Mr and Mrs

I'm back! And I'm married! And tanned!



We actually got back on Thursday night, but i promptly got sick (I'm sure the plane was contaminated), and spent most of Friday on the couch watching 2 seasons of Secret Diary of a Call Girl. (In other words, life is back to normal.)



The rest of the weekend has been a whirlwind of washing clothes, grocery shopping, and moaning about being back in Sydney. Back to work on Monday, BOO. Reality has, alas, reared its ugly head. But we're off to see Maria and Peter and Jack tonight, which will cheer me up immensely. The Pest claims to have missed me, but i won't believe it till i see it.



There is obviously a lot to talk about, but this will have to be done in stages. For now, let me just say that our wedding day was, in a word, amazing. Its a total cliche, but it really was the best day of my life. I can't even believe how perfectly the day went, and what a fantastic party we had. Everyone had such a good time, and i honestly wouldn't have changed a thing. Of course, none of this would have been possible without all the help we got from our family and friends, some of whom travelled great distances to be with us. I'm not going to thank everyone individually here, but i WILL just say two things - firstly, my parents are really and truly the best people on the planet, who literally gave us the most beautiful day, and respected everything we wanted, and partied all night with us on the dance floor. Thank you so much - i will never forget how much you've done for us, and because of you our wedding day exceeded all of our expectations.




Secondly, our bridal party was made up of the most wonderful people, who mean the world to us - it was a big bridal party, but i think that's just testament to how lucky we are to have so many amazing friends and family, who are always there for us, and who did so much to make our day special, let alone possible! Some of my best memories of the day will always be dancing the night away with you guys - so thank you.




I've seen SOME photos from our fantastic photographer, but i haven't got them in my hot little hands yet, so i will save the wedding post until i do - though i can't wait to share the photos, because from what I've seen, they are A-MA-ZING! And of course, you'll be wanting to hear all about our honeymoon, right? That'll be coming up too, once we sort through the 800+ photos we took. (I know, we're freaks.) Ten sunny Vanuatu days of cocktails, seafood, swimming...WHY DID WE HAVE TO COME HOME???




SO! Plenty to tell, and I'll get to it soon, i hope. In the meantime, don't think that just because the wedding is over, we'll be able to relax and take it easy. That's just not us. We have a move coming up (more on that later), several visitors to look forward to, two weddings, birthday parties, and a mini-break or two...and of course we're always looking towards our next big adventure, which (scarily! excitingly!) will probably be here before you know it. But again. That's a discussion for another time.




As a last note, i will say that married life gets a big tick from me. (OK. It's really no different to living-together life. And actually, we've only been back from our holiday for three days, so who can really say. But, you know. It's nice to make it honest and all.) Pics coming soon!

Gooooooing to the chapel and we're....

......goooooonna get maaaaaaaarried....

Yesiree. I am now pretty much a day away from the big day. Which actually i can't believe, given how long we've been talking about it. Ca-razy. I was actually deluded enough to think that everything would be done by this week, and I'd be able to relax and enjoy the build up....um yeah. No. Didn't happen. This has to have been one of the most stressful weeks of my life. I've been running around like a madwoman. Sleep? What's that again? My mind's been going a million miles an hour trying to keep track of everything and everyone.

But. Today i tried on my finished wedding dress, and it was all worth it. I actually felt excited, genuinely excited, for the first time. I mean when you're dressed like a bride, you really feel like a bride right? We had our rehearsal tonight, which was fun...(read: nerve-racking). I know I'm kinda the bubbly type, which most people take to mean confident in all situations, but really, I'm a little nervous about the church bit. All eyes are on you, so you really better hope you don't drop the ring, or stuff your lines up, or faint. All of these possibilities are giving me nightmares, but i think it's too late to back out now ;) (Did we consider eloping, Jo? Why did we scratch that idea again?)

Despite that bit, I'm REALLY looking forward to - marrying Jo, obviously - but also, the party afterwards! Woot! Dancing the night away with our family and friends really is the fun part.

