Elsja Down Under

A Few More Hours February 28, 2009

Until my parents get here!! They arrive tomorrow morning around 11:45am (that’s 4:45pm for you in California). Captain Hancock… hehe… is picking them up from the airport since he’ll be there already finishing work. Convenient, right? Since they connect in Brisbaine, they will have already gone through customs and all that cruddy stuff, AND since you can still go to the gates without a boarding pass in this country Andrew will get to meet them right when they get off the plane. Woohoo. I’m looking forward to showing them around Sydney and getting to spend some time with them here on our turf.

I really hope the birdies come visit while they are here. Birdies haven’t been back in a couple of days. Maybe they found better food somewhere else. Who knows? I still never named them. I decided to just call them boy birdy and girl birdy (or just “birdies”) for short. I can hear them out there in the trees… or maybe it is their friends- but I wish they would come back. Even though they have pretty much ruined our table by peeing their birdy pee onto it.

So what all will we be doing while mom and dad are here? I’ll start a list… anyone else have any suggestions?

• Visit the Rocks
• Tour of the Opera House
• Walk around Darling Harbour
• Go to Wildlife world
• BBQ @ Andrew’s mum’s house
• Dinner with Andrew’s dad in the city
• Go to Manly
• Centrepoint tower
• Maybe Taronga Zoo??
• Breakfast at Balmoral Beach

Xobni February 24, 2009

Ok… nerd alert!

For any of you who use Outlook… I want to tell you about the coolest plug-in application EVER. So I just downloaded it and already I’m in love. Thanks to my geeky boss/brother-in-law for showing me this little gem.

So Xobni… no idea how to say it- but it’s basically an application that sits on the side of your outlook and does all kinds of cool things. If I click on an email I wrote to Andrew, all of Andrew’s contact info shows up on the right. It shows me his picture that I have saved in outlook, his phone number, his skype info, etc. It shows me his email rank (of course he’s #1) And it also shows other people in his network (people that he’s ccd on emails to me or vice versa). Then it pulls up the most recent emails from him and the latest files he’s sent me as well.

Already so cool, right?

That’s not all… it pulls in data from facebook, linkedin and other networking sites. SO… if I don’t have a picture saved for the person in my outlook- it actually pulls their picture from facebook!! How cool is that? So when I click on Natasha, it shows me her facebook picture and asks me if I want to sign in to facebook to view her page. Once I allow facebook to access the application- then it actually will show the person’s status, photos and there’s a little “add” button in case you aren’t friends with them yet.

It’s pretty intersting as well because I have emails from work people and people on forums that I’m a member on and if I click on one of their emails, I can see their picture as long as they have facebook. Pretty crazy that I can access random people’s details that easily… but I suppose they’re the ones who put it out all over the internet for the world to see, right?

So lastly, the final cool thing I will post on (because to be honest, I haven’t used it enough to find other cool stuff yet) is the search feature. Searching for an email in outlook is kind of a nightmare, but just type a few words into the search bar on Xobni and you get a real time search of all the emails with those words. Looking for an email from a specific person? Type their name in and a few other key words. It’s fantastic!

 Me likey.

Now I’ve Seen it All February 22, 2009

A musical based on the Jerry springer show. Coming to the Opera House. I can’t decide if this is repulsive, or if I actually might want to see it. I have no more words to describe my thoughts at the moment.

A Little Concerned

Our birdies haven’t been around today. This has happened before- sometimes they don’t come all day and they are back the next day- no biggy. The only reason I’m a bit sad is because yesterday the boy bird (still haven’t named them) came to our balcony and started screaming for food. But he was all alone. No girlfriend with him. Where was she? They ALWAYS come together! Did he kill her? Seriously… he’s kind of mean to her and gets pissed if she comes to try to get food off the plate. She basically has to just eat the stuff he drops. Sometimes I try to feed her off on the side- just so he can’t steal it and then he gets all pissed and squawks at us both. Jerk. She really should find a new boyfriend- but regardless, where was she? Why was he alone? AND, why did he come screaming for food and then NOT eat the fruit that I put out there?? WTF? Too good for my grapes? They’ve always been happy with grapes in the past. I hope they are ok, I hope they come back to visit so my parents can see them next week.

