Europe Is Only A Birthday Away

Being in a relationship, discussions about future plans always pop up. For Dave and I, we always talk about our next travel destination. Having already travelled through South East Asia and most of North America, we know we want to go to South America, Europe and Africa in the next 5 years – high hopes to get out of our system before we’re 30 and have real responsibilities.


With these trips in mind, Dave surprised me with a wonderful way to take me there on a limited budget.


On October 4^th, I woke up as a 26 year old. I slept in because you can do that when it’s your birthday. Yet, I heard music from one of my favourite foreign films Amelie, a French film about love and tampering with destiny.


Considering that day was also my first day at FST Media, Dave went out to get me breakfast and a much needed coffee. He called me into the kitchen and there on our dining table was a flat white coffee and a plate of German bake goods for breakfast. We ate breakfast like we really were in Europe. We sat at a our small table, decorated with droopy flowers. We sat looking out of our window at a rock wall covered in vines.


For the first time in our careers, we both had jobs that required us to go to work by 9am. My move to FST Media also meant that I would only be one station stop away from Dave. We rode the train together and when I exited the train car, I promised Dave I would take off for lunch because he had another surprise planned.

Walking Through to a New Job

FST Media Front Door

Not only was it my birthday, but I was walking into a new office that day. After two interviews and two weeks to get my visa in order, I was finally walking in as a permanent member of the staff. I was introduced to 17 new faces and was thrown right into the thick of it learning new processes, systems and ways of doing things. Coming from an agency background, I can take fast-paced work environments, but this was a new career. I was no longer doing PR – I’m a marketing woman now and everyone in the office was looking to me for marketing expertise. I loathed the day I would have to deal with Excel spreadsheets, but it’s a playground compared to doing time sheets.


In the midst of training, I noticed the clock getting closer to noon. Unsure about asking my boss for favours on my first day, I approached her anyways – it was my birthday after all.


“It’s my birthday and my boyfriend has a surprise lunch planned for me. What time would it be OK for me to take a lunch break?”


Wide-eyed and feeling bad, she apologised for not knowing it was my birthday and gave me permission to go from 12:30pm. Birthday or not, she assured me we could take our lunch hour whenever we needed to.


I met Dave at 12:30 at the Milsons Point platform. He gave me three options, 2 of which would be outside in the pending rain and the other indoors at a reserved restaurant. I went with the latter.


We took the one stop to North Sydney and entered Capitanos Pizzeria – the oldest Italian restaurant in the North Shore still operated by its founding family. With only one hour, we ordered a pasta and pizza combo. He was sweet enough to consider my palette and brought grated Parmesan and Tabasco sauce from home!


Our little trip to 'Italy' was wonderful. White sauce from our tortellini dish coated our mouths. The taste was complimented with spicy pepperoni from our pizza. I now knew his plan – we were taking a Euro-trip, but I wondered where we would go for dinner. He walked me back to the station, we kissed and I was back to the second half of my day.

Lunch Date in Italy

Tortellini Boscaiola with White Sauce, Mushrooms and Bacon

Capitano's Special - like Supreme

For the rest of the afternoon I learned more about FST’s eDM process. Having done them before for my previous job, it wasn't new, but it was still different. Every company has their own way of doing things and I am excited to have the ability to diversify my approach.


At 3pm, my boss walked over to me and asked me if we could have a chat in the conference room. When I walked in, my entire office grinned back at me. On the table was a large chocolate cake. I smiled with embarrassment. I was getting enough attention today since it was my first day. I didn't want more attention, but no one should ever feel embarrassed about a birthday, so I relished it. With little notice, they couldn't find candles. Instead, they sang the birthday song to me while one of our directors held a lighter. I blew out the lighter wishing for a good work experience with those around me.

Chocolate Cake From My New Job

530 hit and it was quitting time – a time gone unnoticed in agency work. Dave met me again at the Milsons Point platform. This time he had a gold bag in hand. He knows my favourite colour.

ACDC is So Serious in Oz it Has its Own Wine Brand

Buying Wine For Dinner

We got off at our regular Kings Cross station and walked on Macleay Street. We picked up a bottle of Pinot Noir and turned the corner at Orwell Street and arrived at Apres, a highly rated French restaurant meaning ‘after’.


This time we were right on time, unlike our 2.5 anniversary. We were the only ones in the restaurant, but we didn't care. The ambiance was very sexy. Red booths, wood furnishings and dim lights took us to another place, as if we were dining in Paris in a cool spring night.


Unsure of what to order and finding difficulty in translating the menu, we finally ordered 30 minutes after arriving. We went with a 3 course set menu with our choice of entrée, main and dessert.

First Time Snail Eater

French Baguette and Escargo

Entree

Scallop and Flathead Boudin Blanc with Pommes Puree and Bisque

Rabbit and Pork Rillettes with Fennel and Preserved Lemon Salad

Main

Braised Lamb Shoulder with Ratatouille and Tomato and Basil Beurre Blanc

Poisson du Jour

Dessert

Classic Creme Brulee

Assiette de Fromage

My Romantic Tour Guide and the Gold Bag

After eating the crème brule, Dave stopped me from slicing into the cheese plate. He placed the gold bag on the table. He insisted I open the card first, which looked very familiar - it had the same design them as the one I gave him on our 2.5 anniversary.


Dave is not usually a card writer. He's more about taking action than writing words or maybe it's his penmanship. Reading his card, the words seemed extra heartfelt. As I read the words, my breath was short because my eyes began to fill with tears. I stopped reading half-way through to look into his eyes. As I read, he studied my face knowing exactly how I felt because he too started tearing up.

“I will never stop loving you.” – My favourite line.

I finished reading the card, reached over the table, although it was so wide it dug into my hips as I leaned over, grabbed his hands and kissed him.


Also inside the card were two strips of paper. On one side were official ‘experiences’ from Red Balloon for tapas cooking class dated for 2 weeks from now. Inside the gold bag were 5 bars of chocolate, some including my favourite chocolate compliment, Hazelnut, from different parts of Europe.

Birthday Card and Tapas Cooking Course Tickets

Assorted Chocolate From Around Europe

The last thing I grabbed out of the bag were pieces of paper, which looked like photographs. There were 5 photographs of famous European landmarks. At a closer glance, I found images of us super-imposed onto the landmark images. What I held in my hand were images of us as if we had visited those parts of Europe. My tears turned into laughter, the effect Dave planned for.

Dave Showing Me the Brandenburg Gate, Berlin, Germany

Being Gladiators at the Colosseum, Rome, Italy

Sweet Forehead Kiss at the Eiffel Tower, Paris, France

Can't Help Ourselves at the Windmills of Holland

Smiles at the Sagrada Familia, Barcelona, Spain

He had truly taken me around Europe today. We went from France, Germany, Italy, back to France and in two weeks end in Spain. In the meantime, I will enjoy my chocolates and stare at those euro-trip vacation shots. I think put them up at my new desk at my new job.