A Maid of Honour Speech

Ceremony: Nurragingy Reserve, Blacktown

Reception: Villa Capri, Cabramatta

"Hi Everyone. For those who don't know me, my name is Natalie and me and Betty are best friends. I am also lucky enough to her Maid of Honour.

Betty and I met through a friend 8 years ago. We shared a hot chocolate at the Blue Bird cafe in good old Stockies. We immediately warmed to each other. I could tell that Betty was kind, caring, helpful and extremely generous. We started going on hiking and eating adventures, and she taught me how to love my life in Sydney.

Now, as we know, Betty's greatest talent is making friends. She leaves wonderful impressions on everyone she meets, She has made life-long friends through random things like bike-riding, Twitter (hi Mel), food runs (hi everyone), basketball and of course Oztag (hi Erin, hi Jaye, hi Bumfluff, hi Tickle Me Betty)!

Betty also has many nicknames. With Betty showing her love for you through her baking, I often dub her "Momma Betty" as she always shows up everywhere with home made cakes, brownies, cupcakes and even sliced up oranges.

And on some nights, Betty is known as "Betty WaaAaaaAaaAap" because she is Queen of Karaoke! And when she starts dancing, she is known as "Oh, Betty, stop. Just stop".

But to me, she is known as "Betty, my Best Friend". I honestly can't imagine how I would've survived 'Adulting' without you by my side. You have been there, holding my hands through the good times and bad. You have never let me down and make sure I never go hungry. So, sometimes, I think of you as "Betty, my big Sister". Thank you.

So, like I said earlier, Betty leaves wonderful impressions on her friends and family. But noone has left an impression on Betty, quite like Ian.
Ian, you are Betty's rock. Thank you for being there for her and supporting her through her Oztag games, baking time, family events and dog walking adventures.
She teaches you to try new things in life and you teach her to relax and be still once in a while.

Its an important balance and you two are mastering it. I haven't got much advice for you. All I can say is that I wish you even more happiness for you two in the future.

And before I finish, Betty, your Oztag family has something special for you. May I please request you and Ian to head to the dance floor and Betty, please close your eyes.

Cheers!"

Catch Ups at Burger Project

Catch Ups at Burger Project, Parramatta:
Shop 1-2, 134-140 Marsden street, Parramatta NSW 2150.

I find that the best catch-ups are those with good friends and scrumptious food. This time, me and Hai caught up with Lisa and Sang at Burger Project in Parramatta.
With the exciting menu in view, I ordered the cheese burger (my go-to burger and at $10.50) - grass fed beef, cheese, onions, pickles, tomato and lettuce. I also got the Sichuan pepper salted chips ($5.90 for large) and house-made ice tea ($4).

Burger Project's burgers were generous - packed with juicy patty and grilled cheese and sandwiched in a nice soft bun. I couldn't detect much sichuan in the chips, but they were still fresh and crisp. I usually like to drink an ice cold fizzy Coke with my burgers, but the ice tea was delicious. With a sweet lemon flavour, it was a surprising upgrade to my usual Coke.

For Dessert, we indulged in the Soft Serve range, which were $5.90 each. We got the Bounty Hunter and Nuts about Chocolate. Bounty was creamy vanilla bean ice cream topped with chocolate sauce, coconut and toasted meringue (yum) and Nuts about Chocolate was chocolate ice cream topped with praline and white chocolate (double yum!).

On average, our meals cost about $20 per person and I was stuffed by my last bite. I couldn't even remember what we talked about during our catch-up (I think we discussed how absurd weddings costs are and how boring work can be). But I know we really appreciated our burgers, giving the appropriate amount of "hmms" and "ahhs" while we ate. Thanks to Burger Project for making delicious burgers.