Just Like You - Love Knows No Difference

The last few months have been an amazing period of time for Piero and me. It’s been challenging, new and insanely busy – which has come with it sacrifices – but it’s been a period of where we’ve lived in the possibility rather than in acceptance of the status quo.

Late last year, Piero decided to host a photography exhibition in support of the Australian Marriage Equality campaign (gay people in Australia can’t legally get married). On some levels it was a weird decision given Piero doesn’t have any photography, exhibition or events experience. But on the level that matters, it also made perfect sense. I believe Piero came to Australia, like so many people, expecting to find the lucky country. He did find that, and indeed Australia and its people are blessed, but he also found the underbelly of our society: a simmering fear that shows up in Australian society as hatred, anger and discrimination. Piero wants to get married and he loves Australia: Just Like You suddenly made perfect sense.

Piero created the idea in conjunction with a new friend Marie-Angela – a talented photographer who had made the inspirational decision to give up her corporate job, spend a year studying photography and then pursue a new career aligned with her passion! Truly inspirational!

And so Just Like You was founded and I found myself as the third member of the team. Throughout the project our little team grew to about 6 core people and 60 volunteers and models. What I learnt throughout the experience was that our networks are amazing sources of skills, experience and passion. We put out the call for gay and lesbian people to be photographed: 40 people turned up, most of whom we didn’t know previously. We put out the call for someone to show us how to take the photos and turn them into a hangable picture: two amazing individuals who we didn’t know appeared! We asked and most importantly we believed and the universe delivered.

What was so inspiring throughout the project was seeing the passion of people for marriage equality. So many people – gay, straight or whatever – felt so strongly about this blight of discrimination on their country – that Just Like You became a vehicle through which they could express their support. The process became more important than the deliverable.

The exhibition itself was an outstanding success. Hundreds of people came to see it, the Australian Marriage Equality campaign are using the photos as part of their lobby work, our local MP for Sydney launched the event and it’s spurned an international movement with similar exhibitions planned for other Australian cities and in Europe!

Just Like You was the vision of a banker with no photography, exhibition or events experience. It came about because of a chance encounter with an amateur photographer. Like so many things, it could have been one of those conversations that came to nothing. Instead, it contributed to an excellent cause and created the most exciting few months of my life in a long time.  

Below are some links you can use to see the photos or engage in the campaign: 

• Facebook page
• Australian Marriage Equality

Then one day in a sweaty Mexican restaurant-cum-nightclub

Last Wednesday I caught up with a wonderful friend who sadly I had lost touch with over the years.

Katherine and I first met when I moved to London in 2004. She was going on a month or so leave from her job, and her company hired me as a marketing contractor to manage her workload in her absence. In that month, I worked on some awesome projects ranging from the London segment of the 2004 Olympic Torch Run to the Asian London festival. It’s strange managing someone’s workload while they’re away: you hear and see their name a lot, you sit in their chair, you see the quality of their work and you get to know all their colleagues while they themselves pretty much remain a stranger.

But a stranger she did not remain for long. When she returned, I stayed on as a contractor (thanks to another colleague’s considerable ‘stress leave’) and our friendship grew. In 2005, we went on a trip to Blackpool and the Yorkshire Dales with a couple of other friends and we had numerous nights out in London. It was fun. That pure hedonistic fun which my early days in London regularly dished up.

But like so many people do at some stage, Katherine was tiring of London (she had lived there most of her life) and decided to head to Devon to live and work an idyllic life. Sadly, we then managed to lose touch. There was email and Facebook of course, but the connection sadly faded.

Then one day in a sweaty Mexican restaurant-cum-nightclub in north London, we bumped into each other again. I wish I could say it was happy ever after but sadly not. We were back in each other’s orbits but it wasn’t the same as the early days. 

