Happy Anniversary to Sevin!

So last time I blogged I was about to find out where Kevin was taking me for our two year anniversary. On Thursday night Kevin told me to pack my winter woollies because we were going to Melbourne! But the best was yet to come. The reason we were going to Melbourne was to see the musical Wicked. I have been wanting to see Wicked for about two years but thought I might have to wait for it to come to Sydney. However, with a few words Kevin proved not only does he pay attention, but he also loves me so much that he will subject himself to the "Witchy Musical" (his nickname) for my happiness. I have to admit, I actually jumped up and down on the spot when he told me that we were going to the show.

So on Friday, after a flurry of packing the night before, Sevin flew out of Sydney (an hour late and with horrible turbulence) and into Melbourne. We grabbed the shuttle bus into the city and after banking our water rebate cheque at the Gothic Bank (which was gorgeous), we headed straight for one of Kevin's favourite haunts - Degraves Espresso.

We stayed on Degraves St during racing season last year, and Kevin loved this little laneway of coffee and food. However, we definitely showed our Sydney temperature preferences by asking to sit inside on the window counter than out under the space heaters.

After a a tasty lunch with bad service (but hey, the waitress thought she was cool), we trammed down to St Kilda to check into our hotel. Now I have to give a shout out here to Gervy's hubby Cade, who it turned out was very much an "ask an expert" for Kevin's planning and he suggested gorgeous, eye and palette pleasing places to Kevin for the occasion. This included the hotel Kevin booked us into, The Prince @ St Kilda, a gorgeous boutique hotel with a well reviewed restaurant (Circa) and funky bar (Mink) attached. So I was absolutely thrilled with the place, not least of which because of the name and the scrummy Aesop Prince Pack in the bathroom. The joint promo worked as Kevin liked the body wash so much, we popped next door to the Aesop store to buy a pump bottle.

The gorgeous Prince @ St Kilda hotel room
and a Prince with the Aesop Prince Pack

After checking out the hotel room thoroughly, we decided to head out for a walk down to St Kilda shops for a spot of shopping and a lookie at the restaurants. After trying to walk down the Esplanade, we were freezing in the icy wind, so walked up one street parallel to Acland, and discovered a paradise of Art Deco, post war and funky 70s architecture. In fact we loved the amalgamation of housing styles so much, we ended up walking around the surrounding area quite a bit during our stay. We looked in a couple of clothing shops but most of the garments were no different that what I could find in similar shops in Sydney. But at the end of Acland, running through to Barkly, we found Kinki Gerlinky. Amongst the refurbished 70's fabric clothes were some lovely, more modern items, including three georgette jacket/shawls. I ended up buying two of them, in grey and cream. (The fall of the fabric was lost in the black version.) These little jackets will go beautifully with my ever increasing collection of silk camis for work and cool nights this summer.

Smik Hairdressing St Kilda

At this point we figured we getter get ready and get ourselves into town for the show, which started at 8pm. The tram took awhile so we decided to see the show, THEN get a knock up meal somewhere. However, as we waited for the circle to open at the Regent Theatre, our tummies started grumbling and thus a diet of beer and pringles ended up being consumed pre show and during the interval. For this reason I'm hopeful that Kevin liked the show because it was good, and not because of the beer. Wicked was... Wicked! I knew all the music and knew the storyline (wikipedia) and enjoyed the spectacle. Sadly Rob Mills wasn't performing that night, but Anthony Callea was. And he was very good. The ladies were excellent, and true to form, I bawled my eyes out in "For good". After the show our eyes proved bigger than our stomachs when we ordered $60 of mediocre Chinese food and beverages in Chinatown. We ended up leaving most of it on the table before scampering into a taxi and deservedly into bed.

Sez about to see WICKED!

Saturday was actually Sevin anniversary day and after a fabulous breakfast at Circa in the hotel, we headed back into town for some shopping, lunch and a little sightseeing. Kevin got his wish and we spent about an hour in a bicycle store and I got my wish and bought some new PJ bottoms from Peter Alexander.

Sightseeing Kevin (with Degraves Espresso Coffee)

We returned back to St Kilda and had a drink at Mink, which turned into a time delay photography session with the candles. After a couple of beers at the hotel in our room, we headed out to a nearby restaurant, Elbow Room, for dinner. Oysters and bubbles to start, followed by succulent barramundi fish for me, Faijitas for Kevin and Tasmanian pinot noir to share. We even managed to fit in dessert.

Sevin candle time delay hearts at Mink

Dessert at Elbow Room

Peppermint tea after a big meal at Elbow Room

For our final day in Melbourne we had done some pre-planning the day before, and after calling the National Gallery of Victoria to see if they would check our luggage, we decided to spend the afternoon at the Art Deco Exhibition. However, first we had our included breakfast, which turned out to be quite disappointing compared to the day before. A 20 minute wait for our coffees, about half the amount of pastries, and a smudge of fruit puree for the muesli (which was so pathetic I asked for more). After grabbing another coffee next door (we weren't going to wait another 20 minutes), Kevin and I spent one last time wandering around St Kilda admiring the architecture, before promenading the beach boardwalk in the sunshine, watching dogs play. We then checked out of the hotel and trammed into town.

The Art Deco exhibition was very good. Overpriced at $22 each, but very good! The exhibition covered the entire era, from 1910 - 1939, and the most interesting thing we found was how the style moved and changed, and how encompassing the title really is. Kevin and I really enjoyed looking at the bits and pieces. Our home is of the period, and our taste gravitates towards items that work with Art Deco, so we decided to hit the shop after to grab a travel poster to frame for our house, but sadly all the good ones had gone. So Kevin made do with a Japanese print that caught his eye. He also bought himself a Pantone mug in red 186C that quite frankly, freaking rocks! But perhaps that's because I'm a geek. I told the sales person that Pantone should release beach towels and his eyes grew as large as saucers in awe of the suggestion. He too was geeking out on the possibilities of Pantone goodness.

After a spot of lunch at the NGV, we collected our luggage and shuttled out to the airport. No dramas on the way home this time and just a happy and contented Sevin.

It was a wonderful anniversary. Thank you KevinXXXX.

Sevin enjoying cocktails at Mink