Common Problems, Uncommon Solutions

So this past week I had a visitor who I've known for 23 years and two months. We have tons of things in common : wine enthusiasts, broadeners of horizons, globe trotters, similar gum & teeth smiles, undying love for a particular black fuzzy pet, and our last names. Yep, my dad made the outrageous trek over to Melbourne to come visit! We met at his hotel exactly a week ago and had the most fantastic reunion ever. It reminded me of two years ago when I made my way from Luxembourg to Florence, Italy and met him in the lobby of another hotel - only half a world away. Both of these trips have lead us to try new wine, new food, and partake in adventures which we'll tell for years to come. It's amazing to know that someone loves me enough to forgive me for oversleeping on the morning of a winery tour, to not complain (very much) when I take him on a 5 mile "short walk" to a town just to end up at a bar, and who will travel 20+ hours to see a glimpse into my life. I couldn't be luckier.

We sure did pack a ton of things into the 5 days he was here for! Went out for nice dinners in the CBD, met some friends for drinks, rented bikes and road around the city, went on a graffiti tour (led by Patty and myself), went to the top of the Eureka tower and saw the city, went to a very alternative rooftop bar, saw St. Kilda & Port Melbourne, caught up to a wine tour in the Yarra Valley, ate Kangaroo at a certain beachfront cafe, and tried new foods at the Queen Victoria Market.... phew, and that's only to name a few!

I think the most entertaining portion of this trip was the Yarra Valley winery tour I had planned weeks in advance. I was so excited to do this and was literally counting down the days until we got on a bus and sped off to the gorgeous vineyards! Well, I ended up oversleeping on the morning of the tour. When Patty told me that it was 9:40AM (20 minutes after the bus was supposed to pick us up, and 40 minutes after I was supposed to meet my dad in the city) I literally jumped off of the top bunk, called my dad sobbing, called the tour company in a completely chaotic frenzy and in ten minutes put together a plan and threw on some clothes. I ran out of my apartment, jumped on the closest tram, took it to the train station... where it stopped TWO stops away due to a parade... SPRINTED in the rain to Flinders Station, lost my shoes on the way and had to go back for them, missed the train, caught the next one and sat down with my dad for the hour long journey. When we got to Lilydale we grabbed a cab and made it just in time for lunch! With only one winery done we had 3 left to explore and were chauffeured the rest of the trip. Now, if that's not quick thinking / dedication / stupidity than I don't know what is. Our leader told us that out of all the years he had been doing the tours, only ONE other couple met up with them. The dozens and dozens of others had just thrown in the towel when they realized they had missed it. But not us! I'm exhausted just thinking about this... absolutely worth it though!

The wineries were gorgeous and we even met some people from my hometown - Ridgefield, CT! What a small world! We learned about "Sparkling" which is what Aussies call Champagne, tried some fantastic wine at Yerring Station, and had a fabulous lunch at Rochford in the Macedon Ranges. Even though it was raining a bit, I'd count the trip as an absolute success. And it makes for a hell of a story - don't you think?

Life throws you curve balls and it just depends what you do with them that really counts. I wouldn't trade any of the slip ups, pictures, memories, laughs, hugs, talks, and silly moments that made up this trip for anything in this world. So shout out to you dad! Thanks for making this past week one of the best weeks ever! You're amazing & I love you!

So the next time you see your dads everyone, give them a hug! They really are pretty awesome!

"You are absolutely too much."

I'm going to be honest, I'm not always the easiest person to get in contact with... I rarely check my voicemails and I'm usually on my way somewhere when I find a minute to call someone back. I have to admit, I really need to get better with dedicating time to catching up with loved ones back home. I know that there are some in particular who are getting a bit ticked off at my inability to be an arms length away (granted, two of these people will be visiting within the next 3 weeks).

