Flying out of The Windy City

So here I am, on a plane, making my way from Chicago to San Francisco. Finally. First of all, my flight was cancelled. Then I go on another flight that was delayed for over an hour due to some problems at SF. Then it started snowing. I thought that I was going to be spending the night at the airport. Surprisingly though, planes still take off in snow storms. So they spray the plane down to defrost it or something, then spray it with anti-freeze to stop it from dropping out of the sky from frostbite. And sure enough… it took off eventually – snow and all.

Until today I was completely in love with snow – it’s beautiful. But when it means that I’m hanging around airports…. I’ve learnt that it’s not so fun.

Today was the last day of meetings that I have. Lots of work generated because of the meetings – but no more actual meetings. The trip has been fantastic – but from a work perspective – it’s been even better. I love that I’ve had the opportunity to come on a trip like this. I love working face to face with clients, with real people, rather than just the voices in my headphones. To be able to sit in on the meetings that I have I think that I have learnt a lot. Hopefully I’ve been a valuable resource at these meetings too. With enough luck and hard work I’ll get to do it again sometime soon.

Although it’s been a busy week with work, I’ve managed to fit in some fun this week.

On Tuesday afternoon I went up to the observation deck at the Hancock Tower in Chicago – what a view! I was already in love with Chicago, but seeing it from the 94th floor from one of the most prominent buildings in the city, was amazing. I could see as far as Ohio on the other side of Lake Michigan, which is so big its hard to believe it’s a lake. I could see north along the ‘Gold Coast’ (which has nothing on our Gold Coast but is beautiful none the less). Looking out west across the city gave me a good perspective on just how flat it is out there. Not a mountain in site – just Chicago as far as the eye could see. The buildings of Chicago are just amazing.

After those amazing views I got to see a bit of Chicago by ground as we drove out to the suburbs for another couple of days with another client. It was beautiful to see everything with snow dusted over it. I managed to fit in a bit more shopping at the “mall” across the way. It was a pretty big mall – but very much like our shopping centers. Picked up a couple of bargain t-shirts, which is a little hard to think about when you’re still dusting the snow out of your hair.

Wednesday was broken up nicely with a Mexican lunch at a local place. I don’t think that I’ve ever had Mexican before! Unless you count Uni Tuesdays half price margaritas at Mexican House in Berwick. And today, Thursday, we ate at the Weber Grill – as in Weber BBQ. Which I had always thought was an Australian brand, but apparently not…. I’ll have to look into that.

So now I’ve got a couple of days to unwind in San Francisco before I make the long flight home to Australia. I hope to get up to date with some work, my blog, and do a bit of sightseeing around SF, including Alcatraz and the Golden Gate Bridge. Not sure if I’ll do any shopping as I’m already at my baggage weight limit, and I was wearing most of my heaviest things today! But I’m sure I’ll work something out. Such a shame to waste so many bargains.

I think that this has been my longest blog so far – so yay me for using my time on a plane a little productive. But its time for me to go because my battery is about to give up on me. Phone is almost dead, computer is almost dead, and iPod is almost dead. I feel so disconnected!

Take care all and hopefully I can put this post up in the morning from my hotel along with a heap of photos for you to look at. Because I know that’s the real reason that you come to look at the blog – photos photos photos!

Chicago Baby!

I'm so in love. With Chicago. Its beautiful. And ohhh the shopping. But even without the shopping. (But its nice with the shopping). The Magnificent Mile is.... magnificent. I think its easier to SHOW you why I love Chicago than it is to TELL you.

This is the famous Wrigley Building - which I got to visit later in the week. Who would have thought that gum was so lucrative?!

This is the river by night. It was so very cold, but just beautiful. The cityscape around it is amazing. Next time I'll be sure to take the Chicago Architectural Cruise... it looks like the best way to see the city.

Another one of the city at night.

Chicago Deep Dish Pizza

I still have lots of photos and stories to update you about Chicago - but this is especially for Murray and Jeremy.


Last night I had Chicago Style Deep Dish Pizza from Giordano's and I've never seen anything like it. Its like 3 pizzas stacked on top of eachother! And soooo much cheese! I had two slices and that was as much as i could possibly eat!

