Project 289 - Day 257 (Sunday 29 November, 2009) : Pic-a-nicking by the Light of the Neon Glow

Life can sometimes get so exquisitely wonderful that you marvel at how circumstances can change from frustrating to sublimely great with no warning or effort on your part.

A year ago I celebrated my birthday and I had a lovely time. Surrounded by close, dependable, caring friends, who affirmed by their very presence that I mattered and was important to them, I basked in a sense of belonging. Fast forward a year and that is there still, but multiplied by a factor so great that I can't even begin to quantify it.

The source of that momentous change? The beautiful, handsome, caring, sweet man in the green t-shirt below who makes every day a delight, and does "silly" (in the best, mosy joyously whimsical sense of the word) things like suggesting a picnic of fish and chips late in the day when darkness is looming. To be fair, we started out for the park before that but got waylaid, and so were only walking along King Street to the Park at 7.45 with dusk hard on our heels.

My beautiful guy was determined to finish my birthday week off with fireworks, and so, in the gathering dark of Sydney Park, kept company only by far off floodlights and the last of the dog walkers, he lit some sparklers I hadn't seen him include in the picnic we had, and we made believe that the sky was exploding with luminous splendour around us. It is just another in a long line of sweet, romantic gestures that he made this week to make sure the birthday week was special, and I felt extra-specially loved, affirmed and cared for. He makes me fall in love with him every day, and this gesture, along with many others, reaffirms to me thathe is my soul mate, the man of dreams, and the only love I truly need.

He is what has made my life exquisitely wonderful and I will be forever grateful to him, and the universe for it.

Project 289 - Day 256 : A Party Semi-Bigger Than Ben Hur

Tonight was the Big Party Night! (including it appears liberal use of capital letters and hyperbole)

I gathered 11 of my closest friends, including my gorgeous guy (he and I pictured above at Kinsela's enjoying pre-dinner drinks)....actually more factually my gorgeous guy gathered them all together, having asked if we could organise what for me is usually the night of nights birthday-wise. (Although it was hard to get past the glorius loveliness of Cafe Sydney on the night of my birthday itself.) He was extraordinarily Secret Squirrel about things too, disappearing for much of Saturday to "do something", before spiriting this 'something' into the boot of my friend Fahmi's car (prior to picking me and my housemate Aidan up from my place) and then taking it to the restaurant while Aidan and I walked ahead to Kinsela's on Taylor Square for pre-dinner drinks. Naturally I was as curious as it's possible to be (we extroverst will be like that!) but I trusted him to have done something fabulous and lovely and so I meekly complied with any and all requests to look the other way.

Pre dinner drinks were great. Everyone turned up in stages and so I had a chance to talk to pretty much everyone, open the presents in a relaxed manner (5 x JB Hi Fi vouchers....do my friends know my place of addicition or what?!.... full DVD set of "Black Books", "Run Lola Run" on DVD and a book that was brought all the way from San Francisco by my observant friend Waz who saw me pick it up, look very interested in it, before putting it back again... I did want it but decided I should be good and not buy everything I saw on the first two days of my trip!), and have a couple of my favourite drink, Smirnoff Black Ice Vodka....mmmmm....

Suitably pre-sozzled, I walked arm in arm with my lovely guy all of 1 block down to Cantina's, a fabulous tapas restaurant that caters to large groups and does it brilliantly well. The food was, as always, delicious and copious in it's quantities (love the chorizo, the mushrooms and the haloumi/red capsicum dishes especially), I caught up with some friends I did see as much as I wanted, and bless the builder of the restaurant, I sat opposite a window! So, well lubricated on sangria, with delightful conversation ringing in my ears, and my friends around me, and the tables cleaned up, I was well into the swing of the night when the lights dimmed and the most gloriously funky cupcake stand ever appeared before me, sparklers going mad all over it, cupcakes filling it's every shelf with a riot of colour.

Despite knowing there was a surprise of some kind organised, I was nonetheless gobsmacked by how amazing it looked (see below), and there are pictures showing my jaw scraping the floor clean of any dropped tapas (OK that is just a gross image but my jaw was hugging the tiles baby!!) as I took in just how colourful and fabulous it all was, and just how much trouble my beautiful loving caring guy had gone to, in time, effort and love. I was blown away.... and the best part was the cupcakes tasted divine! YUM!! I love my beautiful guy more than I can adequately express in words, but at that point I was over the moon. What a perfect gift!

Grinning from ear to ear, I left the restaurant with my friends, and after a quick conference on the footpath, we decided to ditch the plans to boogie and sashay the night away, and instead, headed for a new coffee bar, Coco Cubano, right at the opt of Oxford Street for yummy iced chocolate drinks, lattes and sparkling conversation and hot men watching. It may not have been as high octane as the dancing but it finished the night perfectly - my friends around me, my love next to me, something chocolatey in my hands, and a lovely crisp cool night. It's about as perfect as a birthday celebration gets!

