Friday 17 May 2013

A lovely relaxing weekend with a VERY old friend!

Before I tell you about our fantastic weekend in Millthorpe, I want to give you a bit of history about my friendship with Jvala as she hasn't appeared in the blog before, but anyone who knew me as a kid will know of her!

Her family moved to Kingsbury in 1986 and she joined my class (2J) at Roe Green. On her first day, the teacher picked me to look after the new girl, show her the ropes etc.... it turned out that we lived about 300 metres from each other so we ended up being inseparable throughout primary school! We would walk to school together and play at each other's houses after school. I wish we had pictures of us from back then - I reckon we were pretty cute little 8 year olds! We then went to big bad high school and even though we went to the same school, we lost touch. We were in different sets and had different groups of friends. 

Fast forward 25 years and add in the power of Facebook - the only way to 'keep in touch' with 'friends' you haven't seen or spoken to for decades! Jvala knew through mutual friends that I now lived in Sydney and when her husband Terry and her decided to road test Sydney for a couple of year, she dropped me a message to say it would be nice to meet for a drink. The rest, as they say, is history! We now see Mr and Mrs Nolan quite often as a couple, the boys play golf together almost weekly and Jvala has joined in with a couple of our girls nights out. 

So a few months ago, we started talking about organising a weekend away... we were going to try our hand at camping, but the weather is a bit unpredictable in Autumn (not as unpredictable as the London Spring, apparently!) so we decided to play it safe and booked a weekend in beautiful Millthorpe - A tiny town three hours North West of Sydney, close to the pretty wineries of Orange. When we booked this trip, I was very excited about the wine tasting... by the time we went, I was 11 weeks pregnant so ended up being the designated driver! 

The ANZAC Day public holiday was on a Thursday this year so we took full advantage by taking the Friday off too. 



We drove over in separate cars and the Nolans arrived just long enough before us to get the fire going!
The house was sooooo pretty - a cottage with everything you could need for a break from the city - and a few really cute personal touches like his and hers bathrobes, a cheese platter and lots of biscuits and chocolates!





We had planned meals with military precision - dinner on Thursday was prepared by all of us (the boys in charge of the BBQ and the now infamous 'paprika potatoes') and the girls in charge of all prep, salad and indoor stuff! Team Shah did a fry up breakfast on Friday (I actually needed a nap after breakfast cos we ate so much!) and Team Nolan prepared a lovely healthy breakfast on Saturday.

All other meals were while we were out and about touring the pretty wineries of Orange. We did also manage a lovely dinner at Tonic.


The weather was absolutely perfect for us - crisp sunny autumn days and chilly evenings perfect for eating cheese and crackers and drinking wine (no wine for me!) and chatting.







We had taken playing cards and board games with us, but we never got round to playing games!
It really was the perfect weekend of relaxing, eating and giggling with friends and we are already planning our next one!

In the meantime, see you soon London!!


Tuesday 23 April 2013

Three Mrs Shahs under one roof!


Sorry it has taken me a while to write about mum and Sudha aunty's visit - it feels like its been a fairly busy few weeks since they left - mainly because we have been making the most of the end of the summer, rearranging the kitchen and catching up with everyone we didn't see much of while we had visitors!

It was really nice to have them here - there was plenty to eat (and some still in the freezer), they kept themselves busy while we were at work and we got to spend some proper time with my aunty... something we wouldn't get to do otherwise.

They managed to fit a lot in in four weeks - the zoo, the Blue Mountains, Hunter Valley, lots of beaches, a few markets, Canberra, lots of visits to friends and family, LOTS of cooking (and teaching me a few new recipes) and playing cards and chatting after dinner most nights! We made the most of the weekends too- filling them with picnics and shopping! We hope Sudha aunty had as much fun with us as we did with her and she comes back to visit again soon!



Dinner in the sunshine!


Roadside picnic in the Hunter Valley

Sudha aunty walking at Palm Beach


Sham and mum chilling at Manly

Friday 1 February 2013

A most special dinner!

On Australia Day this year, we were lucky enough to be invited to join my friend and ex boss Sue as she celebrated her 50th - in a LOT of style!

Sue has recently moved into a beautiful house that we are sure she will be very happy in for years to come (we would be!) and she hosted a lovely four course private dining dinner for 14 people. The added treat was that the chef that looked after us is actually a contestant on the current season of Australia's Masterchef Professionals.

The attention to detail on the day was phenomenal and we had an absolute hoot!

I didn't manage to take too many pics as I was to busy having fun, but here are a few... they were taken on my phone so you will have to excuse the rubbish quality.

The Birthday Girl and the Chef!
Delicious!





It really was a great evening... Sham and I are already trying to think of a excuse to host one of these... although I think Sue's lovely house was absolutely perfect for this type of thing. Thank you again to Sue for inviting us and the lovely folk at Evoke Private Dining for looking after us on the evening.


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