Boys v Girls oh the differences!

Mr Mel & I are definite soulmates, and know each other inside out, but it still amazes me the fundamental differences between males & females, as an eg:

Saturday morning I'm booked in for a haircut and eyelash tint at 8am, as I'm walking out the door Mr Mel asks if 8.30am is ok to meet me up the street for breakfast, I laugh and say 'yeah right' thinking he's joking, only to look at him and see a face of 'why not' looking back at me.

I gave him a hug and a kiss and say 'you boys are so cute', I'll call you when I'm almost done.

So I head off for my haircut (a local salon that's as good as any I've been to in Sydney or Melbourne), after an hour and a half of coffees, head massaging, hair washing, conditioning, treating, eyelash tinting, cut, blowdry, I'm feeling totally rejuvenated.

As I'm walking to my car, I'm fumbling in my bag for my mobile to let Mr Mel know I'll scoot home and pick him up (we live 2 mins from centre of town), and I hear a familiar whistle, there's Mr Mel walking behind me.

He said he'd left home at 9.30, thinking an hour and a half was more than enough, then had walked by the salon 3 times, once he saw my hairdresser and me laughing, then the next passby I was sipping a coffee, and the next walkby reading a magazine.

He thinks a hair cut should involve:

8am - arrive
8.01am - sit in chair
8.10am - stand up from chair, quick thanks mate to barber
8.11 am - pay and leave

I detailed my appointment for him:

8am - arrive, chat with receptionist for a few mins
8.03am - sit at chair, consult with hairdresser, order coffee
8.10am - head massage, hair wash, conditioner, treatment
8.30am - back in chair with halo thing on giving the treatment a zap, read a mag, enjoy latte
9am - eyelash tint with hair still wrapped, lovely relaxing music
9.20am - chat with beautician about other spa treatments available, have a look downstairs at new setup
9.30am - back in chair, blow dry, hair cut, tonged waves for something different, chat with hairdresser, plus a few of the other girls
10.15am - pay and leave feeling sooooo relaxed

Mr Mel was dumbfounded, and walked with me for breakfast shaking his head and saying 'chicks'................

I'm sure I'm not the only chick whose had a similar situ.......:)

Till next time,

Flavourfest This Weekend @ Hunter Valley Gardens

Mr Mel & I are heading to the Hunter Valley Gardens this weekend for Flavourfest.

The HVG website describes the fest as "the three day culinary extravaganza will feature fine food, exquisite wine, deluxe merchandise, cooking demonstrations, celebrity guest hosts, and inspiring music, showcasing the flavours and sounds of the Hunter and beyond, all inside Australia's largest and most spectacular garden displays".

We live a close drive to HVG, while we have often been to the HVG village, with friends/family, we haven't been into the gardens, as the entry fee of $25 each seemed a bit steep for gardens, especially when Mr Mel has less than no interest in looking at pretty gardens!

So Flavourfest is perfect, it's combining our love of food/wine/hunter stuff, with entry to the gardens, for $23.,50 which is less than the garden entry fee normally!

Can't get much better than that!

Plus the guest chefs are people we like:

Tobie Puttock - of Jamie Oliver's '15' fame
Pete Evans - of My Kitchen Rules and heaps of Fox shows
Chris Cranswick-Smith - of Emmilou Tapas Bar in Surry Hills, one of the first restaurants Mr Mel & I went to as a couple :-)

We will be taking heaps of photos, and will report back with our thoughts etc.

Till then,

A Week Off - Nice!!

With my last holiday (more than a long weekend) having been in 2001, I had a week off, with today being my first day back at work.

We had Monday/Tuesday at home, catching up on some housey stuff, and getting my hair cut. Then Wednesday we headed off at 7.30am, dropped the pug at the kennel, then hit Sydney.

We left our car at Mr Mel's parents, and caught the bus into Sydney (about 1/2 hr trip), we got a good deal on a hotel in The Rocks - the Holiday Inn Old Sydney  ended up getting 2 nights for $415, a bit of a splurge, but we don't do it often (remember 2001 last break heehee)

We dropped our bags at the hotel, then walked down to Circular Quay (about 5 min walk), wandered around, had a look in the window & at the menu of ARIA restaurant. We were suprised at the prices, we thought it would be astronomical, given the location (a couple of hundred metres from Opera House), and the profile, Matt Moran.  A 2 course dinner is around $67, which for a very special occassion isn't totally over the top. One day we might venture in the door!! :-)

My pathetic attempt to get a self portrait of Mr Mel & I at the Circular Quay Ferry Dock!  

It was Australian Fashion Week, so there were plenty of skinny pretty young things, and plenty of hangeroners wandering around, we had a peek in a makeup tent, but Mr Mel wasn't overly interested!

