Carrie's blog

2007: Looking ahead

In 2007 ...

1. Will you be looking for a new job?

GOD, I hope not.

2. Will you be looking for a new relationship?

You know what? I think I might be. And by looking I don’t mean “going out with the same people every Saturday night and wondering why I never meet anyone”. I mean I might actually make an effort to date.

3. New house? Yippee! You bet.

4. What will you do different in '07?

I will save more, eat less, be responsible, recycle more and think about air miles when I buy wine and go for French wines rather than New Zealand wines. The wine thing is a small ask really but every little helps and forgoing New Zealand Pinot Noir is a sacrifice.

5. New Years resolution?

To get out of debt by my 27^th birthday.

6. What will you not be doing in '07?

Whinging about hating my job. That’s SO 2004-06.

7. Any trips planned?

Devon in April, in May, in June and in November.

8. Wedding plans?

 

Two of my favourite people are getting hitched in in May and there’s going to be a ceildgh. Awesome.

9. Major thing on your calendar?

 

Weddings and Trips.

10. What can’t you wait for? July 20^th (date subject to change!)

11. What would you like to see happen different?

No regrets.

12. What about yourself will you be changing?

The key phrase for the year is Responsible Adult.

13. What happened in 06 that you didn’t think would ever happen?

I felt truly confident and comfortable with my place in the world. And then I left that place 3 days later. I’m so smart.

14. Will you be nicer to the people you care about?

I’m always nice to the people I care about. I will, however, try to be more understanding.

15. Will you dress differently this year than you did in 06?

I will wear more suits and less sensible shoes.

16. Will you start or quit drinking?

Hmm, I may take it up as a charming new hobby! Seriously, I want to keep it at the level it is at the moment and avoid any Amy Winehouse style meltdowns.

17. Will you better your relationship with your family?

I’m very happy with my relationship with my immediate family at present but next year I want to really rebuild relations with my extended family here in the UK.

18. Will you do charity work?

I really and truly should. I’ll look into it and get back to you.

19. Will you go to bars?

I will probably start and finish the year in bars.

20. Will you be nice to people you don’t know?

You know what, I really will. I read this article by David Foster Wallace recently and have been actively trying to keep it at the forefront of my mind. It’s such a simple philosophy but it helps me to remember that people usually have reasons for being arseholes.

21. Do you expect 07 to be a good year for you?

I hope 2007 will be a good year. Early forecast is pretty damn positive.

22. How much did you change from this time last year till now? I think I’ve grown up which is weird because if you’d asked me a year ago I’d have been pretty certain I was all grown up. Another life lesson for the year for me: You never stop growing.

23. Do you plan on having a child? No. I’m hard enough work.

24. Will you still be friends with the same people you are friends with now?  I hope so.

 

25. Major lifestyle changes? I think I’m pretty happy with the ones in 2006 so might just try and make sure those stick.

 

26. Will you be moving? Didn't this question already get asked? Yes AGAIN.

 

27. What will you make sure doesn’t happen in 07 that happened in 06? No drunken blackouts in 2007!

 

28. What are your New Years Eve plans? Going to my friend's flat in the Docklands, watching fireworks, talking rubbish and laughing my arse off.

 

29. Will you have someone to kiss at midnight? At the moment, no, but I remain optimistic.

 

30. One wish for 07? Love, baby. Nothing but love.

 

2006: Review

1. What did you do in 2006 that you'd never done before?

I sold all my possessions with the exception of 10 boxes and two suitcases and moved 10,000 miles.

2. Did you keep your New Year's resolutions, and will you make more for next year?

My New Year’s resolution was to keep off all the weight I lost in 2005. I kept it off until April when work began really, really getting to me which triggered all of my bad habits to resurface. I started drinking too much, not watching what I ate, not exercising and I put all the weight I lost back on plus an extra stone. Now, after 3 months of Weight Watchers, I’m back at goal weight and guess what next year’s resolution is? Oy.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?

Yup! My little pal Ethan arrived 2 months ahead of schedule back in September and is now home with his lovely parents and thriving.

4. Did anyone close to you die? No.

5. What places did you visit?

Two mini breaks, first to Sydney and then Brisbane with my GGW buddies.

6. What would you like to have in 2007 that you lacked in 2006?

One million pounds. Romance. Immaculate eyebrows.

7. What dates from 2006 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?

September 3^rd: Moved out of Abercrombie St.

September 25^th: End of an era and farewell to .

November 13^th: New job!

8. What was your biggest achievement(s) of the year?

I know I sound like a broken record but deciding to leave Melbourne and then following my instincts and sticking to my resolution to go even when life there got really, really good.

