August 2022

I can hardly believe that we are saying goodbye to August. Like how in the world did the month just fly by like that? Friends, it was a pretty good month and I am very grateful for that. I am so excited for the rest of the year because from September onwards there are so many fun things to look forward to. Once we hit September I start looking forward to the upcoming festivities and I am one of those people who loves seeing Christmas things at the shops from as early as October. But I’m getting way ahead of myself because today is all about August. As usual, I am linking up with Shaeffer and Shay for this month’s edition of ‘What’s Up Wednesday’. What We’re Eating This Week Turkey! My son is keen to eat more protein because he works out a lot at the gym and is into lifting weights. So he asked if I could make recipes with turkey. Apparently, turkey is low in fat, contains more protein than chicken, and also has many vitamins and minerals. Eating turkey can also lift your mood and make you feel more relaxed. Sounds good to me! I like to make sure we eat a balanced diet and I was more than happy to incorporate more turkey into our meals and also substitute chicken or beef with turkey. So on Tuesday, we tried turkey bolognese. Bolognese is not my family’s favourite meal but it sure is mine! The turkey bolognese did get a big tick of approval and everyone decided that it was very good. Later on this week I am going to make turkey burgers which are really delicious and much juicier than regular beef patties. Turkey mince is also much cheaper than beef mince so it gets two big thumbs up from me! What I’m Reminiscing About Back in January Steve and I enjoyed a very short but lovely getaway to celebrate our anniversary. Now that the weather is getting warmer I am really keen to go away somewhere again. I haven’t planned anything but I think that I would like to very soon. I have a big sore knot in the back of my neck and right shoulder so a weekend away that includes a massage would be ideal! What I’m Loving Gorgeous-smelling beauty products I have been loving some amazing health and beauty products from my friend’s online shop called “Simple Pleasures NZ“. She makes and sells an amazing variety of natural perfumes, soap, scrubs, body oils, and incense. All her products are sustainably made, biodegradable, free from animal testing, and ethically sourced. They smell so good and I love her products so much that I have been using them as part of my self-care routine. I will be sure to share more about some of her products that I have used very soon so stay tuned! Walking Another thing that I have also been loving is my walks to and from work. I have shared before that we only have one car at the moment. So luckily I live within walking distance of the preschool where I work. But even when we do eventually get a new car I think that I will keep walking because it’s just such great exercise. I do about 6km a day and I find that walking home in the afternoon after a busy and noisy day with the children is so calming and very pleasant. What We’ve Been Up To August has just been all about the usual things like work and school. Sprinkled with lots of fun moments with family and friends. What I’m Dreading Thankfully I’m not dreading anything at the moment. So that’s a huge blessing! What I’m Working On During August I have been trying to be more consistent with posting on my blog. I think that I am starting to get into more of a rhythm again and I am aiming to post at least 3 times a week. I also have to figure out what’s going on with my email subscription. At the moment for some reason, my blog won’t allow new email subscribers. In addition, my current email subscribers don’t seem to be getting notifications of any new posts. Ugh, the technical side of blogging can really do my head in sometimes. What I’m Excited About Spring!!!! I have been waiting for spring since Autumn. Sorry, guys I know autumn or fall is very popular but I’m not a big fan. Nothing fun happens in Australia during the cold months. I’m sure that if we had Christmas in winter then I would probably feel totally differently. I did try a lot harder this year to embrace the cold weather and even blogged about Ten Winter Essentials. I really enjoyed the cozy things about winter and all the delicious comfort food. But I am totally, completely, fully, and utterly ready for Spring! So super excited to see some of these pretty yellow flowers suddenly appear in the front garden! What I’m Watching I can’t get enough of Britbox. So many great shows to watch but I just wish that I had more time! What I’m Listening To I recently switched radio stations and now I am listening to Smooth FM. I am really enjoying this Sydney radio station. It plays some really nice easy listening music and best of all there is very little talk. What I’m Wearing Some days have been warmer so I have been able to get away with not wearing such heavy jackets. I think that most August weekends I have been wearing my favourite white Superga sneakers because they are just so comfortable. What I’m Doing This Weekend We have our monthly family get-together on Friday night and it’s Father’s Day on Sunday. So it looks like we are heading into a weekend of fun, food, and family. What I’m Looking Forward To Next Month Spring break! We have three more weeks of preschool and then

