20th Birthday Shenanigans

Ahh so I am 20 now, I guess that happened. All I wanted for my birthday this year was to spend the night in great company with people I love and spend a weekend some place quiet, doing all the things I love. Thankfully, I am lucky enough to say that I got exactly that.

On my actual birthday I spent the day at the beach with my little sister and then I had dinner in Darling Harbour in Sydney with my family and closest friends (well they are basically family). It was a beautiful dinner at a lovely restaurant called Cyren's Seafood Bar and Grill. I would definitely recommend this to anyone who is in Sydney, the menu is really great. The reason I was drawn to it (other than the promise of seafood- which I am in love with) is the Fishbowl drinks. Of course I ordered one and drank most of it myself (oops). Dinner was accompanied by fireworks in the harbour (which were obviously beautiful) and I even had everyone embarrass the crap out of me and (very loudly) sing me happy birthday with the waiters in front of everyone (thanks guys).

After dinner, my boyfriend, two friends and myself headed around the harbour in looks for something fun to do. We didn't really spend too much longer out after dinner because we were so tired and some of us had to work the next day (not me though thankfully haha).

I was very spoilt and received some amazing gifts from my friends and family (which I love presents but I prefer to give them rather than receive them).

Beach days for my birthday. 20 now! 

This was taken after dinner at Bungalow 8. It was a really good night 

Taken during dinner when I was encouraged to drink the fishbowl straight from the well, fishbowl

On to the other part of my weekend- the long weekend away with my favourite person (yes this is my boyfriend Kieran). I chose to go camping at a little place called South West Rocks that is about 5 or so hours from both Sydney and Brisbane. It's a beautiful place and I had been camping there before and had a blast so I wanted to go back.

This weekend was supposed to include swimming, fishing, relaxing, bushwalking, eating food, drinking and basically just having fun. We had a few extra things included in the weekend that I didn't expect. So really the weekend turned out to be: swimming, fishing, adventuring, whale watching, searching for kangaroos, bushwalking, drinking and a lot more swimming with a touch of relaxing.

It was the best weekend I have had in a long time as it was everything I wanted and more. If you asked me to pick a highlight I really don't think that I would be able to. Fishing off the rocks in the ocean and seeing whales, sea turtles and stingrays was I have to say probably one of the best times. I caught some fish that we ended up cooking for dinner and it was a great time.

Fishing off the rocks, this was the first fish that I caught this weekend 

Amazing view of the beach that we hiked down too after we hiked up to the lighthouse (it was at the top of this very steep hill) 

Private beach that we hiked down to (the walk down was bearable but the walk back up, oh my god. Glad that's over lol.

Happy snap of me overlooking the ocean

Lately I feel like I have been at a loss for words. To put it simply, I am so blessed to have the friends, family and the boyfriend that I do. I am an extremely lucky girl that I get to go through life with such amazing people by my side and I wouldn't have it any other way. Shoutouts to Kieran, Mum, Tamara, Darren, Amy, Maddie and Amber for giving me an amazing birthday.

Thanks for reading guys, hope the pictures are more exciting than my rambling collection of words.
Kristelle xx

Instagram: @krristelley (currently being spammed with pictures from this holiday infact)

Vivid Sydney + Clubbing?

Everyone out there who doesn't live in Sydney (most likely) will have absolutely no idea what I am talking with the title of this post. But I will do my absolute best to try and convey how beautiful the city of Sydney can actually be and give everyone here reading one amazing reason they should consider visiting Sydney in their lifetime (if you don't already live here that is haha). Sydney is beautiful.

I know a lot of people believe that were they live is boring, ugly or it really just isn't cool in any way whatsoever (because you are so used to it) but I beg to differ. There is beauty in everything if you look for it. I'm not particularly a huge fan of where I live (my actual suburb lol) but I find the city of Sydney (where I classify myself to live) beautiful, as is so much around it. If you've read my blog before you will know that I love my adventures and I love exploring new places and experiencing new things and I always try to do this and get out as much as possible. I don't like sitting at home and doing the same old things every weekend. I like new things. I never used to, but now I am accustomed to trying and enjoying (most) new experiences (or things that are different and I don't get to do too often).

