Elsja Down Under

My iPhone Makes me Happy October 18, 2010

It was a very happy happy day last week when my wonderful new iPhone came in the mail. I didn’t waste any time getting it all set up and I just can’t tell you how gitty this little piece of technology has made me. So far I definitely have some favourite apps. These include:

1.  Trip Planner – this little gem gives me all the ferry and bus schedules… amazing I tell you!
2. Google search – who doesn’t love the ability to search for things by simply taking a photo and/or asking a question? If you don’t have this app- get it! Asking a verbal question is SO much easier than typing it all out.
3. Foxtel- Ok so I haven’t actually used this yet but I absolutely love the fact that if I’m out for the night and realise I’ve forgotten to record my favourite show, I can just push a few buttons on my snazzy little phone and like magic, my show will be recorded and waiting for me when I get home.
4. Mobileme – yes, this is a ridiculously expensive program but I do believe it is worth it! Mail, calendar and contact syncing is pretty important to me so I’m loving this application.

What are your favourite apps??  Oh and speaking of contact syncing-  I’d also like to mention that while in the process of setting up my beautiful new phone, I was able to clean out all my contacts which just so happens to be # 15 on my 101 list. Who would have known that buying an iPhone would help me to achieve one of my goals? Win win!!

Stay tuned for more things that make me happy. There have been several over the last few weeks and I can’t wait to share them all with you!

Please Vote October 11, 2010

My brother-in-law Paul entered a contest to be the Australian voice for TomTom. It literally takes 3 seconds to vote and the best part is, they don’t require that you sign up or regsiter for anything. So, you don’t need to worry about spam!!

CLICK TO VOTE

You can vote once a day and he needs all the help he can get to catch up to some of the people who entered before him. If you feel so inclined, please share this with all your friends and family. I’m sure Paul would greatly appreciate it!!

Optus Customer Service: so far so good… October 5, 2010

Watch out world, I’m FINALLY getting with the times and becoming the proud owner of an iphone! There was a bit of a dilemma when we were trying to decide which provider to use so I did what I do best… I analyzed everything. I asked friends for recommendations on Facebook and Twitter, I called friends who have iphones, I created a massive spreadsheet that included a comparison of four different providers (roughly 2-3 plans per provider) AND I spoke to representatives for Telstra, Optus and Vodafone either on the phone or on wonderful online chat.

So Friday the Optus online chat guy told me that if I ordered my iphone online, I’d get it in 3-5 days. Not bad considering Vodafone said I’d have it in 4-6 weeks!! (Another bonus point for optus!) After consulting with Andrew on Saturday, we decided that Optus was the way to go. Telstra was a close second but only because Ben and Mike gave them good reviews. To be honest, Telstra’s plans are rubbish! Vodafone has some of the worst customer service known to man so I was not too sad to be leaving them. I didn’t hear much about Virgin so I just decided to not waste my time there.

I promptly went online to try to order my phone. I went through the entire ordering process only to have the “we are processing your order” message stay on the screen for about 5 minutes before it timed out. I  tried about five more times before sadly giving up after I received a  message saying I needed to call customer service to provide more info. Well, I couldn’t do that because they are closed on the weekends. Not only that… it was also a long weekend due to the holiday so I had to wait THREE days!! I told Andrew I felt like a kid on Christmas who just got a really cool toy to play with but my parents forgot to buy batteries.

FINALLY this afternoon I was able to call to speak to someone. Well, the not-so-helpful customer service rep quickly dismissed my request and said “you couldn’t order one because we are out of stock.” That’s it. No explanation, no estimate as to when they would get more… nothing. Any question I asked was practically ignored and he simply said he couldn’t help. I was deflated. I don’t understand why they had so much stock on Friday and NONE after a weekend where NO ONE could have called up to order one.

You are probably wondering why I think Optus has good customer service after this guy was such a tool. Well, I just refused to just accept his answer. I noticed on the Optus site that I could “Tweet” my customer service question or request. So, I did… and I got a response right away. I was pointed in the direction of a site to enter my query, so I did… and I got another response right away.

Then a guy name Julz called me and after speaking to him and another guy, Craig, I was promptly set up with a new phone plan and my brand spanking new iphone 4 will be here by Friday. I’m so excited.

I’m so thankful for the latest trends in using social media as customer service. No longer do we have to sit on phone forever with our questions and complaints. I just sent a quick little message and my questions were quickly answered. Good job Optus (just get rid of that first guy I spoke to)!!

