Ladies Day Out

Even though it is the time of the year that I should be sitting at home inside studying and not going out drinking and to social events, reading books that don't relate to my uni subjects or watching Netflix for 3 hours. Should be minimising my hours at work for a couple of weeks and not sit on my computer writing blog posts. I seem to go against this and do the complete opposite anyway!

Once such exception was the weekend that has just passed. Ladies Day at the races was so much fun I am so glad that even though the water was horrible and it rained the entire day I still went out and had a fabulous time. 

Ladies day was an excuse to get dressed up, (for most women) put some ridiculous looking fascinator on your head and call it stylish, drink copious amounts of champagne/wine/any alcohol being served, bet on horses and basically just socialise with all the other women around you. I don't participate in all of this (mostly I just enjoy dressing up and drinking alcohol) but it was definitely a good day. One to remember is probably how I am going to choose how to quote it. 

Later the same night I was also invited to go to a club and I almost didn't go. I got home after a long day at the races, put my pyjamas on, ate some food and settled down and started even laying singstar with the fam??? (Side note: I use the term fam to include those who are not actually family, but are close enough they may as well be). But I decided to put more make up on, change my clothes and go back out because in all honesty how many good stories do people have that they remember that went like this "well I was tired so I stayed at home that night....." No.

Turns out, clubbing was a crazy idea. There were barely any people in the clubs compared to what I remember a few months ago? (maybe the weather had something to do with this). The smartest ideas I had all night were:

1. Leave early enough to catch the last train home of the night so we didn't need to catch a bus
2. Get popcorn chicken and chips on the way to the train

Turns out as smart as those ideas were, number 1 turned out to be a joke and number 2 didn't even happen. Instead we walked out the club and saw the rain. I don't think I have ever seen it rain harder than it did that night when Kieran and I left the club. Of course it was uphill to get back to the train station and although we ran just to get inside quicker (it was freezing in the rain), it really did no good. When we got to the train station it looked like we had gone swimming. Tipping water out of our shoes, wringing out shirts out and me tying my hair up just so it wouldn't stick to my face. Getting home is always something I dread, but after sitting in sticky wet clothes creating a puddle around us on an air-conditioned train for 50 minutes home freezing cold and hungry, I do not want to experience that again.

Anyway, in typical fashion I will end this post by sharing some of the photos we took that day at the races.

Dress by Atmos&Here from The Iconic

One of my gorgeous bestfriends Maddie

My wonderful boyfriend Kieran 

Dodgy photo of a polaroid we took before we left

One of many glasses we drank that day 

Thanks for reading guys, 
Kristelle xx

Parties and Partying

I'm 19 years old, almost 20 so it is safe to say that I am no stranger to going out and partying. I do enjoy it most of the time (I really have to be in the mood for it sometimes) and I have to be out with the right people to have the best experiences. I'm pretty happy to say that 98% of the time I am actually out with the right people (my amazing boyfriend and beautiful bestfriends)!

Like I mentioned in a previous post, I am currently in my busiest time of the year. From July until December I seem to be non-stop on the go. Everyone is having their birthdays (which is actually quite funny because both my bestfriend and my boyfriend don't have their birthdays until January and February). This means a lot of weekends are spent going out celebrating and a lot of money is spent doing so. But it also means there are a lot of times that I (and everyone I go out with) need to be careful of what is exactly going on around us.

I'm from Sydney, Australia and I know the 'nightlife' used to be pretty good. But now there are so many laws and lockouts that apply basically anywhere you go in the city regarding what times you can go into/out of clubs and times you can buy alcohol. I don't really think these laws have done anything except increase drug use. Everywhere you go (and yes I do mean literally everywhere) there are people on drugs. It's really obvious to tell the difference between people who have drunk too much and the people who have decided to do drugs for the night instead. Neither is safe (obviously), but I don't think the laws introduced were the way to go. All that's been done is drive many places out of business because 1am onwards was when they would make most of their money. 

No more club hopping and partying all night long, drinking until the sun comes up. 

