Hooray!!!!

A big step in the new chapter of my life began this afternoon at about 3PM when my lawyer settled the purchase of my very first own dental practice! It is scary. But exciting! Paul has been absolutely wonderful to me by doing all the nitty-gritty paperwork. I've delegated him to be practice manager! I absolutely HAAATE paperwork!!!!!! I'm still scared. Aaargh. Hooray!

A Glitzy Weekend

We had a stay in Saturday this weekend. My cousin and her fiancé came over for lunch. Paul made his famous "sleepy burgers" - you seriously need to take a nap afterwards and many have done so on our couch. It's just a nice fat, juicy patty with beef mince, onion, garlic, breadcrumbs and some concoction of flavours that Paul fashioned by instinct! This time we also experimented with onion rings - the deep fry was on for freshly cut fries (Fry's Fries) so we figured, why not? I think I can feel a triple bypass coming on earlier than I expected.

As for me, I stuck with where I shine best - beaters, sugar, oven. I created glitzy chocolate puddings. Golden Glitzy! Cadbury Crunchie Glitzy :)

Teddy is usually fine with having company
over. Although he'll want to jump up into
your lap - hewon't touch your food, he just
wants to be part of the table conversation!

No this is not a spring roll - it is a battered and
deep-fried Snickers bar. Yes, Snickers.

Steph's Wedding

What a beautiful day it was. So happy that the rain held out for the ceremony and reception. A lovely patient of mine (a retired hairdresser) did my hair for the day! Stephany was absolutely stunning and when she got emotional I felt a little teary-eyed myself! We met at the bridal preparation house for a pre-ceremony "hossah" - food and dancing until the groom's family come meet the bride... we then went as a big group to the church. I was actually glad for the overcast weather because it was better for my photos!

Steph with her special bridal "yalekhta"
A traditional Assyrian decorated dancing cloth

Steph's gown modelled after an Elie Saab creation

Me with one of the dental nurses
and her lovely sister

Saying goodbye at the reception

Happy Long Weekend!

I am extremely sleepy right now. It's my fault though! We invited a lady from church to our house for lunch today (we invited a few weeks ago) and I left it to the last minute to prepare food and clean! Yesterday first thing in the morning we went to the city so I could find a dress for Steph's wedding next weekend (also, left to the last minute). I did however, choose and purchase a dress within 20 minutes. Then Paul asked me if he could "quickly look at the Ted Baker shirts". 1.5 hours and about 7 shirts later we had lunch then went home.

I had about 3 hours to start cleaning (house was a huge mess) then it was time to race over to a dinner date with my good friend Anna I did dentistry with. Two pizzas, deep fried seafood, eye fillet, salted caramel and snickers gelato and a bottle of shiraz - I'll be honest, I consumed the bottle minus 2 glasses (boys were driving, Anna didn't want any, I didn't want to waste it!)... basically we had a good ol' time and it was suddenly 11PM!

Lucky for me there's a 24 hour Coles not far from home. I decided to prepare French-Canadian comfort food (mainly for Paul) and attempted two of his favourite dishes - tourtière and sugar pie. So my night (12:30am at this point) was spent massaging shortcrust dough, stirring, vacuuming, stirring, chopping, peeling... I finally got to nap from 4:30-6am (with Teddy curled up against me of course). Then it was time to roll out my rested pastry. And bake my risen bread dough.

Anyhow, lunch was a success! I am proud to say that no gagging occurred at the dining table :)

I almost forgot about my baguette so it's a tad darker than normal

Trying to get creative with excess pastry on the tourtière

I roasted the veggies whole then Paul
chopped them up for me

Sugar pie with walnuts

I felt all warm and fuzzy when Paul took a slow bite and
said he felt like he was back in Tadoussac :)
(the city where we got married - northeast of Montréal)

Cairns

I love Cairns! I wasn't really there for a holiday this time around though... The 6th annual aesthetic dentistry symposium (sponsored by Ivoclar) was on. We arrived just before the first conference began and left immediately following the last lecture! I went to Cairns in March 2011 and did touristy stuff then... perhaps I should make a post about that too! Anyhow, I enjoyed Cairns with early morning walks before the conferences began, and dining out with Paul afterwards! I was happy Paul came along with me. We stayed at the Shangri-La and he continued to work from our hotel room while I was at lectures.

Tamarind Restaurant - at the casino
across the road from the Sebel hotel
where the dental conference was held

Miso & Ginger Japanese Scallops

Fried Chicken with Eight Flavoured Sauce
Szechuan & Rosemary battered lotus root crisps

Early morning walk around the marina

Low tide at sunrise

M Yogo Restaurant - located at the marina

Steamed Mud Crab & Scallop Mousse
Wrapped in Wild Barramundi with Tiger Prawn,
Hollandaise & Cream Sauce

Hot Orange Custard Crepe with Grand Marnier Ice Cream
& Orange Sauce

The Lagoon

Coffee & Dark Chocolate Gelato

C'est bon French Restaurant behind the Sebel Hotel

Creamy Garlic Soup with pastry crust

A tiny macaron!

Cappuccino soufflé

Final Cairns Meal - Breakfast at
Perrotta's at the Gallery Cafe

The best coffee in Cairns

Apple & Cinnamon Crepes with Lemon & Ricotta

French Toast with Pears

Bye Sarah :(

Paul's cousin Sarah (his mother's younger brother's daughter) has finally left Australia. She was actually one of my bridesmaids for our wedding in Canada. She arrived here nearly a year ago to live, explore and enjoy! Time's flown so quickly. In her final days we took her to the Blue Mountains then to Sydney to buy souvenirs to bring home. Teddy came along naturally :)