It’s hard to believe, but in a space of only two years, Phill and I will have attended four weddings together. Is there something in the water? Two weddings have already taken place and the other two are in October and November, which gives me plenty of time to find new dresses. That’s the only “problem” with attending friends’ weddings – many of the same people will be at both weddings which means me wearing the same dress is not going to be an option. The boys are lucky – all they have to do is change the colour of their ties and they’re set!

I don’t mind though – I love weddings! I especially love how different they can be from couple to couple.  Our friends S and C’s wedding was a beach wedding in March, where guests stood for the ceremony in the lovely warm sun and the bride and groom poured black and white sand into a vase to commemorate their union.  There were photos taken on the beach in the sunset, followed by a cocktail reception in the surf club. The other wedding we attended, my sister’s, was a Catholic mass in a beautiful chapel, followed by a cocktail reception at a mountain lookout.

While they were very different, there was one thing the same – the wedding cakes.

Or should I say, wedding cupcakes.

Both weddings had cupcakes instead of a wedding cake, which I thought was pretty awesome. How easy to just help yourself to a cupcake? There’s no need for cutlery or plates, although you are left with the cupcake wrappers. One of the weddings had a small cake decorated the same as the cupcakes so the bride and groom could still “cut” something together, which I thought was a nice touch. It also meant they had something to save in their freezer for their 1st wedding anniversary, if they wanted to.

I’m torn – I really like the idea of a traditional wedding cake, but I also like the practicality and cuteness of wedding cupcakes. I think for my wedding, I would go with the cupcakes with the small cake to cut and save. No, I’m not engaged, but a girl can plan, right? Especially if it’s planning CAKE!

What about you? What do you think of wedding cupcakes versus the traditional wedding cake? And the BIG question – what flavour?

…what’s the unspoken rule on that?

You see, on the morning of my sister’s wedding, which was about an hour’s drive from my home, my Mum booked me in at a hairdressers to get my hair done.  Instead of just getting a blow dry and some hair spray, I actually ended up getting a trim and *gasp* she also cut in a fringe for me. It’s impossible to hide, it’s there on my forehead and when I go back to my regular hairdresser, she’s going to know that I … saw someone else.

Is it weird that I feel disloyal?

I mean, my hairdresser absolutely saved my hair after I got back from Japan in February this year – she made it so I didn’t have to wear a beanie every time I wanted to leave the house. She cut it and coloured it and made it look absolutely brilliant and upped my self-esteem tenfold at the same time. Incidentally, she’s also made enough money off me for a downpayment on a new car, but hey, she’s very good.

But … the other hairdresser was also very good! All I said was, please give me some body and a fringe and she just went snip-snip, poof! and it was fabulous! Exactly what I wanted! She even managed to hide my regrowth, a very impressive feat since I am waaay overdue to get my roots done.

Perhaps it’s a good thing she works an hour away from me, or this one-appointment-stand may have turned into a full-blown affair. Am I crazy? I did a quick google search and it appears that I am not the first one to wonder about cheating on my hairdresser – at least I didn’t go to someone else in the same salon, now that’s a little harsh.

What do you think about this? Maybe it’s a girl thing. Or maybe it’s just a Katie thing.

Or maybe… I’m just crazy?

About a week ago, on August 1st, Phill and I went out to dinner to celebrate our five year anniversary. I can’t believe it’s been five years since we started dating – it’s absolutely flown by! Due to a rostering error, I luckily had Saturday off work, so we were able to spend the entire day together, starting with a visit to the movies to see Transformers 2, followed by chocolate by the bald man (our first visit and OH MY GOD it was fabulous – we had fondue for two) and then a romantic dinner at a classy restaurant.

I decided on the scallops for an entree and, as neither of us had tried scallops before, we decided to share it. Phill isn’t a big seafood eater, but I am trying as hard as I can to get him to experience new tastes. I’ve always wanted to try scallops but I guess in a way I’d been putting it off, waiting for that perfect dish to jump out at me.

The scallops were served on a bed of pea puree and topped with a crispy slice of pancetta. At first glance, the scallops seemed to really vary in size and shape, which I noticed perhaps only because I am a bit of a perfectionist – is it normal to have irregular-shaped scallops on the one plate?

