ahhhhhh three day weekend. oh how I love you.

So I am at the airport two hours before takeoff (what can I say - I am ridiculously anal about being on time) which presents me with the perfect opportunity to fill you all in on what an amazing weekend I have just had.  Beach, Byron, Brisbane, uh... B(shopping), B(eating) - okay so I couldn't continue on with my B theme BUT I think you get the picture.. overall it was BRILLIANT.

Here is a pictorial look at what occurred over the course of the last three days:

DAY 1 Saturday:

GOOD MORNING BRISBANE:

Early rise.  What a perfect blue summers day.  Shopping in Brisbane town.  First stop, the city.  Checked out Queens Plaza (lovely), then did the mall (not as lovely), and then moved on to Brisbane Myer Centre (definitely not lovely).  Picked up a amazing Gorman 'Island in the Stream' printed cupro shift dress ($149 in store Gorman); perfect for dinner that night.  Here she is:

Super hot. And in a lovely cupro fabric which feels amazing and slinky on.  LOVE.  I was also tempted by some of the coloured clogs and a number of dresses/skirts/shirts but was reprimanded by my not-so-shopping-adddicted sister - who quite reasonably stated 'this is the first store we have been in. Don't spend all your money'.  Oh yes MUM.  When did she get so wise?  Those genes certainly wasn't passed on to me.

Next we headed out to the inner city suburb of Paddington for a peruse of the shops and a quick bite of lunch.  Paddington is this funky super hilly suburb full of rambling Queenslander homes; literally some of the hills feel like you are walking on a diagonal in order to stand up straight.  Loved it.  Massive fan of old Queensland architecture.

After lunch we headed over to James St, which is the 'super-trendy Brisbane version of Chapel St' in the Valley.  Perused through Easton Pearson, Calexico, Sass and Bide, Frockshop and Zomp (where I was talked out of yet another pair of clogs - grrrrr), and then coffeed and caked up a storm in the whole foods market.  YUM.

Later on - all dressed up for dinner in my new super fab Gorman dress; plus the hardest working turquoise necklace getting around (it still amazes me how, albeit being large and chunky and in your face and turquoise, it manages to match back with every single outfit I own.  It is truly a MAGICAL necklace).   Dinner was at the Himalayan Cafe in the cute inner city suburb of New Farm.. Amazing food and fab service all to the tune of a rather loud meditation cd - overall a very Zen eating experience.  Here:

After we had gorged ourselves on curries, rice and amazing bread we headed out to peruse a few of the local Valley bars - Lady Lamington (which is a old church converted into an amazing outdoor nightspot), Kerbside (a funky industrial-esque bar that felt like you were chilling at your brothers garage party) and then Cloudland (the most amazing place I have ever seen - a multi level bar with real-life trailing plants, a sweeping staircase, water features and the most intricate seating arrangements ever).  This is it:

Hmm - not the greatest image.  It is AMAZING though I swear.

And this is me enjoying the festivities:

NOTE TO VIEWER: not sure why it appears that I have over plucked one eyebrow.  I know you noticed.  I DIDN'T I swear - its a trick of the lens.  Promise.  And even if you didn't notice now you are going to go back and re-look.  Perhaps I should delete this altogether?? WAH.

Bright and early sunday morning, sis and I packed the car and headed off to Byron, on an 'just over an hour or so' roadtrip.  Almost 2.5 hours, a servo drinks run and one horrible roadside portaloo experience that I will never forget later we arrived at our destination.   Fab.  Having not been to Byron for almost a decade; I could hardly remember this amazing place.  The weather was perfect, northern NSW countryside is just magical and the beaches blew my mind.  Lunch was amazing, the shopping was fantastic (although I got talked out of yet more items; Sportsgirl shirt, Magali Pascal blouse and Goddess of Babylon kimono duster coat I am talking about YOU - thanks oh so much SIS); overall it was a FABULOUS day.  Here - take a look. HAPPY snaps:

Ahhh it was heaven.  I didn't want to leave.

But leave we did, as we had to get home before the supermarket shut... apparently although being a capital city Brisbane does not offer supermarket shopping experiences to its residents after 6pm on Sundays.  Bizarre.  That was so ten years ago.  Get with the times Brisbane.

On the way home we detoured past the Gold Coast.  Now this came as a real shock - but I hated it.  Hated the mall, hated the crowds, hated the shopping - WAH.  Where was this magical, fun-filled, most exciting and bestest holiday destination ever that I had continued to dream about since I was a kid? Gone. Vamooshed.  The beaches were nice and the sixties architecture entertained me, but the wondrous lure of the Goldy has vanished. Completely.  Oh Surfers, not such a paradise after all:

Sad. I had such high hopes.

You will be pleased to know that we made it to the supermarket, and homemade hamburgers ruled dinner. 'Horrible bosses' later - bed.

And - here I am.

That was my view.  Turns out I actually forgot to press the all-important 'publish' button before boarding, hence why this is being published at 9:30pm instead. Oops.

Overall - I had an AHmazing time.  Although I only bought ONE item - it was still a magical weekend.  Northern NSW - I love you.  Wonder what property prices are like....?

How am I going to tell the bf?

FFIFY xxx