Friday Favorites

Hi friends and welcome to Friday favourites! I’m linking up with Andrea and Erika to share a few favourites, thanks so much for being here! Last Friday, I returned to the salon where I got my keratin treatment earlier in the year. This time, I went for a haircut and I’m so happy to have found a hairdresser who makes me feel comfortable and doesn’t cut my fringe too short! I have a short fringe phobia from way back when my mum would keep cutting until she got it straight. Oh man, I’ve got some pics I could show you—I’ll have to dig them out sometime! Haha!! I didn’t get anything too different from my usual style, except now I have a bit more fringe and I’ve had the layers cut off at the back.  I’ve gone back to the 90s when I wore a long bob. I forgot to take a photo when I left the salon, and I don’t want to take one at the minute—it’s been a day and I don’t want to scare you! I love getting pampered at the salon. They serve coffee and snacks, and they give the best head massages when they shampoo my hair. It feels amazing! Before the rain came on Wednesday, we had beautiful sunsets like this one. Last week I was all over the place with my usual cleaning routine. So finally seeing the bottom of the laundry basket was a huge favourite! This was one of three piles I folded! Wednesday night was the State of Origin rugby league match. I don’t care much for rugby league, but Steve loves it! So while he watched and yelled at the TV, I worked on my travel journal. I’m writing down all our exciting plans for our big trip in January, including attractions, must-see landmarks, and a packing list. I’ve been getting lots of comfortable travel outfit ideas on Pinterest and researching places we want to eat, like Wendy’s, IHOP, Chick-fil-A, and Jack in the Box. Haha! I know that might sound a bit strange, but we don’t have these fast food chains here. So I’m super curious to try them after hearing so much about them. I know our trip is still six months away (30 weeks, 3 days, 11 hours, 53 minutes, and 11 seconds to be exact), but the more I plan, the more excited I get. Planning is half the fun, right? Speaking of our trip, the suitcases I ordered from Myer arrived. We have no luggage because we haven’t gone overseas as a family in forever! We did go to New Zealand for a week in 2008 for a wedding, but we only took small duffle bags, and Sam borrowed my cousin’s suitcase for his recent trip to Japan. So it was time to invest in proper luggage, and I got three large Samsonite hardshell suitcases. They sure weren’t cheap, but luckily, I got them at 40% off. Now onto some food favourites for the week! Wednesday night (State of Origin night) we had corn crackers with salami and hummus. I popped some creamy camembert topped with fig jam, and walnuts in the oven to warm up and it was extra gooey and delicious. Then we had good old meat pies, mashed potato and peas for dinner. It was such a treat because I hardly ever buy frozen foods. It’s soup weather! So I made a big pot of minestrone and took some to work for lunch and made my coworkers jealous. Hehe. I nabbed the last piece of leftover lasagna before it was all gone! Last night we had oven-baked barramundi with wedges, coleslaw and tartare sauce. The jar of tartare sauce was nearly empty so I made my own. It was so easy and I don’t know why I never thought of making it before. It’s just mayonnaise, chopped pickles, lemon juice and dill. I was happy with how the potato wedges turned out. I coated the potatoes in olive oil then seasoned them with salt and pepper and sprinkled some paprika and flour to give them a crispy coating. Steve being off from work means we get to eat dinner together every night! It’s such a novelty! Luke popped over the other night and it was the four of us again like old times. We had chicken thigh cutlets with rice and salad. That wraps up some of this week’s favourites. We’re excited for the upcoming three-day weekend, due to Monday being the King’s birthday public holiday. Long weekends are truly my favourite! I hope you have a wonderful weekend, and I look forward to being back on Monday.      

