It's all happening!

The view from Swan Street Bridge last night

It's Friday! J arrives tomorrow! Melbourne is abuzz! Not because J is arriving, though I'm sure it will be happy to host him. (I'm excited about him arriving of course.)

It's Grand Final Eve - tomorrow is a big day for this town, powered as it is by AFL fever (that and caffeine). It's a great time to visit Melbourne - the weather's starting to warm up a little, the Fringe Festival is on and the International Arts Festival kicks off in a week or so as well. So much to see and listen to and do!

Ah, I'm firmly in the grip of Melbourne love right now...well, more firmly than usual.

Visitor, strong and hot (er...)

I love the old bluestone, cobblestones and brickwork in this alley near my office

My US friend J arrives on Saturday. Yay. It also happens to be the biggest event on Melbourne's sporting calendar: the AFL Grand Final. Not only will I get to enjoy the atmosphere of the day, I'll be sharing it with an out-of-towner (I hope the Collingwood fans don't scare him).

I like it when I'm at the gym and I have to adjust the weight on a machine so that it's heavier, not lighter. It doesn't happen very often, but I'm happy when it does. Wooh! I'm stronger than that last person!

How ace are hot water bottles, hey? Much better than wheatbags, if you ask me. One morning last week when I woke up, my hot water bottle was still slightly warm, SEVEN HOURS after I got into bed with it.

Boring but satisfying

The last golden rays of the day outside my window

I've had a quiet, but very productive weekend at home.  I spring cleaned my bedroom and organised my wardrobe, and I've just finished backing up, categorising (and subcategorising!) nearly a year's worth of photos. Whew. It feels good.

Of course I had a to-do list and I've taken pleasure in crossing each task off. I even added one job after I'd done it, just so I could cross it off. Yes, I know.  

So far, I've completed 12 of 20 tasks. I won't get to all of them by the end of today, but I feel pretty satisfied with my efforts.

During my bedroom clean out, I found a lot of old family and personal memorabilia - letters, cards, photos and the like that I haven't looked at in ages. I didn't have time to read them, but I'm looking forward to sitting down one day soon to go through it all.

The kindness and compliments of strangers

AAMI Park twinkling and basking in the glow from the MCG

I had a gleeful to start to the day. I got to the train station and was about to put my coins in the ticket machine when I noticed a thoughtful person had left a still-valid Metcard there for someone else to use. Me! Yay, free ride!  

I often leave my valid ticket for others, or offer it to someone who's about to buy one, and it feels nice to perform a little kindness for strangers (especially when you get to see their reaction). It's just as nice to be on the receiving end.  Little acts of kindness are ace. 

More glee

Tonight when I got home I had an email from a subscriber to my photo blog who said seeing my photos had made her and her husband want to visit Melbourne. I was thrilled. It's always wonderful to get a compliment, but to me this is the highest praise I could get for my photo blog. I'm rapt that my love for Melbourne has rubbed off a little, that my photos have acted as ambassadors for the place I love. I want to open my window and yell, "Melbourne, look what I did for you!"

Surprise, growth and sausage dog

A new building in Docklands - it's modern, but I like it

I made my surprise visit to Adelaide for my brother's birthday on Friday and it was fun. He had no inkling I was coming and although he is a man of few words, I could tell he was rapt I was there (along with Mum, who made her surprise appearance the day before). I'm happy I went.

I noticed today the trees along the river are finally showing signs of spring growth. I was starting to worry about them.

I saw a man walking a sausage dog on way home (they'll always be sausage dogs to me). A sausage dog never fails to make me smile.

Something new

One of my entries

I've done something in the past couple of days that I have never done before - I entered some of my photos into a competion. Ted's Camera House is running the public-voted competition to celebrate 40 years in business and I got an email from one of the PR people (via Girl in Melbourne) inviting me to enter.

So I did. I submitted the allowed five entries and then told everyone on Twitter about it and the votes have been rolling in. It's fabulous.

I don't expect to win, but I'm enjoying having my photos out there beyond my blog and I feel relieved my shots don't look out of place among all the other entries.

If you want to see my entries, check out my Girl in Melbourne post.  

Movie going, crackle making

I went to the movies on my own today to see The Kids are All Right. The movie was great (I laughed and I nearly cried), plus I am pleased to report I've progressed beyond feeling like a friendless loser when I go to the cinema solo. Now if I can just get used to going to see bands at bars on my own, I'll be set.

I made chocolate crackles yesterday. Yum. (Yeah, I know. I should try out for Masterchef.)

Surprise visit, spring and macarons

I'm going to be a surprise visitor next Friday. It's my brother's 40th birthday but he doesn't know I'm flying to Adelaide to attend his birthday dinner. I also get half a day off work. Yay! 

Oh, speaking of birthdays, I just realised today is Gleeful's second birthday. *blows whistle*

It's spring! OK, only by the calendar and it was a pretty gloomy day, but still....it's spring!

I ate two macarons (macaroons, if you prefer) from the Lindt Cafe on Collins Street on my way home tonight. One vanilla and one milk chocolate. OMG. They are divine. A slightly crisp shell and all soft inside...yum. I fear I have started a bad habit...