2nd Sydney post, a few days late

bronte baths, prohibition bars and twighlight at taronga

 Well we've  been in sydney now for about 4 days and i wish i could say that our love has faded... but its just grown.  we've found so many things and people that are just so lovely and our happiness level is at an ultimate high.

friday was spent waking up, running along the beach to the bronte baths where col took a dip and i, well just dipped my toes... It was a little cold for me - then we went to one of their darling coffee shops grabbed a "take away" cap and watched the water for a bit.  we took our time walking back checking out all the amazing coves then found our way back to bondi.  we then headed to brown sugar for one of our favorite meals yet, then headed back with full bellies for a nap.  we woke up to a tropical thunder and lightening storm that lasted about 30 minutes then headed to the CBD (Central Business District, or city center) in Sydney to join Sarah and her friends for a drink.  we found ourselves in an underground ally in a prohibition bar that puts bourbon and branch to shame, and sipped our bevs while being surrounded by famous cricket players and actresses (which we, of course, were oblivious to).  we then headed over to padington which is a lovely and quaint area of town and munched on some delicious thai food over great conversation with sarahs friends Abby and Kathryn.

We woke up the next morning feeling refreshed and excited- we went for another run along bondi this time and looked like delightful sweaty Americans trying to get used to this heat.  We then popped over to their local farmers market and picked up some fresh bread, meat, cheese and veggies.  The market was tiny- no bigger than a street corner in the states but full of farmers who literally are bringing their homegrown produce straight to bondi for the morning.  We grabbed some breakie (no I'm not trying to sound hip, that's really what they call it here:))- sat on the grass, listened to the live music, and enjoyed cooling down.  We watched super cool parents hang with their kids, no worries at all, and both talked about how this place makes us excited to have some munchkins (hopefully tall and tan ones:)).Later that day we sat at a cafe for a while, grilled up our veggies and then headed out for a night to remember.

We walked to rosebay to grab the ferry to circular quay (harbor bridge/opera house etc:)) and admired the town and trees as we got to the dock.  We hopped on the ferry and the first stop was watsons bay which we heard from May was amazing.  Well, we weren't supposed to hop off the ferry but we just had to- we went over to Doyle's for some fish and chips and a few beers.  We then watched 3 more ferries pass us by till we realized we were going to need to catch the last one.  We gobbled down our last "chip", then the bar tenders poured our leftover beers in coffee cups (yes... Awesome), and we ran to the ferry... Missed that damn thing one more time- then caught the last one.  We oooo'd and awww'd at the gorgeous views from the ferry and quickly arrived at circular quay.  We then scurried around a bit and caught our connecting ferry to the taronga zoo for "twighlight at taronga" a tribute to ray charles concert at the zoo.  Taking the ferry to the zoo during sunset may be one of the coolest things we do here in sydney. It was stunning. We then got to the zoo and were escorted down to the concert while passing all the animal pens--- we both couldn't stop smiling it was that awesome.  We then settled down on the lawn to look at the stage which had the backdrop of the opera house and harbor bridge.  And then they started singing the best of ray charles.  It was so cool and I think we both got goosebumps when they started playing Georgia on my Mind.  We snacked on sandwiches and sipped some wine while loving every minute of it. Then this guy singing who was really, impressively good turns out to be the runner up of the Australian voice- darren percival? Yea- we didn't know who the guy was but he sure was talented and put on a great show.  We ended up staying so late we missed the last bus and luckily found out there was a special ferry to take people back (which was great since Colin went into travel mode and was about to hitch hike us a ride :). We got home just a bit later and called it a night.

A few fun things we've learned out here... There are way too many Dodgers and Yankee hats, people not only drive on the wrong side of the road but they also walk on the wrong side and Colin and have run into our fare share of people many of times at this point. Stupid Americans. There are a million chocolate labs here, they're adorable, and old people don't mind getting naked right there on the beach.  It's hysterical and we love it.

Now we're just reading,blogging, and resting at bronte beach trying to figure out how to extend our time in sydney (and also how to stop sweating- I mean...it is HOT out here:)).

