New Year!

I had so many plans for my holidays... the office is closed until 8th of January, so I'm finally having a proper break. Unfortunately, all I seem to do is sit around all day, eat, surf the net and watch bad dvds! Chris had to go back to work on the 2nd of January, so he hasn't been much help in the entertainment department.

I wanted to make some progress with wedding planning, but we are broke after Christmas, so we have to wait till the end of January to order flowers and find a photographer. I hope 5 months' notice is enough :(

And to make things worse, I tried on my wedding evening gown again today, and now I have a TUMMY!!!! It fit perfectly before, but I have been over-indulging every day since Christmas Eve. It must be a wine gut! Must do some sit ups to tone up the area. Otherwise, I'm quite happy with it, just need to get the hem altered so I don't trip over it. I still think it was a steal at $200. It's Italian satin - nice and heavy, and falls very flatteringly (apart from the belly bulge!) I tried it on in black when I was shopping with Mel, and I felt 6 feet tall! They had to order it in as there was only one size 6 left in the whole of Australia. Anyway, here's a pic. I had to take the picture in the wardrobe mirror.

Other than being a couch potato, I've also been spending a lot of quality time with M & M. I'll really miss them when I go back to work... I feel like I've really bonded with Mika in this period of time. She is such a sweet cat. I was watching House and getting really distressed by one particular gory scene, and she ran up to me to see why I was making such alarming sounds.

I have also been studying for my Ls, unfortunately, the book is so boring that it puts me to sleep every time I open it. Sigh. Maybe if they put in interesting anecdotes or a plot, it would be more easy to read. I am determined to drive by the end of the year, though. Chris has promised me a car, woohoo! I want a really old mini, like Mr Bean's car.

Other than falling alseep over my driving book, I've also been reading Naiyer Masud's Snakecatcher. It's an intriguing book - a collection of short stories with no certain conclusion for each one. The language is interesting too. It has been translated from Urdu, which is a very literal language, so there are few adjectives, no metaphors or similes. The style should be abrupt, but actually reads quite musically. The fact that the stories don't seem to go anywhere disturbs me a bit. I think we've been conditioned to expect a proper ending to every tale, and when I don't get one, my mind runs amok in all sorts of sinister directions. Still, it's definitely worth a read.

Hmm.. what else. Oh, Chris and I had pre-New Year's Eve dinner at the Pavillion. We figured New Year's Eve would be busy and crowded everywhere, so we decided to celebrate quietly the day before. The Pavillion is a nice restaurant in Doncaster with good food and a nice ambience. Very spacious. And they have the best mussels ever! You can get them done 3 different ways - Tom Yum, Bacon, Spinach and Cream, and Tomato and Chorizo. I ordered Tom Yum. The mussels came in a HUGE pot, with a generous serve of mussels and lovely, tasty Tom Yum broth, with a nice addition of fresh mushrooms. I was in seafood heaven. My entree was scallop wrapped in proscuitto. The scallop was a touch over done, and the proscuitto looked more like bacon. It was quite tasty, all the same. Chris ordered Roast Pork with bacon and cabbage. It was a pork cutlet served on top of sauteed cabbage and bacon. It was really tasty.

On New Year's Eve itself, we had a quiet one at home with friends, Chinese takeout, a few bottles of wine and some champagne. Before we knew it, it was 2007...

What will this year bring?