Wednesday 22 December 2010

Elf Yourself by Officemax

My sister sent me these hilarious skits of my family doing disco and hip hop. Well worth a play.

The Hip Hop version

The Disco version

now if only I had all these moves in real life.

Monday 13 December 2010

My little sis turns the big 30

Last post for the night. A little one to say how proud I am of my little sister for all she has achieved in the last 30 years and with such style and enthusiasm. Plus she doesn't look a day older than her 21st another blast of a party.

Hope our next 30 together are just as much fun - love you xxxx

Natural beauty and Swashbuklers

I was lucky enough to be invited along to the authentic beauty tour of the 100% Natural Living Nature brand and it was really inspiring. Not only because of the amazing products they produce and the benefits of plants from our very own back door. But also because we had the chance to listen to two inspiring Kiwi women, Lorraine Downes and Petra Bagust, both who are wonderful examples of beauty inside and out. Anyone stuck for Christmas presents should consider these products as they are really really good. My favourite is the refreshing body lotion it glides on so nicely, smells good enough to eat and makes your skin glow.

Check out their website as they really are producing some amazing products with these super ingredients:
Harakeke, Kelp, Kumerahou, Manuka Honey, Manuka Oil, Totarol, Halloysite Clay, Calendula

After this we went for dinner at a restaurant I have driven past atleast 1,000 times and always been curious but never been in and I have to say it's a must. Swashbucklers has it all a crazy theme and decor, fantastic service, massive food and seafood seafood seafood for those lovers as well as a stunning outlook over the harbour and all at a good price.

Te Rau Rainbows

I went for a drive to Te Rau and on the way we saw the most spectacular rainbow of which no photo can do justice as it was massive, perfect in arc, Featured a second one above, had the most vibrant light and featured every colour of the spectrum. There were more cars than just us pulled over to wonder at its magnificence.

Whilst there I saw more lady birds than I think I have ever seen and tried a lemonade fruit for the first time and man are they yum. I am sure the rainbow and the lady bird were signaling a change in my luck.
Then we headed back to town to celebrate the end of Movember at the official Gala party. My Mo Bro raised a fab $365 for his efforts. There were some very funny outfits and crazy personalities on the night both over shadowing the actual Mo's. I dressed up as a hawaiian gal which was fun to get into the spirit.

My favourite Mo of the night was definitely the Leprechaun as he even went through the pain of bleaching it before he dyed it green - that's what I call commitment to your outfit. Colonel Sanders was pretty funny as well.
Then to round out the weekend of Charity on Sunday I went to the Santa Parade to help collect donations for the Leukemia and Blood Foundation. It was the most amazing sunny day and my duo ended up raising $200 so not too bad an effort. This year saw alot of really wonderful balloons.

Thanksgiving in NZ

So while traveling around the USA I noticed alot of pumpkins and advertising for Thanksgiving so I decided to buy the main ingredient for their famous pumpkin pie and bring it back home to make my own to serve on the day.

Now of course we don't celebrate this in NZ but I made a variation of it and made my guests say what they were grateful for while we had Turkey and pie. It was very heart warming and the pie was really really good - I could see myself making this a tradition.

Harry Potter 7

I was one of the people swept up in the Harry Potter Book craze and loved every bit (well except for the tent part) but I have to say that every movie rendition albeit they keep improving never quite get there. I figure because they almost need to be redone with adults as the target audience. In reality they are pretty gruesome stories and way too scary for kids. This was a good flick though with beautiful cinematography and I love Helena Bonham Carter in it.

Fun filled summer

So even though the weather decided to turn stormy we made the most of it. We started with a divine dinner at Rocco including their amazing churros. Then went along the following day to the second Auckland Taste Festival and it was fantastic. We noticed alot of these three ingredients duck, beetroot and goats cheese. Our favourite meals were:

Dish 1 - Dine by Peter Gordon - Pan-seared scallops with pickled leeks, Clevedon buffalo mozzarella, chorizo caramel and heilala vanilla dressing.

Dish 3 - Euro - Veal rump with parsnip puree roasted fennel, zucchini & orange jus.

Dish 3 - Harbourside - Rose pannacotta, strawberry & pistachio salad, orange blossom dressing.

There were many other delightful tastings as well at Bracu, Prego, Toto, Clooney and Mudbrick.

Then it was off to see the fabulous Rocky Horror Picture Show at the Civic theatre. The crowd were so much fun with several hairy men dressed in fishnets and heels. I have not been to a play/sing along show before and I have to say it was alot of fun doing the time warp with a massive crowd. We were also lucky enough to be sitting next to George Henare a well respected thespian in NZ. If that was not enough we also had the creator Richard O'Brien as narrator so it was a very special show.
We then went for a much needed bite at Tanuki's cave a must stop for locals and visitors alike.

The following day we headed out for a big breakfast/lunch at Verona's on our way we witnessed some falling angels very dramatic and luckily no cars beneath as they fell to earth.

Then I had to say farewell to Regan after an amazing weekend of fun.

Back to the workforce

There is a reason I have not been online very often for the last month and that is that I landed an amazing job with an advertising agency called Raydar and as with any settling in period I have been on a steep learning curve and dropping dead every night but the month is over now so I am slowly getting into a rhythm and as such am back to blogging.

I also think that it is rather fitting that it starts with the letter R as the final link in the circle of my previous blog "The R Word"

November 14 - 20
Art and Anarchy Tour
This was an inspiring tour of my local area and the history of some of the public art and architecture. I have always loved the Vegas billboard and the very amazing new Iron bank but new discoveries of the Maori Hall and stained glass entrance to Mercury were lovely surprises. Along with finding out the Moses in my park below my window is a full size replica of the same marble as the original Michelangelo.
I was lucky enough to attend the launch of next years Auckland arts festival 2011 programme. It was a wonderful event showcasing the arts to come and with one of the best inspiring speeches I have heard in ages and made by our very own super city mayor Len Brown - he even sang to us and it made me feel happy that I had voted for the right person.
Then I went along to see Joyce Campbells latest exhibition at Two rooms a most magical photographic series of the spirit of New Zealand.
My wonderful friend Regan came over from Melbourne for a visit and gave me the most beautiful cushion handmade by her. It also gave me an excuse to put up the Christmas decorations early, jiggle around to the carols and burn the festive spices.