Just reflecting on my early childhood in my hometown Invercargill...I remember the first day we moved from the small country town of Winton to the big city of Invercargill! I was 5.5 years old and I clearly remember the whole school standing at the fenceline when we drove out.. my 2 brothers and 2 sisters and I were sitting in the back seat (note that was 5 children in the back of a very small vehicle!)and we were all waving at them who were waving back at us. My first memories or our street, Holloway Street, Waikiwi were of these huge round pipes outside our house.. I remember climbing up on them and running along the pipes.. I met a friend Sharon Strathern on my first day who lived opposite to our house.. I remember I had to bring her inside so she could tell my Dad what her last name was as I couldn't for the life of me understand what she was saying!!
Stay tuned for some more memories.. :-)
Bisous
RDB
Saturday, June 19, 2010
Saturday, June 12, 2010
Paris ramblings..
Today, I am on 78 sleeps!... that has gone incredibly fast down from 91! For the last week I have been practising my French online and listening to CD's in my car whilst driving to and from work. Today, I watched the French news on TV and realised in an instant that I have no hope of ever understanding it! They speak so quickly!!! I was lucky enough to capture one or two words but then just stared at the screen in complete horror at the thought of never being able to comprend the most beautiful language in the world! I will keep trying of course but only God can help me!
Recently I went to a function where they were cooking pizzas... one particular one which caught my eye was a Nutella, Grape, Marscapone and ground Pistachios.. now, I don't know about you but I have never tried Nutella in my life, being a good New Zealand girl, I was brought up on Marmite and Vegemite so I was coerced into trying it... OMG!!!!!!!! how simply divine it was!!! I can still taste the silky smooth flavour of the Nutella.. I can't wait now to get to Paris and go to my favourite crepe guy on Rue des Ecoles (5th) and ask for a Nutella and Banana crepe svp!!
Recently I went to a function where they were cooking pizzas... one particular one which caught my eye was a Nutella, Grape, Marscapone and ground Pistachios.. now, I don't know about you but I have never tried Nutella in my life, being a good New Zealand girl, I was brought up on Marmite and Vegemite so I was coerced into trying it... OMG!!!!!!!! how simply divine it was!!! I can still taste the silky smooth flavour of the Nutella.. I can't wait now to get to Paris and go to my favourite crepe guy on Rue des Ecoles (5th) and ask for a Nutella and Banana crepe svp!!
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Counting down to Paris!
and did you know.. I have only another 91 sleeps until I fly out to Paris!
I am boring anyone and everyone I know with my count down ... to their credit they are all being very nice about it and are very happy for me.. but something tells me if I keep it up at the rate I am, then they will seriously tire of me! LOL! no matter, I am at my happiest when I have something to count down to! The things I am looking forward to in Paris is meeting up with my friends who live there, in particular my wonderful French friend Madame Marie Chantal... she has a diabetic cat who needs injections twice a day! It is such a chore for her and most times she is down on her luck with very little money but she always manages to make time to see me and we sit and have a chat and a drink..I find French people exceptionally welcoming once they know you .. I think it is in the knowing that they truly come to like you. My other dear friends, Michael (Happy Birthday Michael!) and Eric (Paris Daily Photo) who I had the opportunity to meet last year (February) when they visited Sydney and again in September last year when I visited Paris. They are two of the nicest people and reside in the 9th arr. in a very beautiful apartment. They invited me to dinner one evening, it was so much fun, lots of laughter and the food that Eric served was amazing!
I like the fact that when I wake up in my little studio situated in the 5th arr that I can choose to do anything on that day... it might be that I stay in bed until lunch time or that I rise early and go for a walk to get my breakfast of pain aux raisins and creme cafe.. usually, I find myself taking the bus to a particular or favorite market .. I like to explore these little markets, they have so much to offer.. another thing I like to do is choose a restuarant or bistro for lunch where I can just relax with a vin rouge and some moules and frites.. the best I had was in Pigalle! So you see for me.. Paris is simply my RDB time.. where I can wander, get lost, write poetry and relax... oooh and did you know, only 91 sleeps to go!! :-)
Bisous
RDB
I am boring anyone and everyone I know with my count down ... to their credit they are all being very nice about it and are very happy for me.. but something tells me if I keep it up at the rate I am, then they will seriously tire of me! LOL! no matter, I am at my happiest when I have something to count down to! The things I am looking forward to in Paris is meeting up with my friends who live there, in particular my wonderful French friend Madame Marie Chantal... she has a diabetic cat who needs injections twice a day! It is such a chore for her and most times she is down on her luck with very little money but she always manages to make time to see me and we sit and have a chat and a drink..I find French people exceptionally welcoming once they know you .. I think it is in the knowing that they truly come to like you. My other dear friends, Michael (Happy Birthday Michael!) and Eric (Paris Daily Photo) who I had the opportunity to meet last year (February) when they visited Sydney and again in September last year when I visited Paris. They are two of the nicest people and reside in the 9th arr. in a very beautiful apartment. They invited me to dinner one evening, it was so much fun, lots of laughter and the food that Eric served was amazing!
