Winning "Most Romantic Moment"

CONGRATULATIONS TO ESTER FOR THIS WINNING ENTRY:

The soft breeze did nothing to cool the heavy, fragrant Barcelona air. The overpowering smells of paella and the ocean could not distract my mind from the breathtaking view I had before me. The sun was slowly slipping behind the beautiful towers of Gaudi's city and from the top floor balcony I could see the city start to liven up below me. With his rough tanned hand he brushed away the hair that had fallen over my face, he hadn't been taking in the view at all. His sea coloured eyes had not strayed from me, taking in the contours of my bikini clad body, the shape of my face and colour of my eyes. His eyes traveled over me as if discovering a new land and he couldn't bear to miss one bit, one freckle.

The man that stood before me leaning on the wrought iron balcony railing was unrecognisable from the boy I had known so well at high school, his shoulders were broad and muscular and his arms showed hard work and sunshine from building race yachts in Valencia. His hair was cut short and had darkened but he still had the same wide grin and smiling eyes. It had been nearly ten years since that teenage kiss and awkward fumble, wow he had aged for the better!

A chance find on facebook lead to us both being in this beautiful vibrant city. I had been living in London and needed a holiday to relax and forget a turbulent break up, he was travelling around Europe with friends after a hard working stint in the south of Spain so we arranged to meet up and have a fun week in Barcelona.

A low whistle escaped his lips, "Damn you're beautiful", he whispered. Instead of being embarrassed it felt so good to hear him say that, being here with him just felt so right. I ran my fingertips across his shoulder and down his arm and felt him shiver. His hand slipped swiftly around my waist and he pulled me against his hard body. I had been waiting for him to grab me for what seemed like hours but must have only been 10 minutes. I leaned in towards his parted lips and he lightly brushed his against mine and pulled away again. I kissed him back hungrily and his grip on me strengthened. He turned me around so I was against the balcony and looking down over La Rambla and started to kiss the back of my neck then again again down my spine and down to the small of my back....

I might leave the story there! It gets a little steamy from here on, but lets just say I will never forget that amazing balcony overlooking Barcelona. I turned out to be the best holiday! I will never for get him either because we are still together now back in little old NZ a year later!

Exciting new event

We have been busy organizing this upcoming new event. "Around the world" is a networking event for all travellers, kiwis and new kiwis who are enjoying the kiwiana lifestyle.

You'll get a

• one free drink
• 5 Urban Adventure trips from Intrepid Travel to be won
• 10% of any Intrepid Travel trips for all guests
  
• drinks specials all night
• DJ Russell Hodgson will be entertaining us

Come join us and make some new friends.

Online Devine

Although my presence at the InviteMe Headquarters hasn't been very frequent over the last few weeks, the online social networking sites are keeping me up to date and excited for what's in store over the next few months.

If you love tweeting and facebooking your daily activity then check out InviteMe's Tweets/Facebook page (as I do) to ensure you are connected to the real people who run InviteMe.

Now is your chance to become part of this truly new age company who values members opinions and input while in the development stage.

Have a great long weekend! Do something.. extraordinary!

News from the Invite Me HQ

It been lots happening, we have been really busy organizing cool events and competitions for you. You can be sure there will something for everyone in the coming months.

• If you are planning your OE and would like advice on how to settle in quickly, where the cool places are to go out, then this your chance to get your answer firsthand.

• Or you are back from your OE and missing the country you lived in. This event is the opportunity to catch up with expats and exchange the amazing experiences you had.

• Just moved to NZ and you keep on meeting just travellers? Here is your chance to meet some real Kiwis and to make friends.

Then make sure to keep the 19 November free in your diary as we setting up a networking event to connect ex-travellers, wannabe expats and immigrants.




If food is your passion we have been busy researching unique, delicious and ethnic restaurants for the dinner club, make sure you join to be able to secure a place as the members list is growing daily and the events will be only for small groups.



Last but not least we are organizing a cool and fun X-mas/ New years party exclusively for our members. That's the chance to get to know the Invite Me staff and its members.

Watch more TV!

Ever felt out of touch with reality? Or do you feel like the wheels on your life are spinning out of control?

Regain control by thinking about the following ideas from Dolf Zillmann and Jennings Bryant in their book Selective Exposure to Communication:

In the caveman times, humans had to physically pursue anything they wanted exposure of. For example, they had to swim, run and climb to get anywhere and to see anything. Now-a-days, all we need is an armchair and a television and we can be transported to any event in the world without moving an inch. This selective exposure is enough to make anyones head spin..


But what about the external stimuli we are constantly being bombarded with? The advertisements, sounds and rules we face everyday that we don't actively seek but happen to us anyway? Herein lies the area of our lives that we can't control. For some people, the extra attention from salespeople is welcomed. For others, it's not!

