Happy 30th Mandy

Spent Saturday night at Mandy's 30th the theme of the night was Black & White (funny enough it seems Trish and Jc went to a party with the same theme). Thanks Mandy for the great food, great music and great cocktails!

Me, Emma (the best assistant in the world!), Radha from London, Mandy the B'day Girl & Princess Jenny

This is a quarter of my team from the Parramatta Office showing our love for the Westside =P

Friday-itis

It’s 9:00am and I am onto my 2nd chocolate bar. Thank God it’s Friday!

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

Matty's going to Hong Kong Tonight, I wish I was going to Hong Kong. I could really do with some retail Therapy.

=)

Good old Parramatta.

Just as I was leaving work last night an email gets sent around to advise us 'a man has been stabbed in front of Parramatta Westfield, the surrounding area has been blocked off’.

Great. Just Great.

-----------------------------------
Alex thanks for dinner last night!

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

Thanks Joel for helping me with the Boy II Men tickets <--- girls this is the guy to thank!

To date or not to date

Going back 6 months ago one of the girls in the office resigned, whilst it wasn’t made public we all knew she left because she had been seeing one of the Head Managers (her direct manager). A person on her team had a bit of a dummy spit one day and dobbed them into HR and the General Manager; needless to say that the situation got pretty messy very quickly and the relationship ended soon after.

I was actually really sad to see her go because she was a really lovely person and a good recruiter. Although she applied for an internal transfer she was unsuccessful and had to resign. In a discussion with my work colleague I made the passing comment that what happened was really harsh.

My colleague responded that no, she had it coming and that she put herself in that position by going out with her boss in the first place. I agree that I personally would never have put myself in that situation but when feelings get involved it gets a bit tricky, furthermore she never intended on people finding out. I guess in her defence she was in her 30s, had just arrived from overseas didn't know anyone; the male involved is also a very charming individual. Had it of been a manager in another team I don’t think it would have been an issue.

In general most people agree that dating someone you work with is a bad idea, it runs the possibility of making things very awkward if it doesn’t work out. Seeing that most of us spend ridiculous hours at work, it’s a bit ironic that it’s also the place where we are most likely to meet someone especially when you work for a large company.

Photos!

Just got home from Matty's & Rick's joint birthday, theme - Jocks and Cheerleaders it turned out to be a fantastic night! Met a lot of new faces and extra props to Matty for a great speech. I think that it was the first time that I went to a party where the average UAI in the room was 99.5 - it's a daunting thought.

Here are a few photos that I took, I'll put the rest in an online album later.

B'day Boys

This Pic cracks me up

Party People

Speech! Rick looking a bit embrassed. This is when Matty warned 'Girls don't flirt with my brother'

JY, Viv, Ken

JC, Me, JC - Go Team!

Left: The amazing Trish + Viv with bat. Right: Jc giving a speech

Left: Matty Butt shot

I stole this pic from Trish Thanks Trish

This must be a record for the number of pics I've posted for any one entry.

Common Sense?

I had meant to blog about this yesterday but forgot about it until now. I caught up with one of my clients on Tuesday and during the visit I noticed that there was a new person in the admin team that my colleague had placed earlier. The previous candidate was a 19 yr old who had worked for the company before. He had a good track record his referees spoke highly of him; apparently he turned into an absolute diaster!

The role was suppose to be an ongoing contract, in the 2 weeks that he was there he managed to not show up to work twice with no call or explanation. When he was spoken to about this issue, he was fine for the next few days until one day he rocked up to work stoned. The final straw came when Friday was a mufti day and he showed up with jeans and no shirt on.

Go figure…

The Boscos

Indeed Bosco is quite a unique name, but alas there is another! Meet Jacky’s cousin Bosco Lau.

And this is his brother Christopher who stole my heart years ago *so cute*.

Miss you guys! hope that we get to visit soon.

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

On a totally different note *winks* at Betty.

Things Guys should never say to Girls

I had put off writing this post in case the person involved came and read it. Seeing that it hasn’t ceased to amuse me, I thought I’d share.

A couple of weeks ago I went for drinks with a bunch of old friends when one of these friends who I will now say is a really really nice guy (RRNG), tried to play me a compliment it went something like this:

RRNG: “Emily! Your back to normal!”
Me: “Oh what do you mean?”
RRNG: “When I saw you a few months ago outside the cinema you were HUGE! But you’re back to your normal weight now!”

Now at this point I thought I heard wrong but he even used hand actions to signal
<--------this big--------->. I wasn’t offended, more amused and a little shocked that I would be referred to as huge??

Me: “Errrr I’ve kinda been the same weight this whole time, may be it was what I was wearing?”

I may have heard the next line wrong, but I’d be 95% sure that he said:

RRNG: “Your legs were really stumpy” *chuckles* and uses his hands to make the ‘stumpy’ hand action.

