Bloggles

Hello! Long time no see, nail polish! I’ve been wearing it regularly but have been slacking off in taking pictures. I thought I would finally try out the light box David got me for our anniversary and document the pink polish that is on my nails because I don’t think this will be happening again any time soon, especially not within the next three months, anyway. I’ve had this on for a good 2 days now (excuse the tip wear) and it has been a struggle to fight off the urge to replace it with the darker, vampier shades I’ve been sporting as of late. OPI’s Windy City Pretty is a dusty kind of pink (but not as dusty as I was initially hoping) with a bit of secret shimmer. You can hardly see it but, ladies and gentleman, it is there upon closer inspection. I  never considered myself a pink kind of gal but this shade is passable. It’s not diabetically pastel and has purpley/blue undertones that have allowed me to accept it over the last few days. I think it will make a lovely spring shade that is still somewhat bold – a more vibrant alternative to the washed out pastels that were released over the last spring. This, I believe was a part of the Chigaco Collection in 2005.

This is more or less what it looks like in real life… if you can picture it without the glare. Sorry, still experimenting with my new set-up!

Speaking of which, I thoguht I would post a few photos of what it looks like for anyone interseted. It’s totally self-contained and comes with two lights, a tripod and a back drop. Totally awesome!

Hehe, the display pic even shows the same camera that I use! This is me, guys, except I use the grey backdrop… and the toy car would be a bottle of nail polish!

And another shot for those lacking in imagination

We went to see Vampire Weekend play at the Enmore back at the beginning of the month. Needless to say, they were awesome live. I just have one thing to say… Ezra Koenig = Roger Federer. Oh, and Ezra’s eyes were intense. VERY intense. Almost like the eyes of the girl on their stage backdrop (and album cover for ‘Contra’), except less red.

image: http://www.merryswankster.com/tag/ezra-koenig/

image: http://blog.taragana.com/sports/c/world/page/3/

10.04.10 – Anniversary Dinner – Guillaume at Bennelong

The (_I_)head and I went out to a fancy dinner to celebrate our 4th anniversary. Note the donning of ‘cheesey’ (i.e. BAWLER) accessories, lol. We had to make sure we ‘fit in’, so we spruced up our outfits with little details, (although this did not help as much as we expected because we soon discovered that we needed a few years on us if we were to truly blend in ). Dinner started at 8:30 and we weren’t out of there until 10:30pm. I was sooo knackered! It was quite a contrast from the bustle of the Royal Easter Show, where we had spent the day earlier.

Check out the cool architecture in the background! I can’t say I have dined anywhere like this before. I guess there isn’t any other place quite like the Sydney Opera House! It was really nice, despite being initially seated at one of the less desirable tables at the back.. on the side. But that’s ok, we were moved to the front where we could admire the beautiful view after some of the other diners left.

ze menu!

Our Amuse Bouche. I think it was foie gras and gingerbread off the top of my head.
I can handle foie gras in small amounts but I think this was just too much.

I made the rookie mistake of filling up on the bread ): There was a selection of three varieties and of course, I had to make sure I had tried all of them while I was there!

YELLOWFIN TUNA basil infused with soy and mustard seed vinaigrette

ROYALE OF ASPARAGUS with spanner crab and truffle
This was amazing! I hadn’t ever tasted anything like it before. I guess this is where the dollars go. I’ve found that with fine dining, you also pay for the innovation, not just the ingredients. I can’t think of anywhere else I could get a Royale of Asparagus if I felt like it. God forbid I ever get a craving for something like this, lol.

MORETON BAY BUGS steamed and served with Sterling caviar and cauliflower veloute
Again with the innovation and creativity. From reading the menu, I did not expect the dish to come out the way it did. Oops, I could have gotten a better picture, it just looks like custard in this shot

BLUE EYE TREVALLA roasted on an étuve of baby Autumn vegetables

GRIMAUD DUCK roasted breast with braised endive, leg confit croquette, sweet potato and foie gras puree with a fig jus

DEBONED RIB EYE OF TAJIMA WAGYU BEEF (500 day grain fed, F1 marble grade 9+) with a tombé of field mushrooms, baby spinach, confit of shallot, merlot sauce. Paris mash on the side.
Delicioussss! The merlot sauce added such a complexity to the dish. I wish I had more room at this stage for another dollop of smooth, creamy, paris mash. *Sigh* By now it was about 10 o’clock and I was just absolutely knackered from spending the day at the Easter Show. I have to admit, I struggled through this despite how lovely it was. I wish it came out before the duck!

SOUP OF SEASONAL FRUIT with lime marshmallows and mango sorbet

SELECTION OF BERRIES with lemon verbena cream, meringue and a trio of raspberries

Mmm, nomz!

Ahh, it seems this blog is becoming less and less about nail polish. Actually, I’d go one step further to say that it’s becoming less and less about anything, really. I’ve fallen into the rhythm of the daily grind and there just isn’t any bother left in me to take some photos by the time I get home, let alone any sunlight these days… Although this can’t be any real excuse because my favourite (_I_)head actually got me a lightbox for our anniversary back in April! Damn, I’ve been real slack. This is just a quick update for anyone who cares – I will try harder to resume blogging when I have more time on the weekends… after I address my weekly urge to buy “work clothes”.

Here are some random tidbits:

• You can really tell something about someone by the way they post letters/documents. I have the glamorous task of opening the office’s mail and have found that nothing screams “lazy tightarse” more than 10 pages of paper folded into a little square and then jam packed into an envelope the size of those little gift cards. Seriously. Could you not just bother to get a bigger envelope?!! I have a new appreciation for people who are organised enough to clip their pages together and neatly send it off in an A4 envelope. Have you ever tried wrestling a whole stack of paper that has been folded and creased far too many times? IT just keeps bouncing back at you when you’re trying to work with it.
• Oh yeah, I graduated. YAY! And I ate my grad cake for breakfast everyday for 4 days straight. It was the best 4 days of my life during which I produced the most pleasant smelling burps I’ve ever.. burped.
• The weekend is far too short. I had started my job with a couple of 4 week days and I think a 4:3 weekday:weekend ratio is the perfect balance

Surprise! More photos from our trip to New Zealand at the beginning of the year! I’m getting really good at turning my posts into little ‘installments’ of things. In this case, it’s the Rotorua post in “The Food We Hed in In-Zed!” series that is part of my coverage of our trip even-further-down-under.

Generally, dining out was cheaper over there but I still think Sydney has the better tasting food. Maybe it has to do with the “omfg-so-hungry-effect” where anything tastes awesome anyway after exerting lots of energy. Yeah, that must be it, considering NZ is the adventure capital of the universe!

Disgusting plain food. Ugh. Wasn’t even heated through.

The Boy and his (own, unstolen) steak at Mac’s Steakhouse

Seafood chowder! CHOW-DEURRRR! So awesome! They had this on offer in most places throughout NZ. It’s like their national dish, lol

Corn fritters. I was disappointed with these to be honest, but I think it’s my own fault. For some reason I was expecting a creamed corn like filling inside a deep-fried crumbed casing… Err, I think I was thinking of those of the frozen variety. I have no idea why I thought they would serve those in a restaurant, lol.

Surf ‘n Turf Stone Grill at Triple 1 Five Cafe.

Steak of some sort

Roasted vegies

Eggs’ Benedict at Relish Cafe. This was okay but still, nothing compares to the one we had at the Boardwalk Cafe in Cairns. I still salivate thinking about it. Mmmm. I must post a pic of it some time.