#lessonlearnt

I had something happen to me on Friday which I felt constitutes a blog post on this site. You see, my sister and I got ourselves into a bit of a shit-storm (once you’ve read the rest of this post, please appreciate what a great pun ‘shit-storm is). 

It all started when my parents had asked my sister and I to walk our two dogs, Daisy and Rosie, upon our return home from uni. Like all students, we ventured off into our respective caves and began trawling the Internet on our computers, pretending we had a lot of assignments and were just generally too busy to walk them. “We’ll walk them at 5″ “We’ll walk them at 6″ “We’ll walk them at 7″.Eventually it got to 9.00pm and we decided that if we left it any later we’d never do it, and to punish us Mum might do something absolutely horrific like turning off the internet (*gasp*).

So we set off for our walk. We walked past the local corner store, which is run by a nice man who I’ve bought way too many Freddo Frogs off in my study breaks. It was when we were walking past this shop that my Spoodle, Daisy, decided to do a poo in the gutter. My sister and I made the fateful decision not to clean it up; a decision we’ll regret a lot 24 hours later. We ran off and continued our walk, not thinking twice about the poo that we left. 

Fast-forward 12 hours and I’m at uni. I put my phone in my bag for 10 minutes and when I fish it out to check the time, I literally have 11 missed calls from my sister. I call her back, nervous. Had something happened to Mum and Dad?

Nope, but her news was nevertheless grave. “So, we sorta got caught on CCTV footage by the store owner running away leaving the dog poo behind. He came marching to our front door to confront dad about it and left a hand-written letter for us two. Neighbours have found out and want us fined.” 

$%*&. 

I never thought my run-in with the law would involve me being caught on CCTV cameras letting my dog take a dump and running away and not picking it up. My parents have failed. I’m pretty much a thug now. 

Feeling sick, I went to my lecture. I thought I’d be able to take my mind off the Poo-gate Scandal of 2014, but that was hard when my parents wouldn’t stop calling me and leaving angry voicemails demanding me to apologise to the corner-store owner. Yepp, I had to face the music. 

My sister and I got home and headed up to the store. I got more nervous the closer we got. What do we say? Sorry our dog poo’d outside your store? Sorry we ran off, which you unfortunately had to witness on CCTV footage? I was thinking about all of these important questions, but kept getting distracted by the hilarious puns. Shit happens. Shit hit the fan. I need to apologise ‘n’ shit. What a shit day. 

I apologised (it was a bit of an anti-climax), and walking out I did a bit of a psycho dance on the street. I had learnt my lesson the hard way, and thankfully survived. I lived to tell the tale. 

HOLIDAYS

WOW.

WOW.

WOW.

My random list of things I have to write on here has gotten way out of hand. So, I figured the best way to fix the problem was to actually write about them on here so I can delete the sticky note on the side of my screen that is taking up way too much room.

Please excuse my absence. Yes, I am on holidays, but not technically on "holidays". The first semester of university has officially finished (well, two weeks ago), and BOY was I glad it wrapped up. It was a super stressful semester of uni, and it was the first time I actually struggled to maintain a balance. I had work three days a week, AWARD School and my usual load of uni, which meant that I rarely had any free time to do anything other than course work. Any time I had off was spent making my AWARD School portfolio the best it could be, and getting assignments in for uni. I am very proud to say that I got all assessments in without any extensions-I figured that you can't get extensions when you're in the real world of work, so why get into the habit of it at uni?

So with exams done, I don't have uni for a month. But ALAS! I have been working full-time. While I was unsure what working full-time would be like, especially seeing as though the vast majority of my friends are off vacationing in the European Summer, I have to say that it has actually been a lot of fun. So much better than only working two or three days a week. You get to settle in and make yourself at home, and get a lot more time to work on things which is sweet. What's more, the work I'm doing is super interesting so that makes full-time work no biggie. Oh, and you become bests with the old man who owns the cafe up the road from your work, who declares his love for your on a daily basis. Also, the cash moneys isn't to bad either!

 I've been doing a lot of things in my time off, of course. A lot of this stuff has to do with my wellbeing-I've been doing a bit of yoga here, bit of gym there, eating power balls from my local cafe and just relaxing (which is something that definitely took the back seat during last semester!).

Now that life update is complete, here are the things that I need to write on here and get out of my system:

1. I legit have the biggest girl crush on George Clooney's fiancé. International lawyer. Intellect. Best-selling author. Oxford. Amazing clothes. How can someone be that all round ah-mazing? Google her. Amal Alamuddin!

2. A lot of you would probably be aware of this, but JK Rowling has an amazing series that she's published under a pseudonym of Robert Galbraith. It's detective fiction which I absolutely love-I always thought that one of the best things about Harry Potter was the clues/finding out the culprit drama, so when I found out that it was her behind this series I sprinted to the closest Big W (all books are about $10 cheaper there-fun fact), and finished the first book in two days. The second one has just come out-The Silkworm, which I just finished. So great! Definitely recommend them.

3. I've decided I want to support locally grown food production...so my sister and I have officially gotten a little plot of land at the local community garden! We're going to grow our own veggies and all dat. It's going to be fun-have our induction next Saturday! Totes official.

So, I'm lying in bed unable to walk because I did a few too many lunges at the gym yesterday with a medicine ball and didn't stretch (I'm really smart). I'm definitely having an early night because I'm (planning on) getting up at 5am for the FIFA grand final tomorrow! Know nothing about the rules of soccer but always love watching the games and pretending that I know all about it.

Hope you are all enjoying yourselves,

Chloe x

HELLO INTERNET WORLD

Okay. This is probably the longest I have ever retreated to my cave and have left this blog to fend for itself. This is not okay. Please accept my sincerest apologies (italics emphasises my distinct sorry-ness). 

I'd insert my usual 'I've been busy doing AWARD School' excuse...but IT'S FINISHED! If you're unaware of what AWARD School is, check out one of my recent posts. I have never worked so hard at something in my entire life, and it was such a surreal feeling handing in my final book. Kind of like giving away my baby that I had been looking after for three months. The graduation night is the 1st of July so that will be a lot of fun! You get to see the best of everyone's responses to the briefs we worked on, and they announce the top ten students which is exciting. To celebrate the end of ad school, I've posted below one of my all-time favourite ads which is the only ad ever to make me legitimately cry. Not just little tears, sobs. Enjoy. It's wonderful. And this isn't just my biased opinion, coming from an ad-girl. My sister (law student) thought it was amaze balls too. Watch it. I'm writing way too many short sentences.

I also survived the hardest unit of study I have ever done in my entire life. It's one of the compulsory units you have to complete to major in marketing at my university. Marketing Research. I dropped maths in year eleven, and this was pretty much all statistics. You can imagine the pain it caused me over the past five months, and the stress I have been under the past week as I tried to make that dusty out of date 'maths' section of my brain work once again. I had the exam today, ON A SATURDAY. AT NINE AM. Boy am I glad to be sitting here post-marketing research in my pink fluffy onesie watching Downton Abbey.

So much has been going on in my life-lots of potentially exciting things are in the works (fingers crossed). I'll write about it all later, but for now I must retreat back to my cave and study for my media law exam that is on Thursday. After that I am free as a bird until August! Wohoo.

Now watch the Skype ad. Now. Pronto.

Two ads that you'll all admit are amazing even if you despise ads and would rather grate your face than have to watch them

FORSTER

So it's currently the mid-semester break-the break that university gives us that tricks us into thinking we actually get a holiday, but really set 49503 major essays due for the first day back. But this break wasn't my usual study-all-day-drink-five-litres-of-coffee-sleep-repeat week. Instead, my whole family packed up and went to an absolutely gorgeous holiday house up in Forster to celebrate my beautiful Pop's 80th Birthday. It was so lovely being able to leave my books in a pile on my desk AT HOME and leave for the beach. Because it's Autumn, I packed warm clothes and couldn't be bothered digging out my bikini when the weather was meant to be cold, so I chucked in a disgusting old brown one piece that's about three sizes too small. Well, turns out the weather decided to be beautiful for the whole four days were were there, so I wore the one pair of shorts I packed and that cozzie every day! It was such an incredibly relaxing getaway, and Easter was a lot of fun (had eaten the majority of my chocolate by about 10.30am). I've posted some snaps from my time there at the end of this post!

