May 2023

My Morning Routine

6 Comments / Beauty and Self Care

Hi friends welcome to the May edition of Let’s Look. This is a fun link-up with Erika and Shay where we get to explore some fun topics, exchange ideas and take a peek into how we do life. Today’s topic is ‘Our Morning Routine’. I really and truly wish that I was a rise-and-shine kind of person. But sadly I’m not, instead, I’m more of a struggle and whine kind of person. Mornings are just not my thing at all. So I have discovered a few tricks to make my mornings a little less painful. My Morning Routine 6 AM Wake Up First thing, I set my alarm 30 minutes earlier than I actually need to wake up. This gives me some extra time to hit the snooze button and ease into the day. Those 30 minutes are so precious! And now that the mornings are so chilly. I just love enjoying the coziness of my quilt and soft pillows. I use these 30 minutes to do my quiet time using the Bible app on my phone. Then I stretch and prepare myself mentally for the day ahead. A few years ago I would lie in bed and feel anxious about almost everything. But now I make a conscious effort to use this time much more productively. Thankfully by giving myself 30 minutes extra time in bed. By the time my actual wake-up time arrives, I feel much more centred and ready to get out of bed.  Of course, the struggle to get out of bed is still very real!! But First Water As soon as my little cat Sushi hears me get up she is out of Sam’s room like a shot and ready for her breakfast. So I feed her and then come up to the kitchen and have a glass of water. I’ve read that drinking water first thing in the morning boosts your metabolism and it’s great for digestion and brain function. It’s a small habit in my morning routine with big benefits, sounds great to me! Then I go and get changed into my clothes for work, and put on some light make-up. Just some sunscreen, tinted moisturiser, concealer, blush and lipstick. Once this is done I’ll get onto some chores. Chores! Neverending chores aaargh! But I like to spread them out over the working week so that I don’t have a mountain of things to do on the weekend. I start by giving the main bathroom and ensuite a quick clean. I also wash a load of laundry and hang it out to dry every morning. Then my reward for all this effort is a nice cup of coffee before I dash out the door. I skip breakfast because I am never hungry before 10 am. The thought of food before this time makes me feel a bit sick. I wonder if anybody else feels like this. My morning routine isn’t very exciting! I don’t work out or go to the gym. But I do walk 20 minutes to work and 20 minutes home. So that counts as exercise, right? I’d love to get some blogging done in the mornings too but this never happens. My mornings are mainly all about focusing on getting ready for the day ahead and making sure that my home is clean and organised. Gone are the days when my morning routine revolved around getting the kids fed, dressed and out the door ready for school! I didn’t mess around with housework in the mornings back then. I was just living in survival mode! But now that my boys are all grown up and one has flown the nest. I have more time in the mornings to keep on top of household tasks. Here is a very simple breakdown of what my morning routine looks like Thank you so much for reading about my morning routine, even though I’m not exactly what you would call a morning person! I’d love to hear about your morning routine. Are you a morning person or a night owl like me? Hope you have a happy day! Here Are Some Previous ‘Let’s Look’ Posts In January we looked at Scheduling/Organising A Busy Family. In February we snuck a peek to see What’s Inside Our Medicine Cabinets. March was all about Our Favourite Amazon Finds And in April we shared our Pet Peeves, and this was such a fun topic!

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fashion pet peeves

My Top Ten Fashion Pet Peeves

16 Comments / Fashion Files

Hey there everyone it’s good to be back for this month’s edition of ‘Not Just A Mom’ hosted by Adrienne, Dara, Jen, Joanne and Sarah. Today’s topic is ‘Pet Peeves’. If you remember back in April I shared with you guys a whole bunch of everyday pet peeves. And I was surprised that I came up with so many! But I have to admit that it kind of felt good to get them all off my chest. Anyway as I have already covered quite a few of my everyday pet peeves I thought that for today I would talk about some of my fashion pet peeves. But before I go ahead I just wanted to say that fashion is such a personal thing and we all have our own unique styles and preferences. What works for one person might not work for another. So I’m just keeping it light and fun and I’m most definitely not here to judge anyone’s style choices. Today I am just chatting about some things that don’t work for me when it comes to fashion. So without taking things too seriously let’s have a look at some of my fashion pet peeves! Fashion Pet Peeves Socks And Sandals Ok, so this would have to be number one on my list of fashion pet peeves. Socks and sandals are just not my thing. But my husband is a fan, and it wasn’t too long ago that he tried this fashion combo when we were getting ready to go out one night. He thought I wouldn’t notice! Oversized Designer logos Yeah, I’m not into big flashy designer logos on everything. I think the fashion houses are doing ok and don’t need me to boost their sales by being a walking advertisement for them. Jumpers With Cut Out Shoulders I’ve seen ladies wearing jumpers with cut-out shoulders and they look amazing. So it’s not that I don’t necessarily like the look. No, it’s not about that at all. For me, it’s just that I would feel so incredibly cold wearing a jumper that leaves my shoulders exposed! When I wear a jumper I want every single bit of my body to be covered up and warm. Wearing Leggings As Pants I’m not sure that they are meant to be worn as stand-alone bottoms. Especially when the leggings are made of very thin light-coloured material and you can see clearly right through them. Excessive Cleavage It’s not that I’m jealous because I don’t have a whole lot going on up there. It’s just that I think a more subtle approach looks classier. Wearing Clothes That Are Too Small And Tight We need to let our bodies breathe, it deserves some space! Itchy Fabrics Just thinking about itchy fabrics makes me want to scratch! You know what I’m talking about right? I have made the huge mistake of buying those woolly jumpers that might be super warm but they make me want to scratch the skin off my neck. Deceiving Mannequin Display You know when you are out clothes shopping and you get all excited because you spot a really cute perfectly fitted dress on a mannequin? And you think “Yes, that’s it! That’s the one I want!” But then when you look closely you realise that the reason why it looks so great is because it’s been pinned and tucked at the back. And in fact, the dress is just a shapeless sack. Too Many Prints At Once I love a good pattern but combining multiple patterns in one outfit can look a bit overwhelming. Gaping Tops There’s nothing worse and more uncomfortable than wearing a cute top that gapes wide open when you bend over. This happens to me often and it’s probably because I have zero cleavage to hold my top in place. Anyway, my dilemma with gaping tops is all over now that I have discovered Hollywood Fashion Tape. It’s the best solution ever! I guess that just about wraps up most of my fashion pet peeves. It’s been fun exploring them and I’ll probably think of a few more that I forgot later on. I’d be really interested to find out some of your fashion pet peeves. Thank you so much for joining me today and I hope that you have the best Monday! This post contains affiliate links. If you click through and make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no additional cost to you.    

