Another Monday morning...

...and I'm sitting here munching on my morning tea snack of steamed carrots & broccoli and homemade garlic mountain bread chips, while lamenting at how quickly the weekend has flown by.

Friday night was the big Essendon vs Hawthorn match at Etihad, which is the game of the year for us!  Liam is a massive Hawks fan, and I am an avid Bomber and we attend most games for both team every weekend, so this clash was some major rivalry for us.

There was a lone seagull who appeared to have been trapped in the stadium when they closed the roof, and the poor little thing appeared to be hiding in the painted white part of the ground, to camouflage itself!

Unfortunately, as an Essendon supporter the little seagull was probably the most entertaining thing to watch as the game itself  was a dismal disaapointment from start to finish.

Luckily it wasn't all bad this weekend.  I got to see this little guy -

And we caught up with Liam's dad and best mate over a yummy lunch and a few games of pool.

Can you believe this delicious steak only cost $13?! Plus an extra $3 for the sauce, but still so worth it!

I overheard an interesting conversation on the tram late at night, about a bubble tea diet.  A young gentleman explained to his friend that he was off to get a bubble tea fix.  Apparently, it was the best way to go since bubble tea is very low in fat, but the fact that there is something to chew on satisfies his craving for solid food. GENIUS! Except what he forgot to mention is that a cup of bubble tea equates to around 400 calories per serve.

But that's just a minor detail!

I'm totally on board with this bubble tea diet! :)

While at the shops, I also picked up these cute ninja earphones! Unfortunately, the rubber on the earpieces were shoddy so I took them back and exchanged them for adorable little matryoshkas instead!

Did a bit of a tidy up in my bedroom, and realised I have quite a collection of scarves!

Just ignore that horrible Hawthorn scarf nestled in there.  It's Liam's and it is horrid and full of germs and other bad things! Terrible terrible colours.  But yes, I realised pretty quickly that I was starting to run out of room for storage of scarves! It's not just one layer either...

The wall of scarves is approximately 4 or so scarves thick, and the hanger has seven loops lengthwise and about 4 across. Now I understand why Liam always has a look of horror on his face whenever I wander into the accessories section to look at scarves! Oh well. At least I know I'll always be warm!

And now I've taken so long to finish this post that it's time for lunch! I've got a delicious chicken and salad roll which my lovely man prepare for me last night... YUM!

Half a day down... another four and a half to go until the weekend!!!

Because I Am Spoilt Again...

The other day I opened up the front door to Liam arriving home late from work with a big grin on his face, and a little box in his hands.  Without saying a word, he hands over the box and walks past me into the house.  I turn the box over, and see this scrawled on the side...

I had been wanting an iPad for a while, and decided that before we moved into the new house I wanted to get one.  My old laptop is a little heavy, and I rarely use it these days, so I thought an iPad would be a good alternative for easy internet browsing. 

I've been a grumpy bum since my phone recently took a trip to iPhone Heaven from severe water damage,(note to self, do not leave iPhone anywhere in the bathroom!), so Liam decided some drastic action was needed to cheer me up!

So I have now joined the ranks as a proud iPad user!  I am absolutely loving it, it is so convenient when I want to check Facebook or look something up online, and there are plenty of new apps and games for me to play with!

I need some recommendations with cases though! I am looking at this cute book-style polka dotted cover to go with it, or perhaps one of the smart magnetic covers which just sticks to the front.  Does anyone have any good suggestions?!

Also, since it is going to mostly replace my laptop, does anyone have any suggestions for apps to use for blogging?! I have gone to the normal Blogger site in Safari to write a post, but it appears that I can only write blog posts in HTML format.  I am an extremely lazy blogger, and can't be bothered having to use HTML every time I write a post!

HELP!

Wordless Wednesday : SOLD!

Final inspection today, and settlement this week!



Dreams are becoming reality :)

Wordless Wednesday happens here, here, here, here and here!

Family Feasting!

This weekend we are going away with family for a mini-getaway down to the country side.  Ever since we were children, our 4 families used to take the opportunity to go away on a big group holiday so that the adults could catch up and enjoy each others company and the kids could play together and wreak havoc!

With my Aunty visting from overseas, we thought it would be the perfect chance to all get together for a weekend of fun again.  Circumstances have changed, families have moved overseas, children have grown up and gone interstate, and various partners have been added to the mix.  Still, sixteen of us (plus my little elderly pup) will be heading down to inland Lorne for the weekend, and I cannot wait!

There is sure to be lots of fun, laughter, and copious amounts of food - these are the prerequisites every time we get together!

If there is one thing that my family is all about, it is definitely food!

