A little piece of America

1. 'This is it' was great - I was pretty darn impressed by how good his voice sounded. He did look super skinny, but still showed off some classic dance moves. Would have been an amazing concert. I enjoyed watching the movie though, toe tapping & interesting!

2. Official annoucement (from me at least:)

Ben & Jerry's has opened their first store in Australia and IT'S IN MANLY!!!!!!!!!!!!

It opened this past Monday (so I hear!) and is located down near ribs & rumps, facing Manly beach. It is open 10am to 10pm every day.

Their website says: 'We’ve gone to town and even decked our new pad out with tables, chairs and free wi-fi access so you can sit there enjoying the sea view until the cows come home.'

I am SO there - YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!

****** UPDATE - I have been informed that the shop is MASSIVE and they will be giving away free ice cream on November 28th (I wonder if that's the official opening that Ben & Jerry themselves are coming too?). Since that is the day my parents arrive, Mom & Dad - prepare for a Manly walk + ice cream!!! Hooray! Should be a Great way to combat jet lag!

USA + U2

Saturday night we met up with Helen & her friend Louisa at Tony Romas

The 'onion loaf' was yummy (not as good a a blooming onion though.....) but the mains were VERY average. I wouldn't go there again, fun to go just once though!

Then we went to see U2 in 3D at the Imax

Murray & Me in our giant 3D glasses

I love live music, but I'm not a fan of watching concerts on DVD. However, this ... was... amazing! The concert was FABULOUS and it was really fun to see it in 3D (especially when Bono reached out right to ME!)! We really enjoyed it - my foot was tapping throughout the entire thing and I kept feeling like I should stand up clap!

Comfort Food - USA style

Wednesday night I went to South restaurant in Neutral Bay with my American friends

My main meal was a pulled pork sandwich, yummy bbq sauce, a pickle (proper dill which made me happy!) and shoestring fries - very nice! (but are you kidding me on the size of that bbq sauce serving though? Of course I had to ask for another one. I'd just prefer if they put a bottle of the stuff on the table so I can drown my sandwich AND fries in it!)

And how could I resist pumpkin pie for dessert! It was lovely, but why oh why did they make it with a crumb crust? It just tasted odd and kinda soggy! But the filling was lovely (even better reheated the next day.....)

Laura, Me & Megan

It was a lovely night - nice to catch up with friends. The food was good, but like Laura said, not quite as good as the real thing. I'd definitely go there again though. It's a cute little place - only 7 tables - so you HAVE to book - but it's totally worth it for a bit of USA soul food:)

4th of July

Saturday we hosted a little 4th of July get together at our flat

I thought my strawberries turned out pretty darn cute:) (gosh they were GOOD too!)

I also made red velvet cake - my great Grandma's recipe

Berries made a nice topping!

Steve & Selina & Amelia & Clara brought these CUTE cookies - loving the stars & stripes!!!

Also - of course - I made spinach dip with the ranch spice my Mom sent! oh it was GOOOOOD!

Helen also assembled the bean dip (which Betty Crocker calls Mexican dip) - everyone LOVED it !!!!

Cute Clara was collecting flag sticker to put on her cheeks!

She also popped over to the table now and then for a snack, then had to peek over the sofa to see the TV - toooooooo cute!

We also made tater tot casserole which went over really well!

From left Steve, Me, Ali, Anna, Amelia, Selina, Tom, Helen, Nicole & Cameron

Helen, Nicole & Cameron

Of COURSE we made hot dogs! With all the fixings of course - chili, sauerkraut, onions, etc)

Murray & Steve (and the very festive hats Steve & Selina brought along!)

Amelia, Selina, Me & Clara

Tom enjoying a brewsky on the balcony

Amelia & her Daddy

Tom & Murray with a hot dog........... enjoying the BBQing a bit too much I think!

Cameron & Nicole

Ali & Murray

Selina & Anna

Me with the lemonade! (I admit I couldn't find any lemonade mix, and I couldn't be bothered to make lemonade from scratch, so I used 'lemon tang' and then added slices of lemon. It was pretty good though!

Super festive Amelia - even her outfit is red white & blue! So cute:)

Nicole & Helen

Murray, Ali & Anna

Clara joined me for dinner - she did LOVE the hot dogs!

Me & Murray (do you like my t-shirt that I got at Target in the states when I was back in April?). I totally didn't realize it matched the cake until I put it on........... lol

A VERY lovely evening. I am just sad we didn't get a photo of the AMAZING 7 layer salad Helen assembled - it was SOOOOOOOOO nice (especially since we put ranch dressing that we made from another one of the packets my Mom sent on top). I really do think the peas & radishes made that dish AMAZING! :)

And can you BELIEVE I forgot to take a picture of the Minnesota cookies??? Bummer - but gosh they were yummy!

4th of July prep

I started with my official 4th of July prep last night by making Missouri Cookies. I don't know why they are called that - but they are no bake - and they are yummy. I ate one for breakfast, and I have a tupperwear full of extras on my desk to share around at work today. I figure it's the start of a holiday weekend - so cookies for breakfast are acceptable right?

I don't have the recipe on me right now - I'll have to post it another day. Suffice to say for now that the main ingredients are oats, peanut butter & sugar - yummmmm.

You know what - just because I can - I may rename them Minnesota cookies - because they remind me of home:)

Thanks Mom!

My Mom mailed us a package 2 weeks ago I see now why it took SO long! (usually things go between the US & Oz in about 5 working days...)

But YAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY the Ranch mix made it through!! Yummy Spinach dip & dressing here we come! Just in time for the 4th of July - hooray!

They also included this handy little booklet - I guess Ranch dip is ok. I do wonder if they included this brochure as a warning though - like 'don't send this again or we will keep it for ourselves!' I did notice that the bottom of the packets says 'Dairy'.... but maybe because it's dried it's ok? No worries - it's here!

(Oh and thanks for the Marley & Me dvd Joni - can't WAIIIIIIIIIIIT to watch it this weekend:)