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Random Favourites

10 Comments / Friday Favourites

Hi friends! Welcome back to this week’s fun Friday Favourites link-up with Andrea and Erika. It feels like this entire week has been on fast forward-everything happened so quickly! Looking back, it’s been an absolute blur and I have to admit that I didn’t take many photos to capture the moments. But that’s ok, some weeks are like that I guess. So I’m just rolling with it and today I am sharing a few random favourites. I was typing away on my computer and Sam was in the lounge room. I could hear swishing and splashing water sounds. So I turned around to see where it was coming from. And I spotted Sam on the lounge with our cat Sushi. He was showing her a video of some fish swimming around on his phone. Hahaha!! she looked quite engrossed and cozy sitting next to him. He also showed her some mice (bleh) scooting around, but she liked the fish the most. Nice bonding time for them! We had dinner with a group of friends at our local RSL club. This time I chose something other than my usual barramundi with steamed rice. And I went for chicken and cashews with fried rice. It tasted quite nice even though the whole dish looked a bit pale. Tuesday afternoon I went for a long walk to pick up my doctor’s referral for that dreaded appointment to see a specialist that is coming up in a couple of weeks. I saw this beautiful sunset while I was waiting to cross the busy road near my house. And it made me happy, it also helped me refocus on the moment and enjoy the beautiful sky. Wednesday night was a fun night at home. The three of us were home for dinner and we all got to eat together. We don’t get to eat dinner together very often because of Steve’s work hours and Sam’s work and study schedule. So I was really happy that we enjoyed one of our favourite dishes for dinner, teriyaki salmon. Followed by sticky date pudding with ice cream. Our preschool is having a Mother’s Day raffle and a couple of the lovely mums were busy wrapping up the prizes on Thursday. Haven’t they done an amazing job? We had so many generous donations from our preschool families! One of our preschoolers is very excited about the upcoming coronation and has requested a whole variety of possible craft activities. So it looks like we will be making bunting and crowns during our morning craft activities next week. She made me laugh when she said “Hey Ruth, did you know that the King is being Kinged soon.” Indeed he is! Thank you so much for joining me for another Friday Favourites filled with random favourites. Wishing you a wonderful weekend filled with fun, relaxation and all the good vibes! Happy Friday!

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This Month’s Edition Of Currently

