Elsja Down Under

Peachy Sangria May 29, 2010

Last night I attempted a new recipe for Sangria.  Even though I have an actual recipe book completely devoted to Sangria, I did not use that book. Nofor this recipe I simply used my gool ol’ brain and made it up on my own. Naturally I wasn’t sure how it would turn out since I wasn’t following any instructions but I am happy to report that it was delicious!! A lot of people don’t like white wine Sangria so this may not be for everyone- but it is definitely for me!! Natasha and Hayley didn’t seem to mind it either!!

So now I am happy to share my Peachy Sangria recipe with you all.

• 2 bottles of chilled light white wine (trust me, you’ll need at least 2 bottles – I used a Semillon/Sav. Blanc blend)
• 1/4 cup peach vodka
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 cup tinned/canned peaches (in juice, not syrup)
• 1/2 cup of the peach juice from the can
• 1 pear, peeled and sliced
• 1 orange, sliced
• 1 kiwi sliced
• Sprite or other lemon lime soda to top up

1. Add the fruit, sugar, juice and vodka to a pitcher, stir well
2. Add the wine and stir
3. Let the Sangria chill for awhile. I let mine sit in the fridge for an hour
4. Pour into glasses over ice, top up with sprite
5. Drink way too quickly and wish you had made more

YUM!

Obviously you can mix up the fruit… but don’t forget the peaches- otherwise it wouldn’t be very peachy would it?  I was really surprised that it turned out so well using vodka. The only reason I used vodka was because I ran out of brandy so I was a bit worried that it might be weird- but the peach vodka definitely added to the flavor!

Australia Post Sucks- part 2 May 27, 2010

If you don’t already know my hatred for the slumbag contractors that work for the Australian Post… read here. Here is my update to that post.

Andrew and I are not the type of people that sit back and complain about the Post time and time again without acting on our anger. We like to call and complain and we do it a lot! Well really why wouldn’t we when the postal worker gives us sooooo many things to complain about?

Today I called and made I believe our 5th or 6th official complaint. I can’t be certain of the number for sure because I only started documenting them 4 complaints ago.

You see, our dick of a delivery man doesn’t like to deliver our packages. He likes to put a little blue card in our mail box and simply says we weren’t home. Well we all know that I work from home so this is just not possible. I am ALWAYS home when he puts those cards in the box. Sometimes he claims we must not hear the buzzer. If you’ve been to our place, you know that is impossible. It is LOUD. So this non-delivery problem used to happen ALL the time. Big packages, small… it didn’t matter. The douchebag just never bothered to do his job.

Back in December we had a bit of a breakthrough. We finally thought we complained enough to have some positive turnaround. We spoke to a customer service manager who stated that from now on if the driver attempted a delivery and we weren’t home, the driver was supposed to call this manager and let him know. The manager would then call me to confirm that I was not home. Well after this new protocol was set in place, everything changed. Any time a package came, there was a long and loud BUZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ BUUUUUUZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ  BUUUUZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ(remember… this guy is a DICK), at our door.

Well last week that all changed when another little blue card magically appeared in the box. We knew this was for three cases of wine and of course the fat slob doesn’t want to deliver 3 cases of wine. That means he’d actually have to carry the weight up two flights of stairs.

So we immediately called the previous customer service manager to report the problem. Unfortunately, his line that is written on the letter we received is no longer in service. So we resorted to the old methods of filing a regular complaint. Well after one week with no word, Andrew called again yesterday. The guy he spoke to assured us the packages would be re-delivered today.

So today there was a BUZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ at about 9:45 am. It’s the delivery prick asking if I’d be home in an hour for him to deliver my packages. Was he hoping I’d say no? Was he hoping he’d get out of doing his job again? Unfortunately for him I said yes and then he stated, ok make it an hour an a half. Over TWO hours later he finally comes back.

When he huffs and puffs up with all the boxes he says to me “You weren’t home when I tried to deliver before.”

ASDLKJNCWOEIRFNCOAWIERJAWERKNWAEIFJSEFNWIEHJR!!!!!

IS HE KIDDING ME???

