It's a Golf Thing

I think we can safely say that summer is now here. Finally! Drinks in the sun, the sand on your toes and socializing with friends, who does not like summer?

 However, I find summer can be a frustrating time for women who have partners or husbands interested in golf.

 It certainly can be for me.  

I have learnt one important thing about boys - they are not just obsessed with football, but every other sport including cricket, table tennis, tennis, basketball, Wii sport (if that counts) and golf, and during the summer months, these addictions are at their peak.

Over the years I have noticed that golf has become one of the single most popular pastimes among my male friends. Hitting the fairways and spending countless hours under the sun seems to be the way they prefer to spend their summer days.

Now, I am not saying there is anything wrong with this. It however frustrating when I only really see my partner (Tom) on weekends which happen to be the days most men play golf.

I had wrongly assumed that my partner would, after a long morning of training in the sweltering heat want to retire to the comfort of his air-conditioned living room, or maybe, possibly want to spend time with me. But no.

Just Golf, Golf, Golf, swim, golf, golf and bed.

Last year he played in `the Wanderers' golf tournament down at the National at Cape Schanck. Twenty men his age were playing and roughly 70 (older) men, including my father.

When Dad returned I asked him how he went. His reply? ``Fit men under the age of 25 should not be allowed in the tournament...Tom won''.

I already knew this, because Tom had sent me and 10 of his friends a photo message of the trophy he picked up.

It was this time last year when Tom was leading up to his fifth day in a row on the golf course when he was on his way to Lorne to visit me. And much to his annoyance, instead of venturing back out on the fairways, he came to the beach with me.

 I was very much looking forward to a relaxing day on the beach reading my book with him (silly me).

 When we got there, we saw about 20 of our friends with beach cricket sets, tennis balls, Frisbees and more.

 Alas, more sport.

Yesterday I realised, this was all going to happen again.

It has begun.

 Tom’s one day a week where he does not have to do physical activity is on a Sunday. So what does he do? A 6km charity walk and a round of 18 holes of golf.

Crazy?

 I think so.

So, after a bit of research, I've worked out why men love sport so much, particularly golf, and was surprised how it also relates to my favorite pastime - shopping.

1. Time with boys. Sure they love the sport but it is being out of the house with their mates that makes men love to have a hit of golf. Like me with shopping, it's a great excuse to spend time with my girlfriends.

2. Exercise. Walking the fairways is exercise. Again, like shopping, it's amazing how many kilometers you can walk in Chadstone.

3. Competition. Men are competitive by nature so it's not surprising how many slabs of beer or dinners are lost on the golf course. I also get that competitive edge when I'm shopping in the sales, I love nothing more than snatching a great bargain ahead of all the other bargain-hunters.

Don't get me wrong, I think watching and being involved in sport is an extremely important part of life.

I just don’t understand the whole golf thing. 

Fair enough?

Before I went overseas I had to save a substantial amount of money. And for me Saving money= No shopping.

It is a simple concept, but a concept that is very hard for me to put into practice. However, with some wonderful support from my best friend Camille I managed to stay away from the shops for roughly 3 months before my trip.

The week before I went away everything was looking great, I was in control and I had money in the bank.

When I arrived at my first stop in London, all hell broke loose. I was a race horse jumping out of the gates and no one could stop me.

I had been patient, I had saved and now I was going to shop.

Unfortunately one month into my trip I realised I hadn’t really saved enough money in relation to all the shopping I was doing and all of the eating and drinking.

But I did not let a little thing like money deter me, after all I had a new shiny credit card!

 And swipe, swipe, swipe I went.

Nothing was a problem whilst I was travelling, not money and certainly not the idea of getting a real job when I arrived home. All was fine and dandy.

But then home time happened. Along with a crazy credit card debt and unemployment and then I learnt a little something called ‘interest rates’.

So, in all of my misery I quickly found some temp work to help me with the credit card debt and vowed to stay away from the shops yet again.

Simple enough I thought, I can easily restrain myself from shopping for a few months whilst I work and in no time my credit card debt will be history.

But you see it is not this simple. Not anymore. No, no, no because there is a little thing these days called online shopping.

