Month: December 2013

I thought this was going to be easy, because I keep on coming back to Angela & Iulian’s house party. But then there was the Color Run, and then Thanksgiving. Not to mention the about zillion brunches over the last few months. They have all been great and it’s way too hard to pick one.

But since the house party came first, I’ll have to stick to that one. I think of it and my heart aches just a wee bit, every time I hear the Chvrches song. It’s a great feeling.

This is part of a series of posts leading up to christmas day. See the original list here, and all posts in the category here.

This is the year that I have started to love snapping pictures. Sure, I’ve liked it before but this year, it’s gone a bit mental. In a good way. If I could dream big I’d want a new fancy camera, a full frame one, like a Canon EOS 5d Mark II. But that’s way too pricey. I’ll settle for a new lens. Like this one.

This is part of a series of posts leading up to christmas day. See the original list here, and all posts in the category here.

I turned 30 this year. The big 3-0 had not really scared me, and I have no problem being over 30. On the other hand, I was a bit nervous about my birthday party. We didn’t know that many people in Melbourne yet, would my party be okay?

In the end I couldn’t have asked for a better celebration. It came in 3 parts. First a week before my birthday my parents and Peter brought me to Queensland and Townsville for some birthday scuba diving. My first scuba diving experience ever. It was terrific!

The Saturday day after my birthday I had a party in our house. It wasn’t a big one, because hey, we didn’t know that many people, but it was sweet. About 15 people gathered and we ate, talked and hung out in the backyard until late.

About a week after my birthday we had a short visit in Sweden. We spent a few days up north to attend a funeral, and then we had 23 hours in Stockholm before heading back. So I sent out a message to friends in Stockholm that I’d spend that night at a bar and whoever wanted to come and meet us would just rock up. That night about 30 people showed up, and I managed to meet another 10 or so during the day. It was a continuous train of people and it was like a never ending love bombing. Intense, but amazing.

Next birthday won’t be as fancy, but hey, I’m sure it’ll be great too.

This is part of a series of posts leading up to christmas day. See the original list here, and all posts in the category here.

In early June we went to Japan. For Peter it was a dream journey but for me it wasn’t. Not to say that I wasn’t excited about going there, I was, but it wasn’t somewhere I’ve been wanting to go for the last 20 years.

For me the best travel experiences happen when my expectations are nil. I don’t expect to do anything specific, or see anything touristy, I just go somewhere to be.

One day we went to Nakameguro. We had googled ‘top hipster areas in Tokyo’ in the hope of finding a cute place with loads of cafés, shops and bars to walk around in, and this one was part of that list. I can’t say Nakameguro is filled with that, it’s fairly queit, but every block or so there’s a really cute store, café or something. And all of this settled around a canal. The place itself was great, but the best part was this little café we found. First of all, it was called ‘Malmö’ (which is a city in Sweden), so of course we had to go in. It was a café/bookshop/bar and we hung out there in sagging old sofas, reading books and sipping on what could be the greatest mojito I’ve ever had.

It was a moment of peace and quiet and it was absolutely beautiful.

This is part of a series of posts leading up to christmas day. See the original list here, and all posts in the category here.

This has been a tumultuous year workwise. When we left Ghana back in 2012, I had consciously not lined another gig up, I really needed a break. I had worked way too much at that job and the one before, and I needed to somehow reset my systems.

I started applying for jobs in January. I wasn’t very active, to be honest, because we had loads of visitors that needed some attention, as well as I had some freelancing projects that filled my time between them.

In March I started thinking about actually freelancing for real. It scared me but I registered for an ABN number just the same. I didn’t start working properly though, and the ABN number certificate just lay there on my desk, doing nothing.

Up until the middle of winter. I don’t know what hit me, but I felt it was time. Time to do it proper. And in the next few months, I started putting out quotes, getting my portfolio site up and running and populated, I created my own graphic profile and I met with an accountant. A month or so later I moved into the shared office, which was a great improvement on avoiding procrastination.

I’m still not up to full time work, but hell, I don’t want to have a full time work. And I can start to see the ripples of contacts and previously delivered projects. Slowly I’m getting to where I want to be, on my own terms, doing things that I’m proud of and enjoy creating. I you would have asked me a year ago, I would never have said I’d be where I’m at now, but I’m so happy I took the leap and went for it. I’m thankful for it every single day.

This is part of a series of posts leading up to christmas day. See the original list here, and all posts in the category here.