awesome life plan to me.

6. The cure for boredom is to go for a long drive or walk, and to get just a little lost, both in direction and in your thoughts. A good book works, too. As does spontaneous wine nights with friends.

7. I am currently "in like" with If I Die Young by The Band Perry because it references my favorite Tennyson poem, with the idea of a pixie-ish cut (I may chop off my hair this arvo!), Twinings Lady Grey tea, long walks when it's sprinkling outside, avocado and tomatoes on toasted sourdough, etc, etc...

The Heritage Tea Rooms

I'm hormonal, annoyed with cost share agreements, in desperate need of a haircut and, unfortunately, wearing my cranky pants today. We all know these days happen, and they really aren't anything to get too worked up over, but having the ability to escape them is always nice. Now, when I say "escape" I don't mean a literal one because, obviously, I'm kind of stuck with my hormones and hair no matter where I go, but a mental escape usually does wonders for the psyche. So, please join me as I jet across the world to Townsville, Australia. You see, this university town in North Queensland just so happens to be home to the most relaxing (and possibly happiest) place on earth: The Heritage Tea Rooms. I kid you not, if I lived in Townsville I would spend entirely too much time at this place, drinking heaps of tea, eating scones and just taking in the scenery. It's wonderful.

(located in North Queensland's oldest building)

(used to be the Eureka Hotel in the 1800s)

(truly amazing tea)

(blueberry and pumpkin scones)

Music for the Soul

As you all know, I am the kind of gal who becomes obsessed with a song, plays it on repeat for a week or two, sings my little heart out and then, like a magpie and a shiny object, I move on to a new song. It works for me...probably drives my coworkers crazy, but they have all grown accustomed to my semi-eccentric ways (thank goodness!).

This week's song obsession is Love Lost by The Temper Trap. It's true love. Seriously. And, I have Miss Jamie Lynn, that favorite eccentric bestie of mine, to thank for this song. She turned me onto The Temper Trap several months ago, and I liked them right away, but it wasn't until we were listening to them in Townsville that I really felt a strong pull.

So, without further ado, give 'em a listen!



Our love was lost
But now we've found it
Our love was lost
And hope was gone

Our love was lost
But now we've found it
And if you flash your heart
I won't deny it
I promise

I promise

Your walls are up
Too cold to touch it
Your walls are up
Too high to climb

I know it's hard
But I can still hear it beating
So if you flash your heart
I won't mistreat it
I promise

I promise

Our love was lost
In the rubble are all the things
That you've, you've been dreaming of
Keep me in mind
When you're ready
I am here
To take you every time

Oh our love was lost
Lost, lost, lost, lost....
Our love was lost
But now its found

I miss this.

I cannot promise the sappy, I-miss-Australia posts won't go on for a while, but bear with me. The post-traveling blues have hit me hard, and even though I am back to feeling normal and smiling at the fact that I'm lucky enough to live in as beautiful a state as Colorado, I left a piece of my heart behind in Australia. I want to say that I specifically left it in Sydney because stepping off of the plane in Sydney felt like coming home, but there's a bit scattered up in North Queensland, too, simply because there are lovely memories there.

I miss uninterrupted time with my best friend. The sense of complete understanding and acceptance between she and I is overwhelmingly powerful and comforting.

I miss all of the new friends that I made; truly fabulous people who embraced me as their own and showed me the time of my life.

I miss the vibrant, yet calming pulse of Sydney.

I miss every day feeling like a new, little adventure. I didn't need to know where I was or where I was going all the time; everything was fine so long as we were laughing and having a good time.

One Week

The countdown has officially begun: in one week, I will be boarding a plane at LAX to spend an ungodly number of hours flying over the Pacific, on my way to AUSTRALIA!

In one week, I will be about to embark on the adventure of a lifetime.

In one week, I will get to spend 2 uninterrupted weeks with my best friend. This hasn't happened in over a year, and I am so excited.

In one week, I will be exploring Sydney, drinking coffee and tea, eating fresh seafood at the fish market, sipping Australian wine and snapping photos at the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House. Then I will be heading up to Townsville (near the Great Barrier Reef) to see where Jamie calls home, meet her friends, pretend I know how to drive a stick shift on the left side of the road and soak up lots of sun.

In one week, I will get a much-needed break from my life and hopefully come back refreshed and better in-tune with myself again.

"A woman can reinvent or erase her history entirely when she travels. This is one of the great benefits of leaving home."

-from Very Valentine by Adriana Trigiani

Exciting News!

Well, I finally did it. I bought my tickets to visit Jamie in AUSTRALIA!! I will be in a land down under from April 9th through April 23rd...two whole weeks abroad! It was exhilarating, a little scary and definitely exciting. Hearing how excited Jamie was when I told her pretty much made my day! I cannot wait. We spent the rest of the evening skyping and basically just saying different forms of "oh my god, you're going to be in Australia soon!". So fabulous!

