Being slack and getting back into writing...

Indeed.

The wedding has been over for about three months and I have done SFA - seriously. I think I might have taken laziness to a whole new level.

My excuse is that I have busy at work. That's not an excuse? Well, I will have to think about another one then because that is all I've got. But I should make it part of my mid-year resolution to do something about this blog. For starters, I need to finish writing about my trip to Hong Kong with Mom. I think she will be keen on reading it! Sorry Mom!!!

For all those who have been/are married, do you find that people always ask you "How's married life?" Um, it's the same as not married life? Especially if you were already living with your partner beforehand. The other difference is that I have an extra piece of bling on my finger. Other than that, nothing has changed much. I am not changing my surname either!

Which reminds me, people also keep asking why I don't want to change my surname. As much as I love Luke, there is really no need to change my surname. My reasons are basically two fold:

a) there is too much stuffing around - I have to change my Australian papers, my Malaysian papers and now that I'm a Company Secretary, I have to also change my papers with ASIC. No thank you!
b) This is a more important reason. When I was born, my father said that he only wanted one child because he wanted to be in a position to give me everything I ever needed. The townfolk (I'm not saying this to be melodramatic, but Mom and Dad did come from a very small town) laughed at him, told him he was a fool and that he should have another one. A BOY. To carry down the family name. But he thought that my welfare was more important than carrying down the family name. That was the sort of father Dad was.

So take that, small townfolk - I am keeping my surname. These are modern times, and I have an understanding, wonderful husband who is not pressuring me to take his surname. AND if we were lucky enough to have kids, then they would also have my surname incorporated into theirs, so which proves the point that you don't need a boy to carry down the family name.

Point - J. P.

x

DIY Cufflinks...

Maybe Tiffany should consider carrying this... :)

So the theme for my wedding was black and white and a splash of red. I would have totally have had a black and white wedding, but I don't think my mother would have been very happy with that decision. As it was, she and my mother-in-law were not happy with the fact that the bridesmaids dresses were black. Oh well.

As my splash of red accents throughout the wedding, I thought that I would incorporate little red buttons. The reasons for the red buttons are twofold:

a) Luke and I used to have a "tradition" of giving each other cards by John Sands. In particular Elliot and Buttons. Adorable.
b) there was a surplus of red buttons in my house which I used for a previous project
c) oh, and there is a third. I remembered that my previous project was my engagement party invitations! (which by the way was more work than my wedding invitations).

So, for the men, I decided to make little red button cufflinks... and the girls would wear red button hairpins and red button earrings.

It was as simple as buying the cufflink backs and supergluing the red buttons on.

Cufflinks... doneski. They also doubled up as a lovely gifts of the groomsmen.

Immensely pleased...

xoxo

My wedding cake...

Sooooo.... where do I start with my DIY? Let's start with the CAKE.  As previously mentioned, it was initially seen in a book at Eastlands and the minute I saw it, I thought to myself - I want a cake just like that! A perfectly white, two tiered quilted cake with black satin ribbon and fresh white roses.

While I am quite contented with my limited cake making skills, making a seemingly simple cake such as this one was still concerning. For starters, I wasn't sure whether I would be able to stack the cake perfectly and if the base was not perfect, there was a very real chance that the whole cake would topple over. Knowing me, that was also entirely possible. Then it hit me.... FAKE BOTTOM CAKE! I would make (well, cover with fondant) a fake tier at the bottom and sit a real cake on top of it! I spoke to Croyule cake decorations at Bellerive (good ole Lila) who didn't have any styrofoam cakes, so she refered me to Creating Cakes in Sorell. They were also brilliant there and $16 later, I had myself some fake styrofoam cakes.

While I can make my own fondant, I didn't want to risk ANYTHING for my wedding cake, so I went with a standard white fondant from Lila. Four kilos worth.

The top bit of cake was a very rich chocolate mudcake (so rich that it is about 600 calories a slice!) with a beautiful rich chocolate ganache - it seriously was one of those "death by chocolate" cakes!

The end result? Not too bad at all...

I ended going without the quited pattern because I could not just get it RIGHT. My beloved Elizah was brilliant in helping me with this cake, so I have her to thank for the success of this cake! THANK YOU for making my dream of having this cake at my wedding come true. :)

xoxo

It's all over!!!!

The wedding is over! Everyone complained about what a long engagement it has been, but the wedding came around quite quickly and before I knew it, I was fast running out of time! Now that it is over, what am I going to do with my free time?

For starters, I'm going to help my friend in her wedding (well, as much as she will let me!) AND I am finally put all my DIY tutes and wedding details on my blog. So watch this space!

And for all those who are interested in knowing, I totally enjoyed every aspect of the wedding preparation - after the engagement party when I had a complete meltdown and was crying and carrying on like a freaking nutjob, I decided that I would not be that stressed on my wedding day. I just thought that if something didn't get done, it wouldn't make it to the wedding and no one would be any wiser.

A few major hiccups leading up to and during the wedding, but hey - I married the love of my life, so I'm not going to sweat the small things. So if I may be so bold as to provide ANY advice to ANYONE, it is to enjoy the journey and the day and your day would be perfect. :)

From a very giddily deliriously happy WIFEY. :) xoxo

Blessed Easter everyone!

So instead of putting Rosie's adorable face on my blog, I thought that I should include a photo of my latest cake creation. I won't take any credit for this as the design was given to me by a woman at work. She however tied a ribbon around the cake while I decided to sit a pretty chocolate bunny on top (which makes little tinkle sounds) to make it an Easter cake!

It is definitely death by chocolate: chocolate mudcake, chocolate ganache, kit kats around and smarties on the top with the chocolate bunny! It just screams Easter, doesn't it? :)

Blessed Easter everyone! Enjoy the chocolate but let's not forget what Easter is truly about- remembering our Lord who died for our sins so that we can live forever in His love. I am eternally grateful.

Homemadee tortillas!!!

Let's set the scene... no wait, I'm too excited. I'll just skip to the end - THEY WERE DELICIOUS.

So I did heaps of cooking on the weekend. Now that winter is here and we are eating less grilled meats but more stews and hearty food, I thought that I could cook for the week. This meant that all Luke and I would have to do when we got home from a tiring day at work would be to reheat our food and mooch on the couch.

SO, Sunday was chosen to be the epic cooking day. I made curried sausages, chicken stew, a huge batch of chili con carne (con beans and musshrooms too might I add!), glutinous chicken rice AND some begedils! (They deserve their own post, which I will write in time...). When it came to today (Tuesday), Luke and I were spoilt for choice... WHAT WERE WE GOING TO EAT....

We decided on the chili, but as it was already cooked, I thought that I should try my hand at making some fresh tortillas. I had just found a recipe online and it looked easy enough... so why not?

The outcome?

They were PERFECT and absolutely delicious! It is true what they say, once you have had home made tortillas, you will NEVER go back to store bought! After devouring this for dinner with my chili, lettuce, tomato, cheese and sour cream - I agree!

Nom nom nom...

x

Vale Jimmy...

This is a bit late, but it was hard for me to write anything about Jimmy and not burst into tears.
The world lost this amazing man on 20 March 2012. My thoughts and prayers go out to his wife and two children.




Thank you Jim, for saving our beloved footy club, for working tirelessly with the underprivileged youth, for helping so many achieve their potential. Thank you for fighting your illness so courageously, giving hope to all who were the in the same boat. Thank you for showing us all that you can do anything if you put your mind to it. Thank you, for your incredible legacy.

Rest in peace, Jimmy. You were larger than life and well loved by many. Gone, but not forgotten. The world is definitely a lesser place without you.

x