Tapas, Indian, Bargains, Brunch

On Thursday James and I had tapas at Rodizio in Cronulla. We used a voucher from LivingSocial.

I've blogged about the exact same meal - a tapas platter for two - once before. It was yummy but I think it would be worth spending a bit extra to choose different dishes.

The decor there is really nice, like a backyard BBQ.

I was wearing a too big smock tunic dress thing by Mink Pink and a knitted cardigan-coat hybrid, both from op shops. It was a bit experimental.

On Friday James and I had dinner with both our sets of parents (hello Joanne, David and Mum if you're reading*) at Murraya. I don't remember everything we ordered but it was all delicious.

I was wearing a different giant smock tunic thing this time but the coatigan and boots were the same. My tights are fleece lined! Cosiest thing in the world.

On Saturday I bravely went to Quick Cuts. For once my hair wasn't completely butchered. Thanks Kim! I also scored a few bargains at Priceline.

The ORLY polish was reduced to five bucks but it needs about six coats so I don't think I'll buy it again. The CoverGirl foundation was $14, not bad!

On Sunday I went to Book Club. We had brunch this month, and in honour of the Royal Anniversary it was a bit English themed.

The book we read was Wool by Hugh Howey, a scifi novella. I liked it; I'm keen to read the rest of the series. Thanks Eleanor for hosting!

Afterwards I ran errands, cleaned out my wardrobe and did some uni work, whilst wearing navy.

At one point James popped round with sticky date puddings and helped me make my bed with my electric blanket. I even took a picture of my neat room and freshly made bed but I guess I lost it.  Try not to be too jealous of my glamourous lifestyle.

On Monday we went to a cafe at uni, Out To Lunch, where I had a tasty orange hot chocolate.

This is actually James's tea, because I can't find my attractive hot chocolate picture either.  This new Blogger is confusing.

Our outfits matched! Red and navy FTW. Not intentional I promise.

I should clean my mirror.

And later we saw The Avengers. It's not exactly movie of the year but I rather enjoyed it. I like superhero movies, and this was a really good superhero movie.

I was a bit confused about the Hulk though. One minute he's fighting the good guys because he can't control himself, the next he's taking instructions and working with everyone. Can anyone explain? Anyway it was still good.

And today my sister got her Ps. Well done Betty!!

Things I've Been Doing Since I Returned From Canberra

Our local greengrocer (hello if you're reading!) keeps having all these awesome bargains. Mum made some tasty stuffed capsicums last week for a couple of dollars.

James and I had dinner at The Kyle Bay aka Blakehurst RSL, where two people can share a big seafood board for $38!

It was delicious. Shame about the $14 cocktails though.

I fed my neighbours' cats (hello Max and George if you are reading; nice job overcoming your lack of opposable thumbs) while they were away. When they came back they brought me this fancy package of tea and chocolate!

On the weekend we had everyone over to celebrate my aunty's birthday.

As with every family celebration, there was heaps of food.

About half of it was dessert.

On Monday James and I went to see The Hunger Games. I've wanted to read the book for about two years, and I didn't want to see the movie until I had, but I'm glad we saw it. If you're panicking because you don't know what I wore, don't worry!

The movie was really good and apparently quite true to the book. It was pretty horrific though. I read the plot summary when I first heard of the series and I'm glad I did; if I hadn't known the ending I would not have coped.

Oh, in case anyone didn't know, it's about a crazy dystopia where every year, 24 kids (two from each 'district') have to participate in a televised fight to the death, as a kind of ongoing punishment by the Capitol for the districts' rebellion many years ago.

I'm really excited to read the books. Big W has them on sale, 2 for $20. It would be more tempting were it not for the fact that there are three books in the series.

I didn't do anything for ANZAC day except uni work and online tests for grad jobs. And I ate some of these guys:

Today I had to do a thirty minute quiz at uni. Since I go to uni in another city like a chump, this takes six hours. But when I get back I'm meeting James for sushi, can't wait!

Get Loose

On Friday the finals of the competition were held. Since nobody from UOW made it to the finals, we didn't have to do anything!

James and I slept late, lazed around, then went back to The London for lunch and bumped in to the rest of out contingent there! This time my burger was something with tzatziki, it was so nice.

We watched the grand final debate, grabbed a quick bite at Maccas then got changed into our Circus finery for the final night party!

I was a ringmaster. Thanks Emily for loaning me the awesome jacket!*

Most of the UOW people dressed up, some as circus folk and Ryan, inexplicably, as a bee. With a naked bum.

Naturally the party was at Mooseheads. We were told the bar tab would be huge. We only got two drinks per person but I didn't mind buying my own because amazingly everything was $3.50!

I guess at Mooseheads it's still 1997 because they had a blue light disco. Personally I love stuff like that; I think it made my G&T look a bit cool.

I chatted to lots of people from different universities too.  It was nice to hang out with them in a normal social setting instead of just chatting between debates.  It was a really fun party, the perfect way to end our Canberra adventure.

Thanks ANU Easters organisers! And thanks UOW contingent for all being such good fun!

Frankly Embarrassing

Thursday was spent adjudicating again. We were provided with a third of a Subway sandwich each for lunch and a mini packet of chips for afternoon tea, but since that's barely any food we also hung out at Degree Cafe a fair bit.

I had an acceptable friand but my hot chocolate was made with syrup, way too sweet!

The debates ran late, of course, so when I made it back to the hotel I had to race like crazy to get ready for the formal dinner. My shelf was in quite a state by the end of it.

Before

After

If you wondered I wore one of my Year Twelve formal dresses, with tights and a trench coat of course.

You can't see that well but it's black lace over gold satin. I bought it from eBay for about twelve dollars. James wore a suit but I don't have a snap.

The rest of the contingent scrubbed up pretty well! Hello everyone if you're reading!

As did my ex school chums from the UNSW contingent. (Hello Sarah & Adela! It was such fun seeing you both, and Georgia too.)

And this awesome girl Kat from Griffith - hello if you're reading!  She has a blog too, Musings of a Hedonist.

Her black lace + sock bun + eyeliner look really reminded me of Adele, I wish I could look like that. Amy if you're reading can you please teach me how to do liquid eyeliner?

 

The food was pretty great. To start I had this tasty salt and pepper squid and the other option was a beef salad.

My main was duck with sweet potato mash, which I loved.

The other main was beef, which wasn't that good, with a garlicky creamy mash, which was so amazing.

They announced the finalists at dinner too. The highlight was when Melbourne Two broke, because all the Melbourne students just went wild, they were obviously all so excited to see that team get through. My high school was so competitive that once, when I was third speaker in a debate, the first and second speakers refused to tell me what points they were going to raise lest I 'copy'. So I always enjoy people who have a not-insane attitude toward their peers' achievements.

The lowlight was the way the Sydney contingent carried on every time they broke. They're great at debating but they need to work on not making everyone else hate you.

 

Afterwards there was an after party at some club but after a few minutes there James and I decided to walk home in the freezing cold instead. We saw these cool light things while we were walking.

All in all a fun night. It was like the school formal except with alcohol and without food poisoning.

Snaps to the Rydges Lakeside for putting on a good spread!