Christmas Fest at Work ; Take Two

Since the work Christmas lunch was usually on the last work day before the Christmas break, the staff decided to have another Christmas lunch.

There was a huge broth bowl of seafood delights and spinach, served with noodles.

 

 

A delicious chicken curry, served with naan.

 

And when I got back to the apartments there were Christmas bags on each apartments door.

Inside were a collection of candies and a card from the management.

Very sweet. 

Christmas Haul;

So it was Christmas!

 

My Aunt hosted mum's side this year, on the weekend before Christmas each year.

We pick names out at the end of every year for the next.

No one ever seems to know what to get me, but this year I did pretty well.

I got 2x $20 ITunes gift cards, for me tunes!

 

 

The boyfriend did pretty well this year, though we both broke the budget

I got a T2 iced tea jug, some tea to ice and a Marvel monopoly game 

Very cool!

 

 Random gift from work colleague; T2 teas and chocolates

 

And MORE tea from my brother

 

My Dad sent me $50 for Christmas so I headed to Target and bought a Novi Star Doll and a Little Black Dress with the money.

 Sister in law sent me a Gift Card for The Body Shop

 

 

Made some iced tea, so yummy!

 

Christmas Day we went to his brothers place for dinner and played a secret Santa game for mystery prizes.

At the end of the game, I had won a Touch Sudoku and some scratchies.

The scratchies gave me a $12 win.

 

And this year the Land Down Under Hangout bookclub decided to also do a secret santa.

We were given names in October and the rules were simply to buy a new book and have it there by Christmas.

This is the book I got.

 book review to come in the new year.

From my mum I got a huge selection of jewellery and bath products including a bottle of one of my favourite perfumes. Black XS

Christmas Feast at Work: Take One

My current day job has a tradition of having Christmas lunch, where all the staff brings something and we feast all day on delicious food.

This year as one of the staff were leaving early for holidays in China, Christmas lunch was held on Friday 20th instead.

 

Since we reached some goals the boss bough lobster;

 

The table was full of food, I brought cheese, and cold meats, olives and stuffed eggs.

We tucked in and ate our fill.

 

 

3 whole chickens but into quarters, salads

 

Only 11 staff members

I was so full when I went home I skipped dinner. 

Confessions of a Flower Eater: Chowards

I don't recall how I came to find these little gems, but find them I did!

With serious vintage candy wrapping these mints are just adorable!

They come in peppermint and lemon as well as the violet.

The mints are delicious and pretty strong, the packet boasts that its for smokers and after meals.

The flavour is pretty strong and floral.

 

 

They are also available in gum!

Tiny little squares of violet gum (much like the ones you use to be able to buy from the candy dispensers when I was young) that leave a burst of energy but don't last too long.

Best for a quick breath refresh after a meal (or a smoke if you are so inclined).

The Arrival of the Valkyries

Back in November we saw the beginning of The Ring Cycle

" Opera Australia performed three complete cycles of the four mighty operas which make up Wagner's epic vision. Leading an inspired cast of outstanding Wagnerian artists from around the world was conductor Pietari Inkinen, director Neil Armfield and designer Robert Cousins. International singers including Terje Stensvold (Norway), Susan Bullock (UK), Richard Berkeley-Steele (UK) and Stefan Vinke (Germany) joined the stellar Australian cast including Stuart Skelton, Daniel Sumegi, Miriam Gordon-Stewart, Jacqueline Dark, Judd Arthur, Graeme Macfarlane and Warwick Fyfe"

- http://opera.org.au/whatson/melbourne_ring_cycle

Tickets are pretty impossible to get and hugely expensive anyway, so I had to settle with the opening ceremony and watching the arrival of the Valkyries to Federation Square instead.

I was not there nearly early enough to get a good spot to watch what was actually going on around the corner, but I did get in at the side and took these photos of the pretty Valkyries instead.

Enjoy!

Confessions of a Flower Eater : Monin

Ok so this is my first Flower Eater Confession. I've wanted to do these for awhile now.

At some point in my life, last 2010 I think, I became interested in flowers as a flavour and in food.

 

So my first post is about flower syrups.

I use to get Sence Rose Nectar delivered by the carton to my work, it was such a delicious rose drink which you could have straight or watered down. I use to add soda water to the nectar as it was rather expensive and sometimes add vodka for a drink that felt very girl and a bit posh.

Then Brisbane flooded, and the importers went silent, I mean the website was still up and running but no one was manning it. Its all a bit of a mystery.

 

So I've spent about a year trying to find a substitute. The only one I have found that comes close is the Monin Syrup.

 

Monin Rose Syrup has a strong rose flavour and can be easily mixed with soda water (my preference) and vodka when wanting a more adult drink, but its also a syrup so you can pour it over your ice-cream or make a rose milkshake with it.

 

 

Perhaps the best thing though about Monin is that they have a huge range of flavours.

This is the first Violet Syrup I had come across, and also makes a great flavour to add to soda water or any of the ways discussed above with the rose syrup.

I have a bottle of each of these in my pantry for when ever I want a fizzy drink with flavour.

 

 

There are many more flavours of Monin Syrup that I haven't yet tried.

Somes of the flower flavours included are; Elderflower, Cherry Blossom, Hibiscus, Lavender, Jasmine, 

Back Issue Sale At All Star Comics

 

Ok so I'm getting bad at blogging again, but I will get back on track.

Early November All Star Comics had a big back issue sale on their comics.

Of course, I could not pass this up!

As with anything All Star Comics does, they had to make this sale a proper event, so they had Dean Rankine along doing sketches for people and face painting.

 

I went fairly late, I know that's not ideal for getting the best choice of comics, but I like to avoid the majority of the crowd.

I hit the comic boxes first; each load was clearly labelled (DC, Marel, Image, etc) and came away with a pretty good load

 

 

I picked up a few comics for my Bro as well (Army of Darkness), but got a heap of Vampirella vs Dracula, Fathom, Grimm Fairy Tales and Catwoman, as well as a couple of Morning Glories, a Lenore, a Mouse Guard and a cute little Houdini mini book.

 

Then it was time to join the queue and get a sketch from Dean Rankine.

Happily chatted to the people in the queue while I waited and it really didn't seem that long.

I was the first one to ask for a Rigellian sketch of myself, most people seemed to be going for heads in a jar or simpsonised zombies.

 

I was very pleased with my sketch, collected my comics from the guys (who held them at the counter so I didn't have to hold them while waiting.) and called it a day.

 

 

Yep that ones going straight to the pool room!

 

Book Review:

Promise of the Wolves by Dorothy Hearst
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I dove into this and submerged myself in the life of this wolf pup. A strong female lead that just happens to be wolf.
I have never read a novel where the main character was an animal before, but I love wolves and loved travelling on this journey with Kaala from her point of view as a wolf. Beautifully written and a really fun read.

View all my reviews