I’m getting married!

Just over three weeks ago, I got home from work a little later than usual to find that dinner was ready and the table set on our outdoor patio. It wasn’t anything particularly out of the ordinary, but it was a nice surprise.

I even tweeted a picture, and said: Eating dinner in style. Have I mentioned how much we love our apartment?

We sat outside for quite some time; drinking wine, talking and enjoying the evening. At one point we were standing up, hugging and kissing, and Tim said “I wish it could be like this every night”. I agreed. Then he reached into his pocket, and with a ring in one hand said “that’s why I want to marry you”. And that’s when I burst into tears…

I am incredibly lucky to have found someone who, for lack of a better phrase, gets me. He understands my quirks and my flaws, and every day with him is overflowing with love and laughter. I adore him.

He proposed with a plastic ring he’d bought at the markets for $5 (which he’d been carrying around for 6 months!), so we went shopping together and picked out a gorgeous engagement ring. I’ve never been a big fan of diamonds, and I fell in love with a beautiful emerald ring. I can’t stop staring at it!

And so now, of course, I get to plan a wedding! I’m having so much fun with it. The venue is all but booked. We haven’t set the exact date yet, but it will be in September. I’ve just joined pinterest and have put together a wedding inspiration board. In case you can’t tell, it’s going to be colourful.

Are you on pinterest? Let me know!

I’m so excited for what 2011 will bring. It’s going to be a great year, I can feel it.

it started with two hours of my current addiction, civilization iv. (no, really. we set alarms and everything.) then a trip to adriano zumbo’s patisserie for macarons. i’ve never watched masterchef, but i figured that the number of people raving about his macarons can’t be wrong. it took about an hour all up, from the time we joined the rather long queue to the time we walked out of his tiny little store, but i think it was worth it. it’s certainly not something i’d be keen on doing regularly, though.

next stop: sydney aquarium! i had a free double pass, so thought the day of shan was the perfect opportunity for it.

penguin swimming underwater

i found nemo!

a shark, as seen through the glass bottom boat

dugong! so cute

fresh flowers make my weekend {and my apartment} happy.
may all your days be filled with fresh flowers!

but oh, summer. promise you’ll never leave me?

i love this time of year. we all know the weather isn’t supposed to be like this. the nights should be colder. we should at least be starting to think about hot chocolate and apple pie. but, no. it’s still long, hot, sleepless nights and endless sunshine and spontaneous sunday picnics.

i’m not going to lie; i love it.

i’m clinging to every last inch of summer as tightly as i can, and i’m not going to let go without a fight.

last weekend was a different story – we spent valentine’s day casually wandering around, having loads of fun. breakfast at a cafe:

chinese new year markets:

and i made this for my valentine, from bakerella’s recipe:

it was just lovely. but that was a whole week ago! next weekend will be the last one of summer. it just goes by so fast.

there’s been three very specific things i’ve wanted to make lately:

1. marshmallows. because i bought some homemade marshmallows at the markets recently and they were divine.

2. vegan chocolate avocado cake. because i saw laura’s post about joy the baker’s recipe and it sounded amazing. and weird, which i like. and i don’t eat eggs outside of cakes so it seems odd that i eat them inside of cakes. {it’s not a moral stance or anything, i’ve just never been able to eat them.}

3. banana bread. because we bought too many bananas last grocery shop and i needed to use them up.

so, first up: marshmallows. the recipe was fairly simple, but having never made anything like this before i had a bit of pre-marshmallow anxiety – “is this thick enough? how do i know what this is supposed to look like?!” – but they turned out perfectly. i’ve already planned to make these as easter gifts.

next up was the chocolate avocado cake. this was really simple; no different to a normal cake, really. i snuck a quick taste of the batter just as i was about to pour it into the pan, and was horrified to taste nothing but baking soda. ack! i forgot to put the sugar in! lesson learnt: ALWAYS TASTE YOUR COOKING. but with some extra stirring i was able to work it in just in time. i haven’t had a proper piece yet, but the bits i’ve sneakily broken off have been amazing. i’ll be taking it to an afternoon tea tomorrow, so i look forward to people trying it without knowing what it is. i was originally planning on making a different icing, but decided to make the avocado one just to see what it’s like. tastes good to me!

and lastly, banana bread. i got this recipe from the australian women’s weekly BAKE book. haven’t got it yet? go now. run. i haven’t tried this yet, but i think it might be a little overdone. i’ll sample some for morning tea tomorrow!

now why can’t i be this productive during the week?!

here’s the month of january, in edible form:

you can see the full size photos in my Edible365 set on flickr.

PS. Now that it’s January 31, I can happily report that I haven’t eaten any more chocolate since that minor sponge cake incident. it really wasn’t that hard at all! I’m thinking of continuing into February, but loosening it a little. I still won’t eat straight up chocolate, but will be forgiven for chocolate flavoured things.

today i had a big clean up. finally threw out the bag of shoes that has been sitting at the back of my wardrobe for the last 5 years. i’ve moved house 4 times since i started that bag, and that bag of shoes – those shoes that one day i’m going to take to be re-heeled and then love them forever – always came with me. not anymore. they’re gone. i got rid of handbags, scarves, jewellery {all donated to vinnies, of course} and it feels good. almost cathartic, even.

i’ve also been busy. my sister & i will have a stall at the hills districts’ australia day celebrations this tuesday. if you’re in the area, be sure to come on by and have a look! we’ll also be selling some of our mum’s handbags. i’ve been working on a few new products for the stall, and my favourites are these create & live signs. i’ll have these {plus a few more} on sale as well as all of my cards and paper goods.

i hope your weekend was as fulfilling as mine! it is a shame about monday, though.

i ate some chocolate.

in my defense, it was actually a chocolate flavoured sponge cake, and it was a tiny tiny piece, and i was at a small gathering for my partner’s grandmother’s 80th birthday where i literally could not refuse it. and, i don’t particularly like sponge cake, so i didn’t really enjoy it.

am i forgiven?

in any case, i’m not actually counting it because it was an unavoidable “special occasion”, but i just felt i should be honest. so i’m now nearly two-thirds through No Chocolate January. woohoo!

the hardest moment – so far – was at 3pm today, my first day back at work. what is it about 3pm on a weekday that makes me people go crazy?

as the great liz lemon once said: chocolate! chocolate! chocolate! aaack!