Now Vodafone– there’s a company with a pile of crap for customer service. I had to call this morning to deal with a pretty major technical  issue and I was on the phone with the idiots for about an hour before my issue was FINALLY resolved. I will NOT miss them.

Two New Sydney Restaurant Reviews October 3, 2010

For your reading (and perhaps dining) pleasure, I present you with two new restaurant reviews.

1. Ripples, Chowder Bay

We headed to Ripples a few weeks back to celebrate the birthday of our good friend Ben. I had a great night and really enjoyed the food. Here are my thoughts on the place.

Decor/Setting: 8: I just love the area! It’s not an easy restaurant to find, but that’s what makes it unique. We sat in the outdoor section but it was enclosed in clear plastic and there were heaters to keep us warm which was definitely a nice touch. The seats were comfortable, the lighting set the mood. I think it would be a nice little romantic date place.

Value: 7:  While the food is overpriced, you sort of understand why when you have a look at the view and your surroundings. The food is also really good… well, mine was. Andrew thought his lamb was just ok. We were very pleasantly surprised to find that Ripples is BYO! Who would have guessed that a higher class restaurant would allow you to bring your own wine?? Just that alone made the meal much more affordable. All in all, we got some bread and dips for the table to share, we each got a main AND a dessert and it was $50 bucks each. We actually expected it to be a lot more than that so I suppose it wasn’t bad for a special night out. Don’t get Andrew started on the parking situation though… paying heaps to park for dinner is no bueno.

Service: ?? – I was drinking wine, so I was in no great rush. I don’t really remember the service been bad at all so it must have been decent enough.

Taste: 9- My pasta was great!!! I’ve always heard about pumpkin ravioli with burnt butter and sage. I had NO idea if I’d like it but I do like pumpkin and butter… so I figured I’d give it a shot. It was really good and I’m now sold on this well-known flavor combination. We ALL got a dessert and my heavenly coconut macaron tower was rated by some of our friends as the best dessert of the night (I have to agree).

Would I go back? Yes, but only for a special occasion.

2. Lee’s Fortuna Court

A few nights ago, we headed to this little Chinese place in Crows Nest to celebrate Stu’s birthday. How happy am I that all these birthdays give me a perfect reason to try new restaurants?? Here’s what I thought of it.

Decor/Setting: 4 It wasn’t hideous, but it wasn’t nice. The tables are pretty decent with the convenient lazy susan in the middle but the decor mainly consisted of signed photos of sports stars, not really my thing.

Value: 5 – to be honest, this was some pricey Chinese. Granted it wasn’t BYO, but we ended up spending more per person here than we did at Ripples and the two restaurants are worlds apart in terms of class and setting so I definitely wouldn’t have expected this to be more expensive.

Service: 9 – Here’s where they win out!! This is some of the best service I’ve seen in this country. I ordered a bottle of wine and the server poured a tiny bit and asked if I would like to taste it. I was a bit shocked since that’s not the type of service you see often at Chinese. The servers were very attentive with water and drinks and they brought out a free ice cream cake for Stu’s birthday. This was not just a little individual cake for him- no, this was a cake for the whole table! The only reason I didn’t give it a 10 is because they seemed to get confused when taking our order and brought out an extra dish that we did not want (but that was probably our fault anyways).

Taste: 7- The food was good. It is nothing I’d crave (like my Pei Wei cravings from back in CA), but it was good. The best thing was that they actually had a chicken breast dish! I went in there thinking I’d have to order vegetarian because I assumed they would not serve white meat chicken. I was very happy to find out they did and my white meat cashew nut chicken was pretty good!

All in all it’s not the best Chinese food I’ve had but it’s definitely good. The prices seem really high but the service was quality enough to match the prices so I guess it all evened out in the end. I probably wouldn’t go back unless it was for an event but that has nothing to do with the restaurant, it’s simply because I like Thai food way better than Chinese.

Social Media Education September 27, 2010

In an effort to increase my knowledge base and enhance my technological skills,I am turning to the Internet to increase what I know about social media. I  am fully aware that others label me an “Internet nerd” so why not put my nerdy talents to good use and look at getting into social media? Let’s face it- I met my husband online by using my geeky social-networking skills; so, why not expand on these talents so that I can use them in other productive ways?

I’ve already dealt with quite a bit of traditional and social marketing through my current job over the last 5 years so by no means am I a stranger to it all… but I’d love to take my experience to the next level. So as my first step in my new social media exploration I’ve cavedand joined Twitter. If you care to follow me you can find me here: @elsjahancock.

