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| Giovanni's |
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| EisnerAmper Secondees |
My first birthday in Australia was in July 2011. I had been in Sydney for a mere 17 days for my
three month secondment by the time my birthday came around. I had known my fellow secondees from NYC,
Brazil, and Germany for less than three weeks at this point but nonetheless
they made sure my 28th birthday was special. We went to Giovanni’s for dinner which is an
Italian restaurant near Circular Quay.
They also surprised me with a box of cupcakes! To round out the birthday weekend we went to
our first rugby game at the Olympic stadium to see the Qantas Wallabies play a
team from South Africa.
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| Winery |
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| Sparkle Cupcakery |
Who would have thought a year later I would then celebrate
my 29th birthday in Australia-this time because I came back here for
a permanent position! Since this was
round two I had some friends from work from my previous secondment so I organized a small
birthday dinner at the Winery in Surry Hills which was delicious and delightful. However earlier that day I met one of my now closest
friends but had no idea at that point that a life long friendship would form on
that day. There is a US Expat website to
connect people from the US living in Sydney.
There was this one girl on there that said she just moved to Sydney as
an auditor and I was like what a coincidence!
I decided to message her since we were both in the same boat. It just so happened that the day that worked
for us to meet was my birthday but she didn’t know that at the time. So we met for lunch and when it came out that
it was my birthday we went to Sparkle Cupcakery for cupcakes and hot chocolate! Fast forward
one year later to July 2013 – who needs a professional cupcakery for birthday
treats when you have a great fellow auditor friend who can make brownies from
scratch for you and carry them around Sydney from venue to venue in Tupperware!
Three years ago I had never dreamed there would be even the
slightest possibility that I’d spend my 30th birthday in Australia
too – but it is about to happen. Because
of the US Expat website, my friendship with Wendy and all of her connections, and work connections
I now have friends from about 9 different US States and 7 different countries
(I think I’ve got everyone accounted for but please don’t audit those
numbers!) And because of all of these
fantastic people I’ve just had a fantastic birthday weekend. It started on Friday afternoon after work with
a fantastic dinner at a steakhouse followed by breathtaking views of all of
Sydney’s sights from the rotating O Bar in Australia Square. Despite being a little dizzy from the
rotating floor – the views of the Opera House and Harbour Bridge were as
fantastic as ever! Then on Saturday
Wendy, Emily and I had a lovely dinner at Café Sydney taking in more views of
iconic Sydney’s Opera House and Harbour Bridge.
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| Cafe Sydney with Wendy and Emily |
Dinner was followed by a meeting of the United Nations at the Opera Bar.
There was representation from three
continents across seven countries!
When
I look at this I realize yet again how lucky I am to have this incredible
adventure and experience and to have friends who organize such adventures!
When it got too cold to be outside any longer
(since my birthday is now in Winter!) our party moved inside to a random place
on King Street Wharf near our home.
On
Sunday morning Wendy and Emily had me over to blow out my candles on their
delicious homemade brownies as it was too windy to do that last night at the Opera Bar,
yet Happy Birthday was still sang to me in public on Saturday night!
Truly blessed with fantastic friends here
that always make sure everyone gets something special for their special day!
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| Mom's work for my 29th birthday at home before I left for Sydney |
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My mom always makes our favourite dinner and dessert for our
birthdays and she always did mine earlier for me the past two years since I
wouldn’t be home for my birthday. So to
stick with tradition I made a carbon copy of everything she makes me today so I
can eat it for my actual birthday tomorrow.
Chicken pesto pasta over spinach penne followed by a chocolate raspberry
tart! Now for the first time in 30 years
I have to go to work on my special day since my birthday now falls in busy
season down under so I just need 7.5
hours of work out in Blacktown to go fast so I can eat my favourite
dishes!
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| I hope this all tastes as good as Mom's! |
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