Sydney Opera House for Vivid

This is no different. For those who don't know, Vivid is basically a Sydney lights festival that is held once a year during the end of May/start of June. The city is decorated beautifully and it is a great even to attend. The vibes are great.

This Saturday night just passed, I headed out into the city with a few people I love and we had a great night. The night however didn't go anything like how we had planned (which isn't even a bad thing).

The five of us (myself, Kieran, Maddie, Shiane and Jayden) went into Circular Quay with the intention of waking around enjoying Vivid and getting a meal together. It was freezing so we were all rugged up (coats, boots, jeans- the works). We stopped at the bottle shop and got some beverages (lol). I knew the city would be busy, but I didn't plan on being starving and having no idea where to eat. So one of the boys suggested we should go to Kings Cross. I was like 'uh yeah sure let's go get the pizza they have there'. We wound up catching the train to the Cross and then got our pizza. We were there, so why shouldn't we go and start drinking in a bar? So that's what we did.

Me, Kieran, Maddie and Shiane 

Kieran and myself

Then, once we were all feeling the buzz from a few drinks (and we were sick of the lame music in the bar) we headed over to one of my favourite clubs in the cross. We danced for so many hours I think I lost count. All I know is that we were having the best time and I'm so glad our night took such a random turn. There probably isn't much more I could say about the club (because what happens in the club stays in the club haha).

After we were finishing up clubbing for the night (I remember being absolutely starving which made me keen to leave haha), we went to KFC for a good feed at what I remember being about 3am. Kieran stole half our food (bulk) and then we went and caught the bus home. I definitely enjoyed standing up for almost an hour and a half while Kieran leant on my stomach and slept lol.

We arrived home around 4:30am, tired. That's the only word I had for my feelings at 4:30 in the morning. Tired. I dropped Maddie off home and then Kieran and I went straight to bed. Didn't help that it was freezing in the house because no heaters had been on because no one was home.

I'm so happy that I got to share such a fun night with such a fun bunch of people. We will definitely be at it again soon, which means I will have another blog post coming your way about a good night out!

I think that these photos tell everyone we were having a lot of fun

Thanks for reading everyone, I have a bunch of posts coming your way in the next week!
Kristelle xxxx

New Love

Hey everyone! Hope you are all enjoying your week, I know I actually am for once. I presented an assignment today and it is a wonderful feeling having that weight lifted off your shoulders. One week left of uni after this week is over, plus an exam in a few weeks and I couldn't be more excited to get this semester done and dusted!

Lately, my boyfriend Kieran and I have been going out and doing something I never really though I would enjoy- fishing!

We have been fishing the last two Sunday nights now and we actually want to make it a regular thing.

I'm not very good at it and I get sad if I can't catch a fish (who wouldn't) and even though it's always freezing cold at night, we have fun.

Last Sunday when we went fishing, Kieran caught a decent sized fish that we actually took home. He prepared the fish from scratch and cooked me dinner with fish, chips and rolls and I was so happy because it was such a thoughtful thing for him to do. It's easy to buy food, but this time he caught our dinner and made it from scratch and it was so cute I was so happy (lol).

Kieran's flathead he caught 

Flathead I caught last week

There's something fun and exciting about going fishing as well. I think maybe because it is so different from anything else I used to think I would enjoy. The fact that (with Kieran's help) I can also catch fish probably makes it a bit more fun and exciting as well.

I enjoy sitting back and not doing much and to me that's the escape I feel these adventures are. We get to spend time together and just relax before we start the week. We get to travel around to different places 'near' us. We go local or we travel up or down the coast. It's a good mini-adventure for a Sunday afternoon/evening and I'm really glad we started doing it.

Thanks for reading my little post about my newfound love for fishing.
Kristelle xxx

7 days in 15 minutes

Hey everyone! The last week of my life hasn't been overly exciting but I have done a bit and I thought I would share, along with some thoughts I have (it's 12:15am as I start to write this and I should probably sleep as it is Monday aka uni day, but oh well).

The week started dull, Monday (because I don't even remember the last weekend right now). Monday = uni day. This particular Monday was test day in my IT class and group debate day in Human Resources. Worst 5 minutes of the day was when I did my speech in the debate. Yeah, public speaking ain't my thing. Anxiety levels were truly peaking today, all over a little speech, it left me feeling awful all day leading up to and after it was over. Worked out with my mum and it made me feel a little calmer. I also had to work. Bummer

Tuesday, no better. Grocery shopping, cooking and then work. Got to see my boyfriend for half an hour after work. Complete highlight of the day.