I didn't know quite what to say so I just laughed?

------------------------------------------------------------------------
When I was at work today I showed Alex the pic below to which he replied: “You look really Big in that pic”, so when i gave him the O_o look he tried to argue that calling someone big is not the same as calling someone fat. Whilst I admit to having fat cheeks in photos ‘Big’ would probably not be a word you’d use to describe me. Alex I think you should shout me dinner, so you can make sure that I am not over eating how does Thursday sound??

My Weekend

Friday (Day) - Team Building + End of quarter 2 celebration lunch in our new city offices on Clarence St followed by drinks at Bar 333. Worked provided a lot of alcohol and I ended up drinking from lunch through to dinner. Despite what anyone says I still insist that I was not drunk at any stage!

Friday (Night) – Jazushi with Betty, Lisa, Kat and Sarah. Enjoyed it as much as I did last week.

Saturday (Day) – finished watching the season 1 of House.
Saturday (Night) – Christina’s 23rd at Orbit Bar, really nice place and the view is amazing. (The rest of my pics will be up on my webshots)

Sunday -Work at Baku 1-5:15pm

Next Friday Matt's 25th, Saturday Matty & Rick's Joint Birthday - anyone have any idea's on where I can get a cheerleader costume?

Trying to Understand

This must be the year of break ups. In the last 4 months alone I’ve seen 5 of my close friends break up with /or be dumped by their long term partners. All these couples have been together for at least 3 years and some even up to 6. Because Jacky and I have been together for so long I sometimes assume that other people are just like us; if they argue they will work it out and that all will be fine, especially when all this time has been invested.

This year has been a big wake up call in that things don’t always work out the way we expect and sometimes it’s actually for the best. It’s probably the dreamer in me that expects happy endings all the time – and you what? In some cases maybe the break up is the happy ending for the couple involved.

I also always assumed that being the dumper was better than being dumped, that way there would be less pain involved. Not true my friend assures me, the guilt and the pain that you feel of deeply hurting someone you love is a very hard thing to have to live with. For her, 5-6 months down the track things are not any easier.

I’ve never had an ex. I don’t know what it feels like to have one or how you would feel seeing them after x amount of time. Do you really reach a stage where you see them with someone else and it doesn’t bother you? Not even just a little? and what if the shoe is on the other foot where you are the new girlfriend/boyfriend and your new partner is the one with the long history with their ex? does that bug you?

I know this is a touchy issue, but if you are kind enough to share please comment.

Jazushi

I looked around the table and here we were once again, 5 girls who during high school hung out in totally different groups and probably said no more than 10 words to each other. Somehow Uni and our love of travelling saw us all come together and now 6 years out of high school we wouldn’t know what we’d do without each others company. Our lives are definitely heading in new directions (which I will elaborate on when I get the chance) but I can say that we are all very excited about the future.

Tonight I caught up with Rodna, Caroline, Jill and Andrea for dinner at Jazushi in Surry Hills. The atmosphere is fantastic, the service is without fault, the food was exceptional and the desserts absolutely delightful!

Between 5 girls we shared a bottle of wine, 10 dishes, rice for 5 people and 4 desserts. We all ate so much that we thought we’d burst, we expected the bill to be expensive and prepared for the worst but was pleasantly surprised. It only worked out to be $40 per person, for the quantity and quality of food tonight was indeed a bargain.

It’d be a great place for a girl’s night out (as the guys may find the servings a bit too small for their liking). If you get the chance check it out!

Mid Life Crisis?

My Manager thinks he is Batman. Literally.

Korean BBQ

Jacky never celebrates his birthday's because it falls right in the middle of Uni exams, so I thought what the heck I'm going to throw him a suprise one! Even though it was 2 weeks late we had a great night!

Thank you to everyone that came and for helping me pull it off (It almost didn't happen because Jacky thought he was going to dinner with the girls and he didn't want to go... but don't get me started).

Special props to Piny & James for their very creative Tuvok card and Glen and Joe for making such a cute couple (awww).

I'll send you guys the link to the larger size pics via email.

Yay!!

As the interview drew closer I became more anxious and more nervous. Of all the places that he applied he wanted this one the most. It had been such a long time since I felt this way but for his sake I had to remain composed; I even acted as though I didn't really care – but I did.

As expected I prepared him as much a girlfriend in recruitment could, the rest would be up to him. I lent him my compendium, made sure that his tie matched his shirt and sent him on his way – he looked so smart in his suit.

When the interview finished I couldn’t help but quiz him like I do my candidates, how did the interview go?? Who did you meet? What type of questions did they ask you?? How did you answer the question?? What did you think of the organisation?? Did they ask you how they would proceed moving forward???? It would seem that things went very well, I was happy with the way he answered the questions – I felt oh-so-proud.

