Three month recap

In early August (my last blog post), I marvelled at the fact that it had been 6 weeks since I had last blogged. I hate to say it - it's now been 15 weeks since my last post - over 3 months. Wow. I could pull out all the excuses at this point and claim I have been too busy...and, well, the truth is I have. But that's no fun. Instead, I'll share with you some of the fun bits of "busy" and assure you that normal blogging will resume as of right now. Here goes:

Garden

In August, we started to get our garden ready for Spring. Basically, for complete amateurs like us, this meant planting fruit and veggies and throwing down some mulch. We're currently growing strawberries, tomatoes, lemons, oranges, zucchini, chilli, garlic, avocado, passionfruit and a whole host of herbs. Having moved into a house with a beautiful established garden, we just couldn't bring ourselves to rip out a garden bed to make room for a veggie patch. Instead we've dotted our edibles around the garden in various pots and baskets. I'm pretty happy with the results.

Study

I'm proud to announce that I have finally finished my MBA after 5 long years. Gone are the days where I whine about the pressures of study. Welcome back life!

Travel

The twelve months or so to mid-year were very much filled with jet-setting adventures. Since then, I've kept things pretty small scale and enjoyed some time with friends in beautiful Paynesville.

Food

After completing a chocolate-making class, I'm honing my chocolatier skills - oh yes, everyone is getting choccies this Christmas!

I've also been increasingly dabbling (with the help of my beloved) in the art of barbecue and general carnivorous behaviour (look away now vegetarians!). Our most recent exploit: slow-cooked, sticky pork ribs.

Fun stuff

Weddings

My beautiful best friend was married in early November. She opted for the most amazing wedding cake - not only a delight to look at, but a delight to eat! Check out the Three Sweet Treats webpage if you're interested in celebrating an occasion with a delicious work of art.

Girly stuff

Did you know that there's such a thing as magnetic nail polish? Well, there is. (The things you learn when you no longer have to study!) By holding a magnet to your fingernail as the polish is drying, one can create some pretty funky nail art...well, pretty funky for a first time user, at least!

Chilling out

At the end of the day, there's nothing better than coming home, putting up your feet and getting some kitty love!

Busy, but happy

You may have noticed that I haven’t had the chance to blog much lately. It wasn’t out of choice – no, I was just flat out too busy. You see, in the last three months, I have completed three MBA subjects and started a fourth, sold my flat, purchased a house, planned a wedding and organised a short trip to Hong Kong (leaving Saturday – wheeee!!). There were grand plans to make ice-creams on a fortnightly basis, but alas, they have slipped down the priority list quite significantly.

The two pieces of exciting news to come of all this are:

• I will be eating my way around Hong Kong (for the fourth time!) as of this Saturday. Following our return, I intend to post on our culinary/shopping adventures, including a visit to the renowned T’ang Court.
• As of late-July/August-ish, we shall be residing in our very own “grown up house”, with its very own “grown up kitchen”. This means, I will have ooooodles of bench space (hello KitchenAid!), a double oven and heaps of storage. Not to mention two open fires for some serious marshmallow “roastage”. Oh yes, there will be much food experimentation and eating!

Thank you all for sticking by me through this crazy time and do stay tuned for my culinary highlights of Hong Kong.

Photo source

Article...on me!

I've been reading the very talented and witty Charlotte's Great Fitness Experiment for at least a couple of years. The girl is hilarious, honest and can contort herself into a mean pretzel-like configurations! When she tweeted a couple of weeks back to ask if anyone had tried hypnosis for weight loss, I jumped at the opportunity to discuss my "hypno" experiences. Little did I know (okay, I totally did know, but thought it would be fun!) that the story would be picked up by Shape magazine. So here you go, guys - the wonderful Charlotte on hypnosis, weight loss and yours truly can be read here*.
[EDIT: I've had a number of people contact me to ask about my hypnotherapist. If you're in the Melbourne area and interested, check out her website]

*FYI: the totally knobby looking photo of moi was taken at Playa de la Concha, San Sebastian. For those who are interested, you can read about our time in San Seb here and here.  