Wednesday. Ah the first day of death. Woke up with the worst cold/flu/sore throat thing in a long time. Did assignments and watched Pretty Little Liars. *side note: just tell me why 'A' is 'A'. I don't get it. I've spent so much time reading up on theories in the past years. I got the reveal and the major clue, but I still don't get it.* Oh and I also worked.

Thursday, another uni day. Long day, made worse by feeling crappy with the sickness. Home time was good, spending time with Kieran was even better. We had dinner and he slept over. Falling asleep in his arms was the best part of my week. Note- I was extra happy today because I didn't have to work! I also made jelly shots for Saturday. I regretted not making alcohol free because soon enough I craved jelly. 

Friday, TGIF am I right? Wrong. No one cares it's Friday if they know they have to work on the weekend. Spent the day again doing homework, worked out, watched Greys Anatomy. I used to be so in love with Derek and Meredith and their happiness but I just don't know anymore. She's so independent and he doesn't fit. But their characters showed me what love could do and I will ship them forever. I worked tonight again as well. 

Saturday. The absolute longest day of my week. I had to wake up early to vote (sigh, people shoving their beliefs in my face and 'encouraging' me to follow along and vote for them is not my thing either). Photoshoot was next (I will post about this probably in the next week or so). It was for uni and it was so much fun. I was basically just the boss. Not the model, not the photographer, just the boss. I am good at being the boss. Work was next (again, yes 5th time this week trust me I know). Then clubbing adventures with Kieran after work! This was a messed up night and I was sick, tired and verbally (almost physically) abused by a bunch of guys. Not fun. I left early with Kieran and cried half the way home on the train (about 30 minutes). Kieran then fell asleep on my shoulder and my little sister picked us up from the station. I fell asleep as little spoon with him so it made my night a bit better. 

The week definitely ended better than it started. Sunday. My favourite day. Not sure why, because I don't always get to be lazy. Today though, I slept in and then made myself, Kieran, my sister and her friend a big breakfast. I worked AGAIN (6 out of 7 days, solid). Went out to dinner with Kieran again and ended up laying in bed perfecting assignments and writing this post. 

Saturday night shenanigans. I think we can all appreciate just how much we clearly love each other ;)

Kieran and I spent the weekend pretending we are married (I'm not sure why, it's just funny) and I have extreme baby fever tonight (thought I would share as I'm feeling honest and now sort of tired).

I don't know if anyone cared and I'm sorry for the lame post, but thanks for reading! Also everyone keep your fingers crossed (or whatever it is that you do in this sort of situation) and hope that Kieran gets better and no more bad news. I may have to wrap this boy in bubble wrap to protect him.

Stelle xx

Kieran's birthday!

I would like to wish my boyfriend Kieran a very happy 19th birthday (from Saturday)!

I want to say a few things about him (yes on my blog and yes hi Kieran I know you will read this eventually).

I organised the weekend and we ended up at Manly Beach on Saturday for a day in the sun, swimming and a cafe lunch. In the night we went to the city (about 10 guys and 2 girls, nice ratio) and partied all night and it was so much fun. Sunday was mostly spent sleeping off the hangovers from Saturday night and watching How to Get Away with Murder (OMG it can not end that way) and then we had a family dinner in the evening. It was an amazing weekend, here are some pictures from it and I'm writing a little something about Kieran below.

View of Manly Beach from the walk between Manly/Shelley Beach

Amazing lunch- chicken burger and salad for me and a beef burger for him

Quick picture form the train ride into the city

Now about Kieran. I wish everyone saw Kieran the way I do. He is funny, attractive and smart. He knows so much about everything and when he talks about something he is passionate about he can go on for hours. He is loving and kind and would do anything for anyone who needs his help. He knows how to make you laugh even when you're so angry you want to throw something. 

He can make you smile when you're sad and in no time you'll forget why you're even sad in the first place. He will cuddle you and cook you food when you're sick and upset and then he will apologise that he can't cook as well as you, but just settle for buying something you love. 

