Friday Favourites

Hi, friends welcome to this week’s Friday favourites. Today is all about my week-long journey of discovering one favourite thing a day. I was feeling a bit down on Monday so I decided to focus on the little things that bring me joy. So today I’m going to be sharing one specific thing that sparked happiness each day of the week and why it made my day brighter! Monday I pretty much limped through the door on Monday afternoon after a long and tiring day at work. Guys, I’m not exaggerating it wasn’t a pretty start to the week! I injured my ankle last week and it was so sore that I was literally limping! The good news is that I wore ankle support all week and today is the first day that I’m completely pain-free. Yay! Anyway as I dragged myself home, I spotted a beautiful couple of pink roses in my front garden. It was almost as if the roses were there just waiting for me to notice them. Usually, I race in the front door and obviously miss some good stuff. The roses were so pretty and it really made me stop and take notice of how something as simple as a flower can brighten up even the toughest of days. Tuesday After getting a solid night’s sleep on Monday, I woke up feeling better on Tuesday. My favourite thing for Tuesday was watching a TV show called ‘The Spice Trails’ with my bestie. We watched the show at the same time, from our respective homes and had fun texting each other throughout. Wednesday Steve was off from work and so my favourite thing for Wednesday was hanging out with him. We watched about four episodes of the show ‘Blue Bloods’ while we enjoyed cheese and crackers with a glass of wine followed by pizza for dinner. Thursday I made Mediterranean couscous as a side dish for Thursday night’s dinner. Adding a variety of vegetables to the couscous made me very happy. Friday I love how the plants that are growing on my shelves in the kitchen are friends. Firstly I am really excited that I haven’t killed them and secondly, a huge favourite is that they are growing towards each other. It almost looks like they are holding hands. One Overall Favourite I managed to post articles this week about a couple of my favourite topics. Wednesday I posted all about Learning Through Play and Thursday I blogged about some Simple Cleaning Hacks. It’s not always easy for me to find the time to write blog posts during the busy preschool term. So I was really happy that I achieved this goal! A Favourite Quote For The Week And this quote just about sums up this week perfectly! Focusing on one favourite thing a day this week has really shown me how important it is to intentionally seek out joy and gratitude. It’s amazing how finding the good in every day can have such a positive impact on my overall well-being. Ugh, I have to admit that sometimes catastrophising and anxiety seem to come effortlessly to me. But I am learning that focusing on the good can really make the world of difference! Thank you so much for being here and reading along. I hope that you have a wonderful weekend. Happy Friday! Linking up with Andrea and Erika    

Hey friends! I’m so happy to be back here again for another weekly recap. Where I am sharing some of my favourite moments. I hope that you guys have had a great week! And I’m pretty sure that you must be just as excited as I am that it’s the weekend!! Thanks so much for being here today and let[‘s jump right in and take a look at this week’s first fave. Farewell Dinner We had an absolute blast bidding farewell to our lovely colleague over dinner! Our destination of choice was a fabulous Greek restaurant called ‘Meet The Greek’. Oh my goodness I just love Greek food so much! We started with salads, pita bread and an amazing variety of dips. For my main, I picked lamb skewers with pita bread, tzatziki and hand-cut chips. It was so good, especially those chips! To finish off we had some delicious sticky sweets compliments of the restaurant! Oppa!! There was live music featuring the Greek instrument called the bouzouki. Despite the fact that the restaurant was quite small without a designated dance floor. A few of us couldn’t resist the infectious beat of the Zorba music. Before we knew it we were up on our feet weaving in and out of the tightly packed tables. And we must have bumped into a few waiters but we couldn’t help it. The music made us do it! Colourful Tomatoes On Monday I mentioned that I went to Costco with my aunty on the weekend. There wasn’t anything that I really needed. But I can never say no to a trip to Costco and I also love hanging out with my aunty. I did buy a big tub of my favourite colourful and bright tomatoes. A big bonus is that the big tub is about the same price as what I pay for a tiny tub from my local supermarket. Bright Smoothies This week I made myself some more smoothies. But this time I used oat milk and now oat milk smoothies are my favourite. I added a banana, frozen berries, dates and honey to this smoothie. So colourful, sweet and tasty! A Mango Look a mango!! I don’t know how I had not spotted this one and only mango growing on our mango tree. But I saw it for the very first time on Wednesday. We have lived in our house for 22 years