Rambling Onwards

It's been about four months since I've written (or had the capacity to write) something on this blog but after spending a lot of time at home this week and a lot of time just doing nothing during the midsem (even though I had four weeks to catch up on), I finally feel like I can. It's hard a lot of the time since I don't have anything substantial to say especially if I'm living and breathing revue, uni and work - but it's good to have time again (even if it means procrastinating).

I am quite happy with this photo. #photographyadventures Thanks to my sister for being a great model without wanting to be xoxo. She also has a great book blog, so check it out.

My dad decided to bundle the family in the car and drive us down to Port Botany/La Perouse on Sunday and the result was a day by the seaside and a lot of photos. Even though this was meant to be family time, I ended up wandering off on my own (or with my sister) and we kinda just took a lot of photos and I spent a lot of time watching a couple try to take wedding shots down on the rocks. I honestly felt bad for her since she was trying to navigate those rocks in high heels - but it's all part of the things you do for art. They'll have some amazing photos for sure.

My dad shipped us off (in a car) to Port Botany, giving us about 15 minutes notice. It was nice watching planes take off and land, and ships arrive and leave the harbour - it was surprisingly calming.

Actually, my family make good photo subjects.

So what's been happening?

Law Revue has come and gone along with the more insane highs and lows (compared to last year), I became a Producer for Med Revue and I signed up for something called Global Village, meaning you can expect a lengthy post in December about my experience as a volunteer for SAE LAO in Laos. I stayed in Bondi for a week with a friend and that was the most fun I've had for while, and I've realised that my eating patterns over the last two months were terrible, meaning that my body would crash and I would lack energy a lot of the time. I started a new job in marketing located a few minutes walk from the famous Bar Luca (literally the most amazing burgers in Sydney), I lost some demerit points for a really stupid reason and it's been a tough juggling act between holding onto some friendships, making new ones and letting a relationship grow. But I think it's all worked out, in the most part.

I've also been putting a lot less of my life online - maybe it's because I no longer feel a need to (but let's be real, it's just too time consuming). Maybe this is because studying social media technologies in an arts course also puts me off (trust me, I've written an essay about selfies) or maybe it's to do with turning the big 20. Either way, live life how you want to because you can still enjoy life - which is the most important part.

Yeah, this was actually a candid. I look somewhat awkward in the posing one - but hey at least I didn't have to struggle and walk on rocks in 10cm heels. | Photo: Katrina Wu

I actually spent a chunk of my time watching a bride and groom take their wedding photos and I didn't know whether to laugh or feel sorry for the bride when she was trying to walk on rocks in 10cm heels in a wedding dress. It looked like a massive struggle and I'm glad she eventually took off her shoes - but it just makes me think, those shoes will be ruined. Ruined for art? I think so.

I also spent some time people watching - I find that peaceful even though it sounds slightly creepy. It's not though, I promise.

La Perouse & the 'Wikipedia bridge'. So beautiful and peaceful, despite all the traffic, trouble finding parking and the abundance of people.

The warmer weather makes me want to hit up some beaches or new, scenic places with friends and have a nice day chilling or exploring, but inside (aha) I know this won't happen until November with all the assessments, exams and events happening in the next month and half. Somehow, it's just not the same with family, but it is different in its own way.

Almost a month ago (yes I am very backlogged, and I have another half-written draft) my family decided to take a little day trip up to the Blue Mountains to see autumn leaves and pick some apples (literally). I wasn't going to go, except 10 minutes before they were meant to leave home I decided to get up and go with them. It was mostly a 'cram as much work in as you can during the car trip' and 'hey let's take lots of photos' kind of road trip, but it was fun either way and I'm grateful got to spend time with family during a time where I spent almost every day at uni or work.

I really like this photo. Unfortunately I cannot take credit for the photo taking part, just editing. | Photo by Katrina Wu

We hit up an apple farm to pick some pink lady apples (and devour some while we were in the orchard) before we headed off to find a place for lunch. The most interesting part of the day was the fact that we couldn't get into the Botanical Gardens, and we couldn't even get into a picnic area because the traffic was banked up and there were too many people.

The most ironic thing?

Most of them were Asian, and I can tell you from past experience there were not this many people heading to the area at the same time last year. It's crazy how something can be blown up on social media, especially when thousands of people in a particular region of a specific ethnicity send something viral. It's extremely powerful, and it was the cause of our traffic woes that one sunny day.

