From Taraz

I love you too.you are nice. we love haveing Hayley  in are family. we love love.

The Tart of a Lifetime

There is no more amazing experience than to come home to what you see on your screen. This tart caused me to weep when I bit into it and it's identical twin. My wife is a culinary genius. Knowing that it was made "healthy" style made it taste that much more sweet.

Hayley and I have been married now for around four and a half months. We have been having fun discovering the hidden talents of each other. Hayley makes the most delicious soups and desserts I've ever imagined. I organize our belongings and eat the "questionable" food in the fridge. We're a good team.

This tart really did blow my mind.

The Wedding - Part II

Alright. So where were we? On our way to dinner I think.

Fun, colorful tables.

Teke bags from NZ with paua shell and mini kiwi's. Jordan almonds. Cards to write your wishes for the bride and groom. Centerpieces made by Linda Ross with photos of me and Derrald.

Voss water. D thought he was in heaven.

Our wedding cake (on the right) was made by my Grandma with flowers native to New Zealand. It's also worth taking note of the little silver pieces on top of the cake (one is shaped like a horse-shoe) - these were from my Grandmother's cake in 1954. The other cake (on the left) was a pavlova (one, of maybe two hundred, i had been making every night for 10 days before the wedding) , which we made for all the guests to try.

Notice, we cut the pavlova, not the other cake. The other cake will be kept in the freezer until a) our one year anniversary or b) we have our first child...(substantially longer than a year if all goes according to plan, which, let's face, life does NOT always go according to plan... but let's presume this time it will)... then we'll bring it out again, re-ice it and eat it. This is tradition. Whether we like fruit cake or not (derrald).

First Dance.

"Lucky" by Jason Mraz.

Play sample on Pandora

The Cat and the Fish Bag

So, I have recently discovered two distinct ways of drawing attention to one's self and making friends with strangers.

1. Carry your brother's cat across the nation on two connecting flights... turns out people love cats. Love 'em. And they will love you too if you carry one like an accessory. Heavy, meowing accessory.

2. Carry a fish bag.

I have a fish bag. It's a bag with fish on it. I recently brought the fish bag out of storage to take to Hawaii with us. It's a good beach bag. Did I mention it has fish on it?

My fish bag makes me smile. Children love it. They love to point out the fish and this makes me smile. My favorite comment so far was uttered from the mouth of a small child at Southpoint Mall:

"Nemo!! Mommy! Nemo!!"

This child had decided all fish must be called Nemo. Yes, child. Nemo bag.

Forget candy. All one needs to lure a child these days is a fish bag.

The Wedding - Part I

Every time I start talking with Derrald about our wedding day we end up needing an hour or two just to cover the bare minimum of things we loved about this day. Here is my abridged run down of the days events.

Friday, June 18th was a gorgeous, sunny day in Danville, CA. Our friends and family had flown in from all over the country, all over the world!

I was feeling good all glammed up, hair, makeup, dress, shoes, father and bridesmaids assembled, when I was practically pushed out the door. No, I was not late. I really didn't see the need to hurry but some of us were nervous... huh-hum FATHER.

We proceeded on our walk down the street, waving to neighbours, the excitement building, when, as I cleared the bushes to make our final approach on to the lawn where our guests would be waiting... there were NO guests!

(it looked a little something like this:)

Where on earth had our entire wedding party gone and where was the groom?!?!? And why was I being made to hide behind a bush?!? (yes, a bush!) I was told to hide behind a bush, while my sister went off to assess the situation. Turns out, everyone was gathered in the clubhouse.

"Places People!!!"

With everyone in place our ceremony continued with much joy, having both mothers say a word or two of welcome and introduction and Derrald's father leading the ceremony.

My sweet friend, Alyson, serenaded us with a love song and one darling child felt the need to vocalize an opinion, I'm sure many were feeling "I WANT CANDY". Me too, Lily. Me too.

We pushed through (despite the lack of candy), and then something about caring and sharing and always admitting the wife knows best was agreed to, do you - do you, we do, hooray!!

You may kiss the bride.

We hit the clubhouse for some snacks and photographs commenced.

Whilst I could have gone on for hours, by 7pm, with some three thousand (3,000!) photographs taken over the course of two days, we figured we probably had something "useable" ** and we were ready to move on with the days events. Round two. The reception.

Brendan was our designated driver for the day and I would like to take a moment to publicly thank him. Although I would not describe it as "service with a smile"... more like "service with a few short curse words and a little army attitude thrown in" ... we always arrived safely and on time... . ;) Thanks brother. I haven't added any pictures because although he looked truly stunning in his army greens (um, hello show stealer? talk about showing up the bride!) he's very sensitive about the sharing of public images/information. He WAS at the wedding. I assure you. You can take my word for it.

I leave you here, dear readers... (reader)... (alyson)... No cliffhanger. No witty remarks to have you coming back to see how our wedding day concludes. Just a promise that I will eventually get around to the second installment. Please be patient and occasionally share the love by leaving a comment or two...

**note: Jenna was uh-mazing and we'd totally recommend her. Did I mention we tried to pick her up at San Francisco airport when she had arrived at Oakland airport? Yup. Left her waiting for an hour and then told her to catch the train. Derrald booked her tickets. He knew. He forgot. She forgave. We all laughed. Jenna = trooper.

War Zone

In the days leading up to our "conubials" (see "Kath and Kim" - the original Australian version) my father has been trying to out-do me in attention seeking by a) falling off his motor-bike and damaging his elbow/hand and b) stabbing himself in the foot with a cutco knife. UN-BE-LIEVE-ABLE.

Yes. I documented.

Offense Number One:
Offense Number Two:



Question: Will this bride be carrying her own limping father down the aisle? Maybe.

Nine Days

Today is my birthday. Happy birth! (yes, I did just wish myself a happy day. why not?) However, today is also the 9th day before our wedding. 9 days to go.

I have made it safe and sound to San Francisco and already successfully made one pavlova. Now we just need to make another 5-7 and hope that a) they don't flop b) I don't eat them. Someone please explain to me how I am NOT supposed to gain weight right before my wedding while simultaneously making enough food to feed a small army... everyone knows that a chef must taste his creations as he makes them... it's the only way to ensure it tastes good. We may be going to fat camp instead of Hawaii for our honeymoon.

I don't really have anything of substance to say. D, bless his heart, beat me to the "anniversary" post. I had it on my list but just never got around to it. Surprise! My husband rocks.

Here are a few photos from our OBX beach rendezvous (or as we call it "the beginning") that can accompany his post:

The house where we stayed (thank you Kuhn's).


The beach where we played.


The kite we tried not to crash.


The grand master and her apprentice. That's right. I said HER.


So far, so good.


Okay, so it's not as easy as it looks.


Empty chairs mean one thing...


We're in the water.


The night we celebrated Beth and Steve getting engaged. We can tell by D's leery stare I have him ensnared. He doesn't stand a chance.


Nor does the Grave Digger.


The setting was right.


Time to go home - sunkissed and happy unawares.