Day 51: My brother gets hitched

My brother Ryan got married on Saturday to the lovely Elise (coincidentally she has the same name as me!). It was a lovely day, the bride looked beautiful and the groom looked handsome. They are having a baby in May, so it is a very exciting time for them all round!

Waiting for his bride...

With this ring...

My other brother Lachlan witnesses the marriage

Official!

Happy bride:)

Day 50: Mt Panorama

We arrived in Bathurst today in advance of my brother Ryan's wedding on Saturday. Our hotel is right on the track which is fun for Mark to drive around, being the fan of car racing he is.


The pit


Mark's is on team Holden





The straight where Mark says they clock well over 300


Our hotel, it is lovely and new


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Our room looking out to the track


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Day 49: Movie Date with BFF

Went and saw Valentines Day with Kel (our partners would not see this in a million years! lol). The movie was enjoyable (laughs and feel good moments), if a little formulaic. How many stars can you get in one movie? Taylor Swift was a scream. Jessica Alba - I don't get what the hype is with her. And what is with the orange straw like hair she is sporting in it? Get thee to a stylist pronto. Worth a watch if you are in the mood for a feel good rom-com.

Day 48: Holidays

I've decided I am going on a holiday. I am tossing up between Cook Islands, Thailand, Fiji and Hawaii. I want white-white sand and crystal clear water and that real relaxed & isolated beach holiday feel (basically like I am back at the Maldives but without the Maldives price tag). Any recs??

Day 47: Moroccan Mint

So refreshing.

Day 46: Showcasing my AH haul

On the weekend I went to Alannah Hill at Chatswood Chase to accessorize up my outfit for my brother's wedding THIS SATURDAY. They had things 50% OFF. People who know me well, know that I often get a good deal without even really trying. My husband thinks it's a real skill. Sometimes I just walk up to a rack and right before eyes they change the '30% off' sign to '50% off'. Anyhoo, back to my haul. I got 2 headbands - both $50 down to $25. I got a belt for $70 - this was not on sale but I planned to wear it with my wedding outfit (which I am no longer wearing but I'm sure the belt will come in handy). On my way out I said to the girl who served me that I really liked the dress she was wearing and would they still have it in stock? She said they did and it had just gone on sale to boot. It was $390 down to $194.50. It is tissue silk and divine. I got a silk slip to go with it, $79 down to $49. I was well pleased with my haul. I plan to wear this new dress to my brother's wedding THIS SATURDAY with one of my new headbands.

The belt

The 2 headbands

I got a chic looking suit bag for my new dress

My new dress, it is 100% tissue silk

Day 45: Spoiled by my Valentine

Mark always goes all out on days like Valentines Day, anniversaries, birthdays and OTHER days just because - he is very romantic! Today I got breaky in bed -yummy breakfast wrap and soy mocha from my fave cafe. Then I got a dozen red roses and a lovely card - Mark always gives me a carefully selected cards containing lovely messages. We then had an awesome lunch at Bathers Pavilion. They had a special valentines day menu going on, like all restaurants on V day, which was $130pp for 3 courses. The food is quite fancy there and has an Asian twist. We had a lovely view of Edwards Beach at Balmoral. What a great day!



Sydney rock oysters with bloody mary pear and shallots for Mark

Some sort of fancy tortellini - cant recall all the ingredients but it was very tasty

Beef fillet for Mark

John Dory for me

Pssionfruit and mango tart for Mark

Peach and salted chocolate Chantilly with hazelnut crunch for me - the standout dish for me (but then I have a sweet tooth)

The view :)

Day 44: NBK

As alluded to in a previous post, I was on a mission to see Natural Born Killers. It was different to how I remembered. It was definitely early Tarantino, but it was still Tarantino. We ordered the DVD through Xbox online. I'm not into the Xbox (do not like computer games) but it is handy as a wireless media player and now I can also rent movies without leaving my seat - tres convenient!

Day 43: Fat Monk

On Friday night, Mark and I went to Fat Monk. This restaurant is run by the same people who run Papaya. I had Brown Brothers Zibibbo. Ever since I got really sick in the States last June I have gone off all types of wine except for really sweet white wine like this sparkling and also Moscato. Yep I am just like a little old grandma now - sipping my sweet white wine.

