you wonder why the lack of blogging ness from me even though i'm back in ozzy land doing not much at all? because i have found a new friend to pass the time with. mimi has myspace ya'll! http://www.myspace.com/miminguyen5

living it up USA styles for 3 months was such a wonderful experience. I got to see soo much in so little time. found myself in 8 states in 3 months. i did the touristy stuff in new york- wtc, times square, central park, statue of liberty, brooklyn bridge etc etc and i did the same in california- hollywood, melrose, robertson blvd, rodeo drive etc etc but i also went places people don't usually go. and it was fun. loved every minute of my trip. i love being home too. i've definately been bitten by the travel bug though. my plans are to travel around the USA as much as possible in the next few years and hopefully save up enough to do europe! awesome!

can't wait to see all of you ASAP! miss ya'll long time!! haha

xox mimi

there are soooooo many things going through my mind at the moment. i don't know what i'm gonna do with the next stage of my life...

my original plan was to stay in the USA for 2 years and work and do the travelling thing... but at the same time i crave the stability and routine of the normal life back home.

what's made me think about this so much is there are some clients here already, after only working 3 weeks, ask for me to do them by name.. and it's so nice to know people appreciate what you do for them and they love what you do so much. that's why i love my work. but on the other hand, i already HAVE those clients as well back home. there have been calls and emails from several clients asking where the hell am i weren't i meant to be back on june 17th?! i've told all my clients here my plan is to come back by september... but when i do finally make the gruelling decision to live abroad or not.. if i stay home, i'm losing my clients here... and if i stay home, i lose my current clients.. and i know you think "ooh big deal".. but i really love my work and my clients are the ones who make my job what it is.. you meet such amazing people and you learn so much...

another reason i'm reconsidering is.. moving here and starting a new life for 2 years, to only have to pack up and go home seems like a waste of sorts.. KNOWING i am going home at the end of it, i would never really pursue any real relationship.. i wouldn't waste my time.. and that's no way to look at life/love. it's a hard decision i have to make and i'm scared if i make a decision i might look back and regret it either way?....

soooooooo i've just spent the last 2 and a half weeks in california and it was FECKING AWESOME!! i was meant to be getting on a plane today and arrive home tomorrow... but as most of you know those plans have changed and i'm not coming home till august... and it will only be for a few weeks to do my visa paperwork, organise insurance, flights, my licence and i've got 2 weddings booked for that time and i think i might make a few 21sts.. so it's gonna be FULL ON when i come back!

we did sooooooo much in california including the whole hollywood thing, beverly hills.. we went shopping on robertson which is like a strip of cool shops like kitson and we were there from 12 till 2.30ish.. and on the radio that day they said paris hilton had a car accident exactly where we were but an hour or so after we had left!

lots of shopping was done.. i got my sister salvatore ferragamo sunnies!! am i not the most generous bestest sister there is?! i miss my family sooooooooo much!! and my dog! he's recovered well from his attack and he looks really good! can't believe when i get to see him again it'll be 3 months since i had seen him! cerazy! i'm halfway through my trip and it doesn't feel like it's been a month and a half! i know the 2 years abroad will fly by.. especially as i'll be doing lots of travelling around..

i miss going out to clubs/pubs and bars! well not really.. it's more the freedom of being of legal age and being able to go anywhere and not being restricted.. here the legal drinking age is 21 so i am 8 months shy of that... but you can go to any bar or club at 18 but you can't drink.. what's the point of that? i'm no alcoholic but i enjoy the drink every now and again..

not that i haven't gotten totally pissed on some occasions anyway!!... we went to the casino in mississippi and my cousins knew ppl or whatever and i drank far too many cocktails.. is it my fault they have an extensive cocktail list so i had to try as much as i could?! haha and in california one night one of our friends had a world cup soccer party at her mansion and i had 4 shots in the space of not even an hour.. and then i couldn't keep track after the first hour!

but anyways i am going out now to post nathan his birthday present and get my nails done before i start working tomorrow.. yay!

miss you all very very very very very much! and i PROMISE to post photos up soon..!!!

love you all!!
xo mimi

hey guys! wow it's been a while... but i've been in new york for a week and alabama for a week and been really busy.... i've done too much to post in detail but here's a quick run down of the things i've done so far in the US of A!