Hi friends! Happy Friday! This week has flown by and totally run away from me. I thought that I would have so much time this week because I’ve been off from work looking after Steve. But no! Instead I have been on the go nonstop and totally out of my usual routine. So I’m just popping in to say hi and share one big favourite! My family are always my number one favourites! I think they are the best! They are always there for me, and this week, as usual, they have been so supportive and helpful in so many ways after Steve underwent surgery last Friday. Half of our cousin connect group visited him last Saturday night, we left the hospital quite late and stopped off for dinner at an Italian restaurant. We had pizza and pasta, and I didn’t realize how hungry I was until the food came out. My appetite is the first thing to go when I’m a bit stressed! Sunday we were back at the hospital to pick him up. It sure was a quick stay after such a big operation! We were planning on catching an Uber as my car is too small and Sam’s car is too low. There was no way Steve would have been able to manage getting in and out of either of our cars with an operated knee and crutches. My cousin offered to come and get him and I didn’t even have to ask. She has a seven-seater SUV so my family and her family all fitted in the car very comfortably. Haha, we all went as one big group to pick Steve up from the hospital. Afterwards, I asked them to stay for dinner, and we had turkey burgers and finished off with ice cream cones for dessert. It was a fun way to welcome Steve home! My friends have also been incredibly supportive, sending texts, checking in on us, and offering so much love and support. Kind friends and loving family are huge favourites, and I just wanted to share how grateful I am for them. It’s a super short and sweet Friday Favourites today! Thank you so much for stopping by, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend. Hope to see you back here on Monday!  

Hey there, friends! It’s great to be here sharing some Friday favourites on this sunny autumn day. I’m hanging out at Kings Cross Library, catching up on blogs as well as blogging while I wait for my husband to go into surgery. The library has these comfy nooks where you can work from and here I am! Well, Steve was supposed to go in for surgery an hour ago, but there’s been a delay. Not to worry, I’m sure it won’t be long now. But I sure am glad that I brought my laptop with me so I have something to do while I wait. I have two big favourites to share, and I’m happy to say that they are both related to one of my favourite topics–kindness! Assessment Done and Dusted! First up I’m ecstatic to say that I have finished the first part of what feels like a neverending study journey. It’s only been three months so maybe I’m exaggerating. It feels neverending though! As part of my course, I had to have a workplace assessment. And the assessor came to visit me at preschool on Tuesday and she couldn’t have been nicer. So that is a huge favourite! When she first arrived she assured me that everything was going to be fine and I shouldn’t be nervous. She was so kind and almost made me feel relaxed (almost, haha). Anyway, she was lovely and sat in the classroom watching how I went about the morning. The kids must have sensed she was friendly because they kept coming to her and saying hi asking ‘Why are you here?’. I loved her response ‘to play!” She said, how sweet! Afterwards, we headed to the staffroom where she had a stack of questions waiting for me. I had already completed numerous assessment tasks, and now I had to provide verbal responses while she took notes. What a process! After about two hours, we finally finished. Phew, and hooray! Once I said goodbye and escorted her out of the building, I returned to the staffroom and happily collapsed over a chair like a ragdoll. My coworker saw me and laughed. Now I have to wait a few weeks for results (the kind assessor assured me I had nothing to worry about) and then I can get on to starting the next part of my study journey. Surgery Day Today is surgery day for Steve and I mentioned earlier that I was waiting for him to go in. He just sent me a text a few minutes ago – he’s prepped and ready. Today he will get a new knee and then begin a three-month recovery. He’s having the operation at East Sydney Private Hospital. And this morning we caught the train and got off at King Cross station, the nearest station to the hospital. Sam offered to drive us in but it was easier to catch the train. Google Maps said it was a 10-minute walk to the hospital but when we got out of the station we were both unsure which way to go. So I stopped a lady to ask her for directions and she was also unsure. She pulled out her phone and started searching for the hospital. She found where it was and then offered to drive us there! I was speechless, Steve and I both were! She was so friendly and on the way she shared that her name was Hannah and she was from the U.K. but had lived in the area for 20 years. We drove for at most five minutes. When we got out of the car, she wished us well and said she’d pray that Steve’s surgery would go well. It was such a pleasure meeting kind Hannah from the U.K. She was beautiful on the outside and the inside! Meeting kind people like her encourages me to remember to keep spreading kindness. When we got to the hospital and met with the nurse who took Steve’s details etc. He asked us how we got to the