If anyone out there has any good website/blog or twitter  recommendations for me- I’d love to hear them!

Thanks and happy tweeting!

Shipping to Australia September 26, 2010

And this, my friends,  is why I will never in my life ship something from Old Navy (or any shop for that matter) to our place in Australia.

The Most Ridiculous Product Ever Invented September 25, 2010

Ok… maybe not EVER invented but let me tell you all about a new product that I just absolutely do not understand. Before I do, I’d like us all to take a look at the hand washing process.

1. Hands are dirty and germy

2. Go to sink and turn on water

3. Pump soap into dirty hands

4. Scrub dirty hands until they are nice and clean

5. Rinse and turn off water

Simple enough right? We’ve all been doing this for years.

Well Dettol have decided that humans are all morons and they’ve come out with the most ridiculous excuse to waste your money. The Dettol No-Touch Hand Wash System.

Now some critics will say that this product is great because it dispenses just the right amount of soap. Hmm… pretty sure I’m competent enough to push a soap dispenser with enough pressure to deliver an adequate amount of soap. What really gets to me is how the TV ads emphasize how this product helps prevent the spread of germs.

HUH??

Let’s go back to that handwashing process from before. Step 3 says “pump soap into DIRTY hands.” If I’m reaching for the soap when my hands are still dirty, what do I care about germs? I’m about to wash them off!!! I won’t be touching the dirty, germy soap pump again after I rinse, right?

Seriously, who buys this crap?

An Aussie Boy and an American Girl September 16, 2010

Here we are. An American and an Aussie… all good and married.

Our wedding was simply amazing. It was small enough to feel intimate while being large enough to feel like we weren’t missing most of our friends and family. The location was absolutely breathtaking. I really worried about having our wedding at the residence of family friends but it worked out so well. The spacing was right on for the number of guests we had (what would we have done if every guest that we invited actually showed up? Eek!) and the setting was beautiful.

When you plan a wedding at a house, there are SO many more details to think about than you could ever imagine. When you host a wedding at a rented venue like a hotel or banquet hall you don’t have to remember to buy toilet paper for the bathrooms and lighters to light the candles. You don’t have to recruit family members to go to the location a few days early to move all the furniture out.  All that stuff is just done for you. You don’t have to work hands-on with every single vendor to ensure the day runs smoothly- that is usually all taken care of through the venue. Since I had to do everything on my own (with some help from family and friends of course) I feel like I really experienced EVERY SINGLE DETAIL of planning an event. From picking out paper for the invites all the way to the last details which included ordering sparklers for the bride and groom send-off. Even with my amazing organizational skills working for me (and yes, I will pat myself on the back and say they are AMAZING), I still needed help from the professionals to bring it all together. So in honor of all the professional help we had on our big day, I’d like to dedicate this post to our stellar vendors. Without you guys, we wouldn’t have had the amazing wedding that we did.

Our DJ Allan was spectacular. He was the very first vendor I booked back in August once we had settled on our date. I’d seen his DJ/MC work at two previous weddings and knew instantly that he was the right guy for us! In fact I knew he was right for “us” before I even met Andrew!! Some guests even wanted to take photos with him!  His cues were spot on and he was so full of personality and professionalism. I can’t recommend him highly enough! 

The florist Jen K. did a beautiful job on the gazebo, don’t ya think? My bouquet was MASSIVE but it photographed so well!

The photographer Candace of Mark Brooke Photography took some beautiful shots as we have all now seen on their blog (see my last wedding blog post). I cannot wait to see the rest of the fantastic photos.

Our videographer, Jonathon was just wonderful. He is not even a regular wedding videographer but he was referred to us through a friend. I felt so bad that he was staying so late into the night when originally that was not the plan. I thought he was just so awesome when he told me he heard about the sparkler send-off and he thought it would be great to catch on film. Whenever there was a big moment that was about to occur, I’d turn around and he’d be there. He was completely on top of things without needing direction. I cannot thank him enough for his hard work on our big day and I am so excited to see how the video turns out!

Our caterers, Orange County Catering were superb. I probably worked with these guys the most over the last year to ensure the food, service and rental set-ups were all exactly what we wanted. Jeff and Lyn at OCC were incredibly helpful and I’d definitely use them again. The set-up went fairly smoothly, although I did hear that they showed up a bit later than planned (thankfully I wasn’t aware of that while I was getting ready). The food was delicious. We got SO many compliments from people on the quality of the appetizers and dinner and it made me really happy to hear that people enjoyed it all.