I actually love this photo - I saw the van and the first thing I said was "I need this shot".

After wildly suggesting that we drive to Lithgow, we ended up driving to Blackheath and my sister and I ran off to try things with our new DSLR camera - we had a bit of fun and some of it was a hit and miss, but here's what actually turned out alright.

I spent ages editing this one because I wasn't happy with the brightness/vibrance of it - but it worked out in the end. | Photo by Katrina Wu

Just casually rocking my leather jacket and new-ish Quay sunnies that I finally splurged on. | Photo by Katrina Wu

We also visited a smaller garden to see the infamous 'red leaves'. One thing that really frustrated me was how much noise our family friends were making in the garden, and I feel like this a common trend among young people who feel that their family act inappropriately and are not informed of the correct etiquette. The garden was a very peaceful space and all the noise disturbed the tranquil and serene atmosphere, and more importantly, my zen. We ran off from the main group just because it was nice to be in your own headspace with someone else who understood, and we managed to capture some interesting shots (although again, I can only take credit for the ones featured below).

Trying to take this shot made me realise how hard it can be to get the angles right.

It was a relaxing day overall and I'm glad I managed to get out and take some nice photos as I said I would in an earlier Tweet - and I'm looking forward to doing this more in the coming break. I have so many spontaneous moments where I want to jump into a car or on a train and just go somewhere with no aim but to explore somewhere new and capture some moments on camera, and it's so frustrating when I'm stuck at home or at uni trying to do something else. I also don't really have any travelling buddies if my sister is busy - but hey something always works out.

And just a side note - I'm constantly being astounded by the fact that people actually read my blog, even though I've put up two posts since the uni semester started. Don't get me wrong - I'm very grateful to have an audience and I can't thank you all from the bottom of my heart for sticking around this long.

Take care.

With love, Sarah x

At the rate I'm publishing these posts, it seems like my life is super busy and I'm always doing exciting things. The first part is true, but the second is subjective - but I will agree that my life is dynamic and doesn't often include the boredom you get from sitting at home in front of a computer for too long.

I love holidays.

And although I'm going to be spending most of mine at work (like I have the last week, a full 31 + 16 hrs of it), it's great having the option of doing whatever you want or something productive when you're home. Lately all my days off have consisted of lying in bed until midday, getting up and doing a blog post or two (sadly, not for my own blog sorry) and then going to something at night, whether that be work, a get together or my sister's school concert.

Because I've been so busy lately, I can barely remember what I've done on each day - it's only because I use a planner that I can remember. My dad has a running joke about me being busier than the Prime Minister - and I literally had to pencil in a dinner with a family friend two weeks in advance because I'm busy almost every night.

And because I haven't had time to sit down and write a blog post, I'm a bit backed up. Here's my adventures in Terrigal and surrounds in photos. Most of the photos were taken by friend Rhonda on her camera (she takes some amazing photos), so I'll put a * in the caption if it's hers.

We drove up on Sunday afternoon (22nd November) and we stayed in two really beautiful, lovely beach houses. If the driveways weren't so difficult to get into and if I hadn't been to the area a lot already, I would definitely go back. I didn't take many photos of the houses because it was really hard to take photos that did them justice - although if you want to know we stayed here. Our host were super nice and helpful and we adored the vibe the houses had.

Day 2: Avoca Beach. We went kayaking in the lagoon nearby before going into catch some waves. Needless to say we caught a lot of waves and a few of us got rescued.

We did a little day trip to Norah Head, visited a lot of beaches, made some delicious food, played drinking games and spent a lot of time together just chilling out, playing games and talking.

Hello friends!

I feel like my posts have been a little serious lately, and with one week left of blessed freedom before semester starts (and Law Revue) I wanted to give you a little update on my life during the Winter break, especially the little road trip I took with family to the Snowy Mountains at the end of June! I've only ever been to the snow once, and that was with school in Year 6. I want to go back already or visit different snowfields like Queenstown in NZ but sadly, there's only another week of winter holidays left.

If you're thinking 'Yes, finally a post that's light-hearted and doesn't need huge amounts of brain power to digest it' I hope this post doesn't disappoint and is more like the good ol' life update posts I used to write (although I don't know if there's any on this blog - will check). But here's a pretty photo to start it off!