Last week, Katherine visited Sydney. Seeing her was like stepping back in time. It was one of those nights where you reminisce and remember things you haven’t thought about in years and laugh and laugh and laugh. But the best bit was that we connected on a current level as well. Our views were aligned, our outlook on life overlapped and we covered off the big things: marriage, kids and wine.

When we said goodbye in the early hours of Thurs morning, I found myself farewelling a dear friend and wondering why on earth I let such an amazing friendship fade?

Both pics taken at Gowings, Sydney. A great restaurant 

with a slightly odd approach to serviettes. 

village life

i’ve always had this vision that i’ll live in an inner city village that’s a cross between pulsating cool and friendly locals. i feel that i’ve finally found that place in darlinghurst!

i love living in darlo. there’s about 100 cafes, restaurants and bars all within 200m of our front door. the supermarket, gym and doctors are all within 5 minutes walk. my drycleaner always remembers my name, my corner store is totally lush and the managers know and greet their regular customers, and the owner of my fav cafe, quattro passi, acts like a friend whenever we visit (or even walk by!).

it’s lovely feeling being in darlo. like a great big warm hug every day i walk out my front door.

smiling in the sunshine state

i like heading home to brissie. but my excitement of catching up with family and friends is always balanced against returning to a city that i’ve never loved. it’s not that i dislike brissie – it was a great place to grow up and i have great mates there – it’s just that i so often felt like i didn’t belong. for whatever reason, there was a disconnect between who i was and where i was. it feels like that whenever i’ve lived there, my stage of life has never quite aligned with brisbane’s vibe. 

during my recent trip home however, i felt a change in my emotions. i was in town for 3 fantastic nights and caught up with so many great friends. 

• i caught up with mel, jess & karl in new farm and was impressed by the new bars and restaurants (lady lamington anyone?)
• ate like kings and queens with my uni mates at peasant restaurant – catching up with those guys always feels like a warm hug
• finished the weekend off with a lazy lunch with steve, vicky, lou and aj at byblos portside watching the sun set over the brissie river while the dj blasted old school funky house tracks 

sunset from byblos

some of the uni gang: michelle, cath, me & jen

as well as hanging in brissie, mum and i also spent three awesome nights at palm beach on the gold coast. our apartment had a stunning view of the coast and had the perfect swimming pool for lazing around. one afternoon we headed to surfers paradise and i was awed by the fantastic job they had done improving the esplanade that run along the beach – i particularly loved the retro pics – although, i don’t doubt it’s still trash-tastic come friday and saturday night. 

the view from our balcony: the beach and the pool

loving surfer's retro imagery on the esplanade

on the way home, we drove through mt tamborine and stopped at the 'polish place' for lunch. 

here's mum with the lorikeets in the restaurant's garden.

the view from our balcony (surfers paradise in the distance)

while returning to sydney is never a bad thing, something within me has shifted... 

to gav & mish

i first met mishail in dec 2007. i had just met piero and luc at volleyball training in bethnal green and we headed to piero’s one night for a lazy night watching movies. mish, who was piero’s flatmate, came home after a weekend with her brother and sister-in-law and her head popped around the door. introductions were made and then mish disappeared.

four-and-half years later i was heading back to the uk to watch mish & gav marry.
around july 2008, i started dating piero and became a regular at their flat. it was a fantastic flat – over time it was christened flat of the dreams - nestled in marylebone, a 20min stumble home from the bars and clubs of soho.

gav and mish were having an indian wedding just outside newcastle, a city i had been to a lot but piero had never visited. i was excited to visit the city again. 

sometime in 2009, gav entered the picture. as a friend of mish’s, he took the flat’s spare room that mish and piero had taken over a year to fill. 

the wedding was at a grand hotel. while there, we caught up with gav & mish’s circle of mates who we had become close to over the previous few years. as a group of friends they have such a wonderful energy for each other and a zest for life, seeing them is always fun. 

