Summer was well and truly in the air and the first weekend of July was set to be one of the best weekends I've ever had. Friday July 3rd soon approached the pages in my luxe Smythson diary and the night before Gay Pride , a dinner was scheduled with my PR team and as we sat on Charlotte St (one of the cutest streets in the West End which is well known for its amazing restaurants and eateries) at our new favorite Thai restaurant the night was only young and we were invited to Billionaire Heir Henry Conway's Birthday party at exclusive member's only club 'Home House'. I met Henry at our Kylie event and as he is a good friend of my work colleague we were invited through him and before we knew it , 2 bottles of wine in our system , we all made our way into a black cab for a night I wont soon forget. As we pulled up to uber discreet members only location , no signage out the front located in a victorian building nestled among Portland Square in London's West End we entered the venue that literally looked like a grand old house (hence the name) marble spiral case at the helm leading off into different rooms of the 'house'. The pre drinks were taking place in the outside garden area and as we walked into a small intimate crowd of fashionistas, including model Olivia Inge , we were greeted by the birthday boy who immediatley informed us it was a 70s hippy theme and adorned us with headbands , flowers to put in our hair and silver bangles to stack on our wrists. Champagne in and the night was off to a start. The remainder of the night was spent in the private room Henry had for his party and chic french champagne soon turned into downing jaeger bombs and dancing to the best old school hip hop i've heard in a while! For a moment I wondered 'how has this small town boy from g-town found himself at a heir's birthday party at a members only club surrounded by an elite crop of London's social set. It was the perfect way to start my wknd....
Saturday morning slapped me across the face and with only 4 hours sleep under my belt i was ready to continue this party. Today after all was Gay PRIDE! My first Pride ever. Now before I go on , speak about the partying , the boys , the alcohol - I would like to say that as corny as it sounds the fact that we can now proudly celebrate our sexuality and raise awareness that , actually being Gay is nothing to be ashamed of - is amazing in itself - so this was one party I was ready to celebrate! Outfit of choice for the day proved quite difficult and much involved much changing of outfits, i was having an undecisive moment if ever there was one, however I finally decided to go with an all white virginal ensemble, inspired by the amazing Madonna!
Feeling fly in white , I made my way to central London to catch the last half an hour of the parade. Everyone informed me that the parade is really not that much to write home about and to be honest , in comparison to Sydney's Mardi Gras - its quite amateur - but alas see pictures below! However, amateur it may have been as the sounds of Gaga & Beyonce blared from the speakers and each group made their way through the parade , the police, fire and ambulance forces, gay mothers, gay fathers, mothers and fathers of gay children, you name it they were there to support the gay community - a big part of me felt really Proud. Growing up dealing with your sexuality you sometimes feel like you're the only person in the world who has to go through this and seeing how many other people can a. understand what you went through and b. support you for it - really meant a lot to me! Kudos to them for marching!
Parade over and done with, it was now off into Soho (bottle of Vodka in hand) to celebrate this party! The city was buzzing and today Soho was Grand Central Station. I've never seen so many people in one area at one time. Gay, Bi, Straight - doesnt matter what your preference 
everyone was out to have a good time and Soho Square was a buzz of people lounging in the sun relishing in alcohol, good company and the gorgeous weather. I was relishing with my flatmates and my gay bestie Ruthie and southern comfort (which thanks to Ruth, after the Vodka, became my drink of choice for the day) the afternoon was off to a fabulous start and it only got better!
The alcohol was flowing and one of the bars located on the corner of Soho square was blaring the best combination of stereotypically gay-fun pop music. Everything from 80s Madonna to Gaga and Kylie. My big group of Diesel family were all out in force , gay & straight, before I knew it we were posing with Drag Queens and dancing like crazy people , downing jaeger from the bottle!
Now going into Pride , I was warned by Ruth 'Denis you will definitley pull' , to be clear 'pull' is the expression replaced with 'pick up' in Australia. To 'pick-up' is to 'pull' - that translation aside , I assured Ruth that perhaps the odd kiss may take place but I wasnt about to place any bets. 'Denis its Gay Pride - remember my words' - ok I thought, I guess this makes sense, no one goes to their High School Prom without getting a kiss right? That's what happens in movies. Maybe Pride was like a gay prom hehe Ruth's theory soon turned to prove right and Kiss #1 occured approximatley after 4pm with already much to much alcohol running through my veins.