Even though this week has been a bit of a stress, I've had a great couple of weeks leading up to this - a Hunter Valley hens weekend, high tea and cocktails, a rehearsal dinner tonight, and a last hurrah with some good friends after work last week. And it really was quite the hurrah, let me tell you. We started our night at one of Sydney's best kept secrets - the Shady Pines. You'd never find it if you didn't know where it was - which is in a back alley, in a decrepit-looking building without a sign - but once you walk in, you may as well be back in the Wild West. It's got a real Saloon feel - in an awesome way, not in a cheesy Gold Coast Movie World way - plus, you get free peanuts all night! And the drinks - delicious. Tequila is their specialty, but personally i enjoy the vodka and fresh juices.

Kat and I and some sort of enormous drink.

So, Shady Pines, closely followed by everyones favourite Japanese pastime, Karaoke. Because honestly, there's nothing like belting out the classics with a bunch of your pissed friends. It was completely fantastic, obviously, with highlights including a very heartfelt rendition of Wonderwall by Oasis, a cracking Sweet Child of Mine by the Gunnies, and of course our personal favourite, Living on a Prayer by the great Bon Jovi. Lauren and I took advantage of Turnsie's drunken state by knocking him to the ground whenever we could (and knocking him back down again every time he tried to get up. We're pretty awesome friends like that.) We had a great night, even if i couldn't talk the whole of the next day.




I really do have the best bunch of friends, including these two crazies. We call ourselves instigators, because THAT is what we do. (What? That's a really cool name.)

Turnsie, me, Lauren

I've been able to spend some time this week with some great people i haven't seen in ages, like our adorable flower girl, Jo's niece Lauren...

And of course his cousin and one of my awesome bridesmaids, Christina. We always have way too much fun together, and i hope she'll forgive me for ditching her for an hour to write this post...(anyway, foxtel's there. it's everyones friend.)

So this is it from me! I won't be back in touch till we get back from our honeymoon in Vanuatu, and when i return it shall be as a married woman! I know I've said it before, but it's really nice (after all the talking and planning and fighting) to know that it's all for the sake of marrying Jo, who i love beyond words, and can't wait to call my husband.




Wish us luck!

End of January?? What??

How is that possible? Too busy, that's the bloody problem, and this week was no exception. It was Jack's birthday on Wednesday, so we went over for dinner and cake and all that. His real birthday party isn't until this weekend, and it's featuring a special surprise from me and Maria. More on that next week! As for Wednesday, for an impromptu party there sure were plenty of kids in attendance. Christ. Girls, boys, babies - every age bracket was accounted for. There really was nowhere to hide. So i made the best of it and stuck with the ones i knew and loved.

Christian, Raffael and me

In fact, it wasn't just Jack's birthday - it was his cousin William's too. Which is why there were about a billion kids - double the festivities. William was turning two, so still slightly overwhelmed by it all. But turning three, Jack had a better idea of what birthdays are all about - presents. And lets be honest - the kid threw aside anything that wasn't a toy or DVD. Little shit.

Birthday cakes!

Happy birthday to me!

William cuts the cake with his mama

Kid heaven

By the time Friday rolled around, i was ready for a drink. Alas for me and everyone around me, because drink i did. A good friend from work was leaving (she's travelling the world for 6 months, lucky bugger), so we decided heading to the pub early was in order. First bottle of wine was consumed by 4.30 in the afternoon, and Lord knows that happened after that. I know i got home past midnight - which means we basically drank for a full working day. Which is a phenomenal effort, and i applaud it, and i was punished for it on Saturday BELIEVE ME. My body can no longer cope with all-night benders. Am i getting old??? How did i manage that sort of drinking TWICE every weekend a mere few years ago?? Vague snippets of the night are coming back to me as the days pass (like demanding someone go and get me a burger - and actually, i think someone did), which is always funny. Its like you're in a half-dream - did that really happen, or am i imagining it? Good times.

Me and Wing-Sze, world traveller extraordinaire, who i will MISS!!

George, me and WS - i can't believe our trio has been so rudely split. Bah. Bah!

On the other hand, waking up early the next day to meet Maria in Newtown and look for wedding favours was NOT a happy moment. Really. Was. Not.

