I've moved (sort of)

I know it's been just way too long since I've posted and I probably have very little readership! well if anyone stumbles accross this entry in your RSS feeds or just stops by and is interested..My bf and I have started a blog to chart our new Vegan lifestyle...sounds kinda hippie and weird but really, we're not hippies and we're not weirds. We just decided to give up animal products..it has been suprisingly easier than I thought.
I"ll keep this blog open- lots happening for me at the moment so I"m sure I'll come back here and post.

wishing i was there..

It's funny that when i'm on holiday something always happens that's funny or strange or interesting and just plain annoying, and it's such a big drama. But then you get back and you realise, it was nothing and I was so lucky to be there and I wish I was back there again! This time around, I got really sick, to the point that i lost my voice and couldnt' get out of bed, which hasn't happened in years, very annoying.. and also our lovely friends that we stayed with had some stuff going on.. I felt like we were in the way but the lovely hosts they were, they were worried about us over their bigger pressing issues. That's what i call friends I think.. anyway, one day sick of being stuck in bed/couch on my holiday, while it was hot and sunny outside as it's always the case in Queensland, I decided we should get out to North Stradbroke Island, a little island off the coast of Brisbane (otherwise known as Bris-vegas, don't know why!). I really had to dope up on panadol, neurofern and anything else i could get my hands on, i didn't talk because I couldn't! but I'm glad I went. It's a lovely sub tropical island, which reminded me of Vanuatu. Blue green water and lots of bush all around..gorgeous.. Back in Sydney now, where it's hot one day and rainy the next (did we catch the Melbourne weather bug?! hehe) I'm really wishing I was back in Queensland. But that's a whole other post.
note to self: next time you decide to make a bit diet change and become vegetarian, think if you know any existing people like that...as I am so tired of getting questions, quizzes from friends/family/collegues on what the hell is wrong with us and why we're doing it! that is fun though I love a good argument. oh and also, try to avoid major lifestyle/diet changes close to xmas and best friends wedding.
I might need another holiday in the Sunshine Coast or Bris-vegas sooner than I thought!!!
Merry xmas all ...:)

It's that time of year again...

I can't believe it's been so long since I posted here...I didn't know it at the time but I guess I needed some time to gather my thoughts and make all the changes that I've made into my life at the moment. Vision is always 20-20 on hindisight? :)
However if someone had told me that in the next few months I would become a vegan (gosh i still hate the word, why can't they come up with something that sounds a bit better!) and change my career ..I would have told them they were nuts.
Let me explain, I come from an Argentinian family. Argentina exports the biggest meat in the world. Living in Australia, the national food is a BBQ and meat pies...so what got me thinking? well my boyfriend read fast food nation and that was enough to change his mind... we saw the film...but I wasn't really convinced, I'm pretty stubborn... I wanted to do my own research and who the hell was he to tell me that meat was disgusting? anyway so I did my own research and the results were staggering. While meat in Australia is not produced the in the same scale as the US but it almost is ... whereas I had lived my whole life indulging in things thinking 'you only live once enjoy it' , I didn't realise I was putting so much garbage in my body!! how is that enjoying life? the other thing I had a problem with was killing animals. I looove animals and I would never hurt a fly, so how come I was turning a blind eye to cows getting slaughtered, and chickens getting fed antibiotics so they grow up in 45 days and get killed and pigs chained to cages? I dont' know..it just doesn't make sense. I figure if I love my cat and my friend's dogs, then I might as well own up to it. I'd never eat shredded cat or dog in my spaghetti bolognese so why was it ok to eat a cow? hmmmmmmmm. something to think about.
Well i'm not here to turn you vegetarian! but I will post some of the horrible things I found in a quick google search and if I can , some of the medical articles I found in journals at uni. what amazes me the most is that most people (including myself) don't realise that the meat industry is just that - an industry. Even though heart disease, high cholesterol and diabetes are the highest they've ever been in Australia and killing everyone around us, we still turn a blind eye to it. I don't get it..
Meanwhile...it's xmas again - ahh don't get me started! hehe.. bushfire season... all around the country has come early... i can smell smoke in the house even though the fires are hours away..
Also had a small holiday in Brisbane... really beautiful and gorgeous weather!! will post some pictures soon.

Vintage knitting needles

For some pretty pictures, follow me here..
On other news the rain continues to piss me off and cause havoc! it's not even raining where it's supposed to, like the rest of Australia! it's already the double expected rainfall for Sept and it keeps coming..driving is a nightmare and today i felt like i was being swalled by water- the crazy rain above and the flooded roads..i almost parked my car and walked, except my umbrella wouldn't have made it!
Anyway, it can only get better, come on spring!
Today is also a very important day... let's take a moment to remember all the people in 9/11, I am liking her blog entry on this.