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Sydney-Shopping In The City

5 Comments / Discovering NSW Australia

Hi, friends I thought that for today’s post I would take you with me while I went shopping in the city of Sydney on Sunday afternoon. The Sydney CBD is full of great shops to fit any budget. Here you will find luxury designer shops as well as more budget-friendly alternatives. I love going shopping in the city. It is quite small when you compare it to some of the other major cities in the world. But the upside is that most of the shops are well within walking distance. The city also has some very beautiful historical buildings that have been lovingly restored as well as modern shopping malls and arcades. So come along with me today and enjoy a fun afternoon shopping in the city of Sydney. Town Hall I live about 30 minutes by train from the Sydney CBD. So I jumped on the train from the station that is the nearest to my home and then hopped off at Town Hall station. This station is right in the heart of the city and when you come out. The first thing you see is The Sydney Town Hall. This beautiful building was built from 1869-1890 and it was renovated in 1992. The Town Hall is a heritage-listed building and it is the home of the chambers of the Lord mayor Of Sydney. It also has council offices and venues for meetings and functions. See the steps, that’s where I used to meet my friends when I was a teenager. School holidays always involved fun trips into the city. And the Town hall steps are where we would always meet up. The Queen Victoria Building As you walk along George St The Queen Victoria Building is just across the road from The Town Hall. This is another building that fortunately got saved from being knocked down and was restored to its former glory instead. Here is The statue of Queen Victoria herself sitting right outside the Queen Victoria Building. I love The QVB as we all call it. It is full of some of my favourite shops like Country Road I bought my husband a polo shirt for Father’s day from Country Road The Daily Edited (tde.) The Daily Edited or tde. sell luxury monogrammable leather goods. I bought a cute leather hand sanitiser case that I had my eye on for a few months. T2 kikki.K kikki.K has the cutest stationery and I went inside looking for a new diary. I wanted a mid-year diary but they didn’t have any so I just enjoyed a quick browse. The QVB has so many beautiful windows and historical features Myer After visiting The QVB I headed along George St and then crossed the road to Myer. Myer is an Australian department store where you can find clothing, footwear, accessories, cosmetics, electrical, and homewares. Myer has everything that you would expect to find in a department store. Pitt st Mall I then headed over to the Pitt st Mall. It’s called a Mall but it’s more like an open space with shops on either side. I stopped to watch some street performers. They were so entertaining and I wanted to stay longer but I was on a shopping mission. Pitt st Mall always has some very talented street performers wowing the crowds. Westfield Sydney Shopping Centre Even though the city of Sydney has most of the major shops within walking distance. I always find that I do lots of steps when I go shopping there! Westfield Sydney is just along the Pitt st mall opposite Myer so this is where I went next. It has so many shops, so I quickly browsed and snapped a few pics to show you. Westfield Sydney is also where you will find the famous Sydney Tower Eye which is the tallest building in Sydney. I have been right up to the top where you get a birds-eye view of the city. There’s also a restaurant in Sydney Tower which has an amazing view and it’s on my list of places where I would like to eat. The Strand Arcade After Westfields, I walked over to my favourite arcade, The Strand Arcade. It is just so beautiful and it is full of some cute little shops. David Jones Then it was time to hit my favourite department store, David Jones. It is an upmarket department store and it was recently renovated and now it looks just so luxurious! I’ll have to go back in Spring because they always have the most amazing fresh floral displays throughout the store. Every floor of the David Jones store features both international and Australian designer labels. The Food Hall is probably my favourite part of David Jones. It is full of delicious food and everything is just so beautifully presented. They also have dine-in options too. I can never seem to leave without paying a ridiculous amount of money for some pastries or sweet treats. That’s ok as I don’t go there too often. Heading Home As I walked back towards Town Hall station to get the train home. I walked past the State Theatre so I took a few photos to show you. This is a heritage-listed theatre and it was built between 1926 and 1929. It’s very fancy and ornate inside. It was closed so it was hard to see but when it is all lit up it’s very beautiful. I took my mum to see Shirley Maclain perform here a very long time ago. It took me about a five-minute brisk walk back to Town Hall station. I hopped on the train and checked how many steps I had done in about three hours. 13556 steps!! So that was my Sunday afternoon shopping in beautiful Sydney.Thanks so much for coming along with me and I really hope that you enjoyed the quick tour! You might also like to check out a previous post about visiting Sydney that you can find here. Happy Monday! Linking up

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A Few Of This Week’s Favourites

