Suggestions from the East Side

Does anyone over in Sydney & Melbourne have any recommendations for this to do around the end of June?

We're trying to book into Quay (Guava egg on Master Chef!) so fingers crossed we can get in. A bit of an early celebration for our 1 year anniversary!

So any suggestions for fun things to do would be great! Especially restaurant recommendations.

Yes 2 posts in 1 day (I'm kind of bored) but Manu is on the telly *drool* I love a french accent!

Monday Yummies

We are failing tonight but oh well. Hubby forgot to put chicken out until the last minute so off to Nandos we go. We tried to score Thai from the restaurant we had our rehearsal dinner at but no luck and most places aren't open Mondays BOO!!!

So instead burger and chips I am going to be a fatty boombah before I know it :(

I'm trying to get rid of all the sugar/sweets we have in the house to kind of force us to be healthy and after having a cider tonight I think that's it for alcohol other than the occasional glass. They always seem to give me headaches and it just isn't worth it.

Hopefully healthy eating will come easy once the tempations are removed...now just to get back into doing the regular 50 minute+ walks along the dog beach!

Grey's Anatamathon

When I was at uni with my wonderful 'Team Awesome' we used to have long lazy days watching Grey's Anatomy and today I find myself doing the same thing. Terrible I know but I dedicated this weekend to being my lazy weekend! The heat isn't really inspiring me to do anything either which sucks, I really want to get out there and be physical but maybe later. Although later we're planning on going to the outdoor cinema (provided the stupid non-existent cyclone doesn't hit) to watch Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale. It looks scary and it's foreign so that's two huge ticks for me. I love the fact that Hubby comes from Denmark because he loves watching foreign movies and I've watched so many awesome Danish movies because of him.

Last night we had family dinner with the in-laws including Hubby's brother and his little family. My nephew is so adorable and I think it's really the first time that I've heard him call me Jess (hopefully I become Aunty Jess at some point). We also saw our little niece who is now a little over a month old and boy is she cranky! Pretty much crying non-stop unless her Mummy was rocking her or holding her. She's gotten so much bigger though and her legs are starting to get a little bit more chunky! Hubby was funny though as we were driving there he said he was more looking forward to seeing his nephew than the new baby. I thought that was cute but silly but now I share his point of view playing with a kid that loves you is so much more fun that holding a baby that wants to scream her lungs out because her Mum has let her go.

After everyone had gone I sat outside and had a huge chat with the MiL. It was nice for a change surprisingly although I swear she has the WORST memory. I told her a couple of months ago we were wanting a baby at the end of this year and then I told her that again last night. She was really happy but shocked because it was coming up so soon. I guess that is a bit scary because it definitely is right around the corner but it's exciting too. We're sticking by our whatever is meant to happen will happen :) I truly think that's the best philosophy to have especially if potential 'knock us on our butt' moments are coming up.

It was strange because I bought up adopting a child. I think because I asked if the others were contemplating having any more children (she doesn't think so but seeing as they were both surprises who knows!). Then MiL asked how many children we wanted and I said hopefully 4 and maybe one of them to be adopted. Immediately I realised I shouldn't have said that, she was really against it and only pro it if you couldn't have children. I could sort of see where she was coming from and it's not something I'm definite about but it's always been a possibilty at the back of my mind. But it's something I/we need to research and I was happy when Hubby said he still was interested in the idea. So it was a great night which totally caught me by surprise because I usually don't enjoy myself when I'm up there.

I hope 2011 is the year of good surprises :)

Incoming...

So a cyclone is heading our way - nothing too serious thankfully - but it brings with it a horrible heat wave, last check it was going to reach 38ºC (100.4ºF) and I wouldn't be surprised if it goes higher. Needless to say I am not looking forward to the electricity bill because we're having to abuse the airconditioners.

