April 2025

Hi friends, and happy Friday! I’m linking up with Andrea and Erika to share some favourites, and I’m so glad you’re here — thank you for stopping by! Sunday Afternoon at The Gasoline Pony Last weekend, I went to The Gasoline Pony in Marrickville with my fun friend. It was a last-minute plan, and I love that she’s always up for a spur-of-the-moment outing. The Gasoline Pony is a cozy, compact bar that hosts all kinds of live music. We went to see a community choir called Isingonthecake perform. Originally, I thought it would be like a pub choir event where everyone joins in — but nope. I’m still yet to find one of those locally, and it’s definitely on my to-do list. My voice is really only for preschool ears, where it doesn’t matter if I sound like a mouse being strangled when I sing. But even though my voice is far (very far) from great, I love singing because it’s such a mood booster. We didn’t get to join in, but my friend and I both agreed that the choir’s performance was incredibly uplifting. Sipping on drinks and listening to music was the perfect way to spend a Sunday afternoon. Best of all, we didn’t have to worry about any Sunday night blues creeping in. Because Monday was the start of our Autumn break! Yay! Mochi Mochi missed her vet appointment the week before last. She was booked to be spayed, and Sam was going to take her in—easy… um, no! Mochi refused to get into the cat carrier, and poor Sam spent hours trying. He got scratched, she turned into a little beast, and it was a mess of a day. We rebooked her for Monday of this week, and this time, Steve managed to get her into the carrier. I tried, but she scared me! Mochi is the sweetest, cuddliest cat—until she knows she has to get in the carrier. Then, she becomes terrifying! Sam picked Mochi up from the vet on Monday afternoon after her successful surgery. When she came home, she was calm and sweet, but definitely not impressed with the cone she had to wear. Sam unzipped the carrier and was telling me how the vet had instructed us to keep her calm and that she wasn’t allowed to do any zoomies. The words hadn’t even fully come out of his mouth when Mochi tore out of the carrier with the cone dangling off her. She ran around the house like a maniac, thinking she was being chased by it! It was like something straight out of a cartoon. Sam was running after Mochi, I was chasing both of them, and Mochi was running away from the cone! Oh my goodness, it was nuts—eventually, the cone came off. But we all had to take a long minute to calm down. Then Sam went straight back to the vet to pick up some calming meds for her, and by that point, I was seriously considering taking one of her tablets too! Back to the Vet Unfortunately, the story doesn’t end there. A couple of days later, Mochi’s wound split open and lucky Sam, who’s studying nursing, doesn’t get grossed out like I do. So back to the vet she went, and this time, it was easier to get her into the carrier because the sedatives were a lifesaver. She was resutured with staples (ouch), and so far, she seems to be doing okay. Bistro George Tuesday evening, Steve and I went out to the city to have dinner at Bistro George, and it was seriously impressive! The decor, lighting, and atmosphere were amazing, and the food was spectacular. I had heard it was good, but I didn’t think it would be that good. Definitely a restaurant I’d love to go back to! For entrees, Steve had the prosciutto with figs. I ordered the chicken liver parfait, which looked like a dessert–haha! It tasted so good! For mains, it was steak for Steve and fish for me. Our lovely waitress suggested we share and brought out extra plates — I’ve never had anyone suggest that before. It was so much better than our usual swapping plates halfway through because we love to taste everything. For dessert, we shared a crème caramel and a banoffee sundae. No photo of the sundae though — we were already halfway through it before I realised I hadn’t taken one. I have to admit, I always feel a bit awkward taking pictures of my food. Then again, I don’t really like having my photo taken either, so food pics are definitely the way to go! I love the city at night—it’s so pretty with all the lit up buildings. We caught the train back home from Circular Quay station. Cleaning I love a bit of spontaneous deep cleaning, and it’s great to have time during the break to really get into those areas that need it! This week, I moved the sofa to vacuum and mop up all the dust. While I was at it, I scrubbed the skirting boards, which then led me to wash the living room rug too. My reward was finding my hair ties under the sofa, and guess who loves to play with them — Mochi! I thought I was accidentally losing them, even though I swore I always left them on my nightstand. She must have been sneaking them off there. So, now I’ve washed them, put them inside a container with a lid on and stored them in my bathroom cabinet. Good luck finding them now, Mochi! Making Lunches Again I remember when it was Sam’s last day of school, and I felt a bit sad knowing it would be the last school lunch I’d pack for him – sniff, sniff. Well, turns out it wasn’t the last after all. This week, I’m back to packing lunches for him, and I’m enjoying it! He’s doing his nursing placement in a hospital, and