3 Comments / Friday Favorites

Hi everyone! I hope that you all had a great week and thanks so much for stopping by and letting me share with you a few of this week’s favourites. Isn’t it great to say hello to Friday again? It’s almost hard to believe that next week we will be saying hello to September already! Like seriously how did the months just fly by like that? Sweet Tea On Tuesday the day started off with all the promises of a Spring day. It was warm the sky was blue and it was glorious. Then at midday, the clouds rolled in and the temperature plummeted. It even hailed for a bit! In the evening I warmed up my hands with a nice big mug of sweet tea. I drink coffee without sugar but sweet tea on a freezing cold night is my favourite. It’s the simple things! Wireless Bra Here’s a favourite that many of you ladies might relate to. Isn’t it great when you find a comfortable bra? I was so happy to find these buttery soft bras from Uniqlo. And best of all, they don’t have that horrible underwire. I’ve always had bras with underwires and the other day I noticed that I had a small bruise on my chest from where the wire had been digging into me. I had tried wireless bras before but they didn’t sit very comfortably as they slid up and were just plain annoying. These Uniqlo ones don’t do that. They stay where they should and they are super comfortable. They also have padding (which I need) and they give me some shape. I only bought one bra just to make sure that it was going to be comfortable. It passed the test so I will be heading back to buy some more and I will definitely be getting rid of those nasty underwire bras that I own. Fun Midweek Dinner With Friends Our friends Marianne and Daniel invited us over for dinner on Wednesday night. Our work schedules don’t really help when it comes to doing fun things on the weekend. So a midweek catch-up is usually what works well for all of us. It was such a lovely fun night and we had so much to eat. Our friends made a lovely meal for us which we really enjoyed over a glass of wine and some great conversation! We started off with some delicious cheese, crackers, and sourdough for dipping in olive oil and dukkah. Dukkah is a Middle Eastern condiment and it’s a yummy mixture of herbs, nuts, and spices. I had never tried it before but I really liked it. Daniel is a very keen gardener and he grew these cute cocktail avocados. Again, this is something that I had never tried before. They tasted just like normal delicious creamy avocados but they were so teeny tiny! We then tucked into some lasagna, salad, and garlic bread. It really was the perfect meal for a cold night. For dessert, we finished off with individual sticky date puddings and ice cream. We were so spoilt!! Thursday We had a staff meeting after work on Thursday. I have to admit that staff meetings after a long preschool day can be a bit challenging because I always feel like I have run out of steam in the afternoon. Luckily I managed to get on top of meal planning this week so I knew that I was going to cook a very easy dinner when I got home late on Thursday. I didn’t have time or energy to fuss around with cooking. So I quickly threw together some super easy tortellini, Barilla pasta sauce, garlic bread, and salad. Done in a flash! Preschool Favourites This Week Kinetic Sand Another one of this week’s favourites was Kinetic sand!! I had heard of kinetic sand but I had never actually played with it before. Our new director at work ordered some for our classroom and friends it is so much fun! It moulds so well, it’s easy to clean up and it feels great to touch. I just wish the kids would give me a turn to play with it at preschool! Haha! Book Week This week was Book Week! Book Week is all about schools and libraries celebrating books and Australian children’s authors and Illustrators. The children brought their favourite books to share with their friends at preschool. And many came in wearing dress-ups from their favourite book characters. We had so many little girls dressed up as Elsa from the Disney movie Frozen running around preschool. I guess Frozen is a book too! A Mini Tea Party We have a fairy garden in the playground at preschool and I spotted some of the children having a little tea party with the miniature tea set. So cute! Fathers Day Cards It’s fathers Day on the 4th of September in Australia. I’m really not quite sure why we celebrate it in September when most of the rest of the world has their Father’s Day in June. But anyway we do and so this week we have been busy making Father’s Day cards. That wraps up a few of this week’s favourites it was a nice week but I sure am glad that it’s the weekend. I hope that you have a wonderful Friday. Take care everyone and I look forward to being back here on Monday! Linking up with Andrea and Erika for today’s post.

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How To Make Your Home Look Expensive

4 Comments / Home Improvement Ideas

If you are looking to spruce up your home and give it a fresh updated look. There are some simple and inexpensive things that you can easily do to give your home that luxe elegant look. You really don’t need to break the bank or throw out all your furniture and start again! Here are some simple tips for how to make your home look expensive. How To Make Your Home Look Expensive Declutter! This is probably the best starting point and best of all it won’t cost you a cent! So if you want your home to look more spacious consider getting rid of things that you no longer use and that are taking up valuable room in your home. One of the things that you will notice when looking at luxury homes is that they are never cluttered. Once you get rid of the clutter then your home will look bigger and much more open. As well as neater and organised. If you are looking for some inspiration for decluttering then you might like to check out this post. Add Some Flowers Or Greenery Flowers or some nice indoor plants will add a special finishing touch to your home. Flowers provide a fresh natural element to any space. And if your home is decorated mainly in neutrals then you can display flowers that will add a really nice pop of colour. Buying fresh flowers can be quite expensive, so a few nice indoor plants will also incorporate an elegant natural effect into your home. Just the same as fresh flowers do. Another great tip if you are looking for ways to bring some greenery into your home. Is to simply go outside and cut a few branches from a tree or bush. If you display them in a glass vase they will look very high-end and absolutely gorgeous! Use White Bed Linen and Towels White bedding has a luxurious look just like you would find in a hotel. White towels also have that lovely high-end spa look. The great thing about sticking to white bed linen and towels is that they not only make your home look fresh. They are also quite easy to keep clean. If they start to look a bit grey then you can always just use some bleach to bring back the brightness. Stick To Classic Neutral Colours Neutrals don’t mean boring! Neutral colours are classic, timeless, and elegant. Neutral colour palettes are usually found in designer-styled homes. But if you really love colour then you can always add colour throughout your home in the decor that you choose. If you make a big colour commitment by painting your walls in a particular on-trend colour. Then you run the risk of having a home that will eventually look dated. Remember the peach colour craze from the eighties! Lamps Another great way to make your home look expensive is to update your lamps or lampshades. Ikea has some very nice luxe-looking lamps at a fraction of the cost that you would pay at a designer store. Hang Your Curtains Up High If you hang your curtain rods closer to the ceiling and then go for nice long flowing curtains that drop to the floor. Your home will look just as beautiful as the homes that you see in magazines and on Pinterest. Hanging your curtains up nice and high will give the illusion of a taller ceiling. High ceilings are a real feature that you will find in expensive homes! Consider Your Entryway Giving your exterior a complete makeover can be very pricey. So a nice and easy way to make your home look more expensive and have curb appeal without spending too much. Is to paint the door an elegant darker shade to make the entryway stand out. Or if painting is not possible then skip the paint and just add some nice tall pot plants. This will also give your entrance a great impact. Change Hardware Changing the nobs and handles on some existing furniture can take them from dull to luxe easily and cheaply. The same applies to the kitchen and bathroom. If you aren’t ready for a big kitchen and bathroom renovation. Then consider changing the handles on the doors and drawers. This mini-makeover is an easy way to make your home look expensive and it can make a huge noticeable difference. Add Some High-End Touches Throughout Your Home You can get fortunate and find some beautiful pieces from garage sales. All you need to do is bring them back to life by polishing or re-upholstering. Be on the lookout for decor items that are made from natural materials like leather, crystal, and solid wood. Adding these gorgeous high-end pieces will really lift your home giving it that elegant touch. Think About How You Style Your Home Elegant designer homes are always so beautifully styled and this is can be easily achieved in your own home without spending much money at all. You can style your home using favourite pieces that you already own. No need to spend money on expensive decor, just shop around your own home. And then achieve a designer-styled look by grouping your decor items using ‘The Rule Of Three’. When it comes to styling ‘The Rule Of Three’ means that you arrange items in groups of three because it is more visually appealing. Decor items arranged in uneven numbers give the rooms in your home a dynamic and overall aesthetically pleasing look. Make Your Home Smell Amazing Scent is very important when aiming to make your home feel cozy, inviting, and luxurious. This is probably one of the first things that you will notice when you walk into a home. Hotels and spas usually have a lovely subtle scent that appeals to the senses. You can easily achieve a beautiful scent for your home by incorporating things like Reed diffusers Scented candles Stovetop potpourri Room spray Add beautiful-smelling soaps in the bathrooms. Art Nice big