and I didn’t even know that the tree in our front yard was in fact a mango tree. Until about 4 years ago when about twenty mangos just suddenly started growing. Then after that, we haven’t seen any more until this one. Mango trees are a mystery! Date Night Steve and I went to Newtown on Wednesday night. I love Newtown because it has such a vibrant eclectic atmosphere. It has a fantastic food scene with lots of restaurants, cafes and bars. As well as a thriving nightlife. During the day the shopping is really great too. There is a range of independent boutiques and lots of interesting vintage shops. We went to a restaurant called Pistou and the food was really delicious. The servings were on the small side but it was full of big flavours. The Pinot Grigio was divine and we enjoyed a really fun night together. The only lowlight happened just before we went into the restaurant. I felt something prickly crawling on my face. I swiped it off and it turned out to be an ugly black beetle. UGH!! Why me?? I let out a very small composed scream and it probably helped that Steve quickly grabbed me and gave me a big cuddle. Now that I look back on the moment. I don’t think that he was just trying to comfort me. I’m sure that he was probably more intent on smothering me to stop me from screaming loudly LOL!! Summer Continues And the hot weather continues! Yay! Groceries Getting my groceries delivered is a huge favourite! Ice Cream I ordered these KitKat ice creams to have on the weekend. I’ll let you know next week if they are a favourite because I haven’t tried them before. Lost Wallet Sam had a hard day last Friday. He got stuck on a train for two hours on the way to his part-time job in the city. Apparently, some wires had come down over a train in another suburb causing massive delays. On top of that, he lost his wallet either on a train or at the station which contained all of his ID and bank cards. I’m happy to say that there is a happy ending to all of this. He didn’t lose out on any pay as his boss said that he could make up the lost hours. And a very kind person handed his wallet in. Sam had filled out a lost property online form with City Rail. And he received an email on Wednesday saying that it had been found! He collected it yesterday and all of his contents were still in his wallet including the small amount of cash that he had. So this is a huge favourite. And thank you to the very kind and honest person who handed his wallet in. Wherever you are! It’s so nice and very encouraging to know that there are still many honest people in the world 😊. So that brings me to the end of my weekly recap highlighting a few of my favourite moments. I hope that you have the best weekend and I look forward to being back on Monday. Happy Friday! Linking up with Andrea and Erika    

Hi friends! Welcome back to this week’s Friday favourites where I am sharing all about some favourite moments from my busy week. I am so ready for the weekend and come to think of it. My body is more than ready for the end-of-term break! But that is still ages away so for now I am super grateful that it’s the weekend Yay!! I hope that you all enjoyed a great week and thanks so much for stopping by to have a read. I always appreciate you guys visiting my blog and your lovely comments always make my heart sing! So let’s dive right into a recap of some favourite moments from my week. A Drive After I got home from work on Monday Sam asked me if I wanted to go for a drive with him. Do you know that up until then I hadn’t actually been in the car with Sam as the driver? Steve was the one in charge of all the hours and hours of driving practice. He’s actually a fantastic driving instructor and incredibly patient and calm. He also took me to endless hours of driving practice way back when I finally got the courage to learn at the age of 27! Anyway, when I first got into the passenger seat and we drove off. My left foot was all set to use the invisible emergency brake. But as we drove around some quiet streets I finally took my foot off my imaginary brake and relaxed. Haha! We chatted as he drove and I had a really nice time in the car with my big boy. Dinner With Friends After the drive, we got ready to go out for dinner with some friends. We went to our usual local club and this time I didn’t order the same thing I order every time which is the steamed barramundi with rice. Instead, I ordered fish with chips and salad. Would you believe that we are currently experiencing a chip shortage? I know this sounds crazy but it’s true and apparently, it’s due to a supply and demand issue. Anyway, I think that from now on I might stick to ordering the steamed barramundi with rice. At least until the potato chip shortage is over. Because the ones that I ate on Monday night weren’t very nice at all. They were really dense and dry. The Last Of Us We didn’t get home from dinner too late. So Sam and I got a chance to watch the latest episode of ‘The Last Of Us’. Since he has started uni and is at work on the weekend. He’s been so busy that we have hardly seen him. Come to think of it almost none of us are home at the same time very much anymore! Oh well, I guess