Like I said in my last post “Merry Kristin – on the 12th Day of Christmas”, I adore Sydney, champagne and pretty places – I seem to have found a few – yesterday’s hero was Madame Fling Flong in Newtown. Today it’s all about luxurious, delicious, dripping with lushness & femininity — The Winery in Surry Hills.

If you follow me on Twitter @KristinRohan, you know I co-host a snappy little shindig each Friday – “Champagne Fridays” – my pal, Oliver Palmer and I cooked it up so we could get together and toast well, ourselves. It’s grand and I love exploring new places to drink champagne in Surry Hills each week.

One such week, David Soul (an executive member of ChampagneFridays) suggested The Winery. Needless to say, it was LOVE at first site for me. Are you surprised?

I know!

It’s too bad we had just moved or I would have brought my suitcases straight here and never left the joint.

Here’s the unbelievable ceiling – a close-up of indulgence:

I came. I saw. I drank champagne. I fell in love. I thanked the heavens for Sydney, good friends and great times.

Here’s one more shot just so you can appreciate how breathtaking & fabulous this place is…

Okay, okay – just ONE more – guess where I’m going next week?!

Wheeeeeeee!

If you recall (or maybe you don’t since I only had 1 reader last year and now I have 3), I decided to share my love and appreciation for Sydney. It’s been a totally incredible year, and if I was smitten a year ago, let’s just say it’s full-blown love into infinity now.

So each day I reveal to my 3 readers more of the magic we are experiencing here.

It may not be a surprise that I love beautiful places and drinking champagne. When I can enjoy bubbly in a pretty place it’s KISMET! I have 2 such places that have caught my fancy in Sydney...Madame Fling Flong in Newtown and The Winery in Surry Hills (see Day 13 post).

Since it’s the weekend, I’m breaking this post up into 2 days so you can doubly enjoy my mouth-watering girlie girl pictures and giggle like I do when I look at them…

Madame Fling Flong’s in Newtown is the absolute cocktail lounge.

I was completely under it’s spell from the first minute and couldn’t wait to order my Manhattan (I strayer here a little but the place has retro cocktails and one must partake, yes?) and try out every delectable and utterly fantastic vintage chair until I found the one that screamed “Kristin” above all others.

I did.

Here’s the amazing bar – if I was still bartending, this is the first place I’d apply:

Needless to say, this is the first stop to heaven. We almost moved to Newtown so I could be close to Madame’s. Really. Wouldn’t you?

Come back tomorrow, when I share with you the horrendously feminine and soul-touching beauty of The Winery in Surry Hills…same Sweet & Sassy time…same Sweet & Sassy channel.

I’m still chugging along here not wanting to disappoint my loyal reader (thanks, hubba hubbie!). I’m enjoying Advent and really thinking about what I appreciate about being in Sydney. A LOT.

But our lives here would not be possible without one thing. This is has helped us survive in Sydney. Without it, we’d still be wandering Oz aimlessly. We’d be naked, hungry, crampy and just plain ugly. This has enabled us to make a random apartment, a home – CHINATOWN.

ANYTHING we need, I find in Chinatown. If it’s not in Chinatown, it just does not exist in Sydney.

With the exception of a brief anxiety attack that mentioned here, it’s been nothing but a loving relationship. Chinatown gives, I take – and make my husband carry to the train, through 3 suburbs, up a hill, down a hill, up a hill, and up 3 flights of stairs for me. Thanks, hubbie!

There are a few parts to Chinatown – here is the entrance to the main street:

You can kind of see cute Rob if you look hard enough.

This part has restaurants and quaint shops like this:

Here’s a cool book store:

And here’s where the magic really happens – Paddy’s Market. Which I find really funny to call the largest shopping centre in Chinatown Paddy’s Market – I think of a little Irish leprechaun dancing a jig – not a mecca of treasures.

Paddy’s is utter chaos, it’s utter calamity, it’s utter craziness…but I love it! I can find everything here. Well, see for yourself…

Here’s my secret make-up counter. Make-up is pricey in Oz, but I don’t want to be ugly, so thank God for this:

And in case I need a wig, there are about 8 of these stalls – I never knew there was this much demand, did you?

Lastly, I know these are at the top of everyone’s Christmas list – you don’t have to hide your desire anymore. Just send me your preference and I’ll pop one of these puppies in the mail for you. Don’t lie – you want one, I know it…

People abandon good treasures! They leave them out for all to procure. And, being frugal like I am, and loving to recycle and reuse, I found this to be the most magnificent of gifts!