The entire gang (bar Ingo who took the photo) fathered in the fabulous art deco room of Kinsela's hotel

Project 289 - Day 255 (Friday 27 November 2009): To the Vege Lounge Frank and Do Nothing!

Its a busy time of year and so having my birthday off work, a fun tradition of fine, on the day itself was never going to happen, but as luck would have it, today was the day the teddy bears have their pic.... wait, no, that's something else.... today was was, in fact, the day that 100 of the 120 of the people in my division went to an all day strategy planning session, and I, and 19 others, didn't.... sooooooo.....

I stayed at home and :

slept in.....

read the papers.....

had a delightful brunch of pea and haloumi pancakes with my friend, Justin, at my favourite cafe in Newtown, South End....

thought about going swimming but didn't (hey I thought about it and thats what's matters!).... drank a bottle of Dragon Nutrient Water to get me through the long and arduous 3 minute walk back from the convenience store.....

tidied up my bedroom, at last, to the extent that my beautiful guy, upon seeing it, wondered if I had been really bored....

farmed on Farmtown, the virtual farming game on Facebook that has me glued fast to it's addictive game-playing....

connected my USB Hub to the iMac to sensational effect, which in my non-technical-ability plague world means "It works first time!".....

ate 6-8 Lindor balls but who's keeping count....

had a chat with my friend Waz and almost convinced him to wag work for Christmas ornament shopping (alas the idiot at his company who called a meeting for Friday afternoon!)....

watched the first 4 episodes of "Sanctuary" with a Stargate alum., Amanda Tapping, and a man who looks freakishly like a twink-ified Daniel Jackson... great series....

..... and awaited the arrival of my beautiful man who arrived with a glue gun (don't ask but it had something to do with a mysterious gift I am getting Saturday night.... hopefully NOT the glue gun!).... we walked to the fish and chip shop on Mitchell Road, ordered the Super Pack of fish, chips, prawn cutlets and calamari (after eating it, only prawn cutlets were super; the rest was mortal and definitely dragging well-hardened feat of clay), ate it all back on my balcony with a soft wind blowing, The Little Wine Company verdelho wine to wash it all down (the food, not the wind!), sat close and cuddled and talked before going to sleep.....

Pretty damn near the perfect day.....

Project 289 - Day 254 (Thursday 26 November 2009) : A Bridge Too Far

The day after a big event is always a small let down but I was basking today in the romance and sheer wonderfulness of dinner last night..... my beautiful guy went to so much trouble and made me feel so special.... I couldn't stop thinking about it...

I was also very tired after a late night (1 a.m. to bed since dinner went from 8.30 till 11.30 the night before), and downed 2 Pepsi Maxs, got as much work done as I could before heading home on the bus with my lovely gal pal from work, Sammi..... the trip which normally takes 25 minutes took an hour and the shot of the Bridge symbolises just how much time we spent on the damn thing! We got to the City eventually and I made it home to a night of chilling and relaxing and looking forward to my official birthday day off from work tomorrow....

Project 289 - Day 253 : Andrew's Birthday Week Part 5 - MY BIRTHDAY! Party on Wayne, Party on Garth!

I was at work on my birthday and up early (see above)....

................. and against all the odds, in an environment of cubicles, and corporate blue carpets, and a frenetic schedule, I managed to have a great day! I know - is this a sign of the looming apocalypse you ask?! No, just fierce determination on my part, and the warmth and good wishes of my lovely work colleagues, and lovely texts, emails and countless Facebook messages from wonderful friends and family. I was taken out for lunch by good work friends, Tricia and Sammi (delicious Morroccan beef salad!), had pistachio and raspberry double scoop gelato for afternoon tea, and a fabulous morning tea with my favourite EA gal pal, Ana, and was showered with warm, good wishes.... and a yummy cupcake from my friend, Sandra :

Tricia and Sammi in the fabulously chic environs of the food court at work

It's been a good day so far and with my beautiful lovely guy taking me to the luscious Cafe Sydney tonight, it can only get better ....

The night was just heavenly. My beautiful guy arrived at my place bearing many gifts, all exquisitely wrapped in gold paper and burgundy ribbon, and full of the gifts that he had put a lot of thought into.... first up was Donner, a ceramic reindeer in hot pink and silver boots with a garland of roses around his neck and candelabras as antlers (yes enormously camp and perfect for my Christmas decorations!).... then a hard cover book on 40 years of "Sesame Street"....then a rust coloured velour bag full of Lindor Balls (including the hard to get raspberry, cookies and cream and cinnamon)... and finally a badly needed USB Hub for my iMac.....what wonderful gifts and given with so much thought and effort (Donner in particular took him a huge amount of effort to find and involved calling the national distributor to find the last one left in Sydney!).. and most importantly love....