The annoying thing about the heat is that it's so beautiful outside and I'd love to take our dog for a walk but we'd all melt the second we step outside (especially him because he's a white fluffy thing). So we're in the process of figuring out what to do today that involves getting out and about avoiding the heat as much as possible. We've decided to head up to the inlaws for dinner and hopefully by then it will be cool enough to go for a swim (they don't have any shade over their pool & they've recently taken to keeping it heated yuck!).

I've been getting a little snap happy with my iphone as of late so below are a few photos from the past week. Including a balcony shot from today (oh how I wish I could sit out there today).

Lola who cost us a very expensive vet trip the other day. Now all she wants is cuddles.

Our balcony. Everyone was raving over it on Australia day (perfect view of the fireworks)

My little corner (for the moment at least, I couldn't imagine not using a laptop anymore)

A prettier photo of my tattoo

Loki aka the Biter - he got one of my 'nephews' this week...NOT GOOD!

So if you're in WA stay cool! If you're anywhere near snow please have a roll around it in for me ;)

Mr Postman

Ok, I have to admit that I don't know whether our postman is actually a postman or postmistress (or whatever the appropriate title is these days) but I love the treats they bring. The best part though is forgetting that you're expecting something and then getting a sweet message from Hubby telling me a package had arrived from Japan.

You may remember my previous post in which this present was featured. Now I've received it and I love it. The only downside is that it only comfortably fits my iphone so long as it's sans-cover. But, it's just way too cute for me to care! And I got some cute little stickers packed in there with it :)

heydayhandmade

And on a side note relevant to the above photo how awesome is the iphone app Instagram - I highly recommend it and it's free so that's always awesome! (Also what is the easiest way to transfer your iphone photos to your computer?)

In other news life is doing what life does best lots of little ups and downs. Hubby and I almost had our first full-on fight. More from my side than his. We were having friends over from Australia Day and ever since we moved in (months ago now) I'd been asking Hubby to unpack all the boxes in his office. I got home on Tuesday afternoon and everything upstairs was a mess. I was so upset but didn't say anything just kept saying that we'd have so much stuff to do tomorrow (he sadly didn't get the hint). I decided not to go all fire breathing dragon and ruin Australia Day and just held my tongue. But a the next day I bought up why I was so annoyed. It probably doesn't help that we both have different views on clean but it's just been niggling at me. It's hard when the societal roles are reversed with me being the full-time worker and him studying/not doing anything this summer. 

The amazing thing about all that yuckiness was that I approached the situation in a totally different light than what I would have (even a year ago). Gone are the days when I would have automatically flown off the handle. Hopefully that will hold me in good stead for becoming a Mum.

My Boys

I got to play with my 'adoptive' nephews tonight! It was so wonderful and little Maxi-Moo was totally enamoured with me - tugging my shirt and dragging me around the whole house. It was heaven and I can't wait until it's my turn to have my own little ones.

Disjointed Post - Whoops!

I want to get back into writing! I get so inspired reading everyone's blogs on a daily basis (for shame I am a blog addict). As I said in the 7 things about me I've always wanted to write a novel. According to the man who knows all (AKA my sister-in-law's boyfriend) he thinks it must be pretty easy to get published because so many more people read at the moment. I don't know that I agree with this, I think you still have to write something special to get it out there. Maybe not fantastic to just get published but definitely special to be well-read. So fingers crossed I get to live this dream...but maybe it isn't fingers crossed - maybe it's something that I just need to work at and I'll succeed.

Today was such a fantastic Sunday. I got a great sleep-in after working all day on Saturday, lunch at Pink Zulu (highly recommended and $10 cocktails Tuesday and Sunday). I ate the yummiest salad I've had in ages - perfectly spiced and it had oranges, pomegrante, chickpeas, beetroot and rocket soooooooo yummy and it wasn't too expensive either. Then a lazy afternoon reading and then off to dinner with my university girlfriends in Leederville at a yummy Vietnamese restaurant. All in all a totally awesome Sunday (I wish I could say weekend but work took care of Saturday - boo!).