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Second Last Weekend Before Spring

5 Comments / Hello Monday

Hey everyone, so good to be back again for this week’s edition of Hello Monday! I hope you all had a lovely weekend and that you are feeling refreshed and ready for a new week ahead. I’m happy to report that we all enjoyed a cold but very sunny weekend. It’s the second last weekend before spring and I couldn’t be happier about that! Thanks so much for reading along and letting me share with you a few things that we got up to this weekend. Friday! When I got home from work, I made sure to get right into my usual cleaning routine. I find it so tempting to forget the usual chores on a Friday. But I know that if I don’t get them done then I’ll be playing catch-up on Saturday and that is no fun!! I was really pleased with myself when I got everything finished and it really didn’t take that long. Then I knew I could spend the rest of the evening relaxing. Yep, I was home alone for most of the evening as Steve was at work and Sam went out with his sweet girlfriend. So I had some pizza, and ginger beer while I binge-watched some more Doc Martin. On Thursday I blogged about some fun things you can do when you are at home alone. Having dinner while watching a favourite show is most definitely on my list of fun things to do! Saturday Saturday morning I was up nice and early. It’s so much easier getting out of bed when the sun is shining. I’ve noticed that not only are the evenings getting darker later. But the mornings are now getting brighter much earlier. I’m all for that!! Steve and I went out for breakfast to our local Westfield. There’s a nice cafe there where they make amazing eggs benedict. They give you a choice of having the eggs with bacon or salmon. I love bacon but when it comes to eggs benedict, Steve and I are both on team salmon! The last time we were at the same cafe for breakfast, which I think may have been about a month ago. We were lucky to find a table as it was so busy everywhere. The shops and cafes were really bustling. But not on this Saturday, it was surprisingly quiet. We finished off by sharing banana bread with our coffee. Everything was so delicious!! We didn’t hang around at the shops but went straight home instead. We snuggled up with cozy blankets at home to watch an episode of Line Of Duty. Our cat Sushi joined us for a snuggle too. I feel like we have been watching this forever. This is because Steve and I don’t have much free time together during the week. So we can only catch an episode here and there. Anyway, we are on the final series now and I’ll be sad when it ends but I also want it to end because I am dying to know what happens! Filming! Just before midday Sam and I went to our friend’s house so that he could finish filming his HSC drama video. He needed some more actors and a different location. So I enlisted the help of some kind friends. I know Sam was a bit stressed about directing everyone. But he did great! He also had to do some more filming on Sunday as well as loads of editing. It’s a big project and I’m sure that he will be relieved once it’s all over. I know that I will be!! Saturday Evening I finished season nine of Doc Martin and now I have to wait for the tenth and final season ever. Not sure when that is coming out as I heard that they started filming in February. I absolutely love this show. After Doc Martin, I felt like watching a movie so I switched over to Amazon Prime and watched ‘House Of Gucci’ If you haven’t watched it then I don’t really recommend it. The movie was so disappointing and I found it really boring. I only got about halfway through before I gave up and went to bed. Sunday Sunday morning was cold but again very sunny. I went to church and then after the service I had a quick chat with a few friends over morning tea before I went home. I got there when they were doing the kids’ spot. Once the children all went off to Sunday school or Kid’s church as we call it then I found a seat. We have been learning all about the book of Hebrews. Later in the afternoon after lunch, I went for a pedicure, grabbed a few things from the shops, and had a coffee. I always say my name is Sam when I order a coffee. Haha! It’s just easier. In the evening I needed to take care of my grey roots!! My hair always feels soft and shiny after I colour it. I don’t enjoy the process of colouring it at all!! but I always feel happy with the results. I used to get my hair coloured at the hair salon but it always took so long. I prefer to do it at home now especially since I seem to have to take care of those greys more often these days. Sigh!! I use this Olia hair colour in light brown. Sunday Evening Sunday evening I did some meal planning and then I cooked some chili con carne. I think it’s just called chili in America but here in Australia, we call it chili con carne. Then I sat down to watch this season of The Block. It’s an Australian reality TV series in which five couples compete against each other to renovate houses. Then at the end of the series, all the properties go up for auction. The winning couple are the ones who sell their home for the most money. It’s a great show and I love following

