A Farm Party

For Jack's birthday this year, Maria and I put our heads together and decided we'd do a themed party. Since the pest loves animals so much, we thought a farm party would be fun for a bunch of three year olds. And apart from being a thousand degrees out that day, it turned out a treat - the little mobile farm was a great success. The kids got to learn about all the animals, and were able to feed and pet them (under supervision, of course).









The lovely ladies who ran the whole thing were very patient - unlike me. The heat was driving me up the wall, and it was a MORNING party. So i admit, i may or may not have been slightly snappy. Possibly. So sue me! Everyones sweating and there are a million kids who want to pee and eat and pet the sheep and get in the pen and out of the pen and be read stories...bah. BAH! I just wanted to eat my egg roll in peace. It was nice to see Jack so excited though. Winner!

Zara was the most fearless of them all. Patting the sheep was not enough. She wanted to ride the damn thing.

The cake itself was awesome, made by Jack's equally awesome (and very handy in the kitchen) neighbour Jenna. Look! A farm cake! I think about what Maria and I would have accomplished if we'd been set the task of making this thing. In my vision, we are staring helplessly at both a bowl of green sludge and an empty bottle of champagne. We may or may not have been responsible for both. Basically, it's lucky we have Jenna to do the baking. (She even did the animals. I am beyond impressed. They look exactly like they're supposed to look! I can't even DRAW a cow, let alone make one out of....whatever the hell that stuff is.)

That little sign on the cake says "Jack's farm - Est. 2008". I mean. The girl thought of everything. By the way, have you noticed this new smile of Jack's? The bottom teeth seem to be a main feature. What's that about kid?

I will say this - his confidence, for a three year old, is pretty amazing. I know I'm biased. But really, it is. After he blew his candles out, he got up on that chair and actually said a speech. In front of a room full of people. "Thank you for coming to my party and for my presents, and thank you to mummy and daddy for giving me a party." THAT was the speech! WTF? What three year old does that?? I mean he had a bit of prodding, fair enough, but still. Even i was proud.

So, more birthday celebrations are over for another year. Hard to believe in a couple more years he'll be in school (HA - that'll be a rude shock to his system. Structure? Rules? What??) And now, I'm off to watch Bridezillas. Don't judge till you've seen it. Everyone loves a psycho-bride.

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.

Happy birthday to moi ploise

So it was my birthday yesterday. (I know. Hold your applause.) I feel a quick post in honour of my birth would be appropriate, even though i predict the pest will steal the show as usual.



Alas, i had to work, but my workmates and friends made it a nice day nonetheless (thanks for the long lunch and cake peeps!), and i had not one but TWO deliveries of flowers - beautiful roses from Jo and lovely lilies and champers from my BFF over in L.A. My good friend Turnsie arranged my annual birthday present treasure hunt, always a good way to start the day, and i got a necklace and earrings AND the Grease DVD from Jo too. Now he'll have no excuse for not watching it with me, HAHA sucker. David and Mel got me a ticket to Fame, which we went to see last week, and my brother supposedly got me something which he conveniently "left at work" yesterday, so we'll see when that makes an appearance. My in laws spoilt me with cards and scarfs and all sorts of lovely things, and Leah sent over a hilarious card and ring from the UK. Which all proves that there's nothing like a birthday to make you feel loved.




Dinner at my parents last night, and my uncle made homemade pasta for dinner, my favourite thing, and obviously Jack's too - as you can see, he enjoyed his share.











Afterwards it was all about the cake - and he went to great lengths to discover its whereabouts. "Where is the cake. Where is the cake. Where is the cake." I mean really kid. Look in the fridge. Out it came, in all its chocolate glory, and when he was told he wasn't going to get any, he threw his hands in the air in frustration and proclaimed "But i was a good boy! I ate all my pasta!"




For once he was telling the truth. My lone candle was lit, and happy birthdays were sung TWICE so Jack could blow out my candle TWICE. Then my dad breaks out the whisky (what? it was an important occasion.), and i decide to have some fun and tell Jack it's apple juice. The kid loves apple juice. So i say "hey Jack, want some apple juice?" and give him the glass. He takes a whiff and thinks why not - goes in for a slug before i snatch it off him with a jolly "just joking! Haha!" Then all hell breaks loose, and there's tears and screams and general patheticness about wanting juice. "OK, OK", i say, "i'll get you some real juice." "NO!" he wails, "I want THAT juice!!" Maria's looking at me like i'm getting what i deserve, which i probably am, but i drag him into the kitchen and get him some red cranberry juice in a tom and jerry glass, which seems to do the trick, so i'm the winner after all. It was a nice little break in all the fun.

