The Last Day of 2008

We celebrated the end of 2008 and the upcoming arrival of 2009 with lots of running around town and shopping. Look at what we bought!

Everyone knows I have a fixation on shoes :) If you didn't, well now you do! I bought these from Betts. Its called the Switch white 'Spider'.

I have been looking around for an outdoor 3 piece to put on one of our 3 balconies. The weather here is sometimes great for sitting outside reading a book, having breakfast or late afternoon tea. We found a bargain at 50% off and here it is!

To add a little freshness to this corner, I would like to purchase 2 different sized, square, dark, terracotta plant pots for a splash of green and an iron wall sculpture/frame to surround this 3 piece. I really want to pretty up the balcony if I can. So...more shopping around to do..

We have also been looking around for a bedroom suite for awhile. I wanted something new for our room and we splashed out for one yesterday. Its called the 'Utah' - a dark mocha bed with a leather bed head, leather surrounds plus espresso colored bedsides and tallboy. I can't wait for it to be delivered! Till then, here is a picture of it from the catalogue.

We also bought a brand new posturepedic mattress to go with the suite. Our current mattress gives me a slight back ache. So now no more backache! Whoohoo!

All purchases aside, a New Year's Eve blog post is not fully complete without a fireworks mention :) Being yesterday was my first NYE in Canberra, it was a must to go out and join the festivities. The fireworks show in Canberra was held at the civic square and they had two light shows. One at 9pm (for the kids) and another at 12am (for the over 12's)

Smart me suggested that we head to the Mt. Ainslie look out to enjoy the lights instead of crowding at the square. And that was a great idea because there wasn't a massive crowd at the lookout. We got a beautiful spot and sat from 6pm - 9pm waiting for the show to begin. We walked around and took some shots before having to plonk our bottoms down, not getting up (even for a toilet run) until the show ended. Musn't lose our spot! These are the shots I took prior to sitting down.

Sea of yellow flowers

See some family resemblance? My in-laws and my husband

Sun setting on the city

It was cold - we shared a wind breaker - looking a bit like a freak show

Families started arriving after we did, bringing rugs, portable tables, seats, food and wine to celebrate the outing. Alex caught sight of this chubby little kid and couldn't stop laughing at his antics. I sneaked a shot over my shoulder and caught the kid, surrounded by food, trying to open a round box of hummus. :) Real chubby huh..

Many families behind us with picnic gear all set up - Spot 'chubs' again? :)

The lookout was a great choice and we could even hear the live entertainment at the civic square from where we were. The picture below is a collage of the 9pm Canberra fireworks shots.

Canberra fireworks

We left after the 9pm fireworks so we could catch the Sydney fireworks live on TV. AUD 5 million was spent in Sydney for this and the theme for this year was 'Creation'. It was a lovely display. Wish we were there seeing it through our own eyes. Here are some shots of it.

The finale

There has been talk that AUD 5 million is rather an unnecessary amount of $$ to spend in times of financial pain. But I guess if 5 million worth of flying lights is what it takes to help most of us forget our worries for a momentary 10 minutes, its worth the price.

2008 was a good year - A year of changes. Status changed. Location changed. Job changed. And for all that I have been blessed with, I am thankful. May next year be even better!

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE~

cheryl