My Blue Heaven

Princess fairytales

Went to see Princess Diaries 2 last night with Paul. *sigh* I really liked it! It was so romantic and sweet and girly.. and funny too. Anne Hathaway was absolutely gorgeous in it, and I rather liked the Bad Guy Prince Charming. 😉 Paul didn’t like it that much, unsuprisingly, but he didn’t mind it either. I definitely recommend it for all the girly girls out there. 🙂 (That, and Suddenly 30 – really liked that one too!)

A note on my back – went for a final check-up with the chiro today, and all is well. Rib is in, and I’m only sore coz the muscles in my back have had quite a workout! She even said my body seems the best she’s ever seen! I guess all that yoga/pilates/swimming/dancing over the past week or so has done me some good! Yay for exercise! 🙂

Not much planned for the weekend. Me, Sam and Andrew are singing an item at our annual WSCCC Combined Service on sunday. Just the three of us, with Sam & Andrew on guitars. Eeek! Other than that, hopefully will get a chance to just relax and chill.

Current listening :: “Breakaway” – Kelly Clarkson (from the Princess Diaries 2 OST)

Pain

Argh I am soooo sore today!!! It was to be expected of course. Having attended FOUR hours of dance class yesterday. I knew my muscles would be killing me today. Suprisingly my legs aren’t too bad – just a bit sore in the inner thighs (go those plies!) What is the most stiff and sore is my back, neck & shoulders. I can’t even breathe in deeply or walk without it hurting. At least its not a popped rib – I hope.. I was very careful at class, and I think the rib actually stayed in! Guess only time will tell.

So how did I manage 4 hours of dance class? Well I went to Ramon’s int jazz at the Sydney Dance Company = 2 hours. Haven’t been to his class for aaages, so it was good to be back. The main routine was to the latest Guy Sebastian song – quite a funky routine. And the lyrical was to Usher’s “Confessions Part II” – my fave song.. not. Hehe. 😛 Then at lunch I went to 2 dance classes taught by Farah Shah – a jazz/funk and UK street funk class. Makes another 2 hours (yeh I took a 2 hour lunch break for it.. *cough*) At the jazz/funk class I was actually the only one there – so it was basically a private lesson! Very cool! The routine was to “All Nite” by Janet Jackson. I got heaps of pointers and advice about how to improve, esp if I want to go for auditions. She said what makes a dancer stand out is clean lines & precision + the strength/energy in each move. Thats what I needed to improve on. (But damn its tiring!) The Street Funk routine was to Sean Paul’s “Get Busy”. T’was a fun routine! 🙂

Dancers workshop!

Now why did I put myself through that rather intense day of dancing? Well, its all in preparation for this:

I’m gonna be attending the International Dancers Workshop II in Sydney on Oct 2 & 3. I got my tickets in the mail the other week… and I’m soooo excited about it!!!! 😀 Choreographers are Kevin Maher and Teresa Espinosa, coming out from the US. I’m really really looking forward to Teresa’s classes in particular as she is the choreographer for alot of Britney’s stuff, including her latest DVD live performances, and also was head choreographer for Janet Jackson’s Velvet Robe tour! It’s gonna be sooo good to learn from her! 😀 Kevin Maher is replacing Dave Scott (who was the choreographer for the movie “You Got Served” – but ended up not being able to make it out coz of passport issues). But yeh, Kevin should be great too. I think he was actually one of the dancers in “You Got Served”. Anyways, look at the website for more details. I dunno if you can still get tickets though.

I bought the 2 Day Unlimited Pass – which means I get to go to ALL 12 classes over the two days. Thats 6 classes per day (gee 6 hours of dancing.. how am I gonna last – I can barely manage more than 2 hours of dancing!) But yeh, I wanted to try the different levels – even Advanced/Professional! And also it is by far the best value for money option.

Anyway, for this reason, I’ve been upping my exercise regime and dancing. And I really hope my rib is 100% better by then!!! :\

Current listening :: “Canned Heat” – Jamiroquai

Starry Eyed

Revisiting this entry, I just can’t get over the song “With You” by Jessica Simpson. Am really relating to it at the moment.. actually I have been for the past 5 months. (Can’t believe it’ll be our 5 months on Wednesday!!)

