Looksee:

The snow base has DOUBLED in the last three days, and its STILL SNOWING! Hurrah for snow! Hurrah for snow!! Okay, so the storm is making everywhere else absolutely miserable, but with this much snow and a snow trip planned? The current torrent of rain is merely a sprinkle.

Hurrah!

So I’m home from Melbourne now, and wow, what a ride! I *totally* fell in love with Melbourne and its cute litte cafes that spill out into alleyways, and its cupcake stores and dinky little boutiques, and fantastically big grand architecture . . . were it not for the water shortage (and thus short showers) and being filled with Australians that speak with overwhelming Australian accents, I’d already be there, unpacked and settled.

I had an absolutely fantastic time, and it was great to get away. There were only two Lost and Found experiences (one a rather dear bracelet, and the other my boarding pass, and both caused panic of the utmost kind).

But I lunched with The Out-of-Town Bride and Bridesmaid Number Three in cute cafes, where we drank champagne and wine with every meals and I brought several pairs of gorgeous, gorgeous shoes! It’s entirely possible I spent a ridiculous amount of money, but the shoes ARE pretty, and yes I need all five pairs.

But shoes aside, it was a fantastic weekend: I saw Federation Square and its building with no right corners, I lay on the floor in the Great Hall and admired the ceiling in Melbourne’s Art Gallery, I rode both the trams and the trains to get around. I tried on designer dresses (loving Linda Britten!), and did a fair amount of giggling! I admired the water/light show in the foyer of the Crown Hotel (so pretty!) and I dined in Southbank and walked the pretty bridges to get there, and successfully navigated about all by myself.

It was an absolutely *fantastic* weekend.

And now I’m home, and am still in the clouds. Hurrah!

So, I’m in Melbourne!! It’s cold, but no colder than home (I lost the assumption that Australia = hot + beaches + dessert outback just as I walked out of the airport doors) and mostly it’s nice here. There is lots of pretty pretty sculptures everywhere, and the best bit is that all the fantastic art features are designed *into* the architecture, and not just tacked on like in Auckland.

Mm. And Melbourne is bigger. ALOT bigger. They have trams (!), and big fancy train systems, and their town is more than just a main road with a couple side streets, and they have SO MANY GINORMOUS (and pretty) BUILDINGS! The feel of the whole city is alot different, and I’m pretty down with that.

Also down with the cute Krispy Kreme stores, and eating Choc covered raspberry filled donuts on the way to the train station. And after dinner. And for breakfast this morning.

And today is a new day, where The Out-of-town Bride and Bridesmaid Number 3 and I shall be frolicing around the city in search of art supplies, bridal dresses and most probably, good times.

My flatmates of Old (from the Pitt St Flat!) have just come back from the States (with a bunch of New York stories and photos!) and apparently their first weekend back they went and brought a whole bunch of art for the flat; some particularly fabulous stuff by Sebastian Vergas. My favorite by far is this one:

This is exactly why I loved living in that Flat. Art + Impulsive Buying is totally up my alley. :)