When I got back, my boyfriend and I somehow scabbed four tickets to see Sydney Theatre Company's new play Perplex. Yes, another hectic event that we have gone to FOR FREE (see previous post about winning three double passes to Phoenix). I brought along two friends and BOY did we have a laugh! It is the most hilariously random play I have ever seen. You should all go and see it before its run ends! You are guaranteed to laugh until your cheeks hurt.

With the mid-sem break ending on Monday, I've been trying to fit as much in as I can. Things include seeing my amazing little brother and his school marching band play in the ANZAC parade in Sydney City, seeing friends, watching the hectic Lego Movie and doing uni work in-between.

Hope you all had a wonderful Easter!

Chloe x

Lion King and other happenings.

Howdy. Long time no speak. [Insert my usual 'uni + AWARD School + working 2-3 days a week' excuse.] Thanks for understanding. Now onto my rant.

I always thought it was just the tradies along my route to my station-both at construction sites and ones driving past-that treated girls like pieces of meat. I literally cannot walk to the station with out one of these situations:
a) Honked by two cars with disgusting guys inside who slow down as they drive past and stare out their window
b) Walk past a construction site and have a group of guys just watch as I walk past like vultures from a tree and stay stuff in seedy voices like 'nothing like a nice big banana in the morning' (no joke-that's what one of the tradies working on the house next door to me said as I walked past with a banana one morning, and then proceeded to WINK)

My sister Phoebe and I have always wondered what response they want. Like do they expect us to bow at their feet thinking 'wow this guy is so smooth i just wanna kiss him'? Do they expect us to feel flattered to be given that sort of attention? I don't know, so I guess I'll just stick to telling them they're revolting! I don't want to generalise tradies, but from my experience I have never EVER walked past a construction site without some form of interaction like the ones above.

ANYWAY. What brought this up was this absolutely hilarious ad I saw online the other day. It plays on this whole issue but reverses it so it's absolutely hilarious. Give it a view.



I also saw the Lion King last week which was absolutely brilliant. The costumes, the music, the animals walking through the audience, the dancing-it was such a spectacle! So great. Also, I hadn't seen the Lion King before so it was great seeing what the actual story is!

Chloe x

Dem vibes.

Wow ho ho

Remember when I said that the first few weeks of the semester were going to be busy? Well BOY was busy an understatement. It's currently about 30 degrees outside and sunny, and I'm here chained to my desk getting through a pile of readings and thinking of a pitch for my feature article and catching up on lectures that I've missed and working on this week's AWARD School brief and updating this blog (it's been way too long!). However, I'm not complaining at all. I'm loving my uni subjects, my job and AWARD School. All are really challenging, but I'm feeling super lucky to have been given these awesome opportunities at this age. Also, studying media and advertising doesn't feel like work at all, and everything I get to do is a lot of fun so I'm extra lucky in that respect!

It's now 'funny story time'. When Phoenix announced that they were performing at Hordern Pavilion, Phoebe and I wanted to cry because it was only a couple of days after we got back from NYC so there was no way we'd be able to buy tickets due to absolute broke-ness. So, when Phoenix posted the heaven-sent message on their Facebook page saying that they had a competition where you could win a double pass to their show, we leaped at the opportunity (i.e. absolutely SPAMMED the living day lights out of the competition's email address). We entered from three different email accounts to increase the probability of us being selected (look how gud i em at maths). The winners were meant to be announced on the Monday, and the concert was on the Wednesday. Well, it got to Tuesday and we had accepted defeat…until Wednesday morning-the day of the concert-WHEN WE FOUND OUT WE HAD WON TWO DOUBLE PASSES! The concert was absolutely incredible-I was totally blown away by their amazingness. I was at the front of the mosh and Thomas Mars (the lead singer) literally crowd-surfed over the top of me and my boyfriend. Awesome. Experience. Also, the song that I have posted on here fifty bagillion times, 1901, went OFF! Such a fantastic night, and completely free. The best part of the story is when I was on the third email account two days after the concert and saw a new 'junk mail' message. I had also won a double pass on that email account and IT WENT TO JUNK MAIL SO I DIDN'T SEE IT. Hilarious. But hey, that's three double passes when we thought we were never going to be able to go. 2014 is already the best year ever, and it isn't even April.

Hope 2014 is going just as well for you guys!

Chloe x

I will now leave you with this amazingness that is a video.

Holiday + Semester 1 ramblings!

SO. I am officially home from my USA adventure. Well, I came back nearly a week ago but have been in zombie jetlag mode until now (three coffees down). I seriously had the most amazing time, and having worked every single day since uni finished at the start of November I needed nothing more than a big fat long escape out of the country!

I don't even know where to begin, apart from the fact that...uh...I HAD THE MOST AMAZING TIME! The flight over was brilliant-a half empty airbus meant that Phoebe and I got our own row each to lie down and sleep for the whole flight (take that, people who spent $6000 on First Class! Phoebe and I do life right). We arrived in LA and in a classic California moment I hopped off the plane (at LAX with a dream and a cardigan) and saw the Hollywood sign. Good start. We then got picked up by our mates and whisked away to Newport Beach where all our friends live (via an emergency lunch stop at In n Out burger). We stayed in Newport for a week, and it was the perfect opportunity to unwind-we'd sleep in, go shopping (hellooooo Fashion Island and South Coast Plaza), eat yummy food and just chill-something I hadn't really been able to do properly all holidays! Oh, and Disneyland didn't disappoint-we went on a school day so there were virtually NO QUES! As in I walked straight to the front of the que for the California Screaming. And the Tower of Terror. And the new Cars ride (which is the best ride I've ever been on). And every other ride. Other days I spent at Newport Beach and Laguna, both of which also never fail to disappoint. Can't wait to spend two months there at the end of the year! Then came time to say goodbye to LA and hello to NYC. It was a tad difficult coming from warm sunny California to -10 degrees NYC, but when I first walked off the plane into the snow I had just witnessed the classic flying into NYC at night scenery, so I didn't care at all!

I had super high hopes for NYC and the city blew every single expectation out of the water. Every single day was a highlight, whether it was wandering through Central Park in the snow, shopping up a storm on 5th Ave, eating Magnolia Bakery's cupcakes in West Village, eating super posh thai in Soho (at a kick-ass restaurant that has FREE-I repeat FREE entrees), hanging at the flea markets in Brooklyn, eating macaroons in the Upper East Side, sipping hot chocolate while sitting on the red stairs in Times Square, walking past the Humans of New York photographer, seeing Sir Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart in No Man's Land (and getting to chat with them in a special Q&A afterwards), soaking in the sun on the Brooklyn Bridge, being forced to stand up in a Harlem gospel church while the choir sings an epic 'Welcome song', dining at Gordon Ramsay's super insanely awesome restaurant next to Central Park for my 20th Birthday, getting into absolutely incredible speakeasy bars in Soho and TriBeCa without being carded (one of which had a free champagne bar in the female powder room), shopping in the four level H&M in Times Square that had a DJ and disco lights, visiting the 9/11 memorial which was both beautiful and moving, exploring the MET and frothing at every exhibition because I'm a history junkie, seeing Monet's Water Lillies and doing a sketching class, trying to master the subway (and ending up in Queens...), pondering life in Strawberry Fields, wandering along the Highline through the Meat Packing District, chilling and eating falafels in Greenwich village, meeting awesome Australians at the Toby's Estate cafe in Williamsburg, watching the sunset from the top of the Empire State, shovelling down burgers at the Shake Shack, mornings at Grand Central Station, ice skating in Bryant Park whilst Michael Buble was playing, meeting up with friends, getting late night dumplings, post-theatre walks through midtown...THE LIST GOES ON AND ON! I know after posting this I'll remember 50 million other things that I should have written! My biggest accomplishment was fitting all of my shopping in my two suitcases. It took a lot of brain and muscle power. A lot. Also, if any of you are heading to LA or NYC then drop me a line at chloeannabellesblog@gmail.com and I'll spam you with a list of addresses/shops/restaurants/bars etc etc!