So that was yesterday, today at 5:35pm he received the offer to work as a Graduate Engineer with Ove ARUP an International Engineering Consulting firm. These are the guys who worked on projects like the Sydney Opera House, the Hong Kong MTR, Hong Kong Airport, The Beijing Olympic Aquatic Center, The London Eye and so fourth.

After all the hard yards, and years of wondering whether he made the right career choice he’s finally got his foot in the door – The future looks very bright.

Congratulations Baby!

Vote!

To Settle a debate between Christian and myself I've decided to put up this post.

Who is Hotter? Jessica Alba or Natalie Portman?

Vote!

Same life time, different lives..

I haven’t worked a whole shift at our Myer store in close to 2 years, towards the end of my shift I saw something that made my heart skip a little beat.

When I was in year 9 (around 15 at the time) I became really good friends with a Lebanese girl; she was really beautiful and had the most amazing blue eyes against long black curly hair, she reminded me of an Arabian princess. By the time she was 16 she would be sent to America and married to someone she barely knew.

16 is such a young age, I didn't know much about her Fiancé except thinking that he looked hairy and old in the photos (she would meet him for the first time at her engagement dinner). I remember her pretending to be excited but you could always sense her fear. Right before she left for America she confided in me that she didn't want to go through with the marriage, but there would be no backing out.

After she left I never heard from her again, her sister did mention to us once that after they were married she refused to sleep with him which was making her husband angry. Her sister who was only 13 or 14 at the time swore that she would never be pressured into an arranged marriage and that she would run away before she ever let it happen.

I saw her today shopping with her mother; she must be 20 or 21 at the most? On her left hand was a thick gold wedding ring; she was pregnant ready to give birth any day now. Maybe she chose this path and I am in no position to judge, but I remember so clearly the strong minded 14 year old girl who was so angry that her sister got sent away and so determined that she would lead a different life.

My heart sank a little; I’ve never ever stopped wondering how my friend was doing. Considering that she has another 3 younger sisters, I wonder what the future holds for them.

Happy 23rd Belinda

Had a great night tonight the food was excellent and we had a lot of fun preparing it. Thanks for a great night Belly! (The rest of the pics will be up on the other page soon, you know where to find them).

Table (did you like my pink theme?)

Asparagus, smoked Salmon and haloumi with an olive oil/caper dressing with a lemon wedge.

Lime Sorbet for in between

Barramundi Fillet on top of a warm spinach and oven roasted tomato salad

Fondue with fruit

Souffle (Minus the Cream)

The Chefs

Cook Up!

The Girls are getting together for a cook up for Belinda's Birthday tomorrow; very excited. Putting our culinary skills to good use, here is our proposed menu:

Entree: Asparagus, smoked Salmon and haloumi with an olive oil/caper dressing with a lemon wedge.

Main: Barramundi Fillet on top of a warm spinach and oven roasted tomato salad (with bits of bacon and pinenuts in it)

Dessert: Chocolate Soufflé with King Island Cream
Fondue with fruit

Believe what you will...

So I’ve been pimping my psychic recently, I went for the very first time last Wednesday and must admit that it was an extremely interesting experience. The last few months have been a very confusing time in my life where I have questioned career choices and pondered on what I am actually doing to get where I want to be. After many weeks of pondering I finally reached some important decisions, it was as if a big weight had been lifted and I felt I was ready to hear what someone else had to say.

I didn't go into this expecting answers or believing things word for word, but it’s always been on my ‘things to do list’. So off I went to a psychic highly recommended by the people at work. She carried out the reading using Tarot cards. I shuffled the cards and then divided them into 3 piles, from there the reading began:

What she said (keep in mind that as she is talking I don’t give much away and remain silent most of the time)

Choices – sees that I have been struggling with a lot of them right now and that they haven’t been easy. Sees new things in the pipelines for me (most probably for later in the year) and that I will feel positive and a sense of pride with this new path that I may take..

The next set of card had something to do with kids. She said that she hopes that I want children – my cards tells me that it will be a big part of my life. Specifically sees a little girl in my life. (I wonder if she was picking up the vibe from the wrong person, because Jacky’s sister is about her have her baby in 2 months time?)

Says that I am rather stubborn – but how this relates to everything else is that it has resulted in a positive for me because “where others have given up and left” I’ve stayed on and have “been determined to succeed”. This probably did hit home a bit, when I started with the company I became really good friends with 2 people in particular, one left last year and the other left a few weeks ago – it was pretty hard for me to see them go. Everyone wondered why I stayed and would try convincing me to go with them, but I wasn’t ready to let go of all my hard work and have been determined to do really well in my patch. So where others have left, I’ve stayed – I was so surprised to hear the psychic repeat these exact words to me.

