Comedy Festival - Dave Hughes...

It has been several years since I have been to see Dave Hughes at the Comedy Festival. I try and go to at least one show every year as a bit of a night out. The last time I saw Dave Hughes would have been back during The Glass House days. I used to go with some friends from school but then we found he was starting to recycle some material year after year and other material was stuff already heard either on TV or the radio.

Dave Hughes - Freezer Bread

The show doesn't really have a theme, and is more him wandering back and forth across the stage telling random jokes about life and incidental things he has come across in his daily travels. He is funny, but even last night there were at least three jokes that Id already either heard on TV or heard on the radio. 

We were going to eat before the show but were running a bit late so instead had frozen yoghurt at Cacao Green, where they have delicious frozen yoghurt. We got addicted to this stuff (Red Mango as it's called everywhere other than Australia) in New York several years ago now so always take the opportunity to have some when we can.

Cacao Green, corner Swanston and Lonsdale Streets, Melbourne

We were thinking about eating dinner after the show but it was a bit late so instead just took the train home. Of course, Melbourne public transport being as dodgy as it is, there is never a dull moment on a train. I feel like the trains in New York and Boston were much safer than here, as even though there was never a dull moment in New York in particular, it was an entertaining not a dull moment. Here they are just odd/scary/offputting/weird not dull moments. Last night, a lady was listening to her headphones, dressed in a Carlton guernsey, and kept yelling out the score at random moments. "TWENTY MINUTES TO GO - NOT GONNA WIN!", "OH NO, HE MISSED IT! FIFTEEN MINUTES TO GO", or this one: "103 TO 84 - 21 POINTS THE MARGIN", to which another random guy crunching on a pizza opposite her replied, "It's 19 points, darling, not 21, do your maths right". The pizza guy kept egging her on, and at one stage he started saying, "Canterbury? Canterbury's winning?" to which she replied, "Canterbury?" and he said "Yeah, Canterbury Sharks, rugby", and she yelled back "YOU'RE IN THE WRONG STATE, MATE!", which got a few laughs from the other passengers, and he mumbled back "I'm just stirring her, I know what's going on." Oh dear. We got some late night KFC on the way home for a very late dinner.

Have you been to a Comedy Festival Show? If you're not from Melbourne, do you wish there was more of a comedy presence in your city/town?

Babies Galore...

Everyone I know seems to have either literally just had a baby or be about to have one. At a stretch, if they don't fall into one of these two categories, they're having a baby sometime later this year.

Blueberry beanie and matching booties, patterns from Ravelry.com

One of the girls at work just had her first baby - she waited to find out what gender it was until it was born! I could never do that. I knitted this beanie and booties set for her. I'm wondering if the beanie is a bit big but he will grow into it eventually.

It really does seem like everyone is having a baby. Even the authors of at least five blogs I read regularly have either had a baby or will be having one in the next few months. There are people I would never have seen as the baby type who are mere months away from having their first child. It definitely gets you thinking. Originally, we had planned to wait a couple of years after getting married before starting to try for a baby, but now I'm wondering if I want to wait that long. Several years ago, I was diagnosed with nodules on my ovaries which was said at the time could possibly turn into PCOS down the track and make conceiving difficult. I'm thinking maybe I need to get checked out again, because I don't want to stick to the 'wait a couple of years' plan if I'm going to be wasting two years when things might already be difficult enough. I guess only the doctor can answer this one for me. This is partly why I'm going to try as hard as I can and persist with the whole healthier eating thing - if I get into a good habit now, I'll have no trouble eating healthier if and when I do get pregnant. I want to share a baby with my husband and go through the next phase of our relationship. I want to experience being pregnant and taking care of a new baby, experience naming and bathtimes and dressing the baby in cute clothes and watching them grow. It makes me feel like I am missing out - everyone is having this little new person come into their lives and there is really not much stopping me. The only two things stopping me are that I'm not sure whether I want to travel more first, and also that Derek says he isn't ready. At least he said he is negotiable on the whole two years plan, so that is something. It may be a fleeting feeling with all the other people having babies. He said to wait a few months and see how I feel then to know if it's a phase or something I'm more serious about. I just don't know that I want to wait two years anymore (well a year and a half, as we have already been married almost 6 months) and I am kind of worried about if there is anything going on internally which might make things difficult for me to actually conceive.