These words really do echo my heart.
And I do love you.

Cause with you
I can let my hair down
I can say anything crazy
I know you’ll catch me right before I hit the ground
With nothing but a t-shirt on
I never felt so beautiful
Baby as I do now
Now that I’m with you

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Miscellaney

Man, I’ve been so good with exercise this past week! I went to the gym three times last week, and also went swimming on Saturday with Paul (becoming quite a regular thing for us). We did 11 x 50m laps.. thats 550m! 😀 And I went to the gym again tonight, to my (now regular) Monday night Body Balance class. I’m really really loving this class – it’s a combination of Yoga, Pilates and Tai Chi. I find it really relaxing, and great for maintaining my “dancers” flexibility, balance and strength. (Many of the moves are very similar to the warm ups in my jazz dance class). Ahh… feels good to get my fitness level up again!

Other than that, my weekend was fairly enjoyable. Spent lots of time hanging out with Paul. We went to Max Brenners on Saturday arvo. I nearly OD’d myself on chocolate. I had a Suckao – which is a hot chocolate you create yourself, by heating milk over a candle, and adding real chocolate pieces to the milk till it melts in. I had the dark chocolate – soooo rich! Also had waffles with fresh strawberries, icecream and melted choc drizzled all over. Yummmm. Soooo goooood. :P~

Yes, I ate ALL that by myself (well almost.. had a bit of icecream and waffle left over)!! And yes, with all that pigging out, I really did need all the exercise I could get!! That’s where the swimming came in. 😉

Current listening :: “With You” – Jessica Simpson

Bitchin’

Does anyone else out there find that latest Usher song “Confessions Part II” kinda offensive? Everytime I hear the song, I keep thinking the same things.

These are my confessions
Just when I thought I said all I can say
My chick on the side said she got one on the way
These are my confessions
Man I’m throwed and I don’t know what to do

Absolutely no sympathy for you mate. Why did you have a “chick on the side” in the first place? I find that concept rather offensive.

This by far is the hardest thing I think I’ve ever had to do
To tell you, the woman I love
That I’m having a baby by a woman that I barely even know
I hope you can accept the fact that I’m man enough to tell you this
And hopefully you’ll give me another chance

Well hello, if you kept it in the pants in the first place, you wouldn’t be in this predicament eh? And the whole being “man enough to tell you” is sorta negated by the fact that you were, in fact, sleeping with this “chick on the side”. Men!

Anyways. Enough fun for one day. 😛 I don’t mind the song – its got a decent-ish tune.. I just don’t like the lyrics.

Back update

I went to see the Chiro again this morning, just to make sure everything was ok with my rib. She said it was just 5% out but 95% in, so she fixed that up for me, and said I should be ok now. So I went to the gym at lunchtime today and had myself a very good (but very careful) workout – mainly concentrated on cardio on the X-Trainer, with some light weights to tone arms and strengthen the upper back muscles + my usual ab exercises. I felt pretty good after my workout, but this afternoon, I’ve been feeling that slight niggling pain in that same upper back area again – esp when I breathed in deeply. I really hope it hasn’t popped out (correct term is subluxated) again – and just after having a treatment too!! But it seems to be ok now, so here’s hoping.

Btw, this short article seems to explain what happened to my rib/upper back. I think it was the subluxation of a rib, and yeh, it was from lifting something heavy and bad posture at work. 🙁

Current listening :: “Every Little Step” – Bobby Brown (In a bit of an old skool R&B phase atm… Hahah so awesome!! I haven’t heard this song in sooooo long!!)

Gallery update

I’ve finally uploaded pics from my first trip to Forster, back in June. My very own meet the parents (though not nearly as exciting as the movie :P).

Clicky here to view.

Pics from my latest visit (last week) are still pending. Will upload them when I get around to installing the drivers for the digital camera on my work computer.