From shopbop, Net-a-Porter, Asos and my new favourite Boutiques.com I can’t help myself!

Everything seems to be saying ‘Buy. Buy. Buy’ expecially with our dollar being so good. Every time there is a sale for anything (15%, free shipping etc) I crack. I feel compelled to take advantage of it and buy whatever I want.

I rationalise my behaviour by “saving money in the long run” and making up fake presents for people.

Yes, online shopping is very, very bad for me. But at the same very, very good for me. It gives me this satisfied feeling of buying something without the guilt, because no one can judge me when I bring another shopping bag home because it's all just a click away!

It is so simple, once you have already put your credit details in the system it automatically saves them for next time, so you don’t even feel the guilt of pulling your purse out.

 It’s 100 percent Perfect.

So I am sorry commonwealth. But until the internet closes down I will be shopping and as long as I am shopping you are just going to have to wait for your money.

Fair enough?

Emma

xoxo

A Dog's Life

Last night I found myself being jealous of my dog my Oscar. Correct, I am now jealous of a dog.

 O dear.

I was having those recurring thoughts in my head; what I am doing this weekend? What am I doing for New Year? Did I really spend that much on Saturday night? How will I pay credit card this month? When will I get a job? Was she really with him? What am I doing with my life???

You all know the drill; these thoughts make you stressed, anxious and confused.

Whilst I was having these annoying thoughts I looked over to Oscar who is as happy as can be because he has just returned from a play and is waiting next to his bowl for his dinner, which he will demolish in 30 seconds only to retire to the couch and fall asleep with not a worry in the world.

Damm, I thought. He has it so good!

It took Oscar only 10 weeks to graduate from puppy school.

But me?  22 years to finish school and a Uni degree and STILL no job and no IDEA

No matter how old Oscar gets, he will never have to work, pay for his food (let alone feed himself), wash himself, apply for jobs or have a mortgage.

Yes, I know I am crazy I am writing a blog about being a dog. But if you knew how well Oscar was treated, trust me you would want to be him!

However, unfortunately there are some dogs that do have worries. Not all dogs are treated with the love that Oscar receives. Some are unwanted dogs and some are subjected to animal cruelty.

 There are many dogs who need adopting, so if you know anyone who is in a position to adopt a dog or is looking for a dog send them to this website.

http://www.adoptapet.com.au/

Lots of Love,
Em

New York images

A New York holiday

Hi All,

Firstly, I know I said I would blog about New York during the week, but frankly I was just having too much fun to go back to my room and sit at my computer screen. So I am sorry, however, I am sure my 7 viewers (moving on up) will all get over it.

I arrived home safely yesterday with the standard dark circles, oily hair and that distinct but ever so familiar smell that you get after a 24-hour flight.  From the airport I fell into a taxi, sprayed on a can of deodorant, baby wiped my face, attempted to apply makeup and went straight to the John Clements Pink Ribbon Breakfast fundraiser hosted by the amazing (and my favorite) Lauren Phillips. 

Although I arrived only to catch the end of the breakfast it was a beautiful and more importantly a very successful morning that raised much needed money and awareness to the foundation and to the disease. Congratulations to all who were involved.

But now to New York. Uh New York.

From its culture to its sidewalks, its amaaazing shops to it’s hot dog vendors, how can anyone not love New York?

Although there is ONE bad thing about NYC… it is so far away! Or maybe we can just blame that on Australia?  

Tom and I practically slept walked to the Melbourne airport at 4:30am to catch a flight to Auckland, which then took us to L.A and from L.A to NYC.

Admittedly, it was not the most desirable flight route, however, it was the only flight I could get on with my frequent flyer points. And I didn’t care; I was going to NEW YORK. Tom, standing at 198cm on the other hand… not so happy (he had the option of taking at 23 hour flight compared to this 33 hour flight).

However, I convincingly reassured him of how much fun we would have together as the longer flight meant more quality time. Because 33 hours on plane is so much fun right?

But I was wrong, so, so wrong. We did not have fun together (really, who would have fun on a 33 hour flight anyway), nor did we spend quality time together because he was UPGRADED.

