Ticking things off the list

I have had an incredible amount of tasks to get through this weekend. Overwhelmingly so.

Here is what I have done so far. I feel pretty accomplished in most areas, and disappointed in one area.

I went on the tram car restaurant on Friday afternoon.

I ate some chicken liver pate (my dining partner was vegetarian except for chicken, so she had the capsicum pate)

 Drank some Champagne...they kept on topping the glass up...

 Ate some trout with soy and ginger dressing - rather nice

 Rode through St Kilda...very Secret Life of Us

 Ate some beef - mooing, but not as tasty as I'd hoped

And see that piece of blue vein cheese? It's King Island. And I ate the lot. My dining partner didn't eat blue cheese. Lucky for me. Unlucky for my arteries.

 Here is a picture of Melbourne as we crossed the Yarra on the tram car in Spencer Street.

Here is me with the menu and carnation they gave me. I am wearing a hoodie because it was Stress Down Day on Friday and that's the 'event' I promoted at work. I want to wear a hoodie to work more often.

After the tram car restaurant we went to crown and had more drinks. I got home around 6:30, made some phone calls and watched The Secret Life of Us on DVD in bed, and fell asleep halfway through. So tired.

Yesterday morning I went to the Children's Hospital to visit a friend and her son who is staying there, had breakfast at Maccas, then went to belly dancing.

After belly dancing I handed over $60 for this.

It's most of the non prescription part of my skin care routine. Very expensive. Shampoo, conditioner and bath/shower wash and cotton buds.

After that outing, I did two loads of washing, had a nap, had some food, and then wrote some comedy sketches that I will perform on TV. I can't believe I wrote that! That I am really doing it! I wrote some comedy sketches that I will perform on TV!

I got ready to go out to The Temper Trap. At this stage I was feeling really tired still, and had two major things to tick off my list.

I went for dinner at a Thai restaurant in Victoria Street. I don't know what it was called, but the food was pretty good.

That is a duck and lychee salad. It was seasoned with chilli and peanuts. I ate it wrapped in roti.

Then I drove to Festival Hall to see The Temper Trap.

This is the disappointing part.

It was cold. I was tired, I bought my ticket months ago so it wasn't like I was forking out the money last night. And the ticket had not been posted to me, so it didn't even feel like I was going. There were heaps of people out. I was going on my own, which I am usually quite happy to do. I couldn't find a park close by. I thought I should have got the train.

And then, I disappointed myself.

I gave up The Temper Trap to go to bed. I was in bed by 8.30 pm, watched some Secret Life of Us, and was asleep by 10.00pm. I know. They had sold out on the day I bought my ticket. I may never be able to get a $60 ticket to them again. But then, I had seen them in January, they were awesome but the setlist was very short. I heard them on the radio this morning and my throat choked up. I missed The Temper Trap gig :/

Anyhow, I slept well. I needed it. Today I have done some grocery shopping, eaten breakfast and read the newspapers, looked over some stuff for my thesis.

I have stared at this picture a lot.

 And this one.

And watched the You Tube video of the Rush premiere 30485 times. I am really happy with how it turned out and not so embarrassed at my over enthusiasm anymore.

I am about to get started on an article for DiVine, then cook dinner and watch Masterchef.

Can I have another weekend please?

My first YouTube appearance. Meeting the Rush cast.

Well, I'm holding my breath and posting me on You Tube. Reliving the experience of the Rush premiere. Hope you enjoy and have a laugh!

(Photo taken by Megan Burke)

So my first appearance on YouTube is a little ... ummm.... exuberant.

The lovely Hayley who came along to the Rush premiere last night was so kind to record all of our encounters with the boys from Rush.

In this video you will see Megan being sensible. And me not so. (Future employers - please note, I do not behave like this in the workplace - unless the Rush cast should be there!) I am usually quite calm.Though I was told today, I am always like a kid at Christmas.



I am so thankful I have great friends who appreciated my excitement! And recorded it. When the day comes that I become shy and reserved, I'll need this video.

Thank you :)

Season 3 Rush premiere

Hoyts Melbourne Central
19 July 2010
(All photos are featuring me or have been taken by me, please don't reproduce or alter.)

