Tag: holiday

Merry Christmas + Happy New Year!

Claire @ Coffee with Claire4 Comments

Christmas Eve 2018

Being the newbie at work, I was the one who had to stay during the holidays and sure, I have no family or friends to spend the holidays with so I do make the perfect candidate for coming into work but it was sooooo dead. It sucks even more that I’m new because if I was there for a while, I would’ve had some backlog of work to get through and pass the time.

My colleagues agreed that I could call it early and get started on my Christmas since it was very quiet. Times like this, I wish I was back at home because my old job has flex days and the office would just be closed and we’ll work from home.

Santa also came a bit earlier and my ring finally came from Canada! I am sooooo in love with it…

Christmas Day 2018

Merry Christmas! We woke up to a whopping 30+ degrees and it didn’t feel like Christmas at all. For us, we associate Christmas with cold and snow, lol. At work, there’s another Canadian that moved to Melbourne 30+ years ago and she told me that even after all these years, she still can’t get used to an Aussie Christmas.

Dan and I went down to Brighton Beach. We opted out of St. Kilda’s because we figured it will be packed with tourists. Brighton Beach felt more local and it was much, much quieter.

After the beach, we headed home to relax and have our Christmas dinner. Since it was just us – our housemates both left for the holidays – we decided to do the most stereotypical thing … we had a bbq and threw shrimps on the barbie, haha.

Since it was also the most stereotypical thing to do, we decided to take some photos for our last minute Christmas card idea. We had a lot of fun doing it that I think we’ll like to make this the start of a tradition! Making cheesy and cringey family cards.

Boxing Day 2018

I didn’t partake in Boxing Day this year as I felt that I didn’t need much… plus, being a traveller sort of makes you a bit more conscious of your purchases because you’re going to have to think how to bring all your crap back home or if you want to invest in something so temporary.

Instead, we opted to catch Aquaman in theaters. And…

Aquaman was horrible. The group in front of us walked out. But oh my gosh, I was feeling relief when the movie finally ended. I would give it a 3/10 and Dan gives it about a 5 or 6/10.

The actors were good enough, but the writing was soooo bad and cheesy. Seriously. On top of that, we weren’t a fan of how futuristic the film was – it felt like we were watching an underwater Star Wars movie.

I would probably catch this movie only if you can get discounted tickets – otherwise, wait for it to come on a streaming platform.

Also, I also found out that my one hour of sunbathing on Christmas Day resulted in my first ever sunburn! Literally, my first ever sunburn. I’m not even mad, lol.

New Year’s Eve

For NYE, we decided to head out to King’s Domain to catch the city’s fireworks. We normally hate going out on NYE because everything is overpriced and transport (public or private) sucks ass. But, being new to the city and without friends or family, public events are pretty much our only choice to celebrate a holiday, lol.

I’m usually skeptical about public celebrations because Vancouver has always put on shite fireworks and entertainment so I didn’t have much expectations for Melbourne’s.

To end off 2018, we went to Sushi Hub. It’s technically a fast food sushi restaurant but we haven’t found an actual sit-in sushi restaurant yet (without it being super expensive).

We arrived a bit earlier than the entertainment because we weren’t sure when Sushi Hub would close. So we just hung around the park and chatted, enjoying each other’s company.

The entertainment included music videos and a live DJ – nothing too extravagant.

Literally waited about 3.5 hours for the fireworks and countdown!

So, hello to 2019 in Melbourne! 2018 has been a great year but I wasn’t fan of the last two months.

I’m not sure what to make 2019, to be honest. 2018 has been a great year and I just want to continue the flow of savings, new experiences and travelling. Sure, there are habits I’d like to kick but for the most part, I think I’ll continue to live and experience 2019 the same way as I did in 2018 with a little bit more pushing myself out of the comfort zone!


Journal Entry #005

Claire @ Coffee with Claire4 Comments

Saturday, December 29th, 2018

LOL, I honestly can’t help but laugh when I look at how consistent I am at blogging… because I can have spurts of 10 entries scheduled and then be quiet for the remainder of the month or two.

I can’t believe it’s the end of the year already! It’s surreal to think 2019 is coming. I think 2020 would be a little mind boggling for me because I remember vividly as a kid that 2020 seems AGES away. I used to pull out the calculator and calculate how old I’ll be in 2020 or 2050, etc.

During the last couple of days at work when it’s been really quiet, I was thinking a lot about my blog and how excited I am for the posts that I need to catch up on. I think in 2019, I’ll like to put a lot more effort into my blog and stop being so shy about it. I’m a lot more comfortable telling Dan when I’m doing blog stuff so that’s a start, right?

In the first few weeks of January, I think I’ll have to backtrack to a few days/moment in December that I want to share and document.

Anyways, I have a bunch of unread posts to catch up on on my WordPress Reader and Bloglovin…

So, a belated Merry Christmas wish to you, and a Happy New Year!

See you guys in 2019.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Claire @ Coffee with Claire1 Comment

Happy Thanksgiving to all my readers!

Last year, we had Friendsgiving and it was a blast! Unfortunately, this year, everyone in our group was busy and ended up doing different things. Rather than letting Thanksgiving go to “waste”, Dan and I decided to have our own little Thanksgiving dinner.

