Michelle's Farewell

Michelle is heading off to travel Japan for 1 year, so a few friends gathered to wish her an excellent trip.

The night involved a lot of games, who knew Pictionary could get so intense!

Then there was Jenga and the poker game that never really happened because no one knew how to play.

I left at about 10pm only to head off to a night of learning to play poker with Jacky and the WoW boys. Jacky didn't have much beginner's luck and lost 10 bucks. We left early but I heard that Glen cleaned up the night $250 richer (Glen I really think that you can afford to buy me a pair of shoes with your winnings) =P

Did someone say SALE?

I love shopping. Today I must have made up for any shopping that I didn’t do earlier in the year. It was the first time in years that we’ve been to the sales; usually we’re overseas or working but today I was prepared. I woke up at 6:00am, Jacky picked me up at 7:20am and we hit the city shops before 8:00am. Let’s not talk about the fact that between the 2 of us we spent over $1000, instead let’s focus on the money that we ‘saved’.

What we bought:

• 1 Colourful Billabong Bikini (to add to the other 5 bikinis that I own)
• 2 Rusty Singlets (one black, one aqua- $10 each down from $26 how could i not?!?!)
• 1 White MCD board shorts for JC (sure beats him swimming in his bball shorts)
• 1 Surf Dive and Ski beach Towel (they gave it to us for free because they made a mistake and we had to wait for ages for them to correct it RRP $40)
• 7 Business shirts by Kenji (French cuff of course!)
• 1 Black dress by Seduce (I had a $50 voucher I was trying to use)
• 1 brown pair of shorts for Sophia
• 2 pairs of Man styled shorts for me (pinstriped)
• 1 Brown pin stripe suit jacket + matching skirt
• 1 Black suit jacket + matching skirt
• 2 300gig hard drives (one for JC one for Sophia)
• 2 spindles of 50 blank DVDs (also JC & Sophia...and you wonder why they get along so well...)

Full price - sale price we probably saved around $500.00

We decided to call it a day at around 3:00pm when we were both tired and couldn’t physically carry anymore bags. Lucky for me (and Jacky) Cue sold out of size 6 and 8 or I would have easily spent another few hundred on work clothes. I got some really great bargains today and guess what?!? I didn't come home with 50 pairs of shoes.

However I am suffering from an extremely sore elbow. Whilst I was putting away a skirt in Myer I accidently banged my elbow on the shelf, it made such a loud noise that EVERYONE turned to look at me; it hurt like crazy!! but because everyone was staring I pretended nothing happened and that it didn't hurt, I'm sure you all know the look. I think that I smacked the nerve right behind the elbow, ahhh well I lived to tell the story.

Happy Shopping Everyone!

7.5 Years!

Happy Anniversary Jacky =)

Murder Mystery

What: Schneider Electric X'mas Party 2005
When: Saturday Night 17/12/2005
Where: Dockside - Cockle Bay Wharf
Theme: Black Tie -Murder Mystery

I accompanied Jacky to his Schneider Christmas party tonight where upon arrival we were pulled aside by a ‘policeman’ who informed us that a murder had occurred. The victim ‘Santa Claus’ was brutally hit on the head by an object and 12 suspects from Schneider were under suspicion. We were handed a clue and asked to assist the police in solving the case.

The aim of the game was to mingle with the crowd and swap clues to solve the crime. The first person to guess the correct suspect, room, weapon and location would win a $600 Harvey Norman Voucher. In theory this sounded like an excellent idea for a Christmas party.

The problem?

It was a very formal black tie event where partners were invited and everyone kept to themselves. As lovely as everyone was, it was a room full of engineers; to say that they were a little introverted would be an understatement.

The Food

The service was quite good with waiters bringing out cocktails and canapés for most of the night. They had everything from dim sims, to curry puffs and tasted a lot nicer than your usual finger foods. The Main meal was a self serve buffet style selection of pastas which included Spaghetti marinara, Pesto Ravioli and Cannelloni. The pasta's were very average which I guess is to be expected when food is made in bulk this way. However, the great canapés and daiquiris certainly compensated for this.

The Love Boat

What: Hudson Christmas Party 2005

When: Friday Night 16/12/2005
Where: Customs House Circular Quay
Theme: The Love Boat (our team was allocated Hawaii)

Was an excellent night! many funny things happened but I'm too tired to report (May be Later). Here are some pics from last night.