Current listening :: “Gracie” – Bic Runga

Springtime flowers

Every year without fail, these brilliant orange flowers in our front and back yard open up to the warm sunlight of approaching spring. I also found some lovely bright pink flowers blossoming in our backyard. So pretty. Ahh… don’t you just love spring. 🙂

So don’t feel like being at work today. *sigh*

Wish I could just lounge somewhere quiet, close to the sea, listening to the waves breaking in the distance, feeling a gentle breeze caress my skin, in a warm cocoon of sunlight.. as I drift into a peaceful slumber……

Current listening :: “Traffic in the sky” – Jack Johnson

The big move

Just found out today (though I had already gotten wind of this yesterday) that our entire company will be moving to a new location out in the suburbs, as of next year. Apparently our lease expires in 2006, and as we are unable to afford the pricey locations in the city, they’ve decided to move us out to Rhodes Waterside (a new suburb currently undergoing construction). Apparently it’ll be quite a nice location – water views, parks, new shopping centre & cinema complex, cafes & restaurants etc, containing both residential & commercial areas.

When I first heard the news, I was pretty shocked (I think chagrin is an appropriate word) – move OUT of the city!? NOOOooooooo….. But now, having been informed about the location and surrounding facilities, it doesn’t seem quite so bad. I’m still a bit bummed about moving out of the city, and it’s conveniences (eg meeting people, shopping & many other available services to choose from, lunchtime dance classes, after work classes at the Con and Syd Dance Co etc). But, the new location looks like it’ll have most of the things I need. And it’ll be a brand spankin’ new building and suburb too! Oh yeh, and it’s only about 10 mins from my house!!! 😛

So yeh. I guess nothing is forever. Things are bound to change – like your work location – which I realised is quite a large part of your life when you’re hit with a big change like this. It’s a while to go yet – the move won’t start until next year, September 2005. Here’s a press release about it on our company website (which I just finished uploading) – http://aap.com.au/company-updates.asp. Here’s an artists impression of what our office building will look like:

Current listening :: “Superstar” – Carpenters

Quick update

Man.. went to see the chiro AGAIN today. Same deal. AGAIN!!! Rib popped out. Musta been that Body Balance class that did it. Combined with my usual bad posture. Man!! This sucks. 🙁 I suppose I shouldn’t have pushed myself so far so soon. Anyway, this time I’m gonna let it rest for at least 4/5 days before doing any sort of yoga/dance. Hopefully this’ll be the last time that rib pops out. *sigh*

Am also feeling a bit sore from yesterdays workout. Which is a good thing! Means I actually did a decent amount of exercise. Can definitely feel those push ups in my shoulder area… my abs are feeling those crunches.. and my thighs are feeling that session on the X-trainer. Good stuff. 🙂

Anyway, gotta jet. Am watching Bourne Supremacy tonight with Paul. Yay! 🙂

Current listening :: “Close To You” – Carpenters (The Carpenters rock! Really need to listen to more of their stuff! Karen Carpenter has the most beautiful voice..)

Ouchies

This has not been a good week thus far for my poor body. Got sick on the weekend, twisted/spasmed that upper back muscle in my Body Balance class on Monday night (same place I’d injured and re-injured previously), then yesterday embarked on some crimson wave fun (with associated cramps and general ickiness), and then today at the gym I slipped in the change room (wet floor.. grr) and landed solidly on my left knee cap. Very ouchie. 🙁 Not. Happy. Jan.

Ah well. But despite all this, I’ve been in pretty good spirits this week. Most of the time anyway. 😛 Am sitting here at work now, with an icepack on my knee, drinking a scrummy All Berry Bang (sorbet instead of yoghurt of course!) and feeling pretty good. Maybe it’s because I just had an awesome workout session at the gym. Yay for exercise! 🙂

Current listening :: “Run To You” – Whitney Houston

Storm pics

Here are a collection of pics from the hail storm in Sydney over the weekend. Very cool stuff! (I didn’t take them though).

Pretty cool huh. Esp those lightning pics. Amazing!! :O

Old skool

I’m really into old skool soul/power ballads at the moment! Give me some Whitney Houston and Paula Abdul. *sigh* Its awesome stuff! I’ve been listening to “Rush Rush – Paul Abdul on rotation since yesterday. Also on my playlist is Whitney Houstons “I Have Nothing, “Run To You”, “I Will Always Love You” (all from the movie Bodyguard), “Could I Have This Kiss Forever”, and “All At Once”. Heh. Go the power ballads! 🙂

“You’re the whisper of a summer breeze
You’re the kiss that puts my soul at ease
What I’m sayin is, I’m into you…”

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*sigh* That song is so…. wistful and romantic. 🙂

On a completely different note… my tummy is ouchie. 🙁

Current listening :: “Rush Rush” – Paula Abdul

Forster Trip 2

I had myself a lovely weekend up in sunny Forster. Paul and I headed up late Friday night (leaving Sydney at 11:15pm and arriving at 2:30am!!) After a good sleep-in on Saturday and a late brekky, myself, Cath (Paul’s sis), and Nikki (Cath’s good friend from UK) took the canoe out on the lake on a deceptively beautiful sunny day. It turned out to be quite an adventure, with just the three of us girls.

