Sunday, July 30, 2006
Another birthday.....this time it was mine
Pics of my birthday and Ohakune
Lou's 30th Birthday
My 30th birthday came and went with some highs and lows. Of course the highs outweighed the lows. I was unwell on the day so stayed home and was resigned to have a day in bed when I heard a buzz. This meant that someone was at the front door of the building. I wasn't expecting anyone so didn't get up to see who it was. It ended up being a courier who managed to get into the building and left a fab helium balloon (with a big 30 on it) outside my door. This was sent by my work colleagues and perked me up nicely. Just as I got back into bed I heard a louder and longer buzz. Thinking this could have been another courier with goodies for me I smartly got up and answered the buzz. It was Dad...or so I thought. After I'd let him into the building I could hear the pitter patter of tiny feet and before long Dad, Big J, T, Char and Cam were on my doorstep. What a wonderful surprise! As it was school holidays T and the kids were able to fly down from Auckland to spend my special day with me. They had brought lunch so took over the kitchen to prepare it. We had a lovely afternoon. I got to wear a 'Birthday Girl' badge and blow out some candles placed on three cute cupcakes. Soon after having some cake and a cup of tea I was feeling pretty tired so farewelled the family and popped back into bed. That evening Joseph arrived with a lovely pressy (yummy perfume) and we had fish and chips delivered. Yum!
The next day we meet up with T, Big J and the kids for lunch. They has enjoyed a kids show a Capital E and after lunch we spent some time in the children's section of the library. Then it was time for Joe and I to prepare for my birthday party. I was feeling pretty unwell so purchased some Codral (which contains pseudoephedrine) to keep me going. That stuff is great! I was worried I'd get addicted to it. It certainly helped me feel well enough to enjoy my party. We started out playing Laserforce which was great fun. The combination of the lighting, thumping music and laser guns, made it quite exciting. We tried to get together a strategy but ended up just running around the maze 'lasering' whoever we could! As part of the deal we got some tokens for the video parlour games so we all got stuck in. Bubbles and nibbles at our flat came next. It was great to see so many friends snuggly fitting into our lounge chatting away. The penultimate activity was dinner at my favourite restaurant The Oriental Thai. All I can say is Yum Yum! I had the duck red curry and it didn't disappoint. The finale for the evening was a session of karaoke. Our repertoire included Cherish and Bohemian Rhapsody. I tried Moon river and discovered that Smells like teen spirit has crazy lyrics e.g. "A mulatto. An albino. A mosquito. My libido." What was Kurt thinking? That could, or probably already has, been the topic of a PHD!
Football World Cup
We really enjoyed watching the World Cup games despite the requirement to get up very early....in fact this made watching the games live more enjoyable as we'd gone to so much effort and made the most of it. It was so much fun following and feeling the highs and lows of each team. Plus we got to sample the cooked breakfasts and coffee in each pub we watched games in :) Having recently visited the country I started off backing Brazil and watched their game against France with my Brazilian flag sarong draped over the table. Brazil never quite got it together however and France played very well to beat them. Was it Ronaldo's visable paunch or something in the German water that affected the team? Who knows. After Brazil's demise I got interested in Italy, the team that eventually won the World Cup despite many of the players being in Italian club teams that were being investigated for corruption. Actually many of the players from the other countries also played for the dodgy clubs so it probably wasn't much of a disadvantage. Italy had a great record through out the tournament in that they'd only been scored against once and that was through a penalty. But although they were a very defensive side they still managed to score goals at the other end. Sometimes finals can be a bit stifled as each team plays defensively not wanting to give the other any opportunities however this final was exciting and free flowing. And then there was the Zidane head butt incident!
Trip to the mountain
We had been really looking forward to our first trip to the mountain. It was a chance to try out our new gear and warm up for the season. Unfortunately there was not much skiing/boarding done as the weather was not favourable. Instead we spent time at a lodge in Pokaka with a lot of drunk people playing cards and board games. We also had a delicious meal at The Cyprus Tree in Ohakune. We have two or three more ski trips planned so should get some good snow action in soon.
