Last week I received the email of acceptance from WOW for this year's show - phew!! For the first time ever, the judges have asked for some alterations, and with my trip to Melbourne looming, it was nose to the grindstone for four days straight to get it done in time. I am grateful for both my acceptance and the opportunity to improve my design, which is how I see the judges' request. I know that I have spent months working on these and have become absorbed in them, and I can appreciate the fresh eye with which they have been viewed, and their suggestions make complete sense to me. Finally last night, I had every sequin stitched on that leather, and it was all wrapped up. Time to pack for Melbourne....

It was an early start for Mum and I, and I just scraped through with a 22.9kg suitcase! Unfortunately, although the flight made good time, we spent well over half an hour trying to cross the runway at Melbourne, due to delays caused by iced up planes this morning. Having caught the Skybus into town, we waited quite a while to be ferried to our apartment, which was really within walking distance, but we didn't want to drag our bags through the streets. At check-in, we discovered that the room had not been booked as a twin, but luckily, this could be fixed. Then we got into the lift to head up, pressed the button - nothing. We started to panic as the lift would not move, nor would the doors open - we were only moments away from pressing the alarm button, and I had already knocked loudly on the doors, before noticing the key-card slot.... ohhhhh.

It was time then to dump the bags and get out for noms - I was ravenous! Mum wanted to unpack a little, and managed to appease me for a short while with some cashews and crackers, but these were not enough to fend off a full-blown hangry, so we trotted across the bridge to South Wharf, where sadly, nothing really appealed, but I eventually settled on The Common Man for some lamb meatballs and salmon croquettes. Afterwards, we enjoyed a stroll along South Bank in the lovely winter sun, and checked out the many restaurants - so much pizza, pasta and burgers - meh!! We're here for interesting!!

We walked back through town and stopped for supplies and struggled for the few blocks home, arriving just in time for me to receive the phone call for my radio interview with Canberra, whilst I surreptitiously sipped on my 'Wicked Elf' beer!! We have since settled in, sussed out some decent restaurants, and to my delight, have discovered that I don't set up until Wednesday - I thought it was tomorrow!! Whoot! I'm writing this whilst Mum cooks me dinner - this was a good idea!!

Woke around 7:30 to a pretty nice looking day, assessed as I ducked out to get my start-up coffee. Large double shot $4 - happy with that!! I decided it was too nice a day not to get out for a run, knowing that it would probably not be like this all week, so got dressed in my gear and headed off. It was cold but lovely, and I enjoyed my run along South Bank, then under the bridge towards the gardens. I've never been on that side, and I passed many rowing sheds before it turned into the gardens, where I saw a huge Magnolia tree absolutely laden with fragrant blooms - heavenly!

The rest of the day was spent at the Queen Victoria Markets, where we picked up some lovely noms, including a cave-aged Taleggio, and an aged Spanish Goats cheese - Om nom nom!! (Apparently there is a dessert restaurant here called Om Noms - must find it - and the Cat Cafe! That's for patting cats, not eating them.) It's a pretty overwhelming experience with the sheer volume of choice, topped off with the shouting vendors. Tomorrow is set-up day, which should leave me with a free afternoon. I've finished off the day with a little quiet time at Arbory, a bar in a wonderful position between the Yarra River and Flinders St Station - every station should have such a thing!!