hospital and we shared that a kind stranger had given us a lift. He too was amazed and said ‘There’s hope for humanity’. Haha, I agree! I guess this week has been all about kindness and I can’t think of a better favourite than that! The assessor was kind and reassuring, and my work colleagues have also been very kind, showering me with encouragement and confidence that I was going to nail assessment day. Then there was kindness from a stranger this morning and of course so much kindness from you guys in the comments last week. Thank you so much, everybody! You all made this week so much better than I ever could have hoped for. I hope you have a wonderful weekend! Update- It’s 7 pm Sydney time and the nurse finally called me to say that Steve is in recovery. I’m waiting to see him but it will be another 45 minutes until he’s moved to his room. He went into surgery at around 1 pm so it’s been a long day! Linking up with Andrea and Erika  

Hello friends and hello Friday! Thanks so much for joining me today as I share a few fun favourites for this week. Sam’s Home! My first fun favourite is, of course, having my boy back home after his trip to Japan! Yay!! We were very excited to go and pick him up last Saturday morning. I love going to the arrivals area at the airport and seeing the joyful reunions, tears and great big hugs. I get all emotional and choked up, just like I do every time I see the final scene of ‘Love Actually’. The plane landed at 8.10 am and we waited about an hour for Sam and his friends to get through customs etc. They were so tired and sick with colds. One of the guys had gotten sick in the first few days of the trip, and then the other two fell like dominoes. Sam said they had an amazing time and he loved Japan, but he was really glad to be home. I loved hearing this because I expected that he may have had the post-holiday blues. And I wouldn’t have blamed him at all because I remember always feeling the post-camp blues when I returned home after having had so much fun with my friends at church camp. Souvenirs From Japan Sam brought back a whole pile of snacks for us and the cousins. Some of Sam’s stories about his trip have had me in stitches, while others not so much. For instance, I’m glad I was blissfully oblivious to the fact that they spent most of the trip riding electric scooters in traffic minus helmets. According to Sam, the traffic isn’t as bad in Japan as it is here in Sydney and helmets are recommended but not compulsory for adults. Interesting! Ha! This miniature soba noodle set he brought back for me is just the cutest! He also got me a Curious George fold-up bag from a monkey park in Kyoto. A Samurai sword letter opener for his dad. A Pokémon plush for his big brother haha! As well as some Attack On Titan books and Magic cards. None of us expected any souvenirs and I thought Sam did amazing with his choices for us. Winter Gala 2024 Another fun favourite was seeing my cousin perform at the Winter Gala. She dances the Bachata with a dance studio and she delivered a fantastic performance with her partner and the rest of the group. I’m always amazed at how effortless partner dancing looks when other people do it. I’m terrible at it and always end up leading, which is a real mess because I don’t know how to partner dance at all! Mother’s Day Mother’s Days are tough and I guess they always will be. I felt sad for most of the morning, but then I gradually cheered up after receiving some beautiful Mother’s Day wishes from my family as well as some super kind and thoughtful texts from friends. My beautiful friend sent me this photo of her gorgeous kids (I love these two!) and a rainbow. I love that she always sends me rainbow pics whenever she sees one. For us, it’s a symbol that our mums are reaching out to us, and sure enough, on a rainy and miserable Mother’s Day, they did just that. Hi Mum! In the end Mothers Day turned out to be a perfectly low key day, which is exactly what I needed. Sam was still recovering from an ear infection, so we stayed home, ordered take away and watched the Barbie movie. I had already seen it but Sam and Steve hadn’t, and since it was Mothers Day, they were happy to watch it with me. Sam enjoyed it and Steve said it was the best movie he had ever seen – after he woke up. Mid-week Dinner With Friends Another fun favourite was having a mid-week event to look forward to. Our friends invited us over for dinner on Wednesday night, and we had such a lovely night. These friends are more like family than friends, and we have known them forever. We’ve shared all the highs and lows that life has thrown our way. Friends like this are priceless! For dessert, we had some chocolates and nougat–my favourite! Yum, I hadn’t had any nougat since Christmas and I more than made up for it. Blue Skies A big favourite this week was finally seeing some blue sky after so many rainy days. I snapped this pic while I was walking home after finishing work on Thursday. Blue skies make me happy! Self-Care At Work Our director at work put a self-care sign with cute illustrations on the staff room fridge and I think it’s full of great tips. I’m happy that I work with some uplifting colleagues and I’m also lucky enough to be able to call two of them my besties! And that’s a wrap for a few of this week’s fun favourites! Thank you so much for being here and I hope you have an amazing weekend. I look forward to being back here on Monday. See ya! Linking up with Andrea and Erika.    

