Where our heroine brings you picture heavy-ness, cute children, cute fiances, and much good food...
Hi! Well, I promised morbane an update last week. And I *was* in the process of doing a lengthy weight-related update, which may well have satisfied SSar's demands just nicely. However, it was far too angsty, even for me. Plus, I had to get Christmas crafting done and get ready to go to Christchurch. So, instead, I bring you a rather picture heavy, but still very pretty post, complete with pictures of both my Christchurch adventures, and mine and Matt's Christmas with both two of my three families. Good times.
So, I went to Christchurch for the week before Christmas for my mate Fran's wedding (in Akaroa), and also to visit my grandparents and some good friends of Uni-some of whom, including the brilliant lalumena, I hadn't seen for almost three years. For most of my trip, I got to stay with my awesome friend buzzy_bee_nz, for whom I was a bridesmaid, and her delightful husband Chris. They've now been married three-and-a-half years, and now have two gorgeous children- Daniel, who's nearly two and for whom I made this slightly controversial blanket, and Natalie, who was born in September (I think?).
To be honest, I was nervous about catching up with Deb, given that I'd seen her only once since her wedding, and that she and her hubby are very devout Christians and I'm, well...not. Thankfully, however, we got on brilliantly, just like old times when we used to moan over mochas about the various men in our lives, and we all had a grand old time catching up...and I'm *very* thankful that the subjects of my lapsed faith and mine and Matt's living arrangements didn't crop up. And well, it will surprise no-one that I was smitten with their kids at first glance! Daniel is a neat wee boy and we bonded almost instantly- he's got *tonnes* of energy, is super cuddly, and has a very friendly, easygoing, sunny disposition. And Natalie is just adorable, and I managed to get some elusive baby smiles and giggles- which she doesn't often do for many other of their friends, apparently! Yeah, I have the gift. ;P
Baby Natalie, graciously posing for the camera. Look at those eyes!
Big brother Daniel, needing no encouragement whatsoever to pose, and cranking out his Zoolander look!
Deb with her mini-mes! :)
On the Wednesay, SSar, her fiance Joel, purplesparkler and I all missioned out to Akaroa for the wedding. Despite being a bit of a schlep to get to, the wedding was just lovely- and definitely one of the most charming and uniquely personal weddings I've been to. Both the ceremony and reception were held at a super-pretty town hall-style building (which they managed to score for dead cheap from the City Council, apparently!), and they went with a joint French (as Fran's hubby is of a French background, and Akaroa has strong French connections) and 1940s theme. Lots of guests dressed for the theme (I would have felt rather under-dressed, had it not been for my awesome feathery fascinator!), and Fran herself looked perfectly radiant in a beige, tea-length, 40s-style dress. Non-traditional wedding gowns FTW!
The ceremony was short n' sweet, but still warm, sincere and heartfelt...and I so wish I could have pinched their celebrant (alas, she's CHCH based :()! Fran and her new husband looked gorgeous together, and I, being the wedding-weeper from way back, had rather damp eyes the whole way through. ;) The reception, complete with yummy cocktails, AMAZING finger food and pastries by a local French baker and a local jazz/rockabilly band, was nice and relaxed. Fran isn't one for frills and flounces, so the whole thing was very simple, laid-back and (seemingly) stress-free...and apparently very affordable! And, just for something nice it was the first wedding I've been to since Matt popped the question, so there was none of that gnawing "when's it going to be my turn?" feeling afterwards. ;)
The bride and groom. Totally diggin' Corey's outfit, and hoping Matt rustles up something similar...
Husband and wife!
Horse shoe!
The spread. The mille feuilles were quite spectacular. For what else are weddings for, other than ruining dieters' hopes and dreams?! ;P
The Croquembouche wedding cake. NOM.