So how do we maintain a happy medium between the two? How do we control the external stimuli as well as we control the selective exposure? Well we can't! But the interesting fact is that naturally humans are doing this subconsciously. And the millions of stimuli we receive every minute could be affecting us a lot more than they do now. We have evolved to handle these ambushes and will continue to scrutinise everything we choose to expose ourselves to, and everything that manages to get through our perception barriers.

So when you feel like life is running 100 metres ahead of you, take a moment to sit down and choose what to watch on television and remember how much control you have at that moment of what you expose yourself to.

Get on the Guest List

Have a friend who seems to get invited to tons of fabulous parties and always has something to do on Saturday night? You can too! Keep reading...

You know people and people know you, but do you really make an effort to stay in touch with all of these great people and acquaintances you meet?

DRESS TO IMPRESS!

Male or female, you increase your chances of getting in and even getting the cover waived if you're stylin'. Good-looking people are considered part of the decor. If the doorman thinks you'll make the club look good or you look like you have money to spend, he has the power to pull you in front of the line and let you in free, guest list or not.

WORLD LEADERS .. THEY'RE JUST NOT THAT PRETTY!

5 ways to ensure you don’t end up looking like a world leader...

1. Attend lots of InviteMe parties and meet new people to learn their anti-aging secrets
2. Don’t go home before midnight on the weekends (unless it’s Christmas Eve)
3. Make sure your home by midnight on weekdays for your beauty sleep (yes, even guys need it)
4. Keep up with the latest fashion trends, and medicines to restore a receding hairline
5. Keep skin feeling rejuvenated with lots of laughs from the InviteMe team on their Facebook, Twitter and blog pages (and no they're not smile wrinkles - they're character lines)

My first day at InviteMe

Well, it should have been my second day but had to call in sick on my first which might not have been the best start but I made it. Now sitting here and thinking my uni days will be over soon, no more late sleep-ins, 2 day work weeks, 5 month vacations .....sniff sniff.

Hmmm.... first problem: my computer is a Mac or as I call him MACing.me.crazy. I have never worked with a Mac in my whole life and I swear to God, there is black hole somewhere that's making my files etc. disappear. I wonder if I could use the black hole as an excuse for work I haven't done???
But I am sure that MACing.me.crazy and I will sort out our issues and establish a professional relationship, who knows maybe we even become friends one day.

But on the other hand, I think I have scored a pretty cool internship,it is not a typical 9-5 office job.

To sum it up!

Let me introduce myself a little, I have moved to NZ from Germany( no, my diet doesn't consist of only sausages, sauerkraut and beer) 5 years ago. I had decided to backpack and wanted to go as far as possible and it happened to be NZ (or as my friends call it "the a**e of the world") well it turned out to be quite a nice bum and I fell in love with this funny little country (and a kiwi bloke). It has been a interesting experience and journey so far with up and downs and lots of funny or embarrassing moments, which I guess are part of living in another country.





I am now used to the fact that walking bare feet doesn't mean you're poor or homeless, flip-flops are jandals, rugby isn't the same as American Football, having a piece of fruit in your luggage can cost you $200 at NZ border control, most houses don't have door bells, it is ok to live with flatmates even if you're 35 years old..... I now even have a taste for Marmite.

Week 2 - Wow! Go NZ!

The first working day at InviteMe after daylight savings is an enjoyable one as the ball gets rolling and everyone's still half asleep! What did we think of Pamela Anderson's Catwalk Strut? Unnecessary? Or Outrageous, just the way we like it? New Zealand got a lot of great publicity last week, thanks John Key, you did us proud!

Events this Summer include Farry's Menswear Spring launch happening Wednesday Oct 14th. Who said Fashion Week was the biggest fashion event of the year? Get all your friends together for super savings that all men and women can enjoy. Christmas is just around the corner so make sure you RSVP to get your hands on the savings.

InviteMe members, you can look forward to great events to meet people from around the world in our "Around the World in One Night" campaign aimed at uniting travellers abroad in Aotearoa. Thinking of travelling? Well this is the place to find out the must see's from people who have already been there and done that.

Had a crazy idea today? Message me on Facebook, Twitter, or Reply to this post.

Facebook: InviteMe New Zealand

Twitter: invitemeNZ

Cheers! www.inviteme.co.nz

Getting Started

Today, our first step into what students call 'the real world'.
With a Tui bird singing outside, who could ask for a better workplace environment to inspire creative and strategic thinking.
The marketing plan, which covers how to get more clients and members using InviteMe as a buzz creator, has our full focus today.
Want to get you and your friends onto the guest list of the best parties and events this Summer? Check out InviteMe.co.nz
Reply to this post now to share your feedback!

Welcome to our Intern's Diary

Spotted: Two young new Intern's roaming the halls of InviteMe. Looks like Miss B's got her hands full..


MEZ ..



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