You're invited to...

Well. Nowhere actually. But i thought I'd share our wedding invitations with you now that they've all been posted and received (for the most part).




When we thought about our invitations, we wanted them to firstly set the tone of the whole wedding, but secondly be quite personal - we wanted to tell a bit of our story. So we some research and i found out about a new, up and coming stationary company who specialised in bespoke wedding invitations called Zed and Bee. It's run by two sisters, whom we met with, and they got to know us and our personalities a little before coming back with a few different suggestions for a wedding invitation. Since we both love music, and believe that music definitely influences memories, a CD invite seemed perfect.




We really wanted to create something warm and personal and kinda sweet - in short, we wanted people to WANT to play the CD. So we picked out a bunch of songs that meant something special to us in some way or another, included a few lines about why each song was picked, and let the girls create the beautiful watercolours you can see on the cover based on our brief, which was to evoke some of those beautiful album covers from the 60s and 70s - Joni Mitchell, The Beatles, that sort of thing.




When we finally got the finished product, we were beyond thrilled with the result. They look stunning, are really meaningful, and really set the scene for what we hope will be a beautiful, fun party for our us and our guests. Here they are!

Front cover and envelope

Inside - the CD itself, and the song list on either side with a sentence or two about why we picked the song.



The back, middle and front, opened out

The actual invite (with the where and when and who etc) and the RSVP

So we're back to Monday, by far the most insulting day of the week. This past weekend we went to Canberra to meet our wedding photographer (that's where she's based.) It was a bit of a risk, picking someone so integral to our wedding day without having met her - but it was worth it. She's fantastic - very easy to be around, chirpy and creative, and i think she'll take some amazing photos for us. We had an 'engagement shoot' while we were there - which basically meant she took a bunch of pictures of me and Jo trying to be lovey-dovey, but failing miserably. We were too busy laughing our heads off. Which actually made for far more appropriate pictures i think, because one thing i can always rely on is us being able to have a laugh.

And while we're on the topic of the wedding, i may as well point out that there are exactly 8 weeks to go. Freaky deaky right? There are a few rather important things we haven't actually done - like, er, get wedding rings...but other than that, i think we're on track. I'm predicting my meltdown to take place approximately 7 days out. Don't worry, I'll keep you posted.

Last but not least - we'll be celebrating a VERY special Pesty third birthday this week. Full report to follow...!

Back to work. Again.

We're all officially back at work after the holiday season. And there's really not a whole lot more i wanna say about that (cause it SUCKS!). Up until now though, we've had many pleasant distractions.





We've bowled, for example. I'm not usually one for sports, but bowling - i can handle that *winks* And we've seen a few movies. Little Fockers was OK, overall - same jokes, same laughs. You know what you're going to get, and you get it.




The Kings Speech on the other hand was, as all reviews will tell you, excellent. Highly recommended if you have the inclination for that sort of thing. And you won't often find three finer actors in one film either - Colin, Geoffrey AND Helena? That's a trifecta. It traces King George VI's quest to overcome his stammer with the help of his unconventional speech therapist, Lional Logue (played rather brilliantly by Geoffrey Rush if you ask me). Covering the pesky abdication that landed him in the job in the first place and the early years of the second World War, the film builds up to that one big speech that's got to inspire the nation once war is declared - and he can't very well stammer through it. Anyway. Just go see it.




And just the other night, we saw Morning Glory. I admit, i picked that one. And i admit, Harrison Ford makes the movie. But honestly, sometimes you just want to see a bit of fluff, you know? It's by no means deep and meaningful, but i wanted something silly and lighthearted, and. Well. That's what i got. Ford plays a professional news journalist who's relegated, much to his disgust, to morning television. Chirpy Rachel McAdams plays the up and coming young producer who has to make him see the error of his ways if she has any hope of saving the program from inevitable demise. And that's about the whole storyline right there. But it's cute enough. Maybe save it for a rainy day DVD.




In other news, we were thrilled to attend our very first Greek wedding on Saturday. You may hear the term big fat Greek wedding and think it's an exaggeration, to which i say HA! The alcohol and the dancing and the 'opa!'s' flowed all night, and when the music finally came to an end, the disgruntled shouts of 'Just one more!!" could be heard from the next suburb over, I'm sure of it. We had a ball, and must say thanks to our friends Con and Melissa for letting us share their special day - CONGRATULATIONS to you both, you crazy kids. Here are some picture highlights:

Jo and I outside the church



Turnsie pulling the same moronic face he does in every photo




The bride and groom!

Kama and Tony, who was one of the groomsmen

Dancing!

Kama and I (who enjoyed our champagne all night, let me tell you)

Con and Melissa cut their cake (what's with the dominating hand placement there Con...rack off and let the woman cut her cake.)

Awww, spesh.

Zorba!

A very happy Tony (whisky does that) and I

Of course, the last week has been spent staring in shock at images on our televisions of a flood-ravaged Queensland. 75% of the state has been declared a disaster zone, thousands and thousands of homes have been destroyed or badly damaged, many are dead or missing or homeless - and it's bizarre to see the Brisbane CBD half under water.

What HAS been pretty amazing is the attitudes of the people up there, who've just been so darn AUSSIE in their response to this whole mess. They've banded together and got on with things, and hardly any person has complained. Many have watched their houses slowly disappear under water with a beer in their hand and a shrug of the shoulders because hey, it could be worse. Or they're in their tinnies and kayaks with the dogs or on their surfboards or just plain swimming through the mud to get to their houses and take stock. Or taking care of strangers, or filling bags with sand through the night, or painting kids faces down in the evacuation centres, or giving the camera a big smile and saying "she'll be right", even though everything in they own is gone or ruined. We've seen all those traits that make us great - generosity and friendship, strength and humour - and I've no doubt that despite how bad things are, those Queenslanders are going to bounce back in no time, because in this country, we all actually give a crap about each other. Bless! And yeah. Makes me proud to be Australian.

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.