Oh I did not handle that comment well. I told him I was home, as I ALWAYS am when he doesn’t deliver our packages. He actually told me that he put a note on our file stating that if I don’t answer the buzzer the first time that he never has to redeliver a package again. I reminded him of the protocol that he was supposed to follow where he needed to call the manager if we weren’t home. He basically denied that was ever the case (even though I SWEAR it worked for awhile) and just kept shaking his head no and saying “nope.”

I “kindly” told him that everyone we know has this problem with them so it’s not just us.

His response? “No, no, it’s just you guys. You weren’t home,  I won’t redeliver again.”

I can’t tell you how fuming I was. I just yelled “whatever” to him as he huffed and puffed down the stairs. I really wanted to kick him in his face. Seriously… WHY couldn’t Andrew have been home when the jerk came? Andrew is a lot meaner than I am… I would have loved to see what he would say to that guy!

So today… the Australian Post received another nice little complaint from me. This time it was against the driver personally. I stated that he was rude and I don’t feel comfortable being alone in the house when he delivers the package because he’s always a jerk. I don’t need a response from them, I just want every little detail documented so that hopefully one day he will lose his job. I simply cannot understand how someone can NOT lose their job after THAT many complaints. I can tell you right now that if I was as lazy as him and if our customers had that many complaints about me- I would not still be employed. How is it possible that he still is entitled to earn an income?

I REALLY want to order another case of wine now so he can refuse to deliver it and I can call and complain again. It’s almost a source of entertainment now.

Silver Linings – May 27 2010 May 26, 2010

Silver linings of the day…

1.  I found out one of our friends is now planning to come to the wedding when originally we thought she wouldn’t make it.

2.  I’m not feeling like crap anymore!

3.  We get to pick up our wedding invitations from one of our friends today. He was so kind to bring them back from California after his last trip out there. I finally get to see the finished product. I can’t wait!

4.  It isn’t raining today. After a day of non-stop rain, blue skies are nice. Oh… I take that back. It has just started pouring. I swear I see blue skies off in the distance. We need some sunshine after a week straight of rain. Ok… maybe scratch this one.

5.   I just got an email saying that Muse will be coming to Sydney in December. YAY!

6.  The Grey’s Anatomy season finale was woooonnnderful… as always.

7.  The American Idol season finale is actually live right now in Sydney rather than being delayed until 8pm tonight. I guess they figured there would be too many spoilers online so they’re just playing it live. The fact that I have the ability to watch it live at 10am is just one of the many perks of working from home. Five more minutes until I find out the winner.

8.  Veronica (and her mum) so kindly donated TONS of jars to our wedding centerpiece fund. So nice of them- now I just have to figure out how to get them all back to California.

That’s enough for today. Just wanted to post a little something nice to smile about.

Theyyyy’re Baaaack May 21, 2010

The 3am wake up calls have returned. It’s been awhile since we experienced one of these- but my poor immune system the last few days has caused me to toss and turn all night so last night I had the fortunate opportunity of being awake during the little occurrence. You know… maybe I should give my immune system some credit. This noise just might have been the reason I woke up in the first place at 2:40am.

What am I talking about?

HERE is a reminder.

Nothing like getting woken up by a banging bed and moaning, grunting man at 3am. Ahh the joys of apartment living.

Girl in the Pink Boat May 19, 2010

On Saturday a record was broken. While the powers that be might not “officially” recognize this record, I think the rest of the world definitely does! Jessica Watson sailed her way into history, and into Sydney Harbour after 7 months alone at sea voyaging around the world. If you don’t know about her already, take a moment to check out her blog. It is amazing to think about what she has achieved. At 16 she spent 7 months all alone on a tiny little pink boat sailing the treacherous seas to become the youngest person to sail solo around the world, non-stop and unassisted.

Imagine navigating the world on your own, facing 12 meter swells and never having a single day off. Imagine spending Christmas and New Year’s all alone. Imagine not standing on solid ground, seeing a single human being or eating fresh food for 7 months. SEVEN months!!

