2006

After 2004 I didn’t do another summary for 2005 because I couldn’t bear to relive that year again. In 2005 I started the year off with losing my Grandfather and things went down hill from there. Professionally it was a tough year because I stopped enjoying what I was doing, that then had a flow on effect to other things in my life and I didn’t like the negative person that I was becoming (don't get me wrong the year wasn't all bad but I was glad when it ended).

My friends will have heard me say time and time again that a person is only allowed to complain about their job for so long before they must do something about it. I wasn’t particularly looking for a new job, it all just happened and for all the times that you hear people say ‘things happen for a reason’ well I'm living proof.

2006 started off with a Bang! I didn't know at the time, but my photos on the night captured the building where I would start working 2 months later.

Changing jobs changed my life! The pay was fair and shorter travel time plus shorter core hours meant that I now reclaimed back 15 hours a week. This gave me back a lot more ‘me’ time and restored the balance back in my life. I caught up with my old manager some time in May and she couldn’t believe the change in me, my happiness beamed from within and nothing could wipe the stupid grin from my face.

It was in February that I had ‘That Talk’ with Mum and 4 months later Jacky and I made an offer on our first home. In June we celebrated our 8 year anniversary and in July we moved in together. Learning to live together wasn’t as easy as I thought it would be, the first couple of months was challenging, but now that we have settled in moving out has been everything that I dreamt it would be and more. I love our house and I love being home.

I was just so content with everything….and then came the proposal.

In a period of 9 months both Jacky and I changed jobs, bought a house, moved out and are now getting married...a big year? A massive year! I am so grateful for everything that has happened.

Other highlights of 2006 include:

• All my regular eating & market adventures (Growers Markets, festivals, fellow foodies).
• My trips to Melbourne for work.
• Di's 21st @ the Shangri-la Hotel
• Helping Matty & the team pull off a pretty amazing suprise 21st.
• Celebrating Christmas in July at the Westwoods.
• Running Kids in the office day and then given a $200 Myer voucher from the firm to say thank you and later winning 'Employee of the quarter' for my efforts where I was given another $250 to put towards a holiday.
• Roula's Kitchen tea - the most awesome bridal shower that I have ever seen!
• All the weddings that we went to.

• Good food and wine fair 2006.
• Kanye West @ Horden Pavilion & U2 @ Telstra Stadium.
• My first Deacons work X'mas party.
• My first Arup party.

A few small thank yous...

• Mum, you taught me to work hard and aim as high as I can.
  
• Sophia for keeping me grounded and never being afraid to speak your mind.
• Ex Hudson Guys - what would I do without you all??
  
• Mingo & Angii - for just always being there.
  
• Grumpy Face - glad to see you smiling, serendipity indeed!
  
• Tash - for always cracking me up.
• Mark - for letting me laugh at you =P and being a good sport.
  
• Sarah - for reading all my crazy emails and not pressing delete.
• The girls - we're growing up & growing old together.
• Helen - for all your wonderful food posts! Something I always look forward to reading.
• All the Xanga Guys and Gals, you know who you are! - new friends and old.
• Muz - not being bored to death when I talk about food & knives for hours.
• Tim - your cartoons.
  
• Jacky - You are my rock.
  

So that's it for another year, I almost scared for 2006 to end but you know it only gets better from here. My goal for 2007? I'm going to try slow things down a bit and really take time out to enjoy things and focus on experiences.

Merry Merry Christmas!

'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;

Except me that is! I've been up baking batches of almond bread all night

and whipping up some mango pudding (yum cha style).....I just love Christmas!

Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas! XxO

Thank you!

I am the proud owner of my very own Zwilling Henckel 4 Star 8 Piece Block Set!

A massive massive thank you to Di, Matty, Viv, Ken, Muz, Tash and Mark for such a generous gift and kind words....Wow.

------------------------------------

Justin Timberlake on Saturday Night Live (needs sound)

Guys this is an example of what NOT to get your girlfriend for Christmas!

KK dinner 2006 @ La Sangria

Time seems to flash right before my eyes. KK dinner for 2005 seemed like yesterday but here we all were again (minus Belinda who is in London & Sarah who is in Israel) gathered together to celebrate another Christmas. About a month ago the names for KK was drawn, surveys of what everyone wanted was filled out and the budget set at $150.