So I've really been trying to send my parents emails with pictures whenever I have a spare moment (baby steps...). I recently received an email back from my Dad that said two things. The first was, "Wherever you wind up, you find or make a party. Good for you." The second one was, "You are absolutely too much!" Both of these responses are very true, but made me think about trying to get get better at this balancing act between the States and Oz. It's a catch-22, if I'm not out running about and and coming back with fantastic stories - what would I have to tell everyone back home? But if that's all I'm doing, and I'm not keeping friends & family close... then I'll have nobody to relay all my experiences to. It's tricky. As I said, I'm working on it.

Anyway, the first step is to realize what needs to be worked on - right? So onto the past week... which, as Patty put very bluntly, was "epic". Haha. Flash back to college lingo right there. But it was... everything about these past couple of days has been a tornado of experiences. Some great, and some not so stellar. But looking back at the pictures and the memories, I think this has been one of my favorite weekends so far in Melbourne.

This week was the week of The Melbourne Cup! This is basically exactly like The Kentucky Derby, just a little less redneck... and a lot more Australian. I went out with two great friends from work on Friday night (shout out Caroline & James!) and ended up having a fantastic time... and even met an American bartender from North Carolina! James had the not-so-great idea of taking shots of absinthe. Which made it a bit hard to be even somewhat civil to Patty when she woke me up at 7AM the next morning to start getting ready for the Derby! But, I pulled myself out of bed and threw on the outfit that we had found in the city that previous week and soldiered on. The day ended up to be one of the rainiest days of the year (no kidding)... with two months of rain in two days! Yikes! Needless to say we all made it down, got absolutely soaked, and celebrated our decision to put our money towards champagne instead of betting. Everyone was DECKED OUT in their best attire even though the weather was less than friendly. Everybody looked "top-notch", haha.

After the races - Sean, Carolina, and myself made our way to a house party (I think Caroline knew the people there?) and wound up completely out of our comfort zones. It was like a scene out of a Tim Burton movie with people dressed up as scary dolls and zombies. Needless to say, I kind of stuck out in my bright green derby dress and obnoxious white hat. It was okay though, I made friends with everyone and even had the girls "bejewel" me with cool jewels all over my face. Not as scary as their face paint, but still - pretty cool. Afterwards we wound up at Sean's Halloween party and celebrated our first American holiday!

Sunday was actually Halloween, and Patty and I had absolutely no idea what we could be. Twins? Lame. American flags? Eh... Some sort of animals? Absolutely not. Then I remembered I walked past a shop on Acland that had American flag shorts in the windows a while ago. Lucky enough they had them (and half off!) so we wound up being 'Mericans for Halloween! Complete with white & blue beaters... red & blue trucker hats... and huge white aviators. We celebrated with "Death" aka Chris, and "Zoolander" aka Josh. It was absolutely hilarious. Although a bunch of our conversations with others went a bit like this...

"Oh! What are you guys?"

"We're Americans!"

"You're Americans! Haha, that's SO funny! So you're Canadians just making fun of Americans?"

"No... we're actually American."

... oops! haha, it wasn't the same as Pike's shot party or Spring Chicks, but it definitely filled the shoes of the previous years.

I wound up at the Derby again for the actual Melbourne Cup race. It was the day Patty left to go back to the States... which has been weird considering we haven't been apart for more than 12 hours since we arrived here. This time at the Derby it was less wet, a bigger group of people - which was great, and I bet. For the first time. AND WON! I put $10 down on a horse named "Americain" and he ended up winning! I was so happy and couldn't stop jumping up and down with my $85! I felt a lot cooler than I actually was... but was thrilled. I had to physically stop myself from calling my parents because it was 3AM their time. I received a bunch of texts from my friends over here though, all demanding that I had bet on Americain - and then congratulating me when I confirmed that I had! What an amazing experience!

Phew... so props to all of you who made it through this book-long post! I feel like my stories keep getting a bit more ridiculous each time I get on to type away! That's fine with me though, as most of you know - I thrive off of this stuff!! Couldn't be happier :)

Look for some emails and phone calls in the future guys! Can't wait to hear all about your incredible lives and get to relive it with you through stories and pictures as well! Thinking of you all and love you immensely.