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Lou's 30th Birthday
My 30th birthday came and went with some highs and lows. Of course the highs outweighed the lows. I was unwell on the day so stayed home and was resigned to have a day in bed when I heard a buzz. This meant that someone was at the front door of the building. I wasn't expecting anyone so didn't get up to see who it was. It ended up being a courier who managed to get into the building and left a fab helium balloon (with a big 30 on it) outside my door. This was sent by my work colleagues and perked me up nicely. Just as I got back into bed I heard a louder and longer buzz. Thinking this could have been another courier with goodies for me I smartly got up and answered the buzz. It was Dad...or so I thought. After I'd let him into the building I could hear the pitter patter of tiny feet and before long Dad, Big J, T, Char and Cam were on my doorstep. What a wonderful surprise! As it was school holidays T and the kids were able to fly down from Auckland to spend my special day with me. They had brought lunch so took over the kitchen to prepare it. We had a lovely afternoon. I got to wear a 'Birthday Girl' badge and blow out some candles placed on three cute cupcakes. Soon after having some cake and a cup of tea I was feeling pretty tired so farewelled the family and popped back into bed. That evening Joseph arrived with a lovely pressy (yummy perfume) and we had fish and chips delivered. Yum!
The next day we meet up with T, Big J and the kids for lunch. They has enjoyed a kids show a Capital E and after lunch we spent some time in the children's section of the library. Then it was time for Joe and I to prepare for my birthday party. I was feeling pretty unwell so purchased some Codral (which contains pseudoephedrine) to keep me going. That stuff is great! I was worried I'd get addicted to it. It certainly helped me feel well enough to enjoy my party. We started out playing Laserforce which was great fun. The combination of the lighting, thumping music and laser guns, made it quite exciting. We tried to get together a strategy but ended up just running around the maze 'lasering' whoever we could! As part of the deal we got some tokens for the video parlour games so we all got stuck in. Bubbles and nibbles at our flat came next. It was great to see so many friends snuggly fitting into our lounge chatting away. The penultimate activity was dinner at my favourite restaurant The Oriental Thai. All I can say is Yum Yum! I had the duck red curry and it didn't disappoint. The finale for the evening was a session of karaoke. Our repertoire included Cherish and Bohemian Rhapsody. I tried Moon river and discovered that Smells like teen spirit has crazy lyrics e.g. "A mulatto. An albino. A mosquito. My libido." What was Kurt thinking? That could, or probably already has, been the topic of a PHD!
Football World Cup
We really enjoyed watching the World Cup games despite the requirement to get up very early....in fact this made watching the games live more enjoyable as we'd gone to so much effort and made the most of it. It was so much fun following and feeling the highs and lows of each team. Plus we got to sample the cooked breakfasts and coffee in each pub we watched games in :) Having recently visited the country I started off backing Brazil and watched their game against France with my Brazilian flag sarong draped over the table. Brazil never quite got it together however and France played very well to beat them. Was it Ronaldo's visable paunch or something in the German water that affected the team? Who knows. After Brazil's demise I got interested in Italy, the team that eventually won the World Cup despite many of the players being in Italian club teams that were being investigated for corruption. Actually many of the players from the other countries also played for the dodgy clubs so it probably wasn't much of a disadvantage. Italy had a great record through out the tournament in that they'd only been scored against once and that was through a penalty. But although they were a very defensive side they still managed to score goals at the other end. Sometimes finals can be a bit stifled as each team plays defensively not wanting to give the other any opportunities however this final was exciting and free flowing. And then there was the Zidane head butt incident!
Trip to the mountain
We had been really looking forward to our first trip to the mountain. It was a chance to try out our new gear and warm up for the season. Unfortunately there was not much skiing/boarding done as the weather was not favourable. Instead we spent time at a lodge in Pokaka with a lot of drunk people playing cards and board games. We also had a delicious meal at The Cyprus Tree in Ohakune. We have two or three more ski trips planned so should get some good snow action in soon.
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Sunday, July 02, 2006
Birthdays in Auckland
It's always a pleasure to head up to Auckland to assume my Aunty and Sister duties. In this case I visited Auckland for two very special birthdays, Cam's 4th and Theresa's 40th!
See the pics from both parties and the spa.
Cam's birthday
Little Cam had been unwell but quickly perked up when the birthday celebrations began. He received a mountain of pressies (one of the perks of having 8 aunties!) one of which was the 'pre-loved' Buzz Lightyear that I'd purchased on TradeMe. His cake was the head of Spiderman who is one of his favourite super heroes. Superheroes featured a lot on his present list. He got not one but two light sabres from Star Wars, a Superman doll, a Spiderman wrist thingee and Buzz. The party food was super yum as well.
Theresa's birthday lunch and spa pampering
The next day the sisters headed to the Hotel du Vin for Theresa's birthday lunch. It was a bit chilly and raining so we were all very pleased to be greeted by a warming fireplace. There was a very pretty view from the restaurant out to the grape vines. I had the fancy fish and chips and still somehow managed to fit in some dessert which was amazing as I was still full from the party the day before!