// begin canoe adventure story
We first paddled out to Big Snake Island (a large island with no snakes on it) to try and get a closer look at all the pelicans living on it. We managed to actually get right up on the island without scaring the pelicans away – but then discovered the reason for that was not our skill at rowing quietly in, but rather it was because they were all nesting over their baby pelicans and eggs!!! Very cool! These huge pelicans were all sitting over these tiny, pink, wrinkled baby pelicans (which were incredibly ugly looking, but somehow so cute!)

So anyway, we stayed there just observing quietly for a while, and then finally decided to leave as the wind was getting a bit chilly. We had decided to row to a nearby small island, but as we got near, the wind suddenly picked up in intensity and got *really* cold! We were like, ermm… perhaps we should head back now! So as we started rowing back to Greenpoint as the wind got stronger and the waves bigger and choppier. It was quite exciting, in a rather scary sorta way. The three of us rowing with all our strength to get back to shore… but at the same time helplessly giggling, coz it was all just kinda crazy. We also had to constantly turn the canoe around to face the waves (as we kept being turned side on by the wind and getting knocked about by the waves). Anyways, after putting some serious muscle into it, we three (rather cold and wet) girls finally managed to get back to shore. Hurray for girl power! 😛

// end canoe adventure story

The rest of Saturday was spent just relaxing at their home, by a cheery fireplace. After having a nice hot shower, toasted sandwiches for lunch and a yummy hot choccy, I was almost ready for a nap. 🙂 Meanwhile, poor Paul had come down with a rather nasty bout of the Flu – with a bit of a temperature, a yucky head cold, and achey muscles/joints. So I put him to lie on the couch with lots of water to drink, brought him some lunch and gave him medicine to take. That evening at sunset, we went into Forster to see some dolphins playing in the marina area. We managed to sight quite a few fins popping out every now and then. Very cool. 🙂

Another highlight of the trip was this absolutely gorgeous handmade flowers and crafts shop & coffee shop we visited. Its just near their house, in Greenpoint, overlooking the lake. I’m so gonna go back there everytime I visit. Not only does the place sell the most beautiful things – these incredibly realistic looking handmade flowers, divine smelling huge candles (with flowers and shells etc embedded in the wax) and other lovely crafts – they also make the nicest coffee ever! I had an Iced Mocha Mudpack – sooooo yummmm!! Made with their award winning espresso coffee, rich swiss chocolate syrup, icecream and topped with shaved chocolate flakes. Argh…. I want one now! I should taken a piccy, but I forgot. Will remember to do so next time!

I ended up buying my mum a present from the shop – a lovely glass vase filled with dried leaves and cinnamon sticks, and this beautiful arrangement of white orchid flowers. So pretty! And smells nice too. I also bought myself one of their huge candles (burns for 100 hours) coz they smelt soooo nice. I got the “Antique Rose” smelling candle. Can’t wait to try it! I’ll upload pics of em tomorrow. I also took some photos whilst up in Greenpoint/Forster, which I’ll try and put up in the next day or two.

Storms are cool!

How awesome was last night’s storm cell through Sydney? It didn’t hit my suburb, but I watched as it passed by, from Homebush area down south to Mascot. I spent about half an hour watching the lightning show in the distance. Wow is all I can say. It was pretty spectacular! Was anyone in the thick of it? I know it hailed again (we got a smattering of hail where I was too). Pity I missed the hailstorm that afternoon. So much hail that in some parts, it was like snow, and check out this guy (I believe at Bondi Beach)!

Anyway. Wish I were at home now… and in bed. I caught Paul’s cold on the weekend (as usual). So just got a bit of a sore throat and head cold at the moment. It’s Not too bad though, which is why I ended up going into work today.

