Early to bed and all that

Temp girl here, weary from a day of more data entry. And more data entry. Not entirely rewarding is the world of a data entry queen. I know my stateside counterpart Ann can second that emotion. More rewarding are my girls, as in "the girls" as we were often referred to at Big Day Out, Emilie and Stella.

Emilie and Dan hosted a Sunday evening soiree of wine from her dad's winery, Idol Hands and hors d'oeuvres extraordinaire. I had not seen Stella, aka blogger Shiny Ruby, since my return, so it was one of those nights of high pitched laughter and big ideas, while the guys kept themselves entertained.

We needed a little Red Eye Reduction in this pic (and this morning at work), but otherwise it was a pretty glorious reunion!





Oh and a modest feather in my own cap...my Sunday morning assignment was breakfast, so I trudged to the store with green grocery totes in tow and decided to do BLTs with Aussie flair -- on big Turkish Rolls with a chili mayonnaise I concocted. I do love the chilis.



And now...past my bedtime and it's not even 11pm!

--tc

School night

Monday evening, wind blowing, flashes of lighting, a storm brewing...and I'm wiped out from my foray back into the commuter working life of a data entry temp. I'm out there in the trenches, bravely updating client databases for a media sales company for a few days. My train ride to North Sydney includes crossing along the Harbour Bridge, not bad. And sorta reassuring to get the free daily train newspaper complete with snatches of celeb gossip, like my AM NY from the 1/9 train, except this daily comes at the end of the day.

But I digress...I'm tired and just want to put up a few pics from the weekend.

Friday night Haydn and I headed to a seafood/fish place, Doyle's, with some friends. It was pretty quiet for a Friday night at a fish place, but kinda fun to have it to ourselves and some elderly diners, and a great view across the harbour to see the lights of the city. Plus check out that tuna steak and mashed potates. I totally ordered it for the mashed potatoes and gravy. Yum.



Sunday oftentimes means dinner at Michelle and Jimmy's...but Michelle threw us for a curve and hosted a girls only BBQ -- ok there were a couple of male stragglers, but really it was about the ladies. And it was all about Michelle "maning" the grill. An array of meatstuffs, including skewers, sausages, burgers. Right on. Looks like KC Masterpiece himself, Haydn, might be out of job on Sundays! I'm thinking there should be a grilling showdown in the near future...





Ok, time for Cold Case and a night on the couch before tomorrow and my new anthem "My baby takes the morning train."

tc

Ya take the good, ya take the bad

Well, well, well, my wonderful sunny climes have led me astray in thinking that one cannot fall ill or get a cold here. Wrong. But, after a weekend of major sore throat and congestion and some thoughtful caretaking from my man, I'm back in the swing of things. Hit yoga today so that Icould breath again and am kicking it at my favorite hangout, the venerable State Library of New South Wales.

But don't you fret, this blasted head cold could not keep me away from a BBQ at Jimmy and Michelle's on Sunday. Granted, I faded fast, but the chicken wings from the grill were worth it. Oh goodness they were. And Michelle even whipped up some cupcakes in honor of my return.

Here the gang is, about to dig in. They're like "Take the picture already, we wanna eat, sister."



And, I snapped this pic today after yoga. Very good class, very funny moment when a dog all of a sudden ran in from the path outside and did a big circle thru the room and then was gone as fast as he appeared.



The Bondi to Bronte walk, featured above, is really one of my all time favorite things in life. So, maybe if you're on the fence about coming down here in November, or just need a gentle nudge, remember: this is how we live here!

love
tara

Back way o'er yonder

I made it back to Sydney last week, and there's not a whole lot to report except that the weather is pretty near perfect, avocadoes are forever in season, flat whites are as good as always, and Haydn got a great new haircut! I thought to myself "Who is that dashing young man?" when I spotted him at the airport.

So, now I have to figure what to do with my life and make some money and stuff. Trying to make sense of why every single job seems to go through recruitment agencies. I applied for a short-term job to do some copywriting and the reply email was titled Application Unsuccessful. I didn't meet the criteria. So I will keep my writing to the blogosphere for now.

Haydn and I were at the Annandale on Sunday for the engagement party of our friends Bob and Anna. Bob proposed at the Grand Canyon, little did I know when he asked me for advice on points of interest was he going to be popping the question. Good on ya, man!

And the feature at the party was a pig roast. As in a pig on the spit. I took a photo for the sake of the blog, but have to say that when I took another look at it, I thought it might even offend some of my more carnivorous friends. So instead, here is a pic of me and Haydn from the very same day...after enjoying the roast pork.

cheers
tc

p.s. to sam -- I think my new hit single is Crazy by Gnarles Barkley. Going to have put that on the ipod.

Making the rounds

I have a few days left in the US, I'm heading back to Australia with fancy new Australian visa in my passport, so I've been filling the social calendar in the last couple of days. On Friday, I met up with Kathie, Julie and her little 2-year old, Devon. We had lunch at Bluephies -- I carbo loaded for the Crazylegs race -- and then went to the park next door. It's really pretty enlightening to see how a cute little green sweat suit on a little one can be ready for the laundry after a few hours of ranch dressing, M & Ms, the sandbox, the slide, and the sidewalks in general. She's a fun one, young Devon.

Devon and Jules:


Devon enjoying the double swing push:


Me and Devon, playing with the barkchips.


Saturday was the annual running of the Crazylegs race, along with about 15,000 other people. By the time Uz and Chris and I crossed the start line, the winner had already crossed the finish at the 50 yard line at Camp Randall Stadium. It was a great 5-mile/8k run through campus and lots of zig zagging around the runners. I'd like to thank my iShuffle for playing "Gold Digger" at the very crucial 4 mile mark, giving me the boost to finish strong. And in true Crazylegs fashion, we celebrated with our 2 complimentary beers. Or if you're Uz, you enjoyed your 3rd complimentary beer as well. Bud Lite is the new Gatorade.

Chris, Uz and Tara, upon completion:


Jenny and Kathie, fatigued (in jest!) after the 2-mile walk:


Uz and Kat forevs:


Me, imbibing post-race, as you do;


The evening held the goodness of margaritas and Mexican food with family and friends at a little pre-departure fete at Pedro's. My college roommate, Amanda, made the trek from Illinois for the occassion and a photo from our U. of Iowa era reminded us of our strange, oversized fashion choices of the '90s.

Group photo:


Amanda and Tara, in current fashion:


Tomorrow, the official packing for return to Oz commences...

--tc