NEXT WEEK!  yay parents are coming soon

I’ll tell you what I’m NOT concerned about… our neighbors. No, our neighbors are doing JUST fine. I know this because I can hear them having sex all the time. It usually starts with the rhythmic banging of their headboard against the wall, but then proceeds to other “more verbal” noises and sounds. They have this amazing ability to do it at 3am and other awful times of the night, but lately they’ve been sticking to the 10pm-12am time frame which means we hear them much more frequently. Yes, I think they are doing just fine.

*Edit*

The birdies were back. All is well again.

Making the World a Better Place February 19, 2009

I’m going to start doing something nice for the world.

I am going to start volunteering! By volunteering, I really just mean doing some work at a yoga studio a few times a week in exchange for free yoga classes.

So I guess it’s not REALLY volunteering per se but hey, I’m not getting paid. To me- that’s volunteering.

I may not be helping sick children or cleaning up beaches*, but it WILL still help the world out! How you ask??  Hey, if I get healthier and more in-shape, I will be a much happier person. If I have some time to “meditate” and relax, I will be a much happier person. If I happen to meet a new friend while I’m doing my happy helper yoga duties, I will possibly be a happier person (unless that new friend starts to get on my nerves like a lot of people tend to do). Anyways, If I am happier, Andrew will be happier and he will have better days at work. This means he will fly the planes with even more superiority than he already does and all the passengers will be even safer and more comfortable on their flights. Then, they will arrive to their destinations in a good mood and they will spread their happiness to others. My happiness will spread throughout the planet. AND… since I won’t need to PAY for yoga, I will have more money to spend in shops and restaurants which will help to stimulate this poor economy.

So you see… my 2 hours of work each week in exchange for free yoga classes really will make the world a better place.

You can all sleep easy tonight!

*For the record- I WOULD help sick children if I could actually find a place close to me where they need volunteers for this. I would not clean beaches. I clean my house, I don’t pick up other people’s trash. I’m a people person, not a litter and manual labor person. Good thing there are other people who like doing that sort of stuff.

Book Reports February 18, 2009

So I haven’t actually felt the need to report on any books EVER. I know they made us do it in school- but it was never fun! But in less than 2 months, I have read over 2700 pages of books and I must tell the world about it. 2,700 is a lot of freaking pages. I am usually lucky if I can get through a 200 page book in a month. I’m not a huge reader as a general rule (clearly). Even when I read “Eat, Pray, Love” I hardly wanted to tell the world- but I did… on my blog… HERE.

So anyways, back to my point… I’m sure you all know by now (well, if you actually read my 101 things that make me happy list) that I LOVE the Twilight series. I got the first book for Christmas and figured I would be able to take it with me on the plane when I went home in January. I was so wrong. That book was finished in 3 1/2 days. That in itself was a miracle. One book in less than a week? Seriously amazing for me. SO then of course I was on a mission to find number 2. I NEEDED number 2 (New Moon) for the plane ride. But after a week of searching (I even had my friends on missions to find it)- I was out of luck. 5 book stores later I was still empty handed. So of course I did what any normal person would do. I googled the number for the bookstores in the Sydney airport and I called them to see if they had any copies in stock. She assured me they did… so my number 1 mission after checking in for my flight was to hobble (with my healing broken foot) to the nearest bookstore to find my treasured book. It was like a beacon of light perched on the shelf. I was happy.

I read the entire 563 pages on my flight. I didn’t sleep at all. My eyes and brain hurt.

So then I got to California and I was once again bookless. Time to buy # 3 (and 4 while I was at it) so I headed to the nearest Barnes and Noble to make my purchase. Again, I was happy.

