Why does everyone look so worried?

Where do I start? The fun stuff seems like a good place.

My latest A-lister Sydney experience – courtesy of Tourism NSW to celebrate the upcoming ACCTA Awards – saw me checking into a suite at the QT Hotel after having the car valet parked by someone who looked like this ….

When that happens you know you’re not in for your run-of-the-mill hotel experience.

QT is hidden in the old Gowings building and my gorgeous suite overlooked the Queen Victoria Building. The hotel is very glammy and New York-ish and filled with lounging hipster types.

Among the celebs who’ve stayed there are Jamie Oliver, Olivia Palmero and Chris Hemsworth.

Fortunately, I’d dressed for the occasion this time. I’d rocked up to the Langham Hotel in the same scruffy outfit I was wearing when I disembarked the cruise ship. What was I THINKING? Ohhhh, the retrospective shame …

I dusted off an old Marc by Marc Jacobs black denim skirt from my magazine days and some platform shoes … so rare is such an occurrence that the youngest stared at me very suspiciously when I picked her up yesterday. She demanded to know why I was wearing heels … erm, because Mummy forgot to pack any work clothes for her sleepover in the city …

My QT suite was filled with quirky touches such as a black bathrobe, which I instantly donned and started taking endless selfies for my Instagram account … and got completely freaked out when one of my 11-year-old’s friends, then one of the eight-year-old’s friends “liked” my all my shots.

Blardy hell. It appears I need to be VERY mindful about what I post moving forward.

Dinner was in the Gowings Bar & Grill and was equally flashy. By 7pm there wasn’t a spare seat and the vibe was ultra buzzy …

We decided to go old-school celebrity afterwards and wandered down the street to the Marble Bar for a post-dinner drink. That funny old place (it’s 121 years old!) is so gorgeous. I’m very, very glad the Hilton decided to retain its awesomeness in the renovation.

I was super smiley as I drifted off to sleep in the big, squishy king-sized bed at QT, no mean feat with a mammogram hanging over my head the next day.

And so … on with the not-so-fun stuff. The hospital visit.

DD, bless him, ducked out of the office to hold my hand in the waiting room. But I was on my own for the procedures themselves.

First-time mammograms are scary things because you don’t know what to expect. The horizontal boob squishing wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be, the vertical boob squishing was pretty ordinary … and then I was left alone in the room while the nurse went to show the results to a doctor … except she didn’t explain whether that’s a normal thing or not. So I sat there for the next five minutes that felt like five hours worrying that her showing a doctor meant there was a problem …

Then it was off for an ultrasound, which was waaaaay more uncomfortable than the mammogram. No one ever mentions THAT. Lots of pressing hard on sensitive areas with a nasty plastic wand thingy. Ouch, ouch, ouch.

It also takes ages as the ultrasound operator goes backwards and forwards and up and down and under and over, which again makes you fret that the reason it’s taking ages because something is WRONG. Especially when she puts her hand to her mouth, which is probably just her way of concentrating, but looks like she’s thinking OH. MY. GOD. That tumour is HUGE. I feel so sorry for her …

However, the thing that probably took the cake in the worry stakes was sitting in the waiting room for my results and having a parade of staff stick their heads around the corner and stare at me with furrowed brows, then having one of them hustle over and say the senior radiographer would be out to see me shortly …

What the?

Oooops, turns out they’d mistaken me for some other poor woman … god knows what’s wrong with her …

A few minutes later, I was blithely handed my scans (and the enormous bill). DD has examined them and reckons they look harmless, but he does admit it was his least favourite subject at uni. So I’m off to see my GP today to get the official verdict.

But first I have to take the kids to test the water slide on the Carnival Legend. Oh yes, I do.

My life … still shaking my head …

I’m also a bit gallery obsessed at the moment, so here’s one of my latest adventure (don’t worry, no hospital selfies):

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