And it was all yellow

Sadly, the yellow and gold didn't advance in the World Cup. I tried to watch, but have been knocked off my feet with a flu-type illness and became very weary about the 60th minute. But luckily I still had some life in me early in the evening so that I could go to see Coldplay. I must say, it was an exhilarating performance. Chris Martin's energy is completely boundless, and a big ol'd concert singalong is always special, no matter what. Plus, I got to meet Will (drummer) and Guy (bassist) afterwards thanks to friend-to-the stars, Haydn. And glad to say they're lovely blokes!

So...I just wanted to share this pic that Haydn took during "Yellow," which was dedicated to the Socceroos...

Meet me at Arthur's

It was a convergence of Big Day Out pals...and fellow blogspotters, when Stella and I met up at Arthur's in Paddington pre-show Sleepy Jackson. Her man, Hugh, was the lighting maesto and my man, Haydn, was production manager extraordinaire. Which meant we got to go to dinner ahead a time and skip on across the street and enjoy our guest list spot. Enjoyed the show too, sorta art rock, not too much angst even tho there could have been, and some Robert Smith-inspired make-up. All good things. And time with Stella and Emilie, who joined us at the show. The Big Day Out site office reunited -- if only there was a Silent Disco...ha!

But back to Arthur's, a classic brick oven pizza place. We got a bottle of Penfold's Shiraz from the bottle shop next door, -- served in champagne glasses cuz we're classy like that -- a rocket (arugula) and parmesan salad, a margherita pizza, and an eggplant/artichoke/other stuff pizza. Such tasty thin crust, garlicky pizza. We polished it off just as we realized the show had started and it was time to split.

Good times indeed to catch up on a rainy night over pizza at the end of the 9-5:30 week.





And a bonus photo for the Socceroos and for fans of public typos. We'll be watching at 1am tomorrow night. Very happy to still have the Aussies in the World Cup, but as Haydn said, if they would have lost at least he would have been able to get some sleep.



happy monday,
tc

This ain't no foodcourt

A quick post before heading to bed...it was a busy day at the gossip rag today, phew! What with Nic and Keith landing in Sydney for the big wedding. Well not really, as I'm in the advertising department, but a Monday nonetheless.

However, after my little woeful post about lunch at the foodcourt, one loyal reader wrote to me suggesting I go find a park. Well, now that we've switched back to some nice, mild weather instead of rain everyday, I can do just that. Especially because I currently work right across from Hyde Park. And here it is...



later
tc

Maple Flavoured

The obligatory Sunday morning breakfast post, coming at ya. Saturday breakfast is becoming pretty good too, with the last two Saturday's at Barista's across from the beach, home of actual "chunky toast" the inspiration for the very name of this here blog. So, next Saturday I'll bring along my camera there.

But today, it was American style breakfast with pancakes and bacon...and, um, Maple Flavoured Syrup. Not Maple Syrup, mind you, but maple-flavoured. Haydn contends there isn't really such a thing as Maple Syrup despite our spending an entire weekend in Vermont a couple of years back. Silly! So I must say while the pancakes were right on and the bacon from Sam the Organic Butcher as bacon-y as ever, the syrup was a tad runny. But we soldiered on in the name of breaky.

And now, the next challenge for us here in Oz is staying up to watch the Socceroos take on Brazil at 2am local time! Go Aussies Go!


The aforementioned syrup in foreground, Haydn in background:



Breakfast at my recently acquired desk from St Vinnie's, in the sunny spot:



--tc

The Chocolate Dog by day...

...Mexican by Nite! This was the sign hanging outside the coffee place in Newtown that was recommended to us for some honest to goodness authentic Mexican food. The Chocolate Dog is a cafe by day on a corner in Newtown with lots of windows facing out the busy street. And at night a family -- someone said from Chile -- runs it as a Mexican restaurant. And it was so delicious! We had Chili con Queso which was no Velveeta, lemme tell you, but hot chili and melted cheese and jalapenos. Haydn and I both got enchilads, he opted for two chicken enchiladas at "medium" heat, as we could specify how spicy we wanted it. I got one beef, one chicken enchilada and turned it up a notch to "medium to hot."

It was so fresh and flavorful and mine definitely had some heat, just as it should. Served with guac, sour cream, brown rice, and some greens. Lots of stuff. This wasn't any Old El Paso kit, which is what the section of Mexican food comprises at the grocery stores here. So, I highly recommend The Chocolate Dog...Mexican by Nite. The place was packed by 7:15pm on Thursday and we were in food coma by 8pm...