I finished Eclipse (# 3) in the first week and then moved on to # 4, but I had to go slow. I didn’t want it to end. So I saved it (and savored it like my last little reeses pieces in the bag when I know I can’t just run to any store to buy more because they don’t sell them in this country). I made a pact to ONLY read the book while I was at the gym. Such great motivation to get to the gym and work out. My plan worked- I was motivated to work out AND the book took WAY longer to finish than the first 3.

So I realize that I haven’t actually reported on the books themselves, but more so my obsession with this series. I guess I never planned on telling you about them in the first place- that would spoil the fun!! I realize this makes me look completely insane, but for a few weeks of my life, maybe I was. If you’ve read the books (and you aren’t Jen or my mom) you will completely understand what I mean.

So what did I do when I was finished? I started a new book- “Why We Suck” by Denis Leary. Yes, the comedian/actor Denis Leary. Usually that guy drives me nuts, but I was compelled to read this book when I read the cover and realized that he was writing EXACTLY what I think about the world. I mean come on- I even have a whole blog category entitled “I hate people… sometimes.” So a whole book about why people suck is RIGHT up my alley. I must say, the book was really funny. Well, it was funny to ME- because I completely agree with most of the stuff he was saying. However, if you are a feminist, a super strict Catholic, a politician, a celebrity, an overweight person, etc… you might hate it. You might REALLY hate it. He really does go overboard sometimes- like he’s trying too hard to be funny. There were definitely parts that reminded me of why I tend to think he’s annoying as a comedian, but overall I really agree with him. People ARE loud, fat, lazy and stupid- so this book really struck a chord in my heart and made me realize I’m not alone in my disgust with 85% of mankind. If you aren’t easily offended… I suggest you read it too!

Now I’m onto a new book… but I’m not even that far in- so maybe if it’s good I’ll tell you about it when I’m finished.

Love Birds February 14, 2009

You know how when you’re a kid your parents tell you not to feed the stray cat in the neighborhood because it will just keep coming back over and over and over again expecting food? Well, the same thing goes for birds evidently. I’m pretty sure Andrew and I have just adopted pets… 2 birds to be exact. I’m not quite sure if these are the same two that visited us once before (Lucy and Leo) so I will be giving these two different names… when I get around to thinking of some…because I can…because I’ve decided they are our pets. They’ve been visiting every day for the last 4 days or so. Yesterday they came 3 times and today they’ve already been twice.

So these are our new dear friends…

I’ve already determined that it definitely is the same two birds that keep coming back. I know they all kind of look alike- but when I examine their chests, they just look the same. Check out these two pics taken on different days -definitely the same right? They are totally in love and go everywhere together! Sweet little lovebirds. Ok… maybe I made that up…because I can.

 

I’ve been informed by Marie (thanks) that these Rainbow Lorikeets like to eat fruit- so I’ve been cutting up bits of melon, mango and pears for them to eat. I’ve already discovered that they don’t like the peel of the pear (because they left a disgusting mess of it all over the balcony)- so now I peel the pear before I cut it up. This isn’t because I feel like being overly nice to these birds, I know they live in the wild and are perfectly capable of picking apart their own fruit. I just don’t want to clean up that mess again! Even Wikipedia agrees that these are messy birds “Their diet makes them particularly messy; they are well-known in aviculture for their liquid droppings and energetic and playful nature.” Liquid droppings? Great… well I guess if I had to choose- I would choose liquid over solid!

To minimize the mess, I’ve put a towel out on the balcony and the plate of fruit sits on the towel. However, they don’t really like the towel so they carry everything to the ledge of the balcony where they just make more of a mess.

Some more info on Wikipedia says that “Rainbow Lorikeets travel together as pairs mostly and often pick up calls to fly as a flock, then dispersing again in to pairs. Rainbow Lorikeets pairs dominate their feeding areas against other pairs. They chase off not only smaller birds such as the stealthful Australian Miner, they also chase off larger and powerful birds such as Magpies.”

