Tuesday, August 31, 2010

2.10 Ginge attack!




I was trying to take a photo of the cool wall at Top Speed Thai in Willoughby (amazing Thai food btw) but Damien kept getting in the way. Damn him!

Monday, August 30, 2010

2.9 Orange Poppyseed Muffin




It might look cute and tasty but it was really dry. Disappointing.

It's quite rare that I choose to buy orange poppyseed cakes/muffins but had a craving today. I might try to make one myself over the next few weeks.

PS - in some exciting news, I have tickets to see U2 and JayZ!!!!!

Sunday, August 29, 2010

2.8 Sydney Harbour



Another gorgeous day on the Harbour!

I'm sitting in front of the Opera House just watching the ferries and people pass by and enjoying the sun. Life is good!

Saturday, August 28, 2010

2.7 Nigella Express




Tonight I went to a trivia night hosted by a work colleague who is about to head over to the UK to swim the English Channel! If that wasn't amazing enough, she has also been raising funds for the Inspire Foundation and that is where all the proceeds from tonight went.

Our team did quite well at trivia and were tied for first with one other team at the end of the first two rounds. Unfortunately we struggled a little in the last round but still ended up finishing third.

I won this book during one of the games! Awesome! I don't own any of Nigella's books so am looking forward to checking it out and making some of the recipes.

Friday, August 27, 2010

2.6 Trunk




The word trunk makes me laugh for reasons that cannot be explained. I've got no idea when I first started to find it so amusing, but I still giggle whenever I hear it (let's face it, I really am a 5 year old girl!)

Today's pic was taken at North Sydney Oval on my walk to work. I know it's early on in the day, but it's unlikely that anything more exciting is going to happen today. Lots of work followed by a quiet night at home, watching the guidos and guidettes on Jersey Shore.

Thursday, August 26, 2010

2.5 Wicked!




Tonight I went to see Wicked with my good friend Andy. I had heard a lot of rave reviews for the show so had high expectations - they were easily met!

The set, actors, singing and the costumes were all fantastic. I fell in love with all the sparkle that Galinda was wearing and could not take my eyes off them! She had the best costumes of all, with lots of stunning ballgowns.

Love the frozen cocktails with the flashing glasses too!

I only wish I had been able to see it in Melbourne when Millsy and Anthony Callea were part of the cast.

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

2.4 High Society




Today's mani is Color Club's High Society. I really like the colour but just not on me. I think I'll stick to brighter colours in future.

I bought Color Club through Transdesign when the girls and I did a big polish order. We're currently planning the next one!

Cannot wait for FWAW tonight!

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

2.3 New Shanghai




Tonight Robyn and I went to New Shanghai in Chatswood for dinner. We ended up forgoing mains and ordering dumplings instead. They were pretty damn good!

After dinner we headed to the movies to see Step Up 3 in 3D. I loved the movie and dancing but found the 3D a bit distracting. I tried to tale a pic of the screen through the glasses but it didn't work unfortunately.

If you like dance movies then you should definitely check this one out.

Monday, August 23, 2010

2.2 Marie Claire




I am not a regular reader of Marie Claire but the current issue caught my eye with it's striking silver background and the colour of the free Estee Lauder lipgloss that came with it.

I am trying to cut back on purchasing magazines as I rarely read them and just flick through. I've stopped the gossip mags as I can get all of that stuff online. I still buy Cosmo and occasionally Cleo but I feel like I've completely outgrown them though there is always 1 or 2 articles on the cover that will grab my attention.

I've always thought the likes of Marie Claire, madison, etc were for older women (than myself at least) and serious for me. I read magazines to chill out and sometimes I find some of the articles in these types of magazines too 'heavy' for me. In saying all that, this month I am setting myself the challenge of reading the entire magazine. So far, I love it!

I particularly love today's picture which was taken from the mag. How stunning is the purple frilled dress. Swoooon!!!

Sunday, August 22, 2010

2.1: Round 2



I'm going for round 2! Hooray!

To celebrate the fact that I actually lasted a year of blogging every day, I baked a cake.

I worked on this cake for the majority of the day with planning, baking 2 cakes (I have never made mud cake before and didn't realise that it doesn't rise at all - derrr), ducking to Woolworths for additional supplies, making chocolate ganache, colouring the fondant, making the stars, and finally covering the cake.


Please excuse the no makeup look!
It's not as neat as I would like, the icing for the ribbon is too thick and I've realised that there are a couple other tools that I need but overall I'm seriously stoked with how it turned out.

One layer is dark chocolate mud, the other is milk chocolate. I cheated this time and used packet mix. Bad, I know but my focus was on the decorating and practicing with fondant icing.

One of the most mentioned people on this blog, my favourite ranga and one of my best friends Damien, came over to celebrate and sample some of the cake! He was also official photogrpaher and supervisor for the icing parts. Thanks D!

Now to plan the next one!!





Saturday, August 21, 2010

Day 365: it's voting day!


Hello Aussies, don't forget to vote today!!

I will start this by saying I normally don't discuss politics unless others start the conversation, but as one of my favourite people is running in this election, this post will be about my day at the polling booth.