So now I'm home in Sydney. Usually I feel super sad when an awesome holidays has ended, but I was really ready to come home and settle in for Semester 1 as a totes mature twenty year old. I feel very refreshed and motivated for what is going to be a kick-ass year. Also, I have some exciting news which is partially why I was so excited to come home-I GOT INTO AWARD SCHOOL! If you don't know what it is, read my last post before I left for overseas. It's a HUGE deal, and I am so insanely lucky to have gotten a place-it is so so SO tough to get into. People try out for years to get in and I got in at 19! It is A LOT of work, so I'm going to devote a lot of time and energy to it in order to smash it. I'll keep you posted on how it's all going-it starts next week!

Here's to what's shaping up to be an amazing 2014,

Chloe x

EMPIRE STATE OF MIND

Please excuse my month long absence. I have many reasons as to why I've been too busy for cyberspace for the month of Jan! Primarily the month just passed was spent house sitting an epic house on the water with an infinity pool, and working every single day of the week (including weekends) in preparation for my big USA trip that I leave for...TOMORROW AT 3PM! I am so excited because ever since uni finished for the year (at the beginning of November) I have been working non-stop saving and organising for this trip! I can finally leave and enjoy it. The flights are booked,  passport has arrived, ETSA approved and luggage packed! This paragraph has way too many exclamation marks! But I DON'T CARE 'CAUSE I AM ONE EXCITED GAL!

I had also been working super hard on my AWARD School application (if you don't know what it is give it a quickie Google). It's pretty much the kick-ass advertising course that any aspiring Don Draper wants to get into. It's super hard to get into-some people try out years in a row to get in-but I'm super happy with how my application turned out so either way trying out was a win as I can now add the ads I made into my portfolio! Speaking of advertising, the Superbowl is near (I actually get to the USA when it starts) which means...CHRISTMAS FOR ADVERTISING JUNKIES LIKE ME! My favourite ad by FAR is the Jaguar 'It's good to be bad' ad. Absolute. Top. Notch. I have watched it over fifteen times. I'll post it below!

So for now it's Bon Voyage! I'll be away until the 26th and will do a giant big fat post about my trip with way too many pictures. I'm also super excited to get back because it will only be a matter of days before uni goes back and I'm doing awesome subjects this semester. Wohoo! It has truly been an awesome holidays.

Adios,

Chloe x

TWENTY FOURTEEN

HAPPY NEW YEAR FOLKS! Hope you all had a fantastical New Years Eve, have made a list of your new years resolutions that you're totally going to see through, and have enjoyed the first few days of 2014.

My New Years Eve was very well spent, minus the fact that I worked for the majority of the day. That said, I was working with my BIFFL Eleni and we had a bottle of Moet in the fridge, so it wasn't all that bad. After work, we headed to my other BIFFL Beth's house with my BF Will where we drank Moet by the pool and did some psycho dancing to Titanium.  We then headed in to the city for the midnight fireworks, and when we got there BOY was the harbour packed! But alas, we pushed and shoved all the way to the Rocks until we got to a big barricade in front of a huge stair case leading to the part with the best view of the bridge. We settled for the view we had-which was super good anyway-and the countdown started and the fireworks set off and THE FIREWORKS WERE TO DIE FOR! So was my midnight kiss (thnx Will).

Then, while the fireworks were still going, we looked at the barricade and the security guy guarding it had his back to it while talking to another security guard. We made a run for it, knocked over a bin and leaped over the barricade, running down the staircase as fast we could. Eleni was convinced they were going to taser us (who says she watches too many crime shows?), and boy was it difficult running down those steep uneven stairs in CLOGS! It was so funny though-it legit felt like we were in a movie as we ran screaming with the security people shouting after us. We made it down the stairs, ran through an alley way and then we were confronted with the most EPIC view of the fireworks EVER! It was seriously so beautiful, and the fireworks finale was breath-taking. Initially I was sad saying goodbye to 2013 as it was the best year yet, but I already know that 2014 is going to beat it. I am taking amazing subjects at uni, have my dream job and I'm not even 20, am travelling more than I ever have in one year AND am surrounded my the most awesome and encouraging people I could ask for. What's not to like?

I have a theory that how you spend New Years Day sets the tone for the year. New Years Day 2014=huge success. Brunched at Beth's house (including cinnamon scrolls), swam at Bundeena and then saw Frozen for the second time. I would like to take this opportunity to say that Frozen (epic Disney musical) is the best movie I have ever seen and I encourage you all to watch it. Seriously. Go. Now. I then finished off the day using up a whole packet of Polaroid film and fell asleep watching Pretty Woman.

I have also spent some time thinking of some New Years Resolutions for 2014:
1. Keep up the progress that I set up in semester two last year (time management/job/good uni marks)
2. Fit and healthy (I know I say this every year, but seriously this year is the year. Getting a parasitical infection this year from being careless and drinking bad water was a tad of a wakeup call...)
3. Learn how to do a Rubix Cube and on 2015 New Years Eve do it in two minutes
5. Not to buy one pair of shoes from Rubi Shoes (I have a theory that how ever many dollars you spend on one of their shoes, that's how many days they last).
6. GET MY P-PLATES! I have had my L's for almost a year and am so determined to actually drive...had only done 20 minutes until 31/12/2013 when I decided to try and drive for an hour every day! Even drove to the coffee shop today. Nearly hit a cyclist, but got my coffee #priorities.

For now, I am saving for LA/NYC which I AM LEAVING FOR IN A MONTH TODAY! Passport is done (goodbye $238 xoxo), thermals purchased (hello snow xoxo) and suitcases organised! Getting seriously excited now-I have been listening to Empire State of Mind on repeat for the past week. Not cliche or anything.

Chloe x

BOXING DAY UPDATE

Wow. The past week has been so action packed that I don't even know where to start!

How about the part where I worked eight days in a row? To many, that might seem like not much of an achievement. But when you're working in Christmas retail...boy is that a feat! This included closing at midnight and 9 pm almost every day, so I got pretty exhausted. Closing on Christmas Eve felt like I had climbed to the top of a gigantic mountain, and locking that door...closing has never felt so good! I just had to keep reminding myself that every hour working means more shopping in NYC!

Something pretty epic happened on the morning of Christmas Eve. The doorbell rang, and I walked outside to see the biggest wrapped box I've ever seen. I walked around the corner to see who dropped it off when I heard my favourite song start playing (the Glasgow Love theme from Love Actually-click here to listen). THEN my boyfriend jumped out of the box. Shirtless. With a Santa had and a sign hanging around his neck saying 'All you want for Christmas is me'. Holding presents. Turns out he had been plotting with my family to make it all work out according to plan, and to make sure that I opened the door (would have been awks if anyone else did!). I was laughing so hard I had tears, and my sister took a pretty epic photo that I'll post below). How does this guy make me feel like I'm in a movie every day/makes me feel like the luckiest girl in the world?? That night, my family and I drove around a neighbouring suburb which must have made a pact to all have Christmas lights and put candles along the front of their houses-it was seriously an entire candle-lit suburb! Absolutely beautiful. And there was a giant firetruck with Santa yelling into the speaker 'HO HO HO'!

So, Christmas Day. I woke up at 5.40 (no joke-I am the least mature person you'll ever meet). I was just SO EXCITED that I couldn't get to sleep, and bolted downstairs as soon as I heard my Mum turning on lights. I had put so much time into getting people the right presents (collaborating with my sister Phoebe) that I seriously couldn't wait to see them open them. My brother's screams when he opened my PS3...I have never, ever heard noises like that come out of a thirteen year old boy. Us kids also did the 'Mum' and 'Dad' books from Kikki K which looked absolutely beautiful and they LOVED them (Mum even cried when she read hers, and took them to my Auntie's house to show people). Everyone got pretty spoilt this year, and it was nice to see Mum and Dad get lots of presents because they really deserve it.