He will get addicted to the TV shows you love and demand you wait to watch the new episodes with him so he isn't left out and you will do it because he took the time to like something you like. 

He will buy your movie ticket and dinner when you go out, despite your arguments that you can pay for yourself. He is a lot of things, but mostly he is just amazing. I do wish everyone saw him the way I do, but then again it wouldn't be the same. 

Happy birthday again Kieran (now you're old like me!!)

Thanks for reading,

Stelle xx

Valentines Day

I want to start this post by wishing everyone out there a very happy (late) Valentines Day! I have always had mixed emotions about this day as I believe we shouldn't need to be told there is a day that we show our boyfriend/girlfriend/husband/wife/partner/family/friends/fiancé/person that we love them. We should show it all the time. But it is a day to celebrate love. And for that, I can stand behind it and join in.

I don't need extravagant gifts and flowers and chocolates and teddy bears to know I am loved. I enjoy seeing how happy these things can make everyone else, but it's just not for me. Last year my boyfriend and I agreed on no gifts and instead spent that money that we would of bought presents and dinner on a weekend away camping together. Each other's company and the beach were all we needed (beach was a bonus).

Down at Monoooooooo (inside joke, Kieran please laugh if you read this)

It was a good view up here even if I felt like I was going to fall off a cliff

I was lucky enough for my boyfriend this year to plan a day with me full of things we both love. Together. I enjoy the beach and going places and doing fun things, but doing this with him makes it an adventure.

We sang (loudly) the whole trip and rediscovered that Anaconda is literally our jam. I laughed so hard at times I nearly wet my pants. We lounged around in the sun, went for walks, swam in the ocean and ate Subway and chips for lunch. I was on top of the world and even better it was all our home.

We went driving after lunch and went to the lookout (pictured above). We took a bunch of photos. He insisted it was a yolo moment and we should take topless pics (we did but lets leave them off the Internet). He took me to a beautiful place where his family friends got married and talked about what our wedding would be like. I don't know if it is possible to fall anymore in love but I did.

That night he had booked a table at our favourite restaurant and he took me out to dinner. We ate so much and laughed when we told the waiters we didn't want wine because we feel like we are fifteen again. We spent the entire day and night together and it was beautiful.

I hope everyone else had a magical day filled with love and laughter the way I did. Life is too short to not love. People have always mocked me for being so 'in love and whipped' but I say if it makes you happy just do it. Go crazy. Love too much. Wear your heart on your sleeve because love is the best feeling ever. 

Thanks for reading,
Stelle xxx

Champagne and dinner dates

I've started to find that the older I get, the more my tastes have been changing. I enjoy different foods, different drinks, different peoples company, different music and doing different things. My priorities have changed drastically and I am becoming the person I want to be. I feel bad about myself when I sit around wasting an entire day doing nothing when there is so much out there for me to experience or simply because I could be doing so many more useful things (aka working my little butt off). 

From level 13 on the carpark rooftop Manly looks beautiful at sunset (let's face it, it's beautiful anyway)

I remember the days when the most fun I could have was running around outside with my friends, having a sleepover was a big deal and it was super cool if we could go to the shopping centre. Now I'm just old and meet friends for coffee dates in between all of our crazy schedules. Oh and I spend like 95% of my free time at some beach.

Gourmet burgers and fries for dinner

I did have a super cute dinner/crazy adventure with some friends the other night. It started with us aiming for a dinner in Bondi by the water. Somehow (this always happens to me) I took a wrong turn in the city and ended up crossing the Harbour Bridge. Avoiding tolls, I continued driving and decided Manly was a better fit (funny because they are on opposite sides of the city). We ate gourmet burgers for dinner because it was pretty much the only thing we could all decide on between having a 'wanna-be healthy gal' (me), vegetarian (Maddie), 'meat-only-no-salad-what-so-ever guy' (Kieran) and probably the only normal one (Dani). It was a great meal, more talking done by me than eating (but what else is new??) We were sitting on the beach when we decided it was a good time to go clubbing, so we set off home to head for a local place.

We were all disappointed when it was dead on a Saturday night (c'mon people??) I was the designated driver (see here, I am limiting my alcohol #proud) but we all had a good night. Driving my tipsy friends home and having our singing sessions in the car is worth it.