I was parched, for starters, and no amount of water would quench my thirst. Second, it was like a hundred degrees outside, so all i did for three hours was sweat out everything I'd consumed the night before. Thirdly, we were supposed to meet for breakfast, but Maria was late, so i had to eat alone like a loser, AND, i really wanted greasy bacon and eggs for breakfast, but I've vowed off eating pork, so i had to have mushrooms instead. Not the fat factor i was after. And it was one of those situations where I'd asked for two menus because i thought there would be two of us. So the waiter brings two menus and two water glasses and two sets of cutlery. And then Maria doesn't show, which is OK, but to the waiter, it looked like I'd been totally ditched, probably by a guy. "My cousin's running really late..." i told him feebly when i went to pay. And he gives me this sympathetic look like "Yeah, sure. See it all the time. But OK, you're cousin's late, whatevs..."

To top it off, we ended up sitting for what felt like an eternity with this lady talking about wedding favours when all i wanted to do was go to the toilet. When i finally couldn't hold it any more, i asked whether there was one available even though i could see there wasn't. She said she had one out the back, but that it was a bit "rustic". HA! Rustic?? Rustic means CHARMING, lady! Not pitch-black, spider-infested, outback dunny with mouldy toilet paper and a yellow-stained floor. But i was busting so i had to go, i had to. And really, after that, all i wanted to do was go back home and go to bed. Thank goodness I actually found some favours i liked after all that, so it was kind of worth it, just.

By Sunday i was buggered, but it was a beautiful day and we were heading off for a BBQ with my cousins. They have three little kids who are a hoot, and we love seeing them, so it was a nice afternoon.

Raffael and Christian with their vegetable garden

Fish on the barbie for lunch, DELICIOUS.

Jo, Raffy and Christian reading books

Later that afternoon, Jo and my Dad were headed off to the cricket, so Mum and I decided to go to the movies to see Black Swan. Obviously it's been getting a lot of buzz, so we were interested to see whether it would live up to the hype.

Which it kind of did. I'm not sure what i expected from it in hindsight actually. It's hard to put it in a genre category, but i guess you could call it part thriller, part horror. Natalie Portman plays Nina, a ballerina who's waiting for her big moment - and it comes when she wins the lead in Swan Lake. Her nervous and unsure personality is evident from the start, but once the pressure of the role sets in, and we learn more about her home life, the cracks in her mental state begin to show. From there, the audience is left to guess what's real and what isn't. We see it all through Nina's eyes, and that's what i liked best about the movie - i felt like i understood her paranoia and delusions because i was seeing them for myself, i thought they were real too. When it turned out they weren't, i felt her confusion because it was also my own. I was definitely on the edge of my seat for the whole movie. On the other hand. It was so intense and confronting in its realism that I was almost uncomfortable watching it. And i am no prude by any means, but there were some scenes where i was like "Geez. That's...weird..." So I'm not sure its for everyone. From an artistic perspective, it's beautifully staged and shot. But it's very dark, and its MA rating is appropriate. I'm still feeling a little unnerved and disturbed by it, even a couple of days later.

Public holiday tomorrow, so no work for me! I'll keep you posted on how my Australia Day turns out - most likely i will sleep, eat, watch trash TV with the aircon on high, sleep, attend a BBQ, then sleep. Not too shabby if you ask me.

2011 - what will you bring?

Ohhhh new years. That night of nights, huh? Or not. I personally am never one for a big new years. Going into the city to watch the fireworks, making a big deal of it all...it's a pain. There's so much pressure to make the night amazing that it inevitably often isn't. No, my best new years are the ones we've kept low-key, with family or friends, at home or at someone else's home - fuss free, relaxed, no pressure.




So i was very pleased indeed when our friend Annie invited us to spend new years with her at her mother's penthouse apartment this year. Good friends? Tick. Views of the city? Tick. Plenty of champers? Tick tick tick. Awesome music? Tick. Can't ask for more on new years, riiiiiiight?!





But the day started well before that. As per tradition, we headed over to our friend Lewis's house that afternoon for the annual new years back-alley cricket game. And let me tell you, it was hot that day. Real. Hot. The kind of hot where the ice does nothing for your beers and the shade does nothing for your heat rash. Know what i mean?




My batting was superb as always (rules state that girls can use a real cricket bat, but lads have to use a hockey stick. Suckers.), but my fielding, admittedly, could use some work. Running away from the ball when it comes flying in your direction is apparently not acceptable. Backyard cricket or not. I say, my face comes first.









Lewis had the heat covered though, with that traditional Aussie summer staple - the plastic paddle pool. Which i refused to enter. No siree bob. 4 sweaty male bodies in that tiny thing? One word sums it up, and that word is Ew.

