Happy Halloween!

It's been exactly one year since my last post but better late than never. How much have these two grown?!

Happy Halloween!

Halloween is not as big here as it is in the US but I noticed that Australians have started to adopt it in the last couple of years particularly in my neighbourhood, or maybe I've only just started to notice it now that we no longer live in a flat. My normally very quiet street was teeming with little witches, skeletons, ghosts and the cutest little devils.

It was a great way to meet the neighbours too. 

The weather has been quite pleasant lately. I just hope it doesn't get much hotter. 

The sunsets have been spectacular too. Such a shame I can neither take good photos nor photoshop properly.

Spring Break

The weather has been so lovely lately. There has been a bit of rain but not enough to dampen our plans.

After I do the morning drop off I do a lap around Centennial Park and sit down to do some work. 

This made my heart stop. I know the train won't move, but still.

We found the space shuttle and he was off!

At least this entertainment was free.

First ferry ride.

First bus ride.

Art and About. This year hasn't been as good as previous years', I don't think. Not enough interactive stuff. Trolleys by Shaun Parker & Company was pretty cool, though.

First ice cream

Train ride home. "Next stop is Milson's Point. We are now at Milson's Point." He did that for every station until we got to our stop. He also declared, "Wollestonecraft, that's where the dinosaurs live but they're not here right now."

There was plenty of action at home too.

And more tree-climbing action.

We are discussing our first family holiday.  I am desperate to go on an overseas holiday but seeing as my passport has expired, I still need to get our marriage certificate so I can officially change my name and get a new passport and only a few more days of holiday left in which I have more work to do (it's turned out to be a work from home holiday), I doubt I'll get myself organised in time. Taking two very energetic toddlers on a long flight seems so daunting and we're not really interested in the resort type destinations that are relatively close. A road trip is looking like a happy solution. We shall see.

The Days Turn Into Weeks Into Months. Saturdate.

I can't believe it has been 5 months since my last post. I always intend to post something totally mundane as I always do but somehow I can never find the time to break free of the mundane things that I do so I can sit and write. I have been back to work full time since July and there's just not enough hours in the day for everything. It's a 4 am wake-up so I can do 2 hours of work in peace and quiet then from 6 AM it's a rush to get ready, pack lunch, get everyone fed and dressed, daycare drop off, fight the traffic, spend the day at work, fight the traffic to pre-school to pick up son #1 then fight the traffic to daycare to pick up son #2, cook dinner, feed the little people, bathe them, put them to bed, get dinner ready, eat, clean, try to do a little bit more work and before you know it it's 11 PM sometimes later before I go to sleep. And then it starts again. I am the sort of person who doesn't function well under 10 hours of sleep.

Despite all of the above, I thrive being at work.

My last post was about our Anniversary date. Dates are so rare nowadays that I never thought I'd have back to back posts about dates. I don't even remember the last time we had a date other than for our anniversary. It was definitely the time before Children. Last Saturday we went to Momofuku at the Star. I don't know about you but I find casinos very tacky. Momofuku however, did not disappoint. For the $$$$$ that you pay, you expect it not to.

A very pretty dish and painstakingly prepared.

Beef tongue and snail. The tongue was so tasty and tender. I never thought I'd ever eat tongue let alone like it.

We had the non-alcoholic pairing. I really wanted the wine pairing but I knew I'd be totally sloshed after just two glasses and if I'm going to pay that much for food and drinks I'd like to enjoy and remember enjoying it. I tend to not have much recollection of things after only a few glasses. Plus I was wearing 4 inch stilettos.

It was really interesting being seated at the bar surrounding the open kitchen. I was expecting MasterChef style chaos but there was no shouting, nothing went wrong, there was no rushing around, no clanging of pots and pans, nobody was having a meltdown, no mess, no drama. It was very calm, serene even. The chefs barely talked but that's not to say they didn't communicate. Each chef had a station but they all came together to plate up like it was a well-timed choreography and everyone danced their part seamlessly. The only thing that resembled MasterChef was the occasional quietly spoken "Yes, chef." It was quite fascinating to watch. 

Afterwards we walked past Adriano Zumbo's patisserie but didn't buy anything. Then we went up to the casino to have a look. I have never walked into a more depressing looking place. As the escalator was going up I noticed money in the fountain. Sure people throw money into fountains all the time, I have done so myself at the Trevi Fountain (shameless name dropping) but we're not talking 20c coins here. There are notes in the water. You can really sense that this is a place where people come to throw away money. On the main floor people are just glued to the machines like zombies looking absolutely miserable. There were rows upon rows of electronic roulette where everyone bereft of soul just stares blankly at the screen showing the virtual roulette. It wasn't at all like the Las Vegas casinos depicted in movies, nobody was celebrating and there were no heists. Oceans Eleven is very misleading.

I spoke a little earlier of choreography and dancing. Well, On Sunday I was rummaging through my parents' garage in search of a pair of platform shoes (more on that on a later post which will hopefully be sooner than 5 months) when I found a box of my pointe shoes. Naturally, I put them on straight away to inflict pain on my toes.

Sure my legs don't go up to my ears anymore but basically I still got it!

7th Anniversary. Outfit Post. Other Happenings.

Tomorrow, hubby and I will have been married for 7 years! We had an early celebration yesterday and had lunch at Sepia. 

A nice way to end 12 courses. Yes, 12 courses. This dessert actually defeated me. I could not finish it. That is a first.

Yum. We also started with oysters, double yum. It has been so long. I wished I could have washed it all down with wine but I'm still breastfeeding. My aim is to start drinking again by my birthday. Ha!

I finally wore something worth posting about, at least, I think.

I prayed for a cold day so I can wear my new coat which I bought in the middle of summer. Pity about the wrinkles on my clothes. I took the photos at the end of the day.

I love this dress so much and...

it even has pockets!

I haven't used a cute bag in so long.

Or heels. I think I'm cursed as these are the 4th pair of shoes that broke while I was wearing them. Nevertheless, it was so nice to walk around in heels. Heck it was nice to just be able to walk around without a baby wrapped around my legs or strapped to me while chasing a toddler or pushing a pram and at a leisurely pace.

The last time I broke a pair of sandals. I bought those blue flats then spilled petrol on the right shoe so now the bow on the right shoe is darker. I'm tempted to go back to the petrol station to douse the left shoe so they match again.

7 years, 2 kids and a mummy pouch later, I still fit into my wedding dress, basically.

For reference, this is how my dress looked on me on my wedding day.

I love my dress even if the original dressmaker didn't do the best job. I nearly bought another dress 2 weeks before the wedding but my usual seamstress who does all my usual alterations worked her magic. She added lace and beading (which I didn't want) and tulle under the train and made me a veil all in exchange for an air conditioner (ha!). At that point I didn't care anymore and I just wanted not to expose too much of my non-existent cleavage. I am so glad I let her have a play with it. The lace and the beading turned out to be my favourite part of the dress.

In other happenings, most of my time is spent preparing food, feeding, ferrying to and from daycare, in between I try to do housekeeping but you'll never guess it.

This little one is so adorable. Here he is passed out in the middle of playing still in a half seated position.

Here is Bubby enjoying his dessert and milk in his gum boots, on the park bench, under the tree, in the garden with the rainbow lorikeets.

I nearly bought myself a pair of gumboots as well with all the rain that we've been having.

Torrential downpour just as I reached the car before I could put Chububby in his seat.

I was soaked.

Later that day I slipped on the neighbour's driveway and sprained my thumb. I landed on my thumb because I didn't want to hurt my wrist. Still hurts but at least it's no longer black.

I must aim to blog more regularly.