We celebrated Alison's 27th birthday this weekend with dinner and Karaoke at Ju-Ju in Kings Cross. We always have a fun time at Ju-Ju. I guess you can't go wrong with a mix of alcohol and Karaoke.

I think the Christina Aquilera Karaoke trophy for the evening should be awarded to Brent. The boys signed up to sing the retro classic 500 miles by the Proclaimers. Well, that's what they thought! When they got up on stage, they discovered it was 500 Miles by Peter, Paul & Mary. Even though he was unaware of the tune, Brent soldiered on and sang a solo while the crowd cheered him on. A wonderful display of true Australian sportmanship. The Australian women's rowing eight should take a leaf out of Brent's book *G*. (photos)

I had my first ever visit to the races on the weekend. We went to the San Miguel Warwick Stakes at Randwick Racecourse on Saturday to celebrate Alison's 26th birthday. I don't know why I haven't gone before. You get to dress up, drink champagne and spend quality time with your friends. What more can you ask for!?!

I had borrowed a beautiful hat from my mum (she is a Melbourne Cup regular) to wear on the day so I really looked the part. I was the only one in my group who had managed to organise a hat so we had a Hat timeshare going. That's the last time Mum will lend me a hat (we took really good care of it, we promise!).

We didn't lose a heap of money but we didn't exactly win a lot either. Most of our horses placed but we didn't bet on a winner. Our winnings bought us a bottle of champagne at the end of the day, which is good enough for me. I think our main problem was our betting strategies were probably a bit creative. Alison had been told to bet on any horse you could link with "Sparkling Ray" e.g. if the name rhymes. At one stage we bet on a horse called "Stella Regale" at odds of 100-1 just so we could yell "Stella!" (a la A Streetcar Named Desire) during the race.

Thanks for a great day Alison. Maybe on my next visit to the races I won't drink as much champagne. Happy Birthday Alison! We hope you had a great day :D. (Photos)