Merry Christmas 2015

Just want to start off with wishing all my lovely readers out there a Merry Christmas! I hope everyone had a beautiful day however you spent it.

For me, Christmas is all about the enjoying the good food, good company and having a few (or more) drinks. This year I spent Christmas with my family and my boyfriend.

I was a little chef and helped my mum prepare a heap of the dishes as this year was our year to host. We had way too much food, but then again I guess that’s how it is supposed to be.

We had a beautiful lunch including salads, ham, pork, turkey, chicken and baked veggies.

This year our regular old Kris Kringle was changed around a bit and it only involved the kids. I dressed up as Santa (but shh if anyone asks Santa wasn’t me and I was just going to the bathroom the whole time) and gave all the kids presents out. I really don’t know who had more fun with this- me or the kids who didn’t know it was me under the fake beard and Santa suit.

Dessert came after presents and I always say this is my favourite part of the day- but let’s be real, everything I’m writing about I will always say “this is my favourite part” (I think I secretly just love Christmas). We had a beautiful selection of fresh fruits, cheesecake, trifle and pastries. I was in heaven (literally). To me Christmas is the one day a year that you can eat like crazy without feeling a single shred of guilt or shame (that’s what New Year’s resolutions are for).

The night ended with some cheese platters and alcoholic drinks whilst we sat around watching my youngest cousin dance to some house music (my boyfriend was a good dance teacher- or was it the other way around?). After the family all went home, the usual group of us watched American Pie and played the Christmas Drinking Game (place a Santa hat in the corner of the screen and every time someone ‘wears it’ you have to take a drink.

I’ll end this blog post with a couple of photos from the day. All up I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas (or just a wonderful day in case you don’t celebrate).

And a special shout out to all retail/hospitality/food industry workers that had to put in a lot of time and effort, blood, sweat and tears in the month leading up to Christmas that allowed everyone to have such wonderful days. You guys (and gals) are the real MVP’s.

Follow my Bali adventure (which I leave for on the 27^th of December) on my Instagram and snapchat accounts:

Instagram: @krristelley

Snapchat: @krristelley

Thanks for reading and until my next post,

Kristelle xx

(side note: I am posting these in Bali and my wifi connection isn't strong enough at the moment to be sending myself pictures to my laptop so I will edit those in later)

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)

Spring happiness

I think Spring may be my favourite season (and not just because it's my birthday season). I love the heat, but Australian Summer's are just way too hot sometimes. Well that and in Summer it always seems to rain a bunch here. 

Spring brings the promise of warmth, fresh flowers and chirping birds. It's cool in the evenings still (but not too cold) and the sun starts to come up earlier again. It's the season I want to be outside and wake up early just to make the most of the day. It's the season you can spend the days at the beach and not come home looking like a tomato even though you've put sunscreen on 20 times that day.

For me Spring means: morning runs, beach days, cafe lunches and evenings out with friends. 

September is nearly over, which means we are into the full swing of Spring. 

I thought I would share some moments that already have made my Spring enjoyable and I know I have so much more to look forward to (including my birthday on October 1st!)

Lunch dates with my bestfriend at amazing cafes. Lamb shanks (top) and french toast (bottom) @ Circa Espresso Parramatta

Technically doesn't fit in with my description of Spring, but was still a part of Spring so I thought I should mention my snow trip with my boyfriend

First beach trip of the season- funny when you realise that I was here the day after I got back from the snow. One extreme to the other!

Of course my first beach trip of the season was with my boyfriend :)

My baby sis graduated high school this year! Was a beautiful day as well (lucky). Mum is on the left, baby sis in the middle and me on the right. Yes I am short I know :(

Fits my description of Spring perfectly. Bondi beach trips with my beautiful bestfriend. Chicken burger top (hers) and vegan burger bottom (mine). @ a lovely little place in North Bondi called Speedos Cafe- defiantly recommend!! 

Bondi Icebergs and Bondi Beach

This photo honestly makes my mouth water! Head over to Speedos Cafe in North Bondi for some of this goodness 

Thanks for reading,

Kristelle xxx

Instagram: @krristelley

Tapas + Thai = a Great Birthday

Hey everyone! So this post is going to be based around the fact that it was my boyfriend's mum's birthday on Monday and we did a bunch of fun stuff to celebrate (with more to come??)