Don't fret - I'm here!

Loyal readers, fear not! I am here and well, but just a tad busy! The last few weeks have certainly been hectic - lots of uni assignments to do, as well as my usual work and knee rehab.

I am pleased to report that there has also been some pretty cool experimental cooking happening at Maison de Georgia, which I have captured with my trusty camera. When I have a little more time on my hands I shall upload photos of a rather disconcerting pre-packaged Peking duck, provide a how-to guide for making your own pasta from scratch and evaluate some of Melbourne's best breakfast options - east vs west side. So...stay tuned - I won't be gone for long!

In the meantime, to keep you entertained, here are a few of the silly photos I've captured over the last few weeks.

Getting excited with the pandan extract. Pandan porridge for breakfast, anyone?

And while we're on the theme of breakfast, how about a $2.95 breakky from the new Ikea store in Melbourne's south east? Hmm...I think my pandan porridge is preferable!

Thankfully, my parboiled then baked red sweet potato chips were a hit!

Finally, I'll leave you with what is possibly my father's worst beer pouring attempt of all time - epic fail!

August update

I'm so glad that people have been enjoying my trip report - I've had great feedback via email, TripAdvisor and on this blog itself. Thank you for taking the time to read!

This is just a short post to let people know that the last couple of weeks of our trip might not be posted as frequently as the first 41 days (i.e. not likely to be daily). I have gone back to uni two nights per week, while working full time and trying to focus on my knee rehab. Needless to say, life's busy. Very busy! Accordingly, please excuse the tardiness of some of my posts. 

Stay tuned for some pretty exciting Eurotrip posts coming from the Cinque Terre, Florence, Lucca, Rome, the Italian Riviera and Kuala Lumpur. In addition, inspired by my time in Italy, I've purchased a pasta maker and have been experimenting with all sorts of different pastas. Be prepared for "carb overload" after my Eurotrip posts finish up. There'll also be restaurant reviews galore, for those of you in Melbourne. 

In the interim, thanks a bunch for your understanding!

Busy studying

Apologies for my abysmal lack of blogging of late. I'm currently preparing for an elective Summer MBA unit and have been spending hours getting through piles of reading and case study analysis. Fun times! 
Promise I will be back to it within a couple of very intense weeks of study. To keep you interested, I can tell you that I have a particularly fabulous DIY rice paper roll restaurant review in my back pocket. 
See you on the other side of this study!

A new year poem

I'm in a tropical paradise right now, but thought I'd pre-write this little post to wish you all a very happy new year. 
As we draw the curtains on 2010 and welcome 2011, I wanted to share with you a poem that I first read in secondary school. It's not deep and meaningful, but I think it contains a very sweet message. Let's find time to smile in 2011!

I shot a smile into the air

It came to earth I know not where

Perhaps on someone else’s face

In some forgotten quiet place.

Perhaps somewhere a sleeping child

Has had a happy dream and smiled

Or some old soul about to die

Has smiled and made a little sigh.

Has sighed a simple final prayer

Which lifts up gently in the air

And flows into the world so wild

Perhaps to wake the sleeping child.

~Michael Leunig

Change of scenery

A very irate Mike today insisted on a change of Blogger template. Apparently my dark grey/black text combo wasn't aesthetically pleasing. My sincere apologies - I hope this is more conducive to people's tastes!

Who am I?

So, who am I?
No, I'm not having an existential crisis, but rather think it's appropriate to commence a new blog with some introductions.
Hi! I'm Georgia. I like to eat, drink and increasingly enjoy getting myself moving. I'm in my late 20s, work full time in strategic planning and have been studying towards my MBA for what feels like forever. I'm happily "mortgaged" to my beloved and am the proud mother of two glorious cat babies. 
I have started this blog to document my adventures in food land (in Australia and abroad). I intend to share new recipes (both successes and spectacular failures!), restaurant reviews, my attempts at healthy living and exercise and my international dégustation experiences - a number of which are planned in the foreseeable future.
Thank you for taking the time to read my blog and please feel free to leave a comment or two!