Monday, January 26, 2009

Like the 4th of July...but not.

On 26 January, Australians celebrate Australia Day! Now, I pretty much lied to high school kids about a month ago when I said "Everyone gets dressed up on the Australian National Colours hand celebrates a day full of Australian pride" because no one (except me) wore Green and Gold. Though there was plenty of flag colours - blue, red, and white (see how I kept thinking about July 4th?).

My flatmate said it would be fun to have a picnic (sort of like a 4th of July picnic...) in the park near our house. I invited everyone I knew in Sydney and only a couple showed up. But thank goodness Pete's cool and many of his work co-workers came out to partake. It was a overcast day - so we spread a big blanket out under a shady tree and put cheese, crackers, chicken, chips and dip, rock melon (err...cantalope), pinapple, and watermelon slices (again...the spread just begged for 4th of July references). But nothing compared to Pete's awesome Lamington cupcakes. Now, Lamtingtons are not supposed to come in cupcake form, but sometimes we improvise we we don't have the right pans in our house. It was my first taste of Lamingtons and boy are they yummy! Check out Claire and Ash sharing a Lamington above.
After nibbling on everything, Richard pulled out his cricket set - and we all took a turn at bat (is it 'at bat' in cricket?). I was impressed with my two hits! But everyone else was much better at bowling, fielding, and hitting. It made me want to play again...unfortunately, my legs starting stinging while I was out on the field. As I made my way back to the shade of the tree, I realized my thighs were a bright shade of pink.

It wasn't until I started applying suncream, that I remembered I had let my friends write "AUSSIE" in green and gold zinc down my right arm. Guess I'll know better for next time!
That night and the next day, my legs ripened to the brightest pink colour I have ever seen after sun. Four days of constant application of aloe has resulted in tannish-pink sink that might begin peeling at any minute. On one hand, my legs are no longer white. On the other, I just doubled my chances for skin cancer...oh and have this amazing shorts line...don't think that's going away for the next few years.

2 comments:

Julie said...

so how is a lamington different from a cupcake? it looks kind of like a cupcake.

Lizzie said...

Well, Pete made them as cupcakes because he couldn't find the right pan to make them in. The 'right' way is to make a square sponge cake then cut it in fingers or squares. Instead of frosting the cupcake, dip the fingers in chocolate and than roll in coconut. If you need a recipe, let me know! They are super yummy!