I was recently invited to a lovely event. This is clearly how the other half live, but it was heavenly to be treated for a day and break out of the usual routine.
I am about the most punctual person in the world. I don't know why, but I fret if I am going to be five minutes late. The unfortunate down side to that, is I am often 15 minutes early, which is ridiculous, but there you have it.
This day happened to be the actual birthday of the Littlest Beach House Brat, so she accompanied me and had her own babysitter, complete with fun activities, whilst mummy did lunch. She had a lovely birthday and what follows, is one of the reasons why. As we were early, we stepped out onto the balcony to take in the view. And I have to say Sydney, you are tops on a beautiful day.
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| The Sydney Opera House |
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| The Conservatorium of Music and the Harbour |
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| The Botanical Gardens and the State Library |
And then it happened
When ever we see an aeroplane with a jet stream, the kids think it's Santa Claus, checking up to see who is behaving. And although this wasn't Santa Claus, boy was it the gift that kept on giving. I thought it was going to say happy birthday, but it just got better and better.
I mean what are the chances of this happening on your daughter's 5th birthday?
And of course she thought it was just for her. My little girl was
very hard to get, so it did seem fitting for this milestone of a birthday. My mum suggested later, that it was my dad calling from heaven.
Whatever it was, it made our day.
Miracle over and it was down to business. The serious business of learning about the first refrigerator in Australia to dispense sparkling water. This Samsung French Door Refrigerator, to be released on September 1, is high end stuff people and would come in very handy for parties.
The soda stream canister resides in the door there on the left, allowing sparkling water to be dispensed right next to the still water.
And what is sparkling water without a cocktail I ask you? This is where things got interesting. Our spunky resident cocktail maker for the day, instructed us in the art of making beautiful fruit cocktails. Vodka was on the menu, but as I had to get back for school pickup and after some wine with lunch, I stuck to the mocktail variety.
He was most endearing and helpful, but you know you are getting old, when the cocktail waiter is young enough to be your son.
It was really fun and times have certainly changed since I mixed cocktails behind the bar in Perisher for the 1990 ski season.
and although the equipment is still the same,
the garnishes and ingredients have changed somewhat.
I sat next to a very engaging PR girl at lunch. She enthralled me with all her career plans and how far she had come to date. She was interesting and very sweet. I couldn't help comparing myself to her when I was 23. I had an economics degree, but was still mixing those cocktails and worried that by 30, I would still be picking up glasses off tables at closing time. Thankfully that never happened.
But I digress.
To celebrate the launch of the new Samsung French Door Fridge, complete with still and sparkling water dispenser, I have a cocktail set to give away to a reader.
This is going to be a quicky giveaway for my Australian resident newsletter readers. I am hoping to get this one in the post for Fathers' Day.
All you need to do is subscribe or have already done so, to the Desire Empire Newsletter
HERE. New and existing newsletter subscribers must leave a comment on this blog to that effect.
Sharing this post to each of your social media platforms or giving it a Google + will constitute another entry. Leave me a separate comment for each share or sign up.
And good luck.
Giveaway Terms and Conditionns
This is a game of skill. The skill is signing up to the newsletter and leaving a comment to that effect on this blog.
You MUST enter the giveaway on this BLOG by leaving a comment here. You do not need to have a Blogger account. Just sign in as anonymous and leave your email address.
This competition is open to Australian Residents only.
The prize is a cocktail maker set, in the black box, as shown in the last shot in this post
This competition is open from now until 27 August 2013 12pm Australian EST.
The winner will be announced on this blog, Face Book and Twitter and I will contact you, as long as you have left a valid means. The winner will have 2 days to respond, otherwise the prize will be redrawn.
This giveaway is now closed. Congratulations to the winner, Alex from Eating Adelaide. Please contact me with your postal address.
Disclosure: I was a guest of Samsung for lunch and was given the cocktail maker set to giveaway.
The sky writing was a gift I cannot explain, but one for which I will be eternally grateful.
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