First Communion & St Katherines

Recently we celebrated my nieces First Communion.

A few weeks back, my mum dug out my communion dress, mass book and certificate.
I don't remember it, but I do remember my Confirmation and how long it took my mum to curl my already curly hair into something prettier.

I had a busy weekend, started with my new preggiebellies class, then on to my brothers grand final in Frankston followed by a trip to Geelong for my Mother In Laws birthday dinner.

We drove back to Melbourne at 8am and had to stop off at home because I keep breaking the heels of my shoes and could hardly go to church with a broken shoe.
I must be getting too heavy for stilettos, who would have thought?

The communion was adorable, all of the kids did such a good job and we were very proud of my niece! I didn’t want to get her a present that was overly childish nor religious so I got her some teeny tiny diamond solitaire studs – small enough to be child appropriate.

As she grows older I will upgrade them for her. 

I wore a Leona by Leona Edmiston dress and some old granny heels. Boo.  I don't know why my hair looks so dark. I just hate it at the moment and don't have the energy to do anything but straighten it, and badly. 

We headed to St Katherine's in Kew for lunch to celebrate the communion and I made the mistake on ordering the 4 course selection, which was more like 20 courses. 

I did not take photos of all the food, but I will try and name what I do have!

Ruby Rose Mocktail

fresh berries, rose syrup and cranberry juice

I love mocktails and hate cocktails so I suppose I just hate the taste of alcohol. 

Grilled Haloumi

served with apricots, pine nuts, raisins and mint 

I am not big on Haloumi, ever. It always just tastes like rubber to me. Anyone else agree with this?

Taramosalata

white cod roe dip  

We had 4 bowls of this on our table towards the end of our meal, which was odd. 

Grilled Flat Bread

brushed with olive oil and Za'atar

Hummus

smoked almond dressing

Mahammura

roasted sweet pepper dip, walnuts, pomegranate molasses 

Even if the rest of the meal was crap, which it was not, I would come back here purely for the dip and flat bread combination. Now my stomach is rumbling at the thought. 

Chicken Snack Burger

On normal bread to avoid the egg which was brushed on the original bun as A-R is allergic to eggs.

This was perhaps too 'gourmet' for a child, as A-R did not like the chicken nor the hummus style dressing that was in there.

I think we were expecting a standard chicken burger. 

No idea what this is.. I didn't like it though. If we had bread to dip into it, maybe my feelings would be different. Maybe.

Turkish Lamb Dumplings

garlic yoghurt, sumac and dried mint

Just putting it out there, there was nothing in these dumplings. Sure they were mini, but they were seriously just the casing. The mint was ridiculous also, it was as if the lid had fallen off the jar and they didn't scrap it off.

Unless I am mistaken about what these are, but I don't think that I am.

Chicken and Lamb platter, Sword Fish in the background and all of this which was served with a Rice Pilaf and more Turkish bread lead to us feeling beyond full and on the verge of feeling sick.

It seemed like a massive waste of food as 80% of this meat was untouched which was unfortunate as it really was lovely and tender. 

Chicken wings with chilli 

I don't know about you, but I just don't feel that chicken wings are worth my time. I don't like to pick through bones to get to my meat. To much effort for little return if you ask me. 

I usually cannot handle chilli, maybe my taste buds have been dulled but I liked the marinade and despite The Husband and Barbara finding it quite hot, I did not at all.

This was some form of brownie with chocolate sauce, drunken cherries and ice cream.

Rich, but good. 

It was unfortunate that it had egg in it, but the kitchen made A-R her own little crumble style dessert. 

Just writing this post makes me feel stuffed. Remember, this isn't even all of the food we ate and it was shared between three of us whilst A-R ate her chips.

These doughnuts had chocolate in the centre and are sitting on top of a salty peanut butter sauce, which salty caramel on the bottom of the glass. Amazing!!

 

The service was impeccable and everything was done with a smile, despite our constant queries.

As A-R is allergic to certain nuts and eggs, we had to keep asking about the ingredients and the staff were kind enough to bring her out her own special servings which were different to ours. 

We were also about 40 minutes late (we rang of course) and our booking went from 8 people to 4 but they did not seem to mind. 

For any male readers (I am actually not sure I have any besides my brother every now and then) that are interested, The Husband is wearing Hugo Boss suit, shoes and shirt and a Calvin Klein Tie. 

When we got home, we had just over an hour to kill before heading out to the Sandringham Hotel for Geefa's 60th Birthday Dinner.  

