The General Practitioner

Last night I was lucky enough to be taken out for a delicious birthday dinner. Now, having worked in hospitality for quite a while during my high school years I am not-to-proud to admit that I am rather a restaurant snob. However, the one time when this rather ponsy trait does come in handy is when it comes to restaurant reviews. So here we go...

Popular with the suits of Wellington, the General Practitioner restaurant and bar is possibly one of the most beautiful buildings in the region and was originally the city's first general practice (hence the establishments name).

The menu (inc. specials) is an interesting combination of what most city folk would consider 'unconventional' foods such as venison, crayfish, duck and wild mushrooms; as well as more mainstream food such as grilled chicken and ye olde steak and chips.

Snappy service gave a good first impression and our waitress had a good enough knowledge of wine to be able to recommend a delicious red to match my meal. The Lamb cutlets could have been of better quality, however the olive infused mashed potato and the divine port wine jus made up for them. The duck salad (a special of the day) was served with almonds and feta and was interestingly filling yet light at the same time. The pan fried Hapuka again, left a bit to be desired and tasted very similar to the cheapy fish of the day at the low-priced restaurant down the road. However, most importantly it was fresh, I will give them that. The squid entree was similarly average and although tasted fine, resembled many a dish I have tried at mainstream cheapy restaurants though smaller and more expensive. By far the best meal of the night had to be the sugar cured duck entree. A delicious (albeit small) serving of duck with an irresistible blob of deep fried feta and drizzled with a brandy glazed cherry sauce, this is one you really do not want to miss out on.

My recommendation of 'The GP' as it is commonly referred to, would be: give it a go, but broaden your horizons and don't order any of the 'ordinary' dishes!

The General Practitioner
100 Willis Street
Wellington
Ph: 04 499 6001 (I advise that you book, it gets busy!)

xx
The Lizzie

Kitty, Daisy and Lewis - It's love!

One day, whilst I was supposed to be doing something productive, my friend sent me a link. I said "dear friend, what is this a link to? For I am supposed to be writing an essay right now." Well, how glad I am that I made the mental decision to continue procrastinating because to my delight when I clicked on the link I discovered none other than Kitty, Daisy and Lewis!



Love at first listen! They were supposed to be doing a Wellington show on December 15th (which was much to my excitement!) however it has now been cancelled :( and they'll be doing a second Auckland show instead. I wont harp on about my disappointment, I've decided to rise above. Road trip to Auckland it is!!!
Here's their MySpace link, http://www.myspace.com/kittydaisyandlewis Check, check, check it!

xx
The Lizzie

When I started this blog (last week...) I decided that because of all the heavy stuff we learn and deal with everyday (i.e. how fucked up the world is) I wanted this blog to be fun and lighthearted. Joyful yet unimportant was, in essence what I wanted it to be.

However, yesterday I recieved some strange news and it of course, as news often does, made me think.
Life is a crazy thing isnt it? We often think we are confused and everyday things seem so big and hard to deal with until something pops up and makes you remember how trivial it all was and you are reminded once again of what really matters. Why can't we go back to the roots(whatever that means)of life? Everyday we do things or continue or carry on with things because we think we will be able to help save the world as a result. We try and try, and thats the beauty of it. It's so beautiful yet so painful and we assign ourselves to an eternal struggle in the hope that one day things will get better. Ironically enough, one of my favourite songs is Rufus Wainwrights version of the Beatles 'Across the Universe'. The main lyric is "nothings gonna change my world". It goes on to talk about words, thoughts, different feelings -sorrow, joy, love- all tumbling across the universe. Yet still, nothings going to change his world.

I beg to differ.

