Merry Christmas to All!!

I bought a pair of Thai fisherman pants when I was in Byron Bay, and they are my new favorite article of clothing. However, when I washed them the other morning the color, a burnt orange, bled terribly. It turned my formerly black, green, white striped shirt to a black, green, orange striped shirt and my once teal top to more of a seafoam green with orange streaks. The label on the pants advised washing dark colors separately. My darks were the only ones unaffected. If I had washed the pants with only light colors, my new favorite color would have to be orange. I think I'll wash the pants separately from now on.

I arrived in Brisbane a few days ago and yesterday I spent a lovely Christmas with my new friends, Chris and Rosemary. While everyone back in NY was probably dressed in sweaters and pants, I was sweating dressed in shorts and my newly-oranged tank top. It was indeed strange for a Christmas day. Rosemary was intent on stuffing us full of good food, which she'd been doing to me since I stepped in their home, and organized a fantastic spread. The day started out with munch food, then came the seafood, followed by the main dishes of turkey, stuffing, ham, and five different salads, and finally Christmas pudding with vanilla custard for dessert. The food was excellent, as both Chris and Rosemary have culinary backgrounds, and I had to roll my tired self back to my room at the end of the night. If you can't spend Christmas with your family and you're in Australia, Chris and Rosemary's is the way go. They are extremely hospitable hosts, and I was happy to spend the holiday with them.