It was a fantastic night! I was giddy with excitement, and maybe hormones!

I am so full of energy now, and still so excited so forgive me if my writing is a little rambled - maybe I've missed things out? I know I told two men I loved them - and they weren't Callan Mulvey!

I was lucky enough to win tickets to the Rush premiere from both TV Week and Mix FM.

I went with about five friends and made two new friends, met an old friend and saw some people from the Rush forum.

This is my outfit.

The crowd was huge this year compared to last year. There was champagne and canapes, though in my excitement, I didn't get enough of either.

Unlike last year, there was a stage set up and the announcer from Mix FM came to welcome us and introduce the cast.

It was Rodger Corser, Ashley Zukerman, Sam Johnson and Kevin Hofbauer, the new recruit. Rodger said that the girls had gone to the Jam Factory and Callan's helicopter was on its way.

We squealed. I was so excited to see Sam Johnson.

Callan Mulvey came out a few minutes later. The girls went wild.

"Can we like...OOH THERE'S CALLAN!!" That was said by me!

I had a photo taken with Rodger Corser first. He said the girls were really at the Jam Factory - they'd gone to the wrong cinema. I asked what kind of policewomen are they? 'Bloody hopeless' he replied.

I then had a photo taken with Callan and Rodger.

Look at me, surrounded by genetically blessed men! I was very excited!

Megan had a photo with Callan.

It's a weird angle as I took two photos at once with both cameras.

When I was waiting for my photo to be taken with Callan, he saw me and acknowledged me in the crowd by nodding and smiling.

After the photo, Callan asked me how I was, he called me by my name! I told him about my role in the Channel 31 show and he said that's excellent, he will tune in! I congratulated him on his engagement and thanked him for his letter. He was so lovely.

My friends and I then slowly made our way through the crowd to meet Sam Johnson. The crowd was so thick. My shoes were hurting!

Sam Johnson. Wow. What an amazing guy. He was so funny and so nice. I told him about how I loved him in The Secret Life of Us and how I wanted to be Alex. He said he wanted to BE WITH Alex and that's why he did the show! He gave me lots of hugs, including the 'couple pose', which he only does once a night and I'm it. I said 'I think I love you more than I love Callan Mulvey, Sam' and he said 'nah, I'm nothing like those guys, I'm just...I'm just..' and I finished his sentence: 'a douche' and he laughed and said yeah. He thanked me for loving the show. I was taken away by his charm. And that voice!

I was laughing so much my eyes were shut!

Here is Megan with Sam.

We then snaked our way around the back, where I got a nice rear view of Callan, on our way to meet Ashley.

Though I'm not a fan of 'Muppet' in Rush, I liked Ashley a lot.

Poor Kevin was standing with a very small crowd. I felt bad for him.

After Ashley we made our way back to Callan. And waited. And waited. Hayley got a photo with him.

And he posed for a group photo with Hayley, Trudie and I. Sweet guy. So obliging.

There wasn't time to meet the girls - Nicole Da Silva and Jolene Anderson - but I got this photo of Jolene's head.


We then made our way into the cinema. The cast came in to introduce Rush. Sam Johnson made a moving speech welcoming their guest of honour - a little boy who has fought some hard battles.

My photos aren't so great.

And they sat down, in the same row as us, abeit at the other end!

Episodes one and two of Rush were brilliant! So much action. One episode had scenes from where I met Callan in March, and many streets I know well. And it was so funny in many parts. The script is great. I loved the opening scene of episode one. I really like how in the characters have developed and seem to be bonding again.

It was an incredible privilege to be a part of the audience and meet the cast. And boy did Sam Johnson make me laugh!

Thanks Channel 10, TV Week, Mix FM, the Rush cast and my friends for making it a great night.

Resourceful cooking achievements

I had a lovely day in today. It was cold so I enjoyed hanging around in my jamas listening to Aussie music (Angus and Julia Stone, the Paul Kelly/Triple J tribute concert and The Basement Birds) and having a tidy up.

I wrote. I revisited my uni stuff. Thesis starts TOMORROW!

I sorted some brooches.

