Nos premiers visiteurs!!

Ça y est. Patrick-Olivier et Valérie sont arrivés! C'est tellement le fun d'avoir des visiteurs! J'ai sprinté pour terminer la chambre d'amis (un gros merci aux soldes chez Ikea et les talents contructeurs de Allen) et maintenant, je reçois les petits cousins dans notre première maison.

Mission : australienisation.

Chaque jour, on fait quelque chose typiquement australien. C'est le défi.

Hier: Les lamingtons. Gâteau officiel de l'australie, éponge enrobé de chocolat et roulé dans de la noix de coco. Yum....
Aujourd'hui: Les bottes Uggies! Valérie s'en cherchait une paire, je savais justement ou aller en chercher une pas chère...

Nous sommes allés à la plage de Port Noarlunga aujourd'hui, il faisait un temps magnifique. Une petite promenade sur le quai à regarder les gens pêcher, et un arrêt sur la plage pour manger des fish and chips!


Demain, on s'en va en ville...

stay tuned....

Au dépourvu

Au Canada et en Australie, la fête des mères se célèbre le même jour. Chaque année. C'est donc facile pour moi de savoir quand je dois envoyer une carte et un petit cadeau à ma maman pour lui rappeler combien elle est une maman géniale.

Mais la fête des pères, elle, se célèbre au mois de septembre, ici. Alors, bon, j'ai été prise au dépourvu. J'ai appris vendredi que la fête des pères était ce dimanche au Canada. Pas eu le temps d'envoyer un petit quelque chose à temps...Une chance qu'il y a le téléphone...et l'internet.

Bonne fête des pères, papa.
You're the best daddy ever.
I miss you. Wish I could give you a big hug today.

Love you x

It's all about timing

I officially have a love-hate relationship going on with ebay.
I have found numerous great things for very little money and have bidded and won and been very happy with the whole process.
But it can be very frustrating sometimes.
Like today.

See, I am looking for a new swatch watch. I love my current one so much but it's pretty fragile, and I can't wear it at work. So I have been on the lookout. But Aussies are very skimp when it comes to Swatches in the shops. They barely have ANY. Seriously. A couple of run of the mill models, nothing more. Nothing really Swatch, you know? Colourful, different, new. Oh, and no one here has herd of their jewlery line, either. That's how boring it is.

So I have turned to ebay to get me a good one. And I found a fantastic one in the US and I bid on it. I had to go to bed and hope for the best, because the bidding was going to end at about 4h30am my time, and well, if I had put my alarm on to wake me up and go back and see if I had been outbid, then the dog would have woken up and yapped, Allen would have woken up and he needs his sleep cause he's in exams right now...So I put in a good bid in, and went to bed.
When I woke up this morning, I found out that I didn't win the watch. I was outbid by one dollar. One dollar!!! Man! How frustrating. And now, of course, I can't find that same watch again. It was way cool. And the more I think about it, the more I realise I really wanted it and I should have put in a higher bid, or just let the alarm go off at 4h15 and wake everyone...

Why, oh why.

So I have been running 5km everyday for about a week now. I am desperately trying to get a bit fitter, and well, lose a few pounds here and there. But it's not easy. I am desperately trying to motivate myself like my favorite instructor at my ex gym, Kim, would do. I miss her and her pump classes more than words can say. Yeah. I moved so far away that I cannot go to that gym anymore. I have to find another one, but right now, every cent I get is going into the house. And running along the path next to my house is free.

But not pain free. The thing is, it's getting harder every day, and today, since I got up and ran my little heart out, I have a blinding migraine. From my forehead to the base of my neck. And it's not fun. I haven't been able to do anything I wanted to do on my day off. So here's my question. How come my 5km seem longer and more painful every time I run them? Isn't it supposed to be the other way around?

Man, I might die before I fit into a bikini.

New pictures on Flickr

Saturday, Allen and I took Chomsky on her first hiking trip. I was a beautiful day, and we were tired of being cooped up in the house either studying (him) or renovating (me) so decided to hit the hills near Goodwood road.
It was fantastic. Gum trees everywhere, creeks, hills covered with olive trees.
We could see the city and the sea from the hilltop.

The dog had a blast, and I took many pictures. I put them on flickr, you can access them throught the animated picture icon at the bottom right of the blog.
I also put up a few pictures of Charlie and Williem, just cause he's adorable.

bisous x

I had a feeling...

I just went for a movie and dinner with my friend/production secretary Christine. There has been no film work lately and we are both anxiously waiting for the next movie to come to Adelaide. We were talking about the great people we had worked with the past year, and how some of them were lucky enough to live interstate, and therefore, get much more work.

One of them was Frank Hruby, the fabulous sydney focus puller I have loaded for on two feature films last year. I have tried to call him lately to catch up, and when he was late returning my calls, I knew he was working. He is always dead to the world when he's on a big job. I had a feeling it might have been the biggest film to hit us this year, the picturesque 'Australia' the last big one from Baz Luhrmann with Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman being shot in Queensland.