I think it's sad (and I know it isn't just here, it can happen anywhere) that people spike drinks... Listening to stories friends of mine have told me about drink spiking makes me so angry. Stories my girlfriends tell me about creepy guys following them around and pursing them even after invitations to dance/ get a drink/ go to their hotel rooms or houses have been declined. It's scary. I'm lucky in the sense that I have amazing friends and a very protective boyfriend who I know will always look out for me and I look out for them. But the scary part is still anything can happen. You can't "let loose" for a night because there aren't good people out there.

The number of fights I've been around and that have impacted me is ridiculous. Being pushed down and bruised and cut up because of fights happening near me is ridiculous (and I know I am not the only one that this happens to).

I wish everyone who decided to go out partying and clubbing would take a bit more responsibility, control their behaviour and not be inappropriate/creepy because then I know everyone would have such a better time and the government wouldn't have to be so strict with laws and enforcements on everyone as a whole. 

I'm really looking forward to my birthday 'week' this October because I have about 4 days/nights of fun planned and I really hope none of it is ruined or spoilt from anything I've mentioned above. All anyone would like is to feel safe when they go out. 

And on a much lighter note, enjoy these happy snaps from the last two birthdays I attended over the last two weekends.

Am I Sober?

So I've been divided on this for a very, very long time. I live in Australia and I am currently 19 years old. The legal drinking age here is 18. But if I am being completely honest (and I am right now) where I lived as a teenager, the people I know and people I went to school with all started drinking around 13/14. I think I had my first drink when I was 14 (one drink, no big deal?) then when I attended parties from probably 15 and on, there was always alcohol around so I would always drink it (everyone else did so what was the big deal?).

Looking back on this now, I can not believe I did that. Sure I didn't drink much (because how much does a small 15 year old girl actually need to drink before they are drunk, answer: not much at all). It was probably the worst thing I could do for my body! Even though it might have been once or twice a month when I went to a party, it was more than it should of been. 

There are times I can remember (pretty ironic that I use that word considering I don't remember the nights at all, more so the consequences of said nights) where I didn't know what I was doing. Parties that police showed up to, times I would throw up everywhere (classy, I know) and the countless hangovers I had the next day. Not to mention that it became worse when I was 17, had many friends who were already 18 (easier access to alcohol) and the fact that I had my license and I was always too scared to drive pretty much the entire next day after a night out (so I should of been).

This was one of the worst nights I ever had out. Didn't have much to drink
but was sick enough not to remember a thing. This night my friends told me
they think my drink was spiked

Once I turned 18, the novelty of alcohol was no where near as big as I thought it would be. Everyone makes 18 out to be a big deal because you can go clubbing and legally drink, smoke, gamble etc. Sure, I went clubbing 5 months after I turned 18. I still drank regularly though (mostly still parties and "gatherings" with my friends).

I am now 19, I turn 20 is less than 6 months and I am over it. I am over the hangovers, the sickness, the drama that intoxicated people cause. I am over the stupidity of the drunk people, the desperation of drunk guys and girls in clubs and I am over the sleaziness people seem to think it is okay to bring about when they have been drinking. 

I honestly don't remember when exactly my last drink was. I remember probably 2 months ago sitting down at home after work one night and having a glass of wine while I was eating cheese (how adult of me). I went clubbing about a month ago and had one drink before I got there and I had a bouncer harass me about my alcohol intake for the night (I was probably looking bored and tired waiting to get into the club, not sloppy and drunk like everyone else). I've been out so many times and I am always the first to say I am happy to drive. My boyfriend quite enjoys that because he loves to drink beer with his mates when we are out, so I just drive. Even last Saturday I went to a gathering at my friends house for Easter and I didn't touch alcohol once. It is unappealing to me now. 

I am happy and I feel better now that I have stopped binge drinking (and yes that is exactly what I would call what I have done since I was 14). Drinking to the point where I was drunk on random nights was 'fun' at the time. But now I know better. I am trying to get back into shape as my adult metabolism already wasn't what it used to be when I was 16. I don't need the drinks to have fun anymore and I'm okay with that.

