My Surprise Baby Shower

As you may know my lovely sister and family planned a surprise baby shower for me on the Saturday of the October long weekend. I was totally surprised and was so excited to see all my friends one more time.

My sister, known for her inability to focus on domestic tasks, out-did herself by planning food, decorations and activities with the help of my friends.

My friend Jill even made an amazing baby shower cake complete with a limb-less baby covered in a blanket.

In order to achieve this feat, there were several lies told and while I appreciate it, I’m going to pull you up on this.

Lies people told me:

•  Goodbye- the amount of people I said goodbye to for good…shame on you for lying to a pregnant woman
• Pabs: I’m going to a BBQ so I can’t pick you up
• Holly: There’s a few pregnant girls at work, what kind of baby things do you think they’d like?

Clues I should have picked up on

• Who goes to a BBQ in Autumn, in the city at night?
• Why did Ruvi keep a pregnant woman walking around the shops for nearly 4 hours?
• Akki, are you really, really, really, really sure you don’t want to shower?
• Tavi’s car parked up the road…she was a day early.

The presents

I got the most lovely presents and they are now sitting comfortably inside the nursery. However, I though a few special mentions needed to be made

Holly

This was the closest thing she could find to bloomers, because I was exclaiming during our trip to Target that it was a shame boys clothes didn’t come with cute bloomers. I suspect this was what she was doing while she disappeared and I had to call and find her.

Bloomers

Sheri

The teddy you see here has quite a story behind it. When Sheri and I caught up for lunch a few school holidays ago she had an inkling that I might announce I was pregnant. With a self-confessed tendency to get ahead of herself Sheri bought the bear with the grand plan of un-veiling it as soon as I spilled my big news. Unfortunately the news never came during our lunch….but I’m glad I could be of assistance in putting it to good use sooner rather than later.

Ammi

My mum and I went shopping on Friday to get a whole lot of Australiana to take back with me. On the way in I pointed out to mum a nappy cake and explained that these were all the rage at baby-showers now. More from a bonding over cake POV. Turns out she found this information particularly helpful and sent my father out to try and find it, to no avail. I’m she had to go back and get it herself after all.

Thanks everyone for the Bonds wondersuits, sadly unavailable in the States. It's never too early to indoctrinate a baby right?

Also, check out these awesome ski-suits!

The games

My sister has an aversion to organized games where strangers have to mingle and make fun. So she put Tavi in charge of games and they came up with ones that only put me in the spotlight, which I guess is okay.

Game 1: Everyone had to decorate a singlet for the bubba and they’re currently sitting in his closest.

Game 2: A baby quiz where I scored an impressive 8/20.

Some interesting facts I learned….drats, can’t remember a thing.

Game 3: My favourite, envelopes with the different numbers on them. Each person or pair of people had to write a letter to the baby at that specified age. I cannot wait to open these.

All in all I loved the baby shower, it was fun and exciting and I guess a little shock and surprise never hurt anyone. Thanks to everyone that came, bought food and of course bought amazing gifts.

I totally forgive all the lies! Xoxox

Chath

In Sydney for 3 weeks

A few Sydney-side memories

I returned home to Sydney for 3 whirlwind weeks, my calendar booked in for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Sometimes all three in the one day!

I had a lovely flight in, my nicely rounded front-end affording me a bulk-head seat and an empty seat adjacent. I got off the plane relatively rested and super-excited to see everyone.

I ticked off about a 100 people on day two. My mother having scheduled her annual alms-giving on that day. A small lunch time dane’ followed by a dinner of mega-proportions at night. While I was feeling tired by the end of the day I was greatful that in one fell-swoop I’d managed to accomplish seeing so many family and family friends.

That Saturday was Event One, Ruvi’s Hens. My sister and her boyfriend had to take me to KMART so I could find a 1950s outfit appropriate for a modern-day pregnant woman. I ended up buying a pair of jeans for 15 dollars and wearing them with white sneakers, Pabs called the look “1950’s soccer-mom”. I called it Happy Days fallen from grace.

The best part? A chicken kebab from the Casula Kebab shop! I couldn’t have sauce or tomatoes but even without those all important condiments it was like a taste explosion in every bite.