I’ve seen couches, barbeques, shelves, photo albums, coffee table books, cappuccino makers (clean, new and with all attachments), printers (with manuals placed neatly on top), baskets, armoirs (though only lasted a few hours), beds, suitcases, etc.

And I mean, this stuff is in GREAT condition. It doesn’t belong at the dump or anything. It’s not odd that I walk down the road, and pick up a little pressie for myself. That’s how I got this basket…

And this ironing board…

Here are a few other snapshots of stuff (wish I took a pic of the cappuccino maker and printer):

I picked up with darling plate outside a shop with a free sign – it’s English china – a numbered plate…I just can’t get over it…

But my crowning glory, was the day I found this outside our pad…I think I even shed a tear of happiness for myself…

I snatched it up for our apt. – of course I waited about 10 minutes to make sure someone wasn’t just moving it – but no one was in sight. I knew it was abandoned as it was 6am and, by this time, had seen all the other things on every curb.

One morning I followed the journey of a couch – I saw one pillow, then another about 2 houses down, then another, then I saw the couch, and then a few throw pillow about 1/2 block away. I imagine that couch was trying to escape and had to offload the extras, and then finally pooped out and plopped down. It was a little weird.

I know what you are now thinking…isn’t the neighborhood a big blooming mess with all this furniture everywhere? That’s what I thought until I saw the waste management fellows picking up all the leftovers within a few hours everyday…EVERYDAY – that’s devotion and commitment and a relief. So you have to be quick around here if you like something.

Have I told you lately, that I love you, Sydney? I do – I hope you love us, too.

I had a lot to do to get us ready to come here. It was lofty, to pack it up and ship us out in under a month. We laughed, we cried, we a lot of Dominos and drank a lot of wine.

Amazingly, it went pretty smoothly. Well, there were a lot of glitches (see my blog in January for the beginning of “The Chronicles of Australia” where I will tell you the honest to heaven truth about what YOU need to do to get to Oz and enjoy it), but we did it.

By the time we arrived in Sydney, I was ready for A LOT of trouble getting a pad and setting up shop. I imagined us living in a hotel eating saltines and drinking pop wearing dirty clothes for months while we looked at 30 apartments to find one that fit our budget, got approved, got a bank account, paid a deposit in AUS dollars, got electricity, got dsl, blah, blahbity, blah….BUT THAT DIDN’T HAPPEN!

On our third day here, I saw 3 apartments, loved the 3rd, filled out the application, brought my husband to meet the real estate lady and was approved that afternoon to move in 1 week later. WOW – the place is awesome, too. We have a view, 2 bedrooms, fully-furnished bungalow with a stupendous deck. Heaven, I tell you. So I thought, beginners luck, right?

I figured it would be H-E-double-hockey-sticks to get utilities, dsl, phone, water and garbage – NOOOOOO. Water and garbage were included – what a treat! I haven’t had that covered since I lived with my wonderful folks…still going well…but I thought – we’ll NEVER get utilities, phone and dsl without bank accounts, credit history and work history – I was WRONG – I called one place On the Move Pty Ltd and FOR FREE they set up EVERYTHING for us.

WHERE IS THAT SERVICE AT HOME??!!! One place – one single place – one place to set up all my utilities – one place – that’s the place to caaaaallllll (Bye Bye Birdie anyone? Ann Margaret would get this!)

So a week later, with 11 suitcases and golf clubs (10 mine – 1 hubba hubbies) we made berth at our new home.

It was pretty spotless (usually I have to clean behind the fridge, under the oven and in the corners) and we pay our rent automatically with an easy pay card through the real estate agency – how cool is that?

To top it off – most telly channels are free. We don’t need cable – but we could have signed up for that at the same time as the others.

Thanks, Australia – for welcoming us and making it easy for us to make a cozy home – I love A.U.- WE LOVE IT! (thanks, Randy Newman)

It was the most serene place I’ve been to in a long time. I loved it! It’s like a slice a heaven amidst total and utter calamity. I needed it – we’d been in town about 5 weeks and I was feeling tired, lonely and just harrassed after being bumped and pushed and prodded in the hubbub of downtown.

