Last day at work for the year - food, flash mob, present, Anna and Bob Evans

Today was my last day of work for the year! I am spending time with my family from tomorrow.

It was a fantastic day at work - I love my colleagues and the work I do. I don't blog about my 9 to 5 job at all, but today warrants a blog!

I work as an events planner/writer to enhance the social fabric and corporate engagement within my organisation. It is often a lot of fun and I work directly with and meet a wide range of great people. I think it's such a rewarding job. I have made wonderful friends, including some who I only talk to on the phone and have either not met or have only met once or twice. That's the beauty of working in such a large organisation.

The day started off with special end of year breakfast out at a cafe where I was treated to a yummy breakfast of field mushrooms, goats cheese and guacamole on sourdough with a side of salmon, and juice. This picture does not do it justice. The pink filter is on? My breakfast was soooo good!

Then at around 10.30 am, my immediate colleagues and I commenced our 'grazing day' - where we grazed on yummy food all day. It was so wonderful. We'd planned this day for several weeks, calendarising and discussing menus. People baked and brought delicious foods - nuts, cheese, pannetone, carrot cake, bread, dips, brownies, cookies and cheesecake. Heavenly!

Brownies - thanks S! So rich!

Cheese!

This cheesecake was the best I've ever had.Thanks C!

I baked two things - custard and berry tartlets...

...puff pastry cases baked for 10 minutes, topped with French vanilla custard and frozen berries cooked in a little water and sugar...

And asparagus and brie tart - a great way to use up my leftovers before the holiday...

...seven free range eggs (the colour of the yolks was amazing) beaten into a custard with King Island cream...

...some fresh chives and mint, salt and pepper, the last of the tasty cheese, and two bunches of blanched baby asparagus all poured into a shortcrust pasty lined dish and topped with sliced brie. Yum!!

We ate all day. Seriously. Such fun.

At lunch (when we DIDN'T eat) my colleague M and I saw this performance at Melbourne Central.

75 singers, a conductor, microphones and speakers, and a huge crowd around every balcony.

A flash mob choir - the Skin Opera. It sounded amazing - unexpectedly because of the vastness of the shopping centre. It was pretty special to see and hear!

We bumped into the lovely Anna from the Cock Tales podcast - I had never met Anna but she recognised me because I am good friends with her podcast co-host Scott (as featured on previous blog entries such as this one). We hugged and chatted for a while, and decided we need to have a drink together.

I also received something wonderful in my mail box - hand delivered tonight!

A seriously beautifully wrapped and packed Vogue Forums Kris Kringle gift from Esz at Kitty's Drawings. Sorry for the blurry photos.

Inside there was a Portmans silk scarf, some lollies, fabric brooches and a necklace from my favourite Etsy seller, Wiyomu.

Wow! I am so lucky - this was a fabulous gift - I am very thankful, and I wish you a happy Christmas, Esz.

When I returned home, I received a heads up that this video is now on YouTube

Thank you Peterdaicosisgod for recording and uploading it! It brings back great memories of my favourite gig of 2010.

And finally in other great news I received an email at work to say I've won an award, to be presented in January 2011. I am honoured.

Today was a wonderful day to end my working year. :)

I hope you all have/had great last days at work before the Christmas break, and that if you are working over the Christmas period, that your days are good. A special shout out to the emergency service workers and charity workers who forgo Christmas day celebrations with their families to help others.

PS: thank you to everyone for being so supportive and encouraging about my previous blog entry about sex. It certainly took some deep breaths and courage to write and publish! I am glad some of you can relate, and that it's provided a new perspective for others. Your comments have made me think a lot too.

PPS: this blog just turned over 100,000 visitors in just over a year. Well 11 months as I only started the stat counter in January. Thank YOU!!

Internet places I like.

Hello!

On this Sunday afternoon, in an attempt to procrastinate cleaning the house before the cleaner comes tomorrow, I want to share with you some of the places I like to visit on the Internet.

Vogue forums

This is a community of fashionably minded people - me included - who discuss all things fashion. Sales. Clothing trends. What they are wearing today. Where to find that fabulous dress Miranda Kerr was wearing. And a bit of other stuff including pop culture, current affairs and food.

My user name is Sqoggle. I don't chat there a lot, but I like to lurk.

I took part in a great Kris Kringle (Secret Santa) on Vogue forums this year and last year. Both times I received something beautiful from anonymous Vogue forum users. Both times I received something from this wonderful Etsy seller, Wiyomu.

This year I received this necklace, but in silver. It's so delicate and special. It's perfect, well chosen from someone who didn't know me at all. Thanks Polly 6034!

Red Dog and Jude

This is a blog by my friend Danielle, who is a graphic designer. She designs books and images for children's clothing and toys. Danielle is very talented and very busy.

Flair to Remember

As mentioned a couple of posts back, Nikki is the creator of Flair to Remember. Nikki has an amazing sense of style, and I do enjoy reading her blog for inspiration.


Vegan Lunchbox

I used to be a regular at Vegan Lunchbox, but not so much recently. Jennifershmoo creates amazing vegan lunches for her son and herself. They are presented so well. Even if you're not vegan, which I am not, you'll find the presentation and inventiveness of her food amazing.

Faux Fuschia

I have only begun reading this blog recently, but I love it! The writing reminds me of a glamourous TV character. Very tongue in cheek, but very serious about style.

Alibi Online and Freez Clothing

I'm not a huge online shopper outside of Ebay. I often buy clothes, books and CDs from Ebay. Recently I bought a fabulous playsuit and Mimco headband from Ebay. I like the buy now option - the bid option makes my heart beat fast. I've not had many bad experiences on Ebay apart from the time I bought seasons one to four of Felicity on DVD and when I received them, they were pirate. I really really wanted them though, and they were relatively cheap, so I wasn't too disheartened, but I don't like supporting piracy.

But the online stores I visit and make purchases from (as opposed to visit and see what I can buy in store - hello Mimco and Sportsgirl have been Alibi Online and Freez Clothing. These have affordable and stylish clothing that are mailed super fast. If you're into fashion, and like things you don't see every day in the shops, try Alibi Online and Freez Clothing.

Well they are just a few of the Internet places I like. Check them out.