It was a milestone birthday (the big 50, but I wouldn't say that to anyone who is actually turning 50 haha). To sum up this post, we have just basically done a bunch of stuff to celebrate mostly revolving around food, because well who doesn't love food?? There was also a few random (funny) things that have happened in between but I will get to that later in the post. 

Beautiful place in a beautiful location (photo from their website)

The first celebration we had was a surprise lunch in the city on Sunday. Kieran and I had bought his parents a Tapas dining voucher that they were meant to enjoy on their own for a night out (lol). Instead, it was turned into a family event (which is totally fine by me because the food was amazing). His parents, Kieran, his brother and myself went to a lovely restaurant in Sydney part of the Nick's group called 'Stacks Taverna Bar & Restaurant'. If anyone around Darling Harbour in Sydney fancies a good meal at a good price with amazing customer service, I highly recommend this place. 

We enjoyed a range of Tapas dishes (which were very well priced and the portion sizes were huge), along with a cocktail jug (yum), pizza and churros for dessert. 

You can see about 3 of the 6 tapas dishes we shared, plus we had the pizzas

On the way home, Kieran and I found a puppy and long story short we tricked his mum into thinking we brought it home and it was in the living room because "it was too cold outside". It was funny but now it's left Kieran wanting a puppy even more (I promise we will get one when we move out okay).

That evening we were too excited to wait until the next day for presents, so we gave his mum her presents early and it is safe to say we scored about 264794728 points for being amazing present givers. We got her a card saying Happy 21st (lol), a 'joke' present which Kieran can take full credit for because it's embarrassing (again, lol), a nice perfume and a knife block set which she absolutely loved. I like giving presents when people so obviously love what they got.

The next evening (Monday, her birthday) we went out for a family dinner at a Thai restaurant local to where we live. I will say, not all the food was the best and it was freezing inside because

1) they had the doors wide open

2) No heat/air conditioning was on

3) It was actually only about 8-10 degrees Celsius outside

4) Refer back to 1 and 2 because my hands were frozen 

Again, we shared about 6 dishes and rice between 6 of us and a nice bottle of bubbly. After dinner, we went back to Kieran's place for a really nice red velvet birthday cake and to sing happy birthday. His entire house smelt like flowers because there were no less than about 5 or 6 bouquets in the house. 

I had a good time this 'weekend' with his family. The jokes are funny, the food is good and I don't think I stopped laughing the entire time. His dad also found it quite amusing when I pointed out I don't hang out with my own family, only theirs. Of course Kieran has to be dorky and point out "I am family" lol. 

Thanks for reading guys and gals. 

Kristelle xxx

Excited about...

Hey everyone! So I've been feeling a bit down lately with some of the crappiness that uni holidays brings (so much study, assignments to complete and I seem to work extra just to make myself feel like I am doing something worthwhile).

I thought I would make a little post to remind myself about all of the exciting things that I have coming up this year so I don't get disheartened (and so I know I do have fun things to look forward to).

1. Camping trip at the end of April- 

probably the easiest to focus on right now because it actually is so close (but feels so far away). We are visiting somewhere up the coast that I have been dying to go and see and are planning on doing a heap of fun things (I will post more about it after we have been!)

2. End of semester- 

I know I just said holidays are stressful, but that is mid-sem break when we get 2 weeks of stress because uni is not over and there is so much work to do. Break between semesters is different because we can actually take a breath and relax. Plus my friends and I agreed that if we tried hard this semester and got good results then we may reward ourselves with a road trip

3. Snow- 

Kieran and I missed out on going to New Zealand this year to go snowboarding with his friends because it was too expensive, BUT we are still going to get to go to the snow this year. We will just be going to either Perisher or Thredbo instead but I am excited because I have never been to the snow with Kieran before and I want to get back out on the mountain and go snowboarding again

