Australia’s Next Masterchef

The decision is made.

Australia’s Next Masterchef is:

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Callum, however, is my “Masterchef of the hearts”. I was amazed, how well he handled the pressure and how genuinely happy he was for Adam. And he is ‘just’ 20 years old. I reckon he will have a great career as a chef, even if he just became second.

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I cannot believe it. It is over. What am I going to do every night? For almost 4 months I spent every night from 7.30 to 8.30pm with the Masterchefs. I don’t know whether that’s loyal or sad. But hey, first I was heavily pregnant and now I have a little one so my entertainment options are somewhat limited. And it wasn’t just stupid TV, it really was educational.

Things I have learned in this season of Masterchef:

1. That you should put the oil onto the meat before frying it not into the pan.

2. How to make an easy but yummy chocolate brownie. Find the recipe here

3. What to make with fresh fennel – a yummy orange-apple-fennel-salad

4. How to judge whether prawns are fresh or not.

5. That showing passion makes you so much more likeable (it is true, Claire!)

The dream is over

Germany won't be soccer world champion 2010!

Maybe because their cutest fan decided to sleep rather than cheer on them?

Maybe because Octopus Paul predicted it?

picture found here

Maybe because Spain was the better team?

Or luckier?

Anyway, I won't watch any sports on TV until the next World Cup in 2014. Or at least till the European Championship in 2012. I won't set the alarm to 4.30am anymore. Life goes on!

What a day!

Some days just pass by. Others just seemed to be packed with news, excitement and adventure. Today was one of the latter ones for us.

At 6.30am this morning Australia has won its game against Serbia 2:1.

At 8.30am Germany has won against Ghana 1:0 (sensational goal, Özil!).

This means that Germany is in the next round (lucky bastards ;-)) and Australia is out of the world cup due to a very unlucky goal difference (poor buggers ;-().

At 9am news spread that Australia has a new prime minister. For reasons that are not entirely clear to me, the previous Prime Minister Kevin Rudd was challenged by his deputy Julia Gillard and lost. So at 12.30pm she becomes the first female prime minister of Australia.

At 1pm my lovely husband, Vicky and I set off for the big city. First we have a look at Ned Kelly’s famous armour at the State Library of Victoria.

It is one of my favourite museums in Melbourne. They always have amazing free temporary exhibitions (‘til you drop’ is on a the moment – an homage to shopping, a Melbourne history) plus they have wonderful pieces on permanent display and the building with its huge dome, antique books and classic reading room is just breathtaking.

After all that culture, we stop at our favourite Malaysian restaurant for a huge bowl of Laksa ...

... then a bit of shopping – mostly exciting things like breast pads ;-) but anyway...

... then a quick feed in the car park before heading back home.

What an adventure with a 3 week old baby, but honestly it is much less stressful than anticipated and once you have done it, you feel so much more self-confident. So, it is definitely worth the effort. I am glad that I have followed the Come-Out-Wherever-You-Are advice by my lovely former colleague K. to get out of the house as soon as possible.

Now it’s 5pm and to be honest, I am quite exhausted. Happy but tired. So I hope the day will finish quietly with a bowl of homemade soup, watching Masterchef on TV and then going to bed early. That is my plan anyway, but you know that Vicky is now the ones who make the planes ;-)

Have a great Thursday everyone!

Germany vs. Serbia

Soccer was on again. Germany vs. Serbia. So the whole family met in front of the TV.

But, oh dear, even the cutest soccer fan couldn’t save the German team from this defeat.

12 on the 12th

My favourite blog initiative ever. On the 12th of each month, bloggers around the globe take 12 photos of their daily life and post them. Not only great for getting to know other bloggers but also as a personal visual diary. So please join the fun with Caro here:

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Got up at 5am with the little one. So I was able to watch the last 30 minutes of the game France vs. Uruguay. Pretty average – many fouls but no goals. Not my type of game.

A friend drops to cuddle our little one. And she bring cupcakes from my favourite shop “Little Cupcakes”. Heaven!

She also brings this little fellow along. At the moment Mr.Bunny is as big as little Victoria or even bigger, but I am sure this is going to change soon ;-)

While Vicky sleeps for an incredible 3.5 hours in a row, I work on her birth announcements. After much research I decided to craft them. I just love to make something special for a special occasion like that.

While waiting for Vicky’s arrival I made the cards from white cardboard and red-and-white-heart-tape – so now they are ready to be written. The envelopes are addressed. Photos are developed and just need to be stuck onto the cards.

And aren’t these the cutest stamps ever for a birth announcement. Mama Roo and Baby Joey ;-)

Looking at my baby, my heart just skips a beat every time I see her tiny, tiny hands. Delicate ears. Soft baby hair.

Our washing machine is doing extra shifts at the moment. And as you can see there are not many pieces of my lovely husband or me. All sweet baby pink.

Beautiful flowers! I wish I could make them last longer – they add such a wonderful sense of spring to these dark winter days.

Unfortunately my black thumb works on potted as well as cut flowers ;-( So I am afraid they will die pretty soon.