I am standing at a polling station in North Sydney displaying signs for one of my best friends, the fabulous Daniel Pearce, who is running for the Australian Democrats.

I've been here for 40 minutes (since 7am) and things have already gotten a little heated. I however am making friends with my fellow sign protectors / info handing-outerers!! This is my first time handing out stuff. Please be nice to us today!!

I might update the blog throughout the day if I get a chance with interesting and not-so-interesting news from the polling booth.

7.45am polls open in 15 mins. At my polling booth we have the Democrats, Liberals, Labor and Greens. No sign of Family First.

7.50am Just saw a polling official. They get to wear bright purple netball bibs!

8.15am People are taking my flyers!! YAY!!

8.22am My fingers are freeeezing. I should have worn gloves. Unfortunately this entire polling booth is in the shade.

8.34am Now people have stopped taking my flyers. It's disheartening. Just take the flyers!!

8.42am someone just laughed at me and asked if the Democrats still exist. Yes they do! Spread the word!

9.05am It's been a slow start. 2 hours down, 4 to go! And the sun is starting to come out. Yesss!

9.10am The Liberals have a small army of helpers here. They're well represented.

9.12 The Greens candidate just arrived. He seems like a nice guy.

9.54 Group of girls were just talking about how hot Dan is!

10.50 I just voted! I did not take Mark Latham's advice and submit a donkey vote.

11.08 I am really over this bloody wind!

11.14 Someone just stole aJulia Gillard corflute sign to take home!

Oops I didn't update again. I left the polling booths at noon to head to another friends housewarming/her 2 year olds birthday party, followed by a quick dash to the shops on the way home with A to pick up a dress I had ordered. I had such a fantastic day :)

Friday, August 20, 2010

Day 364: Red phonebox




When I first started my blog I made a list of things I could potentially take photos of in the event that I got stuck for ideas. This red phonebox on Miller Street in North Sydney was on the list, and it's taken almost an entire year got me to take a photo of it.

Randomly I decided to walk to work a different way today and it took me past the phonebox so I knew it was the perfect photo for today.

Thursday, August 19, 2010

Day 363: Work trivia




Tonight my company had a trivia event which was lots of fun! I've never really been into trivia but have noticed that more and more I keep getting invited to trivia nights and I quite enjoy them. Not surprisingly my best category is entertainment.

Only teams who came first and last got prizes (asides from 5 individual prizes from games that we played). We came neither of those, but my friend T who was on the losing team (sorry T!) gave me this cute cupcake holder thingy. I'm going to make her a cupcake and return it to her next week.

PS How Jersey Shore do my hands look in this pic?! I'm nowhere near this orange but I had the flash on.

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Day 362: The cake box. Round 2.


I've done a post before on my cake box where I keep most of the items I need for cupcakes. In that post, here, I was planning on organising it but never got to it (yes, that was 135 days ago!)

Since I am home sick again today and am getting a little stir crazy, I thought it would be a good idea to get started on it. Of course, as soon as I pulled it all out I knew I had made a mistake. Today the goal is to make a list of what I already own as I tend to have a few of everything as I forget what I already have. I'm also separating everything into groups so I can plan what size storage boxes to get. I think it will be much easier if each group has it's own box.

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Day 361: We gonna have a Situation




I was off work sick today (boo) and spent most of the day asleep. When I wasn't asleep, I still didn't feel like moving so watched some tv. What an exciting day.

However, there was a few small saving graces - seeing Diddy in Entourage and watching Jersey Shore. I've spoken of my love of JS before, and it's still going strong.

This pic is of Mike Sorrentino, also known as The Situation (seriously), while he is recounting a story about the moment he realised the MVP (Mike, Vinny, Pauly - 3 of the main guidos) had brought home grenades (who in the eyes of MVP are unattractive women). Personally I think Situation is a grenade haha.

And here is a cupcake from yesterdays post that I cut in half. Looks pretty awesome!




Monday, August 16, 2010

Day 360: Rainbow Lollipop Cupcakes




This is the finished product. They are vanilla cupcakes with musk buttercream, flavoured with pastel colours and topped with a fondant lollipop. A lot of effort went into them but the cuteness was worth it.









Below are a couple of progress pics from yesterday















Sunday, August 15, 2010

Day 359: Opera House


It's pretty right?!

Today was the most random weather day I have ever come across. It was overcast when I woke up, sunny an hour later, pouring with rain by 1pm (and hailing in some areas) and then became really gorgeous and sunny again by 3pm. What the hell?

I was glad for the sun as Robyn and I were heading to the Opera House to see Raymond Crowe's performance. It was an odd show and a really mixed crowd with an even mix of all ages from 6 to 80ish. It wasn't really aimed at kids, but it wasn't just for adults either. I didn't really know what to make of it tbh.

Oh well, we had free tickets and seeing him do the hand shadows to It's a Wonderful World in person was worth it. As were the cocktails we had before at Opera Bar and afterwards at Cruise.