We spent the night eating, doing dares like calling my mum and asking if she was an alien (apparently she is not) and then dancing the night away to jukebox tunes. My sister took her amazing chicken wings and ever the marketer managed to foist them off to everyone, even though there was a surplus of food.

I thought I’d chart the rest of my journey with the food I ate and the restaurants I visited.

We went:  to Newington Armory – Pabs and Thil

We ate: The menu had changed since Nuwan and I had been but I really enjoyed the Garlic herb bruschetta w/ roma tomato, Persian feta, pesto, crispy prosciutto, w/ red wine balsamic syrup. Pabs had some Fried pistachio crumbed polenta fingers served with gorgonzola saunce  and the sizzling hot pot of garlic prawns, octopus, green olives, feta, tomato puree, chilli served w/ toasted casa panotte.  Thil had some Salt n pepper squid with Wanida's thai sweet chilli sauce, with an Asian coleslaw with crispy noodles and a breakfast trifle w/ layers of poached fruits, lemon myrtle yoghurt and Brookfarm Macadamia Muesli (toasted)

I have always loved the sticky date pudding there and saved my appetite so I could order one at the end.  Gosh it was good, though I eventually did have to stop eating because I ran out of ice-cream, and sticky date pudding without ice-cream is really no fun!

We discussed: A good-bye of sorts to Thil who flew out to Europe a few days after I landed. 

T2 – Pabs and Thil

Not really food but I did by 6 types of tea….cannot wait to get stuck into these! Oh and by the way, if you visit I will totally share these with you!

We went : In the Mood for Thai with Gunjan and Shuo

We ate: A Thai place in Parra which I suspect is a bit of a chain now. Had a great chicken and garlic stir fry with rice over a lovely catch up. Then drove home to their new apartment, well new to me and had a delicious vanilla pannacotta with strawberries

We discussed: Pigeon proofing balconies, neighbours that yell “ Facebook” at all hours and why the Americans really shouldn’t be so hard on Communism

We went: Holy Basil  with The fam + Shelton Mama

We ate:  Highlights were the; Nok Tod, the marinated crispy fried quail served with this amazing chilli sauce. I braved my reflux to double dip into this little wonder! YUM PLA MUK (Calamari Salad) Calamari tossed in Chef’s special dressing of lemon juice served on a bed of lettuce, tomato, Spanish onions and mixed with coriander, shallots, chilli and mint leaves. There’s nothing as amazing as well cooked calamari!  And of course the amazing Holy Basil fried ice cream, served with a gorgeous caramel sauce. None of this thick layers of battered coconut.  The two males in the group drank a bottle of wine between them and rendered themselves unable to drive. Pabs and mum stuck to beer  Me? Well, water when the waiter remembered.

We suspect it was his first day on the job. He forgot to ask which parts of the meal we wanted first, he kept forgetting to refill water and our entrée came right at the end of the meal. Having said that it was delicious, especially the deep fried quail and the squid salad!

We discussed:  We took a roundabout way of getting to Canley Vale, via Glendenning to deliver some fabric to a friend of the family who had offered to make curtains and cushions for the baby’s room. Poor Pabs missed out on the luxury of being late and had to wait in the cold outside. We were of course very grateful because 5 minutes after we arrived we were ushered in thanks to Pabs’ diligent waiting.

The HWPS Musical

A lovely day spent exploring the school,  watching my old students performing  and spending time with my former colleagues. The school has been refurbed and rebuilt and it’s beautiful. The kind of classrooms that make you want to teach in them. Pin-board walls, neutral colours just asking for posters and work to be hung up!

Mary also mentioned the Green Peppercorn, the new Holy Basil at Fairfield, another one to add to the next time list.

Athula Mama’s Birthday- Home cooked meal

Ruvi and I cooked at my place and took the food to West Pennant Hills. So focused were we on making sure to remember the recipe book we took some of the recipes from we ended up leaving half the food behind.

We ate: Spicy Balinese fish in banana leaf, chicken rendang and Malaysian pickled vegetables.

We discussed: Weddings, wedding preparations and assassinating your character on Facebook

The wedding!

The next couple of days were punctuated by wedding events and filled with eating lots of junk food, sandwiches on the run and a sit down Lankan meal from Spoons.

