Halloween Debrief

After months of planning, the Halloween charity party came off brilliantly. I have no claim to this, except crashing the planning parties and selling a few tickets but still happy to be a small part of this successful event.  Tonight we pooled all the money, back at the location, which looked very different and very empty.  But the six of us helped liven it up with a few cocktails and a lot of laughs.  Well done to the ladies for organising such a successful event.  And thanks for letting me help out :) Cannot wait till the next one!

Well done ladies!

Fall Back

Well there is no denying it now, the leaves are falling, the clocks have gone back, the herbstmesse has begun, it is now well and truly autumn. And what a beautiful autumn weekend we had.  Of course it started with Halloween and again what a great night.  Saturday was beautiful, 24 degrees, a stunning day.  Basel's autumn market and fair has begun although we managed to miss it Saturday night, as closed at the very late time of 9 pm (I mean really, Saturday night!). It was a beautiful weekend and as much as I claim to prefer living in a one season country, I must admit it is a very beautiful time of year.

Happy Pre Halloween

What a great night! First a farewell/Halloween party at the flat, followed by a fantastic Charity Halloween event put on by some very special girls.  It is the second year in a row that I help the pre-party.  This year I did not quite have the same level of decorations as the last but it was still a great pre-party (although I might be slightly biased).

These four, as usual, put on a great event.  They had three charities that they were raising money for and I am sure by the amount of people raised loads.  It was a great night and we all had a lovely time.

Birthday lunch and Pumpkins

Today, I managed to get a half day to take Aunty Andy out for a total over indulgence French lunch. Yummy, yum, yum!  Three courses, all delicious,  and all on the hips now!

Then a night preparing for Halloween festivities on Friday.

Working away :)

Aunty Andy's 70th

First and most importantly I want to wish Aunty Andy a very happy 70th birthday and to say how happy I am that I got to spend it here with her in Basel (one stop on her adventurous tour). We had a wonderful night with my fabulous friends here that helped spoil her rotten.

The Basel crew came all dressed up and laden with flowers and cakes to help make Aunty Andy's birthday a special one.  She had bouquet after bouquet and we have quite the party.  Aunty Andy told so many stories and entertained all, it was so great to have her here to celebrate her special day.

Condense Reunion

After a really long two day week back to work it is great to be cooked for!  Pia made a gourmet meal as usual and us ladies, and Chris had a great evening together!

 Condense, condense, condense reunion!

Ladies in Black! Thanks for a great night ladies and Christine!

The End

Last day of holiday shockingly spent having yet another meal with friends. It has been a lovely holiday, not only spending time with some great people but also spent sometime on my own organising loads. Proud that I have been able to check most things off a long to do list, albeit in a totally inefficient expensive manner, but there you go I cannot help but be me :)  Nicki, from school, put on a fantastic brunch.  I am always so impressed with other people's meals, I mean she did loads and loads and for a 10am start.  Great to catch up with people about their vacations before all the madness starts again tomorrow...

Cooking! Cooking! Cooking!

Two days left of holiday and cannot imagine a better way spent than cooking and eating with good friends.  First a couple home made soups with  the Grisetti's for lunch. Been way too long!
Then a quick turn around and cooking for the evening meal.  An overly watery veggie dish that all politely stomached with a smile.
Luckily I made a slight recovery with the third course. Thank goodness (or thank Allah, to make Malaysian government happy ;)) for polite beautiful friends!

Raluca Time

I had such a lovely day today. Beautiful day in Basel, spent walking with Lola in the warm sunshine (seems winter only popped its ugly head for a day) and a perfect evening with Raluca. I cannot remember the last time we caught up just the two of us and it was lovely. After shovelling down ridiculous amounts of sushi we tried our best to take some decent pictures of our night together.
Our goal was to get no wrinkles or puffy eye photos, which of course took ages, was fairly unsuccessful and of course everyone in the bar thought we were nuts. It was really a lovely evening and I have just accepted that if I have to choose between wrinkles and sunshine, I still choose sunshine.

Back to Basel

After a wonderful week in Sicily, me and Claire arrived in Como last night. The journey was just as bumpy as the one there but we made it and were spoilt by Cinzia upon arrival with a delicious supper.
Delicious home made pasta (I usually do not touch pasta but ate about ten helpings, it was that good).
Yesterday, we had a hot sunny beach day and this morning we have woken to a cool, rainy day in Como. I fear it may get worse this afternoon on the drive back to Basel as I have heard snow is on the menu. Think I should have just stayed put!

Boys and Near Death

Girlie time is over and the boys have arrived. A lovely day spent on the beach and exploring the city, followed by a night where I thought I may actually die.

A beautiful evening

followed by a what I thought was a pretty good meal

but think a few of these had me near to death in the night. As I am a bit overly dramatic, Claire and Shaun were correct and I have in fact lived to see another day (although must be five pounds lighter) and just about to put the bikini back on. No more shellfish, ever!

Girlfriends

I am an extremely lucky girl to have so many wonderful girlfriends around the world. I cherish each and everyone of them and although one day it might be nice to add someone else to the Lola and Amanda twosome, I shall never ever give up my girl friend time.

 After a bit of coffee, cake and culture, it was straight to the

beach for me. Tonight is our last girlie night (Ellie's hubbie and his/our friend join tomorrow) so we will have to make it an extra special one (basically more food and more bubbles).

Cefalu, Silicy

Well it was not the smoothest journey ever yesterday and it was apparent very quickly that we were not in Switzerland anymore. But after several train delays and cancellations, we made it and it was worth every frustrating moment.

It is just stunning, I knew I would love it, just as much as I love the whole of Italy. A big thank you to Ellie who has kindly invited us to stay in her family's fabulous flat and translate all day long for me and Claire.

Pretty Spoilt

I am a pretty lucky girl..

... breakfast in my beloved Argengno (Lake Como) with friends, followed by a bit of lunch and shopping in Milan..

and dinner in Cefalu, Sicily. Not a bad day really :)  Thank you Ellie for inviting us to your family apartment in one of your favourite places.  I can see only after five minutes why you love it so much.

Mini Wine Club

The big wine nights are great, lots of laughs and a great way to see loads of people that you do not regularly get to see. But there is something extra special about a mini wine club night, you properly get to catch up with a few. And there is no better person to host a mini wine club than Patricia (or a big one for that matter).  Loads of delicious food (Patricia could as well  be a gourmet chef) that we only had to split between a few. Really interesting Swiss wine that we also did not have to share.
Great night, food, wine and especially hostess.

My Grade 8 Model Class

Today was the last class for grade 8 before our half term break, and I thought I would bring in some cake to celebrate the the first half of the semester.  This has been my most amazing class, and proof to me that challenging kids, making maths fun and a little encouragement goes a very long way.  They have got almost perfect in both Grade 8 tests and done brilliantly on all assignments.  But what I am most thrilled about is how much they love coming to class and how excited they are to learn new things and do all the wacky tasks I set.  

 All working hard on their collecting like terms project, their creations include songs, poems, pamphlets, power points and posters. 

 A half way break for cakes, and so many of them brought in cakes and cookies to contribute :)

 Cannot have cake without a little exercise, so our weekly chicken dance.

I must say they are getting really good.  I love my job!