Irresponsible Service of Alcohol

There is a very good reason that I decided to moderate my attendance at Friday night drinks after work. After oh so too many Saturday mornings dealing with a bouncing stomach, a jackhammer in my head and all those cringing moments when you have a flash back to some embarrassing behaviour in front of work colleagues or worse - the boss, I decided to pull up stumps and save my dignity. However in the wash up of the GFC firm wide drinks have been reinstated. FREE firm wide drinks. I think it's because we were deprived for so long of this marvelous event where the company says, "Thanks for working so hard, get pissed on us!" That it roused an excitement amongst us ants, an excitement that had everyone planning their evenings around it. The game plan was, hit it hard, hit it early and get out. Well I managed to execute the first two elements of the strategy...I blame it on the lack of decent food.* So I found myself, have a very heated, drunken debate with a colleague**, in an inebriated state*** realising that the room had emptied out. Trying to get back to my desk to get my bag, then get to my next destination, all alone was no. easy. feat****. But after a few SOS calls and a network of lovely friends that sent someone to find me it all end much better (and slightly more sober.)


*If you didn't want deep fried processed meat there wasn't a lot of option.
** Insert cringe moments here...oh too many to fully catalogue
***Which comes from going drink to drink with people that can actually handle their alcohol
****Who puts a bar in the basement of a hotel with no street access?!

Bonne journee xx

Over Here!

I have a soft spot for Victoria Beckham - but what is going on with the crazy eyes! Did someone tell her not to look into the camera?! Was one of her children throwing a tantrum off set? Can she really have forgotten how to work it? Was the Spice Girls really that long ago? Ah every time I watch it I just want to scream look down the barrel!

Table Manners

The building where I am working this week houses one of the best yum-cha in Sydney, and yesterday our manager was nice enough to take us all there for a team lunch. Now I was surprised to find (as yum-cha is not exactly fine dining) that there were beautiful white linen table napkins beside each plate. What I found even more surprising is that no one really seemed to know what to do with them – or realise that they were even there! Glancing around (and being down the lower end of the food chain) I didn’t want to be the snobby, pretentious girl who put the napkin on her lap. So I hesitated. Then I thought my grandmother would turn in her grave if she knew that I had committed a cardinal sin of table etiquette (we used to spend afternoons PRACTICING for that nights meal) – so I deftly slid offending piece of linen under the table. My manoeuvre was in fact so conspicuous that no one noticed until the end of the meal when it reappeared! It wasn’t exactly a ‘Quelle Horreur’ moment but I did get a few puzzled looks. So in order to unlock the mystery here are a few simple steps for the correct utilisation of a serviette.

1) Wait to begin the meal until your host/hostess unfolds their napkin.
2) Unfold the napkin. (If it’s a small napkin, completely open it. If it’s a large dinner napkin, keep it folded in half.) Place it on your lap.
3) Allow the waiter to place your napkin in your lap. (It’s considered perfectly polite to do this yourself)
4) Retain the napkin in your lap during the entire meal. Lift to blot your mouth if required.
5) If you must get up during the meal, place your napkin on your chair.
6) When your host/hostess puts their napkin on the table, the meal is completed.
7) Fold your napkin neatly in half/quarters, place it to the side of your plate and rise to leave the table.

Bon appetit xx

Afternoon Delight

I don't know about you but sometimes I get an overwhelming desire for cake. After coming home from my frenchies rugby game I had one of these such moments.

Now this is a warning to everyone: NEVER LEAVE YOUR OVEN!! As this was a rather impromptu baking event I was caught short of strawberries and cream, so I put the cake in the oven, set the timer (25mins) and ducked to the local convenience store. Upon return, I was greeted by my sponges looking more like burnt hockey pucks than fluffy golden clouds. Not to be defeated (and I had just paid a fortune for out of season strawberries) I started on round two.



~ Victoria Sponge Cake ~

Ingredients:
174g butter
175g self-raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
175g golden caster sugar
3 eggs

Step 1: Preheat oven to 150 degrees and base line two 20cm sandwich tins
Step 2: Beat the butter, eggs and sugar together, slowly add sifted flour and baking powder - mix until smooth. Divide the mixture evenly between the prepared tins
Step 3: Bake around 20-25 minutes until well risen and golden brown (DO NOT LEAVE THE OVEN). Cool for 5 mins then turn onto a wire rack to cool completely.
Step 4: Sandwich together with raspberry jam, cream and halved strawberries in between.