 Ferry Ride to Taronga

 Harbor Bridge

 Opera House

 Panoramic Shot of the harbor on Taronga Ferry

 Doyles at Watson's Bay

 Farmers Market

 Farmers Market

 Run in Bronte

 Farmers Market

 Circular Quay with Harbor Bridge

 Twilight Concert at Taronga

Watson's Bay

Sydney Day 1

Sydney Day 1

holy cow – syndey is amazing. But lets start with our flight. We left la verne after spending an awesome week with the fam. My mom and 2 sisters pretty much made it so hard to leave that I found myself hugginh my dog saying goodbye with tears in my eyes... like i'm never returning home??? talk about dramatic kelsey. But they were just so amazing to colin and I – cooking us so many awesome dinners, running a million errands for us, taking work and school off just to hang in the4 back yard with the crazy animals, and throwing a little early 30^th birthday party for me – I know... WE ARE SO SPOILED! But we finally dragged ourselves to the airport, and after a tearful goodbye... we all smiles and excitement. We boarded our cushy business class seats on the the 2^nd floor (thank you airline miles) – cheersed eachother with our champagne, tunred off our phones for good and began this crazy adventure. I expected a bit more nerves – but I felt nothing but happiness. We snuggled down in our seats feeling grateful and enjoyed an awesome flight jam packed with movies, ice cream sundaes, some sort of delicious port, and then a sweet little bed that let us sleep peacefully. We promised to enjoy this flight since all the rest are budget airlines – hello jobless Murphys. When we got to Sydney we sailed through customs, walked outside refreshed and awake at 7am ready to conquear the town. Our cab driver was awesome... he told us to stop saying “sir”, and tha they only say “mate” in austrailia (stupid americans) and then overcharged us 50 dollars for our cab ride – thanks man!! That being said – we were so in love with the scenery and weather that we didnt even care. We were dropped off at Bondi Beach... not near it... on that sucker and then we looked to our right and there was the apartment we would be staying in for the next 10 days. Talk about location. We're lucky enough to friends with some pretty amazing people – and one of our favorites, Schwalbzilla, met a great guy while traveling a few years ago named Rob. Rob and his girlffriend Sarah graciously offered to host us, and boy do they know how to host. Sarah greeted us in the morning with Tim-Tams and Victoria Bitters, showed us the view of the ocean we would be looking at for the next week, and showed us to our awesome room with a balcony off the back. WHAT???? She is awesome and lovely and left us after heading to work both with kisses on the cheek (dont be surprised when colin and I head back kissing all you americans). We then threw on workout clothes and did the Bondi to Coogee walk. I dont think anyone that gave us advie on Synedy didn't say DO THE BONDI TO COOGEE WALK – ITS AWESOME!! So we did it – and it was. It's pretty much the most amazing views of oceans, and quaint towns, reefs, coves, and aussies playing volleyball, rugby, and running like “manimals” as col calls them. Needless to say – we sat at a coffee shop on the way back in awe of this place and talked about moving here. Yes... we know – we've only been here for 6 hours... we're getting a bit ahead of ourselves. I think we are a little jetlagged and hyped up on coffee – but gosh the last 24 hours have just been the best. I'm sure we will crash soon – and fight trying to stay up till 7pm tonight – but so far we think EVERYONE should move here and we will all live on the beach together. We've heard we caught one of the best days of weather so if we are rained in for the next few days and we say – yeaaaaaa, about that moving here thing... dont judge us. We're just really really EXCITED and CAFFINATED right now. :) Oh and p.s. Mom – dont worry we're really not going to move here – but we might be making this our next family vacation place.

Location #1 – amazeballs. Gratefull level is through the roof. 2 happy, happy clams.

Pics below are:

 -Business class, WOOOOOO

 -Shot of Sarah and Robin's view out of their living room to Bondi Beach

 -Shot of Bronte beach and baths

Carlsbad..... More like CarlsAWESOME!!!!!

Carlsbad..... More like CarlsAWESOME!!!!!

So we spent a few days in LA catching up with family and getting acquainted with a handful of areas to potentially settle down in. We also ventured down to San Diego to see what the land of Ron Burgandy has to offer. Kelsey's aunt Carolyn took us out to lunch in Del Mar (thank you again Carolyn, that was a great afternoon). If you have not been to Del Mar, you need to go, it's incredible. Think of all the great things of Laguna Beach, but just smaller (with a world class horse track a mile away). Our conversations mostly covered our travels and then where we were going to end up when we came back. Kelsey and I had always talked about possibly San Diego, but I think eating at a restaurant on the beach may have tipped the scales in SD's favor slightly (but who knows how we'll feel in 6 months).

After lunch, we went north to visit some friends who had just moved to Carlsbad. For those of you who know the Lavaglio's, you know they are rad (good job on pulling up the slack for Mike in the being rad dept Tara). These two just moved to a spot that is literally 4 lanes of highway across from the beach, and about 4 blocks to downtown Carlsbad. As to be expected, we had a blast with these guys. They brought us to a very cool gastropub in downtown which had bacon wrapped corn dogs. I know what you are thinking, they took some foster farms and wrapped it with bacon, which would have been incredible itself. But no, they actually take a hot dog, wrap it in bacon, then dip in batter and fry it so it's all one unit of corndog goodness. The bartender keeps several kegs of Lagunitus brewing company on tap at all times (so Daniel, if you are reading this, you know where to go in SD), just to make Kelsey and I feel right at home. We capped the night off with some great conversations back at the Lavaglio beach chalet and called it a night. Just a low-key AWESOME time had in C-Bad. Thanks for hosting us guys.