It really sounds so cliche to say that the day just goes by so quickly- but it really does!! It is all a big blur and although I remember how it all went, the little details that I spent a year perfecting seem to have quickly faded from my memory. There are so many things I wish I could have remembered to do on the day, but such is life. The wedding came and went and I can’t change a moment of it now. In the end, I married my love and that’s all that matters.

Oh… and a little note to all of you out there holding our wedding photos hostage… please share!! I don’t have many photos to post because not many people have posted photos online. If you have them, post them- or better yet, burn me a CD! THANKS

EDITED TO ADD:

I can’t believe I forgot some people. Actually I can, my brain is mush lately.

My fantastic hair stylist Regina from Medusa Salon did the hair for myself, all the bridesmaids and the flower girl. My hair was so different from traditional brides and I loved it. I didn’t love it so much in pictures from the end of the night when it sort of flattened out and I looked like I was wearing a helmet but that could also be because my face looked like a sweatball since I was oblivious to the fact that I should have reapplied makeup. It all looked beautiful at the start of the wedding and that’s what matters!!! And I LOVED the flower girl hair. I actually wish I would have done my hair like hers I think.

Makeup was done by the lovely Sumry, although I don’t have a page to link for her.

The photo booth was the hit of the wedding. Evidently the attendants were awesome (I think I said 2 words to them but all our guests said they were great). I’d highly recommend Rockstar Photobooth for any party! They were so reasonably priced and Chris from the company probably had the best customer service of any vendor I worked with.

Wedding Blogs September 13, 2010

In case anyone is interested, our wedding has been featured on a few blogs.

First we have our fabulous photographer’s blog- Mark Brook Photography. They did such a GREAT job with our photos. I’ve only seen the sneak peak of shots they’ve put up on their blog and I simply cannot wait to see the rest of the pictures! I know they will be wonderful.

Secondly we have the pleasure of being featured on Destination Inspirations, a great blog all about destination weddings. I was thrilled to see this via the Mark Brooke site today:

Thanks to our fantastic photographers for capturing “blog-worthy” photos.

Wedding Pre-Party September 12, 2010

When I traveled to Amanda and Stephen’s wedding back in February, they hosted a little pre-wedding get-together before the actual big day. After attending the little shindig, I decided it would be a great thing to do for our wedding. Seeing as how 95% of Andrew’s clan had never met ANY of my clan, we thought it would be appropriate to round up the two groups, throw them together with some beer, pizza and a pool and see what happens.

Well I do believe it was a great success. I think the Aussies loved drinking out of the famous red cups that they always see in movies and I think they appreciated the lessons in the fine art of flip cup (p.s. the girls RULE over the boys).

And what did the Americans gain?? Well… they got to see just how crazy all the Aussies are! They witnessed first hand the reason why my drinking of wine with dinner has gone up tremendously since I moved to this country.  The good ol’ American s’mores were a fantastic finale to the night for everyone!

Even though I was a bit stressed (and even cried) at the party… (hey, I was getting married in 2 days, I was extremely emotional), I think the party was a perfect idea!  A big purpose of getting the groups together was to create a more social environment for our actual wedding night. If all the groups mingled before the big day they were more likely to mingle a bit more on the wedding night, right? Well that’s exactly what happened. I think the pre-party helped to make the wedding an even better night for everyone.

**I’d like to dedicate this blog to Shannon and Dougie Henderson and to Shawn H. to thank them for their “sponsorship” of this party. Shannon’s Candy bar and the Henderson hospitality (even when people were puking on the side of their house) were amazing and greatly appreciated. Shannon’s vodka soaked gummy bears –  which let’s be honest, really tasted like fruity vodka goo –  were “enjoyed” by all. Shawn and Oggi’s pizza supplied us with lots of DELISH pizza (that I still pretty much think about on a daily basis) and some great kegs of beer. To you all, I am eternally grateful! **

Bachelorette Memories September 8, 2010

It’s hard to imagine a more perfect way to celebrate my last “single” weekend than the way it was spent. One week before I said “I do”, myself and 9 other girls boarded the Carnival Paradise and set sail on what would be one of the best weekends of my life. First of all, I was completely thrilled that there were even 9 girls who wanted to come with me! I know a cruise to Ensenada isn’t the cheapest of ways to celebrate a bachelorette party, regardless everyone still wanted to come. I had 5 girls from CA and the others flew in from Australia, Hong Kong, Texas and Georgia. How lucky am I?