I hope everyone had/has an amazing Sunday.  And on the other note: I'm looking forward to starting to work towards my dream. I guess in a way my blogging is helping me do this. So here's to taking baby steps to reaching a dream :)

No Red

Well I went blonder instead of red. I decided with all the money that red would cost (it fades so quickly!) I might as well keep going lighter. I don't know if I'm in love with it, I still don't think I've gotten to 'that' shade but it doesn't help that I've got so much dark dye in my hair. I love my new hairdresser though and she's going to get me there (fingers crossed)! Once I get a decent photo I'll pop it up my camera is not doing it justice.

Work is getting so insane and it doesn't help when people are no shows! So rude, I can't believe some people's attitudes towards finding a job. I was always bought up to leave early so you're never late - wear a suit if appropriate and if not business clothes. It's just a sign of respect but I guess when you're working in an industry (transport) like I am not everyone gets that! Still I love my job. In fact *insert drumroll* I won employee of the month for December!! I got nominated by 2 of the managers which I'm really happy about. I love the people I work with the vast majority of them are awesome :)

In other news I cannot believe the number of people announcing pregnancies/engagements - it's all such lovely news!

The Stylish Blogger Award

I love finding new blogs to read and I find it really hard to find some great blogs unless there's a theme (eg weddings or babies) so it's great to stumble on to a fantastic blog and in turn score an award out of it.

If you haven't checked out The Life and Times of Kiki Chaos you're missing out. My nails have never looked more gorgeous! It's just one of those blogs that's written really well and is so interesting because it's about someone's life instead of just one specific focus.

Because I've been given this award I need to share 7 things about me :)

1. My biggest aim in life is to write a novel and I'm really scared that it won't happen. I used to write lots of stories when I was in highschool and it kind of died off when I went to uni. It also didn't help that one of my high school friends read a draft of what I'd written and laughed at me.

2. I'm usually such a loud and confident person but around the in-law family I go as quiet as a mouse.

3. I really REALLY suck at video games - that or Mario Party 8 has it in for me! Even Hubby agrees I seem to have the worst luck.

4. I hold my pen funny. No matter what teacher's tried I never held it the correct way and you can guarantee someone will comment on it every week (especially the people I interview).

5. I have 3 tattoos and all of them except my A were done in other countries.

6. My Mum had my little sister at home and when they woke me up to meet her the first thing I did was go into the kitchen cupboard and get her a cookie.

7. This is the day I was due. I came a day early on May 6th.

I'm supposed to pass this on to 15 blogs and advise them that they've received an award. Instead I'm going to point you to the left of this post and tell you to follow the links to some other awesome blogs I'm reading at the moment and really enjoying :) All the ladies deserve this award. If you're a follower feel free to write the seven things in the comments section and leave a link to your blog.

Monday Yummies

I'm going to cheat a bit here and just put a link to the amazing roast pork that I made.

http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/92/roast+pork+with+apple

I made a few adjustments at step 3 I removed the roast after 10minutes and then left the potatoes, apples and onions in there for a bit longer. I also didn't use spring onions I just used a small brown onion - which completely burnt but was so good. I kept that in there whilst making the gravy and Mum loved it.

It was the first time I made a true Sunday Roast - the apples and burnt to a crisp onions provided a nice twist. I'm so glad I didn't cheat with the gravy (aka buy a pack of ready-made) and made it from scratch with the recipe. It was so yummy! I couldn't get over how amazing the meal was that I'd made, I was really impressed with myself and so was Hubby and Mum. I'm slowly becoming a good cook and I can't wait until the day I can replace good with great!

PS: Yes I realise I've been cheating a bit with none of this really being made on Monday but oh well

NP

Not pregnant. Oh well, at least I finally found out and it shows my body is getting back to normal after the pill! Hubby admitted he was a bit disappointed and I think that just made my night. I never know if he really cares as much as I do.

