The best birthday present EVER

I spent last night at Phil's house, celebrating his 30th. And I must confess, the absolute highlight was the amazing, thoughtful, astounding gift he gave me for my recent birthday: a painting (a commissioned painting, no less!) of me! It was done by a friend of his, Mel, from a photo taken of me at Dreamworld a few years ago. I'd gone there with Phil (we were visiting the Gold Coast for his sister's wedding) and although I'm not a fan of 'fun parks' we had a great day. I was terrified on most of the rides (he loves 'em and tries to make them even scarier by not holding on / dangling legs / etc) and the only one where we both had fun was the swing ride. The painting is of that. I adore it. The photo I've put up of it does not do it justice (my red feature wall is in the background, only cos that's where I have a hook. I'm too scared of drilling into my walls!) - but it is the most spectacular thing I've ever been given.

I also think it makes Phil a benevolent count-like figure, commissioning artworks from up-and-coming artists. It's dreadfully glamorous. He also got given one for his birthday by the same artist (his boyfriend, Evan, organised that one). It is also spectacular: 2 men on rocks near a river, about to jump in. It's done in wonderful earthy colours and the very feel of it reflects Phil's personality. The artist, Mel, actually came to the party. She was lovely but it was rather surreal to meet someone who'd painted you. Apparently more surreal for her; she'd had my picture in her studio for about 6 weeks, had painted me, and never met me! I didn't get to speak to her much, other than drunkenly gushing about her talent and the fabulous paintings.

Aside from all the decadent art-giving, it was a great evening. The perfect opportunity to take pictures of a) a platter (we had a delicious one) and b) pop (we drank many bottles of divine French champagne) but I was too busy eating, drinking and participating in merriment to bother. I stayed over there (they live in the east, I'm in the inner west) and arrived home this morning. Toasting my hot cross bun now and am going to go and eat it while staring at myself on swings.