Champagne Birthday!

My Birthday this year was a special one.. it was my first birthday as a married lady and one of the first birthdays away from my mum/dad & sis. Safe to say there were a few tears but all in all - it was a wonderful day!

I've realized one of the best things about a birthday is receiving cards in the mail.. this year was a special one because I got more cards in the post this year than I ever had before! I guess thats what happens when you move away!

Any who - opened my cards and presents & had breaky with my hubby before heading off to work! The day was great - I didn't actually do anything all done and I had a valid excuse to leave early!

Pri met me on George Street where we headed for pizza and then off to climb the harbour bridge. This was one of the msot wonderful things I have every done! Please see the attached pics of our night climb.

Thank you to my hubby for planning this wonderful present! You are the best husband a girl could ever ask for!

a spudlicious 9.5/10

Very rarely do I give a meal a rating over 7, why you ask.... well its so hard to find a place that has the right balance of taste, simplicity of menu options, food presentation, ambiance and value for money.

Today as part of Jaime's Bday weekend/month extravaganza celebration we went to Mad Spuds Cafe for brunch in Surrey Hills. The menu was great, there weren't millions of options, but the ones that were there were diverse enough not to bore you. when the food came it was presented really nice, the location was quaint with a small cafe feel and trendy crowd, the taste was great, the portion size was just right, not too small not too big and finally the price was reasonable (which is a rare treat in Sydney, or perhaps we're just adjusting to things out here)

So despite breaking several rules to the Harbourside Fitness Challenge we're on, I'd give it a solid 9.5 out of 10...

Link to their site: Mad Spuds Cafe

Some say he .... all we know is, he's called the STIG

Haven't got tickets to it yet... but Top Gear are hosting a Festival in Sydney next month! Something to look forward to if we end up going

new addition to the family

6 Weeks Health Challenge

We recently changed bootcamps for a variety of reasons. Really enjoying the boxing sessions twice a week, its so much more fun than doing the regular push ups, burpees, sit ups routine you inevitably do with every bootcamp.

The new club is called Habourside Fitness

This bootcamp also just kicked off a 6 week challenge. Its quite simple, follow the meal suggestions and diet, make use of the unlimited work out sessions, walk 12,000 steps each day and drink plenty of water. Like I said simple.

Today was the kick off, we had a fitness evaluation and a series of measurements taken this morning.

The Rules (Paleo diet):

• No Sugar (of any kind)
• No processed food
• No Soy (includes tofu)
• No Dairy (including cheese, yoghurt, milk)
• No Wheat, grains, oats, white potatoes

So what can we eat?

• Vegetables
• Meats, Fish, Eggs
• Avocado
• Fish Oils
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil (why do people have to say "Extra Virgin" for?)
• Coconut

The additional challenge this week was a protein only diet for the first 3 days of the week. So no veggies, fruits, plus all the restrictions mentioned above. Was interesting having mutya for breakfast.

We need to pick up a scale to track the progress and Jaime grabbed a pedometer at lunch.

Wish us luck!

ps. doesn't pedometer sound wrong if you pronounce it wrong.

Australia Day Pic

Been meaning to put up some of the pics that I took on Australia Day 2 weeks ago... but was hoping to learn how to use Aperture or Photoshop. Just haven't had time to get my feet wet with that. Looking forward to sharing.

Short back and sides

There are a few things a man usually has when he's well established. Usually its not until you leave the confines of what you call home that you realize how important some of them are.

So for me some of the key ones are:

• A good mechanic
• The deal hunter - the guy who always knows where to go for the best price on just about everything
• The drinking buddy who is always down
• The clubbing buddy/group
• The guy with perks from work (usually free tickets to an event or below cost on some name brand good)
• .... and finally a good barber

Back home I went through my fair share of barbers, and it took some time to find the right one, which happened to be in Kitchener of all places. The place had the right combination of price/quality/interaction, basically the things that keep you going back. I also used to go to some of the more ghetto places in Mississauga where you weren't quite sure what you'd come out with or what you'd be charged this time around.

I'm not looking to spend a fortune, its just a haircut at the end of the day and I go quite frequently and am not asking for anything overly fancy in a cut.

So what's it been like in Sydney. Well the jury is still out, here is the progress so far.

1. $15 in CBD, old crazy looking guy, overall probably the best cut so far. Went back a few weeks after the cut and it was closed.
2. $29 in North Sydney, really chatty oriental lady, haircut done in 5 min flat, came out wanting, had to ask her to adjust it twice. Sometimes paying more doesn't guarantee you anything.
3. $25 in North Sydney, old italian lady, complained the entire time that her hairdresser just quit and now she had to cut hair in the shop she owned. Was a decent cut and really close to work.
4. $20 same spot as before, she dropped the price to get more business. Carried on where she left when it came to complaining about the girl who quit. Must have got so engrossed in the topic that she went botched the top. Decided not to go back there unless I'm in a rush
5. $20 in Korea town part of Sydney. Included a wash and cut. Don't think the guy cutting spoke much English. Asked for the top to be shorter, he said he can't cut any lower. He had about another inch and a half to go before it was close to what I really wanted.
6. the search continues.... or maybe its time to grow that ponytail, not like I know a lot of people here so who cares? :)