Back to our place for some pre-champagne champagne, and before i knew it we were at Annie's, where the good times rolled on till midnight. It wouldn't be new years without our good friend Turnsie and as usual, he was plastered before the 9 o'clock fireworks. He will of course try to tell you this is a lie, but don't believe him. His drunken dance moves, smugly recorded by Jo, prove otherwise. Oh yeah. He was hustling to Beyonce's Diva like a groupie on steroids.

Turns and I proudly display our bounty.




Why yes! That IS me pouring a packet of Smarties into Turnsie's champagne.

Obviously everyone was feeling the love by the time the midnight fireworks hit. Everyone except Jo, who in fact suffered SEVERE food poisoning over the entire new years holiday period, poor bloke. He was in agony - in fact he didn't drink a single drop of alcohol the whole night. Which not only sucks, but also proves that he really was sick. Cause that just doesn't ever happen. On the plus side, since he wasn't off his face like the rest of us, he managed to get some pretty good shots of the fireworks. (And we had a designated driver.)

Annie, me, Turns and Lauren

The evening was topped off by a visit from the crazy, middle-aged Eastern European neighbour (otherwise known as 'Russian Mafia Dude'), whose disturbingly open sexual prowess was just a little too free and easy for me. Yeah. I didn't bother to hide my sniggers.

The rest of our holidays was spent on my parents couch. Jo needed a few days of recovery time, so we parked ourselves at the parentals and spent 3 days watching movies and playing with the dogs. It was kinda nice to do absolutely nothing actually. And i forgot how great Inglorious Bastards was.

In other news, today i had my hair and make-up trials for the wedding. I'm super duper happy with how it all turned out, especially when i imagine the whole look with an actual wedding dress on. And hello, fake eyelashes are the best. I'm converted. Here's the look:

Not bad right? Alas, from tomorrow, it's back to work full-time. No more rest for the wicked either - January is already looking chockers, and before you know it it'll be genuinely time for the wedding.

And so i can finally say Happy New Year! I hope it brings much joy and happiness to you all, and that it's filled with as many adventures as I think ours will be. Bring on 2011!!!

May your days be merry and bright

Christmas: tick.



Over and done with for another year, and in another day it will be 2011 and i will be shaking my head at how the year has flown. I do hope everyone had a great Christmas - we celebrated with friends and family as always, and it was a marvellous, boozy affair. Just as it should be.




But first, some of my Christmas cooking conquests. When it gets to this time of year, I'm always watching Christmas cooking specials. I don't know why. I get strangely addicted to them, and this in turn makes me want to bake. So i did! I made Christmas shortbread cookies, which i sadly burnt (they still tasted good i reckon, and so did Jo, who ate most of them). Here they are:







AND, i made Nigella's Cranberry, Orange and Almond pudding, which came out swimmingly, if i do say so myself. It felt very Christmassy indeed to pour a shitload of cranberries into saucepan and watch them pop....







And the end result looked BETTER than Nigella's, if you ask me. (I know. I too should be starring in my own cooking show. Petition coming soon.)







Our friends Kama and Tony hosted a Christmas booze-up (i mean party), which saw us exchanging hilarious Kris Kringle presents and drinking all manner of Christmas cocktails, my favourite of which was the Christmas in a Glass - prosecco and gingerbread liqueur. I mean you guys! It really IS Christmas in a glass!




She even made EGGNOG. EGGNOG people. Which by the way, actually has egg in it. (What? I was shocked.) Don't let that put you off though, its delicious. Or maybe i was just too "happy" (read: tipsy) to give a rats. Anythings possible. To top it off, they had a real tree - which pretty much crapped all over our fake plastic one.

Kama in all her Christmas glory

Jo and I

Me and my prosecco (and Tony.)

Getting home at 2am was possibly not the greatest idea the night before Christmas Eve, but what can you do. I pressed on and decided the best cure for a hangover was to continue the party. My team at work decided a long lunch was in order (who bloody well has to work on Christmas Eve anyway??), so we took ourselves off to Assiette, a VERY nice restaurant in Surry Hills, and proceeded to spend the next 4 hours drinking ourselves merrily into the afternoon. Back to work it was NOT, not after all those cosmopolitans, so i rushed back home to meet Jo and we headed off to my parents, where we camped ourselves for the next 2 days.