One day when I'm rich and famous I'll bring you both back here to have this pizza.

Seattle - Home of Starbucks

I was only in Seattle for 2 nights and so saw very little of the city at all. I arrived on Monday night, and because its winter, and so far north, it was already very dark. We stayed at the Fairmont Hotel which went ALL out with thier Christmas decorations.




With the best intentions in mind, and still full of energy from being in America, and slightly jetlagged, I got up at 6am the next morning to go for a walk. I thought it would be a good opportunity to see the city. Two things about 6am though, its still dark, and everything is closed. But I did get to see the waterfront and the sun rise over the city.


The building that we went to for work had a fabulous view of the bay and I could also see the top of the Space Needle. Way off in the distance I could also see snow capped mountains!

Between working and dinners and lunch, I really didn't get any time to do anything in Seattle. But Seattle is the home of Starbucks. So of course, I went to Starbucks! I went to the biggest one in Seattle... which wasn't really all that big. I really wanted to get a Seattle Starbucks mug - but they didn't have any which said Seattle on them. So I settled for a Christmas Decoration instead.

Just before we left Seattle we also had a quick lunch at the Pike St Market, from what I gather is to Seattle as Queen Vic is to Melbourne.

On Wednesday night we headed off to the Windy City - Chicago!

Fishermans Wharf cont....

Well obviously I've been busy because its now Sunday and I've been in America for over a week now and I'm very behind in my updates (thanks for those annoying emails reminding me!).

There's lots more at Fishermans Wharf!

After going on our walking tour, and having some Clam Chowder for lunch we continued to walk through the area.

First thing we noticed - there was lots of seafood for sale along the street. Stinky stinky.


Not to mention all the pretty boats.

We had great fun looking at all the really "American" stores. Places like Ben and Jerry's Ice-cream. A "Salt Water Taffy" store (which we thought was really gross by the way), HOOTERS, and much to our excitement.... Johnny Rockets! Which was totally the coolest place in Geelong to have your 14th Birthday. And you know it!

We also went inside a place called the Rainforest Cafe, which was AMAZING. Its 3 levels of... well... rainforest. Very gimicky, but like nothing I've ever seen before. As you look up at the roof... its like the sky!

We also went to Ripley's Believe It Or Not Museum! That was pretty funny and amused us very well for a couple of hours.

Another place we went to was Ghirardelli Square, home of the Ghiradelli Chocolate Company. It was okay, but had nothing at all on Lindt.

After walking our feet off we went out for dinner in the North Beach region of San Francisco to a great little Italian place. But I think that we were so tired, and so sore by this stage we would have been happy anywhere.

After catching one of the Cable Cars home I think that we had a great day out in San Fran and I just loved it!

Fishermans Wharf

Yesterday was such a strange day - I spent the day with a girlfriend who I haven't seen since April - who I know from Geelong days - in SF! We both flew here on the same day! So it was soooo lovely to spend the day sightseeing with someone I know! Not to mention all the goss we had to catch up on.

After finding out that Alcatraz was booked out for the day, we decided on meeting up in the city. We caught the cable car down to the famous Fishermans Wharf. We'd both heard so much about the area, it was an absolute must visit.

Down at Hyde St Pier we went on a free walking tour with "Ranger Tom" who gave us a great insight into all the small boats they have down on the water there. Also about a fantastic program (with me and my love for Marketing, and Allyson and her love for Teaching we thought this program was fantastic) which invites school groups (woodwork classes I guess) to come and build a boat, a dingy sized one, over a 2 week period. The boats are then sold, with funds going to the school. Many of the kids come back and volunteer thier time in the workshop they have.

After the boat tour we went and got some lunch at a local place. Considering that Fishermans Wharf is famous for its Clam Chowder (say it properly.... CHOW-DER)... even though neither Allyson or I like any seafood... we thought we'd better try some. Mum would have been disapointed if I didn't I'm sure!

A very retail Christmas

They certainly know how to do a great Christmas here thats for sure. All the shops are just lit up beautifully.

We headed out for a bit of a walk last night and I am just in love with the Christmas windows that they do.

This is the tree in Union Square, just next to where I am staying.

Saks Fifth Avenue done up in all its glory. Haven't had a chance to actually check out the inside yet, but I thought the windows looked great.

