Kangaroos in the Grampians

Holiday Recap

Before Matt and I left Melbourne we went to check out some of the decorated houses around town especially on the Boulevard in Ivanhoe. The block off the street and everyone walks up and down looking at the Christmas lights.
Christmas lights and Giant mice!!

The Christmas Mouse theme was reoccurring quite a bit. I loved the book "Santa Mouse" when I was a kid but I have never seen so many mice of the lawn ornament variety.

The Giant Christmas Kangaroo paid a special visit to Luke and Natarsha.

So off we went the the USA expecting to be in Florida by Christmas Eve. The snow had other plans. Here is Matt enjoying his Christmas breakfast in the Dallas Airport Grand Hyatt. Luckily, we were able to fly out that morning and made it home in time for my Mom's beautiful Christmas dinner.

We got to catch up with lots of friends from my high school including Cliff, my 4th grade square dancing partner. GOOD TIMES!

I hadn't been to the Jacksonville Zoo since I was a kid and let me tell you it's a completely different place. It's an exceptional zoo. Amy, Sam and Matt are feeding the stingrays.

And Colt is holding onto Julie for her carousel ride.

My wonderful friend Debbie organized for us to have lunch with a bunch of friends but I was having so much fun catching up with everyone I forgot to take any pictures. After lunch, Judy, Matt and I went to one of my favorite places in Jacksonville.

To me the Cummer Garden is one of the most beautiful gardens in the world. I have such happy memories running around this place as a child.

New Years in New York City with Chris and Elizabeth.

We had a great time hanging out, bumbling around the city and drinking "Pork Slap" Ale.

Yep...that's right "Pork Slap". How great is that name?!?

However, I don't think anybody had as much fun as this guy.

Party on the Train!!

We headed to Coney Island for the famous Nathan's Hotdog stand.

Some crazy people were becoming members of the Coney Island Polar Bear Club. Did I mention there was snow on the ground??

CR-AAA-ZEEEE!!!!!

I haven't seen my friends Clare and Karen for YEARS so it was great to catch up with them.

Good Bye New York City...

Off to Chicago!!!

Jack and I built a gingerbread house with a kit from DaDa Dawson with surprisingly little mess.

Colin's Aunt Lenore was sweet enough to get Matt and I a gift certificate to Portillos. YUM!!!

More delicious hot dogs! It is almost impossible to find a good hot dog in Australia so I was trying to meet my yearly hotdog quota while in the States. Did you know the average American eats 60 hotdogs a year?? Very useful information.

Visiting some of my old stomping grounds with Mardi and Angela.

We hit Zebra and Jilly's and Moodys...

Can you tell this trip was very "junkfoodcentric"?

Last year Matt was absolutely devastated when we got back from Chicago and he realized we forgot to go to Moodys. He got his burger fix this time around.

We stayed in the gorgeous Palmer House Hilton. I love this hotel not only because it's stunning but because of all the Chicago history that is tied up in this place.

The best thing about Chicago is of course catching up with all of my wonderful friends.

It's always good to get a snow fix too. Chicago is always good for that!

We had a fantastic time on our vacation and it was so great to see so many loved ones and great friends!! Happy 2010!!!

NO TREE NO ME

Tree Decorating

As grown ups there aren't many times when you can sit down at a table full of glue, paint and sparkling things and are told to go nuts. Why is this fun only reserved for kids?? I think this is
something that should be remedied so to decorate our new "big" tree and to celebrate Saint Nicholas Day I enlisted the help of some friends to make ornaments.

It's been eons since I made a clothespin Rudolph but it was just as fun as I remember. We made glitter balls, angels with glasses, paper chains, an alien bird thing and many clothespin reindeer. It was a fantastic way to get the big tree full of decorations.

It was a perfect St Nicholas Day!!

Koala Tree

Our little $4 tree from last year has been transformed into my koala themed tree. Only Christmas Koalas Allowed!! The big tree is coming soon....................................

Christmas Season

On a mission to get a bit fitter, Matt and I got bikes as our Christmas presents to each other this year (early Christmas present). I forgot how fun bikes can be and how quickly stationary objects come out of nowhere. I hate the helmet but you get fined here is you don't wear one. I look like a giant pink q-tip but my bike's so cute it doesn't matter.

The Swedish Church in Toorak holds a Scandinavian Christmas Bazaar every year. It was so much fun! There were loads of stalls with Scandinavian ornaments and clothing. There was even a St Lucia parade with carol singing. There were also a ton of tall, blonde people.

We tried a few new things, i.e. who knew there was a "Danish Style" hot dog?? It has roumalade, mustard, fried onions and pickled cucumber and was very yummy. We also tried a Scandanavian Christmas favorite called JulMust. It's a seasonal soda made from hops and barley. When the JulMust comes out Coca-Cola sales drop in Scandinavia by 50%. It tastes like a bit like a lighter flavored rootbeer.

It was a fun place to kick off the Christmas season!!

Thanksgiving 2009

I think I get homesick the most during holiday times. When the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade was shown on the news here I started blubbering all over the place. Luckily, once a year Matt's sister, Rebecca is nice enough to let me invade her kitchen and have Thanksgiving. Luke and Natarsha helped put out the turkeys and napkins to make everything festive.

Nick seemed pretty happy with his Thanksgiving plate! I have never had much luck making sweet potato casserole but this year I was pretty happy with the results I must say!! Happy Thanksgiving everybody....now on to decorate the Christmas Tree!!