Now we've got to stop trying otherwise I could wind up delivering during his exams! Now I see why people say that babymaking is so hard.

At least tonight I don't have to act suspect and I can eat, drink and be merry :)

TGIF

http://icanhascheezburger.com/

I remember how proud I was when I finally figured out what that acronym meant! It's funny as you grow-up and or go through different life stages that different acronyms pop up. I never knew what DH meant until I started reading wedding blogs...it still makes me want to throw up every time I think about it I'd prefer AH (awesome husband) darling just sounds too old school English for my tastes. But to each their own of course and if you're reading this and use DH (Darling Husband) please don't hold my views against me! Then there was TTC as I started up on the baby blogs that one didn't take me too long to figure out though!

My all time favourite though has to be my Uncle's misunderstanding (the one who read a poem at our wedding). He was always signing of emails to my Mum saying LOL Ken. I don't know if Mum ever told him it doesn't mean lots of love. I definitely prefer his version of lol though, much sweeter (see I can like corny mushy stuff after all).

Tonight we went to the outdoor cinema (again it's becoming almost a ritual each weekend!) and watched the Social Network. I thoroughly enjoyed it and thought JT was great, he's come so far since his N*SYNC days (and no I wasn't a fan although I must ashamedly admit I love him solo and bought VIP tickets to one of his concerts!). It was an interesting perspective and I would love to know how much was true and how much was fabricated. I think I shall have to read that book it was based on. It also left me to wonder how many people tried to add that Albright chick as a friend. It also made me miss livejournal just a little bit I used to have so many of them! From Buffy fanfic ones (yes I was a complete and total nerd!) to a weird short story erotica group with my male best friend - we still get people requesting to become members and it wasn't even dirty more taking the piss! It's strange how everything evolves! I highly suggest everyone goes back and reads over their old livejournals (if you had one) they're full of funny crap. Such as 20 year old me saying HELL NO to being pregnant at 25 HA-HA-HA

Oh the past how I have missed you...

Realisations

I think I am now officially living pay check to pay check and it sucks! We've always had a pretty good life and been good with our money. Living with parents for so long I always had a bit of savings but after the honeymoon and wedding most of it disappeared. But still we were doing ok, then Christmas and now...EEEKKK! Even with my payrise, our rent has increased (it isn't always adventageous to have your mum as a landlord) and I'm now paying increased car insurance. I should stop whinging I know everyone goes through this but it's hard being on one income especially with Hubby not having a job over his huge summer break from uni. He has been helping out around the house which is fantastic but he isn't really doing enough :( Then again my version of clean is different to his version of clean. There endeth my financial woes whinge - nothing compared to everyone suffering from the floods which are not only in QLD but NSW is affected and so is some of WA and then there was that deliberately lit fire south of Perth earlier this week GRRR

In terms of the baby?no baby? I'm going to test on Saturday and then assume no baby if it's negative. I'm feeling a lot more relaxed about it but that could be because I'm so busy at work I just want to collapse into bed when I get home. Sometimes having no spare time to think is a good thing :)

Tick Tock...

So still googling and who knows what is going on with my wonderful body. I'm seriously starting to think that I'm not pregnant and it's just because I've come off the pill. I don't mind I just want to know!!! With an awesome dinner out scheduled for Saturday night I really want to know if it's safe to drink (which shouldn't be my attitude but I've been so good lately!).


Oh well time will tell and with what I've been reading I could be waiting for months to find out! The wonders of the human body...

Musings

Still working on that whole staying healthy thing (although chocolate is still my downfall). Today and yesterday went for hour long walks on the dog beach. I love it and it's so much better than the treadmill. I was thinking about why this was the case and I think there's 3 reasons - (1) I can see my goal (2) Walking with the Hubby and my Mum (3) It's the dog beach and there's always something to see/be distracted by.

