I'm going to be on the radio!! And other things

Lots of people have been asking how the job is going so thought I'd do a mini update here. It's all going super well at the moment: I'm keeping busy, the people are really nice and it's a step up into marketing & advertising which is good - definitely heading in the right direction now :) 

I've been creating content for the blog which you can find here http://www.tmg.edu.au/blog/ and writing content for print collateral too, like brochures, flyers, posters and newspaper ads. We're liaising with the local radio at the moment as well, so I'll be penning audio scripts which is exciting! Here's an example of the kind of brochures I've been working on with the lovely graphic designer http://www.tmg.edu.au/industry-matters/.

Thursday is set to be a particularly interesting day - I'm going to the Smooth FM recording studios to be the voice over for a couple of contact lens adverts! Nothing to do with the company I work for; my boss's dad wants a British female to do the commercial voice over to market a new product and I was volunteered for the task! Not complaining though - it'll be a really cool experience (if a little nervewracking). According to the little white lie my boss told, I'm in fact an expert in commercial voice overs and have lots of experience from all the radio work I've done in London...we'll see how quickly they figure out he's told an absolute whopper. Anyway! Then I head back to the office to help shoot a video to promote our international qualifications! 

So all pretty exciting stuff. Still loving the house (my housemates are so nice and tonnes of fun), the hour long commute has meant I've got back into reading (on my fifth book in 4 weeks), I've been running again (although the 30 degree+ weather makes it difficult sometimes!)* and I'm keeping busy with lots of fun things at the weekends. My list of things to do is growing by the day - there are heaps of festivals coming up which is so awesome. Can't believe how well everything's worked out, I'm so lucky! 

*I know, poor me suffering in 30 degree heat while it's -2 back home...to be honest though the weather hasn't been all that recently, it's been a 'weird summer' according to the locals & not as warm/sunny as it should be. We've had a fair amount of rain and cold! When it can get to 45 degrees here though, that's probably a blessing in disguise...

Perfect summer days in Melbourne

Last Saturday, I squandered the entire day doing absolutely zero - and felt terrible about it. What's the point of living somewhere new if you're not going to...well, live it? In addition to making sure I got my ass out of the house, I spent a couple of hours on Sunday drawing up a list of all the things I want to see/do/visit while I'm in Melbourne, and I'm planning on doing at least one every weekend. Even if it's just going to a new bar (and to be perfectly honest these currently dominate the list), I'll feel like I've been productive and that I'm making the most of living on the other side of the world :)

This weekend started off well: I went to a cosy little wine bar just down the road to kick the evening off on Friday and ended the night in a rum bar I'd never been to before. Saturday was HOT (34) so I went to St Kilda and walked up the coastline to South Melbourne Beach which was just perfect. St Kilda was pretty packed but if you follow the coast there are some huge stretches of sand that are almost completely secluded. 

Saturday night was another booze-fuelled affair at a place called the Carlton Club, an eccentric rooftop bar/club with life-sized giraffes towering over you on your way to the smoking area & elephant heads coming out of the walls. The view of the city lights and skyscrapers on the rooftop took me back to New York and an incredible rooftop bar with the Empire State Building glittering in the background :) And Sunday I went to the Royal Botanic Gardens which are so beautiful and peaceful. I'd almost forgotten what it's like doing things on my own, so it was nice to stroll around with just my camera for company - felt like I was back on the road for a dreamy couple of hours.

Mother-in-law's cushion! 

It turns out, when you look for it, there's quite a lot to do in and around Melbourne. One of which is the impossibly beautiful Great Ocean Road, which I'm hopefully going down next weekend! Super excited. My Melbourne bestie Anthony (there's your mention big) has a car which is the best thing and means we can go on trips out of the city to places like the Hot Springs and maybe the Grampians (might be pushing my luck with that one)! 

With squeaky beaches, phosphorescence, swimming pool rooftops, stunning coastal walks & drives, hot springs, open air movies, beautiful parks and a buzzing live music scene, I'm getting good vibes from the next 5 months :)