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Hump Week

8 Comments / Friday Favorites

Hi friends, it’s week five this week at preschool. So it’s officially ‘Hump Week’ for us and that means that it’s only five more weeks before the end of term and then it’s Spring break! I can not wait!! We have had a taste of some gorgeous warm weather this week. Some days I have even been able to get by without wearing my big warm jacket in the playground. Warm weather makes me so happy! It’s been a funny sort of week and I guess some weeks are just like that. I had a couple of challenging days but thankfully I also had some really great days. As usual, I am linking up with Andrea and Erika for today’s Friday Favourites post. Thanks so much for stopping by and letting me share with you a few things that have been going on in my corner of the world. The favourites and the not-so favourites! The Not So Favourite An Ocular Migraine I can hardly remember what happened on Monday as it’s a bit of a blur. But Tuesday definitely stands out! I was feeling a bit out of it and tired all morning and then just as I was going on my lunch break. My vision went weird! Everything looked blurry and then I felt like I was looking through a kaleidoscope. Turns out that I had an ocular migraine which didn’t last very long before my vision went back to normal. I didn’t feel great so I left work early and went home. When I got home I went straight to bed and I slept for about five hours. Even after all that sleep, I was still feeling a bit bleh. Blog Technical Issues In the evening my lovely friend messaged me to say she couldn’t access my blog. I jumped on the computer to have a look and was met with this Technical issues sometimes come up with blogging and they are definitely NOT a favourite!!! I had a mini panic and then calmed down. I even referred back to my blog post about Ways To Feel Instantly Happier for some help Haha! Everything got resolved in the end and so that was a huge relief!! The Favourites Steves Birthday We celebrated Steve’s birthday on Wednesday! I mentioned before that I am always a bit stumped when it comes to getting him a birthday present. So I usually just get him some things that he needs and he likes that a lot! This year I got him some slippers because his other ones (which are exactly the same as the new ones I got him) were all worn out. Then I just filled them with some things that he always uses. Working in hospitality means that he is on his feet all the time. So he loves using a product called Zen for joint and muscle pain relief. I also added some essentials like a new toothbrush, nail clippers, gum, and socks. He was super happy with all his goodies! Birthday Dinner In the evening we all went out for dinner to one of our favourite Italian restaurants. There were six of us in total and it was so lucky that everyone had the night off from work or school commitments. Luke our oldest son and his lovely fiancee met us at the restaurant. Sam and his sweet girlfriend came in the car with us. We had such a lovely time and enjoyed the most amazing meals! I forgot to take a photo of the birthday boy at the restaurant but I did get a pic of my big boys. After dinner, we came back to our place for cake! This year I bought a baked chocolate cheesecake and served it with some strawberries to balance out the sweetness. I had a chuckle remembering the cake that I ordered for Steve’s birthday last year. This time last year we were in complete lockdown. I ordered him a birthday cake along with my usual online grocery shop. But I forgot to check the size and I ended up accidentally ordering this tiny cake for one!! Hump Week Chocolate Our very kind and thoughtful preschool director got us some chocolates to celebrate Hump week. Puffy Stickers! My lovely bestie surprised me with some puffy stickers. I just love puffy stickers, they remind me of when I was little and my mum would buy me one for 30 cents. I could never have dreamt that as an adult I would be the proud owner of two whole entire packets of puffy stickers! Bubbles Today at preschool we enjoyed making some bubbles! The weather couldn’t decide if it was going to rain or not. But these bubbles kept some of the kids super entertained and happy for about an hour! I guess that wraps up my hump week! Bring on the weekend! I really hope that you all have the best Friday!