9. What was your biggest failure?

Beginning another year in debt. I will be debt free by 27!

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?

No - touch wood!

11. What was the best thing you bought?

Plane ticket to in April.

12. Whose behaviour merited celebration?

My parents.

13. Whose behaviour made you appalled and depressed?

Whoever the hell decided that footless tights were a good idea.

14. Where did most of your money go?

Bills, bank interest, travel, freight, shoes, red wine.

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?

My new job, London architecture, my old housemates moving to London, lunch at Icebergs, friends’ engagements, babies & pregnancies, red nail polish, non-Scientologist celebrity weddings, Prison Break, airport reunions.

16. What song(s) will always remind you of 2006?

Snow Patrol – Run; The Lucksmiths – Motorscooter (see also ‘Songs that will remind me of 2002’); Scissor Sisters – I Don’t Feel Like Dancing; Lily Allen – LDN; Keith Urban – You’ll Think Of Me; Calexico – All Systems Red; The Killers – Bones; Nelly Furtado – Maneater; Coldplay – Fix You; KT Tunstall – Black Horse and the Cherry Tree; The Polyphonic Spree – Light and Day; Billy Bragg – A New England.

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:

a) happier or sadder? Happier but it’s bittersweet.

b) thinner or fatter? Thinner!

c) richer or poorer? Poorer but I think it’s really starting to turn a corner,

18. What do you wish you'd done more of?

Acted responsibly.

19. What do you wish you'd done less of?

Acted irresponsibly.

20. How did you spend Christmas last year?

Obsessing over my shiny, new, precious iPod, Ringo and bickering with my lovely brother about our record collections.

21. Did you fall in love in 2006?

 

Sadly, no.

22. How many one-night stands?

 

A lady never tells.

23. What was your favourite TV program?

Prison Break – for being so damn entertaining but equally for providing Amy and I so much to obsess over. We’re not Wentworthy!

24. What did you do for your birthday in 2006?

Went out with my family to a pub and ate too much.

25. What was the best book you read?

“Saturday” by Ian McEwan.

26. What was your greatest musical discovery?

My iPod speakers? Hee. Seriously - Richard Hawley, and The Broken Family Band.

27. What did you want and get?

A new job!

28. What did you want and not get?

Romance. And by “Romance” what I actually mean is “A really nice boyfriend” but I’m thinking “Romance” sounds slightly less pathetic.

29. What was your favourite film of this year?

Walk the Line.

30. Did you make some new friends this year?

 

Lots of them!

31. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?

Someone to have led awake with me and held my hand while I didn’t sleep properly for 4 months and stressed about my job and the move.

32. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2006?

Emerging from the darkness – no longer just wearing black!

33. What kept you sane?

Music, my friends, my family, red wine, cheese, long walks, positive visualisations and serious denial.

34. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?

Very tough…..but probably Jon Stewart because smart is always sexy, he did a great job hosting the Oscars and he’s dapper and brilliant.

35. What political issue stirred you the most?

Almost everything John Howard was in favour of.

36. Who did you miss? Up until September, my family. Since September, my friends. Tough.

37. Who was the best new person you met? Jo (and her lovely husband, James, too), who I met at work in July and who I was so fiercely close to by the time I left Melbourne that she and James came to my farewell even though he has BRONCHITIS and I damn well told them to stay home. I’ve never bonded as quickly with someone in my life as I did her.

38. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2006.

I learned that you can encourage things in your life to come full circle when you need them to and, also, the less you have the stronger you have to be.

QotD: My Ambitious Wish List

What are 5 things you'd like to accomplish in the next 5 years?

1. Get a job that I'm good at in an organisation I'm proud to work for.

2. Get completely out of debt, save money and, as my Mum sweetly puts it, get on the property ladder.

3. Learn more about photography beyond "point and shoot".

4. Organise and finally take that road trip across America with my friends that we've been talking about forever.

5. To maintain the relationships with people that are important to me now.

 

London, still

A week ago I was crashed out on Kaia's sofa watching Australian Idol with my best friends.

About two hours after that I walked through the Doors of Doom at Melbourne Airport after a teary goodbye.

24 hours later I looked out my window and saw this:

 

well, i guess i'm home

It's been a funny week.

Shame

My last dance on a night out in Melbourne was at 03.00am today to "New York, New York" with my friends HousemateAmy, Sara and Kate. They changed the words to "I wanna be a part of it! Lon-DON, Lon-DON" which I very much appreciated.

I leave TOMORROW. OMG.