that’s the new stage of life we are in at the moment. And it really makes me appreciate the times when we can be together and share a meal. A Boiling Hot Week This week wasn’t just a busy week it was also an extremely hot week. And this came up on my Instagram. Monday was the hottest day in two years!! Iced Tea When I got home from work on Tuesday I was so hot and thirsty for a nice cold drink. So I made some refreshing iced tea with ice and slices of lime. Yum! Scrubs Sam has started the practical part of his course and he is required to wear scrubs to uni on Wednesdays. Awww it was so good to see him in his scrubs when he came home on Wednesday evening. My Favourite Night This Week Wednesday evening was my favourite evening during this very busy week. As we were all home together for dinner! I made some sauce to go with the pasta that I had bought from Aldi on the weekend. And it was delicious! It was also great that we all got to sit together to eat dinner and finally catch up. After dinner, Sam went off to do some uni work and Steve and I sat down to watch ‘Shotgun Wedding’. It was a fun movie but I kept dozing off. Luckily the plot was pretty simple so I knew what was happening even though I missed some parts. I find it so hard to stay awake for a whole movie during the week! Gospel Teams Thursday night we had our weekly bible study or gospel teams as we call it. And it was my turn to provide supper so I quickly put together a platter of goodies to take. A Farewell Dinner As soon as I jump off the computer I am off to a farewell dinner for one of our lovely colleagues. She joined us at preschool for one year to cover a maternity leave position. And I have loved working in the same classroom with her this year. I have a whole heap of favourite moments that we have shared over the year. She is so lovely, and kind and also has a fantastic sense of humour. I’m excited to welcome back our colleague as she returns at the end of this term from maternity leave. But I really wish that we could also keep her temporary replacement. I am sad to say goodbye and I know that I probably won’t be seeing her as she lives overseas and will be eventually returning to her home country 😢. But I am very happy that we got to share a year in the same classroom. And I guess that just about wraps up a recap of some of my favourite moments from the week. I am really looking forward to not doing much this weekend as I don’t have any major plans. I hope that you all have a fabulous weekend and I look forward to being back here on Monday. Happy Friday!   Linking up with Andrea.  

Hiya friends. I know I say this a lot but seriously! This week really went by so fast!! It’s been a good week with a whole lot of good things happening. This week has been all about some lovely treats. As well as some big things that I just have to get my head around. I kind of feel like I’m a bit all over the place but I’m happy to be back here today sharing a few of this week’s favourites! Pizza And Margaritas! I had an amazing birthday weekend which ended on Sunday night. When my family came over to my place for pizzas and Margaritas! Birthday Surprises I had a fantastic start to the week! My lovely friend surprised me with some amazing birthday goodies on Monday morning. She has the sweetest family and I love them so much!! Now I have the best mug in the staff room at preschool. And drinking out of it it really just makes me so happy!! Flavoured Tea When I got home on Monday afternoon after work. Sam’s lovely girlfriend was visiting and she gave me a lovely variety of teas from T2 as a birthday present. I love a nice cup of tea in the evenings and I especially love tea from T2. Lollies! My cousin gave each of us a treat jar filled with our favourite lollies as well as a gift card for Christmas. As you can see I have more self-control than Steve or Sam. They have finished all their lollies but I’m making sure that I make my favourite snake lollies last! Avocados I have been eating lots of avocados that I bought from the farmer’s market. These are a perfect size to pack for lunch. Strawberry Milkshake! Strawberry milkshakes are my favourite and when my work colleague sent me this pic on Tuesday evening. I was inspired to make myself one too. I used this delicious Hersheys syrup but I got carried away and splashed a huge amount so my milkshake was super sweet! Macarons! Then on Wednesday, another lovely friend gave me these delicious macarons for my birthday. So Wednesday evening after dinner I ate three of them and they tasted so good!! Thursday was a big day because Sam bought himself a car!! It’s a lovely car and mechanically sound but I have to get my head around this big purchase. I’m still not used to the fact that he drives. And now that he is responsible for his own car. Well, that just about messes with all of my emotions and my brain is playing catch up. How did the years go by so fast, I mean it feels like he was a little kid just a minute ago! Wow, what an amazing week it’s been, packed with some more birthday surprises and some majorly exciting events! Although I must admit, even good things can be a little bit overwhelming, so I just need a bit of time to fully take them all in and savour the excitement! Anyway, I’m keeping today’s Friday favourites post short because I am just about to head off to the Ed Sheeran concert in a minute. Thank you so much for being here today and letting me share a few of this week’s favourites with you. I hope that you have the best weekend! See you back here on Monday 😊 Happy Friday! Linking up with Andrea and Erika