I feel like I should also add in here that my body has never been very good at processing alcohol. No matter how little or how much I consumed, I am always sick. I am sick that night and sometimes I even spend the next few days trying to recover from the one night of drinking. I get extremely bloated which leads to me feeling sad and self conscious and there's no reason I should make myself feel like that if I don't have to. But yeah, it's just not for me.

That's not to say I am going to preach about how drinking is stupid and tell everyone not to do it. I've made my choices for myself and I am extremely happy with them. I'm not going to shun my friends for drinking or anything (lol) I just don't want to be pressured or looked down upon because I say no (sometimes that happens, but I'm not overly fussed). As long as people do not put themselves or especially others in danger from their drinking (fighting, driving or anything else that is dangerous) then I say drink as much or as little as you want. 

Thanks for reading, I would love to hear anyone else's opinions on the subject. Until next blog post!

Stelle xx 

Conception Day

Hey everyone!

So, university is a fun place. I use the term 'fun' pretty loosely because well essentially university is a place full of learning, never ending homework and assignments and you're meant to study 10 hours a week minimum per subject at home. But, once you get over all that, you get to see the benefits and fun parts of uni. There's the partying, the extra long weekends, the cool people who you find so much in common with. Basically just the adventures you can have (I know there is so much more, but unless you're at uni currently, you probably won't even know what I'm talking about).

One of the greatest days in the uni calendar for myself (and thousands of others) is called 'Conception Day' *pause here for the confusion as to why thousands of people are happily celebrating a day with this name*. Let me start by saying- no it's not a day for everyone to conceive. It has something to do (from what I know) with the birthday of the founder of our uni being at a hard time of the year to celebrate, so instead we celebrate his 'conception' (genius right?).

Essentially Conception Day is a music festival, hosted at my uni with plenty of cool bands, different music stages for different artists/ DJ's (ya know, normal festival stuff). Asides from the music there's cool stuff like jumping castles, photo booths and of course drinking copious amounts of alcohol and hanging out with all the rad people uni has to offer. 

 It's a long day, pre-drinking before noon, making the most of Conception Day from about 12-7pm (and their cheap drinks) before taking the party over to The Ranch. In my case, the party continued first at a few peoples houses on campus before making our way over to The Ranch.

It was such a great day, listened to some great music, saw plenty of people I knew and just got to chill out for a day and enjoy myself. I must say though, it was extremely awkward walking into my uni semi-drunk to start with, but once the atmosphere hits, you're over it immediately. 

 Wanna shoutout to my beautiful friend Katie (above) for her amazing hospitality and lovely motherly skills (spaghetti is always good). 

I'm also glad I got to enjoy the day with my favourite uni pals and that my boyfriend travelled the annoying hour and a half train ride to uni to come and party with us at The Ranch afterwards, even though we were all dead tired.

It was seriously the best day, and I recommend anyone at Mac or who know friends there to go!

Extended Weekend Adventures!

Hey everyone!

So I just wanna start off by saying that I have thoroughly enjoyed the last 4(?) days of my life because they've just been crazy fun (some parts not so crazy fun, but nonetheless fun!) My weekends never seem to end at the moment, but for the purpose of this post it's about my 'weekend' starting from Thursday and ending Sunday.

Thursday 
My weekend didn't really start until Thursday night as I had my babysitting duties to tend to that day. That job comes with mixed emotions- ranging from wow I love kids they're cute and we get to play games all day, to holy crap I can not stand this anymore. Anyway, the fun started when I got home because I finally got to see some of my beautiful friends that I never get the chance to hang out with anymore! 

We went to the local leagues club for dinner (chicken snitzels and chips for all!) then had a couple (some of us stayed on a couple of drinks) and sat around talking, laughing and enjoying the open mic night. Several highlights include the old man who yodelled on stage, my friend getting up and giving the open mic a go singing a Beatles song and probably just the overall company we enjoyed together that night. 

In my busy state of having fun I didn't even take any photos whilst we were out (I've made it a mission to take photos when I'm having fun), however I did get to take a slightly tipsy selfie once I got back to my boyfriends place. Another great thing about that night was the fact I got to stay at my boyfriends place :-)

always a pouting selfie

Friday
Earliest start I've had all holidays. Woke up at 6:30am to go to work for the day. My weekend was put on pause for an extremely long 8 hours. All I know is that after this shift at work (in a warehouse for the day, not my usual work) my body was tired from physical labour. After that exhausting day, even though it doesn't amount to anything near difficult, I had to let my boyfriend know how proud I was that he does such a physically demanding job everyday. 

