HAPPY BIRTHDAY ALEX

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KRIS

Pole Dancing!!!

Well I did it - and won't be doing it again! (Before you ask, I am not in this photo - not that silly.)
It was hilarious, ridiculous, bloody hard work and did I mention hilarious?
My lovely friend Lisa is getting married on Friday so this hour of torture was part of her pre-wedding shenanigans. Hope you had fun Lise, although judging by the hilarity I'd say you did.

This Is What An Australian Summer Is All About

Long busy days on the beach

and long warm nights BBQing with mates.

Could we get any luckier? I'm so thankful that I can bring up my children in such a fantastic environment.

Miami Horror

The Australian band reminding me what the soundtrack to year 9 sounded like! You'd almost believe it was 1983 not 2008.
(Thanks for the heads up Lizey)

Why I Love Yarraville

There are so many reasons to love this particular part of Melbourne but this morning was a perfect example of the colour and variety on show.



While Krissa and I sat over our cups of tea this morning at The Corner Shop we watched these lovely ladies across the road. They were fabulous and we commented that although they received double takes and smiles, in general they were treated as a fun but fairly commonplace sight. That sums up Yarraville perfectly for me.

Horchata

For those of us in Australia who own and love Vampire Weekend's new album 'Contra', here is the answer to a question I have been asking myself - and you may have too...

What on earth is Horchata?

Mexican Horchata
A refreshing cold drink made of rice, almonds, cinnamon (canella), lime zest and sugar. This drink is rumored to be a cure for a hangover and is frequently served at breakfast time. Even though the drink has a milky appearance it is completely dairy-free.

So there you go - never say you don't learn anything at CHALK & TALK! Apparently Horchata is commonly served with massive long donut thingys called Fartuos - it's sounding better and better.

They're Off

Well it's official - I am the mother of TWO school children and as such Surfer Boy seems to think that the house will be immaculate, meals will be prepared, and various home crafts will be completed. He was a little miffed to find that nothing has changed in one day! Little does he know that I headed straight for 'The Corner Shop' cafe and sat around with various lovely ladies until 1.30pm!! There really wasn't much time left after that for chores of any sort. Maybe tomorrow will be different - but I doubt it!
Here's the lovelies off to their first day -

Gidget - year 2

Moondoggie - Prep

(and before you ask - no I wasn't at all sad or sentimental. He was so happy to be there that there didn't seem much point)

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What's Surfer Boy Been Up To??

L.O.L.

Flashback Friday

We had people over for dinner tonight and during the course of the evening, for some reason, the wedding photos were brought out. They are a whole other Flashback Friday, but when I was putting them all back I came across this photo.

This is the group of people I spent much of my teens, and all of my 20s with on an almost daily basis. I think it must have been taken in the mid 90's. Most of us met at dancing class in 1984 (year 9) and we were inseparable for well over a decade. This photo makes me miss those days so much - before, husbands and wives, before kids and mortgages, when every day was an adventure and we lived for each other.

I am happy to say that every one of these people is well loved, with families and big joyous lives. Doesn't stop me missing 'us' though.

(By the way, that's me at the front in the delightful cream canvas coat thingy!)

There's Always One In Every Holiday Snap!

The First In A Series.....

Drop In And Visit

Upper Silver Lake, Michigan.

Keith, Kid and Sheryl

Help For Haiti was a huge success but this was a stand out for me - bet you can guess why...

Bugs Bitten Back

Well, we've been to the architect - seems like our plans are still stuck at council but at least we now know what the next steps will be. If they decide to give us the green light and ignore the heritage consultant then Woo Hoo, but if not then we'll send in the big guns!!! We did make sure our architect knows that we're not scared to take the issues to VCAT so fingers crossed council will decide we're too much work and let good sense rule!!

The meeting has put the extension back at the front of my mind, especially as we had to let council know exactly what colours and materials our house will be. I think I'm feeling all enthusiastic again after loosing interest there for a while.

(We're having a cathedral ceiling upstairs hence the photos - tipping ours won't be quite so grand!)

I Can Dream

We've got a meeting with our architect tomorrow to discuss the progress of our extension which is languishing away at council due to the heritage consultant. That is a long boring story for another day, but the meeting did inspire me to buy a new home mag today at the supermarket. I've been having a lovely time imagining this to be my new kitchen...