Do you know anyone who is having a baby this year? Are you the odd one out in your friendship/work/family circle not having babies?

Kicking Pepsi to the curb...

I am trying really hard to lose some weight. I have been trying for the last two years but nothing seems to work. It is very frustrating and depressing. My main vices are potato chips and Pepsi. I got onto drinking Pepsi when I was young (around 3 years of age) and my mum gave it to me in a desperate attempt to get me to swallow my mashed potatoes from my dinner (I've always been a fussy eater). Since then, I have had a Pepsi every night with my dinner. Every night for the last 25 or so years.

I have tried exercising at the gym (a little toning but not a kilo lost), exercising at home or walking around the neighbourhood (boring and hard to stick to), cutting back on junk foods (but very hard to ignore cravings), and I have tried to cut out soft drink before. However I've not stuck with it. My aim now is to cut out one bad thing every three weeks to establish a new, better habit, before moving onto the next thing. In the meantime, I will try as best I can to start getting other substitutes happening, but not beat myself up if I don't do right 100% of the time.

 I buy around 6 of these a week and Derek and I go through them all every week.

One of the things that has made me make Pepsi a priority over chips is that I notice when we don't wash up a glass that had Pepsi in it straight away, the next morning the bottom of the glass is coated in a sticky brown residue. It makes me think of how all my intestines and stomach must also be covered in this sticky brown slime!

This time, I am going to quit cold turkey. I really enjoy water so am replacing Pepsi with water (I drink a couple of litres of water a day already), but it is hard to battle the headaches and ignore the constant brain signals telling you to go get a swig of Pepsi!

What have you given up in the name of a healthier you? What were some challenges you faced? How did you power through?

My wedding...

My wedding took place on October 6, 2012, and, although I was still blogging on the old blog back then, I didn't have any wedding photos to share. Now I do! The day was absolutely perfect from start to finish. All my hard work and planning paid off and everything went off smoothly. I had one bridesmaid, Derek had one groomsman (all the way from Boston, MA!) and we had two flower girls. Our wedding was on the 'intimate' side with only 30 guests (a few extras showed up to watch the ceremony), but this was perfect as I felt like I actually knew everyone there and I got to spend time with everyone (although not always lots of time - it's amazing how many ways you have to spread your attention at your own wedding!). Enjoy the photos...

The guys said it was super awkward being told by the photographer to "act natural - dress each other" as they never have dressed each other before!

 

One of Derek's friends sent some Johnny Walker Platinum as a gift so Derek served it. Jimmy was responsible for buying it at duty free and barely got it through airport security!

Jimmy is a bit of a jokester. He was the life of the party (and saved the visit from Derek's parents being more torturous than it was) - everyone commented on his great personality!

Can you believe the background is just outside the window?
 

 

Why do photographers insist on over-brightening photos when they edit them? I look a bit drunk in this photo.

 

My sister had a self tanning disaster the night before the wedding!

I had originally wanted turquoise dresses but couldn't find any, so settled for this lavender colour.

Um, you don't even have a watch on! And I was on time because I was told very sternly by the priest to be on time!

 

My mum walked me down the aisle as my Dad passed away after my sister's wedding in 2011.

My sister 'claims' she didn't know she had to do a reading (I specifically remember asking her on Facebook chat one day) so this meant for an awkward moment in the church when the priest called on her and she nearly refused to get up and read!