Of rain, Steve Irwin, and Peter Brock.

The weather has taken an insane turn for the disastrous torrential rain this week- so much that on Wednesday it was a- the most rain in a 24hr period in one hundred years b- the most rain ever recorded in Septermber, ever. On Monday, Steve Irwin got stung by a stingray and passed away, since then it has rained non stop. Yesterday afternoon, another Aussie legend, Peter Brock, got killed in a car accident. This is crazy. Two big Aussie legends in one week..maybe that's why the weather is so nuts? Who knows.
I never really watched the Croc Hunter, and I admit I never heard of him until some Americans asked me about him. He wasn't really as big here as he was overseas. Most of the time I was embarrassed that people would typecast his personality with that of the typical Aussie, but that was not his fault. He was a good man and did a lot for animals, and raised a lot of awareness for Australians. Recently he'd been in some Toyota ads and quarintine ads and he always put a smile on my face. He had contagious enthusiasm. It makes me even sadder he left behind such a young family, two little kids.
Peter Brock was another legend. In car racing, he was the King here in Oz. It's just too sad..
As I type the rain has been persisting all day, making it a really great day to stay in and watch lots of DVD's..my fave lately has been an old tv series called Chef! notably the best comedy I have ever seen ( I HATE Little Britain, whoever said that stuff was funny?) and it helps to lifts the spirits. There's a lot of sadness in the air, very unexplained. No one has any motivation to do much.. very strange... well, we can hope that it can only get better. Maybe when the rain stops!

Springtime!

Just a short post since i'm supposed to be packing away for the weekend..
but it's the second day of spring yeay! and it's going to be 27C today! it's already like 23 and its almost 10am. The past few days have been warm..and very sunny as always.
Going down the south coast today, to celebrate father's day with my bf's parents , who live on the coast, you can see the beach from their kitchen...ohh.. i can't wait.. maybe we'll get to go tomorrow?
Happy Springtime! (if you're in the southern hemisphere!)

Climb Sydney Harbour Bridge: Done!

If you're wondering why someone would climb about 150 metres from the harbour, for the sheer hell of it , then you're not alone. I've often wondered myself, whenever I happen to be in Circular Quay admiring the harbour, Opera house and all the tourists. I look up to see these little people, like lemmings, walking on top of the bridge and i think- they're crazy! It's become a wildly popular 'Sydney' experience, more so for tourists, but today my work took us all on it to celbrate something or other..
SO, I climbed the mighty bridge , I put aside my newly developed fear of heights, a brave face and in hindsight I should have had some food because standing up there on an empty stomach made me feel a bit woozy. I was really hesistant at first, not only because of my fear of heights but only because I had like a week to think about it! they sprung it on us as a surprise. I can't say it's much of a team building excercise but its a hell of a lot of fun, especially when you're not paying for it.
It was raining on my way there, and having only been to the harbour bridge a few times (shame shame I know but hey!) I had no idea how to get there. Funnily enough I bumped into one of the German guys from my work who, being here for only six months, of course, knew the way and could guide me! Never have I felt more like a tourist in my own city!
The preparation is great, and I felt very safe the whole time. It was windy as all hell, but it didn't rain thank god! the sun came out a bit which was nice, and most of the time up there - you spend like two and a half hours on top! THAT"s right!! - it was really peaceful. I sort of got a bit scared but i just sat down and looked at the water..it was gorgeous. I am so lucky to live in a beautiful city like Sydney even though, like most Sydney-siders I spend most of my time in the inner city and suburbs- but still, cant' complain.
One thing that was deceiving was the amount of steps- it felt like five thousand, but it's actually less than two. I was the second last in the group and my legs were killing me, I guess going to the gym yesterday and doing lots of leg-weights in prep wasn't a good idea. thankfully one of the girls I work with did the same thing so we were the last two idiots going down at snails' pace while everyone else admired the view.
I'd say the scariest bit was coming down..the vertical stairs on the beams..wow!! the fact that two trains went past on the harbour at full speed next to the stairs.. I was like ' BREATHE, one, two one two' it was great to talk myself through it. At the end of the day there's no one else there but you to get you through it, and that's an amazing experience.
I got a bit dizzy on the way back but I think it was due to my lack of food and it was already after 2pm. I was so nervous in the morning that I didn't eat. Pretty stupid on hindsight.
So if you get to Sydney, (and have $200 to spare!) I highly recommend it!!! Now I need to sleep for a day or so to recover- I thought I was fit but this climb took it out of me!!
ps.that's not me in the pic, I'll try to scan my pics and post them later, but you can see great photos on the bridge website http://www.bridgeclimb.com.au/