Hey there, friends! Happy Friday! As of 3:46 PM today, I’m officially on autumn break – time to finally take a breather! I’m excited to join Andrea and Erika for Friday Favourites. Can you believe I only managed to remember to snap three photos this week? It’s been quite a week, and I seem to be saying that a lot lately. Probably because term one of preschool has been quite interesting! Haha, I was trying to come up with a way to describe it, but I think I will stick to calling it ‘interesting’. Anyway, I made it through, and now it’s time to enjoy the break! Two Favourites It’s going to be a short and sweet Friday Favorites post today because I’m feeling pretty tired. Next week, I’ll be back to share all about our latest Cousin Connect get-together and a life update. Even though I’m sure I had plenty of favourite moments during the week, I forgot to take photos, and now I feel as if everything is a blur. So, for today, I’m sharing two favourites and three photos. My husband bought a new phone, a Samsung Galaxy something (I can’t recall the full name). His old phone was about 6 or 7 years old and didn’t have any sound. So he couldn’t hear it when it rang, which was pretty annoying whenever I tried to call him. It was definitely time for an upgrade. I think I was more excited about his new phone than he was! I used his phone to capture a photo of a massive drop of water that was on the plant by our front door. After a torrential downpour the night before, this huge drop of rain must have accumulated on the leaf. Isn’t it amazing! What’s also amazing is that as I was about to take the photo with Steve’s fancy new phone, I said “Wow” out loud, and guess what? The phone just went ahead and took the picture all on its own! I was so surprised and I thought it must have been a fluke so I tried it again and yep, it did the same thing. WOW!! Midweek dinner out with friends was a fun favourite! Cheers! Oh my goodness, that night I had the best burger I’ve had in a very long time! I mean, it might just be my favourite burger ever, I think! The burger patty was so tender and full of flavour. It was cooked so that it was quite rare, which is not a thing over here. All our burgers are always well done and if we ever see any pink in the middle of the patty it’s an instant cause for panic and fears of immediate food poisoning. But we were in a very nice restaurant and this burger was no ordinary burger. I can still vividly remember the flavour of the truffle aioli! So good! The shoestring fries were also divine, crunchy on the outside and fluffy on the inside. My only complaint and that of my friends was that it needed a pickle on the side for some crunch and acidity. Haha, we sat there critiquing the burger as if we were food critics. The plush atmosphere must have gone to our heads or maybe it was the Aperol spritz! Nah, it really needed a pickle! And that’s it for today friends! A very short and sweet look at two favourites. I hope you have an amazing weekend and thank you so much for stopping by. I’m going to hop off, have a shower, eat dinner and watch an old favourite movie. I haven’t decided which one yet but I’m sticking to an oldie because chances are that I will fall asleep halfway through, if not before! Happy Friday!  