Happy Friday friends! It’s that glorious time of the week again when we can take a deep breath and finally welcome the weekend. I am so excited that the weekend is finally here. Probably because It has felt like such an incredibly long week! We hit the ‘week three blues’ at preschool. The new children have now realised that saying goodbye to mum and staying to play is not as exciting as it was in week one. Sigh! Anyway, I decided to call this week ‘birthday week’ because it’s my birthday this Saturday. And to celebrate I decided to try and remember to treat myself every day. It’s been so good that I may carry ‘birthday week’ into next week! Today I am linking up with Andrea and Erika to share a few highlights from ‘birthday week’. Thank you so much for stopping by today. And I really hope that you all had a great week. But I’m pretty sure that if you are like me. Then you are super thankful for the weekend. So let’s jump right in with my first favourite for birthday week. Spend And Save It was ‘Spend and Save’ at my favourite clothing store Country Road. This was a week-long promotion where if you spent over a certain amount then you saved by getting a discount. I’m pretty sure that if I hadn’t spent at all I would have definitely saved. But hey it was birthday week! So I just had to treat myself. I bought a chocolate-coloured top, a black sleeveless top, a pair of black pants and a cute cap. Can you tell I like dark colours? Flowers In my front garden, I noticed the flowers facing the sun that I planted in the spring blooming beautifully. While the ones that are in the shade are really struggling. It made me think of how important sunlight is and how we all need a bit of it to thrive! These look nice and healthy! Look at these poor guys. You would never think that they were planted at the same time as the others! Fruit And Veggies! I have been really excited about eating a wider variety of fruit and vegetables. I think that my visit to the farmers market on the weekend inspired me! On Monday, I roasted some capsicum and eggplant. I packed myself the most delicious sandwich with Turkish bread, ham, cheese, eggplant and capsicum. And I toasted it for lunch at work on Tuesday. It was so good!! Drivers’ License Sam passed his driver’s license test on Wednesday!! So we can finally say bye-bye to these. And hello to these! Dinner Date Steve and I went out for dinner on Wednesday and we had a fabulous dinner for birthday week. He’s working on Saturday when it’s my actual birthday. So Wednesday night was our own date night celebration. We had Alaskan king crab and prawn stack as well as bruschetta for entrees. Then for mains, Steve had the steak and I had a huge half lobster mornay with chips and salad. It’s so funny how almost every time we go out I always end up with the biggest meal! Hehe. A Dessert Bar Afterwards, we went to a dessert bar where we saw a big strawberry chocolate fountain. We were so full from dinner but we still had some room for dessert. We decided to order a sharing plate because there was no way that either of us would be able to finish a whole dessert on our own. Coke I was walking home on Thursday and I stopped off at 7-Eleven to buy myself a treat for birthday week. I bought a Coke in a glass bottle because I honestly think that it tastes better that way. We hardly ever buy coke and if we do we usually just get the bigger size that comes in a plastic bottle. But I’m convinced that Coke always tastes better from a glass bottle. Doughnuts My Friday birthday treat was some doughnuts with fun sprinkles! Strawberry-flavoured anything is my favourite!! It brings back all kinds of nostalgic memories from my childhood. My mum would sometimes treat me to a strawberry milkshake and I remember blowing into the straw to make bubbles until they almost spilled out down the sides of the cup. Ha! those were the days!! Valentine’s Card Oh yes and I nearly forgot that it was Valentine’s Day on Tuesday. Valentine’s Day is not really a huge deal here in Australia but it was nice to get a sweet card from my husband. In the end ‘birthday week’ has been a real blast. It’s amazing how taking the time to celebrate yourself can lift your spirits! I am really grateful for all the moments that made this week pretty special. I hope you all have an amazing weekend and I look forward to being back here on Monday! Happy Friday! Previous Posts In case you missed some posts from earlier this week. On Monday we talked about ‘House Rules’. And I shared some of our rules that give our family structure and stability so we can enjoy our home life. On Tuesday it was all about ‘ Teaching Children About Sustainability‘. And how important it is to teach our future generation to care for our precious earth.        