I know. Cuters.



The great happy birthday sing-a-thon. PS, there were other people at my party, but who cares about them.

Sharing the cutting duties, as any great couple would

My lilies (thank Y!)

Aaaaaand my roses, in peach in white cause the boy knows i don't do red.

So, it's all over for another year. By this time NEXT year i will be a Mrs! Me, a wife? *sniggers* feeling sorry for Jo already.

PS - check out some of Jo's photography here! I reckon he's getting pretty good :)

A houseguest

As you know, Jo's brother Matthew came to stay for a week not long ago to help celebrate Jo's 25th birthday. Jo is used to us Italians by now (dare i say it - he is practically one of us sometimes, particularly when there's a plate of pasta to be had), but i was curious to see how Matthew would go. Obviously it was hilarious for me and Jo to watch the interaction (especially with my old man), but credit where credit is due - he was very relaxed about the whole thing. He ate and drank with the rest of us and generally did just fine with the whole situation. It deserves a big well done!




On Jo's birthday, we headed out to my parents for a BBQ and some birthday cake (not for Jo's sake of course, but because Jack loves to sing happy birthday and blow out candles. Naturally he's not fussed about whose birthday it actually is, as long as those requirements are met.)

Jo and Jack cut the cake

All eyes focused on one thing and one thing only...




Jo, Matthew and Dad. Why Dad looks like a deer in headlights i do not know.

On Saturday, I met Faatasi in Surry Hills for brunch at the Book Kitchen, an old favourite, where the date and fig pikelets with vanilla ricotta and poached pear never fail to please. What i love about Faats is that like me, he knows no bounds when it comes to food. Can't decide what you want? Feel like trying a few things? No problem, we'll order it all and damn the consequences! A man who knows the way to my heart. Stomach. Heart. Whatever.

We walked back into the city afterwards, and i went down to Circular Quay to meet the boys. We proceeded to shop till we dropped, and then headed home for birthday celebration number 2 - the annual 'Jo's Birthday Bowl Off', which we've been enjoying for about 4 years now. Leah and Chris were missing from our little group this year, being that they're 'living abroad' and all, but it was still a rowdy group of 9 or 10 of us that made the trek down the road to the local pub for dinner, and then onto disco bowling. Note the word disco. Such classics as Madonna's 'Like a Prayer' and Michael Jackson's 'Thriller' made the rounds - two of Matthews most hated artists from his most hated era, mind you, so we enjoyed singing at the top of our lungs to ensure his maximum enjoyment.

David set out from the beginning to take the glory that evening, but in the end, it all came down to the two brothers, fighting for the crown and their honour. Alas, there could only be one winner and that was Matthew, in true big brother form. The funny thing was that Jo got such a high score, his best ever i think, and Matthew STILL beat him! It's psychological, i tell you.

Jo and The Argiro

Daniel, me and Matthew

Me and Jo (David is a fan of the artistic side shot)

Sunday saw us back at my parents for some pasta and vino, in true Italian style, and Matthew even tried my mother's POTENT Italian homemade liqueurs. I was so shocked by this that i had to take a photo, below, as proof for everyone back in New Zealand. I mean that stuff is STRONG, for reals. Not even i can drink it. In fact i flat out refuse to. My Dad looking on with pride as Jo knocked it back like it was a shot of milk (please picture me rolling my eyes.)

Jo having a romp with Cooper

Monday was a lazy day at home, and then Tuesday it was back to work for Jo, so i took Matthew on a little walking tour of all my favourite places in Sydney. We started through Hyde Park, saw the Cathedral, all the old buildings along Macquarie St, through the botanical gardens, around the point to the Opera House, right around Circular Quay to The Rocks, and then back up George St and more shopping. Some would say it was torturous of me to put him through 5 or 6 hours straight of walking, but i call it tough love. You'd never see anything hanging around at home on the couch, which by the way, you can do anywhere. Anyway, it was a beeeeeautiful Sydney winter day! I'm sure he wouldn't have wanted to spend it watching TV...

