happy birthday honey

these guys have something they want to say to you :)

we love you and hope you have a wonderful day.

:)

happy 30th Holly!

ah, 30. today my littlest sister is turning 30 - and I hope you have a wonderful birthday Holly! I know you already got what you wished for!

I spent my 30th birthday in Toronto, and went to New York that weekend for the very first time. what a great birthday! I remember at the time, it seemed like such a scary number - 30... but your 30's are the best time of your life!

love you darling

Kate

happy 5th birthday Aidan!

wow how the time flies - I cannot believe that my first nephew, Aidan is 5 today (yesterday his time) and check out that cake!

Happy Birthday big Boy Aidan!

kisses

Auntie Kate

happy birthday Cathy!

I hope you have a wonderfully relaxing Sunday birthday doing all the things you want!

happy birthday!

love Kate

friday flower

I snapped this shot last Friday on my drive home from work, and when I saw it this morning I had to share it. Hannah bought me these gorgeous flowers for my birthday (along with the most awesome electric juicer, which is invaluable with all the oranges and lemons we have at our place...) anyway I was driving them home with the top down in my car (yes Dad, I was stopped at a traffic light...) and the lighting was well - you can see :)

are these dahlias or chrysanthemums? anyone?

the birthday gifts just keep on coming...

anthropologie birthday treat

the people over at anthropologie do know how to make you feel good for your birthday...
they sent me this little card that gives me 15% off anything in their store and the little candle doubles as a necklace...

this is what they sent me last year. all you have to do is be a member of their anthro club (which is free) and gives you all sorts of benefits :)

birthday wishes

look what I woke up to on my facebook today - my neice Amelie singing happy birthday (I hope you can see it on this link)

happy birthday Connor!

my youngest nephew Connor is 3 today (10 May)! here's a photo I took of him when I last visited Australia - you should see the eyelashes on this kid - so jealous!

I hope we get to skype (where Auntie Kate pulls funny faces and Connor laughs) this week sometime!

love you

kisses

Auntie Kate

happy birthday Cooper!

Cooper is 5 today! here are the first photos we got of him from the breeder when he was a wee 6 weeks old... he was such a little sausage :)

happy birthday my darling boy!

happy birthday Magaggie!

Margaret and I have known each other for for about 13 years, we met in Canberra when we both worked for the australian government, and even though we live at opposite ends of the earth (she's now in Perth) whenever we catch up, it is like we've never been apart.

Hope you have a wonderful birthday Magaggie and can't wait to see you over this side of the world soon!

Love you

Kate

happy birthday Louise!

to my dearest (closest in age sister) louise, here's wishing you a wonderful birthday today (April 13)

not sure I can top the early birthday gift you got last Wednesday but there's a little something coming for you in the mail.

Love you darling

kisses

Kate

welcome Lauren Claire

finally got some pictures of my new baby niece Lauren Claire, who was born last Wednesday 7 April at 2:07pm in Brisbane, Australia. 7 pounds, 12 ounces of soft baby goodness! this is baby number 3 for Louise (my sister) and Jason - so as you can imagine things are pretty hectic at their place right now!

can't wait to meet you little Lauren :)

rrrracing and red meat

last thursday we went go-kart racing for Bryce's birthday (yes the celebrations lasted all week) and aside from looking like grimace I had a blast!cody getting ready to rob a seven eleven...hannah doing it ninja style

helmets on

seatbelts on

and we're ready for racing!
Rosy getting ready to race again

Melita looked like a Charlie's angel in that black suit
hannah looked like a super hero
here we are with our lap times (I came last...)
and the winners are...
Rosy, Cody and Bryce
then we went to Town for some delicious dinner! if you're ever in San Carlos and need a good spot for dinner, this place was awesome!

the kobe sloppy joe sliders
the crab crusted filet
flier's teriyaki skirt steak
baseball cut steak
and then it was time for warm bread pudding and birthday songs for the two birthday boys (Cody)
and Bryce

Bryce's Awesome New Goggles

Last night was "Ribs Wednesday" at the High Five Pizza Company which I may have mentioned to you in the past. This place serves delicious food and is fun to go to and is super close to my house. Sadly, I am a late bloomer when it comes to appreciating this restaurant which has apparently been a neighborhood institution for years, but I have only recently started going there. Anyway, last night we met up with Kate and Bryce to have ribs (we all had steak instead) and baked potatoes, and a couple of glasses of wine before heading back to our house to admire the progress we've made. I was still driving around with Bryce's birthday present in the back of my car so when they showed up he received this pair of awesome goggles: Happy birthday, Bryce! We love you!!!

happy birthday Olivia!

it's my dear friend Olivia's birthday today, yes she is an April fool - and I am sure never tires about hearing this every single birthday...

Olivia is married to Jon, who Bryce and I met in Toronto on a rooftop pub, one summery evening, and Jon and Olivia (both fellow aussies) met in Toronto at a lunch I was supposed to be at, but couldn't make... I think it was fate... it was pretty much love at first site, but they both played it cool for a while and we all hung out together having great times in Toronto, exploring, partying and playing buzz.

they were married in September 2008 in the most romantic scenic wedding in Tuscany and today Olivia is spending her birthday with a pregnancy glow that makes you want to puke! she is the most beautiful pregnant woman I have seen...

anyway my dear Olivia, I hope you have a wonderful birthday, that Jon (the gourmet) cooks you a fantastic dinner and that you get to sit on a lovely rooftop in New York and watch the world go by around you.

Miss you

Kisses

Kate

here we are on the canal in Venice (it was hard for me to find a photo of her without Jon stuck to her hip...)

metrically speaking

last week bryce got an early birthday surprise, that I am very proud to say I didn't give away... I usually suck at holding it in and end up giving gifts early since I just can't wait, but this one was a surprise till the end.

I told him that he needed to leave work early and that I would pick him up from work, he didn't realise that there would be a crowd of us and that we were going to see one of our favourite bands :)

the night started at the home of chicken and waffles which I must say I was very intrigued about - were they waffles with chicken inside? but no, fried chicken and waffles side by side on a plate... weird combo, but it was pretty good.
the mac and cheese was particularly good!
hannah had fried chicken, mac and cheese, collard greens and cornmeal bread

then we were off to the fox theater (an awesome venue) to see Metric who were fantastic! bryce and I saw them in Toronto (where they are from) in 2005, when we lived there and have loved them ever since.

me & christina

hannah & i (and some random smiling lady in the background)

cody & melita (giving me the don't take any more photos of me look...) :P

bryce & me

if you're not familiar with metric's music here are a few of my faves. emily's voice is amazing!

an oldie but a goodie

my all time favourite, which they ended the concert with.

buy metric music here

happy birthday baby!

Bryce is 36 today and we are spending his birthday doing exactly what he loves most biking in the hills, sipping wine and hanging out with our two furry friends!

love you baby!

happy birthday Ami!

Ami and I met when we worked in Toronto together, and soon realised we like lots of the same things like camping, puppies & drinks after work, oh and baileys (as seen in this pic). this photo was taken on a work offsite to blue mountain

we miss you guys, and hope you have a wonderful birthday my dear!

kisses

Kate