An old friend approached me and before I knew it we decided to greet each other with a very passionate kiss - "hrmm interesting , perhaps a kiss has occured today then". Kiss aside there was more dancing to be had and as light slowly turned into dark we didnt move from our position out the front of Soho Square right by the bar , dancing on tables we all lost it slightly when George Michael's 'Faith' played through the speakers and officially went crazy at 'Like a Prayer' - gay much? hell yes but hella fun - even the straight boys loved the cheesy gay tunes!
It soon drew close to 11pm and it was time to start figuring out where to next - obviously the best after party would be taking place at gay mecca aka G.A.Y/HEAVEN. As we tried to round up the gang it was then that Kiss #2 occured - an ex flat mate who will remain un-named waved at me through the crowd an we made our way to eachother to say hello. He's one of those boys that you find yourself crushing on in a geeky/comic book Seth Cohen kind of way (for those of you who dont know who Seth Cohen is - shame - immediatley go and get The OC on DVD). Seth Cohen (we'll call him) and I got talking and caught up on how things are going and whilst at this moment the alcohol certainly begain to take effect , secret crushes were admitted and a few very long passionate kisses proceeded. Hrmm, looks like kisses were definitley part of the Pride experience. As Madonna would say 'forgive me father for I have sinned'. 
We parted ways, kissed goodbye (shamelesslly two or three times) and were both off to different venues. My gang and I made our way to the 5minute walk away to Heaven - 1omins while drunk and stopping for regular swigs from what was now the almost empty bottle of Jaeger. As we finally arrived to Heaven , the queue was unbelievably long - 2 hours long to be precise. The first 30mins were painful, the following 30mins excruciating but 
after having waited an hour we were determined to get in. And finally we did - unfortunately the battery on my camera died , which in turned proved to be a blessing , allowing me to solely focus on dancing the night away. Once in the music was perfect , a whole lot of Kylie and every other pop song you could thing of - perfect for the event - and the club was jam packed but just the right amount to create the right atmosphere. Whilst dancing on the podium I had noticed on the podium below me a very fit 'rudeboy', think short shaved hair , tattooed arms, super fit body, arms on show , a white vest top, low slung jeans, white cons and rosary beads hanging from his neck. 'Hrmm' I thought , but looked away thinking nothing of it. As I danced away to Kelis's Acapella I suddenly felt a pair of arms wrapped around my waist and turned around to find Mr.Rudeboy facing me. Words were not needed and before I knew it Kiss#3 occured, after quite some time the kissing stopped for a moment and I thought it only right to start some kind of conversation, however it was soon apparent there was a major language barrier, all I knew was this boy was from Brazil, fit and didnt let go of my waist or my lips for enough time till I decided my kiss from Rio needed to make way for dancing with my friends. The hours passed us by and the dancing didnt stop, suddenly I found myself and my flat mates dancing with a group of people , one of which was a very attractive guy who shamelessly wouldnt stop looking my way. There comes a moment where you go 'Ok 3 is a good number stop there' and then you go '...why stop at 3, 4's a nice even number no?' - so the dancing continued , the blatant flirting with the eyes and with one swift move he took hold of my waist and pulled me close to a very soft passionate kiss (my favorite kind) which soon turned into slowly more passionate , slightly faster and more intense (always the best follow up) and Kiss #4 turned into many kisses for the last 2hours of my Pride experience! Down from Ireland for the weekend to attend London's Gay Pride, Kiss#4 was just what I needed it to be , nothing more , nothing less - a nice kiss (or 2hrs worth) with an attractive boy who happened to have a cute accent. The night - or shall we say morning - was drawing to an end , and as we exited the club and spilled out onto the streets of London , the morning sun pierced my eyes and after waiting 15minutes for a bus that never came I put me and my flatmates into a black cab and we made our way back to our flat and as I crawled into bed, sleeping mask firmly on I got thinking about gay pride. Its amazing to be part of a community that is becoming more and more widely accepted. On a personal note this journey of self discovery that has occured over the past few months has taught me a thing or two, i'd like to make a note that sure , I kissed a few boys in one night (which by the way Is