In other news...it's a cloudy Saturday, there's a marathon of "Fame" on tv and I'm going to try a new yoga place this afternoon. I love my dear Tamarama Surf Club, but it's getting too cold there at the old ramshackle surf club. Makes for too much meditation pondering the greatness of space heaters.

...and HAPPY BIRTHDAY SHOUT OUT TO ANNIE working her bootie off at Wellesley reunion weekend. I salute ye!

...also, Haydn kindly shared Dave's Pumpkin Soup recipe on the comments page on the posting The Good Orange.

--tc

Lunchtime realizations

Yes, indeed, post #2 of today. Sometimes you're at a temp job and you have time to write...

So, the past 8 months or so for me have been about change. Ok, understatement of the year, really. And when I was back in the States, a few people asked if it was strange to be back. And my answer was that nothing feels all that strange anymore, It's all sort of relative in the sense of cultural things, celebrity gossip, climate, or accents. You go to a city, there's coffee shops, bars, and Thai food, right?

But lately something has struck me as a bit different or a tad uneasy, especially as I make these baby steps back into working world. It is the office worker's food court that gets me more than anything. I take buses, go shopping, order food, browse bookshops, and it doesn't feel strange. Maybe, I even feel a bit exotic -- imagine that, a girl from Wisconsin. Then I make my way into some worker realm and the respective lunchtime digs and that's where I feel different, on my own, and sorta lonely. A bit of the kid-in-the-cafeteria-alone complex.

I get struck by how my life has changed when I'm sitting in some food court filled with crisp, tailored shirts, trendy pumps, and messenger bags, whilst eating a Tandoori Chicken Wrap from Boost Juice, as you do. I kind of look around at the buildings and co-workers eating together and that is when it strikes me: I'm in Sydney and I'm on my lunch break.

Foodcourts of the world, unite.

--tc

The good orange

Oh it may be cliche, but when life hands you pumpkins, make pumpkin soup. Must dole out some mad props to Haydn for a most autumnal batch of pumpkin soup. No, it's not October, but here in the Southern hemisphere we call it June. So, a rainy day, a downpour when your pedi turns into a mani/pedi simply bc you can't go outside when you're done, and a bit of warmth is needed. I still have to remind myself that the squash family here falls under the umbrella of pumpkin. So maybe it was squash and potato soup, I don't really know. All I know is a blender was used to make it all smooth and good.

With a spoonful of sour cream, so positively good. As the credits roll, Hadyn's friend Dave gets Executive Producer credit because it was his recipe that Haydn used. Thanks, Dave - do the peeps of Byron Bay get to sample the hearty goodness of your pumpkin soup?

And here is the pictorial portion:







bundle up,
tara

The breakfast campaign

Haydn's tireless efforts to get me to eat eggs for breakfast and like them, really came to fruition yesterday. I just don't really like eggs, mostly because of the consistency. I like them as a conduit to other things, like a breakfast burrito, home fries, stuff in omelets, but they just kinda gross me out in general.

And Mr. Indefatigable sets out most weekends to win me over to the egg side. Yesterday's breakfast was highly commendable and disgused eggs like never before. My breakfast suggestion was "spicy." I set off for a run, Haydn to the grocery store and I came back to a major scramble up going on -- sans eggs, which he forgot to buy. So I volunteered to participate in this full-on effort and went and got some organic eggs. And from the kitchen emerged a vaguely Spanish-inspired breakfast of sorts: eggs, bacon, new potatoes, tobasco, oregano, and, of course melted cheese on top. Because when you're from Wisconsin, you feel the need to melt cheese on top.

And ta da! Clean plate club just a few minutes following this pic:





But out adventures continued thru the day, including a trip to Bondi Junction mega mall (the Jungga) for Haydn to buy a big ol' pasta pot with built in strainer and steamer and all that jazz. This was in part so he could make a big spaghetti bolognese dinner for Jimmy and Michelle...it wasn't BBQ weather really yesterday, so time to have them over to Francis Street for some comfort food. And Joeley and Jimmy look pretty comfortable after...the other pics didn't really come out due to lighting problems and post-pasta laziness.



And lucky us, there looks to be enough sauce to keep the dinner party going tonight...it's so dreary, rainy, wet, cold, that spag bol is just what the doctor ordered.

xo
tc