I like the fact that when I wake up in my little studio situated in the 5th arr that I can choose to do anything on that day... it might be that I stay in bed until lunch time or that I rise early and go for a walk to get my breakfast of pain aux raisins and creme cafe.. usually, I find myself taking the bus to a particular or favorite market .. I like to explore these little markets, they have so much to offer.. another thing I like to do is choose a restuarant or bistro for lunch where I can just relax with a vin rouge and some moules and frites.. the best I had was in Pigalle! So you see for me.. Paris is simply my RDB time.. where I can wander, get lost, write poetry and relax... oooh and did you know, only 91 sleeps to go!! :-)
Bisous
RDB
Saturday, January 2, 2010
Birthday Party Celebrations... 19 December 2009
I organised my Birthday celebrations a week early, due to the fact that my actual Birthday is on Christmas Eve and I couldn't guarantee if any of my friends (albeit my family) would turn up! So, I booked a little pub which had a nice ambience and got things sorted.. well sorted as in, asked very nicely if my colleague could put her hand to designing my invite which she gladly agreed to and even got her Mom to paint a picture of a woman in red and have it scanned into my invite.. very talented family indeed! My theme was 'a touch of red' which I thought worked very well. Next step was to ask my friend Sam to print them for me (for free) which he agreed to do just for me.. they turned out amazing! high gloss on both sides and looked fabulous! Thanks Sam and Sum for your fantastic efforts, much appreciated! Ok, so I then had my invites ready to go, I made a list and proceeded to send them out... all up there were about 60 invites sent out, not bad for a girl from Invercargill I thought!
Once they were done, I needed to focus on the food and beverage requirements and decorations... which again, I had help with, my adorable assistant Denai took over the ordering of the balloons and the cupcakes which was a great help and so really all I did was organise the food platters and the selection of beverages to be served... cosmopolitans were a definite must have!
The night before was my office Xmas Party which Denai and I organised and thank god it was a huge success, as I would have been devastated if it wasn't! Again, Denai was a godsend and I so grateful for all her help on the evening. The reason why I am telling you this is twofold... because this was the same evening that my sister and my two brother-in-laws were flying in from New Zealand for my Birthday celebrations and they were staying practically opposite the venue where we were holding our staff xmas party... and I was hoping to catch up with them perhaps quickly on the night just to say hello.. as it turns out, it didn't eventuate and I had to wait until the following afternoon to see them when they came to our place. Here, I now want to tell you that my youngest brother and his partner were not supposed to be at my party but instead they told me that they could only arrive on my actual birthday and then spend xmas day with us, which I accepted totally and was quite ok with these arrangements. So this is how it goes... knock on the door, answer it, greet my sister, my two brother in laws into the house... we are in the lounge room chatting when there is another knock on the door... which my sister alerted me to and asked me to see who it was.. heading up the hallway, I noticed that the front door was closed which for a moment I thought was odd seeing as we hardly ever close our door during the day.. anyway, I opened the door and to my huge surprise was my brother and his partner standing on the balcony with big smiles... I was in complete shock and couldn't say anything but just kept looking at them and then turning around to look at my sister and my other family..... they even had to ask me if I could let them inside!! Huge, huge surprise!! How lucky was I!! Apparently all the members of my family knew, including my 12yr old nephew who managed to keep it from me!
By now it was getting closer to party time and my other sister and her family arrived from Canberra, my whole family except for my other lovely brother was there to help me celebrate turning 50! though technically I had another few days of being 49 left to enjoy!!
My party turned out fabulous and all my friends and family arrived to help me celebrate a momentus occassion in my life... I am grateful, truly grateful for their love and support.
Once they were done, I needed to focus on the food and beverage requirements and decorations... which again, I had help with, my adorable assistant Denai took over the ordering of the balloons and the cupcakes which was a great help and so really all I did was organise the food platters and the selection of beverages to be served... cosmopolitans were a definite must have!
The night before was my office Xmas Party which Denai and I organised and thank god it was a huge success, as I would have been devastated if it wasn't! Again, Denai was a godsend and I so grateful for all her help on the evening. The reason why I am telling you this is twofold... because this was the same evening that my sister and my two brother-in-laws were flying in from New Zealand for my Birthday celebrations and they were staying practically opposite the venue where we were holding our staff xmas party... and I was hoping to catch up with them perhaps quickly on the night just to say hello.. as it turns out, it didn't eventuate and I had to wait until the following afternoon to see them when they came to our place. Here, I now want to tell you that my youngest brother and his partner were not supposed to be at my party but instead they told me that they could only arrive on my actual birthday and then spend xmas day with us, which I accepted totally and was quite ok with these arrangements. So this is how it goes... knock on the door, answer it, greet my sister, my two brother in laws into the house... we are in the lounge room chatting when there is another knock on the door... which my sister alerted me to and asked me to see who it was.. heading up the hallway, I noticed that the front door was closed which for a moment I thought was odd seeing as we hardly ever close our door during the day.. anyway, I opened the door and to my huge surprise was my brother and his partner standing on the balcony with big smiles... I was in complete shock and couldn't say anything but just kept looking at them and then turning around to look at my sister and my other family..... they even had to ask me if I could let them inside!! Huge, huge surprise!! How lucky was I!! Apparently all the members of my family knew, including my 12yr old nephew who managed to keep it from me!
By now it was getting closer to party time and my other sister and her family arrived from Canberra, my whole family except for my other lovely brother was there to help me celebrate turning 50! though technically I had another few days of being 49 left to enjoy!!
My party turned out fabulous and all my friends and family arrived to help me celebrate a momentus occassion in my life... I am grateful, truly grateful for their love and support.
Saturday, December 26, 2009
Birthday Girl - Christmas Eve
Christmas Eve I turned 50... it was a great day all round even though I had to work in the morning, I was totally spoiled with lovely gifts. First up, my husband surprised me with a beautiful Paspaley Pearl pendant...looks fabulous and cost a packet, but I figure you only get to turn 50 once in your life (much like every other birthday really, you only turn it once!) and so one should definitely make the most of it and enjoy the gifts that are bestowed upon you! When I arrived at work, my lovely assistant had adorned my office with photos and more presents which were just so special and made me smile... I received lots of lovely messages and hugs and good wishes from my staff and they presented me with a birthday cake and sang me happy birthday. I managed to escape for home by around 2pm.
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