Makes me laugh...

Why on earth would William and Kate choose this kid for their flower girl?

She must be someone important's child because she was horrendous, so angry the whole time!

A Place To Date...

My Friend Brad Arnold is upset that I haven't mentioned Oportos as a good date spot. He and I went on a date once upon a time... and I repeat the once... for the following reason/s. 


We went for drink at Ravesis in Bondi (which I think is great date spot Barnold!). I proceeded to get extremely drunk and demand he take me to Oportos. Not only did I abuse the staff for taking too long with my burger (read: Large triple Oportos meal with fries), I then scoffed, mauled- he later described it as inhaled- my triple oporto burger and then his too.


Yes, we only had one date, But thanks for the Oportos Brad.


Anyway Oportos is a terrible date spot, nothing good is going to happen there. 


I'll just mention here that if you were going to start with a drink at ravesis, there is food there and also there are limitless small wine bars opening around bondi now. Used to be the good old beach rd, but now there's a heap. My favourites date spots for Bondi are Flying squirrell, Mojo's, The rum diaries, Corner house, Mamasan (pricey but good), Speak Easy, Bondi FM, Shop & wine bar and BB's wine bar. All good for a first. I'll go into them at a later time. 


But for Now....

A few weeks ago for my sisters birthday we went to Rambutan in Surry Hills. I'd been there previously but not with a big group. Whether you are there for a date or with a group, it's a great space. Dimly light with a casual atmosphere, cocktails that could take you straight to AA and things to talk about (perhaps on a first date to get conversation going). We went there with 10 girls, paid $55 each for the banquet, ate to our little hearts content and bought our drinks separately to avoid confusion at the end. Awesome night. Highly recommended.


A rambutan is an asian tropical fruit that has a taste like a lychee and is covered by a furry red shell. 




Rambutan has a cocktail longue downstairs so you can just go there for a drink. The pina colada comes on fire in a coconut- just for a change!

My beautiful boyfriend took me to Longrain for date night. It's not one to be forgotten. I think people forget how good it is! Miangs, oysters, slow cooked lamb shoulder... The lychee passionfruit cocktail is every girls dream. We had agedashi (salt and pepper tofu) that was second to none. It's a bit bare so you wouldn't want to go there for a very first date, but definitely as things move along. They are opening up a cocktail bar downstairs so very soon you'll be able to pop in for one of their long list of cocktails. 

Recently in Bali I went to the indonesian version of longrain called Sarong located in Seminyak. The decor is tropical and homely (if being homely is straight out a gay couple's home featured in vogue living). If you were to have a wedding in Bali, this would definitely be a place to consider.

Why Men Love Bitches...

I know I've been through the self-help relationship books before but I am surrounded by single friends at the moment and recently one of the people closest to me has just been told for the second time in a relationship "you're just too good for me" (which is true by the way). So why don't men like girls that are too nice? 


Every girl I know who is an absolute bitch to their boyfriend, they fight, they argue, she ends up winning- ends up getting engaged. (I'm not saying all girls who are married or engaged are bitches, I'm saying the bitches always end up having the man fall head over cock for them). 


I was sitting in the back seat of my best friends car when I picked up this book called "Why men love bitches". I turn to any random page to find a paragraph about how men are hunters and they like the hunt. When they take down a powerful woman and make her fall for him they feel like they have accomplished Mount Everest. 


I have to agree. Everyone knows the 'Treat 'em mean, keep 'em keen' phrase, but how do you keep them in the long run? What happened to the men who wanted to be cooked for, have their washing and ironing done and the woman who will sit with you when you're sick? I think this is just an old school want and need from yesteryear. 


The truth is men today want to be kept on their toes, they want you to go out with your girlfriends instead of sitting on the couch making them dinner. But it's a fine line.. an impossibly fine line involving many games. 

Another book I was given as a teenager is called 'The men in your life'. This book is written by a French woman who writes under different categories such as 'oaths' 'taming' and 'gigolo'. She also talks about the hunt and how to compliment the person you are most attracted to in a way that you will bag him for life. It's a great read with a non-Australian point of view... and to be honest, I do think the French have a point. 

We all hate to love Brownies...

My friend Nicola came over yesterday and asked me what dessert she could make for some friends that were coming for dinner.


Something simple and something sweet.... (bell rings) Brownies!


The problem with brownies is that well, Brownies are like boys. They can look so tempting from the outside even if they look a bit effortless, but when you have a taste of them, they're too dense, too flaky, not rich enough to be your brownie... and after just one taste you know, this is not the brownie you've been looking for. 


But a good brownie... a good brownie can make you lose all control, take you to places you've only ever dreamed of and that good brownie makes you not want any of those other brownies you've tasted before, you just want this brownie. 


The problem is, not everyone can make a good brownie, for starters it's hard not to get burned or to burn them in return. And what if it crumbles last minute and cant impress the friends you've invited for dinner?