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Fun Things To Do At Home Alone

6 Comments / Beauty and Self Care

Fun Things To Do At Home Alone – Isn’t it funny how the seasons of life can sometimes change so unexpectantly? I remember not so long ago wishing for days when I could be at home alone. The house was always full and noisy. someone would be watching TV with the volume turned up so high, talking, asking questions, needing this or that, and gaming very loudly. Now things have changed due to various circumstances and I find myself at home alone A LOT! At first, I had to get my head around my new normal. Then once I did I made a mental plan of some fun things that I could do when I found myself at home alone. The plan soon turned into a list and so here we are today. A list of fun things to do when you do find that you are at home by yourself. I hope that you find this list helpful if you are navigating your way through some changes and now find that you are home alone more often than before like I am at the moment. 1. Set The Mood It’s winter here in Sydney and this means that it starts to get dark quite early. So I make sure that before the sun goes down fully. I go around lighting my favourite candles to make the house feel cozy. I also like to have some soft music playing or the TV on low volume. Being home alone in a dark and quiet house is not much fun. So I make sure to set the mood so that it feels comfortable and inviting. Once the weather starts to get warmer I will be opening the windows to let the fresh air in. I will also cut some flowers from the garden to bring in some cheery colour. 2. Watch Anything You Like On TV One of the upsides that I have found about being home alone. Is that I have full control of the TV ! This means that I can watch whatever I want. I really like watching my favourite movies on repeat as well as watching new movies. Being at home alone also gives me the luxury of flicking over from one movie or show to another without annoying anyone. 3. Go Ahead And Binge Watch There are so many streaming services available with so many amazing shows! You are bound to find a series that you like. I sometimes have three series going at once and I will alternate depending on my mood. If you are stuck for ideas then you can check out some of the shows that I have binge-watched here and here. 4. Enjoy Some Self Care When I know that I am going to be home alone on a Friday night then I like to go ahead and plan an evening of self-care. I will do things like listen to an audiobook while I enjoy a relaxing face mask. Or I might do my nails while watching a movie. 5. Try Some Guided Meditation Or Breathing Exercise I am trying hard to not be a constant shallow breather! So I like to take some time when I am at home alone to practice simple guided breathing exercises or do a guided meditation. 6. Get Some Decluttering Done It can be so much easier to get stuck into some decluttering and organising when I am at home alone. When I first start decluttering I will usually make a huge mess. But during the process of getting rid of “stuff”. Everything gradually starts to look so much neater as I start to put things back. I get such a buzz out of revisiting my drawers, cupboards, or rooms once I have organised them. 7. Listen To A Podcast Sometimes I like to listen to podcasts when I am doing some cooking. It’s such an entertaining way to spend time in the kitchen. I can focus on whatever I am making and my mind doesn’t wander because I am enjoying a great podcast. 8. Do A Jigsaw Puzzle Jigsaw puzzles were all the rage during the pandemic probably because they are so entertaining and relaxing at the same time. I find that when I am doing a puzzle the time just passes by so fast. I don’t even notice the time because I am so immersed in joining my jigsaw pieces together. 9. Start A Blog! If you have been thinking about starting a blog I really encourage you to just jump right in and go for it! I love blogging and it’s really the best creative outlet that I have found. Once you get through the technical side of things and work it all out. Blogging can be such a fun way to make new connections with so many lovely people from around the world. I’ve been blogging for about 15 months and it’s been a great journey so far. I recently did a post about my one year of blogging that might like to read. 10. Treat Yourself To Some Take-Away Why not go ahead and indulge in ordering anything you want for dinner? How fun to not have to worry about cooking and just enjoy a slow relaxed meal of your choice. 11. Read A Great Book One of the best things about being at home alone is all the uninterrupted reading time you can have. Curling up on the lounge with a nice warm drink and getting stuck into a good book makes me so happy. I like to use a Kindle because it’s so easy to download any book that I choose. I know a lot of people prefer to hold real books and I do love that too. But a kindle is just super convenient and I also really like that I don’t end up with a bunch of books that take up space. 12. Cross Stitch Or Knit Another creative outlet that you might like to consider is