The Rest of the pics Here

Tomorrow Night!

If there is one thing that Hudson knows how to do well, that would have to be knowing how to throw an excellent party! And party we shall!!

2003 - Theme: Chicago @ Space

2004- Theme: Carnivale @ Cruise Bar

I'm so sorry to all the people that got drunken calls from me last year...free Alcohol for 5 hours did not do me any favours! I promise to come home in one piece this year.

KK - Open with caution!

My new manager started on Friday the day that we did office KK.

So the whole team + new manager were gathered in a circle taking turns in opening presents. Mine was in this beautiful pink rose box with a beautifully placed gold ribbon. I rattled it…it jingled; I was sure it was earrings!

Everyone looked on with anticipation as I untied the ribbon and lifted the lid. It was not earrings, instead I pulled out a red satin G-String with a white fluffy trim and diamantes that spelt the words “jingle my…” it came complete with little bells on the side. Everyone laughed hysterically and my new manager (a more mature and conservative man) looked at me with absolute shock!

Straight away I knew Jenny was my KK!! I’ll get her back……

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On a serious note, due to unfortunate circumstances my friend has to give away his much loved dogs, if you can offer these guys a home or know anyone that can please message me! Pictures HERE.

KK Dinner @ Lotus

A tradition that has been running for the last 5 to 6 years is our annual Kris Kringle dinner. This is an extremely exciting time that takes months of planning. About 2 month prior to the event a date is set in our calendars and a resturant booked, the budget is set between $100 to $150. This may sound like a lot, but it sure beats having to buy $20 to $30 presents for 10 people.

Names are then picked out of a hat and distributed. A condition of KK is that everyone must keep who they got a secret. A detailed email is then sent out to all participants where they must fill out the questions and 'reply to all'. It details things like favourite colours, wants, don't wants, underwear size, shoe size, dress size etc.

This year our dinner was held at Lotus in Potts Point. The restaurant is extremely popular and made it into the SMH Good Food Guide for 2005. Whilst the place was a lot smaller than we expected (making it a very tight squeeze) the food and atmosphere did not disappoint. The crowd is vibrant and the wait staff are extremely friendly and rather good looking!

On a Saturday night bookings is a must! the minimum 2 course meal will set you back $50 or $60 for 3 courses. The servings are your average size but the high quality of the food makes it value for money.

Above Entree: Gazpacho with persian feta.

Because we didn't start ordering till 9:00pm we decided that 2 courses would be enough. Most people went for a main and dessert as opposed to entree and main.

Mains: I got the special of the day: Alantic crispy skin (something - not salmon) with a fennel and dill salad, rosted potatoes and grapefruit. Despite me not being a big fan of dill, I still give this dish 10 thumbs up!

Mains

1. Spiced lamb loin with crushed chickpeas, spinach and sheep’s yoghurt

2. Grilled spatchcock with pea and pancetta puree, chicken jus

Dessert:

1. Buttermilk pudding with summer berries

2. Chocolate marquise, macerated strawberries and clotted cream.

Betty enojyed her Buttermilk dessert but I wasn't a big fan because the buttermilk had a funny sour flavour? the chocolate marquise is a VERY rich dessert so it would be great for the chocolate lovers. If I were to go again, I would go with entree and main instead of main and dessert.

Opening the presents!

Lisa got a dress and earrings that were very Lisa! Belinda got a new bikini, earrings and a fondue set.

Betty's present was made up of more than 5 things (I can't remember what they all were now) and Roula who has renovated her room got some really nice things from Country Road.

Part of Lisa's present for Kat was a Seduce top, to her dismay Katina had bought the top herself and was wearing it at KK dinner! (Note the top that Kat is wearing and the top that Betty is holding in her hand. I think Betty's laughter said it all!) Christina on the other hand was very pleased with her new Morrissey dress.

I had Dee and I bought her some Chanel earrings and an underwear set which caused the guys from the next table to cheer out loud!

Nat received a beautiful George necklace and a voucher for 2 people to go para sailing at Manly. I didn't get any pictures of myself but I received a beautiful Oroton Red soft leather clutch from Roula (Thank you so much!)

Here is to another successful KK dinner! Thanks for all the effort in putting together your gifts!

Merry Christmas Y'all