After a church service, we then went to my Grandma and Grandpa's house for the main gathering which went OFF! I caught up with my cousins (we had some cheeky banter), and also had a lovely catch-up with my Aunty from NYC-we discussed lots of things to do there! So. Excited. The desserts at that lunch were absolutely epic-Grandma makes her famous French chocolate log cake which was DELICIOUS (had three slices #yolo). It was then time to head off to Newtown for dinner at my Aunty's which was lovely, and ended with watching Elf with my little cousin in his bedroom while it was raining outside. We then drove home and while I was very sleepy (hello 5.40am start), I couldn't stop smiling. I have so many wonderful people in my life who love and care for me, and Christmas never fails to remind me of that.

So now it's Boxing Day, and I'm here at the computer because my brother has hijacked my room to hook up his PS3 to my TV. Yay! Looks like my room is out of bounds for the rest of the holidays. #woohoo. Today I'm going to play around with the Polaroid camera that my lovely sister gave me and take some cute snaps. Hope you had a wonderful Christmas and felt lots of love and joy!
Chloe x

RANT and other ramblings

I saw a video the other the day that I had a huge problem with, and which really made my blood boil. A lot. It was boiling almost as hot as it does when someone mentions Skinny Me Tea (let's not go there). Many of you may have seen the video being snarkily shared by condescending adults on various social media. It's the 'Millenials in the Workplace' video (posted below), which is obviously written by middle-aged career men and women who feel threatened by their lack of skills and knowledge when it comes to technology, and who have made the hyper-generalisation that just because we are more technologically skilled means that we're all dumb. 'Cause, like, that's, like, like totally true right? We're all totally dumb and, like, not like capable of succeeding! Yes it's funny, but by the end I was just sitting there gobsmacked.The line at the end 'they're like pets that do work sometimes'. Holy Angelina Jolie. Is there anything I can punch? Luckily the Millenial's video summerizes all of my thoughts. Click here to watch it!

IN OTHER NEWS, it is offically twelve days until Christmas (A true love gave to me...already stuck in my head) and I'm finally starting to wind down. Got my uni results back and smashed it, have been working hard at my retail job and the agency and subsequently earning the cash moneys, had the agency Christmas party which consisted of us cruising around Sydney Harbour on a giant yacht while drinking champagne and swimming (sometimes at the same time), went to a friend's house for a 'Mafia' party where we played the game (best gave ever may I add-google it) until 1.30 in the morning, relaxing and SHOPPING! I'm trying super hard not to go overboard on Christmas presents in order to save for LA/NYC but I JUST LOVE BUYING PEOPLE PRESENTS! It's proving very difficult indeed.

Also...I'm kind of...sort of...GOING TO SEE MUSE AGAIN TOMORROW! Their last concert (back in 2010 I think-definitely wrote a review here on this blog) was the most amazing concert I have ever witnessed in my entire life, and I have literally talked about it to every single person I know over the past three years. Well, I am seeing them again tomorrow and I can't even sit still. Over the past few days I have been listening to the Muse setlist playlist I have made on Spotify on repeat, have been stalking Youtube videos of their Melbourne and Brisbane concerts last week, and I have worn last years' tour t-shirt so many times that it's finally starting to fade, so a new one is definitely on the cards (STOP SPENDING MONEY CHLOE YOU ARE GOING TO NYC). Then on Saturday I'm waking up bright and early for my group personal training (still sore from last week), heading to my local Christmas carols which will go OFF, and then partying hard at our street Christmas party (last year it went until 4am). Pretty solid weekend. I love holidays. And Muse. I LOVE MUSE.

HOLIDAYS CONTINUED!

I can't believe I've already been on holidays for over two weeks! Here are some things I've been up to:
1. BOUGHT MY PLANE TICKETS! SO EXCITED! It all seems so real now. I'm officially flying out on the 3rd of February from Terminal 1 SYD airport at 3pm! Returning on the 26th. Too excited to put into writing. I've already started rippin' up da bookshops buying books like 'NYC Free and Dirt Cheap'. Getting too pumped to handle.
2. Was wandering around the beach and had four hours to kill before work. Solution? Watch a romantic comedy at the movies (Chloe's favourite past-time). Chose About Time because it looked like the relaxing kind of lame and was created by the person who made Love Actually and Four Weddings and a Funeral. I chose it because it looked light-hearted and SO so lame, but by the end I had tears. IT WAS SO GOOD! It had heaps of plot holes but when you overlooked that it was truly so good, and had such a great message. Go watch it!
3. Work pretty much every single day!
4. I've been getting uni results, including 91/100 for a short documentary I made with friends for an assessment at uni. I've linked it below! So proud of it.
5. Glebe St Fair. AWESOME! Despite it raining it made for a very cute date-yummy food, cute silver (cheap) rings, HENNA and free fairy floss. We then finished off the day with dinner at Jamies Italian. You can't go wrong with dinner at Jamies Italian. Never.

ACTUAL HOLIDAYS

So, like....I'M ACTUALLY ON HOLIDAYS! I handed in my final take-home exam (online...it was a bit of an anti-climax) and I couldn't be happier! I was on struggle street for the latter half of this semester, with no spare time and health issues, but I battled through it and saw it to the end (with not one extension!). Pretty proud of myself.

My first week holidays was spent working at my retail job and at the agency, where I am now working three days a week (right around the corner from Gelato Messina-hello Summer lunch breaks!). All this working means that I now have enough to purchase my over-priced plane ticket-woo! NYC seems that little bit closer now. That's if I survive Christmas in retail...there are special places in hell for some of the customers that come in the doors! I have a lot of plans for these holidays (nestled in between work of course!) and just thinking about it all reminds me HOW MUCH I LOVE CHRISTMAS HOLIDAYS! I'm already infected with the Christmas Spirit and it's not even December (a new record). YOLO!

THINGS I'D QUICKLY LIKE TO RANT ABOUT BECAUSE I'M OVERTIRED:
1. Skinny Me Tea: I was actually planning to do a mega-post on this alone but in the end I thought it would make me too angry and I'd probably punch my screen and crack it. For those who don't know what SMT is, it is pretty much a tea laxative that makes you poo your insides out and consequently lose heaps of weight super fast. The best bit is that they MARKET THEMSELVES AS SUPER HEALTHY AND NOT DANGEROUS AT ALL! So many girls have ended up in hospital (click here to read the article about it), and their Instagram account has been deactivated because it they believed it was 'promoting self harm'-which it is! Here's how they explain what their product does to you:

The problems I have with SMT are as follows:
-IT IS NOT HEALTHY AT ALL. PERIOD. Laxatives AND suppressing your hunger...sounds too healthy to be true! There is a reason why it is not available at any health stores...
-They are promoting the most distorted view of what a healthy body looks like. Go on their Facebook page and their renewed Instagram account and all they do is post images of the skinniest girls imaginable. Also, um...the name is 'SKINNY ME Tea'. 'Cause if you're not skinny you've got to lose weight, right? I find it really sad, especially since it is clearly marketed at teenage girls.
-Whenever I post negative comments on their Facebook, even just linking the article that I linked above for others to read, they DELETE MY COMMENTS! I also saw a woman post on their page saying that her daughter had just gone to emergency at hospital as a result of their product. Next day I went back onto their page and they had deleted her comment too. I also read about a girl who posted on their page saying how she ended up in hospital, and they BLOCKED HER. If they delete every single negative comment, even just me alerting others to the potential health consequences of it, how are girls supposed to know about the reality of it? You go on a product's social media page to find out more about it, and if they're only keeping the brainwashed 'YAY I'M SKINNY!' comments, then how is that offering a realistic image of the product at all? Totally misguiding anyone who goes on the page. I've reported their Facebook page a million times and it's still there-I encourage you to all do it too and hopefully we can extinguish this crappy product's (did you get that pun) social media existence and stop people being misguided!