Ellen and I accidentally came dressed as the Spirit of Christmas! My fascinator was awesome. :D
A successful day, all in all. On Thursday, it was back to Wellington, for sexy-time with Matt, empanadas with imaginary_men, and frantic finishing and blocking of Christmas gifts. Christmas Eve brought even more frantic final present buying, present wrapping and cheesecake baking, and then it was off to my Dad's farm for a Christmas Eve dinner and present swap. It was a lovely evening- Dad and Catherine put on a tasty anti-pasto dinner, after which we did our "present circle" (Dad, who was buying for me, got me a book of wacky tea cozy patterns!), and then we gathered round for Christmas Story Time (which I believe is a new Christmas Eve tradition at Dad's place), and those of us that could read read allowed from "The Grinch that Stole Christmas". After that, Matt and I snuggled up with the kids and watched Shrek Forever After. All four kids were angels. Rose and Henry were initially a bit wary of Matt, but they're now really starting to bond- especially Matt and Henry, who spent most of the evening fanboy-ing over video games. ;P And Matt was completely besotted with Summer- which was adorable to watch. Yeah, my ovaries hurt, just a bit. ;P
And...Christmas Day was grand. We had a cooked breakfast (yup, for else is Christmas for, other than ruining dieters' hopes and dreams?!) with Matt's parentals in the morning, then headed out to Mum and Bill's place at Paekakariki for a late lunch/dinner. We had delicious ham, potatoes from Bill's epic veggie garden, my red velvet cheesecake (from this recipe, stolen from blue_tiger25) with strawberries and cherries, and my Grandma's famous fruitcake. Matt and I then took advantage of the fact that Mum's place is bang-smack across the road from the beach, and that it was actually a reasonably sunny day, and went for an ocean swim. Then it was back to the house for more fruitcake and cherries and a rest before Matt and I got the (free!) train home.
Have some pics.
Santa and Catherine. :)
Santa Jr (aka Henry), rocking the Pacman shirt and Indie fringe!
Santa's helpers, Freya and Rose. :)
Rosie, modelling her grown-up lady shoes for Dad's wedding.
Is this not the most gorgeous baby alive?! She has good genes. ;P
Matt and his new future SIL. :)
D'aw!
Double d'aw!
The obligatory snogging photo, but of course. ;P
And some Christmas Day pics.
Cute parentals, modelling their Erin-made Christmas knitwear!
Food p0rn!
Matt approves. ;P
I has a hot fiance.
Cute engaged couple going for a dip. Yes, I look fat. But, we're still cute. ;)
Aaaaaand, that's it! Lotsa pretty pics and happy times. In other happy news, we have a wedding photographer booked, and I've lost 2.5 kg (5.5 lbs) since starting back at Weight Watchers. Life, apart from the momentous struggle to get our flat clean and everything packed in time for the move...is pretty grand. :)
So, I went to Christchurch for the week before Christmas for my mate Fran's wedding (in Akaroa), and also to visit my grandparents and some good friends of Uni-some of whom, including the brilliant lalumena, I hadn't seen for almost three years. For most of my trip, I got to stay with my awesome friend buzzy_bee_nz, for whom I was a bridesmaid, and her delightful husband Chris. They've now been married three-and-a-half years, and now have two gorgeous children- Daniel, who's nearly two and for whom I made this slightly controversial blanket, and Natalie, who was born in September (I think?).
To be honest, I was nervous about catching up with Deb, given that I'd seen her only once since her wedding, and that she and her hubby are very devout Christians and I'm, well...not. Thankfully, however, we got on brilliantly, just like old times when we used to moan over mochas about the various men in our lives, and we all had a grand old time catching up...and I'm *very* thankful that the subjects of my lapsed faith and mine and Matt's living arrangements didn't crop up. And well, it will surprise no-one that I was smitten with their kids at first glance! Daniel is a neat wee boy and we bonded almost instantly- he's got *tonnes* of energy, is super cuddly, and has a very friendly, easygoing, sunny disposition. And Natalie is just adorable, and I managed to get some elusive baby smiles and giggles- which she doesn't often do for many other of their friends, apparently! Yeah, I have the gift. ;P
Baby Natalie, graciously posing for the camera. Look at those eyes!
Big brother Daniel, needing no encouragement whatsoever to pose, and cranking out his Zoolander look!