Current listening :: “Lucky Star” – Alex Lloyd (Why, oh why, do I do this to myself……)

Back update

I went to see my chiropractor today, to have a look at my upper back, which had been hurting since Saturday (though it was gradually easing up and getting better the last few days). Anyway, its the same deal as before – when I first injured it lifting my keyboard at RICE. So she gave it a bit of massage, had a poke around, and then realigned everything in one hit. Nice!

So what was wrong? Apparently, rib number 5 was out again. It was out of alignment – it had sorta popped out from its position, which would have caused the muscles to all spasm and knot up. Guess that was why I had these massive knots and nodules up the muscle next to my left shoulder (which joined onto that rib). Anyways. All good now! Just cross my fingers and hope it doesn’t pop out again!!! :\

So.. I’m really into Britney’s “Overprotected” at the moment! Am loving the lyrics. 😛

Say hello to the girl that I am
You’re gonna have to see through my perspective
I need to make mistakes just to learn who I am
And I don’t wanna be so damn protected
There must be another way
‘Cause I believe in taking chances
But who am I to say
What a girl is to do
God I need some answers…

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Current listening :: “Overprotected” – Britney Spears

Girly fun

Am feeling much better today. I had the most relaxing evening last night. Pampered myself with an express pedicure (in OPI’s Sonora Sunset – a subtle deep rose with a hint of gold shimmer through it) and express facial. And then went home, had some dinner and relaxed in nice hot bath (with this awesome Thalgo Effervescent Bath Pebble given me as a present – its got marine nutrients, smells absolutely divine, and turned the water this really cool lagoon blue!) Ahh.. don’t you just love girly pampering? 🙂

Anyway, whilst we’re feeling all girly, I decided to do another of those girly quizzes.

You Are a Flawless Beauty! When it comes to beauty, you spare no expense – and it shows You’re the kind of woman a man would launch a thousand ships for It’s hard for anyone to beat you in the beauty department But remember, it’s okay to show a flaw or too – you’ve got plenty to spare. What Type of Beauty Are You? Take This Quiz

Hm.. how appropriate. Hee. Actually it was a bit of a tie between this and “Natural Beauty” (You’re the kind of beauty that every guy dreams about…
One that looks good in the morning – without a stich of makeup. That’s doesn’t mean you’re a total hippie chic though. You have style, but for you, style is effortless). So what did you other gals get?

Weekend getaway

I’m gonna be going up to Forster again this weekend with Paul. Yay! 🙂 We’ll be staying at his folks place, but this time there’ll be a few other people along – his sister, younger brother and his sister’s good friend. Should be fun! I like going up to Forster (or rather Greenpoint, where they live) – it’s just sooo beautiful up there. And great to get out of Sydney – get some fresh air and get closer to nature. And of course, there’s that absolutely gorgeous lake. *sigh* Definitely will be taking my digital camera again. 🙂

Current listening :: “The Trouble With Love Is” – Kelly Clarkson

Dizzy

Oh boy. Don’t feel very good today. Perhaps it was a bad idea to come in to work. I feel dizzy (again). I don’t understand why this happens. I know that its probably got something to do with being run down and too tired/exhausted.

The dizziness started late last night after Paul and I finished watching “Bourne Identity” on dvd (good movie btw.. looking forward to Bourne Supremacy!). But I thought it would have gone away after one nights sleep. I guess not. 🙁

Its not as bad as last night, but it definitely doesn’t help when I try to concentrate on things – like work. :\ Ugh… if it gets any worse I might go home early. We’ll see how things go.

Current listening :: “These Are The Days” – Jamie Cullum

Girl stuff

So.. do any other girls experience fairly extreme mood swings due to certain hormonal cycles in their body? I’ve noticed (and been told a number of times) that my mood radically changes whenever I get around to “that time of the month”. It’s almost like my whole personality changes – I suddenly become all moody, depressed, melancholy, negative, irritable, bitchy and cry alot. I feel sorry for the poor souls who have to deal with me during this time. Its so noticable, that even I notice it. It’s actually how I can tell I’m approaching that crimson wave. *sigh* Sometimes it does suck to be female.

