Mr & Mrs Holtam

So it has been a few months since the last blog update. This is down to life being very hectic. We headed back to Brisbane in early October to do the final preparations for our wedding. The five weeks back home just flew by between catching up with friends and collecting and decorating all the jars. Last week we got to reminisce on what was an amazing day. It all came together with the help of some amazing people and suppliers. A big thanks to our families, and Elizabeth Stirling White who bought my ideas to life on the day. Elizabeth made Bangalow Guest House look so beautiful. The day ran smoothly and everything we would have wanted. The only thing we could have changed would have been the caterer. Dealing with Harvest Cafe was the most stressful thing we had to deal with. If we could have changed anything we would have dealt with someone more organised and professional.  The food was amazing and the staff on the night were perfect. The lead up dealing with their head of catering was not one bit fun.

A big thanks to the great suppliers Bangalow Guest House, Nanette at Making Arrangements for all the flowers, Andy Collins for the photos, Greg & Juanita at Events Party Hire for the marquee, BBQ, oven and sourcing the exact champagne glasses we wanted, Eva & Rosie at Ultimate Events for the all the crockery & cutlery, tables, setting up the lights, Tass at Superior Fruit for the guest favours of relish and coffee beans and Hodgepodge for the great collection of vintage chairs and crystal wine glasses. This lovely team made our perfect day. It was so easy to work with this team from the other side of the world. We knew we were in safe hands.

A busy September

I can't believe September is almost over. It has been an emotional month. We started off the month with my usually week long celebrations of my birthday. After my birthday celebrations were over Benny got me into line to focus on packing up our flat. Who knew we could accumulate so many things after two years. We lived in a fully furnished and ended up with too many boxes across two of our friends's basements. We spent two solid weekends packing up and cleaning the flat. Saturday night was our last night there. It was so sad, an end of place very special to us. It is where Benny and I shared so many special moments together such as planning our trips, having many visitors on our couch, dinner parties and dancing in the living room. It was such a tiny flat, more than half the size of our Taringa place. By the end of two years, it felt like home with all our pictures on the wall. I am already missing our walk down Clarendon Drive, the view from our kitchen window, the quirks of the flat, and the amazing deep bath. I am though so excited about our next adventure living with Em and Sam only four minutes down the road. We have found a lovely two bedroom, two bath flat only a few metres from my favourite Putney coffee shop. We move in the day we get back to London.

We only have one more week and a day of work before flying a non-direct route back home.  Our jobs have kindly given us extended leave for our wedding celebrations. All the plans are coming together for one of the biggest day's of our lives. It will be a year this Sunday since we got engaged.  I'm very much looking forward to marrying my best friend. He is the love of my life and our time in London has only made us stronger as a couple. When we arrived here, two years ago we had never spent so much time together. We moved here not knowing more than ten people. Our time here has tested the strength of our relationship. I couldn't imagine not sharing the moments over here without Benny. Travelling together, seeing new parts of the world  and meeting some amazing people along the way. We have discovered little things about each other which we had never known. I am very much looking forward to the rest of our lives together as Mr and Mrs Holtam.

Last week we had the pleasure of meeting the minister who is marrying us. He was over here visiting his son. We met at one of the local pubs and on arrival we were introduced to his wife, son, son's girlfriend and the flat mates. It was such a good evening. We had a couple of drinks and really got to know Philip. We are both are so happy we found him. He is retired from the church across the road from the venue so he has granted our wish to marry us in the garden.

Not long now until we are back in Australia, for five weeks and we return back to London as husband and wife.

A quick update from us

So the Brits gave us a Bank holiday weekend which was very kind of them. Luckily we only had one day of rain on Saturday before we headed out of London for Sunday night. We decided late last week to book something as the weather was looking promising and work has been so busy we needed a break. A few people at work at recommended Great Malvern which is in the Cotswolds. It gorgeous out there. We had yet another disagreement with Enterprise in trying to hire a car to get out of London. Luckily the kind people at Europcar gave us a really nice Polo. After two years living in our flat, five copies of address proof and a UK driver's licence we didn't have enough proof for Enterprise and we failed in their checks. I think we will be staying away from them going forward. I enjoyed driving down the tiniest of country lanes, it felt like driving up people's driveways in Australia. Benny did a brilliant job of navigating and detouring round the many country festivals to celebrate the end of summer. We had a little wander round Malvern, went to a very good local pub that was recommended to us. We wouldn't have been able to find it if we did get the suggestion. The food was served between strict times in a room just off from the pub. It was so tasty and it seemed there wasn't a tourist in site except for us. We left Malvern mid morning, before leisurely driving back to London through some nice towns. I only made Benny stop off a couple of times to have peaks in the antique stores.

The weekend before last started with Benny watching the first game of Liverpool for this year's season plus a load of sport from Australia. We then had the pleasure of going to our friend's surprise 30th. It is scary how time has flown by. It felt like yesterday when we were invited to 21st birthday parties. Instead now we are invited to weddings and 30th celebrations. The 30th was for our friend Josie and it was themed 1920s. I borrowed a dress from my boss and Benny was kitted out by our friend who had way too much fun at the dress-up store. Benny looked very handsome in his bow tie and I had made a nice head piece. We celebrated in a fancy bar in Mayfair to begin before heading out on a night bus to Putney. We ended the night with our friends in a new bar until the lights were turned on and it closed. Sunday, Benny and I shared sore heads and achieved not a lot before heading back to work on Monday. It was a very fun weekend.

