Maybe just a dream... (sigh)

Have you ever really, really, really, really wanted something super, uber expensive, even though you could probably pick up a much less desirable, much less good quality, much less useful but probably 'okay' one for like, $400 less, or free?

(sigh..)

But you really, really, really want the $420 version (sigh).

Oh, and you're not rich.

But you're okay, and you could sort of manage to get it, but it would mean obviously cutting out other things that may be a lot more important.. (sigh).

But it's a really good one, and will last forever, and goodness knows you'll use it!!

I want a Storksak Elizabeth (sigh)...

If you've ever been really nappy bag shopping, you'll know what I'm talking about. The rest of you will just think I'm a bit obsessed with an over-expensive handbag.

With Maggie we had a big, very cute bag to be a nappy bag, but our plan is to pop out a bunch more children over the next 10 years or so, and I want a nice nappy bag, that can double as my handbag, that's got all the pockets so I have a place for all of the nappy stuff and never lose anything in it like I did all the time with our other bag, that can go over the bars of our pram so I can stop shoving it in the bottom tray.

I have done a lot of research, and the bag that continues to pop up in my searches is the Storksak Elizabeth.

It comes in many colours, but my favourites are..

The chocolate brown:


tan:


Or 'Lizard'.



The chocolate is on sale on one website for $350, so I was definitely leaning towards it. I can't find the tan any cheaper than $420. The lizard is their latest, and RRP's for $470, so I was not even interested in it, but I found a brand new one on ebay last week that goes off this Wednesday night, that's $265 at the moment, so it went on my shortlist.

They're all leather, apparently they last forever and age beautifully, and all the reviews say they LOVE that they never lose anything in it - awesome :) AND that they look like a handbag :)

Mum's always bought me beautiful, good quality handbags growing up, maybe I'm just spoilt in the handbag department, but I kind of miss it.

James thinks I should go for it and buy one already, and I find myself thinking 'Yeah! It'll be totally useful, it's awesome!! But then I get a strong guilt complex thinking about spending hundreds of dollars on a bag (hard to imagine lol).

Anyway, I just thought I'd share my woes with the world/the maybe 2 and a half people who ever look at this blog.

(sigh)

Abby - 1. Fish - 0.

I cooked my first fish the other night!! I know, lame, but I don't really mind if everyone else thinks this is lame and non-deserving of a blog post because it is, and you're not in my head so you don't understand the significance!

Since we got our 'Brenda' cookbook for our engagement, the Thai Soy Fish recipe has looked super good to me. Sadly, I had terribly low cooking self-esteem and it took me about 2 years to even try any of the chicken recipes. Over the last few months I've been slowing down as I passed the fish section of the deli, wondering which ones were 'boneless white fillets'. I should mention that I only remember eating fish once at my parent's house, and it was a couple of months ago - we never had it growing up. Last week, I looked up the recipe, put it in my weekly meal planner, and actually bought 500g of basa fillets. I was crossing my fingers that they were boneless and white, and they turned out to be both (phew), which is lucky, because they were the only ones I could afford (happy sigh).

In the recpie, the fish takes all of 4 minutes to cook. 2 minutes on each side, in the electric frypan, sprinkling them with special yummy stuff inbetween. Super easy, and not all intimidating to anyone who isn't me.

I had the bed of Jasmine rice and other bits cooked and ready when James got home from work, and the fish was out and defrosted. Usually I try to have dinner on the table for him, because he eats crazy amounts, and is always hungry when he gets home (or goes out, or is at home, or at work, or anywhere really..). But because the fish apparently only took 4 minutes to cook, I wanted to wait till he got home, so it would be fresh and lovely. So when James got home, the fish wasn't cooked (seriously, the oil was even in the frying pan), but I was all ready to cook my highly-anticipated-for-the-last-almost-three-and-a-half-years fish dish, so when he opened the fridge and said 'Hey do you wanna put the fish away and do it another night if it's not cooked yet? I'm hungry now - let's just get something quick tonight' I gave him a quick but veheminent version of the "Bite me! - It will be ready in 4 minutes I've been psyching myself up for almost 4 years to cook this fish dish for you!! We are eating it, TONIGHT!" speech, in which time frames are appropriately exaggerated, and sent him off to unpack his uni stuff.

4 minutes later, my incredible first fish dish ever was on the table. It tasted, like fish. It was soft, and white, and moist, and yummy, and it even tasted a little bit Thai. I loved it :) I was so happy - who knew, fish could be so easy and quick to cook?? And double good news! - Next time I'm pregnant and craving fish, I don't have to go to the Coffee Club for their $20 delicious Baramundi fillet, or buy local fish and chips and peel off the crumbs!! This is so much better than that!

I didn't take any photos, because I was trying not to be lame (I know - this post has totally ripped that to shreds!), but I could have, because it looked great too :)