Polly Dolly - In (The) Navy

Thirsday has rolled around again, which means its Polly Dolly time! ( As brough to you by the ever gorgeous Dani over at Danimezza ). This week, Dani must be feeling a little "blue " because she wants to see how Polly wears....
Polly Dolly - In (The) NavyPolly has gone a little retro and matched this cute, striped, 50's style dress with red polka dot wedges. Cats eye sunglasses keep with the retro styling and the gold locket keeps the stripes/dots combo the focus. A bit of red lipgloss, neautral eyes behind the sunnies and layers of her favourite "day" fragrance and Polly is ready for her day!
How would you do navy stripes?

Happy Birthday!

....to my very handsome, kind of crazy, but insanely loveable husband Mick!
Unfortunately its a weekday which means he has to work, but i'm looking forward to having him home tonight and sharing birthday dinner and dessert with him. I'm doing a pork and pear tray bake ( pork rashers and pears in a maple syrup marinade, oven baked ) and a dessert i'm calling a Layered Dessert Brownie ( chopped up brownies layered in a tall glass with raspberries, homemade custard , chocolate sauce and coconut ). There is no birthday cake because, again unfortunately, poor Mick has to work later than normal on his birthday, so we are inviting the family around on Sunday morning to do a belated birthday celebration.

I was also hoping to suprise both my boys by putting up our Christmas tree while Flynn had his nap this afternoon - however, after going out to the shed (in the rain! ) to bring all the Christmas stuff back inside i discovered we are missing half our tree! Methinks my stupid wonderful husband may have accidentally thrown some of it out when he did a clean up earlier this year... bah humbug to that!

Ah well - hopefully my hubby is enjoying his birthday at work as much as he can, and i can do the tree tomorrow while Flynn sleeps. After all, its bad luck to put it up before December 1st anyway, isnt it?

How Much? This Much....

I posted a few pics last week of Flynn getting his giggle on, playing outside under our sprinkler. That seems to be what Aussie kids do - we're a country of water babies, and our kids love play in, and around, water.
Unfortunately this means there is a lot of drowning risks for our little ones too, especially when they're not being properly supervised. We all know about the dangers of swimming at the beach or in backyard pools, but just 15ml is enough for a small child to drown in. Just " this much ", as we might put it.
"This Much " is an apt name , then, for a new campaign aimed at educating Australians about the risk of childhood drowning. About being vigilant not just when at the pool or beach, but when our kids are in the bath or playing with a bucket under the backyard hose. Being able to hear them is not quite good enough - we need to be watching them too.

You can join the campaign - just like celebrity supporters such as David Wenham, Georgie Gardner and Amanda - by checking out the Facebook page or watch the video below and spread the message:

PKNA #18 - Ancient Future is up!




Yet another issue finished by Banker:

MegaUpload
PKNA #18 - Ancient Future

MediaFire
PKNA #18 - Ancient Future


Man, remember the old days when we'd barely get through an issue in a month? Things sure have picked up speed around here.

Mothers Helper

I read a very interesting article in this months Madison magazine, about mothers using alcohol as a coping mechanism to make it through the day. It seemed, to the author, that there is a growing number of mums who use the reward of a glass of wine at the end of the day as a way to make through the muck and mire that can be day-to-day child-rearing.


Baby's screaming and the toddler is drawing on the walls? Its ok, i can have a wine soon. No-ones done any homework, dinner is nowhere near ready and 3 kids still need to have a bath? No worries, i can crack open a nice red as soon as they're asleep.

I guess what the question the article was posing is a) when did this become the stressed-out mummy norm? and b) is it really acceptable, and where do we draw the line?

I am not a big drinker at all - yes i got myself merrily sloshed at my recent wedding, and shared a bottle of wine with my new husband a few nights on our honeymoon, but before that the most i'd had to drink in over a year was 3 glasses of wine at my hens party. Despite doing the typical teenage thing and getting drunk at the pub of a weekend ( which i gave up pretty early on - kept up the clubbing, but spent my nights dancing with a can of Coke in my hand ), i've never really understood the compulsion to drink. Maybe its because i'm yet to find a bevvie that just really hits the palate so well that i MUST have it, but i dont "get" the need for a wine/beer/Breezer after a long day. Especially when this need becomes not one glass a few nights a week but 3 or 4 glasses EVERY night.