Hi, friends! Welcome to Friday Favourites! I’m so thrilled that this short week actually felt shorter. Usually, four-day workweeks drag on like any other, but not this time. Although I must admit, I was a bit confused about what day it was throughout the week. But all that confusion disappears today because it’s my favourite day of the week. Friday, I love you! This post may contain affiliate links, which means I may earn a small commission if you click through and make a purchase. Ok, so it’s time to share a few favourites, thanks so much for being here! Up until today (it’s pouring with rain at the moment!) I had been thoroughly enjoying perfect autumn weather where the mornings and evenings are cool yet the days are so warm! I had been checking the forecast constantly, trying to brace myself for a sudden drop in temperatures as I’m not a fan of the cold. Thankfully, apart from today, it has been smooth sailing. I’m so happy that according to the weather forecast, next week will still bring temperatures in the mid-20s (celsius that is) phew! Warm autumn weather means that flowers are still blooming. On Wednesday I mentioned that I had replanted the ivy from its tiny cramped pot into a more spacious one, hoping that it would finally take off and flourish. I’ve had it for over a year and it’s still only small. The other plant I keep on the open shelves in the kitchen is thriving and I love the touch of greenery it adds to this space. Green is good! I can’t get enough dark chocolate! or coffee! My sweet, kind friends bought me a bag of coffee beans. I had been wanting to grind my own coffee beans so it was the perfect excuse to buy a manual coffee grinder. Ahh, there’s nothing like the smell of freshly ground coffee. It’s just amazing! Another cozy favourite this week was enjoying a cup of frothy hot chocolate while watching TV. I used this butter chicken blend from Gewurzhaus Spice House and our butter chicken tasted so good! The mix of spices makes cooking up tasty meals super easy. I also love their speedy spaghetti blend. One of my favourite things to do is have a movie playing on my iPad while I cook. The other day I made a spinach, feta and ricotta pie to take to my aunts for our Easter lunch. While I was cooking I watched my favourite movie ‘Volver’ with Penelope Cruz. Have you seen it? Tomorrow night, I’m hosting Cousin Connect, we usually play a board game after dinner. This time, I thought that we could switch things up a bit by playing a new game. My wonderful work friend and supplier of all fun resources lent me her game of Hedbanz. I’m planning to use the headbands from Hedbanz to play a variation of Celebrity Heads. Today when we had a spare minute at work, I asked some of my work buddies to write the names of celebrities on cards. I haven’t peeked at what they wrote so that I can play and join in the fun too! I’m going to jump off (crawl more likely as it’s been a day!) the computer and tackle a couple of chores, then it’s couch time for this tired chook! I hope you have a wonderful weekend and I look forward to being back here on Monday! Linking up with Andrea and Erika    

Hi friends, it’s great to be back linking up with Andrea and Erika to share some Friday favourites! I hope you’ve all had a wonderful week and are super excited about the weekend. I know that I sure am! *Some of the links in this post may be affiliate links, which means I may earn a small commission if you make a purchase through them – at no extra cost to you. Just like that the weather changed and Thursday was the first day when it felt like Autumn. Even though it’s been so hot, humid and sticky, I’m not ready to give up summer because I love long hot sunny days, they’re just the best! Thursday the temperature dropped to 15ºC during the night and only got as high as 21ºC during the day. For us that’s cold so out came the puffer jackets and I had my first hot chocolate for the season. Cold weather might not be a favourite but hot chocolate sure is! As I was walking to work I spotted this beautiful tree blooming with purple flowers. You’d think it was spring! In Sydney, we don’t seem to have a lot of typical autumn-coloured trees. Instead, we have a bit of everything, from evergreen trees to deciduous trees and even trees that bloom like this one. Wednesday night date night at Allawah Pub has become a favourite. It’s so close to home, it has a nice vibe and the food never disappoints. I love these Ikea baking dishes. They come with a lid and they fit perfectly inside the fridge. Having an organised fridge is a huge favourite! Meals like this chicken dish where I don’t have to use more than one baking dish are a favourite. Hot on the heels of my one-baking dish chicken meal success, I thought I would copy some food reels that I had watched on Instagram where they cook the pasta in the bolognese sauce. They don’t bother boiling the pasta separately. Uh uh, big mistake! It made the sauce all thick and gluggy because of the starch in the pasta. Something