Because I still haven't sorted through my pictures from our time in Byron Bay, or when my parents and aunt and uncle were here, or the Australian Open, today you get a random blog post with some phone photos of things we've been doing this summer. In no particular order, here's some of what we've been up to in January and February...
I met up with Zack one day in the city for a run and lunch on Degraves Street afterward. These camera-wielding dogs are in Federation Square. I'm not sure why they're there, but I thought I'd better get a picture with them.
We have salmon for dinner nearly every week, because it's so delicious fresh from the market. Here's one of my salmon creations...pan fried salmon with homemade pesto sauce atop quinoa. Yum!
We watched the National Championship Game for college football at our friends' place. While we enjoyed cuddling their dog Roo, we didn't enjoy Notre Dame's performance in the game and the resulting score. Let's not talk about it!
I had a celebrity sighting at the South Melbourne Market. The girl with the skirt in the back is Ellie from MasterChef 2011. You may recall that this was the
show we watched religiously when we first moved here, and Ellie was one of our favorites. I just had to snap this stalker phone photo to show Zack while pretending I was looking at potatoes!
Speaking of potatoes, these potato swirls, which are found at the Queen Victoria Suzuki Night Market, are delicious. The sangria is tasty too. This night market runs every Wednesday night during the summer, and it's a great place to go to try all sorts of delicious food (I even got an American pulled pork sandwich one night) and listen to some fun live music. We've gone a couple of times, and it's been a great way to spend a summer evening.
And last but not least, I decorated our house a little bit for Australia Day (which was January 26). I'm not sure if you can even see the little flags strung across the top, but they are there. Yes, even though I'm American, I've got some Australian spirit!
Anyway, that's a little glimpse into our summer so far. The weather has been incredible (which is rare for Melbourne), so we've been soaking up the sun and making the most of it while we can. That's probably why I've been slacking on keeping up with the blog!
I let them rest at their hotel for a few hours before they were invited over to our house in South Melbourne for dinner. I made them Thai food, using fresh ingredients from the South Melbourne Market and recipes we learned at our cooking class in Chiang Mai. We had tom yum soup, green curry with chicken and rice, and mango sticky rice for dessert. The weather was still beautiful, so we carried our dining room table out to our patio and had a little outdoor party. Emily and Adam were staying at our place during this time, so they made a delicious appetizer and helped dinner run smoothly!
After eating, Zack and I performed a few songs we had prepared on the violin and guitar (my mother's request). I had a few silly gifts for my visitors, which I think my mom and aunt enjoyed a little too much (as seen below!). After the food and laughs, they headed back to their hotel to catch up on sleep.