the thing that i always remember about the flat of dreams was it was fun! pure fun. there was dancing (actually, there was a lot of dancing!) at dodgy bars (ok, a lot of dodgy bars!!), cocktails at the sanderson hotel, hen’s parties for luc before his boyfriend moved to london, angry dwarfs dressed as santa, mice, a plentiful supply of family guy & 30 rock, an appearance by lady gaga and countless bottles of wine. looking back now, at the time i just didn’t realise how special those times were. 

and now, we find ourselves at the wedding of gav & mish. it was beautiful. we wore traditional indian dress, watched as mish & gav performed the ancient hindu ceremony and, fittingly, ended the night with dancing! mish looked simply stunning – i cannot find the words to express it – and gav was the most handsome i had ever seen him. my heart wept with joy. suddenly my london circle was complete. it was the beautiful end of my london experience. 

the proposal

nervous. i was nervous! i knew what i wanted, i was 99% sure piero would say yes, but i was nervous. so nervous. 

i knew that when i asked, i wanted to ask piero overseas. as our relationship had taken in continents and countless countries, it felt fitting that the proposal should happen overseas. but where??? 

we were heading to the uk for a gav & mish’s wedding. london was a place of meaning for both of us but we would only be passing through and it would be a whirlwind of catching up with friends. gav & mish’s wedding was in newcastle, and while there was something poetic for me to propose in my city of birth, proposing at someone else’s wedding didn’t really seem like the done thing! we were heading to sardinia to visit piero’s family but i didn’t know if we would have any alone time there.  that left our one week in greece!

first stop was athens. it’s a beautiful city but it just didn’t feel like the right place to propose.

next stop was the party island of mykonos. in hindsight, it would have been a fab place to propose as we had so much fun, had lots of romantic moments and loved the place but i didn’t want to spend the rest of my life explaining that our proposal was planned and beautiful and not some drunken, party infused act.

with all those options out, that left santorini – not a bad option to have! i knew it would be beautiful, but nothing prepared me for just how beautiful it was! that island is simply stunning! crystal blue waters, white-washed cliff-top towns and the most breathtaking sunset in the world. 

on the day i had chosen, i had booked a restaurant overlooking the caldera. i would do it there ... nerves set it in! 

where should i hide the ring? should i propose at the restaurant in front of others or go somewhere private? should i order champagne or should i keep it more natural??? 

the momentousness of that moment dawns on you as it approaches. it’s you. it’s him. it’s both of you stripped to your emotions. it’s the rest of your life. asking that question is huge. but at the same time, it’s so natural. it’s all about the future, but it’s such a living-in-the-moment moment.

after dinner, we went for a walk and found a place on the cliff-top town deserted of people. the full moon twinkled overhead, reflected in the sea below. the time was now. 

proposing is such a personal thing you share with your partner. given this is a public blog, i don’t want to go into detail with what i said and how it panned out, but what i will say is the most important thing: he said yes! 

a new world opened up. 

minutes before i proposed

the restaurant we ate at

the view from the restaurant

piero just after he said 'yes'

europe calling!

our dear friends, mish & gav's wedding in the uk in august 2010 gave us the perfect opportunity to spend two fabulous weeks in europe! 

greco loving
i can’t believe that i never went to greece when i lived in europe. it’s an amazing place: history, food, wine, the islands and sexy locals. 

first stop was the party island of mykonos! we knew it would be fun, but weren’t prepared for just how beautiful it was. when the ferry pulled up, one of my besties, jaimee, was there to greet us after flying in from london a couple of hours earlier. over the next few days we lazed it up on the beaches, danced till our feet hurt in mykonos town and created the most amazing tv concept known to humanity – stay tuned! 

a little bit of mykonos magic

jaimee & piero and the view from our apartment

jaimee headed back to london and piero and i ferried it to santorini. the island was stunning! people tell you it’s beautiful, but it’s one of those rare places that exceeds your built-up expectations. we had a fabulous two nights watching the sunset, exploring the white washed villages, swimming in the med, walking on the volcano and... getting engaged!!! for more deets, see: the proposal. 