a total first for me) but I went home alone and kissing 4 boys in one night is quite different to sleeping with 4 in one night (though I would never judge anyone if thats what makes them happy) - what i'm trying to say is that this is all well and good , quite fun and I dont regret it in anyway - but I realise something i've always known - that loads of quite meaningless kisses with 4 different boys means nothing in comparisons to meaningful kisses with one special boy. Which brings me to my final point , at the end of the day gay or straight everyone wants love. To love and be in love. Its what makes the world go round. The moral of the story is that some boys like boys, some girls like girls, some girls like boys and some boys like girls. Whatever your preference is , it shouldn't matter, Love is Love and as the below image will tell you - Some people are gay. Get over it! Signing out xoxo Deni
Saturday morning slapped me across the face and with only 4 hours sleep under my belt i was ready to continue this party. Today after all was Gay PRIDE! My first Pride ever. Now before I go on , speak about the partying , the boys , the alcohol - I would like to say that as corny as it sounds the fact that we can now proudly celebrate our sexuality and raise awareness that , actually being Gay is nothing to be ashamed of - is amazing in itself - so this was one party I was ready to celebrate! Outfit of choice for the day proved quite difficult and much involved much changing of outfits, i was having an undecisive moment if ever there was one, however I finally decided to go with an all white virginal ensemble, inspired by the amazing Madonna!Feeling fly in white , I made my way to central London to catch the last half an hour of the parade. Everyone informed me that the parade is really not that much to write home about and to be honest , in comparison to Sydney's Mardi Gras - its quite amateur - but alas see pictures below! However, amateur it may have been as the sounds of Gaga & Beyonce blared from the speakers and each group made their way through the parade , the police, fire and ambulance forces, gay mothers, gay fathers, mothers and fathers of gay children, you name it they were there to support the gay community - a big part of me felt really Proud. Growing up dealing with your sexuality you sometimes feel like you're the only person in the world who has to go through this and seeing how many other people can a. understand what you went through and b. support you for it - really meant a lot to me! Kudos to them for marching!Parade over and done with, it was now off into Soho (bottle of Vodka in hand) to celebrate this party! The city was buzzing and today Soho was Grand Central Station. I've never seen so many people in one area at one time. Gay, Bi, Straight - doesnt matter what your preference everyone was out to have a good time and Soho Square was a buzz of people lounging in the sun relishing in alcohol, good company and the gorgeous weather. I was relishing with my flatmates and my gay bestie Ruthie and southern comfort (which thanks to Ruth, after the Vodka, became my drink of choice for the day) the afternoon was off to a fabulous start and it only got better!The alcohol was flowing and one of the bars located on the corner of Soho square was blaring the best combination of stereotypically gay-fun pop music. Everything from 80s Madonna to Gaga and Kylie. My big group of Diesel family were all out in force , gay & straight, before I knew it we were posing with Drag Queens and dancing like crazy people , downing jaeger from the bottle!Now going into Pride , I was warned by Ruth 'Denis you will definitley pull' , to be clear 'pull' is the expression replaced with 'pick up' in Australia. To 'pick-up' is to 'pull' - that translation aside , I assured Ruth that perhaps the odd kiss may take place but I wasnt about to place any bets. 'Denis its Gay Pride - remember my words' - ok I thought, I guess this makes sense, no one goes to their High School Prom without getting a kiss right? That's what happens in movies. Maybe Pride was like a gay prom hehe Ruth's theory soon turned to prove right and Kiss #1 occured approximatley after 4pm with already much to much alcohol running through my veins.An old friend approached me and before I knew it we decided to greet each other with a very passionate kiss - "hrmm interesting , perhaps a kiss has occured today then". Kiss aside there was more dancing to be had and as light slowly turned into dark we didnt move from our position out the front of Soho Square right by the bar , dancing on tables we all lost it slightly when George Michael's 'Faith' played through the speakers and officially went crazy at 'Like a Prayer' - gay much? hell yes but hella fun - even the straight boys loved the cheesy gay tunes!