From the minute we stepped on board, we were having a great time. Shannon and Amanda got there a bit early and decorated the rooms with streamers and champagne. Oh yeah… there were 5 of us sharing this room. Wow we’re good!

My sisters and friends provided me with the typical array of penis themed games and toys (no pictures needed there) and shortly after that we changed into our bathing suits, headed to the pool and ordered our first drinks.  We started the beverage consumption off on a moderate pace but that quickly sped as soon as we met a group of 30+ firemen who were ever so generous with their drink offerings. I’m pretty sure it never stopped after that.

The next 3 days consisted of some incredible fun and CRAZY adventures. I definitely think there were a few highlights and memorable moments that I will share in a brief photo journal for you all.

Papas and Beer. Drinking all day in Ensenada was SO much fun. I think these pictures pretty much sum up the day:

Incredible days of fun in the sun, fancy dinners and nights of burning calories on the dance floor:

In addition to the obvious fun we had there were other “special” moments that I’ll never forget.

• The weekend wouldn’t have been complete without losing my sister Jan a few times (who now has the nickname “Where’s Waldo” or “Jan you F*@$#er!” Luckily when you’re on a boat you can’t lose anyone for too long.
• Shannon tore it up on the dance floor AND the Karaoke stage.
• Unintentional prank calls to random rooms… oops
• Dione cracked us all up with her comment “I may have had a little…” (I’ll leave that one up to the imagination).
• I swear that none of us took part in getting an IV injection to cure a hangover… but I may have witnessed one.  If it weren’t for the fact that I don’t like to go around letting random strangers inject needles in my arm- I would think this was a great idea.
• The free bottle of “wine” (aka vodka masked in a sealed wine bottle) was a lovely addition to our last dinner on the boat. Thanks random guys wherever you are.
• I will forever cherish “the book” of wedding advice that was passed around all weekend to anyone willing to add their tips and suggestions. I think some of those tips may warrant a blog of their own one day.
• Yellow shirt, blue eyes, green shirt, hat tag guy, Patrick, Captain, P footy… you all made our trip so much more memorable!

Overall, it was the best girls weekend you could ever ask for. With 10 girls you would expect a bit of drama and surprisingly there was very little of that going around. I think a girls cruise to Ensenada should become a regular event. Yes, that is a fantastic idea! Who’s with me?

I’m Back… and I’m Married! September 6, 2010

YAY! I am SO happy to inform you all that I am a married woman. I know my month long hiatus from blogging probably means no one will still be around to read this but now that I’m back to reality I plan to be blogging more. In the coming days/weeks I’ll be posting all about the bachelorette party, wedding pre-party and wedding as well as the post-wedding sadness. But for today – just to get my self acclimated back into the blogging world- I will post a quick little 101 in 1001 update of all the things that were fulfilled while I have been away. There’s lots to share!

#3 Have a spa day with the works. I got a massage, manicure and pedicure the day before the wedding at a proper day spa. While I didn’t get EVERY treatment imaginable, I got all the ones I wanted and it was damn expensive so that’s all that matters right? I also did it with my bridesmaids, sisters and flower girl. It was wonderful.

#36- Go on a girls weekend away. Well my amazing bachelorette weekend cruise definitely counts for this one. I will post all (well, not ALL) of the exciting details in a future blog.

#53 – Go on a cruise. See above.

#59- Go home to CA at least 6 times. The trip out for our wedding was trip #6.  I might even top this one and go back 7 times by the end of the year. Time shall tell.

#64- Take photo booth pictures with Andrew. Here’s another one that was conveniently crossed out due to fun wedding festivities.

#78 – Be able to eat something cooked with beef. While in CA there was a delicious looking pizza placed in front of me. It was sausage and pepperoni and it looked delectable. I don’t know what got into me but I decided to willingly eat meat (albeit a combo of beef and pork, not just “beef” as the task calls for) for the first time since I was 15. Granted I did take one piece of pepperoni and one piece of sausage and break them into small pieces to sprinkle over the slice but the point is I ate it!! I willingly ate and enjoyed a piece of pepperoni and sausage pizza.

#89- Start a recipe book and write down all of my mom’s recipes that I like. I made sure to do this right when I arrived in CA since I have forgotten the last two times. My recipe book is is filling up quickly.

Over 50 tasks down, and many, many more to go. Better keep it up, I only have a few months before my time is up!