Dinner was no less wonderful. Seated out on the terrace of Cafe Sydney with fantastic views of the Harbour and the Harbour Bridge, my beautiful guy and I enjoyed amazingly good just-in-time service, food packed full of exquisite flavours that made my taste buds sing (something by Lady Gaga but I can't be certain.... they were in tune though) including goat cheese & raised filled baby zucchini flowers (my entree) and boneless spatchcocks (my beautiful guy's main) and the food featured in the photos below.... and a cool, crisp night lit only by candles that made for a romantic night of gazing at each other, talking lots, and whispering sweet nothings on what is arguably the most beautiful, romance-filled birthday of my life....

What a brilliant wonderful fabulous day!!

My delicious main meal of beef tenderloins, below, and a dimly lit me, above

My beautiful guy above and his entree, Moreton bay Bugs, below

Project 289 - Day 252 (Tuesday 24 November 2009) : Andrew's Birthday Week Part 4 - Birthday Eve Hurricanes!

My dear special friend, Sammi (from work) and I are very close - sharing everything on our daily morning walks to get breakfast at work - and it was only fitting that she and I went out for dinner to celebrate my birthday since it's a time for me to connect with the special people in my life.

We chose a very funky steak and ribs place at Darling Harbour called "Hurricanes" to do the connecting and over some very fun cocktails (photo below), a full rack of pork ribs bigger than China's GDP (HUGE I tell ya, HUUUUUUGE!) - my main - and a steak bigger than Texas (Sammi's choice), and no dessert - the danger of a "Meaning of Life" gut explosion all too real! - we caught up, celebrated my birthday and enjoyed a lovely walk back to the City in the cool evening air.

Thanks Sammi for making the evening so special....and red!

Project 289 - Day 251 : Andrew's Birthday Week Part 3 - Cool Dude!

Thankfully I didn't roast in the 41 degree heat Sydney endured while I was up north - bizarrely up at my parents near Byron Bay it was at least 10 degrees cooler or in the air con, 20 degrees cooler which I adored! - so I didn't have any 'melting war stories, but I was intensely glad that the promised cool change actually arrived and today's temperature was half of yesterday's.

I am not entirely sure why I dragged the smurfs out but it made the shot a lot more fun than otherwise!

The smurfs however did not come with my beautiful guy and I to the Stir Crazy Thai, our favourite restaurant in the world at Erskineville where we had our first real date, and where, tonight, we reconnected after a few fractured weeks (overseas trip and impossible work loads will do that to you) over delicious Thai food, good wine (Seven Degrees Sauv Blanc from NZ) and sparkling conversation..... we walked back cuddling up to each other and kissing with a sense that, while we hadn't been apart in each other's hearts. it was lovely to feel that closeness playing out back in the real world once again.....

More shots in the dark.... what fun!

Project 289 - Day 250 (Sunday 22 November 2009) : Andrew's Birthday Week Part 2 - Wii, Wii, Wii All the Way Home

Project 289 - Day 249 (Saturday 21 November 2009) : Andrew's Birthday Week Part 1 - Zara, Chicken Kiev Sausages and Alice

Zara with her doting Uncle Andrew (above)

Zara chewing and standing all at once with her Mum helping her stay upright! (below)
Zara getting ready to not so much watch "Barnyard" as chew the cover! (Below)

I love living in Sydney but the one thing I do miss is the chance to see my Mum and Dad and my wonderful siblings as much as I would like to. So, knowing this, and wanting to see me more too, my parents birthday present to me this year was a plane ticket to the Gold Coast from where my sister Rachel picked me up and took me home to Alstonville.

Today wasn't what you'd called action-packed and that's what made it so perfect. I spent the day shopping in Ballina (Big W, Good Guys and a seafood place) in the morning with my Dad and sister Helen (Zara's mum), holding Zara (who is adorable!!), getting ready for my birthday lunch (well trying to - my Mum refused point blank to allow me in the kitchen to help because it was my birthday), welcoming my dear friend Kerry (who drove 2.5 hours down from BrizVegas for the birthday dinner!), playing Wii Ten Pin Bowling (at which I am MUCH better than bowling in person!!), eating a delicious dinner of steak, chops, gourmet sausages (Chicken Kiev ones no less!), curry potato bake and salad, and talking with Kerry till late when she drove home.....

I needed a quiet chilled day where the only constant was the presence of my loving caring family, my adorable cute-as-a-button niece who is now gurgling, 'talking' and smiling and laughing, and my good friend Kerry..... and I got it.