I dont want you to think i'm passing judgment - unless this compulsion becomes full-blown alcoholism i dont see anything wrong with a tipple or two, i just dont "get " it. Kind of the same way my mum doesnt "get " blogging, or my brother doesnt understand my very real and deep love for " That 70's Show ".

Maybe i'm boring, but my preferred form of escapsim after a stressful day of Flynn-related craziness is to relax with a book, to escape into someone elses life for a half hour or so, and forget about the massive tantrum thats just been thrown or how many dirty nappies i've changed that day.

So is it just me - is a drink after the kids bedtime the best way to relax? Is there something i'm missing?

A couple of useful links



We've been missing an upload link for #11, so I've finally gotten around to that. It can be found here: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=I32B4EYD

Also some people have been having trouble with MegaUpload not working in their country, so I've made some MediaFire mirrors for the newly translated comics. I've already shared them in the comment section, but I thought it might be good to share them up here too.

PKNA #12 - http://www.mediafire.com/?33hfbmh34lz40hz
PKNA #15 - http://www.mediafire.com/?w978f8kt26j3oi6
PKNA #16 - http://www.mediafire.com/?6kdhewm0dwll41g
PKNA #17 - http://www.mediafire.com/?bw102nxhdgts9if

Freebie and a Sale!

In honor of Black Friday (and a bunch of time to lay on the couch with my computer!), I am having a sale on my Teachers Pay Teacher store.  Everything is 20% off until Monday, November 28th at midnight.   I just added Memory game (or flash cards) flash cards for the first 220 Dolch sight words.  Just click here for a FREE sample (the first 25 words):



Free Sample of first 25 Dolch Word Memory Game

Coming Up Next

So - you might have heard but if you havent, two of my favourite bloggers are pregnant. The gorgeous Holly from Good Golly Miss Holly! and the beautiful Ames from Tutu Ames are both growing cute little baby-buns in their ovens and i couldnt be happier for them ( its funny how you can feel so happy for people you dont actually "know" ). Hopefully, i'll be next to the join them.


Because, yes - as happy as i am for both these beautiful ladies, i'm also just the teeny, tiniest bit jealous. I wants me another baby, and i want it now! Its no secret, I've mentioned the desire for a second child numerous times here on the blog. Mick and I have been married for 3 weeks tomorrow and , at the risk of being TMI, we started trying the day after the wedding. ( We would have started trying on the wedding night but, truthfully, who has energy left for that kind of thing after the wedding ? ) But....no luck yet.

My fingers are crossed our time will be soon. We've already started talking to Flynn about the possibility of another baby, and though he doesnt really understand, he does tell me " Bruvva mum. Baby bruvva. " Its the cutests thing - i cant wait to see how he'd actually be as a big brother. Fantastic, i'm sure. But, for now, its a wait and see. So whilst i loko forward to hearing all about Holly and Ames adventures in pregnancy, i cant wait to blog again about my own...

Polly Dolly - Drive Me Crazy

So Thursday - and what have we here? Another Polly Dolly challenge, devised by the gorgeous Dani over at Danimezza. This week, after road testing a new Volvo for the week, Dani has gone a bit car crazy, and wants to know what Polly would wear when she's off for a....

Polly Dolly - Drive Me CrazyPolly is off for a romantic drive with her new husband ( wink, wink, nudge, nudge! ) and she's doing it 70's style. I'm a bit obsessed with leopard print at the moment so i've given her a 70's style maxi dress in a not-too-overwhelming leopard print, and paired with some wedges and a gorgeous pair of over-sized sunnies. A scarf is necessary to stop her hair blowing in the wind whilst they zip along in their (rented, of course... ) luxury convertible, as is the sunscreen. Sunburn is so not chic!

I am thankful!

I am so blessed! There are many things that I am thankful for this year. I have an amazing and close-knit family. I love teaching and feel like this is a calling- I just don't know what else I would do! I've been reading a lot about gratitude and thank God for every day that I am alive.  Inspired by the fun blog: What the Teacher Wants, I've made a list as we enter this long weekend of family and thanks.

1. What are you thankful for in your classroom?
    My books!  I've been working hard at collecting and purchasing 
    "just right" leveled books, as well as quality picture/story books 
    for my students to enjoy.

