Waiter, there's sand in my jelly!

Summer is slowly fading away and we are getting shorter and colder days. Living in Melbourne, the weather can change at a moment's notice. I remember one particularly hot evening around the Christmas period, when Chris and I were feeling listless. I suddenly had the urge to sit at the beach and eat jelly and watch the tide roll in.

Chris is already used to my mad whims, so after a bit of persuading, we headed off to Mordialloc, about 45 minutes away from where we live. It was pretty windy, and I remember feeling like I was walking against a wall of pressure as we headed into the supermarket to get some jelly cups. You'd think that would have given me a hint that it was NOT a good night to sit at the beach. But noo.. we soldiered on and finally made it to the beach.

The wind was twice as strong there, and sand was being whipped up like we were in the middle of a desert sandstorm. At least I was getting my legs exfoliated! I needed two hands to hold on to my jelly cup, and of course, I inevitably ended up with sand in my jelly... and my eyes... and my clothes... and my shoes... I finally had to admit that this was not one of my better ideas. We braved it out for about 10 minutes, then decided to head home. The next time I get an idea like that, it might be a good idea to check the weather report BEFORE heading out!

We have been making progress with wedding stuff. My wedding ring was finally ready on Thursday night, so we rushed there after work to pick it up. The diamonds weren't spaced the way I had imagined, but the look is growing on me. I like how it looks unique, and there is room to add a diamond on either side further down the track.. maybe to mark a milestone in our marriage (like first baby, buying a house, etc.) It was weird having two rings on my finger, but I'm sure I'll get used to the extra weight. Besides, I actually prefer it without my engagement ring. I think it looks plain, but with a hint of sparkle.

I can flip it around so it looks like a classic plain band and doesn't look too blingy!

It was Chris's birthday this Saturday, and I had organised a party at Hogs Breath followed by a round of glow in the dark minigolf. It was a lot of fun, and I think Chris had a good time. He is now 29... hehe... old man! I'm still a spring chicken at 27!

Ok, more random pictures... this is the best spaghetti marinara I've ever had. It wasn't even at a proper restaurant. For any spaghetti marinara fans, I recommend Matthew Flinders. It was only $16 and you get mussels, scallops, fish, prawns and the best part - a stuffed crab!!! When it first arrived, I thought it was just a crab shell for decoration, but it was actually stuffed with crab meat. The marinara sauce is delicious - tomato-ey but also with lots of the best quality olive oil that has an almost grassy flavour to it. Chris wasn't too impressed with his steak, but I would go back again for this spaghetti.

I bought my wedding shoes over the weekend. It was hard to justify paying a lot for a pair of white shoes that would never match anything else I own, but then again, you only get married once. I love my shoes. They were $65, and have tiny Swarovski crystals on the top. I love the way they have been embroidered at the top to resemble lace.

Just because I'm happy!

It's been a while since I've updated my blog, so this will be a long entry. It has also been a really good weekend, and I'm in an insanely good mood. We are finally making progress with wedding plans after a long lull in December, when we were both too broke and depressed about being broke to handle any more wedding details.

Last weekend, I flew to Sydney for a lovely girly weekend with my two bridesmaids. Swift and decisive, they managed to find a dress they both liked in ONE day! I think they should both be awarded black belts in shopping. It was nice to be back in Sydney again, and it was a big load off my mind that they both found their bridesmaids' dresses.

The pond had a cute little stone bridge and lots of koi swimming around

My sis and I stayed at Stamford Grand at North Ryde. It was such a beautiful hotel, well landscaped and the rooms were huge, with separate lounge area and two televisions in each. It had a really 'resort-y' feel to it, sort of like a retreat away from the bustle of the city.

On the Fri night that I was there, something magical happened. Mel and I were at our friend Annette's home, having dinner on her lovely back porch, when Annie's neighbour called us over to see something special. We peered over the fence and saw the most amazing big white flowers blooming from a comparatively small plant. He said they were called 'King Flowers' and they only open for one night, every three years. They would blossom magnificently till midnight, and then close again. He cut three of these rare beauties and gave them to us as a souvenir of our special night.