Well let me just tell you… this is totally correct! A magpie came and landed on the railing today and these two did NOT like that. They cursed, swore and told that bird off in unison in their cute little birdy language! That magpie was gone in about 2 seconds!

So I guess that means our balcony is their “feeding area” that they will dominate. Well… that’s ok I suppose- as long as they dont start crapping on the patio table.

And check out how tame they are… You can see where the boy bird (I decided the red chest was the boy… because I can) was sitting on the chair, and I was able to fully open the door to take a picture without it freaking out and flying away. I think it secretly wanted to fly into our apartment to see what other kinds of yummy snacks it could find- so I didn’t leave the door open too long.

Tea Cozies February 10, 2009

My mom is trying to sell some of her super cute Tea Cozies and bread warmers/hot pads so I thought I’d help her out by posting this as many places as I can. Tea cozies are nifty little “sweaters” that you use to keep your pots of tea warm and toasty. She just made me my first tea cozy ever last month and it actually makes me want to drink more tea… just so I can use it.
She currently has several patterns “in stock” but also takes custom orders. The brown and green one I have shown here was a custom order placed by me I sent her a few pictures of some fabric ideas and she was able to go out and create exactly what I was envisioning.

Check out the full album of possible options here:

TEA COZY ALBUM

They are fully reversible and prices currently range from $25-30. She also will take custom orders based on colors/fabrics/detailing that you choose. Prices vary for custom designs.

Also- for anyone in Austrlalia, she’ll be coming down under at the begining of March- so if you’re interested, let me know ASAP so she can bring any selected cozies with her.

South

Another restaurant review… of course only the people in Australia can REALLY appreciate this- especially all my American expat friends. Andrew and I headed to a somewhat new restaurant tonight called “South.” It’s a southern American style restaurant right in my neighborhood (Neutral Bay to be precise)! No- not South American… Southern American- like ribs, crawfish and cole slaw type stuff! It’s really uber exciting for people like me to see a menu with such items as pumpkin pie, banana pudding (with real nilla wafers), pecan pie and homemade lemonade. I must admit I didn’t order any of these items, but it was really cool to know that I COULD if I wanted to (and if we wanted to pay loads for them… the desserts are pretty darn expensive).

Our first impression was good… we were greeted by the American owner Leo who was super friendly! So we went to order and we were less impressed with the waitress. She didn’t speak great English so it was hard to understand her. Andrew was really craving the Jambalaya and was really disappointed when they didn’t have any ready. If we waited an hour we could have some- but we weren’t really interested in waiting. Andrew was kind of grumpy then because he didn’t really want the ribs or pulled pork sandwiches or crawfish… he just got a small bowl of gumbo instead. He said it was “alright.” It was pretty pricy at $14 bucks for the bowl!

I on the other hand loved my smothered chicken. It was a chicken breast covered with cheese, grilled onions and bbq sauce (I requested no bacon). It came with yummy blackened corn and some greens type stuff. At $26 bucks it was pretty pricy as well- but when you take into account the fact that (A) everything in Australia is expensive and (B) The guy probably has to import items for half his menu, it’s a little more understandable. There’s not really anything like this place in the area- so it’s a nice place to go if we want something different.

I also had the homemade sweet tea which would have been good if it didn’t have lemon in it. I hate lemon in tea- but most people like it, so I can’t complain about the tea at all since it’s just not my preference. The fact that they even have fresh brewed iced tea is amazing. Most places here just have bottled lipton CRAP and they charge an arm and a leg for it!! I think I’d try the homemade lemonade next time.

Lastly, we ordered the cornbread. Definitely wouldn’t get this again. It was fine- just fine and you got 3 small pieces for 6 bucks so it wasn’t worth it. I’d definitely try one of the other sides instead though… maybe mac and cheese

At the end of the meal, Leo came out again and really apologized about the Jambalaya. He had to make 2 huge batches of ribs that day and he makes ALL the food on his own- so the jambalaya started cooking too late for us to order it. He was really cool about it, gave us his card and told us when we come back next he’ll take care of us.