It soon drew close to 11pm and it was time to start figuring out where to next - obviously the best after party would be taking place at gay mecca aka G.A.Y/HEAVEN. As we tried to round up the gang it was then that Kiss #2 occured - an ex flat mate who will remain un-named waved at me through the crowd an we made our way to eachother to say hello. He's one of those boys that you find yourself crushing on in a geeky/comic book Seth Cohen kind of way (for those of you who dont know who Seth Cohen is - shame - immediatley go and get The OC on DVD). Seth Cohen (we'll call him) and I got talking and caught up on how things are going and whilst at this moment the alcohol certainly begain to take effect , secret crushes were admitted and a few very long passionate kisses proceeded. Hrmm, looks like kisses were definitley part of the Pride experience. As Madonna would say 'forgive me father for I have sinned'. We parted ways, kissed goodbye (shamelesslly two or three times) and were both off to different venues. My gang and I made our way to the 5minute walk away to Heaven - 1omins while drunk and stopping for regular swigs from what was now the almost empty bottle of Jaeger. As we finally arrived to Heaven , the queue was unbelievably long - 2 hours long to be precise. The first 30mins were painful, the following 30mins excruciating but after having waited an hour we were determined to get in. And finally we did - unfortunately the battery on my camera died , which in turned proved to be a blessing , allowing me to solely focus on dancing the night away. Once in the music was perfect , a whole lot of Kylie and every other pop song you could thing of - perfect for the event - and the club was jam packed but just the right amount to create the right atmosphere. Whilst dancing on the podium I had noticed on the podium below me a very fit 'rudeboy', think short shaved hair , tattooed arms, super fit body, arms on show , a white vest top, low slung jeans, white cons and rosary beads hanging from his neck. 'Hrmm' I thought , but looked away thinking nothing of it. As I danced away to Kelis's Acapella I suddenly felt a pair of arms wrapped around my waist and turned around to find Mr.Rudeboy facing me. Words were not needed and before I knew it Kiss#3 occured, after quite some time the kissing stopped for a moment and I thought it only right to start some kind of conversation, however it was soon apparent there was a major language barrier, all I knew was this boy was from Brazil, fit and didnt let go of my waist or my lips for enough time till I decided my kiss from Rio needed to make way for dancing with my friends. The hours passed us by and the dancing didnt stop, suddenly I found myself and my flat mates dancing with a group of people , one of which was a very attractive guy who shamelessly wouldnt stop looking my way. There comes a moment where you go 'Ok 3 is a good number stop there' and then you go '...why stop at 3, 4's a nice even number no?' - so the dancing continued , the blatant flirting with the eyes and with one swift move he took hold of my waist and pulled me close to a very soft passionate kiss (my favorite kind) which soon turned into slowly more passionate , slightly faster and more intense (always the best follow up) and Kiss #4 turned into many kisses for the last 2hours of my Pride experience! Down from Ireland for the weekend to attend London's Gay Pride, Kiss#4 was just what I needed it to be , nothing more , nothing less - a nice kiss (or 2hrs worth) with an attractive boy who happened to have a cute accent. The night - or shall we say morning - was drawing to an end , and as we exited the club and spilled out onto the streets of London , the morning sun pierced my eyes and after waiting 15minutes for a bus that never came I put me and my flatmates into a black cab and we made our way back to our flat and as I crawled into bed, sleeping mask firmly on I got thinking about gay pride. Its amazing to be part of a community that is becoming more and more widely accepted. On a personal note this journey of self discovery that has occured over the past few months has taught me a thing or two, i'd like to make a note that sure , I kissed a few boys in one night (which by the way Is a total first for me) but I went home alone and kissing 4 boys in one night is quite different to sleeping with 4 in one night (though I would never judge anyone if thats what makes them happy) - what i'm trying to say is that this is all well and good , quite fun and I dont regret it in anyway - but I realise something i've always known - that loads of quite meaningless kisses with 4 different boys means nothing in comparisons to meaningful kisses with one special boy. Which brings me to my final point , at the end of the day gay or straight everyone wants love. To love and be in love. Its what makes the world go round. The moral of the story is that some boys like boys, some girls like girls, some girls like boys and some boys like girls. Whatever your preference is , it shouldn't matter, Love is Love and as the below image will tell you - Some people are gay. Get over it! Signing out xoxo Deni
Another favorite activity of the summer has been my weekly sunday sessions in east london. Sunday Funday generally includes a stroll and lunch along BrickLane's food and clothing stalls always featuring my mate Kif - for those of you who don't know, Kif and I met through my best friend Christie back home in g-town and we all went travelling together a few years back. Kif (real name Christopher) has now also moved to London and we have become really close, the 2 wogboys from g-town living it up in London town. After eating amazing vietnamese , tempting carribean and delicous morrocan delights every weekend we become more indecisive as to what infact to try. East London is an area like no other - full of quirky artistic types , clothed in their latest vintage finds , no matter how often I go I'm inspired by my surroundings. 
