Nation's Capital

This week I was in the Nation's Capital for work - Washington DC. I had been to DC before but ran out of time to go to the Smithsonian, so i took this opportunity to see the things I missed!
to go back.

I headed to the Museum of American History, to brush up on my knowledge and immerse myself in all things American!!

The First Lady's Gowns........

The Ruby Slippers........

Kermit the Frog.........

I then walked from the Capitol, thru the mall and over to the White House.

Exhausted I made my way to the historical Georgetown ...........

...........and spent the afternoon walking thru tree lined streets.......

...............browsing at cute shops and enjoying the serenity!

corsino

On Saturday the birthday celebrations continued with drinks at chez Curtis before heading to dinner at corsino.

We had a great bunch of people including myself, david and mary.......
















......lorin, elise, ruth and sinclair .......

















......victoria, kathryn and diane .........

















We enjoyed Italian small plates of antipasto, crostini, salad, pasta, cheese and my favourite food group - wine!






















Lactose intolerant lorin holding the cheese plate, ha-ha!

















And we even had cake!

It was a fun night had by all ending in the wee hours of the morning!

So happy birthday to me, thank you to everyone for making it so special and memorable.

I felt truly loved and spoilt despite my pounding head the next day :)

Here's to my 30's!

3-0

On Thursday, I turned 30.

I was off to a rocky star after discovering I had lost my phone, so apologies to anyone who sent birthday messages and got no response.

However the day progressed into one of the most special and indulgent days ever!
Had I know I was going to be so completely spoilt I would have stop stressing weeks ago :)

I was inundated with flowers, emails, gifts, phone calls, surprises and champagne before being whisked of to dinner at Del Posto in the Meatpacking.

It was a mix of fabulous food, presents, drinks, surprises, more food, more surprises and more presents!

At the end of the evening I declared " Is that it bubb? I can't cope with any more surprises or opening any more presents!!"

It's tough to be me!

Big thanks to all those who helped make the day so special - mmmwah!

Funny

This week I stumbled across a website that I can't help but share.

It is clever, original and hysterically funny - have a laugh on me!

http://catalogliving.net/

Ms Belle

This week we caught up with Erin's best friend Belle who was visiting from Melbourne.

I have heard so much about Belle, so it was great to finally meet her.
And we always love to see another Aussie in the Big Apple!

Big kiss to Erin for putting us in touch!!

Tamarind

The recent change in weather has made brunch so much more enjoyable. No more sweating into your eggs, uncomfortably warm fruit bowls or trying to hold a conversation when you are really fantasizing about air conditioning..........this is the perfect time of year for glamorous lunch time dining.

With that in mind, we headed to Madison Square Park to review our options. Tamarind is elegant and modern Indian restaurant, known for its fusion of the best of India combined with the best of the season.

Their Autumn menu was divide, it was a delicious lunch with great atmosphere.

The perfect way to start the week.

Fun with Kathryn

On Saturday night we ventured over to Long Island City for a house party hosted by Kathryn.
Kathryn is the sister of one of David's childhood friends, who we met over summer for dinner when he and his family were visiting NYC. Keeping track?

Kathryn was bought along to the dinner, and we all remember bonding over brisket at Virgil's Texas BBQ. She is a lovely addition to our lives, and we have enjoyed getting to know her. Our only complaint is it is not often enough!

The party was great fun, despite the chilly weather, and we enjoyed the fabulous view from LIC that looks back onto Manhattan.

Please excuse the fuzzy pics as the camera died and all we had was the iphone :)

Finally a recent one of Daivd and I together.

Pho

Sunday, with slightly throbbing heads, we made our way down to Chinatown for lunch with Mary & Sally.

We ate at an authentic Vietnamese noodle house Pho Bang that specialises in Pho. Sounds fancy but is basically broth with noodles, with simmering meat placed on top to cook in the steam. It was an experience that can only be describe as a spicy steaming sinus clearing facial that tasted fantastic!

It was lovely spending more time with our favorite Texans.

Ruth & Sinclair

Saturday night David and I had a blind double date. We had dinner with Ruth & Sinclair, fellow Australians who have recently moved to NYC.

They are great friends of Peter & Cam, who are fabulous friends of ours, so it was a given that Ruth & Sinclair would be fabulous via association and we would all hit off..............clearly the understatement of the year!

Ruth and I were like peas in a pod and barely drew breath the whole the evening, thankfully there was enough sport and beer for David and Sinclair.

We had a lovely evening comparing stories on moving internationally, sorting out visas, being overwhelmed by a new city and settling into quirky American cultural changes.

We look forward to many more fun nights with Ruth & Sinclair, and a shout out to Peter and Cam for organizing the hookup!

Bowery Mission

For me Saturday mornings are designed for sleep-ins and lazy mornings at home.

However this Saturday I decided to do some good, and volunteered at the Bowery Mission.

The Bowery Mission is a community center that helps men, women and children caught in the cycle of poverty, hopelessness and dependencies. They help transform lives and offer hope, joy and productivity through the power of prayer and Jesus Christ.

We had a fantastic group of girls and a big shout out and thank you to Mary who organized.

It was really a wonderful way to spend the day and made me truly appreciative of all of life's blessings.
















The added bonus was Mary's mum Sally was in town from Texas and joined the fun.

No-one works the potato stand complete with hair nets like us!

Catching Up

After a busy summer, we had the smart idea of catching up with everyone in September, and it appears everyone else had the same idea.

With respective boys and girls night occurring over the last weekend, we were off to a busy week with dinner with Mary and then off to Washington Heights to see Rachel, Ritchie and Belles.































We hit a local, kid friendly Mediterranean style restaurant that had an excellent pasta selection, that you can see was a huge hit with Belles!