So, even though Andrew wasn’t impressed with the waitress, the cornbread or the fact that he didn’t have what he wanted to eat- he still said he’d go back due to the great customer service. I’d definitely go back because my food was good and there’s a few other things I want to try.

I should start taking pictures of my food… I think that would make these restaurant reviews more exciting.

Cru 54… A Restaurant Review February 6, 2009

Two blogs in one day??? I know…what is this world coming to?? Well, my list below was just too long so I didn’t want to include this post at the end of it all. It deserves it’s own special space so I’m writing my second blog post for the day.

1. Empanadillas- these little eggplant/tomato/cheesy pastry beauties were my favorite! I had 4 of them and I probably would have had more if they weren’t $3 bucks each. While 3 bucks is not a lot, it does seem a bit much when these little gems were about the size of my thumb.
   
2. Cous Cous Moro- I was really pleased with this as well… it had pumpkin and parsnip (which I wasn’t sure about) and raisins as well as some other herbs and spices. I was pleasently surprised!
   
3. Patatas Bravas- Yummy sliced and lightly fried potatos that were even more delicious because of the wonderful cumin and coriander paste that they came with.
   
4. Pollo a la Vasca- chicken stew stuff… I didn’t eat it because it wasn’t made with chicken breast- I think the comments from the others were that it was “different.” But they ate all of it so it must have been pretty good.
   
5. Calamares a la Plancha- Calamari? GAG… no thanks. But everyone else was raving about it and saying how tender it was. Gross.
   
6. Gambas con Jamon y datil- Again… no seafood and ham for me thanks. I didn’t really hear the others comment too much on this one either. I was too busy enjoying my cous cous.
   
7. Chorizo- Yeah I don’t eat meat.
   
8. Peach Creme Brulee- Mike and SJ ordered this but I didn’t have any. Really after 4 empanadillas I didn’t need any more calories. 

    

Ok… so while I only ate 3 of the 8 things we got… I REALLY enjoyed all three of those things and I was definitely full at the end of it all- just not overly stuffed. We also got a bottle of wine and it was served in these really funky but nice wine glasses. Overall I think the food was very good, however there weren’t many “main” type options for vegetarians (only side dish type things). It was a bit pricey for everything, but it would be a good place to go if you’re in the mood for something a little different and a little special.

 

101 Things that Make me Happy

 

Yoga and lastly, Finishing this list almost a year after starting it. yeah I lag!

Sex in the City February 3, 2009

By titling this post Sex in the City, I am simply referring to the fact that some people just should NOT have sex in the city… or ANYWHERE for that matter!

I was standing by the bus stop in the city while waiting to meet Natasha and Tracy and I glanced over and saw a REALLY REALLY skinny young pregnant woman. At first I thought “wow, what a cute skinny prego!!” Then I changed my opinion drastically and thought to myself  “actually, not so cute… she looks like a speed freak- way too skinny, jacked up teeth, ghetto clothes.”

THEN, I noticed her 4 kids. Yes, FOUR- not including the one in her belly. The oldest was probably 9. This woman couldn’t have been over 33; however, all the drugs she’s done probably makes her look older. She’s probably 23. Next I happend to glance over at her red-haired  leprechaun husband (he was short)… oh no wait- NOT a husband… neither of them had rings. Ok so maybe they just hocked them to buy more drugs. The 3rd youngest kept calling him daddy- so at least he plays some role in their lives.

