Twilight

For the first time in my life I wasn't enchanted by my Ikea visit. It's always been a place where some little kooky thing sparks joy, or where I can envision a piece of furniture slotting right into place somewhere in my home. But today all I found was cheap and not especially cheerful tat in the Marketplace. We left with a few more photos frames and an idea in new garden furniture, but didn't scoop up the 'home level up' feeling that I've come to know Ikea for.

What wasn't a disappointment was Twilight. Rebecca and I popped over to Louis and Rachel's for a movie night, and we wanted something iconic and could fit in the 'so bad it's good' category. Well, 2008 vampires scratched the itch for us. Tonally the film struck a good balance of not taking itself too seriously, but when it did it fell on its face in fun ways. By no means a masterpiece, but a good time with a good crowd anyway.

Planning the Pave

In between a bit of prep work for my upcoming work week I made time to go for a small run and to do a spot of gardening. Rebecca and I have made the executive decision to cull our plot of soil that's bang in the middle of the space. We tried in every instance to do something nice with it since owning the house. First we tried uprooting the clover lawn to replace it with grass. Grass didn't take so we tried making an arranged flowerbed out of it. That didn't take either, so Rachel tried to use it as an allotment. Til nothing grew there. I'm convinced the soil and the ground is frankly cursed, that and our lack of green thumbs but no matter what we did nothing gained traction. So we're going to pave it over so we can enjoy it as a space rather than a mud patch that looks a shambles. It's for the best.

Sandwich Party

 Locked in for a full sandwich making session ahead of tonight's dinner party. I made Cubanos and in lieu of any legit Cuban bread close to me the Internet told me a French stick would work just as well. So I took my pork out its brine and into its marinade which was basically oil, citrus, garlic and a truckload of coriander. Then it was into the oven while I watched a film. It was only 20 minutes before it was due to come out I realized a smokey smell. Turns out the recipe has cook times for a 'large' piece of pork while mine was distinctively 'Mama Bear's sized. So it was a little charred on the fringes, but the centre was tasty as anything. So I bundled it all up and hopped on the bus where each of the 8 of us presented our interpretation of a sandwich. Many offered 'tasty stuff in a bun' which were all very good, others offered up a Victoria sandwich, someone else brought their fire pit to make s'mores. The most creative by a longshot was the 'Bready, Steady, Sandwich' round in which we were paired off and given 90 seconds to make the tallest and tastiest sandwich. When the votes for the winner came through I couldn't believe that I came first! Glad all the hard words paid off during such a fun dinner party.

April Pints

As I sat playing one of the most gruesome horror games of 2008 at full volume, our cat just sat on the bed snoring loudly. Occasionally I had to pause the game just to check if her snores were parts of the sound design. 

I did my pork shoulder prep this afternoon, building a brine that left my fridge smelling fantastic. While that did it's thing I popped out to the pub for some early Summer day drinking with a few old work friends. But the Sun poked in just after we sat down so it really was just a normal April pint. It'll be Summer soon though, and the drinking sessions will be ever present then. 

Prepping Pork

 In a few days time I'm attending a 'Sandwich Party', in which the guests must bring a sandwich of their making for judgement. The brief is intentionally a bit vague but I'm going a little off the beaten path by making Cubanos. For that I will need to slow cook a pork shoulder after a bit fat overnight marinate in orange juice and garlic. I bought all the stuff today, so he's ready for dunking tomorrow.

While I waited to baste, I figured I should go hang out with some friends. I drove out to Mike's paddock for a afternoon (that spilled into an evening) of games. He introduced me to Lonesome Dove so we thought it would be funny to start watching the 80's TV show. It's certainly a product of it's time but it's a cute little show. 

Pampered Princess

Without trying to sound like a pampered princess - I was knackered after this weekend! Rebecca and I had a bit of yesterday to recoup, but today was all about the 'me time'. I ended up just catching up on video games and doing the weekday chores. I also walked into today with zero plans for the week. By lunchtime my calendar was full with hang outs with chums. My social battery is about 85% full now, ready to go out and see people again.

Mark and Lucy's Wedding

Yesterday I rolled up to an Air B&B with Dan and Mark so we could have the Groomsmen getting ready together experience. I was handed the rings on arrival and safeguarding that little box was my biggest responsibility because it was Mark and Lucy's big day. We arrived at the venue, were invited to pin flowers on each other's buttonholes before helping usher in the guests. Mark and I were pulled into a room for official wedding paperwork business, but otherwise we were with the main group getting prepped for the ceremony. I stood with Mark and my team at the altar, tentatively checking my pocket for the ring box every few minutes up until I was summoned to pass the on. Before we all knew it, Mark and Lucy were wed.

I couldn't relax just yet though as I still had a speech to deliver. I kept telling myself no alcohol til it was over, but I needed something to calm my nerves. The speech itself went about as well as I hoped for, and for the rest of the night people came up to me to congratulate me on it which was lovely. We danced the night away and I woke up today with sore legs (always the mark of a good evening).

So surreal to be at the first wedding of my close friendship group but I obviously couldn't be happier for Mark and Lucy. They've been together for so long now and it was such a pleasure to be part of their celebration and they finally decided to tie the knot. Seeing all my old school chums all dressed up to share the happy day was a delight too. 

It really was the perfect day for the perfect couple.