I love brooches. I put them in a glass bowl, and my fun (read cheap) necklaces in a tea cup from T2. You can just see a yellow duck necklace in the tea cup. I can't wait to wear this necklace! It's mother duck and her ducklings! From the kids section of Diva. I might wear it tomorrow. If I do, I will try to have my outfit photographed.

And I sorted my outfit for tomorrow night. It's a secret.

After some changed plans with some friends, I had a solo quick breakfast at Fraus. I love this cafe.

Today I ate crepes with banana, bacon and maple syrup, with a side of marscapone. I loved the salty and sweetness. So it was very rich. But so delicious. Not exactly a Weigh Watchers meal, but I am one of those people who eat to live AND live to eat. In case you hadn't noticed!

I had my regular mug of hot chocolate.

I also read the Sunday papers, which is a pleasure of mine on a Sunday. One of the supplements had a feature on the stunts on Rush. It was the episode that I saw Callan Mulvey filming. You can read it at The Age.

I did some shopping before I returned home - bought a heap of organic vegies on special so I could make a vegie soup inspired by KittyCate. She has inspired me a lot lately!

The soup had so many vegies in it, and was a great way to use up the vegies in the fridge as well as the cheapies from the grocer.

Mum's greens lasted for ages. There is kale, some yellow leafy vegies, spinach and a bunch of bok choy. I also enjoyed the noon sun through my kitchen window.

All these vegies were in my fridge.

So much pumpkin for $1! And this huge parsnip was 50 cents!

It's not often I use premium chicken stock. It's around $7.00 but I guess it's a nice extravagance when my vegies were quite cheap and already in my fridge.

I used beans. And seasoned it with peppercorns, cumin, cardamom, chilli and celery salt.

All was placed in the slow cooker for about six hours.

The soup was so delicious. The sweet potato and pumpkin gave it a honey-flavour.

Last night I didn't know what to have for dinner so I hunted in the freezer and found some of Mum's home made pork sausages. I made bangers and mash.

On the plate is bok choy, smashed potato, snow peas and home made sausage.

Why am I jumping around with my dates?, you ask. Well, I had one really long sausage left over. It was too much to eat last night.

So in the spirit of resourcefulness, and after a suggestion from Mum, I made sausage risotto for dinner today. I've never made 'meaty' risotto before. I have made it with chicken and seafood many times, but never with meat, and definitely not sausage.

These are my main ingredients. Lemon, rice, the leftover pumpkin, spring onions, garlic, oyster mushrooms, and the thing in the foil is the cooked sausage.

Aren't oyster mushrooms so pretty? They are like clouds. They were so cheap too!

I cut the sausage up. I actually cut these further into quarters.

I started the risotto by re-cooking the sausage with the spring onions and garlic.

My lemon zester is my favourite kitchen gadget. I zested the lemon and added it to the sausage mix, along with some saffron.

I added the microwaved pumpkin and its juices.

And a beer jug of stock. It's pretty green hey?! Frightening - I believe Vegeta has MSG. I received this beer jug for my 21st birthday and have never used it for beer. I don't believe I've ever drank this much beer in my life. It's strictly a stock and green smoothie jug.

I added the rice, making sure it was coated by the vegies and sausage to get the flavour. I added the juice of the lemon.

I pour all the stock in the saucepan at once. I know you are meant to slowly add it to the rice. But I just add it all and let it sit there on low heat and let the rice absorb it, stirring once or twice. I've never had an accident burning the rice yet. Again, this probably rules me out of being on Masterchef.

Twenty minutes later and the stock is absorbed. I put some asparagus and the oyster mushrooms in at this stage. I added a small piece of feta cheese that I had left over, some colby cheese and a bit of butter. Counteracting the great low fat vegetable soup, I know!

And here it is. It was so very yummy. Very creamy, very tangy. Packed with vegies and that home made sausage. And very resourceful. It may well be the best risotto I've made!

I have heaps of risotto and soup left over for lunches during the week. It's a busy week for me this week so it helps to have some meals prepared.

I am so excited about tomorrow night! I have been brushing up on the last episode of season two of Rush so I can get straight into the first episodes of season three. Plus there is the opportunity of meeting the cast! I am going with lots of friends and have asked them to bring cameras so we can share photos. Look out for pictures and a detailed recap of the event!