I have the best friends on earth

People, if you want to feel appreciated and adored by your friends I highly recommend moving to the other side of the world. No, really! The last few weeks have been undeniably fantastic which is starting to make me really nervous about leaving but also deeply grateful for my family of friends here in Melbourne.

Last night I walked into the worst bar in Melbourne (It's a bar in a FOOD COURT but is recommended by the fact that it is less than 100 steps from my old office and that we've been there so much that the bar staff keep an ample supply of Boags for the fellas) to meet my friends.  I'd planned a final GGW night for Trene, Ames, Kaia and I down Brunswick St so I was keen to head off quickly and kept turning to look at the door for Trene's arrival. Eventually my rubber necking paid off and I saw her strut in with an old friend from our uni days.  I turned back to Amy to say something and she was kind of staring behind Trene at the couple who'd followed Trene in. Now, I didn't have my glasses on so it took a while for me to work out who was making a bit of a stir....

It was Dave.  Brother of Trene, temporary native of New Zealand, drinker of boutique beers, Pervin Mervin and one of my best friends on God's green earth who I hadn't seen since January and with my pending departure hadn't expected to see again for ages. DAVE!

06-01-06

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'm a suspicious person by nature and one hell of a gossip so it's pretty hard to pull one over on me but I can honestly say I have never been so joyfully surprised in my life. Or quite as loud in a public place. DAVE! And he bought his beautiful girlfriend, Jean, who I had been wanting to meet ever since he started shyly (Dave! Shy! Hee!) talking about her earlier in the year.

Well played, friends. Best. Surprise. Ever.  And now that the entire uni crew (with the exception of our beloved Rampers) are reunited, I can safely say that this weekend is going to be even better than I'd anticipated.

Right, I'm off to meet the gang (including DAVE!) at Mario's for a final fix of their perfect coffee and some shopping. I am really, really happy.

QotD: My Musical Horoscope

What's your musical horoscope?  (Put your music player on shuffle and write down the first 10 songs that come up.)  Inspired by Stephanie.

1. Providence - Ani DiFranco

2. Too Young - Phoenix

3. Helicopter - Bloc Party

4. California - Liz Phair

5. Changed the Locks - Kasey Chambers

6. Speed Trials - Elliott Smith

7. Heading in the Right Direction - Renee Geyer

8. It Ain't Me Babe - Nancy Sinatra

9. Think Again - Teddy Thompson

10.Broken Bones - The Lucksmiths

This is telling me nothing. Let's take a random line from each song and see what we get!

So we talk like nervous neighbours over a tall fence

I guess I couldn't live without the things that made my life what it is

Are you hoping for a miracle?

Okay, this guy walks into a bar.

I changed the kind of clothes I wear

There's always something you come back running to

Is this going to be a brand new start?

Go melt back into the night, babe

I'm here today but I won't stay.

Coffee cups? Promises? Sure, but I've never broken bones before.

Hmm. Still not much clearer but as moving day is now less than 100 hours away I'm going to interpret this in much the same way I did Tarot card readings for friends when I was younger.  To completely serve my own interests.  In that spirit, I think my musical horoscope is telling me that everything is fine, that I'm doing the right thing, that I haven't forgotten to cancel any accounts, that magical pixies are going to appear and pack my suitcase and that I'm going to find a massive pot of gold on my way to the airport.  AWESOME.  Thanks musical horoscope!

 

Songs my iPod played to me on my final commute to work

Whip-Smart

Liz Phair

dance all night - ryan adams

job in london - decoration

free to run - gomez

these days - powderfinger

i want to break free - queen

go west - liz phair

"And it feels like I've got something to prove
But in some ways its just something to do
My friends turn me around and say, you go west, young man"

Clever, clever, clever machine.

QotD: Words To Live By

What's your motto?

Tragedy plus time equals comedy.

All the bone crushingly mortifying moments of my life?  Heartbreaks?  Disastrous birthday parties?  They're the stories my friends request if they want a laugh.  Not because my friends take joy in my suffering (normally anyway) but because without fail angst that heartfelt and earnest usually always ends up being funny. Just re-read your teenage diaries.

Let's give this a whirl, shall we?

Going on my shocking record for regular emailing I'm looking for a way (that isn't bloody MySpace) to keep my lovely friends in Melbourne up to date when I move home to the UK next week after 9 years in Australia.

<freak out>

NEXT WEEK OMG. I NEED TO PACK/CANCEL EVERYTHING/SHOP.

</freak out>

And what better day to start with a shiny, new, user friendly toy like Vox than my final day at work.  Tomorrow I become an unemployed bum which means Hello internet!