That was the day I had the realisation that I was among total strangers. I knew no one and it was very humbling. Lifestory, I know – getting back to my happy place – here are some more lovely photos…

Here is my darling hubbie – doesn’t he have cute legs?!

To top it off, we enjoyed a nice pot of tea overlooking the water that flows through the middle of the garden. There are hundreds and hundreds of gorgeous koi living in the garden. Here are a few picks – just multiply this by a gazillion…

One more reason to appreciate my hubba hubbie – he takes good care of me. Needless to say, I’m enjoying Sydney and Advent and finding lovely things to appreciate about living here.

So a few more pics before I skidaddle…

I’ll butt in one more time to tell you (my one loyal reader) that this was an open window looking out to a wall in the garden with a plaque on the outside wall.

The window makes a perfect framed picture with the greenery added for an amazing effect. I will try this if I ever have a window looking out to a wall. Now I’ll say zai jian!

But I’ve a visited a place that could convert me…THE CHRISTMAS CAVE! It claims to be Australia’s largest Christmas Store, and I believe it. It was another country, if you ask me. Well, just look:

Yes, that’s a tree from the ceiling – in case you have no room because of too many other decorations.

Now, if you are in the market for a 12ft. Santa – with one arm, this is the place to get it:

Or if you want an upside down tree on on a stand for easy moving and displaying:

But seriously – here is a lovely manger (I know my mumsy likes mangers), with movable people and fine detailed work – probably about 4 ft tall each – at a mere $43,000AU – that’s right! Just look at it:

You know you want one!

After an afternoon running around this place, and enjoying the entertainment…
…I’m a changed woman.

I am in the holiday spirit! So I decided to decorate our apartment after getting loads of great Christmas ideas. Boy was I ready to spread the cheer and share with my hubbie…

How’s that? A shout out to my Great Aunt for making the lovely lace doilies – thanks, Aunt Mary!

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a Good Night – until my next world-changing and profound bloggie!!!!

Here is the view from my tiny plane…

And a pic of the airport – isn’t is darling?!

But the most awesome part of the trip was staying at the Old Parkes Convent. I don’t think I’ve ever enjoyed myself more. I was greeted by the hostess, Molly…

And sat out on the veranda during a thunderstorm with a glass of wine and some rockin’ Beach Boys tunes. Here are a few pics of my apartment – I had a WHOLE apartment – with brekkie in the morning with a delicious cappuccino AND wine, cheese, and crackers nibblies each night.

I urge you to visit the site for more pictures. It doesn’t do it justice at all – and if you ever have a chance, go visit. You will have the time of your life.

Here’s why Parkes is a kicking town – you have to see it to believe it…http://www.parkeselvisfestival.com.au/home.html…guess where we are going in January? The town doubles in size, there are NO places to stay, and there’s a bunch of Elvis’s running about town. Who would miss it?

Where else in the world could be live to be near so much water than Sydney? I knew no matter where we lived, it would be by the water – as you avid reader saw from my ferry post a few days ago.

We live on one of the many lovely bays in Sydney – here’s an opening shot of the bay:

I have no complaints.

But then we visited Bondi Beach – let me just say – totally incredible! I guess you can just see here..

And just so there’s proof that I’m actually in Sydney – here is me at one of my happiest moments…this place rocks!

Here’s the closest beach to us – it’s small but it’s ours. Life is pretty good…

I’ve never felt so alive and connected to nature. I’ve said before, I’ve lived near the water in some incredible towns. But this one takes the cake – and here’s a picture of some cake – my workmate made it – isn’t it fabulous?!

Because of the different seasons in Oz, my birthday and Christmas are in Summer – how cool is that? I love that Santa is wears swim trunks and palm trees are decorated with lights…

I could not fit in any better these days. I love wearing bathing suits, sundresses and shorts – and that is everyone’s Christmas best.

Here is what the kids are wearing for Christmas…

Everyone barbeques for Christmas and everyone is on Summer break. We hit the jackpot here – and I am excited to go to the beach (just like I do in Redondo) at Christmas and frolic in the water – which is totally warm, by the way.

I always hated how I had to bundle up for my birthday – cover my party dress and wear covered shoes – now I can look fabulous and not have to worry about freezing and looking frumpy for the most exciting day of the year.

Here is one more beautiful thing about Spring/Summer in Sydney – the jacaranda trees are in bloom….

Happy Summer Christmas and Birthday to Kristin – it’s the best pressie I could have received.