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Hey everyone! Mom and Barry have left me 😞 and they are now safe and enjoying the last leg of their trip in New Zealand. We had a great trip. They said a fair bit away from where I go to school, but we were able to work it out. They got in Thursday night and I saw them Friday. I met them at Federation Square and took them to Queen Victoria Market. We shopped around a little and after some thought I've decided that I should not leave here without a pair of Uggs. They are an Australian icon and are amazingly comfortable. Of course, being a freak about the color green, I'm going to look around when it's the right time for a pair of pale green ones. YUMMY. Anyways, we looked around for a bit, had some delicious food, and headed back to college to show them around and introduce them to my floormates. They were surprised at how small my room is, I guess on Skype it looks a lot bigger than it is. We decided to head out to dinner and bring my friends Bevan and Woody with us. We always go to a pub called
Father Flanagans (Flannys) so I thought it'd be fitting to take them to a dinner there. Mom and I shared nachos and I bought her a couple beers which she enjoyed. The beer was called Pure Blonde so OF COURSE she liked it haha 😊. We went up on the Rialto Towers and were able to see a view of Melbourne from very high up there so it was neat to see the city like that. Then we ventured away from the city and caught dinner at a place called Vegie Bar, a vegetarian restaurant that was in my travel book and that a lot of my aussie friends suggested. It was so tasty. Mom and I shared a slice of berry cheesecake and by the time we were done it was hard to move. We peeked around at some shops, then I caught the tram home and they went back to their hotel room. That Monday we went on a wine tour. It was the same tour I went on over Easter Break....and this time we even had the same tour guide! He didn't recognize me, but he made sure to quiz me on bits of information to see
toasting!
happy 21st nichole! if I had paid attention last time...most of the questions I got wrong, but oh well, now I know! That night was my friend Jane's birthday and they were all going to a place called Taco Bills for dinner. We decided to do the same thing and that Mom and Barry would leave me there and we'd say our goodbyes since they were off to NZ the next day. We had a delicious dinner and toasted to having a wonderful visit. I walked mom and Barry outside and of course started crying. What a wuss right? I'm so thankful that Mom and Barry got to come see where I've been living and were also able to meet my friends, I think it made them feel a lot better. Now I'm looking forward to dad coming on June 15! Whee!
Like I said, it was Jane's birthday and I joined their table after saying goodbye to Mom and Barry. After Taco Bills we walked over to a place called Mosskito's and had a couple cocktails. My favorite one in the world is called the Toblerone. It's like a milkshake. It's like a meal in itself, it's delicious. I had one
going home
tram stop picture! of those and after that and Taco Bills I was too full to go on. It was nice to sit with friends and chat. The next day was Nichole's birthday! She's one of my best friends here and on the winery tour I bought her a bottle of champagne since it's her 21st. I made her a card as well and she was thrilled when she got it. We went out that night with a bunch of people from my dorm to Flannys and had a lot of fun. There was a big rugby match on TV that we watched and it was a fun night out, I know Nichole had a good time, hahaha.
So, in the title of this blog, it says "One for One." I wanted to share with everyone that reads this a website about a company that does something really amazing. The website is http://www.tomsshoes.com/ and the company is called TOMS Shoes. They are a company that manufactures simply designed shoes based on a style of Argentinean shoe called the alpargata. The founder of the company, Blake Mycoskie, was inspired by his travels in South America and the devastating poverty he saw. He noticed
TOMS!
i'm hoping to purchase these when I get home, check out the website! it's an amazing company! children that had no shoes on their feet and decided to do something about it, to, as the company's motto states, "make life more comfortable." TOMS is sold in many department stores (I remember seeing them in Dillards last year) and boutique shops and they run about $40-$50. The amazing thing about this company isn't that it manufactures shoes in the name of making life more comfortable, it's that they actually take that motto and apply it to their overall purpose. For every pair of TOMS shoes purchased, a pair of TOMS is given to a child in need. ONE for ONE. Literally. They have also launched "shoe drops." This means that you and me could apply to actually go to South Africa or to Argentina for a month or so and put these shoes literally on these childrens feet. You can travel with TOMS and see their word in action, it's a beautiful thing. You can also do cool things like host a TOMS party. You invite everyone, pool together the money to buy each person a pair of white TOMS, place your order, receive the TOMS in the mail, and design your own pair. All this is on the website, and I really hope you'll check it out. I'd order a pair (I already have mine picked out) but they don't ship to anywhere outside the US at this time. If you need a pair of comfy shoes that you can wear all the time and do anything with, I suggest going and getting a pair of TOMS and while you wear them you should think about the fact that someone in the world is experiencing the same comfort you are and it's all because of you. I plan on doing a TOMS party for my 22nd birthday in October.
I'll leave you with that 😊 I hope you're all happy and healthy. I'll be in Brisbane this coming weekend so I'll write a blog about that when I'm back. Love you all 😊
xoxo,
Amanda
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