The next set of cards was that of 2 males. These 2 cards represented the 2 males in my life who has the biggest impact on me, one is older so she assumes it my father and anther younger who she identified as my partner. She asked for the star sign of this younger male and I told her Gemini.

With this younger male in my life she sees that he feels a lot of pressure. That he feels trapped in a corner (This statement worried me, she would elaborate on this matter later).

She then moved on to ask if I worked for a family business? I said that I worked 2 jobs and one of them was a family business. She sees that down the track this job will play a bigger role in my life and to not let it go - My Baku Boss has been trying to get me to work full time for them for years, he has made big promises and said that he would even send me overseas to buy stock. For me it sounds good, but I have never taken it too seriously…who knows.

The next 3 cards represented me, my partner and another female. This second female would cause trouble in our relationship. I asked her if it was a younger or older female. She felt that it was an older person and the ‘trouble’ that she causes is more verbal i.e. she tends to say things that hurt my feelings. As a result there will be a lot of obstacles that I would have to work through, she advised me that I must do what’s best for me and to put myself first The psychic also sensed that I think too much, she advised me to let things happen and take it as it comes.

She feels that my relationship with my partner is moving to another level but something is stopping it. *Long pause* she believes that this has to do with Money and security – she could not be more spot on!

She further went on to say that possibly this pressure that my partner feels comes from his fear that he can’t offer me the security or look after me the way that he wants to – Jacky works full time, is completing his Capstone at Uni and studies at Tafe during the night to get his electricians license to complement his engineering degree. On weekends he helps at the family restaurant. His internship ends early next year and he has begun applying for engineering positions – it’s an uncertain time for him.

The next set of cards revealed a lot of celebration, ‘an abundance of love and joy’ followed by more celebration – I had my reading done right before Jon’s birthday celebrations and our 7 year anniversary + Jacky’s birthday. It was a great weekend and there was a lot of celebration!
I don’t know whether it was in my cards or she just sensed it, but she turned to me and said “Travel! It’s a big part of your life”. I asked if she meant a holiday was coming up? But she felt that it was deeper than that and possibly to do with my work, could even be a matter of me moving to work overseas. More specifically a Lady is going to make this possible for me down the track – if you have followed my blogs or know me in person you would know that I frequently talk about moving to Canada to live, we’re very serious about this and it’s still in the pipelines.

The psychic then told me that my money, career is all on track, new opportunities will come, sees September & October to be a important time for me in terms of career either in the form of a new job or promotion. She said that I have really “built the foundations and the rewards will come” – this was freaky because my manager says this phrase to me every Monday at catch up.

Learning; sees learning in my future not sure how that fit in with things or if I had the intention – funny that, 3 days prior to my reading I decided to email HR to enquire about study assistance if I chose to do my Masters. It came quite randomly and I only thought about this issue very recently.

The money situation is only temporary and things are going to work out fine, something will happen down the track that will lift a lot of the pressure – you must read this and wonder why money keeps coming up, Jacky and I have been trying to put together a house deposit and hope to buy property some time next year.

I have left out a few things but towards the end of the reading she asked if I had any questions. I wanted to ask about the health of my parents. It was quite freaky how accurate she was, she knew that my grandfather (dad’s side) had passed away when dad was young, she told me when he was in his 60s? I said that I didn't know (I later found out that my grandfather had a heart attack when he was in his 60s many years before I was even born). She wanted to let me know that she sees my dad living till his 80s; she asked me why the image of my father at an old age kept coming to her and the relevance. I said that my dad is nearing the age that my grandfather passed away and it was something I would worry about at the back of my mind.

She knew that I had a sister, a younger sister although she couldn’t sense anything about her – Sophia is very closed to the idea of a psychic and it didn't come as a surprise. The psychic then asked if I had two sisters, I said no just the one. At this point she became a bit flustered and was quite adamant that I had two. I replied that I had just the one, what I have never told anyone was that after Sophia was born, mum lost a baby – there should have been 3 of us.

More Celebrations!

It’s almost 11pm and usually I would be in bed fast asleep, but I just came home from our 7 year anniversary celebration dinner with a few of my close girlfriends - I am on such a high! It was a fantastic night! We had dinner at Thai Pothong in Newtown and I highly recommend it; the atmosphere is great, the staff are excellent and the food is really good!

A Big Thank you from Jacky and I to everyone that came and a massive thanks to Betty, Katina, Lisa, Sarah and Belinda for the amazing cake! You truly out did yourselves, I didn't expect it at all! (Loved the card Betty! Very clever indeed)

The girls bought us this cake with a picture of us, how they got the photo I am not too sure...when the waitress brought it out they started singing Happy anniversary to the tune of Happy Birthday - It was quite a funny moment. The whole thing was so over the top, a bit embrassing but oh-so-fun.

(Click Photos to enlarge)

Our anniversary is actually tomorrow, but hey any excuse to celebrate!