After lunch Big J, T and I checked into our cabin. As soon as we got inside we checked out all the bits and pieces. I first had to check out the robes and I was very keen to purchase one for my birthday. They didn't disappoint although we all felt a bit swamped in ours as they were one size fits all. Very soft and cosy though. After settling in we decided to check out the spa pool. It was nice, hot, bubbly and relaxing plus it was a lovely time to have a good natter.
After the spa we went back to our rooms and ordered a room service dinner. I just love room service. There's something fab about having your meal brought to your room so you can eat in your PJs. We enjoyed our dinners (accompanied by yummy smoothies) while watching Dancing with the Stars on TV. A great way to complete the girly day.
Even more girly goodness was to come the next day. We went to the restaurant for a yummy hot breakfast. The waiter could tell we were all a bit sniffly so made us special hot lemon and honey drinks. After breakfast we went to the Spa du Vin for our pampering treatments. We changed into robes and had to wear funny little tissue paper g-strings and slippers. We shuffled like little geishas into our respective rooms with our beauty therapists. The first treatment for me was a massage followed by a mint soothing foot massage. Then we all met up in a cute little room to have lunch in our robes. I had a yummy calamari salad and some french fries. Then we went into the tranquility room to relax. My last two treatments were an aromatherapy massage and scalp treatment. I also enjoyed chatting to the beauty therapist.
After that experience we agreed we were all keen to do a spa tour of the world! To be honest, after all that pampering I felt a bit groggy. Next time I'd like to spread the treatments over a couple of days, be in a exotic location and spend the rest of the time swimming, doing yoga, pilates, meditation and reflecting in beautiful surroundings. That would be truly bliss.
The last thing was to visit the shop to purchase my robe, a bottle of bubbly and a Kiwi chef recipe book. Fantastic. The whole weekend was such a treat.
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See the pics from both parties and the spa.
Cam's birthday
Little Cam had been unwell but quickly perked up when the birthday celebrations began. He received a mountain of pressies (one of the perks of having 8 aunties!) one of which was the 'pre-loved' Buzz Lightyear that I'd purchased on TradeMe. His cake was the head of Spiderman who is one of his favourite super heroes. Superheroes featured a lot on his present list. He got not one but two light sabres from Star Wars, a Superman doll, a Spiderman wrist thingee and Buzz. The party food was super yum as well.
Theresa's birthday lunch and spa pampering
The next day the sisters headed to the Hotel du Vin for Theresa's birthday lunch. It was a bit chilly and raining so we were all very pleased to be greeted by a warming fireplace. There was a very pretty view from the restaurant out to the grape vines. I had the fancy fish and chips and still somehow managed to fit in some dessert which was amazing as I was still full from the party the day before!
After lunch Big J, T and I checked into our cabin. As soon as we got inside we checked out all the bits and pieces. I first had to check out the robes and I was very keen to purchase one for my birthday. They didn't disappoint although we all felt a bit swamped in ours as they were one size fits all. Very soft and cosy though. After settling in we decided to check out the spa pool. It was nice, hot, bubbly and relaxing plus it was a lovely time to have a good natter.
After the spa we went back to our rooms and ordered a room service dinner. I just love room service. There's something fab about having your meal brought to your room so you can eat in your PJs. We enjoyed our dinners (accompanied by yummy smoothies) while watching Dancing with the Stars on TV. A great way to complete the girly day.
Even more girly goodness was to come the next day. We went to the restaurant for a yummy hot breakfast. The waiter could tell we were all a bit sniffly so made us special hot lemon and honey drinks. After breakfast we went to the Spa du Vin for our pampering treatments. We changed into robes and had to wear funny little tissue paper g-strings and slippers. We shuffled like little geishas into our respective rooms with our beauty therapists. The first treatment for me was a massage followed by a mint soothing foot massage. Then we all met up in a cute little room to have lunch in our robes. I had a yummy calamari salad and some french fries. Then we went into the tranquility room to relax. My last two treatments were an aromatherapy massage and scalp treatment. I also enjoyed chatting to the beauty therapist.
After that experience we agreed we were all keen to do a spa tour of the world! To be honest, after all that pampering I felt a bit groggy. Next time I'd like to spread the treatments over a couple of days, be in a exotic location and spend the rest of the time swimming, doing yoga, pilates, meditation and reflecting in beautiful surroundings. That would be truly bliss.
The last thing was to visit the shop to purchase my robe, a bottle of bubbly and a Kiwi chef recipe book. Fantastic. The whole weekend was such a treat.
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