In fact the whole home is delightful and fills me with envy. The home is situated in Seminyak, Bali which explains a lot but surely I could replicate some of their ideas? I wish I could show you the rest of the house but my scanner is on the blink. Best you pop out and buy the magazine.


(Real Living - Jan/Feb 2010)

The Boys Are Back - and they're going to kick arse!

Twitter Update

DanMacPherson - So im MCing an event with Prince William this week. deciding whether to shave my beard off? i mean, its not like its the Queen...
about 4 hours ago from web

Golden Globe Gorgeous

Miss Kristen Bell

She Really Is Fabulous

Cute Twitter Pic

Wednesday Wedding - It's all about the cardys

I loved this photo as soon as I saw it but when I looked closer and saw that all the groomsmen are wearing cardigans I was hooked.  They look absolutely fabulous and I wish I had thought of that back in the day.

wildflowersphotos.com

Yay Keith - Congrats!!!

I'm Feeling Your Pain Dax!

via TWITTER

daxshepard1 - Next year I am going to remove my xmas tree from the house by blowing it up with a stick of TNT. I guarantee it wouldn't be any messier.
1:52 PM Jan 4th from web

Nearly Ready

Well it's past midnight so I guess officially it's Christmas Day - Merry Merry Christmas everyone! I'm fluffing around doing last minute chores for tomorrow's festivities and waiting to play Santa Claus. I've been trying to keep the Gingerbread Houses from going stale, and I even cleaned the oven - not sure why exactly. After being very relaxed about the whole thing I've developed an eleventh hour conscience and realised I should do some preparations.

I've even started to set the table - this year our placemats are old Christmas record covers and I even recognise a few from my childhood.


I think I'll try filling the stockings now - have a great day everyone.

Hmmm Yum.

WHAM RAP!

We had dinner with some friends tonight and, of course, it involved dancing! There's no better way of fitting in extra dessert than daggy dancing around the backyard. One of the tunes was Last Christmas by Wham! which made me ask if they had Wham Rap. They couldn't remember it - can you believe it - so here it is for their education and your enjoyment.

Worse than Jean Shopping...

I have set aside today to buy myself new bathers - I have put it off numerous times but as we leave for the beach in a couple of days I can procrastinate no longer. Wish me luck.

Jeans Watch

Reece Witherspoon is right up there with Jen Aniston when it comes to knowing how to rock a pair of jeans.

Loving This!!

No More Kinder - EVER

It's been a busy couple of days for Moondoggie - life's a whirlwind when you're 5.

Rumballs to make for the teachers,

School Concert to support his sister,

Gymnastics presentation and performance,

Christmas shopping for elusive lego for Dad,

Christmas Party,

and today he had is LAST EVER day of Kinder!

No longer is he a 'kinder kid', now he's a 'school boy'.

CONGRATULATIONS MOONDOGGIE

We love you to infinity and beyond.

I Went To See Keith Urban Last Night

I gave myself the best Christmas present ever, and spent the evening with Keith Urban - unfortunately there were a few other people there as well but he and I knew who he was singing to!

He came and sang at the end of our row of seats and once I had recovered from the shock of being 8 foot away from him I snapped a couple of pics. (hands were shaking so sorry about the quality).

This year two other friends joined me and we decided that it was, hands down, the best concert EVER!!!! Glad there were others there to confirm it this time. (see here for my review of the last concert)

It's That Time Again

Great fun despite the weather

Do you remember the massive electrical storm on Friday night? Thunder, lightening, torrential rain? Well guess what we were doing! CAMPING!!! Needless to say we didn't get a huge amount of sleep as it also rained like a bastard on Saturday night as well. The drive home on Sunday at least let some of us catch up on our Zzzs.

Gleeful

I've had such a good time tonight watching back episodes of Glee. This show brings a smile to my face every episode and I have been known to frequently laugh out loud to the concern of my family. I am so rapt that there is a show on TV that brings me such joy and delight every week, it's a rare thing indeed.

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(gratuitous Mark Salling pic just for my benefit)

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Gidget is sharing the love and look what the angel has bought me for Christmas!! Can't wait to belt out a few numbers into my hairbrush but I have to wait until the 25th.

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