And Macys - this was my fav.

Sydney to San Francisco

What a long long Saturday it has been.

After doing the all important voting, we left for the aiport around miday on Saturday - its still Saturday for me, and that was 24 hours ago.

Murray took me to the oh-so-exciting International airport where I was faced with ques for everything. Lining up for money exchange, then for boarding pass, then for customs, security, then for actually boarding the plane.

Here is our goodbye at the Security Gates. They wouldn't let him go any further. A bit of a teary - but I think I'll survive. Two weeks will be the longest I've spent away from him in the 5 years we've been together! I've no doubt he''ll be enjoying every moment of it! ;-)



After meeting up with Daryl for a quick drink in the Qantas Lounge, we quickly boarded the plane. I was down the back unfortunately - but at least its the safest place to be in a plane - you never hear of planes backing into anything do you? Luckily there was a spare seat between me and the girl in my row - so that made our long long long 13 hour journey more comfortable.

All in all the flight was pretty good. A bit bumpy towards the end - but that was okay, I was too excited to worry about any of that. The flight was made of up of....

About 6 hours of this...

Followed by about an hour of this...

Then about 6 more hours of this

I tried to get as much sleep as I could though - which is probably part of the reason I've woken up okay today. Also managed to watch 2 very good introductions to America on the way - The Simpsons Movie, and Borat. Both great snoozing movies.

We touched down in SF, and then there was more lining up for Customs and baggage. But once that was done we jumped into a car that was waiting for us and headed straight to the Grand Hyatt Hotel SF. So far the hotel seems great, and the rooms are fabulous. Oh - and the showers. After having these "water saving low pressure" heads for a while - The pressure here nearly knocked me over. Its soooo goood - just what I needed.

After settling in and freshening up we went for a bit of a wonder and a bite to eat. I had a Bagel! Very nice too. We walked down to the Ferry Terminal, grabbed a Starbucks (what else?), and had a bit of a browse around the streets.

Overall the city has a very Melbourne feel to it so far. Its been one of those days where you need to wear your coat and scarfe, but take your sunnies and wear something light underneath too.

I also scored a free facial and makeup session - which I needed like you wouldn't believe after that flight - with my "cute Austraaaalian accent". So I'm feeling like I've walked right off the catwalk runway, not the tarmac runway.

For dinner I think that we're going to Home - which is supposed to be a good example of American cuisine. Then tomorrow we hope to go to Alcatraz! Which I'm VERY excited about!

Also - because the weather here is so mild at the moment I was thinking of hiring a bike as a good way to see the city. To ride up to the bridge etc.

Its not nearly as scary as I thought it was going to be here - so far - so good.

xxoo

Melbourne girl in San Francisco!!!

Bon Voyage peoples! California here I come! Today I start my whirlwind 2 week trip over to the United States for work!

I'm nervous about forgetting something, feeling under pressure to pack light (which is just impossible), excited about the opportunity, and really looking forward to working with people - this whole working at home thing is getting a bit old.

At 3.35pm my flight leaves for SF!

Be sure to keep an eye on things here - I hope to keep things well updated and with lots of photos.

Also - a big CONGRATULATIONS to Murray who starts a new job in 2 weeks.

xxooxxoo

Its been a while....

Okay everyone - I realise its been a while since I showed my blog any love. So I thought I'd better update you on a few things.

I started writing about our wonderful trip up to the Blue Mountains for our FIVE year anniversary. FIVE YEARS. Yes. You read right. And no, no ring, no babies. But that was such a perfect time away - it was so close to Sydney, yet we felt a million miles away and very refreshed.

Other than the Tea shop and dinner at Silks, we also went to the Janolen Caves. I love caves. They're amazing. Just so spectacular. We also went to Bathurst to do laps around Mt Panorama. That was less amazing, and less spectacular. Especially the part where I had to stand on the side of the road at the top of the mountain and take photos of Murray coming down. Did i mention it was raining with thunder and lightening while I was out there? He enjoyed it though.

What else has happened...

Clare and Ads were up in Sydney the weekend afterwards so we caught up with them for a drink. It was great to see them as always. We sat inside a bar called.... I can't remember... something to do with a basketballers name.... Kobe something. And watched a spectacular thunderstorm over Darling Harbour that night. It was such a wet night, but so mild and warm.