Hopefully I can keep this up because it's enjoyable. I've lost 2kg so far (4.4 pounds) that's a little less than what my niece weighs! I wish I could always remember how good exercise makes me feel it'd make it that much easier to get motivated. It's also easier having people to share it with as well because in some way they do force me to get off my butt and get moving.

In other happy news - we've been trying to get pregnant! I know naughty us and I've always been changing my mind about timing but what the heck. It's never the right time to have a baby. So far 2 negative tests but I'm late so we'll just have to wait and see. If we are pregnant I'll let Hubby have his 'super sperm complex'! If it doesn't happen we now have to hold off because if I get pregnant this month the baby would be due during Hubby's final exams. So that's a sneaky little update. I'm so annoyed with this whole wait and see thing though, either hurry up and be 'that time of the month' or I want to see a + sign on a test! It would be pretty crazy if I was though seeing as it was our first time trying with me straight off the pill. I just can't not get my hopes up damn it!

Monday Yummies

Mish Mash Frittata

So I ripped this off taste.com.au but their's was just a boring ham and corn frittata and I wanted mine to be more awesome. PS: I am cheating because I made this Saturday for our date night at the movies. PPS: Unstoppable is awesome!

Ingredients

• 100g chopped sandwhich ham
• 1 can of corn (drained)
• Half a handful of kalamata olives (sliced) - they were whole from the deli section 
• Handful of chopped sundried tomatoes
• Little over 1/2 cup grated cheese
• 7 eggs
• 1/3 cup milk + a couple of extra splashes
• Generous dash of lemon pepper

Method

• Preheat the oven to 200C
• Mix all ingredients together (except the last 3) and spread evenly over a greased non-stick pan [I deviated here they said to grease it & line with baking paper but because our BP is crap I chose to exclude it].
• Whisk the eggs & milk and towards the end had the lemon pepper
• Pour the egg mixture evenly over the other ingredients and then pop the pan in the oven for 25-30mins.
• Keep an eye on it and then remove from oven and leave to cool.
• You can serve it straight away but because we used ours for a picnic I put it in the fridge. It came out of the pan really easily even without the paper!

Voila...

Favourite Things

1. A new print I bought for our tea/coffee corner in the kitchen

2. A much needed cover for my iPhone

3. I bought 3 of these prints sadly they're an odd size and the frame didn't come with it

4. Such a cute pillow & still for sale

5. An owl banner...I've been eyeing this off for ages. But I'm going to wait until I need to decorate a nursery ;)

Sources: 1. Time for tea 2. heydayhandmade 3. Blackbaroque 4. Olive 5. Aprilfloss

New Hair

I think I will be asking my hair dresser for this after Hubby turned down the last photo I posted.

Red hair has always suited me and I think this is just a little more tame. So as of January 20th I'm back to being a red head (if I can!).

Resolution Recap

So what's the point of resolutions if all we do is set them as the last year draws to a close and then only consider them when the next year is ending as well!

I've decided to combat that (hopefully) by not losing track of them. I'm not going to turn it into a regular set day blog post but I figure updates at least every fortnight or month should suffice.

1. Feel pretty every day and dress up a bit more.
2. Get healthy! Use the cross-trainer we have in the garage!
3. Catching up with my friends more
4. Date nights with Hubby (at least once a month)

1. I've been doing this pretty well. I was concerned over how I would manage with work because we have a boring uniform - white collared shirt and black pants. So I've decided that I'll have to look at little things that I can do and I came up with this:

I've only realised recently how long my hair is!

Nail polish - I had purple last week and nobody complained :)

So those are some of the little things I'm doing. I don't know if I'm going to go back to dark hair soon or if I want to go even lighter. I keep seeing strawberry blonde hair and thinking it looks gorgeous and I'd love it.

SOOO PRETTY! I've already been orange as well :)

2. Get healthy - I definitely need to improve my eating habits (yummy orange and ginger bikkies from Ikea for example) but I've been on the cross trainer for the past 2 days in a row which is very impressive for me. I even got up early this morning to do half an hour before work. I just hope I can keep it up.