Deb with her mini-mes! :)
On the Wednesay, SSar, her fiance Joel, purplesparkler and I all missioned out to Akaroa for the wedding. Despite being a bit of a schlep to get to, the wedding was just lovely- and definitely one of the most charming and uniquely personal weddings I've been to. Both the ceremony and reception were held at a super-pretty town hall-style building (which they managed to score for dead cheap from the City Council, apparently!), and they went with a joint French (as Fran's hubby is of a French background, and Akaroa has strong French connections) and 1940s theme. Lots of guests dressed for the theme (I would have felt rather under-dressed, had it not been for my awesome feathery fascinator!), and Fran herself looked perfectly radiant in a beige, tea-length, 40s-style dress. Non-traditional wedding gowns FTW!
The ceremony was short n' sweet, but still warm, sincere and heartfelt...and I so wish I could have pinched their celebrant (alas, she's CHCH based :()! Fran and her new husband looked gorgeous together, and I, being the wedding-weeper from way back, had rather damp eyes the whole way through. ;) The reception, complete with yummy cocktails, AMAZING finger food and pastries by a local French baker and a local jazz/rockabilly band, was nice and relaxed. Fran isn't one for frills and flounces, so the whole thing was very simple, laid-back and (seemingly) stress-free...and apparently very affordable! And, just for something nice it was the first wedding I've been to since Matt popped the question, so there was none of that gnawing "when's it going to be my turn?" feeling afterwards. ;)
The bride and groom. Totally diggin' Corey's outfit, and hoping Matt rustles up something similar...
Husband and wife!
Horse shoe!
The spread. The mille feuilles were quite spectacular. For what else are weddings for, other than ruining dieters' hopes and dreams?! ;P
The Croquembouche wedding cake. NOM.
Ellen and I accidentally came dressed as the Spirit of Christmas! My fascinator was awesome. :D
A successful day, all in all. On Thursday, it was back to Wellington, for sexy-time with Matt, empanadas with imaginary_men, and frantic finishing and blocking of Christmas gifts. Christmas Eve brought even more frantic final present buying, present wrapping and cheesecake baking, and then it was off to my Dad's farm for a Christmas Eve dinner and present swap. It was a lovely evening- Dad and Catherine put on a tasty anti-pasto dinner, after which we did our "present circle" (Dad, who was buying for me, got me a book of wacky tea cozy patterns!), and then we gathered round for Christmas Story Time (which I believe is a new Christmas Eve tradition at Dad's place), and those of us that could read read allowed from "The Grinch that Stole Christmas". After that, Matt and I snuggled up with the kids and watched Shrek Forever After. All four kids were angels. Rose and Henry were initially a bit wary of Matt, but they're now really starting to bond- especially Matt and Henry, who spent most of the evening fanboy-ing over video games. ;P And Matt was completely besotted with Summer- which was adorable to watch. Yeah, my ovaries hurt, just a bit. ;P
And...Christmas Day was grand. We had a cooked breakfast (yup, for else is Christmas for, other than ruining dieters' hopes and dreams?!) with Matt's parentals in the morning, then headed out to Mum and Bill's place at Paekakariki for a late lunch/dinner. We had delicious ham, potatoes from Bill's epic veggie garden, my red velvet cheesecake (from this recipe, stolen from blue_tiger25) with strawberries and cherries, and my Grandma's famous fruitcake. Matt and I then took advantage of the fact that Mum's place is bang-smack across the road from the beach, and that it was actually a reasonably sunny day, and went for an ocean swim. Then it was back to the house for more fruitcake and cherries and a rest before Matt and I got the (free!) train home.
Have some pics.
Santa and Catherine. :)
Santa Jr (aka Henry), rocking the Pacman shirt and Indie fringe!
Santa's helpers, Freya and Rose. :)
Rosie, modelling her grown-up lady shoes for Dad's wedding.
Is this not the most gorgeous baby alive?! She has good genes. ;P
Matt and his new future SIL. :)
D'aw!
Double d'aw!
The obligatory snogging photo, but of course. ;P
And some Christmas Day pics.
Cute parentals, modelling their Erin-made Christmas knitwear!
Food p0rn!
Matt approves. ;P
I has a hot fiance.
Cute engaged couple going for a dip. Yes, I look fat. But, we're still cute. ;)
Aaaaaand, that's it! Lotsa pretty pics and happy times. In other happy news, we have a wedding photographer booked, and I've lost 2.5 kg (5.5 lbs) since starting back at Weight Watchers. Life, apart from the momentous struggle to get our flat clean and everything packed in time for the move...is pretty grand. :)