Archive for September, 2009

Watermark’s facelift

Thursday, September 10th, 2009

Many of you may be aware that our reception venue is currently under renovation and yes, it is quite stressful wondering whether it will be ready on time, if not, what do we do etc. But, we have chosen to be positive and hope for the best.

In the past couple of days, I have spoken with Monique from the Watermark quite a bit and we have exchanged a few emails. While there will be quite a bit of last minute scramble, I think we should be fine. To help with our seating, Monique sent through a floor plan of the new restaurant, a la carte style, so it was still a bit of a struggle to visualise everything but she patiently explained and offered options so I was somewhat comforted by her reassurance.

When I got home, I showed Ben the floor plan and ran him through a few things. The funny thing is, the first thing Ben wanted to know was not the floor plan per se, but who is doing the renovation - I think this is more so because we’ve done quite a number of shop fit outs ourselves and he’s super keen to know more interior designers. Anyhow, we found beneath the little logo sitting on the bottom left hand corner the firm’s web address so we hopped on.

The company Watermark has engaged is Hecker Phelan & Guthrie, a firm based in Melbourne that does residential, retail, hospitality and commercial projects. We were very impressed by the projects they’ve done (all amazing!!). The most well known out of the hospitality space is its collaborative work with Woods Bagot to create the ivy complex in Sydney (come to think of it, both the ivy and hp&g logos share a very similar, if not the same font type!), but they have also done quite a few projects in Brisbane as well.

ivy, Penthouse. Collaborative partners HP&G & Woods Bagot. Image: Trevor Mein

ivy, Penthouse. Collaborative partners HP&G & Woods Bagot. Image: Trevor Mein

While we are worried about the progress of the renovation (just a bit!!), we are equally excited about being the first diners (for menu tasting) and the first party to host our function there after the facelift. I hope we don’t smell the paint! haha!

x

beautiful eyes *blink*blink*

Friday, September 4th, 2009

This will be debatable but given how many different types of eye creams I’ve tried in my time, to me, the la prairie cellular eye contour cream has to be the BEST eye cream yet. Trust me, I don’t make this statement lightly, given none has worked for me in the past. I’ve just put up with the ordinary (and my eye bags got bigger and darker, and now the fine lines are slowly invading too), until I found this gem.

A colleague recommended the la prairie eye cream to me, claiming its effects are instantaneous and that it’s the best she’s ever, ever tried. Her mom invested in la prairie since she was in her 30’s and apparently she is often referred to as my colleague’s sister than her mom. (fyi – my colleague is roughly 35).

I must confess though, I had my doubts. After all, it is very costly and could magic really exist in a tiny jar from Switzerland? I gave it the benefit of the doubt though and googled for reviews on the product. To my surprise, despite the price, and every review I read talks about its cost, almost everyone said they wouldn’t use any other and that the results were almost immediate. I was almost moved by the level of devotion to this product.

It is also interesting to note that la prairie does have a top-of-line ‘caviar’ line (yes, caviar. I would prefer to eat it but I suppose some likes the caviar nutrition on their skin?!) but few reviews focus on the caviar line, probably because it’s almost inaccessible at its price point and those who can afford it can’t be bothered writing about it. Anyways, my point is that la prairie’s Cellular Eye Contour Cream appears to be their most popular and most classic line of eye cream that has been favoured and adored by many of my peers for many, many years.

eye20contour20cream

Given the wedding is almost upon us, I allowed myself a bit of luxury and justified the purchase by saying I need to look gorgeous on my big day.. (I’ve been doing a lot of justification lately.. ha!) That was 12 days ago. Verdict? ABSOLUTELY AMAZING!! I am not someone who recommend something that doesn’t work or I have a personal bias towards so trust me, it is miraculous!

Its texture is luscious and it claims to “maintain (one’s) skin’s ideal moisture level, guarding against future dryness and dehydration”, and I really think it does. I noticed a distinct brightness under my eyes the next morning and the area under my eyes has certainly become more supple, the hydration is truly amazing, and even lines have slowly faded away. Honestly, I do not lie. Even Ben noticed!!

But don’t expect it to be wrinkle/fine line free. It’s not botox after all, but if you are after something to brighten your skin, keep the contour of your eyes beautifully moisturised and supple, I think you must, must give la prairie a try. It is expensive, $175! And the jar is tiny, but after using it 24 times (day & night), I’ve barely scratched the surface of the cream. My colleague said a jar lasts around 4-5 months.

No, la prairie doesn’t pay me to write this nor do I get any kind of perks from doing so, I just want to share my amazing find with you. And c’mon, we all need it… some more than others I guess. (Me being the ‘some’!)

x

1 month to go; Everything’s OK!

Wednesday, September 2nd, 2009

I thought a lot about this post; whether it would be better to do a “one month to go” post today or a “four weeks to go” on Friday. Then I figured, does it really matter? Either way, it’s VERY soon!

This morning, my colleague told me he was at Balmoral Beach with his little girl yesterday and the Watermark is heavily under construction… sighs, is he trying to scare me? He made up for it by saying that Rockpool looked far worse a week before its opening. Well, I guess at least we’ve a month! Lovely.

But yes, the big day is fast approaching. It is quite noticeable really. Ben has been super keen to make sure his diet is right (and trying very hard to avoid all kinds of carb) and went cycling around Centennial Park on Sunday morning while I slept. It is equally obvious how close the big day is when we see money moving out of our bank accounts at a very rapid speed. Of course, the fact that I run around like a headless chook should be an indication that things are frantic. And when my matron of honour told me she’s preparing for her speech yesterday it became apparent that everyone has become ‘happily’ nervous! Jitters….

And tonight, we will meet up with our lovely MCs to go through the reception schedule, which, on paper, looks perfectly straightforward — We hope!

I know, I know, this post is full of subtle worries and me trying to sound calm but actually really nervious. But don’t worry, things are fine. We’re fine. All’s well. Or do you think we should consider investing in one of these “Everything’s OK” kits? Yes, satire in a box but maybe it may really work! ^^

everything-is-ok

Waltz in boxes

Tuesday, September 1st, 2009

You will be glad to know that our first dance lesson went as smooth as a baby’s bottom. Well, at least we weren’t scratching our heads contemplating cancelling our first dance!

Anyways, the first thing we found out is that the song we chose to dance to is verrrrrry slow and that the slower the song, the slower (and harder) the waltz. Great!

Basically, the waltz consists of a ‘box’, whether you stand still and dance the box, or you travel with the box or you turn with the box so as long as you move your feet, it’s not overly difficult (at least that’s what Natalie, our dance instructor, tells us). Keeping to beat is also critical, esp when the music is super slow, like ours.

This is a clip I found on youtube, which teaches you how to dance the “box” - very good because these are exactly what we did in our first lesson (this clip is worth $85 an hour!) Warning: the clip can get tedious with him saying “one, two, three.. one, two, three” all the time, but they teach you quite clearly (and simply) the very basic steps you need to dance a good waltz.

Till next time.
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