Saturday, August 14, 2010

Day 358: Cheap Accessories




I was wandering the shops today (I was on a mission to find a yellow dress) and this cream headband caught my eye in a store front. Right next to the headbands were these cute little hairclips which match my favourite bow ring. They look a lot like Mimco but were about 1/10th the price. For the headband and the clips I paid a total of $8.95. Crazy!

The headband is actually quite bendy and much more comfortable than many of the other hard bands that I have.

Friday, August 13, 2010

Day 357: Chorizo & Prawn pasta




Today was a total raaaaage day unlike any I've had in a very long time. All is good now (til I deal with the fallout on Monday).

I had coffee with a friend after work to calm down a little and then went for a walk before cooking dinner which I always find a bit therapeutic. Tonights dinner was prawn and chorizo with a spicy tomato sauce and fettucine. I had thought I had linguine at home, not that it really mattered. It was delicious!

Thursday, August 12, 2010

Day 356: Pineapple Chocolate!!




Hell freakin yeah!!!

Cadbury is doing limited edition, family blocks of tropical pineapple chocolate which is my favourite flavor from the Snack blocks.

Unfortunately they are only being stocked at IGA's and my local one doesn't have them. Thankfully a colleague bought me this block which was a nice surprise this morning. Yay!

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Day 355: Chicken & Chorizo Paella




This is what I made for dinner for the girls tonight for our first ever Farmer Wants a Wife dinner party! We decided that since we all love it and have a huge debrief on Thursday mornings that we should all get together to watch it.

I made dinner this time as the girls always make dinner for me and I figured it was about time! I love paella, especially with chicken and chorizo. It was really freaking good and is so easy to make. I put in a little too much liquid so it was a little wetter than it should be bur asides from that it was delicious!

I also made mini passionfruit cheesecakes for dessert but didn't take any pics.

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Day 354: Cheezels




What isn't to love about bright orange faux cheese tasting chips?!

Cheezels would be my most loved chip-family snack of all time.

Monday, August 9, 2010

Day 353: Preview




Stay tuned! These little fondant lollipops are going to end up on some cupcakes in the next few days. I couldn't get them to be neat so went with a random jumbled mix of colour. Think I need more patience.

Sunday, August 8, 2010

Day 352: Passionfruit Beer


I do love passionfruit but I'm not entirely convinced it should be added to beer.

I had this passionfruit beer at the Bavarian Beer Cafe at Fox Studios/Entertainment Quarter after having been to the movies there. I haven't been to Fox in ages and chose the wrong time to go - there had just been a game on at the SFS so there were heaps of Dragons & Roosters supporters around making the Fox & Lion pub very busy and resulting in me having to drink my rum & coke from a plastic cup. Boooo.



Saturday, August 7, 2010

Day 351: More Macarons




Loooooove! I've been making mini petite ones, but most of those sold in stores are twice as big. Whatevs, I like my mini ones.

These ones are almond macaron with lavender white chocolate ganache. I slightly undercooked them, I'm a little unsure how to test if they are properly baked. Must google.

Loving my not-so-lazy Saturday at home. Having a very girly day of baking, playing with hair styles, reading mags, watching trashy tv, painting my nails and sorting out my makeup.




Friday, August 6, 2010

Day 350: Girls Night




Girls night seriously makes everything better! The girls night clique have helped to make this the best years I've ever had. Good friends are one of the best things and I'm so grateful to have these girls in my life. Awww!

The girls aren't fans of having their photo taken, so the pic is of our snacks that went with our wine.

Thursday, August 5, 2010

Day 349: Windy days


It has been so windy in Sydney lately, and it was back to cold temps today after a quite pleasantly warm day yesterday. As I was walking to work I was confronted with this half fallen down awning in my way. I'm presuming it was due to the wind we had overnight.



Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Day 348: Work




Today was a struggle as I had a headache but wearing my fave lilac polish and bow ring cheered me up. I love looking down at the keyboard and seeing some prettiness!

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Day 347: Quiche


I haven't had quiche in forever so made one today since it's so simple and easy. I didn't gave a proper pie/tart tin though as I smashed my awesome ceramic one. Must add that to list of things to buy.

Monday, August 2, 2010

Day 346: Baby Hamish




So cute!! And so quiet. Seriously could not get over how tiny his little feet were haha.

Sunday, August 1, 2010

Day 345: Cupcakes for Hamish




Today I met my friends little boy Hamish who is just 4 days old. He is absolutely affordable and so teeny tiny! I didn't ask A yet if I can post pics of the little one so today's pic is of the cupcakes I made for them. Luckily for me I get to see them again tomorrow night!

Meeting H, and of course seeing his lovely parents, was the start of another fabulous day! I've been having a lot if great days lately, so high fives all round hehe. After meeting H I rushed over to see Robyn for a movie and a good gossip, which was good fun as always. I left her place to find it was raining (boo it had been such a gorgeous day earlier) so rushed home to close my windows before meeting Anna for dinner and a good chat at Lees in Crows Nest which is my favorite Chinese restaurant ever. Seriously great day, especially considering 24 hours earlier I had no plans at all!