Swimming Pretty in the Glass-Half-Full 2012: Day 91 - Lunch with Jeff & Jane

What a glorious lunch!

We had been trying to catch up with Jeff and Jane for ages and finally managed to find a date.

They hosted us at their rented boathouse right on the water at Oatley with gorgeous views. It is a beautifully appointed place, with a great outdoor area and we sat out there talking, drinking wine, eating entrees (including the most divine olives that J & J got at the markets at Ramsgate that morning; as we'd discover just about all the food they served was from Ramsgate and it was delicious, fresh and awesome... we made plans to go shopping and eating with them one Saturday!).

Then along came lunch - pork belly, lamb backstrap and pork & fennel sausages with a yummy salad - Jeff is such an amazing cook. Again, sparkling conversation, wine and the most perfect weather. Very Red Riding Hood weather in fact. We caught up on all the news and even had time to talk about how do you deal with your parents when your life path veers from what they expected. I love spending time with them - such warm, friendly, intelligent, great friends.

It was the very loveliest of days.

Then off to dinner at Crows Nest with Peter, Waz, Ian, Fahmi, Stephen Moore and my gorgeous guy. Starte doff with drinks at a funky bar called Foxtrot - that I thought was a brothel from the outside when I first saw it! - then dinner at Rangoon Racquet Club. Service was friendly if inconsistent and muddled at times and the flavours of the dishes were great. But frankly overpriced for what you get and I wasn't overly impressed which is a pity because the restaurant has such a great reputation.

We finished off with gelato at Sparrow. Well most of the guys did but Steve & I were full after our awesome lunch - I reached full stage after my first samosa! - and so I sat out dessert. You know I am full when I forgo dessert, especially salted caramel gelato!

A great night with the guys.

TGIF funnies

Swimming Pretty in the Glass-Half-Full 2012: Day 90 - Cloudy day

A frantic day in the office as I tried to get through as many tasks as humanly possible - I tried beaverly or camel-ly possible but neither worked that well - so the first time I stopped was waiting for the train to the City that night with Danielle.

The cloud formations, which my Canon camera would have captured better but alas it was at home, were beautiful. I love the quirky shapes and the pastel blues and oranges.

A lovely way to end the day unless...

You had dinner with the man of your dreams which I did! My gorgeous guy and I had a delicious dinner at Sun Thai in Dulwich Hill, a new Thai place, and while we were the only customers there at that point - it was after 9pm which is like midnight for the suburbs! - the service was food was perfect.

Black sticky rice with a gorgeous custard on top

Steve's banana pudding - YUM!

Swimming Pretty in the Glass-Half-Full 2012: Day 89 - Sushi for one

I was supposed to have a much delayed catch up dinner with my old work friend Vanessa tonight but 20 minutes before she was due to pick me up, as I sat at work expectantly, she cancelled thanks to a late request for something to be done urgently. It is frightening just how lacking in respect for peoples' lives my former employer is, and once again they have succeeded in robbing two people of a lovely night out.

So I went into the City myself - it's on the way home anyway - bought some after shave balm & deodorant at Priceline, some cute mutant Easter bunny/egg ornaments at Bed Bath and Table, and had a delightful sushi for one at Makanai near Pitt St Mall, tweeting as I went. (Oh and I couldn't open the wasabi packets which was weird. It was like they had sushi kryptonite nearby!)

Lovely. Then home to watch an episode of Sanctuary with my housemate before crashing out for an early night...

Swimming Pretty in the Glass-Half-Full 2012: Day 88 - Hump Day dinosaurs!

I bought my gorgeous guy's Easter basket and all it's fabulous contents today at MYER.

I love putting these special gifts together for him. It was one of the special hallmarks of our relationship, and making sure they're as fresh and fun as possible every time is something I love doing.

So what made the cut this year? Well it's all blue themed - you'll see it in all its glory come Easter - and crowned by of all things a blue Easter dinosaur! Yes a dinosaur! Looking like a prehistoric St Bernard with an Easter egg wrapped around its egg, it was the quirky fun element I was looking for. I never like to go down the path well travelled and this dinosaur was the perfect was to not do that.

Naturally I tweeted my excitement at this one of a kind Easter egg - well Ok they're mass produced in Hong Kong but none of my friends will have the dinosaur! - and yes, had to buy one for myself too.

Swimming Pretty in the Glass-Half-Full 2012: Day 87 - Dumpling my precious dumpling

My gorgeous guy, who is normally in Bathurst on a Tuesday night was in town thanks to a course and so we got to have dinner in Newtown together. We actually managed to get a table at Dumpling King restaurant, after a drink at The bank Hotel, and while the dumplings (prawn, beef & celery, pork + sang choy bow) weren't quite as good as those in Ashfield or in the City, they were still awesomely delish!

Amazingly for once we didn't order too many! Not sure how that happened but it meant we didn't feel like we were waddling back to the car.