Hello, hello! Can you believe it’s already the end of another week? It feels like just yesterday we were starting the week with a bang, and now here were are, ready to share some favourites that happened in just a few short days. I really enjoy linking up with Andrea from ‘Momfessionals’ and Erika from “A Little Bit Of Everything’ each week for Friday Favourites. There’s something so special about reflecting on all the things that happened over the last few days (that go by in a flash!). And I always appreciate you guys stopping by to have a read. So let’s dive right in with some favourites for this week. Monthly Dinner With Friends Monday night was all about catching up with some friends for our monthly dinner at the local club. A regular monthly catch-up is one of my favourite things. It’s the perfect opportunity to catch up with all of the things that have happened during the month. And I really love having a set date on the calendar each month too. Because this way I know that there is always something fun to look forward to each and every month. I enjoyed my usual steamed barramundi served with broccoli and boiled rice. Every month I think about ordering something else but I just love this dish so much. The barramundi is very delicate and flaky and it’s cooked in fresh garlic and soy sauce. I also love how the steamed broccoli is always cooked perfectly with just the right amount of crunch.  I tend to overcook mine unless I stand there watching it and stay really focused! Movie Night Tuesday night Steve convinced me to go to the movies. I was a bit worried that I would fall asleep because I felt so exhausted after a big day at work. We went to the 8.50 pm session to watch ‘Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre’ with Jason Stratham and Hugh Grant. I did manage to stay awake (mostly). I guess that it helped that the movie was full of big action scenes that I normally enjoy. But I didn’t really love this movie and I thought that it was just ok. I think I prefer Hugh Grant in a rom-com. He played a villain in this movie and it just seemed a bit strange. The choc tops we ate before the movie started were great! Cheers to yummy choc-tops! So Much Rain! Thursday the weather was absolutely nuts! The rain came down so hard and fast that it made the preschool playground totally saturated. Our preschool is located up on a hill so you could see all the rainwater gushing down the path and onto the street. It was crazy and I don’t think that I have ever seen so much rain in one day before. Then at the end of the day when we left the preschool later than usual after a staff meeting. The sun was out! Ha, the weather is just so weird this summer. A Yummy Lunchbox I had to take a photo of this delicious lunch box from one of our new preschoolers. Doesn’t it look so fresh and healthy? I had to laugh when the cute little owner told me she had grandpa cheese. I guess her grandpa must love Brie cheese a lot and now she’s named it after him. Yummy nutritious lunchboxes are a favourite! And so are the ones that are easy to open and close. You wouldn’t believe how difficult some lunchboxes can be to manage! These seemingly innocent containers can be as tricky as a Rubik’s cube. With lids that won’t go on properly, and snap locks that just won’t snap. I don’t know who designs these containers but I’d really like to have a chat with them!! Lip Oil I have been loving my Clarins Lip Comfort Oil which I bought when I went shopping with my friend in the school holidays. It leaves my lips feeling smooth and hydrated and I really love that it has a subtle colour and glossy shine. When I first saw it at the shops I thought that the colour would be too intense. But when I tried it on it gave my lips just the right amount of tint. And I’m so glad that I chose the chocolate colour. Meal Planning And Online Grocery Shopping I pretty much stuck to my meal plan this week and I’m proud of myself! It’s been so great knowing what to cook each night and it’s made my week a whole lot easier. It’s also made my online grocery shopping a breeze because I knew exactly what to order. I get such a buzz when my groceries are delivered because it means that I haven’t had to step foot inside a supermarket and battle the long lines. Which is really the last thing that I feel like doing after a long week at work. And that’s a wrap on another week! It sure was a busy one and I still feel like I’m adjusting to being back at work after the lovely long summer break. Which now feels like a very distant memory! I don’t have any major plans for the weekend and I’m excited to have some lovely free time! I hope you all have a fantastic weekend and I look forward to being back here on Monday. Happy Friday friends! And just in case you missed this week’s posts you can catch up here. Hello Monday Let’s Look-What’s Inside My Medicine Cabinet How To Keep The Spark Alive In Your Relationship