2. What person are you most thankful for?

     I am SO THANKFUL for my sweet husband, Matt.  We 
     celebrated our 15th anniversary this past October.  I am 
     amazed  that he stuck around me and my crazy- it must be 
     LOVE!  Matt understands my dedication to my school family 
     and even cuts out laminated card stock games while watching 
    sports on the weekends :)

3. What 3 blogs are you most thankful for?

    I have been inspired by so many amazing teachers in the last 6 
    months.  I was in a panic when I made the decision to move to  
    1st grade.  Without the blog world, I'd be lost!  Here are a few 
    of my favorites:



4. What guilty pleasure are you most thankful for? 

    I love my Kindle and enjoy reading trashy vampire romance  
    novels.  At least on my Kindle no one will see the cover and 
    make fun of me!  Do I understand that this is mind candy?  Yes!  
    However, I do read a lot of professional books and popular 
    novels too.  This is my escape when family and work gets 
    overwhelming..... and it keeps me from eating sour cream n' 
    cheddar Ruffles!

5. What are you most thankful for?

    I am most thankful that I have been blessed with a wonderful    
    family.  My parents, brother, sweet sisters-in-law, my brother-
    in-law, grandparents and extended family (I see them all too 
    regularly!) have made my life better and love my children as 
    much as I do.  Praise God for the gift of my family!

Bring On The Sun!

So the lovely Suger did a post a few days ago about how much she was enjoying the slow ride into summer, and about how when she left Sydney for Queensland she took the sun and the warmth with her. Well, Miss Suger - i want it back!

You cant do this in the cold...

Its only been four days but i am tired of the rain and am longing for the sun we had last week. I want to go the park with my mothers group and let our littlies run around in the sunshine, instead of having to take them to the indoor playground again. I want go be able to wear one of the cute dresses i bought on our honeymoon instead of having to rug up in one of Mick's big hoodies ( yep, it was that chilly today! ). And Flynn has been saying " Outside Mum. I want sprinkler! " for the last four days straight - he's not even 2 yet and already he has the "bug ", that seemingl Aussie knack to be outside and preferably with water during the warmer months.

.... or this! Bring back summer!

So, Suger and/or whoever else may be responsible for taking the sunshine and the warmth and replacing it with a very crappy psuedo-winter - give it back! I need my sunshine and i need it now!

NEW COMICS! Old comics! NEW TRANSLATORS! (and some heartfelt apologies)



Okay, show of hands, how many of you thought I was long dead?

ANYWAY - Hi, guys, I am so sorry for abandoning you. I went from having tons of free time to almost none at all, and it also coincided with me moving country - so I was quite distracted, to put it mildly.

But as it turns out, people haven't stopped working, as anybody reading the enormous comment section on the last post knows. But for anybody else:

Since I left, old and new translators have translated new issues, and are currently up to issue #17. Issues #13 and #14 were translated long ago over at www.immaginario.net, so those are here too,

The links:

PKNA #12 - Second Draft
PKNA #13 - The Darkest Night
PKNA #14 - Carpe Diem
PKNA #15 - Camera/Action
PKNA #16 - Special Maintenance
PKNA #17 - Shooting Star

Just to make it clear: I can't take credit for any of this, neither as a translator or administrator. When I left, these awesome people just took over the reins. But what I can do to help, is to send this message out to the people who joined our short-lived mailing list. I want as many people as possible to know that translating is still happening.

As for the old comics, here's a handy list of download links:


What else... Well, I'd like to apologize for leaving once again. The new translators seem to be running the joint quite well, but if there's anything I can do to help, administration-wise, they're very welcome to write. And I promise I'll actually respond, as opposed to what I've been doing these last few months.
For all I know you guys have already got a system in place, but if you don't, I might be able to help organize multiple translators.

Oh, and in case anybody wants to know: The font we used for most of our translations back in the day is called Anime Ace. That seems to be the most frequently asked question on my email, so I just figured I'd throw that out there.

The mailing list thing I will do tomorrow. And, yes, I promise not to forget and disappear.

