Secret Santa

Today at work we had (yet another!) morning tea for our Christmas celebrations. 

Today was also the day to exchange presents (YAY!) for our department Kris Kringle.

I have no idea who pulled my name out of the hat, but this person clearly knows me well!

On second thoughts, it is no secret around the office that I am a footy nut and a major Essendon fan! During the footy season, Liam and I pretty much spend all of our weekends at the MCG or Etihad Stadium.  One of his major downfalls is that he is a mad Hawks supporter, so each weekend we have to coordinate our plans around when both the Hawthorn and Essendon matches are being played.  Often we manage to have two days of AFL per weekend, although there have been occasions where we have rushed straight from one team's match to the next. 

The theme for our presents was that it had to start with a 'D' - check out how my KK made sure that my present fit in with this theme!

I decided to go with the easy option of "drink" for my KK! I was initially going to buy a nice bottle of wine, but after a little research I discovered he was not a huge fan of wine, preferring whiskey or scotch as his tipple.  I purchased two mini bottles of Johnny Walker and decided to team them with homemade "dark" chocolate mini-Christmas puddings!

I bought a box that was wayyyy too big, so I had to stuff half of the box with paper towel so that the puddings and mini-bottles wouldn't roll all over the place! Whoops..

I love Christmas, and giving presents! I can't wait for Christmas day to watch my family open their gifts!

What gorgeous gifts have you bought for your loved ones?

xx

Christmas in November

Guess what everyone... there's only one month til Christmas!!! YAY!!!

So as you probably know, the holiday season is one of the busiest times of the year.  We thought we'd get in early before everyone was too busy with family and work events, and have out Christmas shindig last weekend. 

I love Christmas!  In preparation for the party, we decked out the backyard bar in tinsel and lots of little fairy lights, set up a little Christmas tree next to the couches, and scattered Christmas crackers around the place.

Of course, Melbourne being Melbourne, the weather was as unpredictable as ever. We had some gorgeous days during the week, but the night and morning before the party decided it wanted to storm and rain its little heart out! The boys set to work putting a tarp up next to the bar, so we managed to waterproof the place fairly well. Take THAT, Mother Nature! You can't spoil our fun! :)

By the time people started arriving, the rain had cleared but as the clouds started rolling back in and the rain started falling again, it turned a little chilly.  The boys decided to light a fire, and how else would be achieve this but with PETROL of course?!

 

 

Notice how they managed to get the fire not just IN the brazier, but all around it as well?! Men!! It did keep us all nice and toasty though! :)

After this stage, I got so busy entertaining (read eating and drinking!) that I forgot to take photos! :( It was such a fun afternoon/night having all our friends there, cooking up a BBQ feast, drinking far too many alcoholic beverages, and just catching up by the fire.  It did continue to pour down for much of the afternoon, but thanks to the wonderful tarp we managed to stay cosy and dry! Rocket enjoyed the socialising as much as we did, and towards the end of the party he just gave up and passed out by the warmth of the fire!

Excuse the shocking photo quality! As you can probably see, we'd consumed a few drinks by this stage and co-ordination was not quite as good as it should be! Poor little boy was so pooped that when it was finally time for bed, he went straight to sleep and did not stir, which is a big deal as he's usually an endless ball of energy!

He was right back to his usual self when we arose the next day though! It was gloriously sunny outside (thanks, Melbourne weather!) and we still had a bunch of meat and beer leftover so a few friends decided to join us for round 2.

Is it just me, or does anyone else feel like this after a great weekend?!