Monday, June 27, 2011

The start of winter

Even though the warm weather is gone we haven't let that stop us from having fun.  Still lots more to report for the month of June:

Trivia Night
I don't think a month has gone by since I've been here that didn't even some kind of firm-sponsored drinks or social club event.  The June event was trivia night at the Crown. 
Kelly and I recently applied to be on the Australian game show - Million Dollar Drop (the show is filmed in Melbourne and there are way fewer people in Australia than in the US so we are thinking our odds are pretty good.  Plus we made a top ten list of reasons they should let us on the show).  We were thinking the trivia night would be a perfect opportunity to start practicing for our television debut.  Sadly we do not know any Australian trivia.  Not to worry - we have downloaded trivia apps on our phones so we're sure not to embarass ourselves on national TV.
Anyway, the trivia night was pretty fun (it was definitely not the best social event of the year as I had been told previously) and the best news is that neither of us got kicked out :)

I didn't bring my camera to trivia night and I couldn't find any pictures to steal off facebook either!

Wine Tour #2
Chad and Megan Pollock (former EY Minneapolis colleagues/friends) were in Melbourne for Megan's job.  Luckily they were here over the long weekend for the Queen's birthday so we got to hang out with them.  On Saturday we went on a wine tour (my second in a month).  It was a beautiful, sunny day in the Yarra Valley:

Kelly, Chad, and Megan at Rochford winery
View from Yering Station
End of the day at Domain Chandon....everyone is feeling a bit silly I think!
Concerts
I've decided that Melbourne is the perfect place to see concerts.  Although the tickets are more than I would usually pay in the US, the venues are much smaller so you always have a good seat!
Amy, Sarah, Tiff, and I went to see Justin Bieber in May (yes we were the oldest people there without children, stop judging).  Apart from the thousands of screaming girls it was actually a really good show.  That kid is talented (seriously stop judging).

Bieber Fever
The next concert I went to was Kylie Minogue with Steph.  How could I not go to a Kylie concert in her hometown.  If you had asked me what songs Kylie sang before I went to the concert I would have only been able to name Locomotion (which she only sang part of).  Even without knowing all the songs it was a really good show - she had great special effects and great dancers!

Last night a group of us went to see Rock of Ages at Comedy Theater.  If you love 80's music you have to see this musical.  It was GREAT!  Good music, cheesy storyline, a free LED lighter, and drinks delivered to your seat (which we sadly did not take advantage of) - what more could you want out of a musical?   Seriously - if anyone in Melbourne hasn't gone yet and needs someone to go with, I'll go again!

Next up - Kelly, Tiff, and I are going to see Elton John in December!

Friends!
We have found lots of other things to keep us busy over the last few weeks:
  • Emma and Rockey moved from their apartment in Southbank to a house in Hawthorne.  They had everyone over for a housewarming over the long weekend.  The Rockeys have introduced Kelly and I to our new favorite party food - cheese and pineapple.  It's so easy yet so delicious!  Emma also makes a killer Cosmo!
  • Bar 9T4 - we went here after the Rockey's housewarming.  It is by far my favorite bar in Melbourne.  All 80's/early 90's music all night long.  I am determined to have my birthday party here.
Bar 9T4

  • Footy!  I went to my first footy game (Australia Rules Football) a couple of weeks ago at the MCG.  Our friend Trevor is a member of the MCC so we were fancy and got to sit in the members section.  Its so fancy you can't even bring drinks to your seat!  Sadly my team (St. Kilda Saints) got beaten by Geelong (Trevor and Justin's team) but it was still a fun night and I learned a little bit more about AFL.  Don't ask me too many questions though, I still don't understand much!  I wouldn't call myself a very loyal Saints fan though - I actually wasn't too upset they lost because I had tipped Geelong anyway.  I'm currently 5th place in my the RCIP tipping competition.  Not bad for an American who doesn't understand what's going on!
  • Last Saturday night the newbie group went to dinner at Squires Loft in the Docklands.  Delicious steak!  After dinner we went to Spice Market to celebrate Parita's birthday.  All that dancing led to my personal best step count for the Global Corporate Challenge.  I had so many steps (over 37,000) that the website made me actually type out all my activity for the day to make sure I wasn't cheating!  An hour workout, an hour walk around St. Kilda, running errands in the city, and then 3+ hours of dancing really adds up a lot of steps.  I knew going out was good for my health! 
Dinner at Squire's Loft

Now I'm all caught up before my parent's and the Kanes visit beginning on Thursday.  Everyone has been saying they can't wait for that blog......because they know Jill will do something funny/embarassing at least once a day.  I'll do my best to capture these moments on camera and give you a full account of their visit soon!

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