Thank you for your patience,
Lord Birch

By Any Other Name

I had my first day back at work today after 3 weeks off and do you know what i realised? Holy mackerel there are a lot of places where i'm going to have to change my name! I've already had to email two seperate departments in my organisation and they're happy to change it from my maiden name to married name without a marriage certificate - but for all the other official type stuff ( bank/RTA/Centrelink ) I'll have to wait.



Truth be told, i really dont want to wait, I'm excited about having a new name. Funnily enough , a few of my friends expressed suprise that i was going to change to Micks surname - i've always been a bit of an independent/girl power type of woman ( to the point where i told Mick if he was ever going to  propose he was NOT to ask my father for permission - i'm not an object to be handed off ! ) and they had assumed i would just keep my own name. But, despite my firm belief in having my own identity as a woman, i'd never even thought about NOT changing my name. Why? Changing my name, to me, is another symbol of our unity as a couple. I'm not saying you cant be united with different surnames - if that works for you then great - but for me i couldnt wait to be " Mrs Amy F ", wife of Mick F and, equally importantly .... mother to Flynn F.

I know that there are lots of mums out there who have different names to their offspring - i mean, so did i for the first 22 months of Flynn's life - but changing my name feels like making our little family unit really complete. Not complete in the sense that we wont be adding to it ( fingers crossed! ) but complete in that we're all one and the same now, all bound together for everyone to see.

Sure i may not be overly fussed to share the same name as my FIL ( hell, thats a whole other post .... ) but i'm Mick's wife and i'm Flynn's mum and i'm happy and proud for everyone to so obviously know it!

Polly Dolly - Purple Princess AND Gym Junkie

So - i think we all know that Thursdays around here mean my participation in Polly Dolly, the most awesome fashion challenge ever  ( as set every week by the gorgeous Dani, from Danimezza ). This week, however, there is double the challenge because Dani did a Polly Dolly post on Tuesday aswell as today. So - challenge #1: Dani would like to know how we'd dress Miss Polly in the colour....

 
Polly Dolly - Purple Princess AND Gym Junkie
I absolutely fell in love with this gorgeous feathered mini! I kept everything else pared down, so the outfit didnt get too overwhelming - a fitted white blouse, purple heels, a sweet Marc Jacobs necklace and colour-matched clutch. Pair a sleek high bun, a soft mauve eye and a spritz of my favourite nighttime fragrance and Polly makes a beautiful purple princess...

Which brings us to challenge #2: after a big night out in her gorgeous purple mini, what would Polly wear to hit the...
If she were anything like me when i was a gym junkie ( i was a 6 days a week girl, but when i got pregnant i had to stop going because i couldnt afford the membership. I miss it! ) she'd wear 3/4 length yoga pants, an exercise tank for ease of movement and a good sports bra. Water and tunes are essential for the treadmill, and her onw yoga mat so she cool down in comfort ( or hit yoga class after her run ). A Powerade to restore the electrolytes and then Polly is ready to hit the showers!

Best.Wedding.Ever.

So...Saturday the 5th of November... best.day.ever. In the history of days. Yes, i'm happy to say that my wedding went off without a hitch ( ok, the only thing that went even close to wrong is that my guestbook wasnt ready on time, so we didnt have it at the reception. Absolutely not a problem, in the scheme of things... ) and despite my usual ability to put so much expectation on an event that i end up disappointed... i wasnt. I loved it! All of it - the hair and the makeup pampering, the ceremony, the photos and the reception was the best party i've been to in forever.

And i can say with complete honesty, i wasnt nervous. My photography, who is a goood friend of mine, asked halfway through the day if i was starting to get nervous and i said " No, i dont feel nervous, and you know why? Because everything just feels so right. " Hell, even my hair stylist said i was the most relaxed, upbeat, no stress bride she's ever seen and joked that she should invite me back whenever she has to deal with a bridezilla, just so they can see how it is possible to NOT turn into a monster on your wedding day!

I loved every aspect to my day - my hair was absolutely the way i had hoped it would look ( hot rolled into loose curls and then pinned low and to the side a little to make like a messy, romantic bun type thing ); my makeup, which i wasnt totally in love with at the trial, totally came together when we changed the colour of lippie and i felt gooooooooooorgeous; my dress fit perfectly and my shoes were comfy; the ceremony was sweet and romantic and it was ok that i broke into a giggle when i stumbled on the words a bit; the photo session was fun and casual enough that i felt i could be natural and not all posed and fake; and, like i said, the reception totally rocked!