My Beautiful Shower August 12, 2010

I have some of the most amazing friends! Last weekend I was truly spoiled at my bridal shower. They did such an amazing job on the design… seriously- why can’t Jen and I go into a party planning business together? A few months ago I didn’t even want a shower. I was in a funk because I wasn’t going to be able travel home in May like I had planned. I thought a shower 3 weeks before a wedding was a bit silly, but everyone said “you HAVE to have a shower.” Then I realized Jen did hers that way as well and it was totally fun. I am SO glad I ended up having one. It was beautiful, fun and delicious. The amazing Alexis cooked up a fancy feast of yummy food and the crepe cake was fabulous. The cake ball or “love pop” favors were heavenly. The sangria?? Well, seeing as how they used my recipe, I HAD to think it was delicious, right? I’m so thankful that my friends and family were willing and able to come celebrate my upcoming wedding with me. I had such a nice day!

Thanks again to everyone who played a part in my AMAZING shower!! For more beautiful photos, CLICK HERE.

Busy Busy August 7, 2010

I know I’m a terrible blogger. I guess that’s what happens when life gets in the way.  I could be writing about all the wedding stuff I’m doing at the moment, but time spent here means less time actually doing the wedding related tasks I so desperately need to do. So instead of daily blogging, you’ll just have to settle for this quick little update.

So a few weeks ago, our friends Kimbo and Stu moved back from South Africa (YAY) and Kimbo threw me a wonderful surprise “kitchen tea.” It was SO nice of her, especially considering she threw it one day after returning from S.A! Thanks again Kimbo and thanks to all the ladies who came out to help celebrate.

John and Kalee’s wedding was last weekend and we had a blast. I wasn’t going to drink too much since I had to fly the next day. Well not only did I do just that, I actually had a worse hangover than I’ve had in a long time. Not so good when you have to get on a plane for 14 hours with a head cold as well.

I spent Monday through Wednesday working all morning with a clogged nose and severe jetlag (aka nausea). Pretty sure that hangover and head cold didn’t set me off on the right foot. It was miserable. Even with that nasty funk I still managed to get  A LOT done this week. Since I’ve been back in CA this week I’ve already met with the caterers at the reception site to finalize the seating arrangements for the wedding. I’ve had my first dress fitting and an appointment with the florist. I’ve been to the gym 3 times, went to dinner twice. I spent two days at my sister’s new condo, went to her pool, went to Wild Rivers, went to a concert in the park. I’ve shopped… a lot. Too bad it’s mostly for stuff I NEED and less for stuff I want.  I spent a night playing Just Dance with Shannon. I saw Eclipse with Jen and Lisa. I caught up with a bunch of friends tonight at a UFC party and tomorrow is my bridal shower!! Oh, did I mention I worked all week as well?

It’s been brutal… but I’m surviving.

Masterchef July 25, 2010

Masterchef… oh how I will miss thee.

You brought joy and happiness to my life 6 nights a week. SIX nights! You inspired me to perfect my pizza dough and add a pizza peel to our wedding registry. You’ve given me an immense desire to make something…ANYTHING out of spun sugar. You inspired our friend Yorky to go out and buy a food processor for the sole purpose of making this Frangipane tart.  Your macaron tower challenge inspired Sara and I to take a trip to the Lindt cafe so Sara could try (and LOVE) her first ever macaron. I’ve started using fresh garlic rather than the jarred or powdered stuff and I’m very tempted to buy a mortal and pestle so I can grind my own spices.

Some people don’t get the Masterchef craze, but I totally do.  I think you have to like cooking and enjoy food to really appreciate how awesome this show since I love cooking, this show is perfect for me! I actually feel like I learned a lot about cooking and general food knowledge that I can use in my day to day life. That’s not to say I’d actually eat half the stuff they made but at least I feel more educated about it all!

For the most part, I loved all of the contestants. I would have been happy with several different people as winners, but I think the right person won in the end… even if I once thought it should be Marion.

I am so happy that I was able to watch the whole season. Last season I was out of the country for most of it (and I didn’t have tivo so I missed most of the episodes anyways). It really couldn’t have ended at a more perfect time… right before I take off to the States. Speaking of the States, I hear Masterchef is coming to America. Woohoo! Something else to download from itunes, although 6 days a week might get a bit pricey. My only concern is that Gordon Ramsay is evidently hosting and I have a feeling he won’t be quite as nice as the Australian judges. Regardless, check it out. If it’s anything like the Aussie version, it will be an enjoyable show to watch and learn from.