I've had SUCH a relaxing weekend!

Saturday we went winetasting for Sharm's 21st - a gorgeous day with a crisp blue sky, warm sunshine and the Maclaren Vale looking beautiful all decked out in Autumn colour. Not to mention the company, the food and the wine! Best wishes Sharms! :)

Em was back in town for the weekend so Sat night we went to see the Da Vinci Code. I hadn't heard anything good about it, so I didn't have high expectations. But I really enjoyed it! Long, yes, but the storyline was pretty true to the book (I hate it when they change it, I get so confused!) and it was definitely exciting. Might have been a bit confusing if I hadn't read the book, but... hey, I had! ;) My question is, why didn't they make 'Angels and Demons', my prefered novel of the two? Maybe the logistics of filming in the Vatican... and possibly even more controversy from the Church! AH well, good movie anyway.

Sunday morning had brunch with Mel at Cibo, mmmm, the best way to spend a Sunday morning :) And in the arvo just bummed around at home: reading, drinking (more) tea, listening to music, you know, all that nice chillout stuff :)

NOTE: NO STUDY WAS UNDERTAKEN ON THIS WEEKEND - IT WAS AN OFFICIAL STUDY-FREE PERIOD BEFORE EXAM STUDY COMMENCES!

Now I'm totally refreshed and relaxed and ready to take on the world! YEAH! :D

You Belong in New York City

You're an energetic, ambitious woman.And only NYC is fast enough for you.Maybe you'll set yourself up with a killer career or simply take in all the city has to offer.

What City Do You Belong In?

Hmmmm interesting!!

I bought 'White Tea'. It's supposed to be from Fujian in China, and very... sophisticated, the kind of thing that emperors once drank. Anyway, thought I'd check it out. Turns out to be a brownish colour... a little disappointing to be honest! Can anyone fill me in on why it's called 'White Tea'? In any case, it tastes pretty good, so I'm not tooooo worried :)

In other news, handed up my last (group) assignment as an undergrad today - yay! :D

Getting closer...

SN-In-AU-AD-2006-1265

YES this is me :)

May 10th, 2004:
I woke up hot and still tired in a hotel in Ho Chi Minh City, about to go on a boat-trip in the Mekong Delta, excited but also nervous about arriving in Beijing the next afternoon to begin my life there!

May 10th, 2005:
I woke up in my bedroom in Adelaide for the first time in a year, and at first I didn't know where I was. I was excited to be back and re-discovering all the great things I had missed while in China, but also sad to realise that I wouldn't see my housemates that day...

May 10th 2006:
I became an SN again after passing the SRB at AU! YAY! I'm so excited about living and working overseas again! If anyone knows of any great traineeships in the areas of Learning & Development or Diversity, let me know!!

Needs

It just seemed like there were SO many things I NEEDED, and not enough time or money to possibly get them all. It really started to bother me. So I wrote a list of everything I NEED. Then, created another column - WANTS. As it turns out, most of the NEEDS are just WANTS in disguise :) Actually I'm pretty lucky, I don't really go lacking in much. Kind of nice to be reminded! But there were still a few things I kept on the NEEDS list. You know, as a way of prioritising. I can't let myself buy anything on the WANTS list until I have everything on the NEEDS list!!!

Man, I love lists, my brain feels so tranquil right now :)

Even just ANTICIPATING laughter is good for you!

Check it out...

Laugh, or even pretend to
April 27, 2006
A good belly laugh - or even the anticipation of laughter - appears to beneficially affect the body's hormones.
Researchers in California discovered this in a study of 32 healthy men, half of whom were instructed to view a one-hour humorous video of their own selection.
The other half simply sat in a room with an assortment of magazines. The scientists found that those watching the funny videos had, on average, 27 per cent more beta-endorphins and 87 per cent more human growth hormone in their blood than the control group - before the video clips even started to roll.
The levels of these beneficial hormones remained elevated during and after the experiment.
- Washington Post

I feel a laugh coming on... hehehe.... actually, to be fair, I think that was a more of a giggle...