Bon Appetit xx

Perfection

Cannes is on at the moment which means stylists, hair and make up artists are working around the clock to present their charges immaculately on every occasion. But this look by Kate Beckinsale is the gagnant for me.
The tone on tone aubergine, silk pencil skirt with a floating silk blouse. The nude pumps, the elegant pony tail, her wedding band as the only accessory. Some say she is an overdresser and tries too hard, but this look is perfection. Enjoy xx

Photo from Grazia UK

Felicitations ma cherie!!

I would just like to say a huge congratulations to my dear friend Danielle van Camp for winning the Instyle Women of Style Award!! Aaaand for managing to back up a night of red carpets with a spot on The Morning Show!

I would not have survived our year in the rather rustic sea-side town of France without her and am so happy that the world is recognising just how fabulous she is!

Bisous xx

Bounce a little

After my exam today (whoo another one down!) I treated myself to a Chinese massage to relieve some of the study stress! After being in glorious pain for 30 minutes I was somewhat chided for having very knotted muscles - the culprit it seems, is the muscle around the tailbone being too tight...go figure!

Solution: trade my desk chair for an exercise ball! So simple, so wonderful, so fun bouncing around...now I wonder if I can pack it into my computer bag and take it to work....

The Plague

With the imminent departure from the family abode to our own apartment, I do have a sneaking suspicion that I am being chased away. We live in a neighbourhood of trees, so a certain amount of wildlife is expected, however as the old houses and trees around us are being torn down and replaced with McMansions and paving our wildlife quota seems to be increasing. I get the distinct impression that the wildlife are subtly trying to tell me it is time to go:

Firstly it was the big mamma blue tongue lizard, who is intent on giving birth to lots of squirming little lizards on our back door step, every year –one of the babies slightly grown somehow managed to scale the stairs and end up under my bed. I have been known to climb out windows just to avoid this annual event.

Then on return from a whirlwind 10 days Christmas and NYE tour with the French family, I was awoken at midnight by the arrival of not one, but two rather large possums, who had come in through my bedroom window. They were quite put out that I was sharing their newly found hidey-hole. After waking up every possum rescue service and being laughed at for not wanting to share my slumber with wild animals we donned our trench coats and gumboots and managed to usher the house guests back out. The next day the culprit tree, which gave them access, was amputated. This didn’t of course deter the dear possums, who have simply found other methods of entering the house. Now at dusk I run around the house and close every single window – just in case.

We always have a few spiders around the perimeters (you know – for the mosquitos) but recently they are getting larger and bolder…

And we have a flock of fruit bats who descend on the peach tree outside my bedroom window – but they haven’t yet decided to come in and say hello – so besides making a huge amount of noise and mess, they are ok.

But today, today as I was packing up from our mother’s day brunch I opened a cupboard door, a door that doesn’t usually get opened, full of crystal glass ware for special occasions. I’m still not too sure why I opened it. But I did. Out poured THOUSANDS of tiny weeny black ants…they were EVERYWHERE. Two hours later we are now ant-less, I have re-showered and still feel creepy crawly, and I am counting down until we move into a nice high-rise apartment.

Happy Mothers Day! Joyeux Fete des Meres!

Red

on red

Costume Institute Gala Benefit @ the Met

This has to be my most favourite celeb spotting event of the year - the one event where a celeb can go high fashion rather than awards show gown! Usually a visual feast this year was more Acadamy Awards than Haute Couture. That being said, couple of dresses I adored were:

Chloe Sevigny in Proenza Schouler - loved the high neck, and subtle show of the black bra through the dress.

Mila Kunis in Vera Wang - the shades of grey and use of tulle created a fabulous storm cloud to party in

Marion Cotillard never disappoints and Dior creation was no exception.

A surprise was Kristen Stewart. I have never really understood her hype, I have never seen a Twilight, so maybe that's where I'm missing it. But when Karl Largerfeld choses you for a Chanel creation - you've made it in my books - I'm just hoping she learns to smile at some stage...

Brrr its getting cold!

The new crisp air that is making my blood circulation have a love/hate relationship with my fingers, toes and nose reminds me of slipping over on the ice under the Eiffel Tower at Christmas. After we had walked there. In the rain. From the Opera Garnier. (Try and explain to someone that just be cause you can see the huge monument - doesn't mean it's around the corner!)

But it was worth it in the end - even if I couldn't feel my toes!