Special occasions I am allowed to drink (I tell myself that anyway- it's okay to celebrate and still be healthy??). My boyfriend's cousin, turned 18 and we celebrated at the country club. This is part of my whole 'getting older having different tastes'. I ate fancy finger foods and drank champagne and white whine. Encouraged the birthday boy to be irresponsible (I am actually a good role model and peer pressure is bad I swear). But we had a good day. Fell asleep super early that night because day drinking + super hot days = instant energy drainer. Once again I am lucky to have such amazing people in my life. 

Thanks for reading
Stelle xx

4 Years

I made a post previously about my anniversary, but it was incomplete to say the least. I talked more about why love was important and then briefly about how I went out to dinner at my favourite restaurant with my boyfriend for our four year anniversary. We planned to do other things for our anniversary, but due to it being on a Wednesday, both of us working completely different schedules, bad weather and just overall busy lives, not everything we wanted to do had been done until now.

All we wanted for our anniversary was:

1. Dinner on the night at our favourite place to eat
2. A day away at one of our favourite places 
3. A special gift that would last forever

I'm happy to say we finally did all of those things (yay). I already spoke about number one here, so now I'm going to write about number 2 and 3. 

A day away at one of our favourite places
A few weeks ago on a beautiful Sunday morning we drove down to the South Coast to go to Kiama. Nothing beats a Maccas breakie and car trips with loud music and awful singing (mostly on my part anyway). We explored Kiama (who knows how many times we have actually done this now, but it's such a beautiful place so it doesn't matter).

Kiama Lighthouse

Kiama Blow Hole

One of the first things we had to do when we got to Kiama was go and visit the Kiama Blow Hole. First of all because it's really cool (duh), secondly because we had something we had to leave on the fence surrounding the area out towards the ocean. I'm sure everyone has heard of this which even though ruined the bridge, is still super cute. Something similar was started near the Blow Hole in Kiama, so Kieran and I thought we should join in on the couples fun. We bought the biggest lock we could find and engraved (extremely messily because it is so much harder than it looks) our names, our anniversary and some random heart. 

The padlock we left at the Blow Hole, Kiama

I put it on the fence and then I let Kieran have the honours of throwing the keys as far as he could into the ocean around the Blow Hole. We were feeling super cute after this and also hungry so we ate hot chips and sat in the sun at the park breathing in the fresh air, soaking up the sunshine and enjoying each others company. 

A bit later we ended up going for a walk around (again) and bought ice-cream from the best ice-cream shop and then went to the rock pool to again lay in the sun and this time swim. 

The Ice-Creamery, Kiama

The water was absolutely freezing, but we gave it a go and then sat in the sun to warm back up. We walked around town holding hands, talking, laughing and it was the perfect day I had imagined. In typical fashion I fell asleep in the car on the way home (he drove) and we got home without getting lost in the dark (first time yay) and had a BBQ at my house with family for dinner. Perfect day.

A special gift that would last forever
Originally this was an idea Kieran suggested about 6 months ago. We came up with more of an idea together but were always a bit hesitant (well I was the hesitant one because I am a little chicken and scared of anything that will hurt). But eventually we found the time and worked up the courage (well that part was only affecting me) and we went and got our matching tattoos. 

Our couple tattoo

Permanent. Yep they are there forever. Just how we will be together forever. Something small and simple to symbolise our love for each other. Some people have literally thought we were crazy to get matching tattoos, but it's not each others names, only a symbol. We thought the tattoos through for a long time, discussing "what if's?" such as what if we break up? But we came to the conclusion, he is my first love and I am his, even if we did go our separate ways in the future we would both clearly have a spot in each other's hearts forever :-)

Moving on to my next point, I was so scared to get this done. I think the pain was greatly exaggerated by everyone though. I cried for at least 10 minutes before the tattoo artist even touched me. Yes, I will admit that made me look incredibly stupid. Once he started, I could feel a lot of pressure and I will be honest it only hurt on the boniest possible part of my wrist.  I didn't cry when it was being done. Only before. I don't know why, but Kieran found it funny. I went first so I wouldn't chicken out. I'm happy we did it. Now for the 3 weeks without the beach or pool so it can properly heal :(

Bottom line, I love Kieran and am extremely happy we celebrated our 4 year anniversary this way.