The scallops tasted really nice and not at all how I had expected – they were firmer than I had thought and not at all sticky or gooey. The contrast in textures between the scallop, the pea puree and the crispy, salty pancetta really worked together and both Phill and I loved this dish. I’m glad we tried them and I’m keen to try them again, maybe in a pasta dish? I’m working towards tasting everything involved in a paella so one day I can eat one without worrying about having to pick out a certain seafood.

For our mains, we had very contrasting dishes. As the restaurant specialises in steak, Phill had a steak cooked medium, with a pepper sauce. I must apologise for the fuzziness of the photo – it was the one photo I asked Phill to take! I guess by this point we were rather hungry and eager to dig in. We were very impressed with his steak knife (unfortunately not pictured) which was Japanese, steel and very sharp.

My main was asparagus risotto which was absolutely delicious. I’ve never had risotto before and I was tossing up whether or not to go with a steak, but I am glad I decided on the risotto because I thought the flavours were more impressive than Phill’s steak. The only downside about an asparagus risotto is the resulting, err, smelly asparagus pee that I have discussed here a while ago. That night, it was particularly strong. While Phill can’t smell anything, I really can and it actually hung around for quite a while.

At the end of the meal, instead of dessert, we had a special plate delivered to us:

It was actually a perfect size for the two of us to share instead of ordering a dessert each because, by this point, we were absolutely full from dinner. It was a brownie chocolate cake served with strawberries, a huge dollop of fresh cream and some strawberry coulis dots, with “Happy Anniversary” written in chocolate sauce. It was delicious, although we felt a little bad “ruining” the writing – but I’m glad we did because that chocolate sauce was very smooth and rich and went really nicely with the cream and brownie.

It was the perfect end to a really lovely day.

I must admit that I have been rather neglectful of Puddy since Phill and I returned from our holiday.  Of course, I’ve been feeding her and giving her the odd head scritch and I always give in when she jumps up on the bed and wriggles under the doona (much to Phill’s displeasure), but other than that, I’ve sort of been leaving her to fend for herself. I can’t remember the last time I sat outside with her, trailing grass runners across the yard for her to pounce on. I’ve simply been too busy and too distracted. There’s been laundry to do, a kitchen to clean, showers to scrub, carpets to vacuum, lawns to mow, jobs to attend … the list goes on and on.

That is why today, on my day off, I decided to go outside and spend some quality time with Puddy. She lapped up the attention, flopping and rolling and pouncing and biting – she had a ball and frankly, I enjoyed it too. Oh to be a carefree cat whose day consists of sleeping, eating, bathing and sleeping! Sure would be a pleasant change from having to be an adult with responsibility and stress.

The grass is looking a little dead because of the recent mow and lack of rain, which doesn’t make it the most comfortable to sit on, but I sucked it up for some playtime. I couldn’t find any grass runners since I guess I must have mowed over the majority of them, but I managed to find a longish bit of grass for Puddy to grab at.

I love Puddy’s concentration in this photo – she’s really eyeing the grass (yes, it is grass although it doesn’t really look like it!) and wondering if it’s worth her attention or not. Of course it is – any cat owner will see a cat preparing to strike in the above photo, her left paw about to reach up off the ground to swat at the grass. After all, who could resist something dangling right in front of their face?

I told you so.

It’s a half-hearted one-paw attack since the rest of her body is still flat against the ground. Her attention is obviously not completely attracted. Well, I can fix that, can’t I? With a little more effort on my part, Puddy finally can’t ignore the fact that this annoying dangly thing is really bugging her and she goes for a two-pawed attack.

I love her little claws ready to grab at the grass. Those babies were really long by the time we got back from holidays. Her new scratching post is scratched almost to death (I will have to show you a photo of the damage) in an attempt to keep them under control. I forgot to show my brother how to trim them but, to be honest, I am flat out myself trimming them because I am terrified of cutting the quick, so I’m not sure how my brother would have gone with it.

For more cat-related posts, visit Pet’s Garden Blog for the Carnival of the Cats. I’m not sure who is hosting Weekend Cat Blogging, but I’ll find out and update this post when I know. Have a great weekend everyone and thanks for dropping by, we love visitors!