tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5045419406971167102024-03-05T16:04:14.883+10:00Was kostet die Welt?Astridhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10042739382810122732noreply@blogger.comBlogger654125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-504541940697116710.post-36786888124145736482015-02-21T11:07:00.000+10:002015-02-21T13:40:09.115+10:00Long distance friendships - a crash guide
Friendship upkeep is hard. It's hard for anyone who lives close to their friends. It's about a million times more difficult if your friends live on the opposite side of the globe. But albeit being sometimes frustrating and tiring, having and keeping good friends is the most important pursuit in our social lives. It's more important than finding a partner. It's more important than keeping in Astridhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10042739382810122732noreply@blogger.comBrisbane QLD, Australia-27.4710107 153.02344889999995-29.275130700000002 150.44166189999996 -25.6668907 155.60523589999994tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-504541940697116710.post-52122775681684235242015-02-08T19:19:00.001+10:002015-02-08T19:24:29.920+10:00Do you have garment amnesia?From time to time I feel the urge to wear a smart casual pants and shirt outfit.
I choose from the vast selection of pants in my closet and wonder why, oh why I don't wear them more often. Confidently strutting out the door, I feel as light as an Alexa or an Elin.
But then, two hours into wearing those pantalones my positive attitude disappears and the painful fact resurfaces: Pants just aren't Astridhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10042739382810122732noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-504541940697116710.post-58616768453249166482015-01-19T06:50:00.005+10:002015-01-26T18:07:53.008+10:00The great appleseed travel prep plan: PT 1 - The b-wordHi everyone to my latest column - The great Appleseed travel prep plan - where you will find handy pre-travel tips from someone who basically knows everything. I promise this won't be half as boring as the first thirty pages of every travel guide you ever bought but still haven't read.
Who am I to give advice? Well, if you ask nicely I'll share some of my story. I grew up in the heart of Astridhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10042739382810122732noreply@blogger.comBrisbane QLD, Australia-27.4710107 153.02344889999995-29.275130700000002 150.44166189999996 -25.6668907 155.60523589999994tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-504541940697116710.post-83119966353441314952015-01-08T13:45:00.001+10:002015-01-08T18:29:58.303+10:00That time I won a photo shoot...It was a pretty unspectacular day off in October. G20 was around the corner and Brisbane was hot, humid and riddled with art installations while simultaneously getting rid of the homeless through public transport bribery. I mowed my lawn and played ball with my dog and found a replica gun in my front yard.
Yeah, you read that right. I found a replica gun someone had meticulously placed underneathAstridhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10042739382810122732noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-504541940697116710.post-54387486637355746872015-01-04T19:01:00.000+10:002015-01-04T19:08:13.447+10:00The end of year recap is HERE!
Twentyfourteen is over and I am pretty sure YOU are OVER reading recaps. But this post will help me remember some of the things I did in the last 365 days, which is essential due to the irregularity with which I have tended to the blog this year as well as the short term memory loss I acquired due to an overstuffed brain. And I know you're nosy so don't even pretend you're not interested in myAstridhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10042739382810122732noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-504541940697116710.post-40090607576584416882014-11-14T23:03:00.001+10:002014-11-22T10:05:01.693+10:00Stray puppies, brown water and a deluxe sunset - Bali Day 6
Remember how I said we wanted to go snorkeling? Well, we did on day 6 and it was fun but mostly scary and super underwhelming. I snorkeled through parts of the Great Barrier Reef before and quite frankly, underwater Bali looked like a wasteland in comparison.