Thank you for reading guys!

Love is Something to be Celebrated

I would like to raise my hand and say that "I, Kristelle am a sucker for love. I love, love."

Now if you  can think along those same lines as me, then that make me smile. I think love is important and it should be celebrated and acknowledged. One of my favourite times of the year (apart from my birthday which fyi, is in 5 days!) is my anniversary. I like to think as a couple, my boyfriend and I do 'celebrate' the fact we love each other (I use the term celebrate loosely here) quite often. To me that can be anything from sending a cheesy 'I love you so much' text, or going on a date or even just posting a picture of the two of us (I will be honest I post the pictures- my boyfriend isn't a fan of social media because "it's stupid". 

But above all, an anniversary is my favourite thing. When we were younger we would say "happy X months" but never actually do anything to celebrate. Probably because we were <16 years old and probably because even though we said it, saying Happy X Months still sounds stupid to us. If you love the cerebrate months, go for it! Like I said, I'm a sucker for love. 

We celebrate the years. At such a young age (I'm 19 in a few days and he is 18), it's been a struggle to be together as long as we have. Of course there's been bumps along the road (all couples have them) but what makes you strong is your ability to overcome them. Which is why I'm proud to say I have been in a relationship with the most loving, caring boy for the last 4 years. He knows my McDonalds order, but knows I prefer Oporto. He knows that I cry at everything, whether I'm happy/sad/angry. He knows everything about me and I know everything about him. He's my bestfriend and according to him I'm his 'best mate' too. 

We didn't buy presents in the traditional sense this year, we are buying a gift to each other that is still TBA. An anniversary to us is an excuse to dress up nicely and go out to an expensive restaurant and splurge- which is exactly what we do. This year, we went to Ribs and Rumps because, well I love steak and he loves ribs!

Couldn't get a picture of the food because it looked
to good to wait to eat

All in all, our anniversary is just a nice thing to celebrate together and spend time with each other. It's hard for us to make time for each other sometimes, he works full time 8am-4:30pm and nearly always works overtime a few hours, and I go to uni Monday-Wednesday, work 3 nights a week in one job and weekends in another job. Life is crazy busy and we never seem to be free at the same time, which is why when we do get a few hours together here or there and spend Saturday nights together, it's always special.

If you read this cheesy post about me loving my boyfriend, I applaud you and you probably deserve a big piece of chocolate cake. I figured it was about time he got an appreciation post on my blog and this was the perfect excuse for it. 

Hump Day

Hey everyone!

First off, just wanna say happy hump day! We have all made it halfway through the week and now there is only two more days until the weekend (hell yeah!!)

So today I continued my babysitting job for the holidays (I'll have a post about my job soon) and I had planned to do something in the evening with my sister because I honestly don't feel like I spend enough time with her. 

When I do finally spend time with my sister I honestly remember how much alike we are! I've never gotten over how old we are both getting (i'm 18 almost 19 and she's 16). It's weird I can get in the car and drive us places, it's weird that we can go to dinner and not order off the kids menu (not that we have done that since we were 10 because we eat so much) and it's just basically weird that we can hang out together as 'normal' people and no punch each other or bite each other like we used to when we were younger kids. 

So, backtracking a little, for my 18th birthday my inter made me 'IOU' vouchers for her to take me out to lunch/dinner and I finally (9 months later) cashed one in. I had a plan for us to go to the city and eat at some hotdog place, but we decided against that because

1. it was too much effort 
2. it is way too cold
3. it was too far for hotdogs

So we ended up at Pancakes on the Rocks, which I'm glad because I had a total craving for pancakes. We ate so much and we talked a lot and I'm glad my sister is my sister.

devil's delight, blueberry delight, chips & aioli, lemon lime & bitters, pink lemonade= yum

for once I look taller than my sister (I'm left and she's on the right)

Despite being in the toasty warmth of the heater outside the restaurant, we hurried home to come and watch One Tree Hill. One of my sister and my favourite shows! Last year we watched 4 season during one holiday break.

That basically wraps up my post, short and sweet! Promise I'll keep posting :-)

Thanks for reading!

♡ Stelle