I have to admit, I didn’t follow her journey as she was sailing although now I wish I would have. Knowing what I know now about what she went through makes me realize it would have been awesome to follow her journey and watch her story unfold

Luckily we live in an amazing area so as she came sailing in to Sydney Harbour on Saturday, Andrew, Ben and I decided to walk down to Middle Head where we would have the best possible view to watch her cross the finish line between North and South Head. She was originally supposed to arrive back around11:00am, then it became 11:30 and by the time we arrived at Middle Head we found out it was going to be more like 12:30 due to a torn sail. Well, at nearly 2:00 pm, she FINALLY came sailing in surrounded by masses of other boats. I didn’t really mind that she was that late, I mean I really should give this girl some credit, right? I only wish we would have worn warmer clothes and packed a little picnic to enjoy while we were waiting and enjoying the beautiful view.

The moment we could see her little pink boat and the water canons started going off, a little chill ran down my spine. That’s when it hits you that this YOUNG girl is returning home after being out in that water for more than half the year. After she passed by where we were perched watching with other cheering onlookers we decided to try to walk home quickly to catch a glimpse of her arrival at Circular Quay on the news. Our timing was impeccable and we made it home about 5 minutes before she docked. What an amazing feeling she must have had that day. I can’t even begin to imagine any goal in my life amounting to the last 7 months of her life.

We simply sat there watching the water for hours that day, waiting to catch a glimpse of this little pink boat. Other than the lack of food and sweatshirts… it was a great way to spend the day.

Burnt Orange May 14, 2010

Andrew and I ventured out on Monday morning to enjoy “morning tea.” There is a newish restaurant down at Middle Head called Burnt Orange. Evidently it’s been open since September but we only just discovered it. Middle Head is one of Andrew’s favorite places to hang out when he goes for bike rides and it just so happens it is also where he proposed. So when he suggested that we should walk down there to get some tea, it sounded like a great idea. When we walked up, I immediately fell in love with the place. It was so cute! It’s like an old country home straight out of the Hamptons. The huge wrap around deck is adorned with cute little painted table and chairs. Inside, there is this awesome shop full of SO much adorable stuff. From homemade jams and wines to cook books to sweet homemade sock toys for kids; it is the perfect place to find any gift whether it be for a new baby, a bridal shower or a housewarming . With that said, most of the gifts are ridiculously overpriced, but it’s all very fun to look at. I could spend hours in there browsing around. Luckily for Andrew I only spent about 15 minutes.

So here it is… my first “non-dinner” review:

Decor: 10- With all of the cute little details I already mentioned, paired with a beautiful view of the harbour- how could it get any nicer? It’s one of the cutest cafes I’ve seen in Sydney. It was a nice change from the typical modern metal and plastic furniture you see in most casual cafes around here. The ambiance of the location, decor and overall atmosphere was very pleasant.

Value: 8- While I will always preface this with “compared to other places in Sydney” – I have to say, this was quite reasonable. I don’t go out for breakfast much since it’s not one of my favorite meals but when we do go for breakfast, we usually head down to Bottom of the Harbour at Balmoral. While Bottom of the Harbour has great views of the ocean, it also has a lot of traffic and pedestrians passing by constantly; plus, the service there isn’t that great. Anyway… my point is that B.O.T.H. charges more for many of the same items we saw at Burnt Orange and Burnt Orange has a great view as well and it’s more quiet and peaceful. With all that said, I didn’t order much at B.O. and the lunch did look at bit more pricey. I’d have to try more food there to see if it’s really as good of a value as I think it is based on my first experience.

Taste: 7- I only ordered a scone, but it was a delicious sun dried tomato and cheese scone with cream cheese on top. Yum. I ordered that with an Earl Grey tea and Andrew got a fruit salad with yogurt and a flat white coffee. For what we ordered, I don’t have too many complaints. I think my scone had great flavor, but could have been a little moister- it was a tad bit hard and dry on the bottom. Andrew liked his fruit but not his coffee. He has since been back and reported that his eggs and toast were good… so we’re pretty much 2 for 2.

Service: 7- They were really nice and didn’t charge Andrew for adding honey to his fruit salad. When I asked for my scone to be heated, they happily obliged.  I wouldn’t say it was the most fantastic service but I personally think it is WAY better than at Bottom of the Harbour.

I definitely look forward to going back. This place actually makes me want to go out for breakfast and I never want to do that! It also makes me want to shop and buy tons of cute things to decorate my house and give as gifts. Oh how I wish I had millions of dollars just lying around to waste.

