some info

Just wanted to let everyone know that i have updated my blog. However i have put the posts in order by date. This means that you will have to look at posts prior to the banana bread one to see what i've blogged about as i want to keep it all in date order. (The posts are in May and June of 2010) Happy Reading i hope you enjoy it! More to come really soon i promise!

Brunette!

After being blond since i can remember i've given up and decided to go back to brown (my natural color). Although it's a lot darker here in the picture...im sooo happy that i dont have to deal with highlights (and forking over the cash for them). I'm also looking forward to seeing whether the saying is true...do blonds really have more fun than brunettes??? We shall see!

Banana Nut Bread

Banana Nut Bread Recipe

I've been doing a lot of baking on the weekend. It took me a while to figure out how to use a gas oven because all my mom and I ever used together was her electric one....

I think overall i still favor the electric fan forced version because when baking with a gas oven you have to do a lot of checking up on your baked goods. Additionally You have to start with the pan on the lower rack to bake the bottom of the cake and then turn it 180 degrees 15 minutes later because the gas flames are at the back....so that both sides brown evenly....then you have to move it to the top rack in the oven so that the top of your cake cooks and again turn it 180 degrees 15 minutes in so you get an even color on the top. Phew! Exhausting....but well worth the outcome of a perfectly yummy banana bread to have for "afternoon tea" :)

P.s. Notice that the Gourmet Magazine recipe has been adapted from a woman in Fair Lawn, NJ! I just couldn't resist giving it a try. :)

cherish your dryer

never have i ever missed having a dryer so much! Poor James! His office has been taken over by clothes!

Biking around Melbourne

Melbourne has this really cool feature where you can rent bikes from a bike rack and then return them at other racks around the city. James, his brother Dave, Meredith and I all headed out to dinner in the city one night and walked past one of these racks. On a whim we decided to rent two bikes and us girls got to sit on the handlebars. As you can see we had quite a good time!!!


Cheap and a fun way to get around the city!!

Australian snow fields- Hello Mount Hotham

Winter in Australia! What better way to spend a holiday than up in the beautiful snowfields of Victoria. The beautiful and different thing about going skiing in Australia is that in this case the village is actually at the summit of the mountain. So every single car whether 4 wheel drive or not is required to put chains on their tires. James and i had taken his parents Land Cruiser on the trip thinking that we would be able to pass without the chains but it was a no go. Now i think it's pretty excessive that even 4-wheel drive vehicles have to wear chains...but then again...people in Australia really have NO idea on how to drive in snow so it's probably a good thing.
The drive up the Mountain is absolutely incredible. A very windy road through woods and open snow fields. In all the trip took us about 4 hours from Melbourne. Not too bad really. There are closer mountains but just like anything thats close thats where everyone ends up going. So we decided to drive one mountain further.
Many of you might recall my pictures from the Great Ocean Road?? Well this is called the Great Alpine Road and i can imagine that the drive would be just as beautiful in summer. Actually Stacey and I drove a small portion of it during our camping trip back in February....
Anyways, like most national parks you must pay a mountain fee to drive up to Mount Hotham. As James and i were paying this the guy at the booth asked us whether or not we had put "high altitude additive" into the fuel....obviously we hadn't...but neither of us had even thought about that. I've driven up plenty of mountains in the states and never had to put "high altitude additive" into the fuel....we were also driving a diesel. Apparently diesel fuel can "gel" in cold weather. No wonder i've never heard about adding anything to fuel in cold weather as i have never had a diesel car to drive. James and i seriously thought this guy was pulling the wool over our eyes just to make an extra 25 bucks...cause he just so happend to have some in his pick up. Yeah weird right? Anyways james and i paid our dues and were on our way. Once we got to the top of the mountain we were informed that we were to unload our luggage and then our car had to be moved to the parking lot at the end of the village. Cars are not allowed to be driven from place to place (there are no parking lots at any of the hotels, restaurants, lodges you name it) but there is a free bus that runs up and down the village. Everything is pretty much walking distance...but of course it's freezing cold and windy and slippery...Bus is definitely the better option. But waiting for the bus in the freezing cold is definitely NOT fun.

Day 1: was absolutely stunning. Beautiful sunny day although the snow started to get a bit sticky towards the end. We mainly stayed on one run (which was the hardest the mountain had) but you got to the bottom in about 5 minutes and so we both got bored pretty quickly. Of course this gives you the opportunity to practice other fun things such as jumps and turns and going switch which James and I took full advantage of. Unfortunately i had left my personal snowboard in the states and so i was stuck with this rental board that was absolute crap and tired me out very very quickly! Fortunately there was a half pipe competition on to watch and I happily settled in with a glass of wine. Behold some beautiful views.






























































In the evening we caught up for dinner with friends. A mirrored ceiling offered an opportunity for a tricky photo.





Day 2: Storm rolls through and beautiful scenery from yesterday turns to absolute crap. Thats James in the photo Thankfully he was wearing black and not white otherwise i wouldve lost him. It was a complete white-out and the going was absolutely awful. It was windy, freezing and every bump was seen just as i was going over it. I hate bumps. More drinks in the lodge next to the warm fire....

more amazing scenery....