Just for those who were curious ( if any ), we didnt exactly script our own vows. What i did do, however, is read through a lot of examples and take out what i loved from each of them, and cobbled them into one set of vows that would work for us. Which, if your interested, ended up as this:

I call upon the persons here present

to witness that I, Amy take you, Michael
to be my lawful wedded husband.
Michael – all that i am, and all that i have,
i offer to you, in love and in joy.
I promise to be there when you need me,
to fill your days with sunshine,
to comfort you and to encourage you,
and to hold you close to my heart,
long enough to last a lifetime.

We had a cocktail style reception and, i'm glad to say, we didnt run out of food! In fact, we had a tonne left over that we were too full to eat ( but i'd rather have too much than not enough ) plus our wedding cake ( which i looooooooooved! ) and our guests only used up half the bar tab we had allowed, so everyone left satisfied. And, despite the tradition being the bride and groom leave first, Mick and i ended up being the last to leave, just before midnight, because we were having such a good time!

Of course, there will be more wedding photos at some point when theyre done, and maybe a honeymoon rundown, but for now, the only other thing i can say is - best.damn.wedding.EVER!

Introducing The New Mrs F!

Which, of course would be me... i'm back ladies and gentleman, as a married lady and (almost) with a new name. I know i havent posted for a bit over a week but, of course, after the actual wedding day Mick and i flitted off our honeymoon to the Gold Coast, living Flynn at home with Grandma and Poppy.

I will post in more detail shortly, but for now, i thought it might be nice to make my blogging comeback with a brief hello and a sneak peek of our wedding photos ( if your friends with me on Facebook you can see a few more that our photographer has posted ). So for now, i'll head off to fold some more clean washing, you can check out the few littlew piccies and i'll promise a more in depth post tomorrow!


(This one is one of my favourites that i've seen thus far... )

Readers & Writers Workshop Organization

I have a confession to make... I'm an organizational freak!  I love me some organizational forms!  My teaching partners have called me a geek (but they enjoy the benefits!).  The main reason I stay organized is because I have a terrible memory and usually too many balls in the air (professionally and personally).  I find that if I am organized, nothing gets missed and my students benefit.  I can be a more effective teacher if I know the child's specific needs and am able to recall what I have already taught them and what they are still working on as a reader or writer.

This past week, I spent a lot of time analyzing my system and thinking about how I can be more effective in my practice during writers and readers workshop, as well as keeping up with guided reading times.  I came up with a few new forms and modified some older ones that I had been using to keep track of student progress and planning.  I also put them all in a binder, instead of my clipboard that always seem to have pages falling off.  As always, just having the forms, does not mean we will all use them..... my personal goal is to ALWAYS use them as a way to help my kiddos succeed and love reading and writing.

Following some advice from a friend, I am posting them on TeachersPayTeachers.  However, the first 3 people to comment on this post will get it for free!  Just give your email address :)  I will also have it on sale at TPT until Monday night (11/14/11) for $1.


Teachers Pay Teachers page

Fukuichi

This is going to be a short post and a supplement to my earlier Chiraishi (see link) entry.

I’ve loved Fukuichi since it was in PSA building and I’m happy to report that it has maintained its standards after moving to Triple One Somerset. I love love love the Kani Tofu (tofu with crab mayo inside drizzled with century egg sauce) and the almond crusted tempura prawns there!

B lives right near by so it’s now the “perfect neighbourhood Jap joint”. That night I ordered the Chiraishi don and B ordered the teriyaki (I think) beef set. I can’t speak for him but my chiraishi was simply lovely. It’s less hearty than Botan or Matsuo’s but the quality of the sashimi was fantastic. If I remember correctly it’s a bit pricier – but note: I am comparing the former two’s lunch set prices to Fukuichi’s dinner ala carte menu.

I imagine we will be making many more repeat visits here, woot!

Kumo

I’m flying to Tokyo with the new boss for work next week but we decided on Jap for my welcome lunch anyway. Kumo is a (year + old?) Japanese restaurant at Icon Village, Tanjong Pagar which looks interesting but unfortunately also intimidating (read: atas and expensive) from the outside.

But like I said, this was a welcome lunch and on corporate account so….