Hi friends, it’s great to be back! I didn’t blog all week because life happened, so I gave myself a bit of a breather. Sometimes you’ve just got to step back for a minute. But I’m back now and feeling more like myself again—yay! As of 3:46 this afternoon, I’m officially off work for the next two weeks (hello, autumn school holidays!), so I thought I’d share a few things I’m hoping to do during the break. Autumn School Holidays: Things I’d Love to Do Embrace Autumn Cooler weather isn’t my thing–I’m definitely a sunshine-and-hot-days kind of person. But after getting a taste of what real cold weather feels like on our U.S. trip earlier this year, I have decided that there’s still plenty to love about this time of year, and today was proof of that. I woke up to a crisp, chilly morning, but as the day went on, the sun came out and it warmed up beautifully. Temps hit 27ºC, and even though I know this kind of weather won’t stick around, it was a nice little reminder that autumn can still bring the sunshine. I hope we get plenty of it during the next two weeks! Shopping Days with Friends I haven’t been shopping in the city for way too long and I’m looking forward to browsing through the shops and looking at all the autumn-winter fashions! Country Road and Zara, here I come! Rest Autumn school holidays = the perfect excuse to slow down. Oh my goodness, it was such a busy term at preschool! I’d just collapse at the end of each week, spend the weekend recovering, and then do it all over again the following week. You gotta love term one—it’s the same every year! Now that autumn’s here, it’s so much easier to fall asleep when the nights are cool. And guess what? For the last three nights, I’ve actually been going to bed earlier and falling asleep almost straight away. I was really struggling, and I think I’d built up a huge sleep debt, which probably explains why I didn’t feel great earlier this week. Who knows—maybe my night owl days are over—yikes! Finish Writing My Trip Recaps I’ve written a few already, but there are still plenty left to go. We did so much on this trip! Every week, I keep thinking, “I’ll write one next week,” and then, suddenly, it’s April. But they’re coming soon(ish). Try Out New Places to Eat We cut back on eating out last year because we were saving for our trip. In January 2025, the Australian dollar was quite weak against the US dollar, averaging around 62 cents to the US dollar. This meant that items priced at USD 10 would cost us approximately AUD 16 after conversion. Airfares, hotels, and three weeks of fun cost us a small fortune—but it was so worth it! Now that we have a breather before we start planning the next big adventure, we’ve decided to try out some new places to eat in Sydney. We’ve already booked a table at Bistro George next week, and I’m really looking forward to it! Visit a Farmer’s Market We often go to our local Ramsgate Farmer’s Market. But these autumn school holidays I’d love to visit bigger Farmer’s market like Eveleigh or Carriageworks. Check Out the Autumn Colours in the Botanic Gardens I’ve been wanting to go to the Royal Botanic Garden for ages. Maybe during these school holidays, I’ll finally make it happen and catch some beautiful autumn colours in full swing. Do a Gallery Day I’m thinking of dedicating a day to galleries this break—maybe a trip to the Art Gallery of NSW or a visit to the Brett Whiteley Studio in Surry Hills. It’s free, and I love how it gives you a peek into the creative space of one of Australia’s most iconic artists. It’s also close to some great cafes for a coffee break afterwards. And that’s my autumn school holidays wish list. Maybe it’s a little ambitious and I’ll run out of days… but I’m excited to see how many I can cross off. Thanks so much for stopping by—I hope you’re having a lovely day 😊 🍁 Happy Friday!🍁 Linking up with Andrea and Erika

Hi friends and welcome to Friday Favourites! It’s time to link up with Andrea and Erika to share five favourite things about this week. I love humour and enjoy a good laugh, so I guess I landed in the perfect work environment! Yes, working with children can be stressful and tiring, but it’s never boring. And I’m lucky that I work with people who enjoy a good laugh too. The other day was “one of those days” when we were cleaning up the classroom to get ready for rest time (truthfully—not a lot of resting goes on in our classroom). My coworker and I started laughing about something random, and of course, we couldn’t stop. Those moments when you start to giggle, and then it builds up into uncontrollable laughter that actually hurts your stomach are the best, aren’t they? It was very funny, and we were still laughing about it the next day. Laughter really is the perfect way to beat a stressful day. I’m in a different classroom this year, and I’m getting to know these two cute birds who’ve been visiting us for years. They come into our classroom every single day like an old married couple, then walk out again. It’s like clockwork—always at around 11 am. I accidentally scared them out when I reached for my iPad to take this photo, but to make up for it, I gave them a grape each. Hopefully, they’ll eventually trust me. Somehow, we got extra milk delivered with our grocery order, and one of the bottles was about to reach its use-by date. I don’t like wasting food, so I decided to use it up by making a big quiche. As you can see, someone grabbed a slice before I had a chance to take a photo. It’s definitely easier to eat a huge quiche than to drink a whole lot of milk. I got a keratin treatment on my hair on Wednesday afternoon. The salon I go to is right near my workplace so I can make an appointment and pop in after work. I’ve been visiting this salon for about a year now, and my hairdresser is wonderful. She’s also the only one I trust completely with cutting my fringe. Over the years, a lot of hairdressers have let me down and cut my fringe too short. And I’ve probably mentioned before that when I was little, my mum would cut my fringe until it was straight, which often resulted in a very short fringe– yikes! Anyway, it was a nice Wednesday treat to sit down and enjoy a complimentary biscuit and cup of coffee while I had my hair done. I’m excited to have six months off from frizzy hair but this whole keratin treatment is such an ordeal. Right now, it’s flat and dead straight, and I can’t wash or style it until Saturday because the keratin needs time to set. Plus, I can’t colour it until next Wednesday because I have to wait a week. Oh yes, and to top it off my hair is also a slight orange because the keratin strips the colour. Oh my goodness what a process. I’ve been so tempted to wear a hat for the last few days. So I won’t show you a photo of my hair because – scary. But here’s a photo of my yummy biscuit I enjoyed while I got my hair done. This afternoon, I got a notification on my watch saying I’d achieved my move goal for the day. We finished up the preschool week with a dance party in the playground. Friday afternoons can be tricky, so dancing it out to The Floor is Lava, Party Freeze, and other favourites is a fun way to end the week– and hit that move goal! Did I mention I love to dance? Dancing and laughing are my two favourite things—and this week I got paid to do both. Yay! That’s a wrap for this week, thanks so much for stopping by! Happy Friday 😊