I had not considered! I was home alone for dinner and I ate a bowl of one-pot pasta bolognese. As much as I love bolognese, this was far from great. In fact, it wasn’t even good. Bleh! So I remembered my husband’s advice whenever there is an epic kitchen fail – just add cheese and bake in the oven. I took it a step further and also added cream. It tasted like lasagna and all was well in the world again. My biggest favourite for the week is this can of Sscat. It’s an amazing motion-activated unscented spray that keeps pets away from off-limit areas. See this girl here. She’s very naughty! Mochi is not like our other cat Sushi who is calm and well-behaved. We have tried everything to deter our newish kitten Mochi from jumping on the kitchen counters and I mean everything. From covering the counters with foil, sticky tape and contact (all the things cats supposedly can’t stand). But nothing worked, what’s even more frustrating is that she clearly knew she was doing the wrong thing. Because she would jump off the counter the minute she heard any of us approaching. So I finally had enough and I ordered the Sscat Spray Deterrent from Amazon. Yes, it’s pricey but boy it sure does work! Now I’m not constantly running in the kitchen like a crazy person every time I hear Mochi jump. After a couple of sprays, she has finally worked out that the kitchen counter is a no-go zone. I’m so happy that now I don’t come home from work to a whole lot of little paw prints all over the glass cooktop, the chopping board and the white counters. Nothing grosses me out more than pets in food prep areas. YUCK! Another unexpected bonus is that it’s deterring Steve from opening the fridge after he got sprayed a couple of times. It’s working wonders for his weight loss journey! That’s a wrap for now, thanks so much for stopping by today and I look forward to being back here on Monday. I hope you all have a wonderful, restful and fun weekend!  

Hey there friends! It’s time to link up with Andrea and Erika and share some Friday faves! Last Saturday I caught up with my former boss at a nearby café. She used to be the director at the preschool where I work. I vividly remember when she announced her retirement at a staff meeting: we were all completely taken aback, thinking, “You’re joking, right?” Needless to say, we were all pretty sad to see her go. But fast forward 10 years and I think it’s pretty cool to be able to call your ex-boss your friend, isn’t it? Gosh! Time just flew and before we realised it, four hours had passed without us even noticing because we had been chatting nonstop! We had met up at 10 and ordered a coffee with something sweet – I had a delicious blueberry friand and we completely missed lunch! Never mind, I guess we’ll just have to catch up again for lunch another day. It was a beautiful and very hot Autumn morning at Oatley Baths. Yep, it was another fun Sunday morning watching my husband race at the swim club. I spotted a cute duck family of four. Cute duck families are a big favourite! After the races, it was time for a BBQ lunch. Yummo! We grabbed an early dinner at Allawah Pub on Sunday before heading into the city to see FIVE perform. Double gravy for me!! When we got off the train I noticed that it’s getting darker a lot earlier these days even though it’s still so hot. Hmmm, I’m not really excited about shorter and cooler days that are just around the corner. FIVE performed at the Metro Theatre in the city, and Steve and I had the best time! I think everybody there knew all of the words to all of the songs. So the crowd pretty much drowned out the band! Haha, I had so much fun singing and dancing along with everyone else. By the time we left, I could hardly hear or talk and we were so sweaty!! On the way home on the train, my Apple Watch told me that I had doubled my move goal. I wasn’t surprised!! Fun moments at work are always a favourite. One of the best things about working at preschool is that even on tough days, we will always find something to laugh about, like this gingerbread man. The other day the kids from the other class made gingerbread men and this little guy looks as if he came out of the oven dancing. Good-looking avocados are a favourite! Wednesday night it was time for nachos and more guacamole. A box of Favourites for Friday faves! The chocolates were a thoughtful gift from a kind preschool parent to say thank you and well done on surviving A&R! I’m excited to get together with my family tomorrow for our March Cousin Connect. Then on Sunday, I’m going to my aunt and uncle’s for lunch. The last time I visited them was back in November last year, so it will be great to see them! I also want to catch up on some of my favourite blogs. There are never enough hours in the day and I’m always behind. Then to top it all off, this year I am also doing further study. But I’ll share about that another day – It’s Friday night over here and now it’s time to relax! Thanks so much for stopping by, I hope you have the best weekend!