Woah Baby May 9, 2010

I think when you’re in a serious relationship, you tend to wonder what your future children will look like. Ok, maybe that’s only me- I’m sure Andrew NEVER thinks about that. I always worry that our kids will be hideous little snots or they will each pick up our worst traits and end up quite ugly. So Imagine how interested I became when I realized I actually could find out how cute our future brats will be. After reading Daisy’s hilarious post about how her boyfriend so kindly morphed her with a dog to see what “their” children would look like, of COURSE I would have to try this out for myself (minus the dog photo).

I tried it with a few different pictures and got a few different outcomes. So without further ado, meet our children (please note, there are 3 here but there will not be 3 children popping out of this uterus unless I unluckily become a breeder of twins the second time around).

Not sure what’s going on with the hair on this one… but she (yes she) is pretty damn cute. I think this one looks like me when I was little.

This one has some creepy glossy eyes but she’s pretty cute as well.

This kid is probably my least favorite- there’s something weird about his mouth, but I suppose he’s not ugly.

I guess according to weird internet morphing sites, our kids won’t be half bad after all.

Blast to my Past May 8, 2010

Friday night Andrew and I did something I haven’t done in a REALLY long time. We went and saw a local band play at a small little local band-type venue.  All of the shows I’ve been to in the last few years have primarily been big name, big cost events so it felt like I was walking back in time a bit. I felt a little sad when I first walked in. I used to love going to shows. My friends and I went to them ALL the time. It was a weekly ritual at one stage in our lives. Now I never go to shows. I never see bands period. I realized something yesterday… my concert days are completely OVER now that I moved to Australia. Like EVERYTHING else in this country, tickets to see bands are ridiculously priced and I just can’t justify spending $73 to see a band like Vampire Weekend. As great as it would be to see them, that price is exorbitant.

My nostalgic reminiscing quickly disappeared when the 2nd band came on stage. This is how they sounded…

ROOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR! RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWR!

It was horrible. Repulsive. At one stage, the “singer” (is it even legal to call him that?) said “This song is called This is Hell.” I turned to Andrew and smiled excitedly and exclaimed “Kind of like my life right now.” It was a total Blair Waldorf moment.

In the end, the band we actually went to see came on and were quite good. Probably not my number one pick but they weren’t screaming like satan so that was a major step up from the previous band.

The atmosphere overall was really strange. There were so many types of people there. It wasn’t like the good old days of ska shows where all the kids were wearing their checkers and converse (while Jen and I dressed in our cute dresses and high heels). No, it was like this weird alter realm where Glamis, a Rage concert, a Fall Out Boy video and a Tony Hawke game  all came together in one confused universe. I wasn’t quite sure where I fit in in all of that mix. Additionally, I was reminded or made aware of quite a few other things last night:

1.  Shows are loud

2.  My feet and back hurt after standing in one place for 2 hours

3.  I will never understand how it is enjoyable to have sweaty long hair whipping in your face as you headbang

4.  Some girls need to look in the mirror before leaving the house

5.  Screaming is not a talent I ever aspire to master

6. People actually still mosh

In the end it was nice to get out and do something different for a change. It was nice to be whisked back 10 years to my days of seeing local bands. Those were some fun times.

Silver Linings- May 6th 2010 May 5, 2010

With all the incompetent, inept people we’ve had to deal with lately, I feel like I need to write one of these posts. Seriously, every day this week I feel like I’ve had to talk to another moron or chase up ANOTHER email response or follow-up with people *cough accountants cough* who just cannot seem to get back to me when I’ve been trying to get answers from them since April! UGH… ok I went off on a tangent there. I will now get back to the GOOD stuff.