My husband is the best chef ever. And he always makes sure that his girls have a lot of nice food. Tonight we have a beautiful, juicy casserole with veggies and meat.

A little bit of soccer on TV before going to bed. At 10pm my eyes just become too droopy. Maybe I’ll be back at 4.30am for the game England vs. USA ;-)

World Cup Kick Off

It is time again...

... to heat up the sausages...

... to prepare a real German potato salad...

... to cool the beer (or some lemonade for the breast-feeding mum)...

and then it is kick-off for the 2010 World Cup.

The time difference between South Africa is 6 hours. Which means that the live coverage of most games will be in the middle of the Australian night. Which suits me just fine with the little one waking me up every 2-3 hours anyway. So I reckon I will be able to see more games than I did during the 2006 World Cup in Germany. Hurray!

The Girls are Back!!!

Pictures from here

Only two more sleeps and the girls are back in town, aehm in the city.

In two days ‘Sex and the City 2’ will be released in the US. In three days it will be released in Germany and Australia will have to wait until June 2nd. I might have to wait even longer, because sitting in a cinema chair for 2 hours is currently just impossible for me and my belly, not even for Sex&the City 2 ;-(

Nevertheless I cannot wait to see the girls again. When the TV series started in Germany, I just had split up with my boyfriend of eight years. I was 29, focussing on my career, dreading the lonely Sundays, getting slowly back into dating, puzzled and amused by the guys I met, interested in fashion and handbags, reading glossy magazines, travelling around the world (for my job and in every spare time), spending a lot of time on pampering, shopping and going out... in short I could have been one of them. If I lived in NY and not in Berlin, if I earned a fortune and not just a living, if I ... Anyway, I really felt close to the four girls. My girlfriends and I spend every Tuesday in front of the TV with bubbly and snacks, with gossip and our own ‘love stories’.

Now 5 years later, I just cannot believe how my life has changed. I live in Australia, I am married to the love of my life, I am about to be a mama, I love lazy Sundays, I still love travelling and fashion... All changes for the better, but I still miss these girl nights and my TV friends from NY.

So, see you soon, girls! I cannot wait to hear what happened to you in the last 5 years!

My creative space...

Another fun blog initiative. Every Thursday bloggers from Australia and all over the world show you their creative space and what they are currently working on. Join the fun at Kootoyoo  So inspiring to start a new project or finish the UFO (UnFinished Project) that has been lying about forever!
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Since my obstetrician told me yesterday that she thinks that my little girl might be born as soon as next week (and not in 3 to 4 weeks as I expected), I was a bit in panic that my baby quilt might not be finished on time.

Therefore I spent the evening stitching Australian animals while watching “Masterchef" and “Who do you think you are?”. Very relaxing and productive at the same time. Another two or three stitching sessions and I will be done. And then I will show you the whole thing.

Happy Thursday!

Oh Oscar!

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I just saw that there is live coverage of the 82nd Academy Awards on Australian TV tomorrow. On Channel NINE from 12.30 to 4pm. The reason I got so excited about this is that we have a public holiday in Victoria tomorrow and that means I can actually watch it ;-) From start to finish. From the red carpet to the final tears on stage.

I think the reason why I didn’t had it on my radar is that in Germany the award ceremony was always in the middle of the night (due to the time difference). On a night from Sunday to Monday. So only the hard core movie fans stayed up all night and pulled a sicky on Monday. Although I love the award ceremony the utmost for me was to get up on Monday morning at 5am (two hours before I actually had to get out of bed – woah!) with a really strong coffee and watch the ‘most important’ awards like actress and actor in a leading role. Best movie was usually decided by then.

But this year... the time difference and the public holiday are on my side. Hurray!

I know I am late. Too late to organise a proper party! Too late to decorate my living room! Too late to do any Oscar-related crafting! And there are so many wonderful ideas to be found at OnePrettyThing:

And here are even more ideas from last year’s roundup!

Anyway, although I am late for most things, I am not too late to have a great afternoon. Dressed in high-heels and a little black dress! With popcorn! With preggie-champagne (aka sparkling apple juice)! With a bit of embroidery during the less exciting categories (I know it is rude and categories like best film editing deserve publicity as well, but hey I am 13.000km away and sit well-hidden on my sofa – they won’t see me!)! I cannot wait!!!

My favourite TV series

The Office is my favourite TV series ever since I have ‘discovered’ it about 1.5 years ago.

It is hilarious! It is sad! It is funny! Frightening! It is clever! Stupid! It is so over-the-top!

And it is all so true!

What a great reminder for everyone staying or working from home what it is really like to work in an office! What ‘wonderful’ ideas your boss sometimes has. What useless meeting you often have. How bitchy the girl sitting next to you can be. What goes on behind closed doors. How the copier always breaks down when you need it most...

In case you haven’t seen any episode yet (shame on you) or it isn’t on air in your country (shame on your TV stations) here is a little teaser:

Video Recaps | Full Episodes | Webisodes

In case you have seen it before and love it as much as I do, you can here watch all episodes of all seasons again.

Happy watching!