An understated description of the last 8 months of my life

This article a friend showed me from the Readers Digest is a surprisingly true-to-life depiction of the first few months of this year for me. Although really, it understates how terrifying and how satisfying things can be if you ask me!







Intense moments of pure panic....check
Getting asked questions by patients and family you just can't answer...check
Failing miserably at cannulas...check
Dying patients....check
Wanting to faint in surgery....check
Still really liking your job for some strange reason....check

Let's hope that last point continues to be true!

A culinary challenge

In honour of the season finale of Masterchef Australia last night, A and I decided to host our own Masterchef challenge.

We decided each of us should cook a recipe featured on the show for dinner. We flipped a coin, which decided I'd do the main, and A would do dessert. Then we promptly swapped, since my ever-present sweet tooth demands I "specialise" in dessert and he is all about exotic mains.

True to form, A cooked up a storm, deciding to do and entree AND a main.



For entree, he made Natural Oysters with Thai Dressing. Simple and delicious. Makes me wonder why we don't have oysters more often at home, especially in summer.



Talk about presentation!!

I scored this dish 7/10. It was light, tangy and delicious but lacked the chilli I demand in pretty much every dish to make it complete.

Between the entree and the main, A sat a while and enjoyed the fruits of his labour.



The main was Baked Lilydale Chicken Breast with Moroccan Spiced Vegetable Stew.



I adored this dish. The stew was perfectly spiced: flavoursome, warming and nourishing, but still light and fresh. The chicken soaked up the yummy flavours of the stew. The chickpeas and all the veggies made it a really healthy dish. 10/10!!

To counteract the healthiness of the dinner, I had to go all out with dessert: Sticky Date Pudding with Butterscotch Sauce & Almond Praline.



Both the pudding and the sauce were simple to make and tasted divine. The praline didn't set properly because I was scared of overcooking it and took it off the heat too early. Freezing made it look presentable for about 1 minute, but the heat of the pudding and sauce soon melted it into a gooopy mess. A delicious, goopy mess, but still a mess. Overall score 8/10.

The most exciting thing: experimenting with some new dishes. Each of these was delicious, not too difficult and tasted amazing.

I'm dead keen to try some more Masterchef pieces now. What a shame the show is over. I miss it already!!!

Reworked work outfits

I didn't have time to take any new photos this week, however since I'm so behind in posting, I do have new photos to share. This first picture was taken a few weeks ago, but I wore this exact outfit again this week, so it's not really cheating.

Don't die of shock, but apart from my yellow watch, this outfit is all neutrals - a rare thing for me indeed!!



This is a subtle variation of an outfit I previously posted, simply swapping out the boots and necklace. I now need to try and think of some other way of wearing this top. Any suggestions?

Despite really liking this dress, I didn't think the outfit I first wore it with worked 100%. I felt a lot better in attempt #2.



Not sure if its the lighter boots, the tights, or the coloured top, but it feels a lot more *me*. I'll have to keep on experimenting with this dress to see what else does and doesn't work.

Down to the pub + bonus old outfit

Here's what I wore to the local pub last night. It's a very casual place, where anyone not wearing a flanno shirt, faded jeans and not drunk by 7pm is out of place.



They do a mean burger and chips, and for $8 too! I had the Mexi chicken one, next time I'll go for the lentil. I wish I had taken a picture it was that yummy.

I had to rug up on the way there. Winter has officially struck around these parts. This was my first proper coat outing of the year (in Australia)!



Weirdly enough I just compared our forecast to both San Fran and Toronto. In the midst of our winter we are only a few degrees below you right now in your summer. Are we wussy or what!!!


And now for the bonus: catching up on an outfit I wore way back on March 2nd but never got around to posting. Clearly it was a lot warmer then! What do you think of these pants? They are stretchy and comfy, but don't excite me in any way. I'd never wear them anywhere other than work.

Bye-bye crazies

Today was my last day of psychiatry. I am *really* *really* going to miss it. For now, psychiatry is definitely right up there as a career option for me. I am going to miss the patients and the people I worked with there like crazy (gedddit?)

I'm also experimenting with posting daily outfits here as I wear them. Saving the whole lot for the end of the week just makes me dread putting together one long post. Be prepared for an inundation of short posts if this method turns out to be easier!!!!

Here's what I wore on my last day. This top is a supremely comfy dress/tunic from Target. On me, its so short that I don't think I could wear it with leggings. Overall this outfit scores a staggering 11/10 for comfort!!!



- Target grey striped knit tunic
- Portmans black skinny pants
- Red Wittner boots
- Turquoise necklace from Hoi An, Vietnam

A perfect night in

Nasty cold weather....CHECK

Coming home from work with a headache after getting only 6 hours sleep because I worked till 11pm the night before.....CHECK

Having three separate patients screaming right at my face this afternoon.....CHECK


Coming home to a glass of wine, candle, warm bath and a good book......DOUBLE CHECK



Life could be worse.

What I wore this week: #4

Another partial week's worth of outfits. Tried to mix in some new and old items this week.

1) Sailor shopping

I wore this when A and I went out to the closest mall last weekend. I think this tshirt didn't get the ylf approval on its own, but with the vest hiding its wider stripes, it somehow works better. Extremely comfortable, thanks in no small part to the amazing Me Too Swanns.



2) Casual Sunday

Drove several suburbs down to a beachside cafe for brekkie. It was packed. The food was good, but not as good as some of our locals!



3) Copying Angie's look

This look is a complete rip-off of an amazing dress Angie sported recently on ylf. When I saw a similar shaped dress at Target made out of t-shirt fabric I snapped it up faster than you can say ARGH! It's impossible to see on the black fabric, but there's gathers on the front similar to Angie's. I love the shape!

I even copied her idea of wearing pearls underneath, and tried unsuccessfully to copy her lovely poses too!

This outfit was comfortable beyond belief. It felt like I was wearing pajamas all day!!!



It was a bit cold out, so I added the Ben Sherman houndstooth jacket I bought not-so-long ago.



4) Turquoise knit top, take 2

I wore this knitted top from H+M again, deliberately pairing it with lighter colours. I think it works better than last time I wore it. I *really* wish I had bought the CM microchecks I tried on whilst away. I think their light colour would work really well with this top.

Behold in this outfit: the only item of yellow clothing I own!



5) Yet another dress from Target

OK it's official. My name is Tamara and I'm a Target addict. In the last few years I'd say a large percentage of my clothing, and pretty much ALL of my tops have come from Target.

I love the pattern and feel of this dress. It's a light, stretch cotton. However looking at this picture I don't feel it flatters my apple shape too well. Ooops.

I do love it though. Do you think this outfit is channelling the schoolgirl look too much, however? How else would you wear it?




Whew that's it! I'm glad I didn't take photos of *every* day now - that was exhausting!

Click on any image to be taken to flickr.com for a larger view.