And speaking of the devil, when I turned my phone back on after the movie I had a message from Frank. He IS working on Australia! Until the end of the year!! My God. If you could see how hugely envious I am... Sometimes I wish I could fit in Frank's pocket.

Williem.

My friend Charlie gave birth to her fist boy last wednesday night.
Her second child, after Juliette, born last year.

Now, here it is. A great birth story. Charlie was taking a bath that night when she started to have what seemed like contractions. But Williem not being scheduled to arrive until 10 days later, she thought those contractions must have been false labour, because they weren't nearly as painful as the ones she had when Juliette announced herself. So she didn't think much of it. Until the contractions didn't go away and she realized she was in labour. So Michael aka daddy, started packing the car to drive her to hospital. Charlie was right behind him- or so he thought. She was making her way down the corridor when she felt little Willy's head coming out!! Mike rushed back in and called the ambulance, but he didn't have much time to get advice on what to do from the people at the emergency department, because as soon as he came back from the linen closet with some towels to deliver the baby with (Charlie was going to have to give birth in their living room!) Williem was already on the floor. He came out in one swift push, and literally fell on the floor, to the astonishment of his mother, who thought it would at least take a few pushes to get him out...

So Michael wrapped the baby and held him until the paramedics arrived. They cut the cord and brought the parents to hospital.

So my friend Charlie had a natural birth. In her house. Without any medical help. Pretty impressive, no? And all that from a woman who was never going to have another child without the good graces of an epidural...
Way to go mom!

Just because

So I don't do much these days except:

- Go to work
- Work on the house
- Spend some time with puppy!!

So here's a picture I took of her yesterday.
Just because she's so cute..

GAP Alert!

Have you seen this dress??


Got the picture from the GAP website, and I was wondering if anyone had seen it in stores in Montréal?

Can anyone help me?

It would cost me twice as much as the actual dress to order it from the net and pay the shipment...And I just love this dress! So please? Anyone?

Trois affirmations.

1- C'est vraiment pas cool quand to chum emprunte la voiture et ne te laisse même pas assez d'essence pour te rendre à la station service.

2- C'est encore moins cool être obligée de pousser la voiture jusqu'à la station service durant l'heure de pointe le matin sur une rue hyper passante.

3- Un matin de merde annonce souvent une journée entière de merde.

It's on again!

Oh yeah. One of my favorite shows, 20 to 1, is back!
You know how I love countdowns...

And here's a good one.

20 Best Aussie Movies.
Have you seen any of these?

Bottom 10:


20. Muriel’s Wedding. A staple. I actually saw it in my Film Esthetics class in my first year at Concordia. A more voluptuous Toni Colette gave a memorable performance, and a line from this movie became famous here, and said again and again today: ‘You’re terrible, Muriel’.
You gotta see it to get it.


19. Wolf Creek. The most recent on the list. I know lots of people who worked on it so I’ve herd lots of stories about the making of, but still, I can’t get myself to watch it. I am too paranoid a person. I will never backpack again after seeing it, I’m sure…


18. Babe. So lots of you, I am sure, thought that was American. No! It was one of the most grossing films in Aussie history. Nominated for an Oscar and everything. The program used to make the animals talk, used so much today, was developed by home grown geeks.

17. Chopper. A frightening movie, especially if you have seen Eric Bana all gorgeous and lovable in Troy first. This flick is based on the life of notorious Aussie Serial Killer Mark ‘Chopper’ Read. And Bana is completely transformed for this one. It’s scary. Mark was nicknamed Chopper, cause he was famous for torturing people by cutting off their toes one by one. Ew.


16. Romper Stomper. One of the first of Russel Crowe. That was the one that put him on the map. This film is about neo nazi racism in Sydney and shows a real dark side of Australian cinema. Crowe is almost unrecognizable. Super skinny and looking super scary.


15. Storm Boy. Film about a boy that has a huge pelican as a pet.
It was shot by Geoff Burton, the DOP I shot Lucky Miles with last year. Cool.


14. Stricly Ballroom.
One of the most popular ones worldwide. Directed by our own flamboyant Baz Luhrmann. It grossed over 100 milion. One of the most successful Aussie films ever.


13. Young Einstein. One of those super stupid comedies that critics absolutely hated, but that somehow, struck a cord with the general public. I am not sure if I actually want to see this one, it really looks bad…

12. Shine. Now, this one I have seen. It gave Geoffrey Rush his Oscar. Was also nominated for best picture. It is a great film about a very talented pianist struggling with mental illness.
You should see this one.


11. Puberty Blues. Never herd of it before I saw it on this list. A film about the surfculture of the 70’s. What’s special about it is that it shot from the point of view of a girl.

Do you know any Aussie movies that might be in the top 10?