I knew we had to go to a big family Christmas Eve bash, but honestly, there was no way i was fit to go anywhere without having a nap first. Not if i was going to continue to abuse my body anyway, which was (naturally) the plan. Christmas Eve is traditionally celebrated with my Dad's side of the family - a rowdy bunch, and that's putting it mildly, so i knew that the food and drink would be flowing right through to midnight. Jo always says he has to mentally prepare for the event. It's usually at my parents place, but my cousin Frank hosted this year. I have no idea how i made it to midnight, but i did people, i did. Which means i basically endured 48 hours of eating and drinking nonstop. Which is pretty awesome, when you think about it.

The kids had fun with a snowman pinata - funny that when you give someone a stick and tell them to whack the crap out of something, their inner-caveman in unleashed. They actually went schizo. Wild look in their eyes, untamed bellowing...it was all there. When the poor snowman finally fell apart, they pounced on that chocolate like it was the last thing they were ever gonna do. And God help you if you tried to sneak a piece for yourself. I should know.

Max

Jack

Raffael, taking it all very seriously...

Chocolate madness

Christmas day dawned bright and clear and damn hot. Woot! Just the way i like it. We spent it with my mums side of the family at my parents place, and this year we had some old friends join us too, so that made it extra nice. I was well pleased with my loot (not that Christmas is about presents or anything. I totally know that.) Tom Ford sunnies from Jo, a fab Oroton bag from Maria, and cold hard cash from my parents.

Even my brother got me something. Normally his reaction to presents is an unintelligible grunt, followed by an "I forgot". What did you forget?? Christmas?? You forgot it was Christmas?? But this year he actually requested something specific from me, so he must have known there'd be no option but to return the favour.

Jo and my cousin Tony lounging with the dogs

A Christmas kiss from Reggie

My uncle tops the afternoon off with nap

We don't usually go with the traditional ham or turkey at our house for Christmas. Tradition for us is homemade gnocchi - the BEST you'll ever eat by the way, and literally the only time we make them is for Christmas and Easter. But this year we DID have a turkey, cause my uncle got it for free when he bought a new fridge. (*shrugs*. Don't ask me.)

Since we don't usually have one, i can't say we're entirely familiar with how to cook it. My parents solution was to just sort of shove it in the oven and hope for the best. When it came out, they spent 30 minutes arguing about how best to carve it. And then, my Dad wanted to throw out the stuffing. Say it with me people - WHAT??? THROW OUT THE STUFFING?? Everyone knows the stuffing is the best part! My Dad's attitude to food is this - if he doesn't eat it, no one should. Luckily, i stepped in and gave him an earful about not being selfish on Christmas, thereby saving the holiday for ourselves and for all mankind.

And that, folks, was Christmas. A few card games and lots of beer later it was all over for another year. Thankfully i haven't had to go back to work this week, so I've spent lots of quality time with the TV - I've had a stack of books on my shelf which i told myself i would absolutely get to over the holidays, but lets face it - an MTV marathon of 16 and Pregnant totally beats reading.

New Years Eve is tomorrow, but i don't make resolutions. I know i won't stick to them. I change my mind about things all the time, alas. I DO know that 2011 will be a huge and exciting year - lots of change, and lots of adventures. And it all beings very soon, so I'm going to bed, or maybe to watch more 30 Rock re-runs. I hope everyone has a great start to the new year - as my brother would say, go hard or go home. See you all next year!

Good tidings

I know. My posts have been few and far between lately. But all the smart and beautiful people know that absence makes the heart grow fonder. Looking back over the past few weeks, i really could not even tell you what I've done - all i know is i can't remember the last time i was in bed before midnight, let alone home at all. But let's see what i can remember...




December started with a bang, as people across the nation celebrated my birthday. HA! Totally kidding. I was disappointed there were no fireworks in my honour though. I mean honestly. I expected more from the Labour Government.




We went to see the Chekhov play Uncle Vanya with our friend Kat, put on by the Sydney Theatre Company. Cate Blanchett, Hugo Weaving and Richard Roxburgh were stand-outs in an altogether marvellous ensemble cast, and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.