3 & 4. Kind of tied together with the outdoor cinema trip with one of my besties and Hubby.

So there's a little update I hope it keeps going in the direction it is.

Monday Yummies

So back to it! I'll try and make this a weekly thing because I do love cooking.

Today, even though it's way too hot & humid, I'm making a beef stroganoff pot roast with my wonderful slow cooker.

I've adapted it from a recipe I found on allrecipes.com. By another Jessica so hopefully that will stand me in good stead.

Ingredients

• 2 cans cream of mushroom soup
• 1/2 can water
• Generous dash of paprika
• Pack of french onion soup
• 1tsp minced garlic
• 1tbsp worctershire sauce
• 1 chopped onion
• Generous dash of pepper
• Splash of Nando's peri peri hot sauce (cheaper than tabasco but not as hot which is a bummer)
• Beef blade roast (not the best cut of meat but it's slow cooker worthy)
• 1 beef stock cube
• 1/2 cup philly cream
• Half a small tub of sour cream

I pretty much dumped everything in and then added the meat. I'll add the philly cream and sour cream just before serving. Not sure yet whether I'll serve it with rice, pasta or mashed potato I'll just wait and see what we feel like tonight.

I will take a photo and let you all know how it turns out ;)

UPDATE

Ok so this doesn't look appealing but it was SO yummy. I added peas at the very end because I wanted to be somewhat healthy. We had it with rice and it soaked up the sauce really well.

Inspired

I was inspired by Mrs. Wolff looking back at her resolutions for 2010 and managed to find mine in my previous wedding blog.

1. Have a celebration every major holiday with my friends - I'm pretty sure we did this except for Halloween because we went downstairs to celebrate our anniversary.

2. Tone my arms for the gorgeous strapless dress I'll be wearing (I even bought dumbells!) - well the arm fat is still there and the dumbells only got used 5 times I think.

3. Move out of home - BIG HUGE YES.

4. Start the next step in my career - I can tick this one off as well.

So I did pretty well and I'm not suprised the excercise one was the one I failed at I am terrible. I'll have to get Hubby to force me on that cross-trainer every week.

Tonight we're off to watch Harry Potter at the outdoor cinema. I haven't been to the movies in ages which is weird because I used to go once a fortnight. We're going with one of my great girlfriends because everyone else has seen it. The weather is perfect for a night under the stars with wizards and witches I just hope I don't forget my glasses.

1st Day of 2011

Today has been fantastic other than waking up way too early! After midnight we played more Guitar Hero (I was forced to be vocals & it was heavy metal...) and then watched some Avatar on an awesome projector HD screen. So that was a great start surrounded by great friends and then after that bed time. When we came home I went into cleaning mode and re-sorted our kitchen. I'm happier with it now because my Kitchen-Aid is easier to access and in turn hopefully easier to use. I'd love to start using it more especially when I see people blogging about theirs.

More recently we went and saw our gorgeous niece. We couldn't cuddle her but our SiL did roll her out of neonates so we could get a proper look at her. She looks exactly like her brother did except she's got really brown hair. Apparently it's slightly blonde on the ends but I couldn't tell but it's definitely dark and not at all ginger as first thought. Her dad's birthday is on Wednesday so they're hoping she'll be out of the hospital by then. She needs to breastfeed for 24 hours straight with nothing going wrong before they can move her up to be with my SiL and then hopefully home time! We also got to see our nephew he was just leaving from his visit and I managed to score a goodbye smooch as well YAY!

So back to what this post is about - New Years and New Starts. I've come up with a few easy and broad resolutions.

1. Feel pretty every day and dress up a bit more.
2. Get healthy! Use the cross-trainer we have in the garage!
3. Catching up with my friends more
4. Date nights with Hubby (at least once a month) 

I hope everyone else had a great 2010 and if not things can only get better from here for us all.