We had dinner at the Lowenbrau restaurant, a Bavarian Bier type of setup, excellent service and the food was delish, Mr Mel had a Swinerhaxen or similar, a pork knuckle, and he could hardly walk afterwards :-)  I had a goulash and it was yummo.

Thursday we hit the ferry (my first ferry ride) and went to Taronga Zoo, was a great day. We saw the little miracle elephant baby, soooooooo cute!! Will add some photos and more info shortly.

We went to a little Italian restaurant on George Street for dinner, basic and a bit pricey, but nice.

Friday we caught the ferry to Manly, walked around the beach, had a peek at the Hugo's menu, run by Pete Evans, it seemed very expensive, especially for lunch, so we skipped it and went to a little cafe over the road, very yummy, cheap and pleasant.

We caught the bus back to Mr Mel's parents Friday afternoon, and prepared for a big weekend of family birthdays and Mothers Day.

Shall be back to update :-)

Finally a weekend for us

The past few months have been hectic, we've felt like we've hardly had a full day to ourselves, between work, C having to work in Sydney every fortnight, me having to make an emergency trip to Victoria at Easter, both of us having to go to Sydney for family birthdays, it's been a whirlwind.

So this long weekend has been a quiet one for us (yay)

On Saturday we had a lazy day, it rained most of the day. We went up to Rutherford and bought a new ceiling fan & lights for the kitchen (it's ridiculously dark in there, need a torch to make sure dishes are clean if cleaning up after dark!). We just did 'housey' stuff for the arvo, we're still organising things from when we bought & moved in last year, so got some stuff done we've just not been able to get to.

Sunday we went to the dawn service (in the rain), then got the papers and read them lazily lying on bed for the morning. In the arvo cooked up a storm, made the Cheesy Lasagne from Masterchef Julie's cookbook, we've portioned 1/2 up for midweek lunches for C, and are having it for dinner tonight. Then we whipped up a Chilli Jam Chicken and rice for dinner, lovely. C & I cook so well together, I love that we can share it and enjoy it together.

Today we went and visted one of the vineyards we'd not been to before, Calais Estate, the wines were ok, the view from the restaurant (we had a sticky beak), was lovely. Then we headed to the Smelly Cheese Shop to try the cheeses (triple brie just scrumptious). Then finally to Cafe Enzo for lunch, we shared a caesar salade & some roast potatoes (yumyumyum).

Stopped off at stupormarket on way home to do our shop for the week. Now C is reading the paper, and I'm catching up on some blogs I've meant to read for ages!!

Life is good

Australia Day 2008

- reposted April 2010

Looking through my old blog there were a few memories/photos/posts I thought I'd like to include in my new blog. This is the first of them.

AUSTRALIA DAY 2008 on Sydney Harbour

My first Australia Day on Sydney Harbour :) Was a great day, I kind of drove Cam nuts playing the tourist, but like he said with him being a Sydneysider he doesn't appreciate what's on his front door. The day with me playing Japanese tourist fixed that though!!

We lucked out finding underground parking in the Rocks for $20 for the day, sounds pricey but when the bus costs around $11 each return it's cheaper, plus more flexible.

We saw the tallships and watched the ferry race, I was barracking for the Duck ferry, not sure if he won or not.

We walked around to the Opera House, I've never seen it close up, WOW, it's gorgeous! Walked up the steps (very Aus Idol), I was surprised the tiles are a mix of off white & a boney colour, I took a close up shot, will post that.

Went to a few pubs, the Orient, Lord Nelson, Australian, a few more, they were packed.

Had a drink called Nelson's Blood Cocktail at the Lord Nelson, I think this was the mix:

2 parts Rum (can't remember name of rum but was 47.7% alcohol!!), 1 part orange juice, 1 part cranberry juice, 3 dashes bitters

was very strong, but not too bad. We were feeling it on the walk back down to the Harbour, so stopped to share a nice lamb pizza at the Australian, served by a girl who I hope was high on something cause she certainly wasn't all there, maybe just being a Pom. :)

Walked round to the Pier 1, Cam said it used to be a 3 storey fun parlour with rides & games, he was surprised it was deserted, just a couple of very quiet restaurants and cars parked on the pier. Walked up a massive staircase, gee my lack of fitness really told, was blowing hard by the time we got to the top!


Back to the Harbour, we went to another pub, a walk through the market, then to one of the Rocksong stages to watch Christine Anu sing. Just brilliant, her voice is amazing, I took some photos, will add them.

Wandered round a bit more then it started to rain so we headed home, both a bit sunburnt and tired, so just chilled out.

I headed off from Cam's at 6.30am this morning when he left for work, picked Ollie up from the kennel (sorry puggie) on the way and made it to work by 8.30am, Ollie's down with the other dogs, till I can take him home at lunch.


Hoping like hell my garden hasn't wilted while I've been away, the peril of not knowing neighbours well enough yet to ask them to water the plants, fingers crossed!!!!!