4. My anniversary-

Okay so this year is 5 years. I don't know why I am so excited but come on, it's 5 years! I think our plan was pretty much no presents but spend the money on our trip to the snow. I love that. I'm not particularly a present oriented person, I'd rather spend the money on actually doing something crazy and adventurous. I really hope this happens because I am way too excited already

5. My birthday-

This year I will be the big 20. No longer a teenager. No reason for me to be overly excited, but I love my birthday and I love my family and close friends so I know I have this to look forward to

6. Christmas- 

I like the food and enjoy the family time. Enough said

7. Bali-

Probably the biggest one of all, happening just after Christmas and over the New Years. I haven't been overseas since I was 11 or 12 and this is going to be the best. I can't wait

8. Mum's birthday-

I will be helping her throw a party because this year she is 40 and that is something to celebrate! Plus I just love my mum

9. My sister's birthday

She will be 18 this year and if that's not scary/crazy/exciting to know that my baby sister will be 18 then I don't know what is! (plus I totally called dibs on taking her out for the first time)

10. My sister's formal-

Okay so these are starting to be about other people, but I'm still 100% looking forward to these things. She has already asked me to help her look for dresses, figure out her hair and make-up, accessories, shoes, just basically all the fun things. I am so excited to help her with everything and I can not wait to see how everything turns out on the night (even though it will not be until September)

11. I should of just started with this before 9 and 10 but- watching my sister grow up!

This year is so exciting for her and as a proud big sister it is therefore exciting for me. She will finish high school, graduate, complete her HSC, formal, turn 18, and go to schoolies (I'm just keen for the stories of craziness for that one).

I know this won't be all I have to look forward to either, which is another thing that makes me excited. This is only the planned! I have totally improved my own mood by about 500% in writing this post. Thanks to anyone who actually read it!

Until next post, 

Stelle xx

Easter 2015

Hey everyone. It's been a little bit since my last post because nothing overly cool or fun has happened and I haven't been inspired. Today I thought I would take a moment out of the day to wish everyone a Happy Easter and that everyone (who celebrates) had an amazing weekend just like I did!

Honestly, I would have been over the moon with this as an Easter present. I love bunnies and I want another one (I have one currently)

Good Friday

Long weekends are my favourite. Not that they mean much to me because I don't work full time and get them as holidays, but because the people I love get the break they deserve and I can spend time with them. Friday was a lazy day to start. Kieran and I slept in until around 11am, I made breakfast and we watched the Simpsons. Best part of our day was going and watching Fast and Furious 7 (no spoilers here because I would have cried if I read spoilers before I watched it) but I loved it and I did cry. 100% recommend everyone to go and watch this movie! 

Afterwards we went and hung out at one of Kieran's friends houses and it was nice. Nothing fancy, just pizza (for them) and talking. Then I'm pretty sure we came home and went to bed #oldpeople

Easter Saturday

What a great day to go shopping- for everyone else. Bonus: holiday pay for us retail workers. I started work at 8am and worked a few hours. Then came home and watched movies with Kieran (who had only just woken up when I got back). Then I had another shift in the afternoon (split shifts kill my life, but it was a public holiday sooo who would turn down the money???).

Night time, my bestfriend was having an 'Easter' party. Whatever it was, it was fun. I cheated at Kings Cup (fake drinking) and laughed at everyone being drunken messes. 

Fun facts from Saturday night:

1. if you drink anything from a red cup, people will assume it is alcohol (I don't/can't drink anymore and I knew people would question it if they knew, so hey why not make some fun out of it by cheating at a drinking game, FYI I would say I won because I got the best laughs out of it)

2. Don't mess with Dani and her music, she will get angry

3. Apparently matching tracksuits are cool??

4. Kieran's biggest wish when he is drunk and hungry at 1am will be a steak, chips and gravy

5. He will give up on that and ask for Maccas instead

6. He will tell you that you are the best wife for getting him Maccas and paying for it

7. There is nothing better than going home to your own bed and being able to drive home because you haven't consumed any alcohol

Easter Sunday

Ugh. I am not religious. I respect it all and everything, but I don't want to hear about it. Or have it shoved in my face. And that's what Easter seems to be. People bragging about going to church and people going on about God (please see Easter Monday for more about this). I get that to many people it is a religious holiday, but to me it is literally a bunch of days that some people get off work and that other people (aka. me) get paid a lot of extra $$$ to work. Oh and you spend time with family. And most people eat a lot of chocolate (once again, not me). Easter just annoys me. That's all.