LA and LA Verne

LA and LA Verne

We Flew straight into LAX so we could attend the bday party of Michelle Bergman. Michelle is a former roommate of Kels and was one of her bridesmaids as well. So Michelle's boyfriend, Robby, took her and a couple of their friends horseback riding in the hollywood hills for the day and organized a party for Michelle and all her friends for that night (thanks for setting the rest of us up for failure man). Kelsey and I land a little later than we were expecting, so we had to scramble over to Kristen and Jacko's place to get ready (thanks again for hosting us for the night) guys – your place is awesome). Well, we get dressed, head to the store for some party supplies, then we run over to Michelle's apartment just in time to find seven women in their mid-late twenties all dressed as fairies. You read that correctly. Fairies. Sooooo we thought we had the wrong address... we didn't. As it turns out, there were two parties happening AT THE SAME PLACE AT THE SAME TIME. Michelle's roommate and her friends were attending a fundraiser later in the night, but we were lucky enough to see them prepare. As to be expected, Robbie throws one hell of a party, complete with great beverages and some of the best pizza you'll ever have (including a pizza with literally a salad on top of it). Santa Monica treated us well, as did our hosts. A belated birthday wish to Michelle Bergman, and special thanks to Kristen and Jacko.

Phoenix is beautiful this time of year

Phoenix is beautiful this time of year

Kelsey and I started the trip off with a visit to my sister Meghan in Scottsdale, AZ. As most people in the PHX area would tell you, they live in a desert so the weather in the spring time is incredible (come on, that is the reason why half of MLB does spring training down there). WELL THEY ARE ALL LIARS!!!!

We arrived to mild weather, probably 70 deg. Although the forecast said there was a chance of showers all week, no rain had actually hit the area so we all thought we were in the clear. Not so fast, the next day it was about 60 degrees with some sprinkling. On Fri, we had tickets to see the World Champion (thats twice in the last 3 years) San Francisco Giants play the EVIL LA Dodgers. It had rained the night before hand, but there were rumors it was going to clear up and the game would be played. We showed up about 10 minutes before the national anthem and it looked like the clouds might scatter and we'd be able to catch a game. NOPE. As if the singer cued it with her last line, buckets of rain started dumping. Most of you know I'm a big Giants fan, but I have nothing to prove of my fanship by watching a spring training game in a storm. Thank god we had a local who had scoped out the nearest bar in the area in case such a thing had happened (thanks Meg). From our 3 block walk to the bar, what I thought was a storm turned into the real thing (Thunder and Lighting, umbrella destroying wind, and car denting hail). Thankfully, Meghan took us to RnR where we not only had a great time with her but we also ran into a handful of people from the city.

Meghan was gracious enough to let us stay at her apartment and show us all around town. She has a great set up, just a few blocks from Old Town, and in about a month she's moving closer (live it up Meg). Not only did she host us, but she also gave us a set of homemade Australian-American vocabulary flash cards. Did you know when someone “gives you the shits” down under, that it has nothing to do with what you're thinking? It means they are REALLY Pissed Off (which as I write that out I realize both sayings are a little strange). Bottle-O is a liquor Store, and the Woop Woop is equivalent of the boonies. We're almost to Australia so I'll let you know how accurate those are. Thanks for kicking off our travels with a bang Meg.

Day 1 - off to spring training

And it begins!

We spent the last week soaking up every last minute of the Bay Area, very little time sleeping... and a whole lot of time procrastinating packing our apartment.  oh, and we paid for that one.  lesson learned.

but boy was it worth it.  so much time spent with our friends dancing and drinking so much our feet (and heads) hurt the next day, spending $40 on pastries @ Tartine because "WE'LL NEVER BE HERE EVER AGAIN!!!", walking around Delores Park, people watching at Tipsy Pig, devouring our last Roam burger, some late night Shalimar, and topping it off with some Emmybear lullabies and throw up.  We also said goodbye to the Murphy family about 8 times... we kept thinking it was going to be the last time we were going to see them... every. single. time.  Apparently we don't really subscribe to the "rip the bandaid off fast" theory.  We just wanted to soak up every last second with them - so we played with Tula, watched Maddie throw up, drank tea @ Comforts, ate Michael's Sourdough, sat in Zach's chair by the fire, and hugged the parents as many times as we could.

So we said our final farewells, kissed eachother once more on our roof top that looks out to the Golden Gate Bride and said "see ya later SF... I have a feeling we'll be back".

Cut to 3 hours later and we are sitting at the airport bar, waiting for our flight to Scottsdale where we will get to see May May and watch the Giants beat the Dodgers in spring training.

You can tell it's the beginning of our trip because we spent the 45 minutes before our flight drinking giant beers, telling eachother how much we loved the things that made us different.  Col is a make friends with everyone in the bar kind of guy, and I am more of a "revel in my thoughts quietly... and to myself" kinda gal, unless I find someone I really, really like.  I appreciate this about Colin b/c he helps us meet new people, experience new things, and see the positive in all those around us... he appreciates me b/c even though I might not want to meet the bar, when I do find someone I want to meet, I give them my whole attention and spend all my energy getting to know who they are as a person... and if I can help them with anything.

This is how you can tell it's Day 1:).
Let's see how much we love eachothers differences come Day 75:).

All in all this life adventure is off to a good start.  So grateful, and ready to grow.

now, off to the game. BEAT LA.