Friday night was party night! One of my friends (a girl from the group that I didn't get to see the night before) hosted a party. Once again, I had such an amazing night I don't know where to start.

There was drinking games, alcohol, dancing, alcohol, music, alcohol, good chats with old friends and more alcohol. It was a freezing cold night and the party started outside, but quickly migrated to the warmth that indoors brought. At least it made it easier for us to dance and have a good time. 

There were just so many photos taken this night and I deleted over 200 photos because my boyfriend always loves to spam people's phones at party's. I tried to choose some of my top favourites to add to this blog post. Girls that are in these photos, don't worry I made sure they weren't awful of you, even if they were of me. I still love them all though because of the good memories I'm going to have from them. 

I love these girls!

she is always so beautiful (I'm on the left aka the one who can't take a nice photo)

this is probably my favourite picture from the night. group selfies are always good fun

We all ended up staying the night at my friend's house and her lovely mother even got us all McDonald's breakfast the next morning. I would have happily eaten cold pizza, but hey it's all good (well bad) food. I helped clean up the mess of red cups and empty bottles before my boyfriend and I left to go home and start the adventures of the day. 

favourite photo of my boyfriend and I at the party- not sure why, it just it

Saturday

After we cleaned and ate, my boyfriend and I left to go home to shower, eat and then go shopping. Whenever he gets to choose what we do, it always involves going to look at cars or motorbikes because (asides from me obviously) they are his favourite things. We picked up a plastics kit for his motorbike and went to look at Ute's that he wanted to buy. I think he would be proud of me for knowing these things because I never seem to know anything about what my boyfriend likes. 

We then went to El Jannah (for those who don't know, it is basically just Charcoal chicken, bread, chips and garlic sauce but it is essentially the greatest creation ever) and got it takeaway to eat at home and watch Die Hard. Of course in typical fashion, we ate and put our pyjamas on and got so comfortable we fell asleep watching the movie. We both woke up five hours later, in the dark, confused as hell before laughing about what happened. We ate dinner, talked with my family before watching more movies and falling asleep again.

the greatest food ever

Overall, Saturday wasn't too eventful but after a full on two days it was exactly what my boyfriend and I needed. I enjoy his company and he enjoys mine. 

Sunday

After a long sleep-in, in typical Sunday fashion, I woke up and cooked a big breakfast of hot chocolates and egg and hashbrown rolls for my boyfriend and I, while we say around and watched The Simpsons. These lazy Sunday mornings are probably one of my favourite parts of my weekend time with my boyfriend because they are so simple, yet perfect. 

After lazing around for half the day, we ended up going shopping to finally get my boyfriend a new phone because his old one was smashed to pieces. Also we went shopping for clothes for him as he is just growing out of everything and needs my "help" and opinion on anything he buys. I think if he had it his way he would just get me to do everything for him. 

After the late afternoon shopping we had either what I would call an extremely late lunch, or a very early dinner at a hotel near the shopping centre. Once again, chicken snitzel and hot chips were exactly what we ordered. I found it comical that when we went to the bar to order cokes to drink, we had to present our ID's (I know you have to do this when ordering from a bar) but the way the bartender studied our ID's for a good 40 seconds each was just strange. We weren't even trying to order alcohol, but anyway I know it comes with looking 15 years old. 

we love us some good chicken snitzels

After a day out we came home to unwind and I (of course) had to set up my boyfriends new phone for him. We watched Despicable Me 2, like the children we are and just unwound after a busy few days. I like laying around with him even if we are doing nothing. It's comforting having someone next to you. I like doing nothing sometimes, but I love doing nothing with somebody even more. 

forever taking photos together

So anyway, thank you all for reading (if you managed to stay that long) and I'm sorry if my posts are a tad too ramble/ about nothing essentially. 

♡ Stelle