AwkwardInk

Finished colouring this one in yesterday.
I spent quite a nice weekend enjoying the unseasonally good weather. I trekked out to Windsor on an overland train and spent the afternoon looking around the Castle out there. It is quite an impressive speciman. Although in hindsight, I am a little irrate about paying an entry fee of £13.50. The Queen surely gets enough money from the british people to upkeep the castle, without having to demand such an exorbitant price. Maya went crazy in the souveniur shops and bagged some great gifts for her souveniur loving friends, in the form of gold lame passport covers complete with a union jack and God Save the Queen emblazoned on it. Perfect for her american friends.
I spent Sunday enjoying the local area. Jogging in the park, wandering around the farmers markets, watching a movie (Transamerica) and finishing off colouring in my picture.
Now it's just work work work. Which is actually quite fun.

Kazza is going to sell her homemade purses in Kinokunia (I know I havn't spelt that one right!). So I spent today designing some cards that she can put with each item make them a bit more special. I couldn't decide on one colour, so I did a range of pretty pastels.
I also became very aware that I miss using different fonts. Most work days involve alot of helvetica neue 75 bold and little else. It's nice to do a little project with different fonts once in a while.

I watched a kinda crap movie called the Weather Man, last night. Sucked in by the comedy promo, I was quite annoyed when the actual movie was just downright depressing. It had some great lines in there though. Like, 'Easy isn't apart of grown up life'. That just gives me the feel good feeling I'm always after when watching a movie on a saturday night.

Helen and Big head went to New York earlier in the year and bought me back a very cool shirt. Apparently they have babycakes in New York, as well as summer Hill!

So I went out last night for my housemate, Sarah's birthday drinks/dinner. We've only known each other for about 4 months. So it was nice to meet all of her friends who just happened to be a bunch of print designers from Melbourne.
We hung out in some very cool bars, and even ate some dumplings for dinner. It was so nice to be in the mood to meet new people and get the chance to have some proper conversations. And even nice to chat to a group of Aussies (even if they are melbournians) who have been through the whole working holiday roller coaster.
Some of them are just starting out here, and it was good to remember the excitment of the city, where nothing is too much effort and it is all so shiny and new. I was also forced to remember how fortunate I am. I did struggle to find a good job. And earn decent money. And get my life sorted out. But now I have, I should remember how lucky I am.

So Saturday saw the passing of my 28th birthday. A serious age indeed. A decade of adulthood.
I've been contemplating the whole 28 thing for about a month. When I realised around August 9th, that my 27th year was almost up. There might have been some hyperventilating involved. But I've found that it's much better to get it over and done with, sooner rather than later. The mini birthday crisis is almost something I can schedule into my yearly calendar by now. Something to set my watch by.
I had been dreading the whole 28 thing just a little bit. Not because I think I'm over the hill, but because it is one of those ages where I have always had an idea about how my life would be at that age. In all honesty, the image I had for my 28 year old self had alot to do with marriage, babies and illustration (I guess one out of three ain't bad).
Strangely enough, when I look back to my younger self, I can see how narrow my view of the world was. I had no capacity to imagine the opportunities or experiences that I now value. Or even how long it would take to get out into the world and work some of it out. I never set any limits on what I would do, but then again, I could never conceive the realities of living in a different country or trying to shape some sort of career or any of the other stuff that makes up life now.
I guess I naively thought that I would be a kid, and then one day I'd have all my sh*t together and be cool calm and collected with no more worries to speak of. If only.

Regardless of all that malarchy, September 9 has come and gone. And I'm now officially 28 years old. I had a lovely day, including some very nice weather, and some very nice food (and surprisingly for me, no cake!). I've spent the last month rolling the word twenty-eight around in my mouth, just to get used to them. And I think I'm feeling alot more comfortable with it, than I was a month ago. It seems that 28, isn't half as bad I thought it was going to be.
Thanks for all the birthday wishes and love. That's one thing that makes getting older easier. xx

The most amazing thing has happened this afternoon. The sun has come out!
After spending all morning talking on the phone to friends and family at home who were raving about the brilliant Spring weather that Sydney was enjoying, I was quite over come with joy at seeing the grey clouds part on this side of the world. The weather here has become a thorn in my side, and if I were to count up the amount of time that I spent thinking about it, talking about it, and trying not to think about it, the weather would probably occupy 80% of my thoughts. OK. So that might be a slight exaggeration. But it does feel like the status of the sky is something that I take personally. I think I shall endeavour not to be so consumed with the weather so much for the next week. See how thing's go with that.
It was great today to chat to some old friends from home. I realise how bad I've been at the whole keeping in touch thing. I must remember to put in some more effort in that department. It's nice to remember home and how great it can be there. And also good to be reminded that no matter where you are, you can be dissatisfied. Something for me to remember, lest I spend my brief time here in London wishing I were back home.