The best movie I've seen in a YEAR

I saw this awesome gem of a movie today. It's seriously the cutest and sweetest thing!!! I smiled so hard for most of it that my face was in PAIN but 3 hours later I was still smiling. This is just sooooo good. The story is about fathers and sons, it's about how the best way to be successful is to do something you love, it's about the power of social media and importantly it has a lot of food and a lot of awesome 'Cuban' music. The cast is so good. There are cameos and supporting appearances from a ton of big names such as Robert Downy Jr and Dustin Hoffman. The rest of the main cast is  made up of great actors with faces you know even if you don't know their names. 

I have to say that Scarlet Johansson made me want to run out and get a tattoo on my shoulder. Seriously..that woman is crazy hot. Actually the movie has some really good scenery. We have Miami and New Orleans that make you want to jump straight on a plane. There's Ms Johansson and Sophia Vergara and R.D.J and to be honest... the leading man is such a teddy bear! Eye candy galore.

GO.SEE.THIS.AWESOME.MOVIE :) or get it on dvd or netflix or something.

xo

The most relaxing day EVER

This weekend I'm planning to be super productive and get myself back on track towards no longer failing at life. I have plans y'all :) On my to do list for the weekend is to read two books. I haven't really been reading much over the last few months and I miss it. I need that in my life. This is my selection for the weekend and it was so hard to decide which to jump into first but in the end I read 'Love letters to the dead' in one sitting pretty much today. OhMyGawd I have to agree with every You-Tuber who I've seen praising this book. It's so sad and so intense but the writing is AMAZING. It's really beautiful. Actually this reminds me a lot of Eleanor and Park.

Today I woke up at 6am (thanks brain but its Saturday!!!) so I tried really hard to go back to sleep but when that was a fail I just lay there day dreaming and watching you-tube clips on my phone. Finally I got out of bed around 11.

Then I ran up to the shops for some supplies and a coffee and when I got back it was time to turn on spotify and fall into a different world. As I mentioned I chose well :)

I took two breaks to do a workout inspired by blogilates from YouTube. I only did about 15 minutes and 8-10 minutes but let me tell you....Im'a feel that ish tomorrow! WOWZERS. It's all part of my getting my shizz together plan and I feel like I can fit that into everyday at least once. Tomorrow if it's not raining I plan to go for a walk instead. No point living at the beach and not making the most of it.

I didn't talk to anybody except the lovely girl who makes my coffee all day and while that would usually make me feel bored and lonely for some reason today all I feel is incredibly relaxed. It's been awesome and I reckon one more day will be brilliant. I think I'm going to jump into 'crash into you' tomorrow and I also have Pretty Little Liars and Hart of Dixie to watch. I cant wait :)

Hope your weekend is as awesome as mine.

xo

Pharrell Williams - Happy - We are from Auckland

I saw this on my facebook feed this morning. I'm quite over the song to be honest BUT this really made me smile. Check out my awesome city and the beautiful people who live here :)

xo

A day in the life of a ward clerk :)

And he hits it out of the park AGAIN :)

I had such an awesome Sunday this weekend. It made me feel so grateful to live in this lovely city and so lucky to have such a cool guy to share such fun times with and make me feel so special.

We began with a quick stop at a flash hotel to have a look at the view from the top. It was pure glamour and I tell you, I want to move in there :) Super beautiful. 

Ahhhhh I love it. The building has a long history in Auckland and I have vague memories of coming to this room for morning tea with my dad when I was little and it was still used as a canteen type of place. It's much prettier now.

I stopped into St Patricks to listen to the choir prepare for the service. I was a little disappointed (just a little though) to miss the service because from what I could tell the male choir leader was singing and his voice is just so amazing!  I lit a candle for my flat mate and all my hopes and dreams before I left.

After the hotel we went down to the seafood market at Wynyard quarter and absolutely destroyed our seafood platter for two and also a bit more beer than was probably good for us. It was fantastic and eating like that really lead to a great vibe. We were sharing and just going slow and enjoying the beautiful food. I love that restaurant and after chatting with the manager it sounds like there are some exciting things on the horizon for it that will mean it's going to be a top choice all year round and not just in summer like it is now. If you're ever in Auckland and looking for a great place to eat ... look no further.

HEHEHE this is how good the sauce on the muscles was. mmmmmmm He actually just beat  me to it. I would totally have had a go at the bucket if I thought of it first, I mean there weren't that many people around... 

Stolen from Mr's facebook.. I stopped taking photos by the time we got here :)

After spending hours and hours eating and drinking and sneaking in to watch the Warriors play on the big screen in the wine theater we strolled up to Ichiban Japanese restaurant on Albert street. It's a teeny little place with a whole wall of fun manga to look at while you eat. I have never quite got my head around graphics ( I know I suck) but these were really cool to flip through because they were all in Japanese. It just enforced my feeling that the best thing to decorate with is books!! I have no idea how we had room for any more food but I have to say that my curry went down very well indeed :)  I still prefer Ramen-Daikoku in Britomart for cheap Japanese but this was fun and absolutely value for money.

So. Awesome city + Awesome boy = Extremely happy me :)

xo

The GOOD with the BAD

***Long random sorta post ahead***

Things in my neck of the world have been a bit of a whirlwind over the last 6 weeks or so. It's so hard not to be all 'poor me' but there have been so many fantastic things that I have loved during this time that if I do dip my toe into the quick sand just thinking about them is enough to pull me out.