We love nothing more than to sit around the table with those that we love and indulge in a fabulous meal, cooked with love.  My childhood reminiscence is highlighted with memories of my grandmother's extravagant meals... the whole family crowding around a long dining table, overflowing and groaning under the weight of the delicious dishes which she had spent days in the kitchen preparing.  Literally days!  My grandfather would often spend his Wednesday mornings at the markets buying the ingredients that were neede, and my grandma would spend the next few days preparing for Friday night dinner.

On this more recent occasion, some of my family met up at my Aunt's house for a family catch up and to say goodbye to my cousin before she moved to Canberra.  Of course where my family is concerned, at any catch up you can be sure there is a feast to be had!

Homemade tangy tomato salsa, a colourful roast vegetable & couscous salad, sweet corn on the cob, crispy potatoes, meaty mushrooms, and a beautiful (there's that Masterchef catch word again!) rare roast beef. 

Can anyone say YUM?!  This meal was perfection.  But it didn't end there...

Of course there's dessert!  A lovely fresh fruit platted for the more health conscious.  And for the rest of us (and nobody could resist a piece!) a gorgeous baked ricotta cheesecake.  My cousin made this, and served it up with double cream.  It was SO good - really fluffy and light tasting.  Not so light on the hips though, I'm sure!

I love catching up with my family.  Not only for the food, although it is one very big bonus!  But spending an evening surrounded by the people that you care about, and consuming mass amounts of tasty morsels!  What could be better?

I can't wait for this weekend! :)

Wordless Wednesday : Pack Rat

Wordless Wednesday happens here, here, here, here and here!

Food Diaries : Mornin' Gorgeous (we return)

You may (or you may not!) remember a while back, when I was introduced to this little cafe which has been showering Bridge Road with blessings in the form of scrumptious bagels, sandwiches and the like.  Since gracing Richmond with its presence, it has been gaining a growing amount of loyal customers who will often stop in for a lunch time bite to eat.  One of those loyal patrons is none other than my very own Liam, who (on the days I dare forget to send packed meals to work with him!) will often stop by for a bite to eat.  Whether it be their breakfast wraps, tuna sandwiches, homemade sausage rolls or tasty bagels, Mornin' Gorgeous keeps my darling man (a little too) well-fed.

Aside from serving delicious tasty treats, one of the things which Mornin' Gorgeous prides itself on is listening to their customers and striving their best to keep their patrons happy.  This includes trawling the web and keeping an eye on their Urbanspoon reviews for feedback, which is how they stumbled across my past review on ye olde humble blog.  (Hi!) 

Knowing my obvious enjoyment of their luscious smoked salmon bagel, and with the introduction of their weekend breakfast menu and newly hired breakfast chef, they encouraged Liam and I to come in on a weekend to try some of the breakfast goodies on offer. This weekend happened to be the perfect opportunity! 

We were heading into Richmond to watch Buddy kick his 500th goal, and brunch at Mornin' Gorgeous beforehand sounded like a perfect way to start the day.

I started the meal with a Spiced Chai Latte which, I kid you not, has to be the most delicious chai latte I have ever tried!  Each mouthful was a sweet delight, perfectly fragranced with wonderful chai flavours and was beautifully rich without being too heavy at the same time.  It was a shattering moment when I took my last sip and realised that my glass was empty!

I always have the same dilemma each and every time I go to choose off the menu when I dine out.  There are just so many options, and I can never choose!  The menu at Mornin' Gorgeous did not disappoint, and I was faced with my usual dilemma once again.  Being the gorgeous boy that he is, Liam let me pick two choices from the range so that we could share. 

First up was the Salmon Stack [$16.00], which consisted of two crunchy potato cakes, topped with smoked salmon, gooey poached eggs, thick hollandaise sauce, a generous handful of spinach and rocket leaves, and little slivers of carrot to garnish.  Although the main purpose of the carrot was aesthetic, it tasted lovely coated in the creamy hollandaise and I stole all the little slivers from Liam's plate!  The potato cakes were fluffy on the inside, but wonderfully crunchy on the outside without being too greasy. 

But the real star of the show was that lovely chunky smoked salmon!  Or perhaps I should be describing everything as "beautiful" instead, which seems to be all the rage if you watch Masterchef these days.  Anyway, I digress...  back to the luscious smoked salmon, which definitely deserves a special mention!  And mention it before I have -

This is not your ordinary supermarket-bought smoked salmon, no ma'am! The pieces were about three times as thick as the oily slices you'll usually find vacuum-packed in the shops.  They were lovely and flaky, unlike any other that I have had before.

I still stand by all of the above... except for it being unlike any other that I have had before.  It was just like I have had once before... only better! 

The next choice off the menu was the Gorgeous Big Breakfast [$16.50], which as you can see contained all the important elements of a perfect Sunday treat! Crunchy potato hashbrown, salty rathers of bacon, lightly grilled sweet cherry tomatoes (and I am not usually a fan of the cooked tomato!), chipolatas, juicy mushrooms, and two beautifully poached eggs served on toast and smothered in a rich hollandaise sauce.  The side of avocado which I had ordered was ripe and creamy - a perfect accompaniement to my meal!

