Meeting Mrs Kypo.

I have said this on my blog somewhere before, but I don't think you would be reading this post today if it weren't for the enigmatic Belinda from Cupcakes, Frocks and Pink.

I don't understand web statistics and therefore have no proof, but I do believe Belinda may have been my first reader. I think I had written all of two lame posts on my blog in 2009 when she tweeted me saying, "Love your blog!", right about the same time my finger was hovering over the "delete blog" button because I had already decided it was pointless.

At that moment I realised that someone, somehow, had found my very junior blog and was reading it. I really wasn't sure why, but I had no choice but to continue writing or what kind of blogger was I?? Thanks to Belinda saving its life, nearly two years later, this blog has evolved into a huge part of me and my experience of living overseas.

Over that time, Belinda and have also gone on to become great friends... e

ven though we had never met (despite two attempts on two of my whirlwind trips to Sydney) Belinda became an important person to me and always lifted me up when I was feeling icky. W

e also shared a daily photo blog for one year, called Sequins, Stillettos and Sparkle, which is still going with Belinda's friend Trini and absolutely fantastic - please check it out!

But, despite all this daily chatting over Twitter and emails like best friends, we still hadn't met.

As I am currently on a two-month work trip to Sydney, finally, there were absolutely no excuses for not making time to meet each other in person.

We picked a Friday night and had plans to go to a Manly wine bar... that was until I interviewed Cyndi Lauper and her publicist offered me two tickets to her concert at the State Theatre that same night. As Belinda had already been gushing about how much she loves Cyndi, it was quite hilarious timing and we decided to go together.

We met for a drink first at a bar in the city, talked and talked (and talked), and then hobbled over the show, where we laughed at Cyndi's tribal-style stage moves and danced in our seats to Girls Just Wanna Have Fun.

It was a fantastic night... and while Belinda is always gorgeous in photos, she was even more beautiful in person. Like a little porcelain doll!

I'm so glad we finally got to meet... And this, to me, is the best that blogging has to offer... connecting with like-minded people and making wonderful new friends.