Happy Birthday!

Today is a public holiday here in Australia and therefore, I do not have to go to work!  We are honoring The Queen's birthday. Truthfully, I had no idea which Queen's birthday we were celebrating. My first thought was the Queen of England since we are apart of commonwealth. However, I was a little confused since my sister and brother-in-law, who live in London, aren't getting work off.

A little investigating, I call Google, and sure enough I find out that we are indeed celebrating the current monarch Queen Elizabeth II birthday. Her real birthday is April 21st but if every year we celebrated it on that day then many times it would coincide with Easter, which would mean one less day off... and we can't have that now can we?

So, in honor of The Queen's day of birth and not having to work.... Happy Birthday!

Balmain

Balmain is one of Sydney's oldest working suburbs slightly west of the central business district (CBD). However, now it is a colorful and artistic suburb, home to some of Australia’s best-known writers, actors, film directors, musicians and artists. The main street of Darling is lined with stylish cafés, pubs, restaurants and shops. Just walking down the main street you can feel the energy and life of the cosmopolitan crowd.

Today we hopped on the train and bus to hit up a cute cafe for food and check out the weekly Saturday Balmain Markets.

I was hoping for brunch but by the time we sat to eat at 1pm I was already craving lunch. We hit up a fairly busy cafe called Fundamental which served surprisingly large sized meals. 'Merica style!

Green Tea

Tuna Melt on Turkish Bread

Baked eggs in tomato with feta and chorizo

 

 

After lunch we headed down to the markets which had lots of cute booths each filled with handmade and vintage style things. I was in need of a gift for a few people back home and happen to find the perfect gift here. Sorry, but I wont be able to share what I bought just yet.

On our way back up the main street we passed by Adriano Zumbo Patissier, which had a long line out the door. Probably something worth checking out but we (and I mean Adam) weren't interested in waiting in line.

 So... instead we popped into the Cupcake Factory for a quick afternoon snack which was right around the corner. P.S. these were really soft, squishy cupcakes. Totally work my $3.

Overall, a great suburb worth checking out if you are in town or live here. I would love to go back and check out the night life.

A Hypnotic Weekend Bash

5 years ago, while still living in New York City, my parents came to town for a visit my sister and me. Our plan was to wander around the fabulous city and see all that it had to offer. As we were walking through Washington Square Park we heard an amazing brass band playing, The Hypnotic Brass Ensemble. We joined the already existing crowd to hear the sweet jams. Instantly my older sister and I were hooked and agreed to go halvsies on a CD right there on the spot.

As it turns out that same summer, before Adam and I were even together, he too wandered through that same park and stumbled across HBE. Moved by the music just as I was he chose to buy one of their CDs as well.

Now here we are present day living in Sydney and what do I find on the Sydney Opera House website? None other than the Hypnotic Brass Ensemble playing on my birthday weekend. We instantly bought tickets!

Best show! So much energy from the band and from the audience. It was a great night followed by a beautiful birthday Sunday filled with brunch and a massage compliments of Adam.

Thank you to Adam for making my birthday far from home, far from family and friends so special!

The Ultimate surprise!

Two of the coolest friends we have made since arriving to Australia recently got engaged. Due to the drama that usually follows planning a wedding, they opted out of that and plan on eloping. They had recently decided to do this in Vanuatu, a group of tropical islands near Fiji.

That being said, they decided to throw an engagement party before they ran off and got hitched. We were excited to hear that we were invited to this fun affair and quickly RSVP'd YES! We were instructed to arrive at 5:00 sharp as dinner would be served at 5:30. Adam and I thought that seemed early but thought nothing else of it.

So this past weekend we got all dressed up and headed to the historic district of The Rocks to a great restaurant called The Italian Village. Elma & Max, the soon-to-be-runaway bride and groom, rented out the whole top floor. It was beautiful! They stood at the entrance and greeted all their friends and family as they arrived.

Max & Elma

While waiting for dinner to begin, wine, beer, and champagne were offered by the waitstaff. There were also at least two bottles of whiskey on each table. This would not be a mellow night. Soon everyone began sitting down and Max stood at the front of the room to make a quick announcement. He told everyone that he and Elma had a little surprise for everyone. There were whispers all around the room.

All of a sudden, two double doors in the back opened, some music started pumping, and out came Elma in a full-on gown!!! SURPRISE WE'RE GETTING MARRIED, Max said.

 

Bride and Groom

Everyone's jaw dropped. No one -- not friends or family -- had any idea this was coming! We all thought we were going to an engagement party but really it a wedding and the trip to Vanuatu was for their honeymoon! It was such an amazing night. Lots of eating, drinking, dancing and celebrating.

We also had the most amazing view of the Sydney Opera House from the room and turns out the wedding coincided with Vivid Sydney Festival of Lights, not to mistaken for the Jewish festival of lights. Max joked that he arranged this little show as part of the wedding celebration.

The Vivid festival is a two week event in Sydney's CBD, where light shows are project onto the Opera House and other buildings all night long. It might sound lame but it's pretty cool. On top of that there is a fire show -- not to be confused with fireworks, they literally just blast fire into the air -- on the hour every hour from 7pm-midnight

What a great night with great people! Congrats again to the wonderful newly wed couple Max & Elma!