I've said before that Australia was never high on my list of places to visit, but I want to explore this country that has stolen my best friend's heart, and I am legitimately excited to do so. I need to experience this piece of her life that is so important to her, and therefore important to me, because Australia and the time she has spent there has become part of the definition of Jamie.

But, dear readers, I haven't traveled internationally in 10 YEARS, nor have I ever done it by myself, so if you have any tips for me please feel free to share. I know it's going to be a wonderful adventure and things will go smoothly, but a little preparation never hurts.

Happy Friday!

A little Skype gushing...

I seriously love Skype! I love that even though Jamie is halfway across the world and in a different hemisphere than me, Skype makes it seem almost like we're roomies again...well, maybe not roomies, but it makes it seem like we live in the same country again.

I think our morning conversations are my favorite. Technically, it's morning for me and just before bedtime for her, but we'll say "morning" for convenience. This is when it really feels like we're living together again. We had our morning routine down pat when we were roomies, so when we're Skyping and I hop up to shower or blow dry my hair, I don't even have to say anything; she automatically knows what part of my morning routine I'm at and just goes with the flow. It's awesome.

When we lived together, Jamie was usually ready faster than I was, so she'd sit on the toilet (with the cover down, obviously) and we'd babble at each other while I finished my hair and put on my make-up. Well, that's exactly what we still do. Haha...I put the computer on the toilet, tell Jamie she's on her throne, and we continue to chatter away while I finish getting ready. It's perfect! I also love running outfit ideas by her. She know my style, knows how I handle different types of weather and if I give her a general run-down she can yay or nay clothing choices almost as if she were living in the next room again.

My life simply wouldn't be the same without our random, all-over-the-board conversations, so I'm glad they can still happen. It's not the same as having her here, but you won't hear me complaining about our video chats, where, when Skype freezes (as it tends to do), Jamie's face is always stuck in some hilariously awkward position, or when we're just IMing each other we somehow manage to carry on 5 different strings of conversation without flaw until one of us mentions in, causing confusion to set it until we have to pick just one conversation to run with. It's how we roll!


By the way, according to this morning's conversation, I will be moving to Australia so Jamie and I can drink goon (wine) and drive around the country following the bushfires until we meet sexy firemen and eventually settle down near a bigger city. Naturally, these firemen will be brothers and I already called dibs on the older of the two.

Fill in the blank Friday

1. I am in love with my new Chamilia charm bracelet that my Dad got me for Valentine's Day (shout-out to Mom for helping him pick the charms). His thinking of me meant so much to me, and the charms are perfect...one is even a crab!!

2. The bravest thing I've ever done was probably making it official in my mind to visit Jamie while she's in Australia. I know that seems like a no-brainer and not very brave, but if you know me and my OCD ways, then you know this is huge. I'm a total control-freak when it comes to money and I live on a really tight budget. I have savings that I guard with my life and any time I have to dip into that account I'm guaranteed to have a cry- or shout-fest over it. Well, travel to AUS? Yea, good-bye savings! And, as Jamie and all of you know, I get nervous when I fly alone, and I feel better knowing the airport that I'm landing in. Well, an international flight alone and an airport I've never been to in a foreign country are bound to get my heart racing a bit. Now, all of that being said, I cannot wait to visit Jamie and play tourist in Australia, but actually doing it comes in pretty high on my bravery list.

3. I feel prettiest when I'm having a "skinny" day, when my bangs cooperate and when I have freshly painted finger- and toenails.

4. Something that keeps me awake at night is work, my to-do list, when I have something I need to get off of my chest, fighting with people, etc...pretty much anything that causes worry has the potential to keep me up at night, or cause me to sleepwalk.

5. My favorite meal in the entire world is dependent upon my mood. I know I've answered this question with butternut squash ravioli before, but today I think classic fish and chips is winning out. I don't have one specific favorite, but rather a list of food loves. I'm a foodie!

6. The way to my heart is through words and touch.

7. I would like to have a spa day. I could really go for an all-out day of pampering: facial, massage, pedicure, manicure, brow wax, hair cut, etc.

(Mostly) disorganized thoughts on my weekend...

I had such great intentions to be productive this past weekend, but in the end, I accomplished next to nothing. Surprisingly, that was/is just fine with me. We all need lazy weekends, right?

Friday

Work sped by, which is unusual for a Friday.
We have a new student hourly, whom I adore, and chatting with her while I worked made the afternoon fly by. I love when that happens!
After work I ran some errands, took an Economics quiz and made pizza for dinner.
Then I went out on a date (not my first with him).
I've become oddly (for me) wiggy about labeling things lately.

I know I haven't really mentioned much about my forays into the dating world here, but, yes, I went on a date.
We played trivia and drank beer.
I apparently do not store very many random bits of knowledge in my brain, at least not sports related ones.
But, I still had a great time.
There was cuddle action.

