Wednesday, 22 June 2011

Father's Day - 19 June 2011

I hope all the dads out there had a special father's day - sadly I didn't get to spend the day with my dad but I did get to wish him and at least he knows that I love him lots and I am very lucky to have him as my dad! X

Good news......

So last Thursday, Scott and I had the day off so that I could apply for my indefinite leave to remain in person.

What an experience - I was so nervous while sitting at the UK Border Office and you wait for my number to be called over the loudspeaker and when it does, we both were anxious and just wanted it to be over. Luckily, by 2pm, we were in back in our car beaming from ear to ear as my application was granted - next stop is citizenship!

Sunday, 12 June 2011

Letters To Juliet

Yesterday, I bought the dvd, Letters To Juliet as I had wanted to see it at the cinema but never had a chance to see it.

I am fortunate to have a husband that enjoys similar movies to me - we love romantic comedies as well as action pack movies but we are not keen on watching thrillers / horror movies.

So we got cosy on our couch as it was a perfect evening for spending it in front of the television as it was very miserable outside.

The main character is Sophie, a New York factfinder of a newspaper desparate to launch her career as a writer who is engaged to a self-centred restauranter. 10 weeks prior to their nuptials and her fiance opening his restaurant, they set off on a holiday of a life time in Verona.

While in Verona, on one of the many days that Sophie finds herself alone, she enters Juliet Capulet's Courtyard where she discovers a wall of letters left by visitors that are longing for advice from the Secretaries of Juliet.

I will not divulge any further on the plot but save to say Sophie is intringed by the Secretaries of Juliet and she, too, takes part in responding to a letter that was left more than a decade old. The author of the letter soon retuns to Verona after having received Sophie's response.

The movie is set against the beautiful backdrops of Italy and the quest for love soon captures its audience.

The cast is
Amanda Seyfried as Sophie
Author of the letter is Vanessa Redgrave
Self-centered fiance is Gael Garcia Bernal
Vanessa Redgrave's uptight grandson is Christopher Egan

My husband has been lucky enough to visit some of the locations that were captured in the movie and I cannot wait for him to take me there!

Thursday, 2 June 2011

My first attempt of making Pavlova

Last week I decided that I wanted to make a Pavlova to take to our friends on Saturday. So, after a long day at the office, not to mention doing the grocery shop and then having dinner (10 pm), I decide that the kitchen was clean and tidy to start making the dessert.

Well after an hour and a half of mixing caster sugar, cream of tartar and egg whites - I finally had stiff peaks and we even did the test of turning the mixing bowel upside just to make sure it held - safe to say that it did not fall on to the kitchen floor!

As you have to cook the pavlova at low heat for about 2 and half hours, we decided we wouldn't risk falling asleep and spent the evening watching rubbish on tv - waiting in anticipation for my first attempt to be ready!

Finally after a lot of anticipation, my pavlova was done and from what we saw, it looked amazing - I, in fact, made two in case one was a flop!

Luckily both looked perfect - but I have to admit that once the buzzer on the cooker went, my husband and I were both very relieved to know that we could go to bed!!!