2. Victoria's Secret Fashion Show: Where do I even start? The minute the pictures and videos from the latest one started appearing on my Facebook newsfeed I couldn't stop laughing. The way the models walk up the catwalk like they are God's gift to planet Earth...it's kinda like...what difference are you making to the world? It's the annual convention of the vainest chicks on Earth with crappy music. Look at the video below-watch how people stand up and CLAP like it's some ground-breaking event. But please, to understand what I'm talking about please watch from 1.00 for vainness in its finest form. This chick is like a real-life Zoolander.

The first ad ever to make me cry

Watch it below. I've always had a soft spot for Christmas ads, but Holy Angelina Jolie-this one really got the tear ducts flowing. Perhaps it was the cuteness, the Disney fairy-tale feel, the Lily Allen cover of Somewhere Only We Know (one of my all-time favourite songs) or just the fact that IT IS THE BEST CHRISTMAS AD EVER MADE? I don't know. But what I do know is that you should watch it. If you don't cry you don't have a soul.

On that note, I'M ON HOLIDAYS! Expect a mega-post soon.

Best.

#TBT

I've never understood why people do the hash-tag '#TBT' (Throw Back Thursday). It's just an excuse to post an old picture that you think you look hot in/post a destination that you've been to to make everyone jealous. This post features a non-vain #TBT post-I found an old song that my dance group did a dance to in Year 6 and since rediscovering it this morning, it has become my anthem to get me through the last week of uni for the semester/year! See it below.

My body thought it would punk me and thought it would be funny to get bronchitis and laryngitis....when I sorta kinda have EVERYTHING DUE NEXT WEEK! So, since Sunday, I have been bedridden with nothing but Pad See Ew, West-Wing and a mountain of medication. The laryngitis has also made me sound like a sheep trying to talk. However,  having this week off has been a blessing in disguise-while I was frustrated that I couldn't spend the time working and studying (I could barely lift my head up!), it was so crazy to have time to just lie in bed and not be expected anywhere-just focusing all of my energy on resting. It was really, really nice, and now I've had this time to rest and look after myself I'm ready to tackle next week! Then it's H-O-L-I-D-A-Y TIME!

MID-SEM BREAK AND OTHER SHIN-DIGS

WOW. Time really does fly when you're having fun/working your ass off!

The mid-semester break went way too fast, but I really did enjoy it while it lasted. My family and I headed to Currarong which is absolutely beautiful-I had never been there before and after the perfect days spent there I will most DEFINITELY be returning! The weather was stunning, and I spent the days there in the kyack with my little brother where we would paddle out very deep and dare each other to jump in and swim to the bottom (I'm a really mature nineteen year old). Coming back to Sydney, I was confronted with the piles of uni work that had to be done before uni went back, and somehow I managed to plough through it (this is unprecedented!).

I also found myself at last week's One Direction concert #don'tjudgeme. I bought the tickets at the last minute and headed in with my sister and a friend. #YOLO. Getting there, and seeing the ocean of twelvies, did I realise that I am officially too old to have One Direction Infection and have now moved onto the recovery stage. Overall the concert was a lot of fun, despite them seeming like they have done the concert way too many times (which they have). Nevertheless, I had trouble talking the next day which is a testimony to the fun I had at the concert (was singing louder than the twelvies). Best part was definitely the army of parents waiting outside the arena for their kidlets following the conclusion of the concert.

Following the theme of 'randomness' was my decision to go the Viking Exhibition at the Maritime Museum. After convincing my boyfriend and little brother to come with me, we turn up to the Maritime Museum to find that the exhibition is closed for the day because of the Navy Fleet Review. Classic Chloe organisation (or lack thereof). Nek minnut we're at the aquarium looking at dugongs, and not long after that were we at Pancakes on the Rocks (in Darling Harbour) eating our weight in pancakes. I should really be an event planner.

Since the mid-sem break finished, I've been working hard at uni and interning and it seems to be paying off. Assignments are getting done (and on time, may I add), and the Summer break is only three weeks away for me, due to the fact that I DO NOT HAVE ANY FINAL EXAMS. I repeat, I DO NOT HAVE ANY FINAL EXAMS! So from the 1st of November I will be setting off on what will be the best Summer holidays ever: Roadtrips, Muse, Christmas, NYE...NYC...turning 20...can't wait! Also, may I add that I got picked up by my boyfriend yesterday and taken on a mystery road trip to the most beautiful beach I've ever seen...just sayin'. #bestdateever.

Hope you are all doing splendidly.

Chloe x

WELL HELLO!

Please excuse my (almost) month long hiatus from this amazing space that is Flower Girl-I have been busy finishing off the insanely busy last few weeks before our mid-semester break. These weeks have involved:
-Completing a video news package for one of my media units, where my friend and I had to write and film an 80 second story on something on campus. Equipped with little-to-no knowledge of how to use an industrial video camera and how to edit on Adobe Pro, this task looked like it was going to be almost impossible. Alas, it was! The first time we filmed we lost all our footage, second time re-shooting this footage we forgot to plug in the microphone, and the final attempt the lighting was a bit dodgy. Despite these challenges our final package looked pretty pro (after watching one too many Youtube tutorials on how to master Adobe Pro), and now we're moving on to tackle the next assessment-a 6 minute mini-documentary!
-Attending balls. Yepp-I've been to two already (including my Media Ball which was last night), and am heading off to ANOTHER one tonight! I've exhausted all dress options so I went shopping on Sunday and bought a cute Sportsgirl shift dress-I figured that if I'm going to be spending money on a dress, I may as well get one that I can dress up for this formal AND be able to use out on less formal occasions.
-Saving for New York City! This includes babysitting and my retail job, and trying SO hard not to spend the money on food everyday. It sounds simple but is SO DIFFICULT! Making food at home to take to uni is just a foreign concept to me.
-SRC ELECTIONS: Success! The two groups I was campaigning for, one for SRC and another Honi Soit (our student paper), BOTH got elected! Like I know it was totally just because I was wearing their campaign t-shirts but I don't wanna brag.

So I now have two weeks off to work on the mountain of assessments I have due after the mid-sem break, and try doing this thing...called..relaxing. This involves a quick but much needed trip down the coast which will be lovely-just what I need before coming back and knuckling down on study! Hope you're all doing really well and that you're enjoying this Summer-eqsue weather!

Chloe

BUS-AYYY!

I have been so busy over the past week that I haven't even had time to watch West Wing. And that's saying something.

But something more important to say...is that...GUESS WHO IS HOUSE-SITTING AN APARTMENT IN NEW YORK CITY IN JANUARY? ME. ME. MEMEMEMEMEEMEMEMEMEMME! Yeah, you read that right. My sister and I have been asked to house-sit my aunty and uncle's apartment in SoHo in January! A big hello to snowy Central Park, shopping, ice-skating, eating everything and wandering everywhere AND JUST BEING IN NYC with free accommodation. Time to knuckle-down and start saving for airfares!

In other news, I cannot get over the Paper Kites' new album. It's so beautiful. Here is one of my favourite tracks that I have on repeat:



Hope you all had a lovely weekend and are ready to smash the week ahead!
Chloe x

Things I gone and done

WOW. Three words: what a week. This past week has been non-stop, and no-one can understand right now how beautiful it feels just to be sitting on my ass in bed with my laptop doing absolutely nothing and not being expected anywhere for the entire day. Pure bliss.