• This week we leased out our apartment to our first tenant!
• Two of our good friends (who shall remain nameless at this point in time) got engaged. I’m SO happy for them!!
• We got to see Julz and Leighton’s baby last week for the first time. Little Zara is precious!
• I’ve been working a few hours a week at a side job just up the street and I actually like it.
• I bought a recipe keeper/binder thing to help me reach my 101 goal #89 (Start a recipe book and copy all of mom’s recipes that I like). Now I just need to sit down when I’m in the US and copy all the good stuff from mom.
• I’m also working on # 79 (Create a cookbook with at least 20 personally created recipes). I don’t quite think I’ll reach 20 by the end of the year, but maybe I’ll reach 10! I just need to remember to write stuff down when I’m cooking stuff.
• I made not one but two types of delicious homemade pizza this week. I need to write down my recipe for the tandorri chicken one because it is GOOD (and it will help me with goal # 79 as well).
• I finally booked my hairstylist, makeup artist and the transportation for the wedding. Invites are almost complete and we’ll hopefully be able to get one of our personal couriers (aka Qantas pilots) to bring back the Aussie ones for us to save us from having to ship them all across the pacific.
• I finally found a use for the green wine bottles I’ve been saving for 2 years. Yes, 2 years. Andrew has wanted to throw them out numerous times and I always told him that I’d eventually find a purpose for them. Now three of them are sitting in a nice little row on our table acting as vases for 3 single red Gerber daisies. Lovely.

Italian Kick May 4, 2010

I feel like I’ve been eating so much Italian lately. All my new restaurant reviews in recent weeks have been at Italian places. Last night I made homemade pizzas and this week I will be making homemade stuffed cannelloni. Yes, I’m on an Italian kick.   So here are two more restaurant reviews, Italian style.

Caesar’s Pizza Palace- Lane Cove

Andrew and I ventured out of our comfort zone the other night and ate dinner in Lane Cove. We stopped there on the way home from his dad’s house. We walked up and down the street looking for somewhere to eat. There was a Persian place that looked great but it was a $45 set menu so we quickly passed on that one. We ended up at a little Italian place called Caesar’s. Here’s what I thought about it:

Decor: 3- It was more like a takeaway place, so it wasn’t meant to be fancy- but they could have done a bit more with the place.  I’m not a fan of paper posters put into frames. Just buy some art or paint something.

Value: 7.5- We got a haloumi salad which was a little expensive at $12 but the pasta and pizza we got were a little cheaper than most places we’ve been lately.

Service: 8- I can’t really say anything bad about the service, but it wasn’t phenomenal either.

Taste: 5- My pizza was average. Not good, not horrible, just very average. The base was a bit dry and there was hardly enough sauce or toppings. I definitely make better pizza. The haloumi salad we got was so so. There was some weird lemony gunk on the cheese- it tasted good but we couldn’t figure out what it was. Andrew said his spaghetti and meatballs got better as he ate it.

Da Valentino – Crows Nest

Sunday night we met up with John and Kalee for a nice little dinner catch up. We met in Crows Nest and were debating on a few Italian places until we finally decided to try something new. We ended up at Da Valentino.

Decor: 6- We were outdoors, and the little area we were in was decent, but not the type of place I’d walk by and think “Aww that place is cute, let’s go there.” John so kindly pointed out the fumes from the buses that passed us by and that definitely took away from the ambiance. I didn’t see the inside so I can’t really speak for that decor.

Value: 8.5- Compared to other restaurants we’ve been to lately, I thought the portion sizes were really big for the price we paid.

Service: 6 – I asked if I could add chicken to my pasta and without even hesitating, the waiter said “No!” That’s all, not “I’m sorry, but we can’t do that,” which P.S.- why CAN’T they anyways? So yeah… that was annoying. Also I asked for chili flakes and he brought chili oil and just put it down in front of me with no explanation. I didn’t want oil, but whatever. Then later he came and stated that they don’t have flakes, but that the oil is much better. He then overcharged us for a salad that Andrew ordered, but was quick to fix it when that was pointed out. The waiter wasn’t very good. He was just sort of abrupt and not really friendly- but our food came quickly so it wasn’t too horrible.

Taste: 6 - The garlic bread was crap. Most normal people could make much better garlic bread at home. The 99 cent woolies garlic bread we buy is ten times better than the hard, dry rolls they gave us. My penne arrabiata was really good, the sauce had lots of texture and was very flavorful.  Andrew was impressed with how many prawns came in his chicken and prawn dish. John said his food was good, but he wouldn’t order it again. Honestly, this would have received a higher rating if they had better bread. I think an Italian place should offer decent garlic bread.

Overall… we probably won’t be back to either of these places. They were fine, but there are too many other Italian places around that are much better.