There have been a couple of birthdays since my last post too!

So big HAPPY BIRTHDAYS to two of my favorite girls - Emma and Laura!

Had a great night polishing off a few Vinos and some fine food with Emma. A very respectable night. I managed to balance that out nicely by smashing back far to many cocktails with Laura and walking home at 10.30 in the morning through Canberra!

Oh yes - I made a trip down to Canberra to see Laura for her birthday. I also got to catch up with Petal while I was there. Always great to see her - she's one of those people where it always just feels like I saw her yesterday. Picked up a lovely box of Cherries on my way out of Canberra too - 2kg for $24. Very impressed.

There's just one more peice of news.... that needs a post of its own though.

Teas & Tisanes

While we were up in the Blue Mountains we stopped off at Teas and Tisanes in Wentworth Falls on the way home.

Well... I went a little bit crazy in there I swear I was only going to buy one tea for Mum!

I got mum some Macadamia tea (black flavoured tea) which smells wonderful. As a Queenslander who loves her macadamias I'm sure she'll love it. A blend of China-Ceylon black teas, mixed with teh sweet nutty flavour of macadamia nuts. Superb with a drop of milk.

And for me... well... I limited myself to just 3 teas....

Saucey Fruit (I like things a bit Saucey!) - A fruity blend of papaw, mango, rosehip, hibiscus and blue cornflower. Delicious as an iced tea. (I haven't tried this one yet)

Japanese Evening Mist - Sencha green tea flavored with cornflower blossom, rose flowers and calendula. Very light and very yum. Just perfect for when you want a drink, but not anything strong.

And of course I couldn’t go home without some Blue Mountains tea – A subtle fruity flavour sprinkled with blue cornflowers, blended with black tea of China and Ceylon. This is a lovely change to the regular black tea that we usually drink, although I like quite a strong black tea, this is a little weaker than I'm used to.

Then on Saturday I went a little crazy at T2 buying canisters and spoons (we drink a lot of tea and coffee and go through about 12 teaspoons a day. I thought that if I have ones that stay in the canisters we wont need to use one each time we make a cup!).

I got 4 lovely canisters that look like they've been covered in a Japanese style print/paper. 4 different colours.

Silk's Brasserie - Leura

After Emma's glowing recommendation of this restuarant we decided to eat at Silk's Brasserie - Leura for our 5th Anniversary - and I couldn't recommend it highly enough.

From start to finish it was possibly the best meal we have ever eaten.

I had good feelings about the place as soon as we walked in. It was warm with a mordern yet Art Deco feel. We were greated by staff who were so nice, and they were 'grown ups' too - not young kids who didn't know which wine to recommend or anything like that.

When the bread came out as we ummed and ahhed over the menu I said to Murray that I had a good feeling about that place - I'd never had good bread and a bad meal.

Murray couldn't decide on a main he liked, so he actually ordered three entres!

For his first entre he had...

Provençale fish soup with baby squid, prawns, aioli & toasted brioche - which he said was the best soup he'd ever had.

And for his second entre it was Sautéed scallops, shiitake mushrooms & pumpkin, served with a cucumber, daikon & coriander salad - which he said was also fantastic. I tried some of the pumpkin, and I wasn't overly impressed by it, but it just wasn't 'my flavors'.

I had the Shortcrust tartlet of Jannei goat curd, pickled pear, confit tomato, cress salad & hazelnut dressing . It was like I had died and gone to heaven. The creaminess of the goats cheese, the sweetness of hte pear, the tartness of the tomato, the hazelnuts sprinkled on top - all of it was magnificent. Orgasmic.

For Murrays third entre he had Home-made gnocchi with sage, asparagus tips, Roaring Forties blue cheese cream & a parmesan straw - which again, he said was magnificent! I'm not a gnocchi person, but even I thought it was pretty good.

I had Roast breast of corn-fed chicken on braised red cabbage with black pudding, pine nuts, muscatels & jus. I was a little concerned about the combination of foods - but I was in heaven again.