I had the $38++ set and it comprised a few courses:

First, we had a simple salad. Second up was the sashimi course. Hmm. Yes, fresh indeed. But serving was a bit small – such a tease, I was left wanting more.

Luckily, the bento set more than made up for the petite appetizer portions. From left upper corner clockwise, there was the goat cheese salad, the prawn and vege tempura, two pieces of grilled saba fish and a small hill of beef sukiyaki (dried stir-fried, not soup). These came with rice and soup too.

We were stuffed but the sorbet dessert was very refreshing so we polished that off anyway.

Overall, a good meal. I can’t complain, since this was a treat. But objectively, Kumo’s set lunch was Tatsuya/Aoki pricing and the experience just fell short. The restaurant was packed with similar “business lunch” types though so I’m guessing it’s good if you have an expense account.

I doubt this will be a regular lunch joint for me. If the Jap craving hits, I’d walk (and mind you it’s a long walk now that I’m at Chartis Building) all the way to Botan for my chiraishi fix.

Stability ball chairs


For the past 3 years, my students have been sitting on yoga balls, instead of chairs.  I got rid of all of the chairs in my room except for by our computer stations.  Why would I make this move?  What are the benefits?

In my second year of teaching kindergarten, I had a class of 18 boys and 6 girls.  Yikes!  They were a BUSY bunch and I needed to incorporate even more movement into our day.  That was also the year that I has a student with ASD in my room.  I attended many special education trainings and professional development on movement in the classroom (also the topic of my Master's thesis).  I met a teacher in our county that has been using yoga balls in her room for chairs and had incorporated yoga breaks throughout her day.  This was it- a light bulb went on!  This was my solution.  Unfortunately, I couldn't secure funds in time to benefit my class that year, however the special education department gave me a grant to purchase a class set, based on my research.  I studied the work of Eric Jensen along with many others.  Through his research, I also found the support for recess and movement breaks benefiting learning and achievement.  Here are links to some research references and a Jensen article that is user friendly (for us non-brain scientists!).

Reference list for Play & Movement (download file - the Google view looks weird, but the file is good)

Jensen article link
Recess document link

There are 3 main purposes for using the ball chairs and incorporating movement into the classroom:
  1. Movement increases blood flow to the brain, which is better for brain function (and learning!).
  2. Movement helps children "get the wiggles out" which aides their natural need to move.  This helps them focus by expending the excess energy they build up throughout the day.
  3. Sitting on a stability ball supports and builds their core mucles.  Pediatritians are finding that children in the last 10 years are suffering from poor core strength due to the pratices that are used while they are infants and small children (swings, back to sleep, car seats/ carriers, strollers, activity rings).  They are not developing the same strength as previous generations.  This also helps develop large motor muscles, which support small motor muscles (think writing and hand strength).

The following year, I introduced them to my kindergartners right away, beginning with a safety lesson and creating a list of procedures.  Here is the list we made this year with first graders this year  (similar each year- not by chance!).

The changes in my classroom were noticeable within the month!  They had more stamina during work times and their negative behaviors were reduced (getting up, playing around, etc.).  I have recieved so much positive feedback from students and parents.  I also get parent requests for my class because they believe in the theory and want this for their child. 
 
My current 1st grade room- one of the rare times
that the balls are neat! Front of the room.
The back of our room.
At night, we put the ball on the table using clear frisbees. 
These are my old tables.

In my old room, a shot of student working at
                                       literacy stations.

There are a few drawbacks... I cannot use chair pockets for storage, guest teachers get sea sick when teaching a room off bouncing kids, and the balls seem to escape out our door at times.  Other than that- I LOVE them.  I wouldn't give them up unless I was forced to :) 

Here is a news report done on our classroomtwo years ago:

Let me know if you have tried similar alternative seating solutions!

Boulevard (Millenia Walk)

Located right smack in the middle of Millenia Walk is Boulevard Bar so surprise surprise, it is banker/yuppie central on weekdays. It’s not a big place (where Baker’s Inn used to be) and to be honest, I find it a tad too packed during corporate crowd happy hour sessions.

This was a Sunday and Szeto and I had just bought a ton of wines from the Carrefour fair (see earlier post). We wanted somewhere quiet to chill out at before heading home (for weekly breathe-it’s-Monday-again therapy) and Boulevard looked like a good place. Well, mainly because it was fairly empty, save for two or three patrons.