minutes later, we were engaged!

the view of the caldera (and a lazzzzzzzyyyyy dog!)

following an unforgettable two days in santorini we headed to athens and my god, it was fantastic! we had an amazing hotel with a restaurant and a funky roof top pool with stunning views of the acropolis! this was europe as it should be (bar the pending economic doom). 

while in town we explored the acropolis – simply breathtaking seeing it up close and finding out more about athen’s history – and enjoyed the food and wine on offer. while at the acropolis museum, I read a great line that has stayed with about why post-golden-age-athen's invaders didn't destroy the city: the brilliance of its past guarenteed its future. am sure that probably doesn't mean much to may of you, but for some reason, it has stayed with me. 

aaaaahhhh, i adore this view! this was the bar next to the rooftop pool of our athen's hotel.

ancient athens on a beautiful day

greece was, simply, an amazing week.

rule britannia 
next stop was that little island where we met: the uk! i have two great loves in my life: piero & london. heading back to the motherland is always an exciting experience. 

city hall, where i used to work, and the shard, which was being built while i was in london

the olympic rings on tower bridge

as it was the olympics, the airport was teeming with people but the airport was incredibly efficient (god i love britain, it turns it on when it really – and only when it really - has to). we touched down in newcastle and headed to the pre-party for mish & gav’s wedding. it was a fabulous night catching up with mates and watching the funniest surprise mock-bollywood dance sequence by some of mish & gav’s family and friends. 
the next day we explored newcastle before heading to morpeth to catch up with my family who live there. it’s always fantastic seeing the hunters, they’re such a close family who always make laugh.

and then it was time for the wedding! and what a wedding it was! for more info, see: to gav & mish.

mish & gav dancing the dance of life

sardinian sunshine 
following newcastle, we headed to sardinia (via one night in london where we checked out jaimee & damo’s new pad and caught up with the aussie girls!) to catch up with piero’s family. as always, my time in italy can be best summarised by one word: food! 

my favourite experience in sardinia was when piero, his brother andrea, brother-in-law davide and myself went out on a boat on the med for the afternoon. swimming in the mediterranean is fabulous – it’s warm, the water is so clear you can see the bottom and, unlike, oz, it’s hard to get burnt. 

a beautiful day, on the beautiful isle of sardinia

journey back to where it began
our final stop was a weekend in london. for friday night, we explored the surprisingly-fantastic cafe-hub in hackney and caught up with my old work chums at victoria park, watching the olympics on the big screen. we crashed at our friend’s, marta & dave, isle of dog's apartment and enjoyed a good ol' chin wag. 

dave, marta, piero & me hanging out in their flat

the next day, we d-r-l-ed it to tower hill and took in the sites of an unbelievably sunny london – walked across tower bridge, through potters fields and down my favourite street in the world, bermondsey high st. we caught up with nat at one of my fav pubs in the world, the woolpack, before heading to jaimee and damo’s in balham for an afternoon of lazy drinking in their back garden. 

piero outside the woolpack

in the evening, we headed to a pop-up bar on the southbank (during the olympics in london, it was all about the pop-up bar) and met the aussie girls, luc, keith & kris. for dinner, we headed to soho – loved the new w hotel near piccadilly – before jumping into a cab and heading to our old favourite, the two brewers club in clapham (it wouldn’t be a weekend in london if we didn’t head there). 

the gang at jaimee & damo's

and finally, on sunday, we continued our (never-ending) farewell-from-london tradition and met our mates for drinks at the volunteer, our old local when we lived at marylebone. 

while swung by the flat of dreams (sans mish & gav who were on their honeymoon) to drop off and pick up a couple of things. it was weird being back there – all so familiar but unfamiliar. i found myself taking a snap from the living room window of the fish n chips shop opposite, it’s not a beautiful view or anything, it’s just a very ‘my london’ view.

and with that, we were on the heathrow express, ready to return down under.