Wedding Photos

Brunch with Nicole

We went: New Shanghai dumpling house

We ate: Stir-fried baby bok choy with garlic and pork dumplings

We discussed: all things baby of course, now that we’ve found ourselves up the duff and due within a month of each other!

Lunch with Jess

We went: Sahara Grill Parramatta

We ate: Chicken schnitzel and the grilled chicken wrap. I drank the mint tea and it hit the spot…..mmm yum!

We discussed: Timor time, America the great and how everything keeps changing

Dinner with Anna and Kim

I should pre-face this with the fact that my sister and I were watching the Lebanese episode of food safari when Kim messaged and asked where I wanted to go. Lebanese I said. When Anna suggested Newtown, Arabella’s seemed like a good choice.

We went: Arabella

We ate: The highlights, everything actually. The falafel, ladies fingers and haloumi were are good as expected. The fried eggplant served with yoghurt were a new dish, but surprisingly good! Of course we had the tabouleh, a must whenever I have Lebanese. We satisfied our meat cravings with lamb kebabs and chicken shewarma off the grill.

We discussed: Schizoprenia, Genetics and wanting to eat a lot of meat. Funnily enough I think we ordered just about every veg dish on the menu!

Lunch with the school crew and the very handsome Anthony Lahood Jr

We went: Al Aseel’s in Greenacre – yes Lebanese again but who’s complaining

We ate: The best fatoush you’ve ever had, amazing baba ganoush, falafels and a never-ending platter of meat. For the garlic fans amongst us garlic chicken.

It’s an unassuming little place but full of people who obviously know their food, and it’s recommended by two Lebanese women with exception taste.

We finished up with a coffee down the road at a Macaron shop, totally out of place in Greenacre but still served delicious salted caramel and pasisonfruit Macarons. There was a lovely guy behind the counter who heard my friend Kathleen say she ordered the wrong thing and bought her out a strawberries and cream Macaron on the house. That’s what I call service!

We discussed: School and men and bullies and what to do with all three.  The bane of new teachers; accreditation. We discussed the amazing teachers we know and revelled in Kathleen’s ability to spin a tale.

Dinner with Jill and Cynthia

During the particularly bad days of all-day sickness I dreamed of going to Flemington and getting a bowl of soup. They just do it better. Even though I wasn’t particularly sick I still wanted to satisfy this little hankering, I won’t use the word craving.

We went: Cao Thang Noodle House

We ate: Crispy chicken noodle soup for me, Beef Pho for Cynth and Pork chop and broken rice for Jill

We discussed: Being grown-up physio’s with actual students, what to do with incompetence, submissive women and people who are ruthless in getting ahead.

Lunch with the MTeach Crew

We went: Ampersand Café in Surry Hills. A book store/ café, appropriate for a bunch of book-mad primary school teachers

We ate: Corn fritters, banana bread and the daily special Sweet potato soup with chorizo and capsicum served with warm bread…truly delicious

We discussed: News of the baby kind x 3 and the wedding kind x 1.  Steiner schools and whether we can shelter children from technology or whether we should. Starting our own school that teaches children that taxes aren’t to be feared and neither are socialists. Our jobs, our schools and our families and why Australia seems to be emulating the American model of education.  Really…why?

Bourke St Bakery

A little trip that had to happen

We went: Bourke St Bakery

We bought: 3 ginger brulee tarts, 2 chocolate raspberry tart, 1 chocolate tart and a sausage roll.

Coffee with Holly

We went: Oliver Brown Café – Rhodes

We ate: Hot chocolate and tea, friend and a strawberry dip

We discussed: Where in the world our physio friends are? Baby showers and plans to visit the US

BABY SHOWER: I’ll post on this later

Yum Cha

If you’ve been keeping up with our blog...

We went: Iron Chef Cabramatta

We ate: Peking duck pancakes, salt and pepper squid,  dumplings of just about every variety and description,  suckling pig, bbq pork and Peking duck. We also had plenty of Mango Pudding.

We waited : Only an hour thanks to Ruvi’s professional nagging techniques. We did end up with 2 tables but I guess that’s okay.

We discussed: Not much actually…too busy eating!