Here are some of the things I got up to over the past week:
1. I've been selected as an editor of an amazing new Australia-wide business journal called Inside Enterprise that is run and written by students. It's going to be amazing and I cannot wait to see it grow into something incredible! I'm the Online Content Director, meaning I'll be essentially editing the articles going on the website and making sure that everything runs smoothly, and occasionally writing a thing or two. SO EXCITED! I've always been interested in the editing side of journalism so this is an absolutely fantastic opportunity.
2. Running on a ticket for the SRC elections. More on that later!
3. Went to my boyfriend's university/faculty ball/formal sort of thing. It was at Luna Park-the most SPECTACULAR venue! We were in the function room right next to the ferris wheel and the Harbour Bridge, which resulted in way too many cute couple shots in front of that insane backdrop. I cannot remember the last time I got to dress up for something like this so I could barely contain my excitement-went for a long coral-coloured maxi dress and got my hair done into waves (it was so insanely beautiful not having dead-straight/lifeless hair!). The company was brilliant, food was so tasty, and the whole night was spectacular! Began babysitting the next morning though at 6.30am which was the challenge of the century, having gone to bed in the early hours of the morning.
4. Went to my university's law revue, hilariously titled Love Contractually (Get it?? GET ITTT???). I went along because a couple of my friends were in it and I was BLOWN AWAY. Some of the skits were so funny that I was literally crying of laughter. Not as in merely watery eyes-I had tears streaming down my face. I could list all of my favourite skits but we don't want this blog post to be as long as Ulysses.

So there you have it folks. These are some things that I got up to amongst working and interning and half-heartedly attempting to stay on top of my uni work. Hope you all are having a fantastic weekend!

Chloe x

I have talented friends #seriously #havealisten #lovingthevibes

Semester Two: BEGINNINGS

So the holidays ended and the second semester of my second year of university has begun! In between university, interning (which I absolutely LOVE), drinking contaminated water (go Chloe) and work, I have finally found time to post a long overdue update!

The subjects that I'm doing this semester are not only amazing as individual subjects, but compliment each other PERFECTLY! I'm doing PR, Media Relations and Video Production as my media-focused subjects, and so far I'm genuinely loving all of them-they're all really interesting and super practical and what's more, I can take things I learn from one subject and use it in another. Go Chloe. Also, for my history subject I'm taking a course on 'China's Traumas' which I'm finding really interesting as I have NO previous knowledge of any sort of Chinese history whatsoever!

This week also saw something AMAZEBALLS happen. As part of my boyfriend's 20th birthday present I bought us tickets to the opening night of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are dead at Sydney Theatre Company. As soon as I saw it announced in the season program at the beginning of the year I KNEW I WAS GOING TO GO. We also both love Tim Minchin, so going was kind of a given. We nearly missed the beginning of the play (we bolted through Circular Quay and my heels literally butchered my right ankle), but we made it! The play was absolutely phenomenal. Everything about it-the acting, the dialogue, the SET, the music-EVERYTHING WAS AMAZING! If you're into theatre that's pretty absurd, or just love Tim Minchin, you should definitely go and check it out.

But the story doesn't end there, folks! As soon as the play ended, we ran (well I hobbled) to the stage door, which I knew the location of as a result of previous celeb stalking at the theatre. We thought a million Minchin fans would be lurking there, but alas! We were wrong. The stage door was deserted except for us and Eddie Perfect who walked past us 484983928923 times. After about fifteen minutes one of the play's actors came out and was so friendly-to the point where he tipped us off as to where the play's after party was. Nice guy. Then Toby Schmitz came out with his trucker cap down low and girlfriend in hand. I GOT SO STAR STRUCK and I'm not even a massive fan of him, and Will and I both chickened out of asking him for a picture because he was too intimidating.

Then things started to get real. Tim Minchin exited the stage door and began walking with a group of friends, with his hoodie up to hide his signature hair. He didn't trick us. I got pretty nervous as I didn't want to ruin his cute date with his friends, but as soon as he saw us waiting to see him he left his friends and came over and put down the hood of his jumper. He was such a genuinely lovely and humble guy-thanked us for seeing the show, let us waffle on about our favourite songs of his without disregarding us as complete losers, complemented Will's bow tie and then got his wife to take a picture of us. While it was all happening my mind was going FJFJSDIOFJSIODJFIOSDJFIDO. They then left, and Will and I bolted around a corner and did the most psycho 'I'm so happy we just met Tim Minchin' happy dance that you've ever seen. Good times.

In other news, my Blackberry died. Yes. It feels like I've lost a part of me. Basically the sensor scroll button thing has stopped working which makes the phone unusable. So I'm sucking it up and going on an iPhone plan (yes, plan-I'm a big girl now) on Sunday. For now, I'm using a phone bought for $29 from Coles that looks like it's from the 1990s. I can't even type messages without feeling like I have arthritis.

I hope you are all having a splendid week/first few weeks of semester!

Chloe x

ARIA: PHENOMENON-NOM-NOM-NOM-MENAL!

So my boyfriend and I celebrated our one-year anniversary (*tear*) at Aria on Sunday night. I have wanted to have dinner there since it was first on Masterchef numerous years ago, and I have walked past it one too many times wishing I was dining there whilst on my way to buy a $5 cranberry vodka from Opera Bar (if you ever go there get the Dirty Carpet Disco cocktail instead-it's amazeballs). I had high expectations of Aria AND IT BLEW THEM OUT OF THE ROOF! You know you've entered somewhere special from the very second you walk into the restaurant-having the door opened for you and walking in to see candle-lit tables with sweeping Harbour views, and Louis Armstrong's 'What a Wonderful World' playing quietly. Yepp. Sounds like it's out of a movie.

We even got free food while waiting for our food-two little things of leek and parsnip soup with brown sugar crumble on top (I died and went to heaven) were delivered to our table 'from the kitchen with compliments'. Good start. Then came the actual food. I ordered the 'Char grilled O'Connor sirloin with confit carrot, potato rosti, star anise and onion sprouts', with truffled mashed potato and a quinoa and pear salad as sides. Can I just say that this was the best dish I have ever eaten, and that the truffled mashed potato was heaven in a bowl. For dessert I got the 'Banana and chocolate-chip souffle with a dulce de leche ice cream'. Words cannot describe the food-gasms I endured whilst eating this. Absolutely phenomenal. I had never had souffle before so I had no idea what to expect. It was as light as air and I COULDN'T HAVE EATEN IT ANY FASTER!

It's very pricey (especially seeing as though the actual servings of food are relatively small for what you're paying) but definitely worth it if you're into that sort of dining experience. You're not just paying for the food, but for the experience. And not only is the food and views amazing, but the service was really great. Our waiter was the opposite of pretentious/snobby and his recommendations were spot on (forever thankful for him telling us to get the banana souffle). With perfect food, perfect views, and a perfect date, what more could you want?

Picture of my main (taken from the Aria website). I had my steak well-done as always. I tried to take good pictures of my food but the candle lighting made the picture of my main look like a giant lump. I've posted a shitty picture of my dessert though-the souffle even came in a little pan! Too cute to handle.

In other news:
1. I have just started a brand new internship at a kick-ass agency. It's basically an ad agency that 'does good' such as taking on environmentally sustainable accounts. It's a lot smaller than the one I was previously working at, so there is a lot more jobs available for me to do! The people there are GREAT, the work is really interesting and hands-on, and I'm really enjoying it. It's also right near one of my favourite cafes, Single Origin Rosters. Goodbye coffee-sober Chloe.
2. Can my tax return please enter my bank account already?
3. THE ROYAL BABY HAS ARRIVED! Even though I couldn't care less about the monarchy, I was SO EXCITED! I knew the baby would be born while I was asleep (stupid time differences), so I left my computer 'sleeping' next to my bed-not shutting it down-so as soon as my alarm went off at 6am I could get up The Guardian website ASAP and find out the sex of the baby. Am I sad or what...? Don't answer that.

I hope you all are having a splendid time wherever you may be.

Chloe x

HOLIDAIZ

SO. I was lying on my bed, half-heartedly attempting to create myself a Linkedin page whilst watching the third Harry Potter movie, when I realised that it has been YONKS since I updated my blog. I proceeded to pause the movie and leap to my broken desk chair to begin writing this post.

I got back from Broulee a week and a bit ago and it was AMAZING. We got absolutely stunning weather, consumed a diverse range of insanely delicious muffins from the Muffin Shop (if you're ever near Broulee/Mossy Point this place most DEFINITELY should be on your agenda), saw a pod of dolphins which came in so close that we could see the scars on their bodies, went on one too many sunset walks along the beach, and even discovered new places (shock horror!) like a stretch of shops in a nearby town which included an amazeballs cheese shop and a hippie store with a shop assistant that was COMPLETELY STONED! Seriously. Let's just say that it was a learning experience for my twelve year old little brother! It was a truly lovely getaway (loveliness may or may not have been enhanced by the fact that my boyfriend joined us for the last few days-finally got my long romantic walk along the beach ;) ).