A picture of the magnificent King Flower.

Last weekend flew by in a blur, but this week we've been just as busy. On Monday night, our usher and groomsman came over to help us assemble the invitations. It was a lot of fiddly work, but we had a good time with wine, cookies and music in the background. On hindsight, we were lucky no one spilled anything on the invites!

Tuesday night, we met with our future photographer and all I can say is he is a perfect fit for us. He's funny, unobtrusive, easy to get a long with, doesn't have a huge ego, and knocked $350 off the price because I told him we would have trouble paying the quoted amount. Oh, and he also has a cat! Definitely the photographer for us. Some of the photos in his portfolio made me laugh; others made me teary. That's the way I want to remember our wedding day.

On Friday night, we put down the deposit for our honeymoon and signed up for the registry. I am SO excited about our honeymoon in Tassie... our travel agent put together a great itinerary, with luxury rooms in all the properties for ten nights, and an overnight ghost tour on the last night. May is so far away!!!

I also found my perfect wedding ring on Friday night at Temelli Jewellery. The first time Chris and I went there a few months ago, the sales assistant pulled out some plain bands and diamond bands for me to try on. There was a plain band that I fell in love with. It was perfect - just as domed as my engagement ring, in fact, it looked like it had been custom made to match. But the saleswoman kept pointing me in the direction of the thousand dollar diamond bands, and I got confused by all the sparkles being thrown in my face!

I decided a few weeks ago that I wanted a plain band because I want my wedding ring to last forever, and a band of diamonds would be more fragile than a plain one. So, I told Chris that I wanted to try on the plain band at Temelli again, all the while expecting it to cost up to $500 for such a substantial-looking ring. We were served by a MUCH nicer sales assistant this time, who was funny and honest, telling me she thought the plain band DID look much better with my ering, rather than pushing me in the direction of the more gaudy looking rings that would cost much more.

Chris had budgeted $700 for my wedding band, but we were told that my band would only cost $250 because my finger is a size E and a half, and they would need a lot less gold to make it. Every where else we had been to, they had insisted on charging me more because the ring would have to be 'custom made' for such a small size. Bonus!! Chris asked them to make up the difference by burnishing small diamonds into the band, so that it would be sparkly, but the diamonds would be flat on the band and would never fall out. I love that my ring will be unique and made specially for me :) I know it sounds silly to stress over such a small thing, but I think the wedding ring is even more important than the engagement ring, and it holds much more sentiment for me, so I want it to be perfect!

With most of the wedding stuff out of the way, I went along with Chris to Highpoint shopping centre today, because I'd never been there. They had a Build A Bear shop there! It's such a great idea, especially for kids. You choose a flat bear/cat/dog, and take it over to the bear-stuffing machine. The bear then gets stuffed to your requirements (hard, soft, medium, etc) and you are asked to cuddle the bear after it's stuffed to see if it's just right. Then (and this is my favourite part) you pick a little stuffed heart out of a bowl, warm it up between your hands, make a wish, blow a kiss into the heart, and then put it in the bear! It's then stitched up, and you can choose an outfit for your bear. There are a few 'dressing rooms' for you to try outfits on your bear to see which suits best, but all the outfits are made to fit all bears

Chris bought me a Hello Kitty :) It was a lot of fun making her, and you even get a birth certificate. I chose a little Japanese outfit for her, but plan to go back to buy a few more. It was so cute, the outfit comes with matching accessories: a Japanese fan, satin shoes, and two flower 'hair' accessories. When I was entering info for the birth certificate, the little girl sitting next to me picked up one of the flower accessories and showed it to her friend. I almost yelled, "Hey, that's mine!!" then realised I was a 27 year-old woman acting like a 4 year-old. Very embarassing.

Anyway, it's been a great weekend, and I feel thoroughly spoiled :)