This year KK dinner was held at La Sangria in Balmain. The girls and I have been here a few times and we've been pretty impressed with the service and food. The restaurant is located opposite the town hall on the main street and usually you can find parking in a relatively short period of time. The walls is decked out in shades of yellow giving off a warm and cosy atmosphere.

The food
We went with the banquet menu which was $30 per person, I thought that they would have a website and didn't note down what they called everything. So here is my version of the food on the night.

Mixed salad with tuna and olives on a sweet balsamic dressing

Mixed Garlic & Herb bread

Bread with aioli

Grilled squid with a mixed herb dressing

Spanish Omlette

Crunchy baked potatoes with this really rich and creamy sauce (my fave for the night)


Marinated chicken in a tomato based sauce with onion, eggplant and capsicum

Spanish chorizo sausages (Stephen was a big fan of these!)

Meatballs

Garlic prawns

Mushrooms

Chicken & prawn paella

The presents
Buying presents for each other seems to get harder every year, most of us have been working for a few years now so we tend to buy the things we want ourselves. As a result, vouchers were all the craze (any excuse to shop!).

Betty had Katina and she scored a new swimsuit, bag and an underwear set

Katina had me and I received a voucher for a full body massage and treatments at my favourite Day spa at Bondi. I had Dee & I got her the Napoleon make up that she requested (eyeliner, lip lacquer & eyeshadow) as well as a 1 hour make up lesson and a big jewellery box. Dee had Roula and got her a voucher for Review.

Roula had Nat who received a gorgeous turquoise necklace from Mimco. Nat had Lisa who requested a voucher for Westfields.

Lisa had Chris who received a beaded cardi and a voucher for Alannah Hill.


Chris had Betty and got her the Lonsdale bowling bag that she wanted for the gym, as well as a cute little handbag (chosen by Stephen).

For Dessert we had churros with melted chocolate on the side, this was not part of the banquet menu.


Group shot - (Minus Stephen who was holding the camera)

Merry Christmas for another year! xxo

La Sangria
371a Darling St
Balmain NSW
Ph: (02) 9555 2086

Arup Christmas Party 2006

What: Arup Christmas Party 2006
Where: Doncaster Room Randwick Race Course
When: Saturday 16, December 2006
Theme: 80's

The last time that I was at the Doncaster Room at Randwick Race Course was in 1999 for my yr 12 formal. In 99 Jacky and I had been going out for 1.5 years, who knew that we would return 7 years later and still together, the place did bring back memories.

I wanted Jacky to dress up as Tom Cruise in Risky Business but Jacky refused – something about not wanting to walk around in his underwear. Instead he went for the skinny red tie look (thanks for making it Mum!). I probably could have made a lot more effort with my costume (or lack of) but I really had no time and I was meeting all of Jacky’s managers and colleagues for the first time. The Schneider do that I went with him to last year was a very serious affair so I wasn’t quite sure what to expect.

The night started with drinks followed by a formal 3 course sit down dinner, the party started off a little slow (but then again I’m comparing engineers with recruiters and lawyers) with the chit chat being a little bit awkward. However unlike Schneider the engineers at Arup all had a lot of personality which all came out as the night progressed.

Half of the room

As you can see some of the costumes were amazing!

Doncaster Room 1999 & 2006 (Still the same just fatter)

One guy built the Berlin Wall and wore it around all night - dance floor and all, I assume he was one of the structural engineers.

Look! It's Danger Mouse

Entree`

Warm chicken satay tenderloin, steamed Jasmine rice, peanut sauce with red onion.

Baked salmon on baby beans, potato olives and Yarra Valley feta, white balsamic and garlic dressing.

Mains

Roast organic turkey, sage and onion seasoning, chipolata sausages and cranberry jus

Post-roasted lamb rump, baked vegetable with rosemary jus

Dessert

Apple and rhubarb crumble and vanilla bean-ice cream.

Chocolate crème brulee with sugar biscuit

Christmas mince pies to have with tea or coffee

It turned out to be a really great night, they presented six '10 years of service awards' and you could really tell that all these people loved their job and their company - it was great to see. Jacky is thinking about transferring to their London office (or even China) to get experience on some of their bigger projects, we'll see where the wind takes us.

Album Here.