NOVEMBER ROUND UP

So I got my Mojo back in November!!!

Things started to turn around for me, became less stressful and my anxiety started to pull back. Being back in therapy certainly helped as did lovely friends, but things just started being less awful and less intense. The universe eased off, lol and that was very good!!!

Having a month off also was a huge help.

As always the month starts celebrating my brother-in-laws birthday. This time we dined at the Junction Inn Hotel, located on the river at Raymond Terrace, and always a great meal.

My final week at work was very hectic but also included some great moments. I love our Movie Book Club group and the fabulous discussions we have. This month we discussed the book, The Devil and the White City which was a great historical story about the Chicago World Fair and spurred amazing discussion. and Friday night was our Movie Night, which keeps growing and growing. This is thanks to my fabulous colleague T who runs the show and charms our attendees Bill Collins style. The movie was the cult classic, What's Eating Gilbert Grape, which everyone loved!

The next day I flew to Melbourne to commence my holiday.

I have never felt so in the moment as I did whilst in Melbourne, it made me realise I was getting back on track and my worries were somewhat behind me.

I arrived home from Melbourne, had a nap and headed out for a movie with J. We saw Girl on a Train. I had read the book when it first came out and it was ok. One of those blockbuster, page turners from the airport, not really my thing and I found all the characters annoying. The book was better than the movie which would have been god awful if it wasn't for Emily Blunt's performance.

I also saw the new Woody Allen later in the month. Beautifully shot, but the story lacked somewhat, I think the casting left a bit to be desired actually. But still an average Woody film is better than most of the shite out there!

That second week of hols was fairly low key. I had a lot of little jobs to do at home. I slept in, I napped, I read, I wrote, I watched DVDs etc, I went for walks. It was really lovely.

I also had a work thing, although it was so much fun, it hardly felt like work. We hosted William McInnes as part of the Share The Story with Carol Duncan event that I look after. It was a hot evening but 120 people turned up to Toronto Library to hear William talk about his latest book. He was hilarious and kind and generous and had everyone in the palm of his hand.

L and I attended opening night of the Italian Film Festival seeing the funny film, God Willing. It had a huge attendance with the film needing to be shown on two screens.

Saturday was Rodriguez and you can read about that here.

I caught up with my lovely friends A and B for dinner at Supper Lane. I have been busting to eat there since it opened. The food was outstanding but the company perfection. Love those gals!

The third week saw more pottering at home, with lunches and brunches and dinners with family and friends added in.

Monday I caught up with M at Qs, Tuesday dinner with family, Wednesday supper with B, Thursday Christmas shopping, and Friday dinner with my sister and a mammoth binge watch of the new Gilmore Girls, which made us laugh and cry. It was a lot of fun.

Also during the week I took a flying visit to Sydney to catch up with my cousin D and see The Nudes at NSW Art Gallery. D was heavily pregnant and luckily bubs decided not to test Aunty Cathy by coming too early. He decided to appear a week later...what joy, and soooo cute!!!!!

D is an artist and always has interesting insight into what we see. The exhibit was from The Tate in London and was a range of Nudes throughout the years. It was a stunning exhibit, with my highlight being Rodin's The Kiss. A remarkable white marble sculpture of a couple intertwined. Huge and breath taking, it gave me shivers down my spine.

We had a lovely lunch at the Art Gallery, then parted ways as a storm hit and I hot-tailed it for Central!

Saturday was huge. I did my usual market thing after a sleep in. But still tired from a huge night of binge watching Gilmore Girls and a big night ahead of me, I had a lovely nap to ready myself.

I had back to back events at The Basement, a newish cocktail bar. Our lovely Bibliotweeps Book Club had out final meeting of the year there, discussing Bill Bryson's Walk in the Woods. This morphed into out yearly Newy Twistmas outing. This is where Newy Tweeps catch up IRL and have fun. We've been doing this for a few years now and it is always fun to see old friends and make new ones. The Basement was a great venue, had an amazing burger for dinner, and some lovely cocktails. I spent the night at Js which was fun as always.

I caught up with J at Canon and had the most amazing smoked salmon salad.

I also had a lovely afternoon in Newcastle where I did some Christmas shopping on Darby Street, caught the John Olsen exhibit at the gallery, indulged in Popolo Gelato finally, and attended the opening of The Civic Subscription Series for 2017.  I must admit in recent years this has not been a great series, but this years was stunning and I cannot wait to see all the fabulous shows.

And here are my reviews for the month.

And late November means getting Club Cathy ready for Christmas.

And some pics as always.