Although I'd initially ordered scrambled eggs with my big breakfast, I was almost thankful for the mistake when the dish was placed in front of me.  Piercing my knife into the perfectly poached eggs, I squealed with glee as the beautiful yolks flowed out onto my plate providing a yummy yellow goo that I could mop up with my toast.  I'm not even exaggerating, I get that excited by my food!

I really have no complaints whatsoever about our breakfast experience at Mornin' Gorgeous.  The drinks were divine, the food is spectacular, the mood is relaxed and informal, and the service is friendly.  Before our food was served to us, water was placed on the table.  Knowing about my blog, the owner smartly quipped "I'd hate for you to have to ask where your water is!"... get it, get it?!

I have nothing but good things to say about dining at Mornin' Gorgeous, and can't recommend it enough!

Oh, and yes...

Buddy did kick his 500th!

Wordless Wednesday : Sensational Sunday!

After Super Saturday comes Sensational Sunday!

Wordless Wednesday happens here, here, here, here and here!

Yellow on Yellow!

This post is for the lovely Ling, over at Pork Chop's Nest.

A while back, Ling wrote this post about all things neon yellow.  One of her concerns was house yellow nail polish would suit yellow skin.  Whilst I'm no expert in all things neon, I did conveniently have a little bottle of NYC glow worm tucked away, which is one of the brightest yellows you ever did see!  I had never tried it before, and thought it was time to break it open to try and assist.

I couldn't quite capture the true colour via photos, so took a couple of snaps in different lighting to try and give a proper idea!

The shade was an extremely bright yellow, much more neon that Ling had posted on her blog, but I thought this might help give an idea.  I've applied two coats of colour and no base coat as I was not planning on keeping this colour on.

Looking at the photos, I actually don't think it looks too bad.  However, when I looked at my actual nails in real life it didn't seem to work.  Do you remember in primary school when you used to draw on your nails with highlighters and pretend you were wearing nail polish? No? Maybe it's just me... but this is vaguely what it reminded me of!  I suppose the fact that I was doing it in the office rather than for a night out or whatever might have been part of the issue too.  I'm sure if it was for a night out and I was wearing an outfit that might match or complement might have made a huge difference.

Anyway, Ling, sorry I couldn't be more helpful but I hope that gives you somewhat of an idea! :) xx

Wordless Wednesday : Super Saturday!

 

Maybe I'm getting old, but this hearty meal by an open fire, a mango cider in my hand and the footy on the TV (not to mention a fantastic win!) equalled a pretty perfect night to me... what a Super Saturday!

Wordless Wednesday happens here, here, here, here and here!

First Weekend Post-Househunting

Now that the house-hunting is over, it feels good to have gained our weekends back!

On my way home from work on Friday, I caught a glimpse of this double rainbow...

It looked far more impressive in real life, but of course being the responsible citizen that I am, I could not afford to take a better photo.  This was snapped from my iPhone sitting in its little handsfree mount!

I have noticed more and more rainbows around Melbourne recently (which has increased my driving time greatly, since often when I see them I feel compelled to keep driving to follow them, even after I have reached my destination!) and I love them!  Unfortunately, they also seem to be accompanied by (or are as a result of) this constant we weather we've been having.

Saturday night we headed out for dinner for my cousin's birthday.  I bought this cute little puppy cake, and also the little longevity man figurine as a cake-topper at Liam's insistence.

Poor little cake was a little tense, so we administered some acupuncture treatment...

No wonder he'd been nervous though... Look what happened next!

I can at least confirm that he was very very tasty!

After dinner and cake, Liam and I settled down in front of the TV for one of my favourite events of the week - Saturday Night Football!

We are avid football fans, and are known amongst our friends as the crazy couple who will be at the stadium every week!  Often twice a weekend, if not twice a day, if that's when our teams happen to be playing.  Unfortunately due to the impending mortgage repayments which are in our immediate future, we've had to cut down on this.  Sadface. 

After the game, Liam attempted to put himself to bed although only got half way off the couch until he gave up it seems!

It must have worked wonders for him though, because when he woke up the next morning (and yes, after I stopped laughing at him I did wake him up and send him off to bed!) he was full of energy and decided to whip up a yummy breakfast for us.

Mmm... look at all those lovely fresh vegetables!

Let's just say he's more organised than I am!  When I cook, the kitchen is a horrible mess and I'm always fumbling for the ingredients at the last minute when everything needs to be in the pan.

It's got to be said - there is something very appealing about a man in the kitchen...

Especially when he produces tasty food like this!

I've said it once, and I've said it a thousand times... weekends just disappear far too quickly! 

Tell me what you got up to! xx