Cousin Tammie's Kitchen Tea

The Richards family headed over to Burraneer Bay for Tammie's Bridal Shower!


I have hardly seen Tammy since this photo was taken, it's great for the family to get together and celebrate!


My Nan Richards and sister Kathryn was there.


And I wore a new dress, which was ahem, a little 'booby.'


A male belly dancer showed up!


He was pretty flashy!


He danced with the bride to be...


And everyone applauded!


Then he asked my mum to dance...


And my sister too!


Aunty Kim gave it all she had! Here she does a move from the film Cabaret...


Afterwards we headed over to the dessert table for all manner of delicious food.


We ate more and more, we were heaving with food!


And of course there was CAKE! (Spelling, whoops!)


We really enjoyed our day...


And wish Tammie the very best for her wedding!

We will see her again on her big day this coming Saturday!

A weekend in Newcastle

I love getting out of Sydney for lots of reasons, but one of the best reasons is when my friends ask me away for a birthday celebration! And last weekend it was my best mate Katie's #!st birthday. We had alot of fun.

Katie and her husband Charley have just bought a house, and it was fantastic to see the family settled in their new nest. I could only imagine having access to that sort of space, after living in a studio for almost 6 months!


When we arrived we got into the food and cake almost immediately. Amanda had whipped up this fabulous confection earlier in the morning!


Katie blows out the candles (don't count!)


Charley and Sanne wait to be fed...


Beautiful Jeb keeps us all company.


After lunch (and a few glasses of wine,) Jess brought out the watermelon that he had prepared a day earlier (by pouring vodka into it!)


Jess is proud of his work.


Shortly after that the vodka watermelon started making Amanda laugh like a crazy pirate!


Mark and Jeb held onto each other for dear life!


After lunch we went for a walk and took in the sights of Newcastle.... and to get the watermelon out of our system.


And I met this crazy man who runs the local 'bike library' which I thought was a great idea, until he invited me on a nude bikeride!

The next day after a big night on the watermelon, we met up again and headed to Stickyrice Thai for a lunch special.


Sanne gives us the finger.


Jebediah Mozart Miyagi: a grand old man.


And of all things, we ended up at a Lucien Freud exhibition after lunch, which was very un-Newcastle like! Sanne has recently taken to pointing things out to everyone, here she points at a fountain with Newcastle City in the background. Cute!


And we ended up in Darby Street for coffee, a perfect end to a perfect weekend!

Cousin Tammie's Hens Day!

Kathryn, Mum and I headed to King Street Wharf today for my (second) cousin Tammie's Hens Day! She is having a big fat Greek Wedding shortly and we were glad to join in the celebrations. We had High Tea at Loft Bar, which had a lovely view and nice comfy seats.

The best part of the day for me was actually seeing Tammie, as we haven't spoken for years! She's all grown up and so beautiful, it was lovely to see her again.


The blushing bride-to-be, Miss Tammie Hunt.


Laura, Tammie, Kathryn...


Mum and Aunty Kim.


It's hard to get them to stop laughing to take a decent photo!

Thanks to Maid of Honor Nicole Arena for organising the day. I believe the group were last spotted heading towards home nightclub with a Hire-a-Hunk trailing close behind...

Next the Kitchen Tea, then the big day! Expect more photos...

A holiday in Currarong

Ever heard of Currarong? We hadn't either! I booked a bargain a few months back so Mark and I could go relax down the coast for a few days... and it was so good, we wish we had stayed longer!


This is beautiful Currarong. It is about 20mins drive south of Nowra, about 3 hours from Sydney. It is right out on a headland, near Jervis Bay. That means that it is a quiet place and there are not too many tourists passing through!


This is the beautiful house we stayed in. It had two bedrooms, a killer kitchen and a hammock to hang out the front! Click here for further information...


This is the sign out the front of the house, just incase you were wondering.


And this was the sign across the road from our house... interesting!


A photo of the loungeroom, we spent alot of time here, Mark finally beat me at scrabble! The doors opened out to the verandah where there were glimpses of the ocean (and views of the nosey neighbours checking out who had come to stay!)


We spent alot of time walking around, checking out the clear water and beautiful shells, rocks, flora and fauna. If only it were 5 degrees warmer, we would have been swimming!


We made friends with the local wildlife...


And there were beautiful views to be had everywhere!


Yes, the water is MEANT to be brown, it's from the surrounding tea trees.


Not long after taking this photo from the wreck of the SS Merimbula, Mark and I got terribly lost on a headland and momentary panic ensued!


Of all places to get lost, we got lost in Abraham's Bosom Reserve!


As you may notice, we were not exactly prepared for getting lost.


One pair of sunglasses and 500ml of water between us. We survived and eventually returned back to the village sunburnt and scratched.


It was also our 6 month anniversary when we were in Currarong, so I made Mark this tart to celebrate. (Jamie Oliver, The Naked Chef, it tastes very rich!)


My mio bello.


Despite enjoying our trip immensely, Nowra and surrounds sure has its strange elements! Someone had built this house in the middle of a field, as you may gather, this house is not entirely the best design for the Australian landscape.


There was also this strange bell tower next to the strange house.


And strange creatures that we have never seen before!

We had the most relaxing getaway and would recommend a visit to Currarong to anybody. This place is a gem!