The Husband and I both got in bed, and as I was showing him something on my phone he drifted off to a deep sleep almost instantly.

He was still draped over me with one leg on mine and his arms around me when I started to hear snoring.  I knew he must have been exhausted so I tried to remain as still as possible but about 40 minutes later my sciatic nerve thing in my leg sent a shock through my system, resulting in my whole body shaking from a massive spasm which of course woke him up with a jolt - he though there had been an earth quake haha.

We finally dragged ourselves out to Sandringham for dinner but neither of us could eat a thing.  

Duckies. Sun. Redness. Gay Time (keep it clean please).

How beautiful has the weather in Melbourne been? These are some pics I took over the last few days, lapping up the sunshine and keeping my fingers cross that it will be sunny and clear in 18 days. Knowing my luck it will snow! Oh well. The one thing that you cannot even try and control!

Treasury Gardens Duck Pond

These little ducklings are amazing, there was 8 of them and they were approaching the humans (with the Mama Duck watching closely) and letting them feed them.

The fact that I could wear thongs was great. The book I was reading was crap.

My chest actually got sun burnt, and has left a crappy straight across tan line. Not good timing!!

I love the Fitzroy Gardens. It is so peaceful there.

Duckies.

These are the Rosemary Sprigs that my future Mother in Law is making for the wedding.

S and I had a lovely little outing to a park in Geelong, and I took some bread with me in the hope of feeding the ducks, but every time I went near them they swam for their lives. I just wanted to feed them! Later on, S was successful in coaxing them to the waters edge and feeding them, damn him.

I lost him to the Crackberry. What's new?

We also drove out to Bacchus Marsh to meet with our florist, who had a studio in Prahran when I first met with her but then advised she was closing the Prahran studio.

Upon arrival at the florist, I was advised that the lady who I had met with, and loved, sold the business and that she had nothing to do with them any more. I don't think the new florist really gets me, but I am not going to worry about it. I showed her as many photos as I could.

How terrible can flowers be?.. Don't even tell me your horror stories, please!!

I love it when I see S come out of the servo with an ice cream for me, especially Golden Gay Time. Have I ever mentioned that approx 25% of my views coming from people searching "Gay Time" online haha. Sorry to disappoint guys.

I also spent the weekend with my natural hair for the first time in ages. The longer and unhealthier that it gets, the bigger and looser the curls get. This is a good thing.

Other wise I look like Shirley Temple on Crack.



Unfortunately, my hair is in the worst shape of its life, so I am going to have it cut this weekend. Just a trim, nothing drastic. I'm not taking any risks before the wedding.

S believes that the difference between a good and bad hair cut is 2 weeks, so he has been growing his hair out to ensure that he gets the best possible cut possible.

C.O.N.V.E.R.S.I.O.N

I converted today!

Adios Catholicism, Hellllooooo Orthodox-ism.

Greggy was on hand to take some snaps.

I was nervous as heck. I had to read The Creed and had been practicing all week. Damn I hate public speaking. Luckily it was just reading in front of 10 people.

This is before the conversion, the smile on my face masks my nerves quite well.

I really did not know what to expect. Father V had told S that he was going to take it easy on me, but thats about it.

When we got there he asked if I had my towel, ummm nope. No towel. Don't know anything about a towel.

Oh well, here is one, and it was put on my head. I didn't expect that.

The damn thing kept falling off whenever I crossed my self, walked, moved or breathed heavily.

Walking around, thrice.

Future Mother in Law and I

I'm not sure if you can see it here, but Father V is actually cutting my hair.

Nobody warned me about this part, and when he came towards me with the scissors it was nearly time to run for the hills.

Luckily he only took a few snippets!!!

When I got home from visiting Henry and Thomas I walked in and S yelled out "No! Stop. Close your eyes, I have a surprise for you!!!!"

The surprise then lead me on a scavenger hunt around our apartment for DVDS!

"Now look under the.... Flower Vase!"

"Now under the JB bag on the Ironing board"

"Now open the suitcase on the floor!!"

"OK I'm out of hiding spots! Here - The complete Nip Tuck Settttt (now I'm broke!)

Plus Entourage. Excellent. No need to ever watch normal TV again!

My Kum also surprised me with a lovely little Tiffany & Co bracelet which I did not expect.

Surely I was meant to be given this prior to converting??

Of course, S also gave me my beloved aquamarine ring for the conversion.

It was nothing at all to be scared about, I'm really happy that I did it and S looked like a proud parent.

Wearing:

Hi There by Karen Walker Dress

Calvin Klein Heels