Current listening :: “Singin In The Rain” – Jamie Cullum (I loooove his arrangement of this song!!)

Monday morning blues

Don’t you just love Monday mornings. NOT! :\ *sigh* Just feeling particularly blue this morning. And also am experiencing feelings of.. displacement? Anyway… guess I gots the Monday blues. Also am rather tired today. Think I’m in need of some chocolate therapy.

[Excuse me while I go and get myself a mocha latte!]

Ok I’m back! My upper back has been hurting again lately. Started on Saturday morning, after I got out of the shower. Something just twinged, the exact same place as before (when I injured it at RICE – from lifting my keyboard amp). Darn it. Why does it keep coming back? 🙁 I couldn’t even stand up straight for a while. Had to go and lie down coz that was the only way it didn’t hurt. *sigh* Luckily its feeling a lot better now. I had Paul give me some deep tissue massage in that spot *ouchie!* and that seems to have helped. Though it felt a little tender afterwards. I think I need some massage therapy. Should I go and see my chiropractor again? Or a physio? Or just a beautician for a normal back massage? Or none of the above?

Weekly weekend update

Yep, its time for that weekly weekend update. I had quite a relaxing one this weekend. On Saturday I went to Vic & Christine’s engagement party at Balmoral beach. It was an absolutely gorgeous day for it – blue skies and sunshine, warm mid 20’s, and a picnic by the beach. Ahh.. soo nice! I went for a bit of a paddle too – rolled up my jeans and took a relaxing stroll along the beach, enjoying the (very) cool, crisp water lapping around my ankles. It was so picturesque, I had to take a pic with my phone!

*sigh* Can’t wait till summer!!! 😀 So on Sunday I had a much needed sleep in, then went with Paul to our usual Sunday hangout at Burwood westfield for some late afternoon lunch and shopping. I bought myself a new belt! Its simple white, with a metal rectangular buckle. No patterns, sequins, sparkles or anything. Just plain white. $10 too! What a bargain! 🙂 I had to buy one coz my new hipster jeans are.. err.. rather low and have a tendency to show some C&C (cheek & crack) if I bend over or squat. NOT a good look. Need a belt to hold em up! 😛

I made a new artist discovery! Jamie Cullum – a new jazz musician/singer from the UK. He’s cool! Plays piano and sings. His first label album, Twenty Something, consists of about half originals by himself and half covers. His covers are really good, coz they don’t sound exactly the same as the original, but are really different and very creative. They’re mostly jazzy arrangements of some great classics such as “Singing In The Rain”, “I Get A Kick Out Of You” or some more modern ones like “Lover, You Should’ve Come Over” (Jeff Buckley) and “High and Dry” (Radiohead). Very nice.

Hee. I love discovering new artists! It was totally by accident too – I was browsing through Sanity when Paul pointed out a “Jackson 5” album, which we tried to listen to on the listening station. But it didn’t have that album number listed, so I ended up listening to the one after it, which happened to be Jamie Cullum. The first few seconds of the first track just caught my attention and I ended up listening to the other tracks, and buying the album (only $19.99 at Sanity).

On Sunday evening, Paul and I went to visit a different church – Christians In The Media in Annandale – which his sister attends (and works at as one of the ministry staff). This is the church that Dominic Steele (founder of Introducing God) pastors. It’s a really cool church! I quite like it – its mostly made up of young (20 to 30 something) students and workers in the Media industry. It’s run very well, a bit different from your average anglican church. It’s got a very laidback feel, quite small-ish (around 50 – 70 members), and the church has a rather nicely designed modern interior! It’s also very, very newcomer friendly – they use hardly any christian jargon.. even the bible reading is eg. Matthew chapter 27, sentance 45. And they are apparently growing heaps – doubled in size in the past year with many newcomers and people bringing their friends. My impression was that it’s a very vibrant and growing church.

Anyways, after service I met a number of people (all quite friendly and welcoming) – including some of Paul’s good friends. We were invited to join them at the local pub across the road afterwards. It’s quite a nice pub. Good food, reasonably priced, and really cool toilets! 😛 Its got auto-flushing toilets (has a sensor that knows when you’re in front of the toilet, and when you go away) and auto-sensored taps (which turn on when you put your hands under it)! How cool is that! 🙂

Next year
things are gonna change..