People. That is what will change your world. Always. The existence of other humans upon this earth is what will change your world. You will meet someone who will change it. More than once. More than one person. Your own existence will change it for someone else; and whether you want to accept it or not, yourself. We think (because that's what we're taught, probably as a way of social control)that we are in control of our own destinys. Bullshit. We've only got about an 8% say in our own destiny. Fate, people and the god-damned system control us all. So, heres my advice (in case for some obscure reason you care..!): Dont let the system get you down. Surround yourself with beautiful people. Give good karma and always, always tempt fate.

The Girl We Hate to Love...

To begin: I would like to aplogise for not having blogged in a few days. I have been bogged (ha, ha) down with exam stress!

Today in Wellington the weather is wet, gloomy and miserable. I have an exam on environmental policy tomorrow. I met a mathematician in the weekend. It made me think about the mathematical probability of my passing the exam... I would say around 50% and diminishing, so not overly great! Anyway, this horrid weather is having an astounding affect on my ability to concentrate on study, eek! What a great excuse for writing todays blog :D

The girl we hate to love...Peaches Geldof

The reason this bratty 'it' girl makes it onto my blog is purely because I think she has an amazing and very edgy sense of style. I would love to post endless photos as example of this but I dont want to bore everyone, so I've found a couple which I hope will help demonstrate.

Firstly...


Peaches does modern day punk. The leather jacket, holed tights and high waisted shorts are really doing it for me here. I love this look, its young hip and "fuck you, I'll do what I want!"

But then, suddenly out of the blue...



Peaches does 'sophisticated, darling'. Again, although this is a look I personally would think twice about rocking out, I think it is classic and stylish and I love the studded heels which give the whole outfit a hint of the 'fuck you/rockstar' look. To top it all off, the jacket screams Bowie. It's hard not to fall in love with a girl admits her style is guided by the music she listens to. Oh so peachy keen on your style Peaches :p

The Lizzie
xx

Hours and Hours of Happiness!

This morning whilst I was contemplating what to post on my blog today, it occurred to me that because the blog is still in its beginnings it is so much harder to decide what to put on! I'm exploding with likes! But I have decided that today I will talk about my beloved poetry book.
Our Favourite Poems is a collection of poems carefully picked out by fellow kiwi's. It is my first and currently only (adult) book of poetry (though it is my birthday soon...) and I must say there is something so special about having a hard copy of your fav poems! What I love so much about it is that it has a collection of both New Zealand poets such as the great Hone Tuwhare, as well as the old classics like Will Shakespeare, Edgar Allen Poe and of course my beloved Spike Milligan! For every mood there is a perfect poem. Here is a poem from the book for you. Guess the mood!

An hour, a glass of wine and some great conversation later the (admittedly cheesy but undeniably beautiful) poem is chosen...

Percy Bysshe Shelley 1792-1822

LOVE'S PHILOSOPHY

The Fountains mingle with the river

And the rivers with the ocean,
The winds of heaven mix forever
With a sweet emotion;
Nothing in the world is single,
All things by a law divine
In one another's being mingle -
Why not I with thine?

See the mountains kiss high heaven
And the waves clasp one another;
No sister-flower would be forgiven
If it disdain'd its brother:

And the sunlight clasps the earth
And the moonbeams kiss the sea -
What are all these things worth,
If thou not kiss me?

Awe inspiring imagery. Does anyone else sense a few underlying controversial subjects though? hmm...

xx
The Lizzie

Procrastination - watching YouTube for you all(!) so I dont have to study...

So, I found this amazing and beautiful and all things nice video clip... (please watch)



AND THEN...I found this awesome remix!!!



If only the dubstep vid was as awesome as the original. Sweet holiday project anyone?

xx
The Lizzie

Oh, hello blog!

Today I set up this blog. I have been called a geek by one of my best friends but we'll just see about that after she reads it and sees all the cool stuff on it! Mwahaha! Anyway, this blog is going to be a computer interpretation of random cool things I see and do. I suppose it will be mainly centred around music, fashion, food and random shit. We will see. I feel that this blog may take on a life of its own, quite separate from mine own plans. Again, we will see.

Ok, bye for now!!!