- caught the new york subway
- went to the statue of liberty/ellis island
- went to the empire state building
- went to a theatre show on broadway ("barefoot in the park" with amanda peet)
- walked through central park
- walked across brooklyn bridge
- drove through the bronx
- went to a harlem mass service
- ate a yummy huge ass new york pizza!
- shopped on 5th avenue
- went to times square
- walked through the financial district
- walked through seaport
- went to chelsea
- visited chinatown and little italy
- went to grand central station
- went to the world trade centre site

it was a pretty jam packed week, but i had an awesome time and i really really really love new york! nathan got lots of happy snaps of our touristy antics and i'm getting them printed... if i find the time i'll propably upload them to my flickr album. but that may not be till i get home (if i get home! still seeing how all the visa paper work is going...)

new york is an awesome city and when i come back to america for my year or 2 i will definately be going back there... and in august i'll be in miami living it up with a friend who is based there for work.. and may be joined by nathan too, so that is all friggen exciting! i can't wait to do the whole working here and travelling thing... who would've thought mimi would be doing all this exciting stuff huh?

i've done lots of shopping and eating and family visiting in alabama... there's a few things i've done i've never done before:

- went to a prom
-  went to a drive in  fast food restaurant where you park next to a booth and order and they bring it out to you and you can sit in the car and eat. when you see pictures you will know what i mean- just like in the movies!!
- DRIVE on the other side of the road!
- went shopping in all american stores like JC Penny!
- ate chilli fries.. which are soooooooooo good you have to try it!!!!
- went to a american high school graduation
- saw deer!

i'm had a really good time in alabama! my family live in selma but my cousin david lives in mobile cos it's closer to his university and pamela is going there in the fall as well so she's moving down here in a few months.. mobile is about 2.5-3 hours drive from selma... but it's like a whole totally different town!

the whole family drove down from selma on saturday. pam and i went first with kellie and steven our cousins who are 4 and 3... and the others came later that night.. we had a family feast at 12am cos it took awhile for everyone to get there and then for us to get dinner ready... but it was nice to sit down with the whole family...

on sunday we rose nice and early and went to waterville usa which is a water themepark... i went on a few slides and had lots of fun... but i must say the best thing i did was go on this ride where it's like a slingshot.. and you get strapped into a ball and then you get flung around. for those who know me... know VERY well my fear of heights... so it was amazing i even got in the chair in the first place! america has brought out something in me i never knew!!

we left waterville at 2ish and then headed to the beach for some swimming and we had lunch there. it was nice.. but their beaches are way different to what i'm use to! the sand is white and the waves are piss weak! hahaha but we had a great day of fun in the sun. i got a little tanned... but i didn't put much effort into the tanning as i was having too much fun with the kids.

then that night we went to the imperial palace casino in mississippi and had a buffet dinner then david, my cousin jennifer and nini's husband and i went down to one of the bars called chill ultra lounge which is a nice trendy little bar and we had coctails and stuff... i tried an orange martini, a margharita and a seabreeze.. and i knocked back a vodka and cranberry and a malibu and pineapple too... hey i miss the clubbing and drinking with the girls.. do you blame me? hahaha but it was fun to experience the american nightlife even though i am actually underage... so i took advantage of it!!!!

everyone else left monday to go back to selma... but pam and i are staying here till friday so will do lots of shopping and stuff... and david is gonna take me to hooters!!!!!!!!!!! hahahahaha but now it's 10 am and i am hungry so off to find some food! don't know when i'll post again, but hopefully the next one will have photos!

i needed to blog because i've had a really traumatising day...

i pretty much spent the day trying to clean and pack and what not.. and at about 2 my uncle told me to go walk the dog and i was like "Alright.. leave the door open i'll just go change my pants and find his lead" and in the space of 2 minutes, Prince ran out, I ran after him to come back in... this great big mother fucking german shepard comes after him and attacks him...

I stood there and watched as this german shepard had my little maltese in his mouth throwing him against the fence like he was a rag doll. it's the most horrible thing to watch, and especially more so when you can't fucking do anything and just watch the one thing you love the most in this world be attacked like that.. i've been crying all day.. it was scary...

i took him straight to the animal hospital/our vet.. and Prince's vet Jessica was on duty so that was good. he ended up having a punctured lung, broken ribs, fractured shoulder.... just the surgery bill so far has cost $2400... and earlier i took him to the animal hospital in strathfield because he's turned critical because of leaking air from the lungs so they have to monitor him over there... i'm really scared and i really don't want to leave on friday knowing that my baby has a chance of dying... i can't do it... but i can't not go.

i've had a major streak of bad luck of late.. i dunno if going to america will change that.. i dunno.. i dunno what to do.. i dunno what i will do.. i just pray prince will fight through this cos i know he's a tough cookie.. i love him to bits and couldn't imagine losing him....