todays forecast: too much radness.

This week a long awaited trip to the airport brought me to kate george and steve, running in open arms. I used to live with Kate at uni and have missed her and the girls daily since i arrived, but now i had a little bit of home with me for a whole week & couldnt have asked for a better christmas wish than this :)

The first day they arrived it was early monday morning & so when we got home, after i was given the amazing gifts of PG Tips and English Curlywurlys (my fav, and although sold in oz are crap compared to ours!) they crashed for a much needed but short nap careful not to mess up the jet-lag. If they thought they were going to sleep all day they had another thing coming...later that day i gave them the full-works guided tour around flinders/ fed square/ southbank/ MCG and City Centre! We spent the eve getting 'christmassy' watching Elf the movie and relaxing & reminiscing in the Spa.

The following day I was assisting a shoot for photographer Rob Earp and Stylist Amber Renae , a fashion editorial for X&Y Magazine shot in Glow Studio (http://www.xandymagazine.com.au). I was up at 5:5Oam and was a full on day, shooting models on harnesses suspended in the air, models submerged in watertanks and floating above wading pools. At one point i found myself upside down in the air testing out a harness and then later up a ladder pouring buckets of water over a model mid air...such a good shoot! Photographs looked amazing and cant wait to see the post-edited obscured twists & flips that are planned to be be applied to them. I could say alot more about this shoot but check out the photo's linked to my f.b page for a better understanding of its beauty! That sunny evening I took Kate & Steve and their two mates Rob & Laura to meet a group of my friends in a park opposite my house called Wattle Park for an ozzie barbecue. There was plenty of beer + feed, cooked curtsey of the free public BBQ facilities, and a great love for the carlton draft bottle-top fact game!

Wednesday I had work at Bettina all day, but I was actually happy to be inside an air conditioned studio as it was 42degrees out, ouch. However a perfect night for the Rooftop Cinema which I had booked for us. We ate firstly at The Lounge, Swanston Street, the food was oh so good and my 'David Attenborough' cocktail was equally scrumptious to match. The Cinema opposite is on top of the 6th floor of the Curtain House Building, 252, and is an open air rooftop lined with lazy colourful deckchairs, a big screen and a bar, what a combo....or as the sign states, and i quote, 'todays forecast: too much radness'. The film, Adventureland, unfortunately died on us half way through and we all had to abandon with refunds but i'll still be back! We finished the night with with drinks in the Carlton bar,this now becoming quite a regular tradition.

Thursday, (I have to break this blog into days as we've done TOO much) compared to the wicked 42'er the day before, rained all day long. I decided to take Kate to Chadstone Shopping Centre, the largest in Victoria or maybe the Southern Hemisphere, something ridiculous, it really is that big. Lucky for me its 15mins on the bus from mine so we enjoyed some retail therapy having I got the day off work. It was a successful shop, peaking at the moment we walked into Tiffany's, giggling at diamonds and the shop-attendant proclaiming 'shit' as he dropped something before cheekily reccomending that we heard nothing, okay? We rushed into the city later for Chinese and to meet friends for drinks at the Prince of Wales bar...quickly realising we were in part of a Gay Bar, but enjoyed the transvestite show anyhow. Before home we made a quick pit stop in Mink Vodka Bar for cocktails, i had the 'Amy Winehouse Experience', cleverly lined with Absinthe.

Fryday, hot again, giving us the perfect beach day & so we toddled off down to st Kilda to catch some rays. Before reaching sand and water i took the poms through Acland street, the main metropolitan beachy strip. south of the city grid, lined with surf shops, beautiful European-esk bakery's, bars, cafes and that ozzy holiday feel. Sunburnt a few hours later, we got a tram to the West Docklands for fish & chips in the setting sun and went to meet my boat as I had work that night on the waters.

The Saturday meant Kate and Steve's last day in Melbers, and so we got tickets for the SLAM day festival happening on st kilda beach as the sunshine kept on coming. It kicked off early arvo, got busy really quickly and soon enough we were raving and dancing amongst the crowds until the evening came and i had to run off to work on the boat again for my last christmas cruise. I got home late but Kate George waited up so we could have a final Spa and wind-down from a crazy but brilliant week in this unforgettable place that I feel lucky to call home.