Since I have been back Sydney I have been up to all sorts of things. Such things include eating lots of Gelato Messina (best gelato in Australia-just look at their website), seeing movies like Monsters University, road-tripping to Goulburn, FINALLY having breakfast at The Grounds of Alexandria (an absolutely phenomenal cafe/restaurant/farm sort of thing in Alexandria which is absolutely insane), NOT drinking coffee (yepp-you read that right), going for walks here and there, seeing people here and there, and getting excited for my one year anniversary dinner date with my boyfriend at Aria. YES. ARIA. I am so excited and will most definitely post pictures of my food here whether you like it or not!

Hope you are all enjoying life,

Chloe x

UPDATES FROM A GIRL ON HOLIDAYS

Yes, you read that right. I AM ON HOLIDAYS UNTIL AUGUST! I had my exam on Wednesday morning which was the biggest anti-climax of all time. I rocked up half an hour before the exam, re-read over the few pages of notes I had made, went into the exam, saw that I had predicted two of the questions but hadn't been bothered to write practice responses for them in the two weeks I had to study,  wrote down everything that came into my head until time was up, slammed my pen down dramatically, grinned like a two year old at my friend sitting behind me, and then hopped in a car to the nearest shopping centre to get a well-deserved Boost! Oh, and this was followed by me transferring a substantial sum out of my savings account into my spending account for my quest to find the perfect pair of overalls...WHICH I FOUND! I bought a beautiful pair that I discovered hiding on the basement floor of Topshop, and nothing could stop me buying them (Not even the fact that they were DOUBLE the price of the same pair on the online store...ripped off much?). Back to the main subject of this paragraph-the end of the semester. Overall it was a fantastic semester at uni. I loved my subjects (radio, two history units and advertising), because I got to explore the practical side of radio and advertising rather than just studying theory, and learnt about two histories that I previously had known nothing about. Found myself campaigning in student elections and being published in the student magazine. Moreover, the assessments were tricky and numerous but in the end I got the last laugh, only having one tiny exam. Muahaha. MUAHAHAHAHAHA!

Holiday life thus far has been awesome. I spent the first two days lying in bed getting into The Newsroom, which, having been created and written by the creator of The West Wing, is on the path to being my new favourite show. Then last night I hopped on a train to the city to FINALLY see Gatsby (me and my boyfriend's first movie date after nearly a year together...shocking). Having heard a lot of bad reviews from critics and friends alike, I went in expecting the worst, especially as someone who LOVES to book. One hour and twenty minutes later I had fallen IN LOVE WITH IT! Everything about it. The Baz Luhrmann touch (yes, I did have to Google how to spell his last name), THE JEWELLERY (Daisy's diamond head piece...jewelgasm), costumes, music, the acting (every actor was the PERFECT at bringing the characters to life-Tom and Daisy Buchanan and Gatsby in particular), the scenery, and the INCLUSION OF THE LAST LINE OF THE BOOK AT THE END OF THE FILM WHICH IS MY FAVOURITE LINE OF THE WHOLE BOOK (what a meaty sentence right there). So yes, I went in expecting to hate it and ended up loving it. Don't let negative reviews put you off from seeing it because chances are you'll love it!

So now I find myself in bed writing this blog post with The Newsroom on pause. I am heading off to Broulee for a week very soon, but will be back before you know it to post indie pictures and stories about my trip.

Love you all,
Chloe

P.S. I can't help but tell you about the most embarrassing typo IN THE HISTORY OF LIFE that I made in my major essay for one of my history subjects this semester (worth 60% of my overall mark-yeah, that big). I only realised it was there after getting the essay back and seeing the marker's comments about the need to proof-read my work. Brace yourself. Think of the worst typo you have ever made and then times that by a bagillion. The essay was on how prostitution was represented in art in Eighteenth-Century London. There was one essay I wrote about called Fanny Sidney. For one sentence I was talking about how one artist in particular painted a picture of her first sexual experience. Chloe's non-existant brain left out the crucial 'the' and 'Sidney' in the sentence, making the latter half of the sentence read "....painting a picture of the Fanny's first sexual experience in a sympathetic light". Dead.

EXAM TIME

I haven't had uni for about two weeks now. We have had this time off to study for 'exams'. I say that with quotation marks because I ONLY HAVE ONE EXAM! AND IT IS ONLY WORTH 20%! All that assignment torture I endured throughout the last two weeks of the semester has finally paid off, giving me the last laugh. While all my friends are studying I have been up to all sorts of shenanigans (mainly lying in bed being entertained by Amanda Byne's Twitter and listening to San Cisco). But alas! Now my exam is nearing, I have migrated back to my desk, attempted to whip myself out of holiday mode (not very successful) and slug my way through fourteen weeks of lecture notes.

Following Wednesday's exam, my plan is as follows:
1. Buy a celebratory froyo
2. See the Great Gatsby (I know, I still haven't seen it. Fitzgerald is probably frowning down at me from above)
3. Take my little brother and a couple of his friends to see The Internship (big sister brownie points ACQUIRED)
4. Go out and PARTAYYY on Friday night. This is very un-Chloe but methinks I will chuck a #YOLO and actually go out to...dare I say it...A CLUB!?
5. Sunday I am saying TODALOO to Sydney (click here for full effect) and heading off to my favourite place on Earth-Broulee. Being beach-side is absolutely PERFECT at this time of the year-I'm talking coffee on the balcony overlooking the beach and cold morning beach walks to the muffin shop-and I cannot WAIT to get out of Sydney and clear my head! Really looking forward to getting away for that week.

So now I am going to return to studying failed Fascist movements while enjoying the sound of the rain outside WHILE drinking a phenom-nomnom-enal herbal tea. I hope you are all SMASHING life/your exams and are looking forward to the holidays as much as I am!

Chloe x

I will leave you with my new favourite song:

YO YO YO!

Yes, I know it has been too long. I have been super busy over the past few weeks finishing off this semester, which is over on Monday EXCEPT for one little exam in two weeks. I have been working on assignments, presentations, eating Moochi, going to the gym (going through a bit of a gym phase-let's see how long this lasts! Feeling optimistic), working, OPENING A SAVINGS ACCOUNT and planning things to do in the holidays.

Coming up this week is Vivid Festival, which is an AMAZING lights festival that takes place on Sydney Harbour once a year. Last time I went to Vivid,  I was in Year 12 in high school and had exams coming up in the following week. Being the nerd I am, I BROUGHT MY ESSAYS and was reading them, trying to memorise them, while walking with my family around the Harbour. I was truly too cool for school. Also coming up this week is THE GREAT GATSBY! I know it has been out for a  week already and that everyone on Earth has already seen it, but me and that thing called 'spare time' haven't had a catch-up in a while. Alas! Don't fear-my boyfriend and I are seeing it this week. Looking forward to posting my thoughts here-I have been waiting for this movie since I first read the book at the end of 2010.

I shall leave you with this cover of 'Get Lucky' by Daft Punk. It's by a band called San Cisco-a group that I had never heard of but my sister is obsessed with-and they are PHENOMENAL! I am not lying when I say that I have had this on repeat for the entire morning.

I hope you're all doing splendidly,
Chlobewan x

Up all night to get lucky...

...BEST ALBUM! So many new things have come out/are coming out and I CANNOT HANDLE IT!
My favourite thing that has come out recently is RANDOM ACCESS MEMORIES (Daft Punk's amazeballs new album). Before listening to the whole thing on Spotify, I had only really heard Get Lucky which I loved...however upon hearing the entire album, 'Touch' is officially my new favourite song-it is eight minutes of pure perfection. Click here to listen to it. In relation to awesome things that are coming out SOON, I cannot WAIT for Gatsby's release! I have been waiting for its release since the beginning of 2011, when I would stalk Fox Studios in my free periods at school in the hope of seeing the set in all its 1920s glamour, or bumping into any of the amazing cast. The closest I got was the first lot of security gates. That said, while I was inside doing an exam Leo and Toby were being taught how to drive the cars for the movie IN THE PARK OPPOSITE MY SCHOOL. So technically I did get a bit closer than the security gates, even if I wasn't aware of it.