This weekend flew by too fast sadly. Benny and I went out for a few drinks after work at a wine bar we discovered a few weeks ago. It is a great concept for a wine bar only stocking British produce and drinks. They have a wide selection of gins, ales and wines. My favourite on the menu is a sparkling chilled red. It is really yummy and a little bit different from what I usually would go for. After drinks we crossed the road for a cheap and cheerful dinner of Thai. It was so yummy and spicy.

On Saturday morning we were up reasonably early and headed out to Em & Sam's place for the night. We were meeting a few friends to spend the day out there. We visited the castle again and had a nice picnic in the Great Park. The night concluded with Indian at one of the best places we have found to date over here.

On Sunday, we headed back to Putney for the afternoon. I baked my first loaf of gluten free bread since my lesson. I still need more practise as I added way too much yeast. It is though very tasty and very filling compared to the disgusting white stuff they sell over here.

A busy three weeks

It's been a while since an update from us here in London. Work has been so busy, I don't remember ever working this hard and such long hours in Brisbane.  Sadly, last Sunday I spend a few too many hours at work. Sigh.

We have tried to relax over the weekends and enjoy this amazing weather. It has been a much better summer than last year. I have successfully worn summer dresses most of the time. Much better than last years attempts of I think five times only. We have been cycling a bit more, playing the odd game of tennis and spending quite a lot of time in Richmond. It took  three attempts to pick up our wedding bands. The jewellery store decided to close due to the fantastic weather.  We have also got to enjoy the British spirit with the birth of Duchess Kate & Prince William's first baby. The news coverage was hilarious as they waited for the birth. The press spent weeks camped outside the hospital.

Last weekend our dear friends in London hosted ladies day/night (a tiny Hen's party) and a boy's night for Benny. We had one early as it had always been assumed we were moving back home in a week or two. My three close girl friends and Emily had a lovely day. My friend Claire hosted a lovely lunch and we had a gluten free baking lesson in her garden. We learnt to make bread, brownies and cookies. It was supposedly Em's first time in an apron. I would like to add, it was mine that Benny had snuck into my bag.  After a few hours at Claire's we headed to the theatre to watch the recently awarded best new production called The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. It was based on a book I had read last year, one of my favourites. The play was incredible. Hopefully one day it might cross the seas and head downunder. The night ended with cocktails at a great bar and rushing for the last tube which we missed. Thank you London for night buses.

Ben's friends also gave him a good day. Benny started at a local pub renowned for it's ales. They had a really busy day with a lunch in Chelsea, watching rugby at the Walkabout, playing simulated golf, a bit of pool and then finally dinner of ribs at Big Easy. Much to Benny's surprise us girls were out longer than the boys.

On Friday night our friend's Loic and Kristin hosted a dinner party. We had loads of yummy food and fun and we arrived home too late and had slightly sore heads the next day. After sleeping in we went to Richmond to pick up our wedding bands and go for a walk through the park to Petersham Nursery. I have been wanting to go to the nursery for a really long time. It has a Michelin Star restaurant and a tea house all set in the grounds of a nursery. You can sit in the green houses and outside amongst the plants. It is so relaxing and the food was so fresh. We opted for the tea house and enjoyed fresh salads. After lunch we wandered around and I took too many pictures of flowers.

This week Emily is visiting us for a few nights while Sam is working in Greece. I'm starting back at tennis lessons and Benny is busy studying for IT exams. Next weekend we are off to have a weekend in Windsor.

A busy June

So it has been a while between posts we have been busy with work, more visitors and even a wedding. A few weeks back we had a Thursday wedding for two of our very close friends. I worked with the groom in Brisbane many years ago. It was held at a manor house in Surrey and it was absolutely beautiful. The sun came out just in time for the garden ceremony. 

The day after the wedding we treated ourselves to a weekend at the British coastal town of Whitstable. It is about 2 hours by train from central London. We had originally planned to drive their but on arriving at the rental place they declined as we had been here too long without a British licence. Today is actually arrived. Whitstable was lovely and sweet. We stayed in a cute little one bedroom flat just on the high street. Our weekend was spent wandering around the beach front and sampling very yummy food. On our first night we had an amazing meal at Samphire. We tried a recently opened wine bar as well as gastro pub. We made sure we had seafood at every meal as the area is famous for it and oysters especially. 

Our past few weekends have involved a lot of rugby watching and enjoying this amazing weather. I have taken up touch football again which is nice. We play in Regents Park. I never thought on my first visit to London ten years ago that I would be saying that I play sport in Regents Park. It is so lovely especially now the flowers are out. We went cycling on the weekend to Richmond and got to discover beautiful parts of the riverside. 

We have also made the big decision to stay in London for another year. It was really tough and one we debated for many months. We will be home just before the wedding and leave soon after. It will be nice to catch up with family and friends.