What can I say, so far being 30 has been incredibly fun! We flew to Brisbane the evening of my birthday and spent the weekend at the 'Breakfree Grand Pacific' resort in Caloundra. I was pleasantly surprised by our apartment, which we were sharing with four friends. It was a huge apartment with a spiral staircase up to our private roof top area, which contained a hot tub, BBQ and lovely ocean views. The apartment itself had several balconies looking out to the ocean, and we were on the very top floor. Other good friends had rented another 3 bedroom apartment in one of the smaller towers. My amazing friends Jen and Jess had gone decoration shopping and picked up all sorts of exciting stuff, and Lisa and Kim arrived with some awesome helium balloons to add to the overall décor! It was really just a great time with friends, spent laughing, chatting, relaxing by/in the pool, being amazed by Billy's cleverness, and soaking in the gorgeous weather.
After a fabulous weekend celebrating yours truly, I headed off to Hervey Bay with Lisa and Kim for a couple of days. Life is difficult when you live on a resort in Hervey Bay. Look out the living room window, you have a great view of the marina. Walk a few steps out the back door, you're at the pool. With the weather in the 30s for pretty much the entire week I was in Qld, I tried to make a point of getting in the water as much as humanly possible. I also had the chance to catch up with Sean, Louise, and Tomas and see their place in Sippy Downs or 'The Big Sip' as the hip people call it. I had to make sure to get enough Tomas cuddles to last me awhile, since I'm not sure when I'll next have a chance to see them.
Now comes the super hectic part, starting with my first Australian hen's night - and the only one I've been to other than my own!! I had missed the beginning and caught up with the girls at a private karaoke function...they had been celebrating for several hours already and were definitely having a good time. Nicky's amazing sister Emily planned the whole thing, and refused any offers of money to help pay for drinks, shirts (labelling us the 'bride's minions), or anything else, insisting that she had saved up to give Nicky a memorable night out. Nicky's mum, grandmother, and aunt were present for the festivities and lasted until midnight! I spoke with her mother at the wedding, who revealed that work the next day was one of the worst days of her life. Her grandmother and aunt were luckier - they were visiting from England and had no commitments the next day. After a loud and boisterous karaoke session, we walked for about one minute to a pub in the middle of the Queen Street Mall. Nicky's husband-to-be and the best man met up with us, which I thought was lovely. He's in the army and they are often apart for long stretches, and he just wanted to spend as much time with her as he could....awwwwwwwww. I love this couple :)
As for the wedding, I'll just let the pictures speak for themselves. The weather cooperated, the venue was beautiful, there was a photo booth with props, there were board games that you could take to play at your table during the reception, and I had a bunch of speechies at my table. All ingredients for an excellent time. And of course, I was truly happy for Nicky and Rob because they are both awesome, fun, smart, cool people and it's so great to attend the wedding of two people who really are perfect for each other.
Happy belated birthday!! :) Sounds like you had a great time with super lovely people!
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