Speaking of the children, I felt really bad for the second oldest. (S)he was wearing a bandana and looked baldish which made me think the poor child had some form of cancer. I say (s)he because I’m not really sure if it was a boy or girl. I assumed girl because (s)he was wearing girly cartoon pink socks, but the uniform (s)he was wearing resembled that of her brother’s (who was clearly a boy). Maybe it was just a boy who likes bandanas and pink cartoon socks… ya’ never know! The eldest child (an obvious girl) wasn’t even wearing a uniform. Maybe they can only afford to put 2 of their kids in school? Maybe they picked the two with the most potential- who knows? To be fair, the parents were being very nice to their kids. The 115 lb, 8 month pregnant mom was picking up the baby and playing with him and smiling and cooing. The leprechaun was doing the same. They all seemed really happy. I hear that’s what speed does to you.

Before you start yelling at me for being super critical (and telling me maybe they just aren’t rich and can’t afford nice clothes) I want to reinforce that I do have my reasons for saying these people suck! After about 10 minutes of spying (trying myself to judge whether I was being overly harsh in my assessment), I saw something I’ve never actually seen before in real life… the mom started smoking. I’ve never seen a CLEARLY prego crackwhore smoking a cig in broad daylight on one of the busiest streets in Sydney (or really anywhere else for that matter). I know people do it, but it was just appalling. And she was smoking about 12 inches away from her daughter to whom she was talking during my moments of spying.

Seriously- I’m SO glad I’m not white trash and I feel so bad for the children who are brought into these trashy families.

Oh and finally, on my bus ride home I realized that I would shoot myself if I ever became a bus driver for the sole reason that people pushing those annoying beeping buttons to get off at EVERY stop would drive me INSANE. I was going mad after my 20 minute ride home! There is no way I could listen to that all day. I don’t know how they do it! That has nothing to do with sex in the city… but I thought you all should know!

Sangria Saturday February 1, 2009

I’ve had my Sangria recipe book for probably over a year and yet I still had never used it. I just didn’t have a pitcher to put it in and of course you need the perfect pitcher to make Sangria! I suppose one also needs reason to make it as well. 

Well, thankfully Shannon got me my fabulous Sangria pitcher for Christmas and last night we had a Mexican fiesta at our place with Andrew’s brother Paul and his girlfriend, Veronica. We made yummy fajitas and fatabulous guacamole and to top it all off, I made my first batch of Sangria! Time to cross # 84 off of my list! And the best part? It was actually GOOD! WOOHOO.

I decided that since it was my first batch ever, I’d go with the simple, classic recipe. But of course, I had to doctor it up a bit to make it extra special. Here’s the recipe I used… with my modifications noted as well

Classic Spanish Sangria

• 1 orange, sliced
• 1 lime, sliced
• 1/2 lemon, sliced
• 1 1/2 ounces brandy (3 Tbsp)
• 2 Tbsp sugar
• 750 ml bottle light red wine
• 12 ounces club soda, chilled
• ice

Yeah that sounded alright… but I needed to double it… and, I like different fruit. Sooo, here’s what I did:

• 2 oranges, sliced
• 3 strawberries, sliced
• 1 pear, sliced
• 1 nectarine, sliced
• About 6-7 Tbsp brandy
• About 7 Tbsp sugar
• (2) bottles of light red wine
• Sprite (lemonade)
• ice

So I put all the fruit in the pitcher, added the sugar and brandy and stirred it all up. Then I poured in the wine and let it chill for a few hours. When pouring it into glasses with ice, I’d fill about 2/3 full with the sangria and fruit and then top up the glass with the sprite/lemonade.

I was impressed. I do like Sangria- but I’ve had some crap versions. This one got the nod of approval from the 4 of us who drank it. So much in fact that I attempted to make some more later in the night.

Our Mexican fiesta was a great success… it was just the 4 of us but we had a great night. We ate a bit of the cheese platter that Paul and VK brought… then, we pigged out on the fajitas and guac… then, we watched a bit of tennis, planned a bit of the Wii, enjoyed a game of cranium and then played some card games into the wee hours of the morning. I thoroughly enjoyed our Sangria Saturday!

Now I can’t wait to try out other new and exciting Sangria recipes! Who’s up for a fiesta?