Local wildlife. I hate these birds with a passion.

Our lovely harbour

Some more Sydney icons

Botanical Gardens, and the tower in the background

Throw in a few world cup matches and dinners out, and before you knew it, the week was over! Time to say goodbye and see you soon we hope, and back to our normal lives, which mainly include work and more work. It's too bad. I love having an excuse to have a day off.

Its lucky for me, then, that i have just that excuse coming up this week - Yvonne is in town on Wednesday, so we're off to do some wedding stuff like dress fittings and seeing the florist and finding shoes, amongst other adventures, and then Jo's cousin Christina is here for 4 days from Friday, so that'll be more dress fittings and general fun times.

Which proves there really is no rest for the wicked.

Gah. I'm still here.

We have no Internet at home yet, so I'm writing a quick update from my parents place. I feel as though all I've done in the past two weeks is MOVE. We're pretty much settled in now though, with foxtel safely installed (as Jo said - 'What's the point of having a TV without foxtel?' Elitist, but true, if only for the Lifestyle channel, which i love.) Hopefully the Internet will be back soon too, next week, fingers crossed.



Since we've been busy little moving bees, we really haven't done all that much else, which has actually been refreshing. I've powered through so many good books - I'm going to tell you about two crackers in particular though.




Brooklyn, by Colm Toibin, is the set post-war, in the 50s. It starts off in a small Irish town, where we are introduced to our heroine, Eilis. Like many, she can't find decent work in her small town, the only place she knows. When the offer of a job comes up in America, a million miles away, she knows she has to go. She sets sail for Brooklyn, New York City, and she slowly starts to build a new life. But tragedy strikes back home, and she is forced to return and make some tough decisions. This is a quiet, understated, but beautifully written book, which i really enjoyed. It had an old fashioned quality to it, and even though there's this undercurrent of sadness the whole way through, i was pretty well hooked to the end. I think i read it in like, 4 days.




The second book will appeal to more people i think. Its called One Day, by David Nicholls. I loved this book so much i don't even know where to begin. With the premise, i suppose, which is this: a boy and a girl share a moment, one day, at the end of their time at university. Each chapter of the book follows where they are on the same day, every year, for twenty years. Do they still know each other? Are they friends? Will they ever be anything more? You are seriously rooting for them from the beginning, and i couldn't wait to see, with each passing chapter, where they'd be the next year, and the next. It was such an emotional book, funny and sad, and the great thing is that so much of it leaves you guessing - you're never quite sure what happened from one year to the next, except for the hints you get through the chapters. There were some moments where i was actually holding my breath, thinking ah! Are they about to get together? Is it about to happen? And then no, and you're racing through to the next chapter, the next year, to see if they've figured it out yet. The ending - GAH. I won't say more. But GAH! Seriously. And don't bother skipping ahead - the last few pages won't give away a single thing. Anyway. READ THIS BOOK! It's such an easy read, and so worth it.




OK, that's my book club over for now. I've sort of run out of stuff to read at the moment, so I'm re-reading Eat, Pray, Love, cause i really did enjoy it the first time around.




Wedding news - not much, except that we've booked out honeymoon! We're going to Tahiti for 10 nights, 8 of which are in an over-water bungalow, thank you very much - so romantic, and perfect for relaxing after the wedding is all over. Plus 5 nights in New Zealand, the North Island, because we haven't seen all that much of it. We'll have a night in Auckland, then 2 nights in the Bay of Islands and 2 nights on the Coromandel Peninsula. Cannot wait. We've also all but locked in the video peeps. And we get some concepts back this coming Thursday for our invitations - did i tell you, we've decided on a great little up and coming business called Zed and Bee to do them for us. Its run by two very creative ladies who i think will really try and capture our personalities in the stationary we have. They seemed very enthusiastic at our meeting with them, and we've given them a whole heap of information about 'us', so i think they'll do something lovely and personal, and fun too.