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Welcome Back Monday

10 Comments / Hello Monday

Hi friends! Wow, didn’t the weekend just go by in a flash! It’s like I blinked and the weekend was over and here we are again to welcome back Monday. As usual, I am linking up with Holly and Sarah for today’s Hello Monday post. If you read my Friday post I was telling you guys that I had nothing planned for this weekend. And I honestly thought that I would just be pottering around the house and watching some TV shows. I also believed the weather forecast which said that it was going to be cloudy and rainy. Nope, I ended up having an unexpectedly busy weekend. Fun but busy, oh yes and the sky was a brilliant blue and there wasn’t a single raindrop. Haha!! Friday night I just love Friday nights!! While I was cooking dinner my friend rang to ask me if I was free on Saturday to go shopping at Ikea with her and another couple of friends. I said yes straightaway! I sure love going to Ikea whenever I get the chance and so I was super excited to go! One of the things that I love the most about Friday nights. Is that I know that I can stay up super late and not worry about having to get up early the next day. So I did just that and I waited till Steve got home from work after midnight. We watched some TV and ate sweet and salty popcorn which was really good! Along with some other yummy snacks. It certainly was such a nice way to end the working week. Saturday We all enjoyed a lazy and very slow morning. For breakfast, I had some sourdough toast with avocado and feta cheese along with a nice steamy cup of tea. Then we started watching the final season of Line Of Duty. In the afternoon Steve went to work and later on my friends came to pick me up for our trip to Ikea. We got there at around 2.30 pm and didn’t leave until around 6.30 pm. We did stop for coffee and muffins along the way. Shopping with friends is so fun and we chatted until we almost lost track of the time! After coffee, we kept on browsing as we made our way around Ikea. I picked up a few things from the marketplace. I needed new squeegees for the showers. I picked up this cooling pad for Sam. Even though I get super excited about warm weather he’s not a real fan of summer. He gets too warm when he’s in bed even during winter sometimes. So I thought that this might help to keep him cooler. A new toilet brush! Then afterward instead of going home, we all agreed that we wanted to keep hanging out. So we stopped off for some dinner at St George Motor Boat club. We shared some sweet potato fries, pasta, and pizza. In the end, I got home at around 10.30 pm. It really was such an unexpectedly fun way to spend Saturday. Sunday Oh my goodness! Will our car troubles ever end??? Poor Steve had to Uber it home because my little Suzuki that he has been driving wouldn’t start after he finished work at 1 am on Sunday morning. We just had the battery changed after he got stranded a couple of weeks ago. The car was serviced only last Wednesday! Ugh, so annoying!! Anyway, we called the mechanic and he installed another battery. Fingers crossed this doesn’t happen again. We have decided to just stick with one car until November. Hopefully, the car market will improve by then. Shopping For A Birthday Present Sunday afternoon Steve went to work and I walked to the shops. We live in a suburb that is super close to a small Westfield which is so convenient. It took me about twenty minutes to walk there and I felt good about getting in some steps too. It’s Steve’s birthday this Wednesday so I went to get him some presents. I was going to order online but time just slipped away. I found some things that I know he likes and I am going to put them together in a hamper. Birthday shopping for him is a bit tricky. He’s a real minimalist and doesn’t ever really ‘want’ anything. So what I tend to do is just get him a few things that I know he needs and he’s always happy with that! I left the shops at around 5 pm and I was so excited that it was still very much daylight especially since I was walking back home. Spring is on its way and the evenings are getting darker just a little bit later than they were only a few weeks ago. Yay!! Sunday Evening For Sunday night dinner I marinated and baked some chicken thigh fillets and we had them for dinner with rice and roast carrots. In the evening I did some blogging and then watched Doc Martin. I have been dying to watch season 9! I totally recommend this British comedy-drama about a surgeon who develops a fear of blood. So he leaves London and moves to a small sleepy village called Portwenn to start his own practice. It is hilarious!! The show is full of lovable characters and the scenery and music are just perfect. I love this show and I can’t believe that I forgot to include it in my list of shows that I binge-watch. Anyway, we signed up for a 7-day free trial of Britbox so we could watch the final season of Line of Duty. Seasons one to six are on Stan which we subscribe to but the final season isn’t. But now I’ve discovered that Britbox has so many great shows like the latest season of Doc Martin as well as so many others. So now I’m not sure that I really want to stop my subscription after the free trial. If

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A Few Random Favourites

6 Comments / Friday Favorites

Hey friends I have a few random favourites for today’s Friday Favourites post. I really hope that you have had a great week! And are looking forward to a great weekend. We don’t have any plans so I’m more than happy to just hang out at home and stay warm. #1 I was chatting to the admin lady at preschool during my lunch break on Thursday. We both agreed that we are so ready for warmer weather and can hardly wait for Spring! I think it’s going to rain again this weekend so it will be great to stay home, be cozy and catch up on some more great binge-worthy TV shows. On Monday I blogged about some favourite TV shows that I have watched. You can read all about it here. I also have a list of recommended shows that I want to start, so this will be the perfect weekend for it. #2 Last weekend my lovely cousin hosted our monthly family dinner. The theme for the night was Mexican food and it was so delicious!! It was such a fun night and like usual we just laughed so hard!! Someone in the family will always have us in stitches over a funny life story. And my cousin Ben has the best contagious laugh so we often end up laughing even more!! I really am so lucky to have a very close family. There are 15 of us in total when we all get together and I love them so much! Haha! yes, that’s a table full of tortilla chips!! There was so much delicious food but believe me we smashed through it pretty fast!! #3 I picked up this surface Organic Choice spray for the kitchen from Costco. It’s made with Lemongrass and Australian Myrtle and it smells so good! It also cleans great too. #4 Look at this cute guy! On Monday this kookaburra was just sitting on our preschool fence. I saw him when I was about to leave work for the day. I crept up slowly so as not to spook him and grabbed a quick pic. It’s funny that I refer to the kookaburra as him as it could have been a female kookaburra. I just always think of them as being male. And it’s probably because of that Australian children’s song about a kookaburra who is the king of the bush. #5 I tried this Maggi Butter Chicken Recipe Base for the first time and it was so easy to make and tasted delicious! It had just the right amount of spice for me which is not much because I can’t handle spicy food. If I accidentally eat anything too spicy I start to cough, my eyes water, and then I panic that I’m never going to get rid of the burning sensation. Weird I know! Anyway, my family loved it too so I’m excited to make it again soon. #6 One of my favourite things about working in a preschool is listening to the hilarious things that children say. Our home corner was set up as a doctor’s surgery again this week and the kids have really been enjoying it. The other day I overheard one of the little girls in our class pretending to be the secretary in the surgery. She asked her friend who was playing with her ” Are you here today for a fake appointment?” hahaha!!! So cute! Then I spotted this in the sandpit! Not quite sure what was happening here but it made me laugh! I asked the kids why the animals were buried head first like that ” Just because that’s how we like them Ruth” was their response. Ok, that makes sense I guess! #7 I picked up this bag of sweet and salty popcorn based on the recommendation from one of my little preschool students. We were having our morning snack and he was telling me all about how delicious the popcorn was. He literally had my mouth watering as he was describing the taste! So I added it to my online order and I will be having some tonight as a Friday night treat! I guess that wraps up this week’s Friday favourites! Thanks so much for stopping by and letting me share with you a few random favourites of mine. I really hope that you have a most wonderful weekend and I look forward to being back here on Monday! Happy Friday!!