IN OTHER NEWS:
>I love great date nights. Can you go wrong with gelato, a funny show, PERFECT company and late night kebabs? I think not. (You should all head to Gelato Messina right NOW and try their Number Two gelato-I'm talking peanut butter and chunks of gooey brownie. Yeah. You read that right).
>I have officially decided that Moochi is the BEST frozen yoghurt franchise currently in existence. You're probably thinking "WHY?". Well, my friend. Allow me to explain.
Moochi is reasonably priced, the yoghurt has the perfect texture and consistency and they do the BEST toppings. Also, from 3-5pm they have a 'students happy hour' where you get three free toppings for free. That happy hour is perfect for me because I finish work at 4 on Mondays and Fridays! Now you're probably mumbling to yourself "Ummmm well have you even tried Yogurberry???". Yes, I made the fatal mistake of entering the self-served torture chamber that is Yogurberry. I got overly excited by all of the different flavours (so many good flavours-I'll give them that) and the toppings that when it came to weighing it, I paid....wait for it..ELEVEN DOLLARS. ELEVEN. DOLLARS. And it wasn't even that delish anyway. The froyo is a bit too icy, and since I served it, it looked like purple and pink poo with chocolate chips. More like NOgurberry.

I am now off to finish my presentation for my Fascism history unit and continue listening to Random Access Memories. The usual. Just, you know, staying inside being a hermit when the weather is absolutely PERFECT right now.

Love 'youse all,

Chlobewan x

PHWAR!

WOW. Boy how it has been to long since I posted here. Please forgive me-because I only have one exam this semester, I have had a myriad of assignments due over the past two weeks, and my last big one is due tomorrow. Because of all of these essays, I had to do this HORRIBLE, DREADFUL and AWFUL thing called PRIORITISING! I had some killer ToDo lists, and I am pleased to say that the one for this week isn't looking to terrible.

 I have SO much to update you all on. While I am off to finish my essay (hello 3000 words), I can promise you that I will have a MEGA-MEGA post up before you know it. This may or may not include my verdict on the best Froyo in town.

Despite Lana not exactly having a soft spot in my heart, I am in love with this song-it is seriously Gatsby in a song. Even though the reviews that I've read for Gatsby have been kind of mixed, I am SO excited to see it. SO SO SO excited.

Can someone please tell me why I spend so much money on food?

Seriously. Every single week I get paid and say to myself "OKAY. THIS IS THE WEEK WHERE I WILL NOT SPEND [INSERT RIDICULOUS AMOUNT OF MONEY] ON FOOD AND OTHER CRAP". Nek minnut I've bought frozen yoghurt,  Maccas, Subway, over-priced baguettes from a place at my uni and too much coffee. I worked out that I kept spending all the money on JUNK FOOD, so I started buying healthy food. The new problem as a result of this is that HEALTHY FOOD IS SO DAMN EXPENSIVE! I can never get myself out of this vicious cycle. Unless, you know, I actually packed my own lunch. But that takes too much effort. Chloe doesn't like effort.

I also had a little big of a MASSIVE SPLURGE on a pair of Doc Martens. They are black, leather, beautiful and SO PAINFUL! I've been wearing them for two weeks now and the blisters are still laughing at me. Oh well, fashion hurts (SO &^%$6 MUCH!). Whilst on the topic of new things, my family welcomed a brand new little puppy after our beautiful fourteen year old dog Darcy passed away. Our other younger dog, Daisy, was getting really lonely without him so we decided it would be best if we got her a little buddy to keep her company. Rosie is a gorgeous little black and white cocker spaniel and we literally fell in love with her at first sight. That said, it was so hard picking a puppy whilst in a room full of them at the breeder's house! It was like having a bunch of adorable children and having to pick the cutest one.

In other news, I went to my first ever trivia night AND WE WON! Yepp, you read that right. And no, I did not answer a single question. BUT, in my defence I did think of our awesome name-'The Hotties Over There'. DO YOU GET IT? THE HILARITY? Whenever the MC said our name it sounded like he thought we were hot. Sometimes I am too funny for my own good.

Please excuse my absence over the past two weeks-it has been absolutely crazy because I have been working every day I've had off uni. Down side is that it gets a bit exhausting, but hey-at least I earn heaps of money to SPEND ON MOOCHI!

I'll leave you all with this ad that I saw the other day. It really does show both the creative potential and power of advertising-the industry has become so much more than selling products. Seeing amazing ads like these makes me so excited for what's to come in my career in an industry as awesome as this!

Chloe x

Prepare to have you brains blown

THINGS THAT I HAVE GONE AND DID-ED

I have been a very busy bee these past two weeks. Only the best sort of busy, of course. Allow me to fill you in on the happenings of Chloe's life.

1. I have settled back into uni! I absolutely love all of my subjects, and I'm only there three days a week so it fits in really well with work. My favourite subject BY FAR is advertising-my lecturer and tutor are both creative directors-which is what I want to do-so throughout the semester I'll hopefully be able to get some really valuable advice from them!
2. I've been attempting to get fit. When you've stopped laughing at that sentence, continue reading. You read that right-I'm attempting to stop being a lazy sloth. This started with me signing up for my university's gym, which although nearly sent me broke, will get me active because of it's convenient location and AWESOME TREADMILLS (every treadmill has it's own touch-screen TV). On top of that, Mum and I have started a new program called "COUCH TO 5K's' (I think that's what it's called), which is an iPhone app that you follow about three times a week. It's basically designed for lazy people like me, and has you walk for 2 minutes, run for one, walk for 2, run for one etc.
3. In the past two weeks I have been on two perfect dates. The first involved my boyfriend and I going to Jamie's Italian (Jamie Oliver's Italian restaurant in the city) which was AMAZINGGG! The wait was roughly an hour which wasn't too bad-we just chilled by the beautiful harbour while we waited. It was worth the wait though-my cocktail and spag bol were both to die for. Last night we went to Rockpool which is by far the most amazing restaurant I have EVER been to. It oozes old glamour vibes, and the food....the food...THE FOOD IS AH-MAH-ZINK. The instagram potential was off the charts. It's definitely worth the price-the service is awesome, the dining room is absolutely beautiful and the food is just...for lack of a better word, AMAZEBALLS. After we finished dinner we strolled to the harbour and ate gelato while watching the huge cruise ship leave the harbour. Then, when the night couldn't get any better, FIREWORKS STARTED GOING OFF ABOVE THE OPERA HOUSE. If that's not the perfect date I don't know what is.
4. I am addicted to Bakers Delight's custard scrolls. They are basically $3.30 worth of perfection. It is now my cheeky work-break snack every time I work.
5. I am also addicted to my new drink bottle that looks like a flask. It's so cool that it actually MAKES me want to drink water, and its flat shape means it fits perfectly in my bag. It's basically a win-win.
6. My mini uni break of a week is coming up, so that means I have to get on top of all of my readings and assignments. It feels like uni only started yesterday AND I ALREADY HAVE THINGS DUE!
7. I am obsessed with my new red Chanel lipstick. It is an amazing red that looks like velvet (not glossy) and IT STAYS ON FOR SO LONG! I never want it to run out, EVER!
8. So I bought a Michael Kors bag for my Macbook Pro. I know. Yes, I am now close to broke. BUT WAS SO WORTH IT! I had spent too long looking for a bag that would fit and protect my Macbook AND looked pretty AND fit all of the other things that I carry around. I went into the Mac store to buy a case for my laptop and THEN SAW THIS BEAUTY. I spent two days wondering whether I should get it and then bit the bullet and swiped that card and IT IS NOW MINE. Click here to view it and drool.  I got it in black!

I hope you all are absolutely splendid.

Chloe xx