Everyone has their own taste in a brownie. You might think your best friend's brownie choice are always the rich ones with no depth... thin almost, she might wonder why you always go for the nutty brownies!


I have the answer and these brownies are made by Phillippa. Thanks Pippa! Although I do make a good brownie, these brownies are pretty awesome. They come in a slab so you can decide how big or small you want each brownie to be. Phillippa also makes amazing bread and nut mixes. I buy from Thomas Dux but i know other sydney stores sell them too. 


Check out her website to find stockists near you: http://www.phillippas.com.au/


Here is my simple brownie dessert:


1. Depending on how many people you are having for dinner, get one or two slabs of Phillipa's chocolate brownies.  


2. Cut the brownies length ways into three even parts then cut them side ways in 5 equal parts to make even shaped individual brownies. 


3. Get some icing sugar in a sifter ready.


4. Place each brownie on a plate just before serving and heat for 30 seconds on high in a microwave. Place one big scoop of ice cream beside it and and sprinkle with icing sugar. 


5. You can cut the green tops off strawberries and halve them and place a few on each plate for some extra flavour and styling. 


There you have it... the answer we've all been looking for. 


And finally why wouldn't you just go and buy brownies from a cafe and use them for dessert, well... you could but this involves you doing some 'cooking' and no one need to know you paid for brownies because you couldn't make one yourself! 

Sharing a secret...

I am the Queen if the modern land of drunken text, to the point where i pick a fight, repeatedly text 15 or more times asking people what they are doing at... well let's see... 4 in the morning to try and wake them up and then finally end the war with serious amount of question marks. Firstly one ? then a ????? then a ????????????. I love telling people I sat on my phone.... (because girls generally have phones in their pocket and all!) 

Who are victims of this texting abuse... anyone who is my phone. Warning: watch your back next time you consider giving me your number. Thats not even a joke. 

I would like to say I have said goodbye to this addiction since being with my boyfriend... but i'd be telling a lie. Just the other night he texted me to tell me he had got us 2 free tickets to the Easter show. 

The sober Zoe's reaction would have been... 

"I Freaking love the Easter Show and even more I love free things". 

Drunken Zoe (who we like to call frank the tank) asks "who from?""does she have a crush on you?""Take her instead". 

WOW. Where did this eruption come from? I'll tell you: berry mojito number 6! 

Now I do like to blame certain types of alcohol. I'm commonly heard saying "Rose and White wine make me do it" and the numerous times I drink something else and still text, I just blame it on the evil two. Realistically, I have a drunken texting problem. 

I'm not going to joke and say I'm an alcoholic because binge drinking and alcoholism is a major problem and costs lives. But this is a major threat to my social life and my ability to have any friends left. 

So what is the answer to this problem? I scooped up some old books the other day.. One being A book written by Aussie's Zoe Foster and Hamish Blake. It's called Textbook Romance. Interestingly enough i got it from my Secret Santa two years ago, once again, my problem is so well-known that my dear friend Ellie feels she needs to buy me self-help books! 

It's a seriously funny book with great advice and a guy's point of view!

It hasn't cured my problem yet, but it is a book that beats you on the head and says "stop it you freak". 

My personal piece of advice to end this post is: If you have had to delete his number from your phone to stop yourself from texting because he hasn't texted you- that is not how relationships start. If you're looking for some fun, go ahead. If not... find someone else. 

A book I'm reading...

As I was standing at Sydney airport waiting to go to Bali and our plane had been delayed 50 billion times, I walked into the bookshop to find Anthony Kiedis staring at me. The front cover of his book has caught my eye before but I generally don't like to read books that I know everyone has read. Anyway it was this book or a book about how many times Shane Warne has cheated on poor Simooooooone. So in my possession was this new book- "Scar Tissue" By Anthony Kiedis- lead singer of The Red Hot Chili Peppers. Great. 


As I started to get about half way through, I fell into his world of  drug abuse, having a dysfunctional family life but with a mother who never stopped trying, a Dad he shouldn't have looked up to and a string of random and lifesaving events that lead him, his old mate flea and the rest of the band to stardom. 


Pretty amazing story with, as you can imagine, many in depth sexual encounters and detailed drug abuse. An easy read that will leave you thinking about the 'if's' and 'buts' of life and how we glorify the rich and successful criminals, thugs and thieves who have made it into Hollywood instead of a cell.... or those who are lucky enough to have seen both sides of the story.

"Sometimes life's so much cooler when you just don't know any better and all the painful lessons have not hammered your head open yet."
Anthony Kiedis

Adele 21

Presenting to you- Adele 21.


Even though I have listened to Adele before and her 19 album and i know this second album has been released for a while, I haven't fallen in love until now.


The song 'One and only' sounds like you are listening to a 50 year old African American jazz musician- her voice is husky but clear, pitchy but on purpose to create a song that I wont get sick of listening to over and over again.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78mlPQEmbOA