back to reality

Wow, an incredible amount has happened since I last updated, incluuuuding my 20th birthday (many pictures forthcoming, I hope).

Just before Andrei left my parents flew in, meaning that I was at Sydney Airport on TWO separate occasions yesterday, phew!, but all is well and my parents are now safely bumming around Sydney while Andrei is no doubt passed out in Boston by now.

And meanwhile I return to work at Vogue Entertaining & Travel tomorrow morning--I'll update on that as well--now that I have more free time (hopefully).

The last few weeks have been mindblowingly but exhaustingly INCREDIBLE! and I wouldn't have it any other way...but tonight I think I am going to stay in and totally pig out on the cake that my friends baked me for my birthday!!!

return from the center of the earth (or the center of Oz, at least)

I survived the Outback!  After five days and four nights of being in the middle of Australia's most unlivable area, I've finally returned to civilization (most missed: running water and a real bed).  It's hard to describe how much I loved the Outback, especially Uluru and Kata Tjuta.  It was unlike any place I've ever been to before and I felt so drawn to it.  Well, as much as a person can feel drawn to big giant rocks, anyway.  Mostly, I felt so much in awe the entire time, knowing that everything I was seeing was hundreds of MILLIONS of years old.  And now my shoes are caked in bright red Outback clay that will probably never come out, my body is dead tired, and my mouth is still dry from tramping around in the desert, but I'm here and I'm tired and two minutes from now I am definitely crashing into bed.

But not before I check when Andrei's plane comes in tomorrow morning!!

I can hardly believe that six weeks has already passed and that my friends at BU are having their Spring Break already.  Well, technically Spring Break's not here just yet, but somehow I convinced Andrei to skip class Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday to flight out to Sydney early.  Who needs class when you can have perpetual sunshine and beaches?  And what better place to have Spring Break than Down Under?

Long story short, the next week will probably be void of any lengthy posts as I'll be playing the role of the perfect hostess for Andrei.  By next week I'll hope to have posted something--anything--on Melbourne, and soon thereafter I want to write about Uluru and the Outback before I forget all the details.

There'll be some awesome pics that I'll upload, so stay tuned!

xoxo,

Xu

(Final sidenote: I have been watching Gossip Girl Season 1 with friends here and I'm a smidge addicted and rather ashamed of the fact.)