The first weekend: Sunshine and macaroons

I was determined to avoid all temptation this weekend, to let my body detox and to eat well, catch up on some much needed sleep, and get in some exercise.

I began Saturday bright and early with a clear head. I got up and checked the weather. Sunny and a high of 20 degrees. What? A high of 20 degrees? Celsius? In July? TWENTY DEGREES CELSIUS IN JULY???  So then I had to check to make sure I had the right month and I hadn’t been sober for the last 36 hours for nothing. Yep, there it was in black and white, the 2nd of July. Well, ok then.

With such an unexpectedly lovely day beckoning I decided the only thing to do was something that Sydneysiders do so well in the sunshine; grab a couple of mates and head for brunch. With our sunnies firmly in place we set ourselves up at a nice balcony table at the Well Connected Cafe in Glebe. We watched the hustle and bustle of the people below, enjoyed nice coffee, good food and hilarious company. Mostly it was hilarious because one of my housemates decided to ask if the banana smoothie was served “warm”. We looked confused, our waiter looked confused and I believe there was a small nocturnal animal that rose from his slumber in the bush across the street in order to look confused. After some to-ing and fro-ing we discovered that said housemate was actually asking if the smoothie was served chilled or at room temperature. Not banana soup temperature. I can now clarify that the banana smoothie is actually served chilled and I’m pretty sure Housemate 2 won’t be ordering a smoothie in a cafe in our company anytime soon, such was the teasing she endured.

With breakfast over and banana soup drank we crossed the street to have a wander round Glebe markets. The markets are lovely, with a nice selection of pretty jewellery, off beat clothes, books, CDs, vinyl, food and various miscellaneous items. Browsing round, I came across what can only be described as The Greatest Jacket of All Time. I may have been inspired by seeing Van Halen strut their stuff earlier that morning on rage but all I can say is there was no way I was leaving behind a vintage 70’s faux fur jacket. For less than the price of a round of tequilas I walked away with my newest find. If I learned nothing else this weekend, at least I learned I still do ridiculous things even when I’m sober.

Faux fur (helpfully modelled by C), Glebe markets, Oxford St sunshine

That evening, Housemate 1 and Housemate 2 wandered off to the Beresford (one of my favourite weekend afternoon haunts) to soak up the last remaining rays of sunshine in the beer garden and take advantage of the free food and alcohol promotion for the launch of the Beresford Upstairs. We won’t talk about the “free alcohol” part of this promotion as it upsets me a little. I was on my way home to wallow in sober self pity when I received a phone call from a friend who happens to be a chef in one of Sydney’s best restaurants.  Little Chef was wondering if I would like to come round. She was baking macaroons from scratch and needed some testers. Now I may be wrong but I’m pretty sure that Little Chef at some point sold her soul to the devil in order to ensure everything she made tasted like a small piece of heaven.  When asked a question involving words such as “baking” “from scratch” and “come round” by Little Chef, the only answer any sane and reasonable person could give is “what time should I be there?” I arrived to a very busy kitchen and a very excited baker. Her macaroons had “feet”, apparently they are the holy grail of macaroon making. There were also some very delicious and complex looking cocktails being served. But we won’t talk about that either…  Amid some very excited noises coming from the kitchen the first Reese’s Pieces inspired macaroon appeared. As the only person not enjoying an amazing cocktail I got first taste. So there are some advantages to being sober! The verdict was a resounding “MMMMMMMnomnomnomnomnom”. Amazing! There was also sweet caramel flavour and pistachio flavour. I would have given up all the alcohol in the world and my first born child for them at that point. I went home satisfied and fell asleep dreaming of puffy macaroons jumping over fences…straight into my mouth.

The macaroon making in progress, the final result (with "feet") and the forbidden cocktail

I woke up Sunday morning with a spring in my step. It was going to be another 20 degree day.  I got up early and went to have breakfast with a friend who had arrived on an early morning flight from Ireland. After breakfast I strolled to Surry Hills to drop my bike, Lucille, in to Tokyo Bikes for a service. Then I went to the gym, picked up Lucille, came home, showered, had some lunch and it was still only 1.30pm. I could get used to this sober malarkey! Meanwhile Hungover Housemate 2 was lounging in the living room. I was having none of it and insisted that she accompany me and Housemate 3 on a late afternoon walk. We went and picked up some DVDs, hangover food for Housemate 2 and chocolate for Housemate 3. Later that evening Hungover Housemate 1 came home, crawled onto the couch and curled into the foetal position. She didn’t move much but we satisfied ourselves she was still alive when we occasionally prodded her and received an unintelligible grunt in return. There are some things about alcohol I definitely don’t miss!

So, with sober weekend 1 out of the way and my body, with a bit of luck, fully detoxed it’s time to get cracking with some real fun! This Wednesday I’ll be sprinting down to the harbour at lunch time to take a wild ride on a jet boat! Then on Saturday I’ll be making my way to Wollongong to embark on my first ever skydive. It’s going to be an exciting week people! And with all that adrenaline pumping, I’m going to need a drink to calm my nerves…oh wait…

Read more about Dry July, The Prince Of Wales Hospital Foundation or, if you’re feeling generous, go right ahead and donate.

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