I am a very lucky guy.

Above top : Kerry and I with me holding the present (some very funky ties!)

Above : Kerry and I play a game of Wii Bowling and she thrashes me!

Below: The family (well a part there of and a ring in!) - my brother in law, Michael, my Nanna, my Dad, Kerry and me

Project 289 - Day 248 : You Shall Floss or You Shall Die!

Project 289 - Day 247 : Thinking....and Talking

My sister sent me a thought today via email and I loved it:

Fact of Life: After Monday and Tuesday even the calendar says W T F.

I had the loveliest of nights catching up with one of my good friends, Justin. We had a yummy Japanese dinner - not a Japanese for dinner which would have been wrong and um, cannibalism - at Sukura on Pitt Street which is a poky hole in the wall establishment with fabulous food, and delightful service. It got a little, actually a LOT, hot in the small, confined space (didn't help that I was feeling all that great) so we finished dinner and took to the streets, going for a wander through my favourite bookstore, Kinokuniya (where I bought yet more Christmas stuff!! Help me!!) before we wandered through Queen Victoria Building checking out the jewelery stores (Justin loves his diamonds!) and eating some gourmet handmade chocolates. I was tired yes, and not feeling the best, but it was a delightful night with a close friend, and somehow how I felt physically didn't matter.

(The photos are of the Christmas decorations at the QVB. So beautiful!)

Project 289 - Day 246 : A Dreamy State of Mind

I didn't go walking today.

No surprises there. I often fail to go walking if I feel tired, can't be bothered etc. But what I did with the time between 4.45 and 6 was dream. A weird dream (are there any other kind really?!) where my beautiful guy and I were at a multi-level cinema where people were queueing to go to all sorts of movies. Nothing weird there I hear you say. Well it would have been if they were queueing to see 2012, a disaster of a disaster movie, which my friend Sturt quipped had the plot development of a Teletubbies episode, and coming out the cinema loving it, but they weren't. Even in my dreams movie goers have good taste!

The weird part was that I suddenly wanted snacks - OK again not so weird since I spend most movies hooke dup via IV drip to liquid lollies - and so we went on the curving sloped travelator (like a flat escalator) from one floor to the next to join a queue for people wanting to buy ice cream. Not lollies, ice cream! The queue snaked on forever and I was all of a sudden dragging a large moving box full of stuff, and god knows what else through the line....oh and a thickshake which spilt all over me when the woman behind me bumped me. I got upset initially at her but later apologised and kept queueing. Then the dream ended, and I didn't get to the icecream!! Ripped off in my own dream!! (Must fire my imagination's management!!)

What does this all mean? That I like movies, lollies, ice cream and hauling moving boxes through cinemas.... wait scratch the last part.... my dream managed to combine things I love with something I loathe.... truly, utterly weird.... see I told you!

Project 289 - Day 245 : My iPod is a Weird, Demented Beast

I must start by saying I love my iPod. Probably in entirely unhealthy ways but I love it.

That said, it has decided in its sentient wisdom that the same 25 songs will always appear in the Top 25 Most Played no matter how many times I play other songs. For instance, "Womanizer" by Britney (Bitch!) Spears, which left high rotation months and months and months ago, is still there snuggling up cosily to "Happy Up Here" by Royksopp and "Love Etc" by Pet Shop Boys, both of which I love, but both of which have departed to the lowly reaches of my listening priorities and show no signs of roaring back just yet.

In contrast, my two most favourite songs of the moment, "The Bandstand" by Aha (yes that Aha!! They have new material...yes really!!) and "Gone Too Far" by Dragonette, which are being played with an obsessive intent bordering on the sort of mania displayed by cult members, are nowhere to be found. Nowhere....at..... all.

It is touching that my iPod develops such a profound connection to certain songs that being separated from them is tantamount to death, but I think it is taking things too far. Alas, nothing I do seems to influence my sentient, stubborn darling piece of electronica and so I am certain that in the year 2030, when I care not for Britney (Bitch!) any more, that my iPod will still be clinging with all the affection of delirious first love the same 25 song

Project 289 - Day 244 (Monday 16 November 2009): Tampering with the Bikkies

Project 289 - Day 243 (Sunday 15 November 2009) : Quiet As She Goes Sonny - We're Waking Up

Today was a lazy day with only a trip to the supermarket marking any contact with the outside world, and it started with me opening my eyes, my beautiful guy beside me, and seeing what greets me every morning..... my two favourite paintings and my entertainment unit.

Granted I didn't do much more than look at them (and take a photo!) before snoozing again but they symbolise what a very interior kind of day with some napping, reading and TV viewing filling up a very chilled day off from work.