V-Day
For Valentine's Day this year, a group of our friends decided it would be a good idea to do a progressive dinner. I didn't really know what a progressive dinner was at the beginning, but for some reason not realizing that I haven't understood something has become more and more common over the last year and a half...I'm not sure if this is an Australian thing or if I just hadn't been exposed to in the past. Anyway, as it turns out, a progressive dinner is when you start dinner at one house, then dinner progresses to another person's house where more food is served. Brilliant idea. Here in Erskineville we're within walking distance to two of our friends' houses, so we thought it would work out quite well.
The first stop was Ashleigh's house where we snacked on fondue for appetizers (which inspired a 70's theme, though our accuracy in dress was questionable!) and imbibed Bec's version of my stepmom's Thanksgiving punch (tropical fruit juice with floating bits of sorbet, though this time it was lacking in ice and lemon-lime soda...two key ingredients!). Quite a tasty start to the night. Then we progressed to Shan and Seamus's house where they had set up a cozy outdoor atmosphere--surprising that it was possible considering it was raining like Seattle! But they had set up a few tarps (Marcus and I assisted with that set-up earlier in the day and we used some pieces of yarn to tie things up--apparently yarn is not a word they use here, they say wool, even though wool is a type of material, rather than a category of weaving materials...silly Aussies...even though they all thought it was hilarious that I said yarn). Anyhew, we all sat on every chair they could muster from their apartment, among coffee tables, lamps and candles--very close and intimate, which was fun! I somehow ended up in a chair that was right under a leak which was fine for a while because I had Bec's huge black fur jacket on. Ooh la la. But then the fur got soaked and I ended up looking like a wet cat, so Marcus, being the gentleman that he is, traded places with me and I stayed dry for at least a bit longer. For the main course we had meats and roasted veggies that were mmm mmm tasty. I am so pleased about the common use of pumpkin here! Then one of Shan and Seam's roommates, Cody, came out and played a few songs for us. We've seen him do a show and he's absolutely fantastic. He walks around with a happy aura all the time and he's an absolute joy to be around in general, and his performing is so much fun to watch. He got out his accordion and played a song, then broke out his banjo (I love the banjo!) and sang a song he wrote for the wedding of two of his friends. It's a song about shampoo and conditioner. It cracks me up!
As I sat there listening, safely out of the rain, I observed the group around me. To my left sat my lawyer...to the left of him a make-up artist, then a musician strumming away, an actress, a comedian, an award-winning writer, a marketing person, and another lawyer. Such grown-up jobs, and what an interesting group to be put together. I had both a positive and negative view of me, sitting between two lawyers--an admin....or a public servant. I'm going to go with public servant, because although I feel like an admin most of the time (because that's what I spend 8 hours a day doing), I'm a public servant at heart and that's where I want to be. Outside of me, though, I was just impressed by the variety in our group. I always thought it would be really cool to hang out with people with interesting jobs. I'll be one of those people some day, too! ;)
Finally we progressed to the shop for dessert (and I got a nasty little blister on the way--that's what I get for walking around in the rain in strappy heels!). Dessert was my failed attempt at coconut ice cream, shoved into a cup along with flourless chocolate cake, tart strawberry sauce and yet another semi-failed try at making brandysnaps. Separately, not quite exciting. All layered together? A perfect Valentine's Day dessert. It was actually Aidan's girlfriend's idea--she called it an "Eton mess". I thought she said "Eatin' mess" and I was thinking, "Yup, that sure would be a mess...something like that." I think it was a much better version than wikipedia's.
One of the best parts of the night? Ending at our place. As soon as we were done with dessert, it was around 1:30, 2:00 am and I was exhausted, so I said my good nights and went right to bed. No walking home in the rain and worrying more about stupidly high shoes. Just a nice comfy bed with someone to snuggle me. So good.
The first stop was Ashleigh's house where we snacked on fondue for appetizers (which inspired a 70's theme, though our accuracy in dress was questionable!) and imbibed Bec's version of my stepmom's Thanksgiving punch (tropical fruit juice with floating bits of sorbet, though this time it was lacking in ice and lemon-lime soda...two key ingredients!). Quite a tasty start to the night. Then we progressed to Shan and Seamus's house where they had set up a cozy outdoor atmosphere--surprising that it was possible considering it was raining like Seattle! But they had set up a few tarps (Marcus and I assisted with that set-up earlier in the day and we used some pieces of yarn to tie things up--apparently yarn is not a word they use here, they say wool, even though wool is a type of material, rather than a category of weaving materials...silly Aussies...even though they all thought it was hilarious that I said yarn). Anyhew, we all sat on every chair they could muster from their apartment, among coffee tables, lamps and candles--very close and intimate, which was fun! I somehow ended up in a chair that was right under a leak which was fine for a while because I had Bec's huge black fur jacket on. Ooh la la. But then the fur got soaked and I ended up looking like a wet cat, so Marcus, being the gentleman that he is, traded places with me and I stayed dry for at least a bit longer. For the main course we had meats and roasted veggies that were mmm mmm tasty. I am so pleased about the common use of pumpkin here! Then one of Shan and Seam's roommates, Cody, came out and played a few songs for us. We've seen him do a show and he's absolutely fantastic. He walks around with a happy aura all the time and he's an absolute joy to be around in general, and his performing is so much fun to watch. He got out his accordion and played a song, then broke out his banjo (I love the banjo!) and sang a song he wrote for the wedding of two of his friends. It's a song about shampoo and conditioner. It cracks me up!
As I sat there listening, safely out of the rain, I observed the group around me. To my left sat my lawyer...to the left of him a make-up artist, then a musician strumming away, an actress, a comedian, an award-winning writer, a marketing person, and another lawyer. Such grown-up jobs, and what an interesting group to be put together. I had both a positive and negative view of me, sitting between two lawyers--an admin....or a public servant. I'm going to go with public servant, because although I feel like an admin most of the time (because that's what I spend 8 hours a day doing), I'm a public servant at heart and that's where I want to be. Outside of me, though, I was just impressed by the variety in our group. I always thought it would be really cool to hang out with people with interesting jobs. I'll be one of those people some day, too! ;)
Finally we progressed to the shop for dessert (and I got a nasty little blister on the way--that's what I get for walking around in the rain in strappy heels!). Dessert was my failed attempt at coconut ice cream, shoved into a cup along with flourless chocolate cake, tart strawberry sauce and yet another semi-failed try at making brandysnaps. Separately, not quite exciting. All layered together? A perfect Valentine's Day dessert. It was actually Aidan's girlfriend's idea--she called it an "Eton mess". I thought she said "Eatin' mess" and I was thinking, "Yup, that sure would be a mess...something like that." I think it was a much better version than wikipedia's.
One of the best parts of the night? Ending at our place. As soon as we were done with dessert, it was around 1:30, 2:00 am and I was exhausted, so I said my good nights and went right to bed. No walking home in the rain and worrying more about stupidly high shoes. Just a nice comfy bed with someone to snuggle me. So good.
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