Our friend, Cass, sung a song. Our church was quite liberal and our priest encouraged our own music and readings which were meaningful to us rather than the standard hymns and prayers. He kept asking us to find a friend who played music or sung, so we asked Cass! She did an amazing job and sung 'At Last'. 

I don't like kissing shots (find them cheesy/tacky) but you have to put that one in!

 

These guys showed up late and walked in seconds before my cousins started walking down the aisle!

I love this series of four photos and have them framed in my house in a vertical four shot frame.

It was super cold and windy at the beach that day - around 15 degrees and had been raining on and off all day. Luckily there was no rain while we were at the beach as the bathing boxes provided a beautiful and bright backdrop for our photos, and the wind gave the photos great movement. In reality we were a bit cold!

 

This photo is hilarious as my sister's husband is so ridiculously tall compared to the rest of us shorties!

Derek and his work friends (my sister also worked there for several years so they're all friends of hers, too). Keep in mind Jimmy had never met these people before the reception, but is again acting the fool!

My Uncle was M.C. for the evening.

The venue was absolutely perfect. Delicious food and good portions, a warm, intimate space (they also have a much larger room for bigger weddings), great service, and a lovely view out onto the beach. People commented on how fantastic the reception venue was and how great the manager was.

My Mum made the 'mother of the bride' speech. She did an outstanding job.

Derek's father made his speech. Unfortunately it was more like a 21st birthday speech as it just harped on about Derek's life and achievements, and didn't mention anything about us as a couple (he isn't happy Derek lives in Melbourne and not Boston). Derek was highly embarrassed by it all! 

I made cue cards for my speech - having done debating since 1999, I am a regular at public speaking! 

Take your hand out of your pocket and open your eyes!

Our first dance. We didn't really practise so kind of did the whole sway around thing. Derek went for a turn and I don't know how I didn't slip over - I could feel the back of my dress catch under my shoe and me slide across the floor. No one seemed to notice but I was sure I was going to fall over in front of everyone for what felt like a good few minutes there!

Jimmy's face in these two photos is priceless!

Surprise!

My Uncle danced with me (I think because this was the second dance and it was like him stepping in for the father-daughter dance, I will always remember this gesture as it was really nice).

Mid-Nutbush.

Americans have never heard of the Nutbush before - can you believe it??!! When the Nutbush started up at my sister's wedding, Derek sat there flabbergasted. Jimmy was right in it this year, though, and got up, hooked his thumbs through his belt loops, and proceeded to do a boot scooting version of the Nutbush, learning it on the spot!

My Mum was very excited to dance with all the guys. She loved Jimmy!

This series of mid-dance moves is terrible!

Trying to get a 14 year old to dance!

Priceless face!

My Mum was excited to dance with 'cute' Xavier.

You can just see the bouquet in the top of the photo there! 

Farewell circle.

Leaving.

Our specialists:

Photography   Erin Camille Photography for TML Media, John O'Neill

Church   St. Peter's Catholic Church, East Bentleigh, Victoria

Reception   The Beaumaris (contact the wonderful Leanne Doll)

Bridal Gown   Henry Roth at Spurling Glen Waverley

Bridesmaid Dress   Forever New

Groom and Best Man Suits   Calvin Klein at Men's Wearhouse Braintree MA, USA

Men's Ties   Peter Jackson Southland Cheltenham

Flower Girls Dresses   Pumpkin Patch DFO Moorabbin

Wedding Rings and Engagement Ring   JMS Diamonds Melbourne

Bride, Bridesmaid, and Flower Girl hair combs and clips   Lulu Splendor on Etsy

Bride's shoes   Cole Haan

Hair   It's Individual Hair Design Berwick

Makeup   Joelle D

Flowers   Samantha at Flowering Spice Cheltenham

Cake   Shannon at The Sweet Mix

DJ   Jeff Bates (A.K.A. DJ Bater)

Paper for Invites   The Paper Place Mount Waverley (I made all invites, place cards, and thank you cards)