We went to Nusa Dua and bought a tour off yet another business our trusty taksi driver Ketut had some sort of an affiliate deal with. Astridhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10042739382810122732noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-504541940697116710.post-40385291894702582892014-11-09T16:20:00.000+10:002014-11-09T16:20:04.773+10:00BALI DAY 5 - SHOTSAstridhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10042739382810122732noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-504541940697116710.post-84527322273475321192014-11-08T20:32:00.001+10:002014-11-12T08:03:11.238+10:00Spectacular Ubud - Bali Day 5I have had a travel bucket list since being a little girl in my tiny Austrian country side village. My dream destinations were mostly Canadian and US American cities at the time (and Paris, of course), but as I am growing older, I seem to prefer nature over people and the manufactured. Aside from choosing quieter destinations, I also keep my bucket list a lot shorter these days, knowing that Astridhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10042739382810122732noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-504541940697116710.post-12929913707754853192014-10-26T14:52:00.000+10:002014-10-26T14:52:23.010+10:00BALI DAY 4 - SHOTS
Astridhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10042739382810122732noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-504541940697116710.post-74920992559160436532014-10-26T14:27:00.000+10:002014-10-26T14:27:53.668+10:00Temples and monkey butts - BALI DAY 4Half time approached quickly and day four of my trip marked the first joint travel day with my Austrian ladies. As much as I love solo travel, having friends there my age, who know me from way back, who I don't have to explain to what I'm doing, what I've done, what is still to come - it ruled!
Another perk of traveling in a group - more footage!
We commenced our day at Kuta beach to create Astridhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10042739382810122732noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-504541940697116710.post-35436504589460897822014-10-19T19:12:00.000+10:002014-10-19T19:12:13.103+10:00BALI DAY 3 - SHOTSAstridhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10042739382810122732noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-504541940697116710.post-12046848422656636662014-10-19T18:54:00.000+10:002014-10-19T18:54:25.735+10:00More Kuta, more drinks and a surprisingly intimate massage - BALI DAY 3Day three of my Bali adventure started with a thorough observation of my burnt as hell skin. I went through a night of crazy tossing and turning and watched "Frozen" in a desperate attempt to help me cool my body. You know, through visual stimulation...I said I was desperate, OK!
It was also the day that I had to say goodbye to my five star luxury hotel, and move into a more budget friendly Astridhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10042739382810122732noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-504541940697116710.post-42562759370339432962014-10-18T21:30:00.000+10:002014-10-18T21:34:13.740+10:00BALI DAY 2 - SHOTSAstridhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10042739382810122732noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-504541940697116710.post-23515332885195463552014-10-18T20:52:00.000+10:002014-10-18T20:52:38.132+10:00Sunburn, massages, pastries - BALI DAY 2After all the craziness of day one, I was keen to explore my surroundings the morning after. I waited patiently for the breakfast buffet to open (jet lag had me dancing in my room at 4 am) and while I expected a good assortment of food, the kitchen completely blew me away. (horrible phone photos to follow, as I wasn't keen on bringing my DSLR and also felt slightly embarrassed photographingAstridhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10042739382810122732noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-504541940697116710.post-27589692005321098922014-10-08T20:33:00.002+10:002014-10-08T20:33:36.761+10:00BALI - The chaos and the beautifulStepping into the arrivals hall at Ngurah Rai airport filled me with enough excitement to fuel a passenger plane.
Imagine the noise level of a handful of luggage belts and a few dozen suitcase wheels transforming into the yells of a good hundred drivers, all battling to get to the very front, yelling out the misspelled names on their hotel signs. It was thrilling and so comfortably uncomfortable Astridhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10042739382810122732noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-504541940697116710.post-37836458708160696102014-10-02T06:41:00.000+10:002014-10-02T06:41:28.286+10:00On the road again!As mentioned in my previous post, I decided to go on a little adventure with one of my oldest and closest friends Babsi.
To celebrate her freshly bagged bachelor's degree, Babsi and one of her mates from Uni booked a six week adventure exploring South East Asia. So when I heard about it whilst getting drunk with her on my Austria holiday this year, I decided to join in the fun.
A photo Astridhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10042739382810122732noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-504541940697116710.post-70692234921088806862014-09-28T20:27:00.000+10:002014-09-28T20:27:45.174+10:00HIYA! Many months have passed since I last took to the good olde blogger format and I can tell you I MISSED THIS! I have been super caught up with work (as usual), been trying to not neglect my husband, dog, family, friends AND myself in the process of being a mad hatter manager, but you know how it is, something's got to give and in this case it was my good friend the blog. During my absence I, Astridhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10042739382810122732noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-504541940697116710.post-71063384611949882472014-05-25T15:17:00.004+10:002014-05-25T15:17:58.617+10:00Thoughts on modesty - and why you should really kick this lame habit!Modesty is an honorable trait.