Today we went to an Easter lunch with Kieran's family. Hmm, not the most fun thing I have ever done. But hey, it makes the grown ups happy we pretend to care about Easter and spend time with them. It probably wasn't that bad, I was just super tired, hungry and felt sick all day. Night time wasn't much better, we came home to my house and watched a movie and went to bed at 9:30pm. It was a long day.

Before Easter lunch with Kieran and his family

Easter Monday

Another fun day for shopping- while I'm working. Started at 8am again but this time got to work straight until 2pm. It was alright for the first few hours, then it was insane. Why do people go crazy when the shops are shut for a day? I don't understand. Other than work, I was pretty lazy. The weather was awful today and it made me sad and reminded me how sick I feel. Kieran and I took a trip this afternoon to N2 Extreme Gelato and it was amazing (I didn't get a photo because we were both literally too keen to eat it). The night is ending (it's currently 8:46pm) with me searching for the new Grey's Anatomy episode & Teen Mom OG to watch, listening to workout playlists (without actually working out), writing this post and probably about to drink a cup of tea. I feel crappy but I think it's a hormone thing right now.

Thanks for reading about my Easter (if you managed to get to the end). I hope you all had a wonderful long weekend and I will be back with another post soon!

On a side note- it is uni holidays and I am so happy.

Stelle xx

Merry Christmas 2014

Christmas time (basically the whole month of December) is the busiest time of the year for me. Just when I think I am going to be able to relax and enjoy my time off uni, I have to work literally ever single day. I guess that's the beauty of having a summer job at a water theme park AND working in retail. So, it wasn't (and still isn't much of a break for me).

This is my first post of 2015, so christmas is well and truly over now but I would just like to have a little late post about my Christmas & New Years and to wish that all of you had a safe and happy christmas and New Years too xx

The best thing about having so many people I call family is all of the Christmas celebrations I got to have. There was our Christmas Eve Eve (23rd December) where Amber, Kieran, Dani, Matt & I went Christmas light looking and we even saw Santa :-) We drove around the streets singing Christmas Carols for everyone to enjoy (don't think they liked our horrid singing very much, but it was all part of the christmas spirit)

Christmas Eve Eve adventures

The real Christmas Eve, I spend the day working (like the retail slave I am) and then spent the evening with Kieran and my family. I was too excited to give Kieran one of his presents that I made him open one early (I like to give gifts especially when I know the person will love them)

He loves minions, so he got
all this minion related
stuff (loved it)

Christmas Day. I spent the morning with my mum and sister opening each others gifts. They both got me some pretty awesome gifts. I received clothes, money, shoes, handbag and a few other bits and pieces. For christmas lunch this year, I went to spend it with Kieran's family (my boyfriend). In typical Australian fashion it was a swelteringly hot day (at least 35 degrees Celsius) and we had a beautiful lunch, followed by hours of drinking and running through the sprinkler. When it decided to storm that afternoon Kieran and I went back to my place to spend the evening with my Aunty, mum and sister.

only decent photo we got on Christmas Day (notice he doesn't
take the minion bucket hat off once he got it).

Boxing Day, another day for celebrations. I took my sister and boyfriend with me to visit my Nan and Pop because I genuinely don't think I had seen them since last Christmas. We had a good day eating Christmas leftovers and swimming in the pool. That afternoon/evening Kieran and I went to my friend's places to swim some more and then have a 'spa night' at my best friends house. Let's just say it involved drinking (duh), having 11 people squash into a spa (not too fun, it fits 8 comfortably) and pizza! Oh and how could I forgot the awful selfies we all took. It was a fun night and we all crashed in random spots in the house to sleep (I dibs beds all the time first so I get a good sleep haha).

More beers and 'swimming' (note the bucket hat)

Thanks for reading guys, sorry it was so delayed! I will post about New Years in a few minutes!
Stelle xx