15 Comments / Family Life

Hello everyone! I am so happy that you are here today joining me for this month’s edition of Currently hosted by Jennifer from Overflowing With Thankfulness. Today we are going to be looking at what we are loving, picturing, craving, wishing and collecting. I love this link-up because it’s a great monthly reflection. And it really makes me pause and think about things that I might otherwise take for granted or forget to acknowledge altogether. So without further ado let’s get right into what I am currently…… Loving I am loving that it’s still beautiful Autumn weather and we haven’t hit the cold days yet. The sunsets have been beautiful and the skies have been so blue during the day. There’s a chill in the air but if I find a nice sunny spot while I’m in the preschool playground, then it’s actually really pleasant during outdoor playtime. Picturing I am picturing that the next Saturday is going to be fun. I’ve had a few low-key weekends which have been just what I needed but now I’m excited for a few fun events. We have our cousin Connect lunch on Saturday. And then in the evening, I am going out for dinner with friends and after that, we have tickets to see a band. It’s going to be a fun day with lots of eating involved so I am also picturing myself wearing elasticized pants! Craving I am craving a BBQ! We didn’t BBQ very much during summer because we had to throw out our old charcoal Webber. It was just too old, the grates were rusty and the ashtray was starting to fall apart. I was really sad to see it go because we had enjoyed so many delicious BBQs over the years. There’s nothing quite like the smoky aroma of the charcoal. The flavour that it adds to the food is absolutely unbeatable! Hopefully, we will get another charcoal Webber BBQ next summer. Until then I’m beyond excited that I’ll get to satisfy my BBQ craving this Mother’s Day! My Aunt is hosting a BBQ and our kids will be cooking for us. I can hardly wait! Wishing I am really wishing that my motivation to finish painting would come back. Last year I painted two bedrooms, the hallway and the dining room in my compact home. But I never got around to doing the lounge room. We have to move the TV and lounge as well as other furniture and to tell you the truth I can’t be bothered with all the mess at the moment. I also want to paint the skirting boards and doors which really need a fresh coat. Once I get going it’s fine, I’ll listen to a podcast or audiobook and paint until it’s done. But I’m currently on a motivation vacation and I’m waiting for my inspiration to come back! Collecting I’m not into really collecting anything probably because I’m always on a mission to declutter. The last time I got into collecting something was when Coles released their Little Shop collection a few years ago. You had to spend over $30 in one shop to get one collectible. I went crazy trying to get my hands on every single item. It’s like my inner child came out in full force and I had to make sure I collected every one of those miniature grocery items, they were just so cute! But then when I finished my collection, I realized that I didn’t really know what to do with them. Haha! I’ve stored them away in a box and although I like them a lot. I’m really glad that I didn’t pay hundreds of dollars on eBay for the whole collection as some people did during the height of the frenzy. People were in such a panic (and I was one of them) about missing out on the ‘rare’ ones. I was obsessed but not totally nuts enough to pay money for them. So I just collected and swapped with friends and family until I collected them all. And in the end, the rare ones weren’t so rare anyway.   And so I guess that’s a wrap for Currently May 2023! April sure went fast! I hope that you all have a fantastic Wednesday and I look forward to being back here tomorrow. Take Care, Friends!

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Enjoying The Simple Things

8 Comments / Hello Monday

Hey friends! Well, it’s Monday again and it sure feels like the weekend went by way too quickly! Don’t you agree? Oh well, I guess I just have to keep reminding myself that there are many reasons to love Mondays. And linking up with Holly and Sarah for Hello Monday is definitely a highlight! I loved this weekend because I got to spend time with my family, enjoying some yummy treats and watching some fun TV shows-it’s the simple things and I couldn’t have asked for anything better! Friday Night For me, the weekend officially starts the minute I walk out of work at around 4 pm on Friday. And I love to kick it off with a sweet (or savoury) treat for the evening. So on Friday, I decided to stop off at our local 7-Eleven for a Krispy Kreme doughnut. I stood there staring at the glass cabinet for ages like a kid and I just couldn’t decide. In the end, I chose my usual- the pink one with sprinkles because they’re the best! I enjoyed munching on it while I watched TV in the evening. Saturday Saturday my big boy Luke came over for the day, his fiancee was working all weekend and she couldn’t make it. It seems that my family have weird working hours and it’s getting to be a bit tricky finding a time when we can all be together. So Luke, Steve and I had lunch together minus Sam because he was at his part-time job. Then Steve went to work and Luke and I hung out until Sam got home and the three of us ate dinner together in the evening. After dinner, we had good old Sarah Lee apple pie with ice cream for dessert. And watched a few episodes of Dr Who. I hadn’t seen any episodes for a while and now I’m right back into this classic show again! We watched an episode that was all about time dilation. And afterwards, we were all discussing what this meant. Luke has this incredible ability to understand the most complicated theories and has a head full of facts and general knowledge. Bless him, he tried so hard to explain time dilation to me in a thousand different ways complete with YouTube videos and simple diagrams. But I was all like…. I just could not get my head around it! Sam was also confused which made me feel better😂. And in the end, we were all roaring with laughter. Because clearly, physics isn’t my thing! We laughed so much my stomach hurt! I love those kinds of belly laughs. I gave up trying to understand and poor patient Luke gave up trying to explain and we just kept enjoying a couple more episodes of Dr Who. It was such a funny night! Sunday Sunday I went to church and I’m excited that we have started a new sermon series on the book of Romans. It was around lunchtime when I got home from church and I was feeling hungry for eggs so I had breakfast for lunch. I don’t ever feel hungry first thing in the morning and my appetite doesn’t seem to wake up until around 10 am. Then I spend the rest of the day thinking about food and excited for my next meal! This avocado was looking and feeling a bit dodgy but when I opened it, it was ok. Avocados are funny like that. One day they are as hard as rocks and then the next day they’re almost too soft. At least it always feels like that to me. I sprinkled some of this delicious seasoning on the avocado and it was so good! I love the crunchy saltiness. It’s no secret that Bundaberg ginger beer is one of my favourite soft drinks. The other day I bought some mini cans which are really great because I can satisfy my craving without committing to a whole regular-sized bottle. In the evening I did my meal plan and then online grocery order.  And I finished off a very pleasant Sunday by catching up on more 9-1-1. I am so addicted!! And just like that, the weekend was over. But it sure was a fun one enjoying the simple things! Happy Monday!        

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