June is going to be the busiest month, starting from tomorrow - we are babysitting Jack most of the day, so we'll see how that goes, especially in this rainy weather. Tomorrow night, a party at our place to celebrate not just Jo's birthday, but DT and Ash's as well. Then we have Jo's brother coming to stay next week for a week, more birthday celebrations for Jo, Yvonne back in Sydney for a wedding marathon - dress fittings for both of us, shoe shopping, consulting with the florist, and debating the age-old question - to veil or not to veil? We end the month with Jo's cousin Christina coming to stay, for her dress fittings too. Maria and I have to find time between all that to go see Sex and the City 2 - hopefully next weekend - and then before you know it she is OFF to Italy for 5 weeks, and i shall miss her, and the pest. (5 weeks! JEALOUS MUCH?)




I'd better go, before i fall off my chair just thinking about all this. Thank God for my day planner.

Shakespeare and birthdays

I've been on the go since Monday, but that's OK. For all my complaining about how busy i always am, i secretly kinda like it. There's always something new happening, and anyway, isn't that the best way to live life? By actually living it? Musing over, i will now recount for you highlights of the week that was.



On Tuesday, Kat and I went to see Bell Shakespeare's production of King Lear, which is one of his more intense, depressing plays, but interesting nonetheless. I've seen the play performed before, but this time we had the pleasure of seeing John Bell himself (founder of the Bell Shakespeare Company and one of Australia's greatest theatre actors) play the part of King Lear. His performance alone was worth the ticket, because he really is brilliant, and obviously passionate about Shakespeare. The language rolls off his tongue like conversation, which makes him so pleasant to listen to. A good production all round, but he was the highlight for sure.




Wednesday saw us at the Macquarie Hotel for cheap drinks (as in, two bottles of champagne for us girls) and a good, old fashioned pub meal with our friends Adrian and Fiona. And Thursday was spent in a mad rush of shopping for our Friday night BBQ with my cousins (all 8 of them, plus Mel and David, plus me and Jo - i was worried where everyone would sit, but we all fit!).




On Saturday, despite staying up till 3.30am the night before watching one Glee episode after the next, we headed over to Daniel and Romina's new house to help them out with a few things before they move in. When i say we, i of course mean Jo. He and Daniel worked the afternoon away while Romina and I sat around looking at wedding magazines and chatting about the (soon-to-be) new baby. Although i, like many, could not say the words 'Daniel' and 'physical labour' in the same sentence without laughing hysterically, my opinion was turned around very quickly that afternoon - he's been working so hard to get this house ready, and it's looking great.




Then it was straight to my parents place for another BBQ - this time in honour of my uncles 70th birthday. We had a very fun night - Jack kept us all entertained as usual. He is enamoured of Cooper, whom he loves to look at, and yell at, and every throw food at....just not actually touch. Well, he is an enormous dog, with enormous chompers. I guess i can see his point. "Do you want to pat him?" i ask. "No thanks," he replies, "I can't." This is his latest thing, 'i can't'. If he doesn't want to eat something particular, or do something particular, the reason is always because 'i can't.' Also, he is being toilet trained at the moment, except that he won't actually participate in the whole 'going to the toilet ON the toilet' thing, which is, i believe, the whole point of toilet training. It's not as if he doesn't understand the concept. "Where do you have to do a poo?" i ask him. "In the toilet!" he replies triumphantly. "And where do YOU do a poo?" Pause. "In my nappy." I call that, toilet training FAIL. Here's some pics from last night:

My uncle with his three nieces

Italian sweets...these are my FAVOURITE thing.

Jack and Zio Angelo blow the candles out (I love how Jack's muscled his way into the limelight here)


Jack with his eye on the prize - birthday cake!

Jo, Zio and I

Me and Jack

Today, Jo played squash so i took a walk and ended up and Bourke St Bakery for coffee and toast with ricotta and jam (a surprisingly delicious combination), before coming home to watch Bride Wars, which was uninspiring to say the least. Especially for a wedding movie. Then we decided to go to the beach this afternoon for a walk and a quick bite, since it was such a nice day, and who knows when the crazy whether will kick in again.

So there you have it folks. Busy busy, but we've had fun. Easter coming up next weekend, which means a 4 day weekend which we'll be spending up on the Gold Coast with David and Mel - David has decided he simply must visit some of the theme parks up there, and so away we go. Also - Leah is having her first bridesmaids fitting this week (since she's leaving soon) and I'm having my first fitting next week - which is kind of exciting!