Being modest is a non-threatening way to approach strangers and friends. No one wants to be the arrogant dude who brags about their great job or relationship when entangled in a conversation, right? There's no harm in being modest, is there?
I say: WRONG!
For a lot of us, it is this internalized need to down play achievements, unrelated to whether they were easy Astridhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10042739382810122732noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-504541940697116710.post-40639843090971295382014-05-18T09:08:00.001+10:002014-05-18T09:08:39.432+10:00So...what was up in March then?Here's to playing catch up, guys.
I need to be reminded of all the fabulous things that happened in the past two months. Let's start with March. OK GO!!!!
In March I flew A LOT and took photos of fluffy clouds. I took Marlow for a million walks and loved it and even off leash (don't tell the council!) he doesn't leave my side for longer than 30 seconds. I ate black forest cake Astridhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10042739382810122732noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-504541940697116710.post-82202730202485447692014-05-08T15:04:00.003+10:002014-05-08T15:04:34.347+10:00PLAYING CATCH UPHi there my lovely readers.
I don't just owe you an explanation for my disappearance, I more so owe it to myself.
Life has been unkind these past few months and I've fallen off a pretty solid path I had so well evened out for myself. It has been a very tiring start to the year, no doubt. So much loss, days blending into each other with no real distinction, sadness, anxiety, feeling overwhelmed Astridhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10042739382810122732noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-504541940697116710.post-53835270652875857942014-03-03T22:22:00.000+10:002014-03-03T22:22:53.134+10:00Black BarterAt the start, it sounded terrific to wear black and just black. Day in, day out. A no-brainer in the multi faceted studies of outfit composition, so easy to obtain, so hard to stain (see what I did there?).
Three years ago, I felt thrilled about my new work uniform guidelines and couldn't understand why the long term employees called them "restrictions". After all, it should be easy to appear Astridhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10042739382810122732noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-504541940697116710.post-45153265982023829092014-02-17T08:38:00.002+10:002014-02-17T08:38:44.681+10:00BEFORE AND AFTERSo, writing about love on Valentine's Day has been thoroughly overdone.
I am going to write about my favorite topic ever.
See, since I've started calling myself a feminist, I have had the hardest time accepting the fact that not a lot of other women are. I've come down with depressing horror realizations about how little other women in my life know about feminism. I mean: IT'S SO RELEVANT!!! I Astridhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10042739382810122732noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-504541940697116710.post-84270975593880914002014-02-09T20:53:00.000+10:002014-02-14T15:09:03.843+10:00On everyday sexism on the internet PT 1I try not to get too involved in online commentary. I can't handle the
infinite level of ignorance people choose to freely put on display. My
hands shake and my neck tenses as I get more and more involved and
evenly frustrated, so I try to stay away.
It's a very soothing
experience to deprive oneself from social media, but I found that once
back online, the lack of manners and sensibility Astridhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10042739382810122732noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-504541940697116710.post-10688013833129318132014-01-31T11:02:00.001+10:002014-01-31T11:22:18.320+10:00NO SPEND JANUARY - A RECAPHi there! Can you believe it's the last day of January already?
What is this weird time capsule I am in all the time, that turns days into hours and hours into
minutes...
I
did this awesome thing in January. Believe it or not, I needed a break
from the retail industry. I couldn't quit my job though (you don't say
haha), so I eased the pain by putting a spending ban on myself. And by
spendingAstridhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10042739382810122732noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-504541940697116710.post-5747093875831360722014-01-24T17:37:00.000+10:002014-01-24T17:57:45.437+10:00Let's talk clothes
Where to start? The button up flannelette shirt? The thong jorts over fishnet underpants? The chin length hair? The teeth flashing?
Maybe I just love this look so much, because it is the only one I could instantly recreate using preexisting wardrobe tenants. Due to excessive shedding in recent weeks I am also contemplating on giving that fabulous hair cut a go. Astridhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10042739382810122732noreply@blogger.com