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How To Keep A Clean House

3 Comments / Cleaning and Organising

Hi friends, It’s so great to be back for this month’s edition of Let’s Look. I love this linkup with Erika and Shay. It’s such a fun way to grab some amazing ideas and take a peek into how we do ‘life’. Today we are talking about how we do every day cleaning and I’m excited to share with you some simple tips that I use. How to keep a house clean every day? That is one of the big questions, isn’t it? It can be so daunting! But I have found that if you break up the chores into simple manageable daily tasks. Then life is just so much easier. I work full time and like everyone else does I really treasure my weekends! So the last thing I want to do is spend the weekends tackling a mountain of housework. These simple every day cleaning tips help me to keep my house clean and tidy. And best of all it means that my weekends are mostly free from housework. How To Keep A House Clean Every Day 1. Make Your Bed Every Day I know that it can be so tempting to just get out of bed and leave the bed unmade. But it really only takes a minute to get it done. And once my bed is made then the whole bedroom looks instantly tidier. Making my bed every morning also makes me feel much more productive for the rest of the day. Because I know that once I have knocked down that task like a champ then I can move on to the next! 2. Have A Place For Everything I try really hard to make sure that I have a designated place for everything. It just makes finding things so much easier. One example is. We have a round wooden tray in our entryway for our keys, wallets, and sunglasses. As soon as we get home we plonk all those essentials in there. And then we just grab them as we run out the next morning. There’s nothing more frustrating than looking for keys etc when you’re in a hurry to get out the door. 3. Do Laundry Every Day The laundry is never ending!!! I get so excited when I see the bottom of the clothes hamper. But sure enough, that excitement is so short-lived. To stay on top of the laundry I just make sure that I do a load or quite often more than one load every day. Then to make the task of folding more bearable. I will do it while I am watching/listening to a favourite show or movie. I have to admit that I also get a real kick out of seeing my piles of laundry all neatly folded and smelling fresh. Oh yes and another thing I do is that I make sure to put all the folded laundry away asap. 4. Keep A Squeegee In The Shower A friend of mine told me about this trick ages ago and I used to wonder how she got her family on board with it. I gave it a go and bought a couple of squeegees for our showers and now we are all in the habit of squeegeeing after every shower too! This is really one of the best ways to keep the shower from getting all mouldy and gross. Makes the bathroom cleaning chore so much easier! 5. Clean Up As You Cook I clean up as I cook so that I don’t have a huge pile of mess to deal with after dinner. I also wipe the countertops and make sure that they are clutter-free. 6. Turn The Dishwasher On Every Night Before bed, I will make sure to put the dishwasher on, and then the next morning one of us will unpack it and put everything away. 7. Deal With Mess And Spills Straightaway If I spill something I clean it up straight away and if I notice dust or something that needs a quick clean then I’ll try to do it as soon as I spot it. 8. Hang Up Clothes And Put Shoes Away I never leave clothes lying around they either get hung up straight away or they go in the dirty clothes hampers. The same goes for shoes, as soon as they come off they go away where they belong. 9. Give The Bathrooms A Quick Clean Everyday I like to give my main bathroom and ensuite a quick clean every day. All it takes is a quick spritz of my favourite Earth Choice Bathroom spray over all the bathroom surfaces as well as the bath and shower. Then I disinfect the toilet and squirt some Harpic toilet cleaner into the bowl and give it a good swoosh with the brush. I use the disinfectant floor wipes to clean the bathroom floors and that’s it! Done in a flash! 9. Sort The Mail Straightaway As soon as I get home I check the mailbox and then go through the mail. I recycle anything that we don’t need and then file what we do need. It’s a great way to keep that paper clutter under control. 10. Do A Quick Tidy Up Before Bed Before I go to bed I do a super quick tidy-up of the lounge room. I do things like make sure that the coffee table is neat and tidy and the cushions on the sofa are all puffed up. I just love getting up in the morning and starting the day off with a tidy space. Our house is not very big so I can do this really fast. 11. Stick To A Routine I’m pretty strict and consistent with my cleaning routine which you can read all about here. This means that my ‘every day’ cleaning has now just become a habit. I do my household chores each day of the working week and then I give myself the weekend off as a reward. Except for laundry because

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