Saturday

Morning came entirely too quickly.
I spent the majority of the day drinking coffee in an attempt to trick myself into thinking I was well-rested.
I nearly hit a buck that decided to run into the road on the way to my parents' house.
I kid you not, it practically plotted leaping towards my car.
I went for a long walk in the Colorado Fall sunshine, and sweet-talked my friend Chelsae into wandering around downtown for a bit.
I'm pretty sure I spent more time in my sweats than I did in real clothes, which is always one of my favorite things.

Sunday

I woke up to the sound of rain, and immediately opened all of my windows to let the fresh air in.
The weather was perfect for indulging in too much coffee (notice a pattern?) and watching trashy BBC drama.
Has anyone ever seen BBC's Footballers' Wives? I love it!
I have this thing for British television, and have always loved this show.

I finally added the seasons to my Netflix so I could start from the beginning.
I worked out and attempted to start on some homework, but failed miserably.
Mom and I had a coffee date and then wandered around Target.

She talked me into spending entirely too much money, but I love my purchases...there just might be a new polka dot cardi in my closet.
The day concluded with Skyping Jamie and cooking a giant pot of soup.

I'm paying the price now for not getting my homework done, but hey, c'est la vie! I had a lovely, lazy weekend and am willing to kick myself a bit for my lack of productivity. Some weekends just aren't meant for checking items off of my to-do list.

Hiking Bobcat Ridge

Oh, what a lovely weekend! I was in absolute desperate need of sleep and some serious "Erin time", and luckily got both. I spent all of last week sleepwalking my way through some mental hang-ups rather than actually sleeping, so come Friday I was a wreck. I was past the point of exhaustion and pretty much on the verge of tears all day long. I also put in some extra hours at work last week because my inbox is over-flowing! It felt good to do so, but it only added to my stress levels.

Chatting with Jamie on Friday served its purpose and transformed me from a scary, on the edge, sleepwalking thing back into Erin. 'Twas a grand thing! I was able to go for a long walk, drink some tea and get 10 hours of much-needed sleep Friday night. Saturday and Sunday were both spent playing catch-up. I had errands to run, an apartment to clean and things to do. I saw a lot of my parents, which is always a lovely thing in my book, and even had a little social movie outing (Scott Pilgrim vs. the World was quite good! Quirky, but good). But really, the focus of this weekend was my sanity. That sounds odd to say, but if anyone had witnessed the state I was in at the end of the week, my statement would make perfect sense. Thankfully, I had just the weekend that I needed and I'm back to sleeping well (despite one minor sleepwalking incident last night) and feeling like my "normal" self!

I think the highlight of my weekend was actually my Sunday morning hike with Mom. She is, by far, my favorite person to hike with and we had a great time. We went to Bobcat Ridge (where I had a near panic attack inducing encounter with a snake last year) and just hiked our little hearts out. We chatted, I took pictures and we both took in Colorado's lovely scenery. There were hardly any other people on the trails, but we did see several horseback riders out, which is always fun. The weather was perfect for a hike and it was a great way to start off the day!

I hope everyone else had lovely weekends!

I needed this

I truly believe there is nothing better than a best friend. I finally had a much-needed, long phone conversation with Jamie tonight and my entire world feels as though it's been righted. I've been on a bit of an emotional rollercoaster the past 10 days and really just needed to talk with the one person who would understand it all without my needing to explain anything. But Jamie's in the middle of a move, and is therefore without internet at her new house, so Skyping has been impossible. So, rather than clear out my psyche through good old fashioned conversation, I've been attempting to work things out through odd dreams and excessive sleepwalking. Obviously, something wasn't working...I needed an EJ fix! We hadn't had a legit conversation in 2 weeks, which doesn't seem like too long, but to us it's practically an eternity. But isn't that how it's supposed to be between true friends?

And tonight we talked, and talked and talked. Ahhh. My soul feels lighter, some weight has been lifted from my shoulders and I feel happier. Thank you, Jamie Lynn for knowing me so well and for needing tonight's phone call just as much as I did.

fresh tomatoes, velvety Pinot Noir and Jane Austen only add to my lovely evening.

She's my friend soulmate

(Vail, CO -- October 2009)

I'm craving time with my best friend in a way that I almost cannot describe. It's officially been 6 months since she left Colorado for Australia and it'll be another 6 months before she's back again. We've survived 6 months before, but not longer and I'm kind of worried that I'm going to turn into a cranky bitch towards the end of this next 6 month period. Jamie and I skype nearly every day, we email and facebook and we're lucky enough to be able to fit in (truly) long distance phone calls on a semi-regular basis. Our friendship is stronger than ever, and it's so nice to know that no matter where each of us are in our lives, we can persevere. We can still talk about anything and everything, more often than not we're on the same, sometimes completely random, page (the EJ wavelength) and she still knows me, and I know her, better than anyone else. She and I have found our friend soulmate in each other, and I love that...no matter how cheesy it may sound.

I miss you, Miss Jamie Lynn...get ready for one hell of an airport reunion in December!

(that's my Jamie!)