We didn’t feel like beer, so we had a bottle of wine (surprise surprise again) to share. I can’t remember the name of the bottle we had but it was the house red. Nothing mind-blowing but it was fairly pleasant though $70+ a pop (if memory serves me right) is a tad inflated in price.

Food! I really needed some after all that wine tasting (and swallowing) at the Carrefour fair. The menu had a mix of western and local favourites, so we picked one of each.

First up, the fried carrot cake. It’s the white version (versus the sweeter black type) and came in a good portion. Not too oily, well fried with generous amount of egg and large prawns – it was rather tasty, although more chai por might have been nice. In typical bar grub fashion, it was rather salty (and I have a high threshold for salt). Oh vell, I have long accepted this as a ploy by bars to make us thirsty and order more drinks.

I was still hungry (third surprise surprise?) so I added an order of prawn aglio olio. Again, the prawns were large and succulent, but the pasta was over-done. I don’t like soggy pasta. Could have been a bit spicier though. I suppose if you do order this you could leave special instructions to correct this.

Overall, Boulevard seems like a cool place to chill out at (on weekends) and to mingle and be “seen” (on weekdays after work). I would go back to try the other food offerings. But given the limited wine list, I’d order a beer, rather than wine
.

Polly Dolly - Rock'n'Stroller

Why hello there Thursday - and hi there Polly Dolly! Brought to you by the gorgeous Dani at Danimezza this week is my last Polly Dolly as an unmarried woman ( 2 sleeps to go! ) and Dani would like to know how Polly styles herself when she's out and about with a...

Polly Dolly - Rock'n'StrollerNow, my Flynn is at the point where he thinks he's too big for a stroller - he hates being in there, so more often than not he walks into the shops with me and then he gets popped in a shopping trolley. However, this is what i would wear if we were out and strolling about - i've gone with a  maxi skirt ( i have one very similar only mine is khaki and black stripes... ) and plain tank, and some cute sandals for comfort. A necklace jazzes up the simplicity of the tank, and the sunnies keep me sunsafe. A touch of make up, pack everything else in a cute nappy bag, chuck that in the bottom of the stroller and baby and me are ready to roll! Umm...er...stroll!

Le Bistro Parisien

Posh french bistro this was not. In fact, it was rather strange - french food in a Haji Lane shophouse with framed posters of Malay movies and actors and playing Spanish music. It was almost as if Le Bistro Parisien had an identity crisis.


But strangely we enjoyed ourselves - the food was hearty and overall quite yummy!



For starters, we shared the escargots and the french onion soup. I wasn't too impressed with the former - the escargots were a tad over-cooked and tough. The puree they sat on was tasty though.



The french onion soup was excellent, one of the better ones I have had for a while. The soup was incredibly rich in flavor and the cheese crusted bread it came with was absolutely delish. We ordered an additional bread basket just to mop the bowl clean. Definitely a dish I'd order again.




For mains, B had the lamb and I had the salmon. These came highly recommended by the waitress. Both dishes came in huge portions which brought huge smiles to our faces. I thought the salmon, although nicely crusted, was a tad dry. The accompanying cream sauce and buttered rice helped some - overall I quite enjoyed it. B's lamb fared better, he seemed quite happy with it.



This is a halal restaurant so they don't serve wine. It would have been nice to have enjoyed the food with a nice bottle. But oh vell. I still think this is a gem of a find and the in-congruence of the food and setting was strangely refreshing and definitely made for good dinner conversation!

The Final Hurdle

Good.Bloody.Gravy.

I've had no trouble organising and planning my wedding over the last 9-ish months and now, with only 4 sleeps to go, we've got a potential problem in getting the money for our bar tab organised before Saturday. Four.Sleeps.People. Four sleeps - and it looks like i'm going to lose at least one of them worrying whether things will work out.

To the selfish, lazy, lying butthole ( who will not be named but you can figure it out if you know anything about wedding tradition and bar tabs... ) - pull your bloody finger out, stop making crap up because we dont bloody believe you, and try not let me or Mick down again. I said "try" but i dont think you'll be able to follow through on that one ( you know, as per usual ).

Otherwise you WILL be dealing with one stroppy bride come Saturday evening!