At the end of march my flatmate passed away. She didn't just pass away she had an accident here at home and I had to call the ambulance and it was a pretty nasty situation. I didn't think she would pass away that night but it was still so scary. Even now, all these weeks later it's still a little hard to actually fathom that she died. After a life of having these types of accidents and not dying ... she died. Hmmm. It's impossible to get my head around and it's so easy to say all the right things and of course the brain knows, logically that things couldn't have been different but generally speaking when things happen the heart is more powerful than the head. 

During the month I've had disappointment after disappointment on the job front and the resurgence of an injury that I just didn't think was ever going to be a problem again but which has meant that I've had to turn down work which always sucks. My finances are so stressful and past choices are making it hard right now. Of course it will all be better when I have an income!

So there's all of that and while I'm adjusting to looking for a new job and a new place to live I have had some major first world problems that have simply added together to make life so frustrating and kinda sorta like I'm constantly walking through gel ... or something. 

Today is the last day in my 100 happy days project. Looking back through the last month or so of pictures has really made me realise how incredibly lucky I am. If I were religiously inclined, which I'm not, I would say I were blessed. 

My friends and family have, on several situations helped me to have some amazing and fun times. Two nights after my flatmate went to hospital Mr left me speechless and just a wee bit in awe of him when he gave me a private tour of the civic and then a little later a crazy fun night in that had me wearing his clothes plus fairy wings and a crown and dancing around the house with his flatmate :)

I got to go to a hot air balloon show ( ?) which was really amazing. I've actually spent a ton of time with my sister and nephew in the last little while and I've really enjoyed it though having a 16 month old staying with me in my totally not child friendly house was freaking exhausting!. 

I finally had the graduation ceremony for my Graduate Diploma in Teaching. It was such a surprise to me but the day was super special and really enjoyable. I loved participating and I'm so glad that I went along. This ceremony was so much better than my graduation from my degree :)

My mom has been really supportive in lots of ways but she worked really hard to make it possible for me to have a dinner party for 8 of my friends. This is actually a bigger deal than it sounds and I had a fantastic time. The party was to celebrate my birthday and my graduation and my friend getting a job and also the fact that I thought I was going to be leaving this hood. 

Today I went for a long walk and I realised anew that this neighbour hood is spectacular and I am very lucky to live here. It's so great to live at the beach. Every day it's a little different and while it looks awesome it often also smells pretty great which is something that I love. 

So yeah. Things might be a little hard right now and while I'm prone to over thinking and being a drama queen I have an amazing life that is only going to get better. I am going to keep on keeping on and keep making plans and dreaming dreams because THATS how things get better. I will keep trying to reach my ideals and then when I do I will find new ones. I just need to take a breath and chill out sometimes.

We're FaceBook Official...

terrible photo that I love #1 

It was my birthday yesterday and this guy busts out with "we should change our status on face book" .... LOL it was so funny. He was really cute about it and now we're "Facebook official". It's the funniest thing to be honest. I hadn't really thought about the idea of making any sort of announcement. I was just happy to do our thing. "Hi face book friends...I really like this guy and we hang out a lot".. hahahahahaha I felt like such a weirdo.

Since we changed the status it's been such an eye opener for me and really sweet. I guess I'm a cynical cow because obviously the rest of the world thinks new relationships are way more special than I do. Well, let me explain that.... I'm very happy with this new relationship...it's pretty damn awesome but I just hadn't anticipated that anybody else would give a damn.

The comments on his status especially have been pretty overwhelming. I feel like I just announced that I'm engaged or pregnant or something. He has so many responses and all of them so sweet. 

One of the comments talks about how important validation from people who care about us and whom we care about is. The person who left the comment was basically trying to say that no man is an island and ... you know... people need people! I completely agree with his sentiments and it did make me feel slightly less of a Muppet for announcing my life in that way. Yes it might be a little bit naff but to see all of that love from so many people really does make the whole thing a little bit more special. Their happiness for us just adds an extra bit of sparkle :)

terrible photo I love #2

I am feeling very lucky. I have a very special man who is proud to tell everybody he knows that I'm important to him! How cool is that!!!! 

So, yeah, YAY ME :-)

Can we just talk about Chaos Walking for a second?

I recently posted a completely inarticulate rave about "The Knife of never letting go" but I'm now reading "The ask and the answer" and I just had to write about the Chaos Walking series.. THEY.ARE.SO.GOOD... SO GOOD!!

I've never read anything Sci-Fi before and these ones are pulling me in so deeply. It's such a grim and disturbing plot and yet they're still so hopeful. I don't know too much of the plot and I haven't researched them at all but I'm so curious to see what happens. I have no idea AT ALL where the story is going or what's going to happen to Todd and Viola and very weirdly I love it. The writing is so fresh and  absorbing and even in the harshest moments Todd's innocence and pure heart shine through.

I wish so badly that I knew a young teen to pass my books on to. These are so awesome that I don't want to be the only person I know who has read them!  

If you're looking for something absorbing and fast paced that will leave you breathless and turning the pages as fast as you can then this is the series for you. 10/10

xo