Yum Cha Photos

Girls night out

We went: Different Drummer on Glebe Pt Rd and San Churros

We ate: Marinated swordfish skewers with peppers and button mushrooms, good. Naughty chicken – Spicy southern style with lime aioli, not naughty enough – could have done with a bit more spice. Spicy three bean nachos, served in an egg carton. Chorizo, pan fried with cherry tomatoes & basil – amazeballs. Haloumi skewers with semi sun dried tomatoes – delicious! We also grabbed some garlic bread and chips with aioli.

All went well until we filled the tiny table with 6+ tapas dishes, chips, and 8 cocktails glasses. This is how we ended up with aioli scented mojito, and caparinha marinated chips. Not our finest moment.

We drank: 2 for one cocktails so just about everything on the cocktail menu for the girls and mocktails for me.

We discussed: Pffft….sif I’d tell!

Masala Dosai

We went: Hemani’s in Liverpool, unfortunately the only place open on the public holiday.

We ate: Masala Dosa, Goat, Chicken tikka and Gobi Manchurian. The Garlic Naan we ordered never came and we ate cold plain and chili Naan. Then there was the cold rice.

We discussed: The drunk patron picking fights, and scaring all the children in the joint.  Whether he was married to our waitress who spent nearly all her time trying to get him to follow her instructions and not join other customers of dinner. Why all of our food was coming out cold and how we might never come back again.

Nearly three weeks of awesome eating later – I’m back here again. Was good while it lasted. 

The Nursery

Gosh it's easy to spend money when you're pregnant! Especially when Amazon is only a click away and there's the promise of free shipping.

We, by that I mean me, decided pretty early on where our nursery would be, but what to put in this momentous room!

We decided on a few things
- no pink and blue themes (even if we knew the sex)
- we wanted animals
- we didn't want to paint; we're renting and while they let you paint here, we would have to paint it back.

While browsing the internet for inspiration I had a bit of a brainwave. Back in the day of old-school Better Homes and Gardens, Tara Dennis had once transformed a nursery, and it didn't look awful. I remembered it mainly because she'd used this beautiful wall-paper that had a John Lennon link.

During Sean Lennon's first year of life, John had paid a photographer to take a picture of him every day. He also made a collection of drawings, and added funny captions they used when they played together. During their short time together, John used his drawings and captions to express his real-love for Sean. After his death it was put together in a book.

It's a beautiful book filled with John's artwork, during the time he was a stay-at home dad for Sean.

I loved the pictures and was excited to find that the baby brand Carter's had commissioned a whole range of baby gear with the pictures as inspiration. Of course in true Yoko fashion there's controversy around the range, apparently Julian is being screwed out of the money and the bloggers that be advise you to never pay retail. Fine by me, it was phased out over 10 years ago, everything is on ebay. Oh and by the way - here is everything

I didn't go quite that mad, but wanted some signature pieces to make the room distinctly John Lennon like.

I had some great inspiration

Nursery 1

Nursery 2

I had to trawl through the Amazon and ebay to collect some signature pieces. Of course, nothing here has been easy. I signed up to Amazon from scratch, that was easy. Unfortunately I had an Aussie ebay account. When I tried to change my address, it let me change everything by the country. When I asked HELP why it said it's against pay-pal policy to change the billing details. I had to set up another pay pal account. In I went to try and close my existing account, alas, it was attached to a credit card that I had had before I came here, and one which had been thrown out after it expired. The only way to close the account was the provide the credit card details. After email paypal they sent me a mountain of information about how I could prove my identity to them, applying for my VISA to the states was easier!
So I asked Nuwan to help, he set up a new account and subsequently made our puchases.
Wanna see?

A set of book-ends. This child will have more books then clothes if Mrs Ginige has anything to say about it!

Wall paper border, we're going to turn this into some custom prints.

A wall organiser, not sure what I'm going to do with this, but it was just so darn cute!

My favourite, the lamp :)

We also purchased a smashing rocking chair from craigslist, 35 bucks and all it needs are some cushion covers! It's actually called a glider, and even has a footstool that goes with it.

Looks something like this, just a little more worn

Glider

The rest of our furniture has come from ikea. While I'm living the high-life and stuffing my face in Sydney, my dear husband, armed with his brand new drill, will be assembling all of said furniture.