I spent the whole trip on my lonesome down in the back of the plane.

Darn it I thought, I had been so excited to have Tom on the plane with me. And no, it was not for the ‘quality’ time we would have spent together, but for the lap rest I could have had, the opportunity to rest my head on his legs and then my legs over his chair when I wanted to change positions. You just don’t get those opportunities sitting next to strangers.

This slightly annoyed me, but I did not let it get to me as I was on my way to NEW YORK. What did get to me was when I was walking up to heaven to say hi to Tom and noticed the free seat next to him along with 50 others. I sat in this free seat that apparently are for the people who pay “thousands and thousands and thousands more dollars than you”, as told to me by the flight attendant in front of everyone before she told me to go back to the "end of the plane".

I guess it pays to be tall.

Next trip I am wearing stilts.

The flight was over, and none of that mattered, we were both so happy to have reached New York.

The crowds, the taxis and the continuous sounds of sirens overwhelmed me but I loved it, it was a constant reminder to me that I was in New York City.

The shopping blew my mind, the quality and the quantity with the help of our amazing dollar was wonderful. All of the new winter trends were in the shops, which consisted of anklet boots, fur vests, oversized ponchos, military fitted jackets and pastel coloured lace items.

I spent way too much money, but was very happy with my purchases, plus I will be set for next winter.

We stood in the glowing human whirlpool of Times Square, went horse riding through central Park, took a helicopter ride over the city, watched a basketball game, wined and dined with great friends, saw a Broadway show, strolled through The Metropolitan Museum of Art and shopped till we dropped (or until I was 10 kg over my luggage weight)

The city inspired me and as Thomas Wolfe once said “One belongs to New York instantly, one belongs to it as much in five minutes as in five years”

And I couldn’t agree more.

New York I heart you

xoxo

Em

A Sydney Wedding

Hi All, 

Just a very brief post about my weekend in Sydney

I think I have a total of 3 followers now :) (thank you Sophie) 

My Boyfriend Tom and I were fortunate enough to go to Sydney on the weekend to attend a lovely wedding on a boat in the Sydney Harbour. 

The wedding was on Friday, so Tom and I thought we would arrive in Sydney early Thursday morning so we could spend a day together :) 

We arrived in Sydney and went for a walk and had a gorgeous lunch at China Doll in Woolamaloo. 

After our lunch Tom decided to tell me that the Golf course that he is a member of in Barwon Heads have reciprocal rights to the Royal Sydney golf Course. SO he left me and went to play 18 holes of Golf by himself (he is absolutely obsessed with golf.... I am not) for the rest of the day.

I was not to happy with this situation, but men will be men, and when is comes to sport I know I have no hope. Twiddling my thumbs in the hotel room, I thought it was only fair for me to go to something that I enjoy... getting pampered.  I went to the day spa and booked myself a little massage. So all in all, not a bad day :)

The wedding the next day was filled with gorgeous friends, beautiful weather and lots of happiness. 

There is nothing better than witnessing two people so in love, share with their family and friends the commitment they are making together for the rest of their lives.  I was blessed to be a part of it and wish nothing but happiness for Cameron and Seona Mooney.

I am off to New York on thursday with Tom for 10 days, so I am going to blog about my adventures and the budget shopping I am intending on doing.  I will also try and upload some photos

Lots of Love, 

xoxox

E

What are you going to do now?

Hi gang,

Writing my first blog seems like a funny concept... Because I am not exactly sure who I am writing this for but I know why I am writing one. I wanted to start a blog because I have just finished University and the most amazing overseas trip of my life with my two best friends.
But now I have come home and everyone seems to be asking me, "what are you going to do now Emma?" and I wish I could say exactly what it is I want to do. But the thing is, I am not quite sure...
I studied Media Communications and I know I love various aspects of the media (radio, television and magazines), fashion, writing, and organising myself and everybody around me!
Soooooo, If there are any career advisors out there feel free to lend me hand :)

Until then, I will enjoy myself, find inspiration (New York City in 10 days should do the trick), reminisce on my past holiday and ensure my parents I will enter the real world and find a JOB

Lots of Love

E
xo