bed jumping / hotel view / we could see an In-N-Out Burger but we couldn’t get to it / Universal Studios / got to In-N-Out in the end / tired / a lot of driving / Mexican food at the Farmer’s Market / first red velvet cupcake (not a fan, gave it to Jason) / more treats / venice beach / again

More to come soon but an unphotographed (no cameras allowed, boo!) highlight was catching an LA Derby Dolls game. Amazing girls, so speedy, so tough, they fall so hard and get back up so fast.

And big thanks to new friends Meg & Ash for their hospitality!

We started at Floriditas.

Summer fruits tea and a glass of delicious sav.

I had haloumi with beetroot, mint, capers and toasted flatbread.

Mum had a frittata.

We shared a chocolate orange lamington.

That night we ate at Fratelli, but it was too dark for photos.

The next day we went to Ernesto for brunch.

Mum had poached eggs on homemade hashbrowns with bacon and hollandaise (so good).

I had brioche french toast with poached apple (too sweet for me).

Later that day we shared corn, spinach, ricotta and chilli quesadillas at Gotham.

Then she flew back to Auckland. Bye Mum! Thanks for spoiling me!

I was stuck for posts and realised I’d never posted any of our photo booth pictures from our wedding, plus we just had our 6 month anniversary.  Yeah, we made it to six months! Suck on that Britney!

I think our wedding photos are beautiful but I almost prefer these since I didn’t have to worry about making serious-but-happy-bride-faces (and you can see in the other pictures how uncomfortable I was!).

Looking at these makes me miss a lot of people. And if you didn’t make it into this post, it doesn’t mean I don’t love you. It just means you weren’t enough of a camwhore. I hope you learned your lesson.

The colour of earl grey tea (but not the taste).  Discovering new beautiful blogs.  Eating all my vegetables.  My new-to-me sailor dress and my friend Emma who altered it to fit properly.  Unbelievable coincidences.  Electric blankets.  USA food anticipation.  Roller derby.  Maude Lebowski.  Pretty fonts.  Retro swimsuits. Orange lipstick.  My Mum coming to visit me in just over a week.  Travel journals.  Combat class.  The combined smell of concrete & oil reminding me of chocolate biscuits & milo with my Grandad.  New tunes for road trip playlists.
Dress ups with Sam and Jana in the late 80s/early 90s where I look like a beanstalk with a giant head.

A big thanks to my husband for making my blog look so pretty. I’m so happy with it! I’ve got a few things to add or fix up, so let me know if it’s looking a big buggy on your browser.

I’ve been in a ridiculously good mood for days. It feels so good to get things done I’ve been meaning to for ages! I also recommend exercise in winter for helping keep away the blues, as well as awesome friends to gym with.

A follow up to this post..

Lovely Ginny was kind enough to let me make a little display in the side window at her marvelous shop Swonderful (which has a newly opened online store that you should absolutely check out). Swonderful being my very favourite store in Wellington, I’m as pleased as punch at having the opportunity.

Jason took the photos, I love the last two.

They were all delicious, it’s hard to pick a favourite but I think the channa masala was the winner. I’m meant to be saving the leftovers for tomorrow’s dinner and it’s taking all my will power to not finish it off this minute.

I’ve also been rejoicing in quick spicy tomato soup with a grilled cheese sandwich. The cheating way I make it is adapted from a Madhur Jaffrey recipe: chop up or smash one clove of garlic and one or two bits of jalapeno from a jar, fry them a couple minutes in a tiny bit of olive oil, add a great big dollop of tomato juice, salt and pepper, and bring to the boil, pour it into a bowl and mop it up with your toastie. I don’t much like tomato soup and tomato juice is pretty ‘sgusting so I cannot believe how good it is.

I had a wonderful few days in Auckland this week. Hanging with my parents, catching up with old friends, cooking for twelve, eating my way across the city, feeding red pandas (again!) and going behind the scenes at the zoo.

I got new hair that day (also, this is a really good photo of me. I don’t look like this)

Our flat looked like this.

And later, like this.

Kata and I are ginger twins now. Lisa took all these photos.

Jason had guyliner.

And the hula hoops came out.

Next up, the photobooth!

Last week we had a party themed around the letter K to celebrate Kim moving into our flat. Can you tell who I am? The little friend on my broom is the main giveaway. I bought him in Japan before I even knew what he had to do with! Two years later I’m watching a movie and there he is onscreen, I love it.

Jason set up our photobooth for the occasion, it’s going to be excellent for all our future parties. Kim has lots of pictures on her blog if you’re nosey.