My oldest friend and bridesmaid is back in town for a month, so we've had dress fittings and catch-ups galore - and I'm pleased to say her dress is almost finished and looking lovely. AND. My dress is really coming along! I've had more fittings this month than ever, and it's looking beeeeeeautiful! My mum saw it for the first time, and she was blown away. I say this because she is hardly ever blown away by anything, so it must be good. Other wedding ticks - we picked and ordered our wedding cake and cars, and have officially covered all our musical bases. That's a bang bang bang right there. Thank goodness too, cause the damn thing's less than three months away now. Last on the wedding front - our invitations arrived! And they're beautiful and heartfelt and everything we wanted them to be. They'll be in the mail in the next couple of weeks, so I'm super excited to hear what everyone thinks of them.




We went to see U2 in concert, and they were fab as usual. I've seen them before, but Jo got these tickets for free, and as you know - if it's free, its for me. What i like about U2 is that they always sing their back catalogue - the songs that everyone wants to hear. All the favorites were in there, and including two of my all time faves, Where Streets Have No Name and Sunday Bloody Sunday. The set-up was pretty flash too - very transformers....

Sweaty and sung-out after the concert. Delicious.

And then there's Christmas. The season to be jolly. I'm sorry to report that I've become more than a little addicted to Christmas cooking shows this year. Chief among them is Nigella, mainly because i love her and want to be her best friend. Plus, she uses ingredients that come out of cans and bottles like regular people.

We wasted no time putting the tree up. I like to maximise Christmas tree time, because lets face it - there's nothing like twinkling lights and tinsel to get your Yuletide on. See?

Maria and I rocked the house at our work Christmas party, which had a masquerade theme. Cheap champagne flowed freely, and the masks were ditched approximately 60 seconds after these pictures were taken...

...but the drinking, you'll be pleased to hear, did not stop all night. And that, folks, was my downfall. All liquid. No solid. A novice mistake, i know, and I've got no excuse. I thought that salt and vinegar chips would be enough to tide me over, AND i thought there'd be more food at the party. Alas, neither turned out to be true.

I was, that Friday night, an instigator. So was Maria. It was excellent team work - we started congo lines and zorba circles, screamed at the top of our lungs to Bon Jovi and Bryan Adams, ensured all glasses were permanently filled with cheap booze and kept our co-workers abreast with all the relevant (and irrelevant) office gossip. If there's something to know, we'll sniff it out before anyone else, guaranteed. We're smart like that. And it didn't end there. When the official party ended, we rounded up the troops and headed off to the Retro for more drinking and dancing. Things went downhill pretty quickly after that i'm afraid. Champagne was ditched for vodka, and we found ourselves once more in the murky depths of the cheapest bar in town. Within half an hour, our friend Turnsie was booted from the joint. Things get hazy after that, but around the time my shoes started to literally burn my feet, i had my last clear memory, which was: "Must. Get. Cab." So i did.

The next day, tired and hungover, was not a happy one for Nell, so let's gloss over that quickly and move straight onto Christmas shopping, which is 90% complete only because most of the weekend just gone was spent in a shopping frenzy. The shops are adorned in festive glory....

...so it's nice to be out and about in all the merriment, except for the part where you want to kill everyone in sight. The toy section is particularly challenging, and again, I've erased the experience from my memory, so let's move on. I only want to say one thing, and that is that the number one rule of Christmas shopping is DON'T TAKE YOUR CHILDREN CHRISTMAS SHOPPING!!!!!!!!!! I mean DUH. DUH. It's madness!!! Bonkers!!! WHAT IS WRONG WITH THESE PEOPLE??? Get your Santa photo and get the hell out of my sight, and take your snotty kid with you for godsake, before they touch every teddy bear in the vicinity with their dirty, grubby hands. That is all.

On Friday night, we went to St. Mary's Cathedral for their annual Christmas carols, which was very traditional and quite lovely. You'll be pleased to know that I sang my little heart out, Silent Night's and all. The Cathedral itself has been dressed up for the season - come 8pm, it lights up in all manner of ways, looking very merry indeed - if you get the chance - go see it.

Here she is during the day....

...and here's some of what you'll see at night...

And now here we are, a few days away from Christmas and the end of another year. Time flies when you're having fun and all that. (It really does fly. WAH!) This mammoth post should have me caught up now, and there'll be more Christmassy goodness to report before the weeks out I'm sure.