Day 42: Top Gear Live

I got Mark tickets to Top Gear Live for Christmas. He is a massive fan and has seen every episode ever aired. TGL was good - the hosts were Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Greg Murphy. They only ever send 2 hosts out, Hammond stayed home. On account of Mark being obsessed with the show, I know a fair bit about them myself. I find them quite amusing. The show was very good and Mark is glad he moved heaven and earth to attend. He almost couldn't make it due to his very demanding workload.

Days 39 - 41: WORK

Worked like a bitch. Very late every night. Sorry readers, you get nothing from me for this time. Let's all put it behind us and try to move on.

Day 38: Amaretto Sour

I have been wanting to try this cocktail for ages after hearing Faux Fuchsia rave about them. Apparently it is the drink of the Gods (you heard it here first). I want to try one made by a pro before I join the club. I did like it though! Go try one and let me know what you think - run, don't walk.

Day 37: Newport Arms

Today was crazily wet - the wettest day in February ever to be precise!

We went to Newport Arms for lunch to celebrate my good friend Bel's 30th. We had a lovely time, despite the rain. For those that follow my cocktail choices, I had a pink mohito but it wasn't as good as a standard mohito IMO. Why mess with perfection?

A great view of Pittwater can be had at Newport Arms.

Day 36: TGIF

Enough said.

Allergic to life?

On Tuesday I went to see an Allergist. These are the things I am allergic to, at varying degrees of sensitivity (none life threatening!):

Mineral - iron, calcium
Sugar
Salicylates
Glutamates
Dairy
Wheat
Yeast
Artificial preservatives
Artificial colours
Acid mix
Grasses
Moulds
Dust
Dust mites

So I will be ordering a bubble soon ;) Some of these resonate. I can not tolerate dairy. Sometimes I'm not the best with wheat. I definitely have a big problem with any level of dust/dust mites. And I recall when I was a child getting rashes from rolling around in the grass! The other ones a little bit hard to pin point on account of being in everything.

Other things I was tested for but am NOT allergic to:

Food phenolics
Water soluble vitamins
Fat soluble vitamins
Amines
Egg
Poultry
Meat
Grain mix
Corn
Cocoa
Soy
Peanut
Lupin
Artificial flavours
Enzyme mix
Plant phenolics
Pollens
Tarpenes
Trees
Weeds
Cockroach
Dogs
Cats

I guess I will be ordering a truck load of vitamins then that include artificial flavour!

Funnily enough they didn't test whether I was allergic to humans.

I was quite surprised to see I am not allergic to dogs and cats as they often set me off. The allergist explained that dogs and cats carry a lot of dust mites and grasses and that is what likely sets me off rather than the animal themselves. Interesting - bring on the puppy dog (with a dyson to ensure he doesnt carry nasties on his coat)!

What are you allergic or insensitive to?

Day 35: Purple shoes

I got these at C21 in New York and love them.

Day 34: Intro to a legend

I have been looking for the True Romance on DVD for a while - and finally found it, well Mark found it for me! This movie is great (well I hope when I view it is as great I remember, but I'm fairly confident!). I saw this movie as a teenager and was like - "fuck this is cool" followed by "who is this writer called Quentin Tarantino?" (back then he wasn't a director yet). Since then I have watched everything he has ever made and loved everything he has ever made (well to be 100% correct, I haven't seen Death Proof yet and I didn't 100% love Jackie Brown - maybe only 85% loved it). He is so so talented and I am definitely as much of a fan now as I was when I was 14 and discovered True Romance (don't tell my parents I watched an R rated film). Do your self a favour and try and track down your own copy - run, don't walk people!

(Next I must track down Natural Born Killers - I think I will then own everything else on the Tarantino list).

Day 33: Balmoral beauty

As mentioned in a previous post, I have booty camp (female boot camp) down at Balmoral on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. I took a photo pre and post my session this morning, so beautiful down there.

Up the Edwards beach end at the start... (6.15am)


Down the other end of Balmoral near the big park at the end (around 7.30am)

Day 32: Lunch time pedi

Our IT system at work was down for most of Monday (Grrr so annoying!) so I took an extra long lunch and got a pedi.