I never wanted to leave this place and so continued on with desert. I could only manage a Bailey's Afforgato, but Murray-the-bottomless-pit managed some of a cheese platter as well.

Just when we thouogh we couldn't possibly eat another thing they brought out some almond truffles. And even the complimentary truffles were the best I'd ever had.

Not a cheap night out, especially after adding the wine - but it was worth every cent - and we would have paid twice that much for it.

We would drive the hour and a half up there just to go out for dinner.

Absolutely amazing.

Herb Garden

Had a fantastic weekend this weekend!

Saturday I went to go the Chattswood Organic Growers Market to get some market fresh fruit and veg. (How domestic of me!). It was such a disapointment through. There were only 4 stalls in total - one was a sausage sizzle, one was take away coffee, one was trash and treasure - which leaves just ONE fruit and veg. Its wasn't cheap, there wasn't much of it, and it wasn't great quality. Needless to say I wont be going back there again.

So after that fiddling about had intended to hire bikes and ride around and explore Sydney's Olympic Park - but between getting ready, and deciding which inappropriate outfit I should wear - it was getting late and we ended up at the Longueville Hotel in Lane Cove.

Some of you might remember that we were quite taken by Lane Cove when we first moved to Sydney - so much so we almost moved there! Strangely though - we haven't been back since actually moving! It was a great afternoon sitting outside in the Garden Terrace - I could have sat there all afternoon sipping wine. However Murray (probably wisely) suggested we go home.

On the way home though I reminded him that I wanted to go to Bunnings to get some herbs to make a herb garden! And so we had a very domesticated afternoon planting our little babies!

We now have Spring Onions, 2 different types of Parsley (so send me your parsley ideas - I've hardly ever used it!), Corriander, Chives, Basil and Thyme. I can't wait till they grow - IF they grow - I dont have a great track record with keeping things alive. I figure that Boston is still alive - perhaps I'm ready to move onto something that doesn't meow painfully when its hungry.

Speaking of Boston - here he is on the beanbag helping me with some reading for work.



Had a fantastic day today also - went out to DFO in Sydney for the first time. Its just like all the DFO's in Melbourne. I was very good though and didn't spend up. Though there were lots of very sexy shoes I could have gone crazy with. Will save my pennies and return though!

Kristy's Cakes

Just thought I'd share one of my friends amaaazing cakes with you! (If anyone needs a cake for a special occasion in Melbourne, let me know!)

A couple of different 1st Birthday Cakes... A couple of pretty funky cakes... And my very favorite one - a Thank You cake!

Hyde Park, Sydney

These are very belated photos, but on Sat 15th September I finally visited Hyde Park!

It was such a beautiful day to be exploring Sydney, just taking our time, discovering shops and arcades in the city, and wondering up through Hyde Park on our way to Oxford St for lunch.





The Anzac WW1 memorial is also in Hyde Park. We saw the Eternal Flame, and the cieling is painted in thousands of gold stars, which I am told represent fallen soilders.







I also wandered along Oxford St which I've marked as a MUST to return to when I need to do some serious shopping. Had fantastic lunch down there also. Some interesting shop names though...

They are Geelong, the greatest team this year

I can hardly call them the greatest team of all can I? But they did manage to tick all the boxes this year, and good ol' Bomber Thompson did well.

Murray and I drove down to Echuca for the weekend to meet up with some crazy cats. Thinking it would only be a 6-8hour drive, I finished up work at 3pm and we were on the road by 4pm. We hit horrendous traffic coming out of Sydney - I should have realised that a combination of Friday night, Deny ute Muster, AFL and NRL Grand Finals - that it would be a busy night on the road.

After driving for hours and hours, and starting to think that we'd never get there before the game started, we arrived at the Shammy at 2.15am. After sweet talking the security to let us in - it was worth every minute of the drive.

Check out the weekend shenanigans on the blog at http://geelongcats.blogspot.com/

We had every intention to come home on Sunday, as I wanted to get on top of some work even though Monday was a Public Holiday. But there was no way that Murray and I could drive up the street, let alone to Sydney.

So it was a day of R&R for us before we headed back home on Monday.

On the return trip we headed across to Albry - this was a much better trip. Far easier. Also saw the Dog on the Tucker Box on the way home. He's still there - hasn't moved much.