The truth about wine...

I love wine. Red wine especially. But I try to be a good girl and not drink and drive, and only have it when I'm sure someone else (namely Mark) will drive me around.

One thing I've noticed is that wine (or any type of alcohol, really) makes you honest. Inhibitions are gone, filters are barely there, and whatever you think, it's instantly verbalised.

Dan's family invited me to celebrate Flossiy's 21st, which I thought was very sweet of them to invite me, even though they only met me once or twice before. At the dinner, Dan had just a bit to drink, and on the way back decided to tell the truth... And truth be told, I was quite touched by what he had to say, and I may have had a tear or two in my eye. Anyhow, it was comforting to know that Dan still cares and loves me, and I still care and love him. And it's also nice that Mark trusts me, and doesn't seem too bothered by the fact that I still hang out with an ex.

Anyway, another encounter involving wine and "the truth" was tonight. I was at an open mic gig over at Bar Me in Kings Cross, and I accompanied a friend of mine who wants to keep on singing, and I also randomly accompanied this other guy with sheet music that I had to sight read. I also sang (not that fantastically, but I think I kept in tune), and I just had a lot of fun. And it was great listening to blues and bossa nova and jazz and rock and just impro stuff. There was a woman there named Jo who had an awesome voice, and in the break I went up to her to tell her how awesome she is, and then right back at me she goes "You're fantastic!" and told me how I should keep up with my playing and what not. I also discussed how I wanted to venture into jazz, and I needed to get a jazz teacher - she introduced me to another Daniel and said "If you were crap, I wouldn't even bother letting you know about Daniel and even talk to you..." Jo wasn't a huge fan of my friend's singing, and she was quite blunt about it as well, and she goes "I'm in honest mode here, with the help of wine and all, and I think you're fantastic, and your friend? I'm sorry..." I kinda felt bad because I had to hear about what Jo thought of my friend, and being a friend I should stick up for her, but at the same time, I kinda agreed with some of the things Jo had to say. I'm still giving my friend singing lessons, so hopefully I can steer her towards the right direction.

But the whole point of that story was that it was the wine that made Jo very blunt (or probably more blunt than usual), and made her babble on about how she thought I was really good and kept on encouraging me to keep practising and further my jazz abilities (of little I have).

On another note, Mark finally met my parents last Saturday. It was my mum's birthday dinner, so I told Mark to kinda make an impression and get her flowers and stuff - so not only did he get her a bunch of gorgeous flowers, he bought me 2 pink roses! They're currently on my bedside table and they smell absolutely lovely...

Dad seemed to like him, and Dad was surprisingly laidback and relaxed and encouraged Mark to drink more beer with him and what not. Mum was yadda yadda yadda as per usual, and judging him before even knowing him in a more relaxed environment. I told mum to give him a break, seeing as he's in a situation where he feels out of place and quite unfamiliar, and that despite what it seemed like at the dinner table, he's quite attentive and considerate towards my needs and wants... Oh well, despite my mum saying "You're the one going out with him, not me, so as long as you're happy", she can easily turn around and quickly judge without really knowing the guy. I must say, half the time she's pretty spot on, but I'm going to make sure she gives Mark a fair go, because my dad seems to say he's cool and that he says he wants to get to know Mark a bit better before he says anything, which is what mum should do, but won't do.

Okay... I'm kinda spinning out, so I think I should go to bed... Damn bed bugs - I've had an infestation lately, and it's making my life hell because I had quite an allergic reaction to the bites... Hopefully after all the washing of bed sheets and spraying of mattress and bed box, all will be fine and dandy and I won't get bitten anymore...

Despite bed bugs, I'm in such a happy place... :D

SmittenNess

*smitten!*

Just came back from the Blue Mountains with Mark a few hours ago, and we had such an awesome time over the weekend... Just relaxing and fun and carefree.

We left on Saturday afternoon after my usual morning teaching (my boss was a bit antsy and wouldn't let me take the final Saturday of term off), and got to our place we were staying in about 2 hours... We stayed at this very cute studio cottage called "Tricklebeck Cottage" in Blackheath, and it was quite private and just really pleasant. It had a spa, and we definitely took advantage of that...

Saturday afternoon and evening was spent just lazing around the cottage, and then going out for dinner. Sunday morning we slept in, then had a late breakfast and drove around to Echo Point. We strolled over to the Three Sisters, and then went for some wine tasting and bought a few bottles of wine. Then we visited the Blue Mountains Chocolate place nearby, and bought some chocolate and had some "real hot chocolate" - basically melted chocolate... oh it was just all too much! It had this really cool fondue thing with a spoon that doubled up as a straw and yah, really cool. Went back to the cottage, relaxed a bit with some cheese and wine, and then went out to dinner again.

Sunday we booked to go horse riding in the mountains, and we both agreed that we're totally not morning people. Horse riding is surprisingly sore for someone who doesn't do it often - my legs and butt had quite a bit of a workout! Anyways, it was such a lovely day, and the horses we had were lovely, and we spent a good 2 hours just strolling along on horseback, admiring the mountains. By the time we finished, we were hungry, and so Mark thought it'd be a great idea to go and have lunch in Mt Tomah, where there is a huge botanical garden and apparently really good food - which we didn't end up having because they decided to shut the restaurant that day. So we drove down to Bilpin and had some scones, pie and apple pie there. It was a pleasant drive, and for once it's awesome being in the passenger's seat.

After Bilpin, I wanted to venture down to the tearooms in Megalong Valley, and driving down the windy road was fun! :D We had more tea and scones, and just chilled out for a bit. I drove the way up, and we decided to finally utilise the spa... Chocolate, cheese, wine and a spa bath with heaps of bubbles made the afternoon totally awesome!

After the spa, we were kinda hungry, and finally we were able to get into this Italian restaurant nearby because the nights before were too busy or booked out. It was such lovely affordable food, and I got a wee tipsy because we've been having wine all afternoon and had another glass for dinner.

And we basically talked all night... It was - I dunno how to describe it, but yah, we established that we're totally comfortable with each other and that we love each other very very much, and hence the smittenness... I'm just totally happy and glowing, and I am thankful to have found such a wonderful person to share my life with... And we feel the same way about each other, it's quite amusing! :D

I wonder when this honeymoon period is about to end... Because I really don't want it to end at all. This is what I've wanted for quite sometime, and I feel extremely lucky to have found Mark and that he has found me...