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We celebrated Thanksgiving last night because we decided to catch Venom today at 2pm and it was such an odd time to fit a movie in the afternoon and come home to try to cook a nice meal.

I originally decided against a turkey because I thought it’s a bit too much for a dinner for two but then again, what is Thanksgiving without a turkey, right? Dan ended up picking up a small 4kg turkey for only $8 (!!!), some potatoes, and brussel sprouts.

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Last year, the group purchased a pumpkin pie from Costco and I didn’t like it at all. I was sceptical about the pumpkin pie Dan got from Safeway but after a bite or two of his, I eventually grabbed a plate for myself as well. I’m not a big fan of pumpkin but this was a goooooood pumpkin pie!

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We’re simple people so the fact that it was just the two of us, our Thanksgiving dinner was small and simple as well. It makes my heart feel so full and warm to be able to call Dan my family and not feel lonely during the holidays if it’s just the two of us. Especially with our move to Australia at the end of this month, I think it’s awesome to prep ourselves that we would be spending more time alone and relying on each other more than ever.

So, what am I grateful for this year?

  • Dan… everything from our relationship to his love and support, I’m so grateful for our relationship.
  • My friends and family.
  • My employer… they are like my second family. I’ve never dreaded going to work and I’m so thankful they took the opportunity in hiring me. I love my work.
  • My health.
  • All my travel opportunities.
  • My life in general. I know this sounds weird but I’m loving where I am right now and appreciate all that has happened to me to get me where I am now with all the opportunities presented to me and the love I feel from those in my life.

Happy Thanksgiving and I hope you take a short moment out of your day just to appreciate the things around you 🙂

Until next time!

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Friendsgiving 2017

Claire @ Coffee with Claire3 Comments

Last week was Thanksgiving (in Canada) so… happy belated Thanksgiving!

This year was Dan’s and I’s first Thanksgiving together (which means we’re almost celebrating one year soon!). We travelled out to Surrey to visit our mutual friends and the gracious hosts of the Thanksgiving dinner.

Since my family doesn’t celebrate Thanksgiving, and Dan’s family is on the islands still, and a lot of our friends’ family is scattered across Canada as well, we decided to have Friendsgiving!

Our hosts, Alex and Chris had a beautiful Friendsgiving set up for us. They had the turkey in the oven, appies out on the table, drinks flowing, and even a makeshift photo booth!

Before we went over, I had one shoot to do for a fashion blogger.

By the time I got home, Dan was busy cooking all the veggies we were assigned to bring to the potluck-style feast… I helped peel a few carrots 😛

Fast forward to arrive at our destination and being greeted by a bunch of food and great people! Dinner started shortly after we arrived and it was sooooo delicious! It was a great idea to have a potluck because it showcases everyone’s different style of cooking and flavours. A few of my favourite dishes was the ham, mashed potatoes, and this uber amazing salad.

 

 

After dinner, we killed a lot of time with the makeshift photo booth. It was a very simple idea of just gold cloths hung up and a basket of props next to it.

 

 

 

 

I dated Daniella for a few minutes.

 

 

 

It was definitely one the best Thanksgiving I’ve ever had in my life. There were fun games (did I mention a life-size Jenga?!), great food, awesome people, and generally a very good vibe!

It’s insane that I’ve almost known these people for a year and I’m so happy they’ve accepted me and welcomed me into their group of friends. I love the fact that I could hang out with anyone of these guys without having Dan along with me as well, and have separate conversations and all.

I feel like every Thanksgiving speech is the same, where we’re all thankful for the most common things in life… which is not to say, I don’t appreciate it. I’m very thankful for a family, a roof over my head, health, and clothes to keep me warm. But I’m also very thankful for the newfound friends, my wonderful relationship with Dan, and my manager for taking a chance on me and giving me my first HR opportunity with a wonderful company!

I don’t want to brag, but I feel like I’m very blessed in my life, and I’m happy where I am. I can’t wait to see how my adventures fold out but for the most part, I am definitely enjoying the ride!

What are a few things you’re thankful for this year?

Happy (Canadian) Thanksgiving!

Claire @ Coffee with Claire3 Comments

I swear, I would never get tired of using glitter graphics.

It’s Thanksgiving in Canada!

This year, I’m thankful for…

  • Working today because it’s a stat holiday which means stat pay… yaaaas. I know that sounds selfish but I would like the extra cash since I work 4 days/week now
  • Family for supporting my decisions in life about travels, schools, friends, guys, political decisions, etc. etc.
  • Friends for understanding about my busy schedule with full time work and school
  • Being employed at one of the best workplaces ever and being employed in general. I can’t ask for a better place to work right now
  • Being able to get a post-secondary education and wrapping up my last year of my undergrad
  • Living in Canada. As my move to NZ is getting closer and closer, I’m more thankful for Canada and its glory. Also, the elections are coming up which makes me reflect on how lucky I am to be able to vote freely
  • All the wonderful life changing inspirational people I’ve met this summer. Mark, Michal and Jenny all taught me to forget about money and travel, travel, travel
  • Almost reaching 22 years of life on Earth… seriously, only 8 more days to go!
  • The roof above my head, clothes on my back and excess cash to buy junk food
  • Sushi. All the sushi in the world.

I’m sure I have much more to be thankful for but these are the things I’m most grateful for this year. I’m so excited to exercise my right to vote and start my last year of my undergrad degree!