No where else in London will you randombly stumble upon an euro-electronic DJ set up on the side of the lane and before you know it masses of people are dancing away to his beats on the street like its nothing - Kif, Michelle and I included. Beer in hand the crowd grew bigger and before I know it at least 30 people were dancing, a guy had climbed up onto a bin and clapped enthusiastically to the beat of every tune the DJ blasted from his decks, it was amazing and i'll never forget it!
Most Sunday night's end up dancing at quirky east london gay bar George & Dragon followed by the Joiners Arms. What's great about gay bars in London is that more often than not 50% of the crowd is in fact straight and its just a really fun mix of cool people. One weekend at the start of the month we met two gorgeous girls Anna and Elektra from Adelaide who we've now also become quite close friends with - that's what I love about London , you just never know who you'll meet! With the combination of cool people , cheap drinks and the perfect mix of 80s and current music its a guaranteed fun filled night and no matter how many times i've gone to work on Monday with only 3 hours sleep its never a regret! Come to think of it me, Kif and the girls havent a had a full fledged bricklane & night out Sunday Funday in almost a month now...must get on that asap! 
The thing about summer is generally we associate summer with beaches and swimming. Living in this grand city that is London however limits you to your choice of beach. So it was that I found myself one sunday afternoon making my way to Hampstead Heath with the Diesel crew on a 30 degree day (record high's for these Londoner's who think 25 degrees is hot weather) to go swimming the the bathing ponds at Hampstead Heath. The Heath (as local's call it) perhaps better known for the park where George Michael was caught with his pants down , is one of the biggest parks in London and situated in the gorgeous area of Hampstead. Hampstead is quintessentially english. Quaint english houses, beautiful tree lined streets filled with cafe's and boutiques, as I walked to the Heath I thought , how lovely it would be to live up here. 20minutes away from Hampstead tube station and I found my way into the Heath and onto the grass. 20minutes of soaking up some sun, drinking more rose and sex chats with the girls (do you see a theme developing hehe) and it was soon time to take a dip in the pond! I couldnt quite believe me , an aussie beach boy , was about to go swimming in the pond. Clearly un-prepared no bathers in sight it was going to have to be my Ksubi denim shorts to the rescue. As we approached the pond , full of children , teenagers and adults alike , I made my way on to the jetty and took a big jump into the Pond. The water temperature was perfect and the soothing cool water against my skin was exactly what I needed on this hot summers day. I soon calculated that it was well over a year since i had gone 'swimming' in any kind of form and god it felt good. As I floated on my back and looked up into the cloudless sky I almost forgot I was London and for a few minutes I was taken back to childhood memories of swimming in Torquay.
Another thing I love about London is that so often when you're out of your comfort zone (halfway across the world) you tend to do things you wouldnt normally do eg. swimming in a pond - yet you let yourself go and love every moment of it! It was another great summer's day I wont soon forget! It has been an amazing start to the summer - nights filled with dancing and days lounging around parks with enough wine to last a life time , and there's a lot more to come - stay tuned for more posts on a some big events that have happened of late! Till then xoxo Deni