Favourites From The Week Hi everyone! I’m back here today sharing some favourites from the week. But firstly I can’t tell you how happy I am to welcome back the weekend! It has just been such a busy week. I’m not really surprised though because the first week back at preschool is always so full on. And I think that maybe the best way to describe it is that it’s a bit like childbirth! You forget how hard it is until you go through it again!! Haha….maybe that’s a bit of an exaggeration! But friends it’s been a bit of a wild week! Anyway, it’s great to be back again on this sunny Friday to share some of my favourites from the week. Thank you so much for being here today. My first favourite for this week was meeting my cousin’s new puppy Zilla. She is absolutely the cutest and I am so excited that I get to see her again tomorrow. I have loved drinking refreshing iced coffee with hazelnut syrup. Perfect for those hot summer days. The temps have been around 30°C for most of this week and it’s just the way I like it! Priceline was having a major sale so I stocked up on a few things. I picked up the argan hair moisturising treatment for $13.80 instead of $23.00 so that was a nice saving. I also bought this Sally Hansen nail polish which looks very similar to the one that I nearly bought last weekend. And it was only a fraction of the price! My lovely friends went to San Francisco to visit their family over the Christmas holidays and they brought me back some beautiful surprises. They are so sweet to think of me and I will be tucking into some of these goodies tonight. Because it’s Friday night treat night! Look at this cute baby Yoda. They know what a big Star Wars fan I am. Steve and I went out for our usual seafood dinner on Wednesday night and this time we shared some ice cream for dessert. It was such a hot and humid night and the ice cream tasted so refreshing. We had Turkish delight, pistachio and mango. Yum, yum and yum! We have all been really enjoying some refreshing summer fruit this week. I ordered some grapes when I did my online food shop and I was surprised by how big the bunches were. We had two of these containers full of sweet grapes and everyone at home has been tucking into them. It’s a good thing that I have another grocery order coming today with more refreshing grapes. I’m not sure if I have shared this mayonnaise with you guys before. But this is everyone’s favourite mayonnaise here at home. It’s so creamy and delicious! It’s perfect for potato salad and tuna sandwiches as well as just about everything. I’m back to eating healthy salads at work. No daytime snacking anymore until the next holidays. One of my favourite things about working with kids is hearing the funniest things they come out with! I overheard a few things this week that made me chuckle. Two little girls who had only just started preschool were painting at the easel and they hadn’t met before or even acknowledged each other’s presence. When one turned to the other and said” Hey do you want to be my best friend”. The other little girl replied, “yeah ok”. Ah, life and relationships can be so uncomplicated when you’re four years old. Rest and relaxation time is not everyone’s favourite and we often have a few wiggle worms. So we keep it short and sweet for them. On Thursday I said to the kids “only two more minutes before we finish rest time”. One of my funny little friends asked “and how many seconds?” I burst out laughing! One of our new preschoolers has been having the best time. When his mum said goodbye to him one morning. He replied,” bye mum, see you tomorrow”. Ha! And there we have ten favourites from the week. I sure am glad to get week one back at work out of the way. And now it’s only ten more weeks until the end of term. But who’s counting? 😂 I hope that you all had a fantastic week and are just as excited as I am that it’s the weekend! Once I jump off the computer. I’m going to wrap up a few chores around the house. And then hang out on the couch with some snacks and watch lots of something. I haven’t decided what to watch yet. But I just hope that I can keep my eyes open. Happy Friday! Linking up with Andrea and Erika for today’s Friday Favourites    

Hi friends wow I can hardly believe that it’s Friday already! And I think that I must say this a lot but I’ll say it again…..this week has sure gone by way too fast! As usual, I am linking up with Andrea and Erika and today I will be sharing with you some of my summer holiday favourites. Well, my summer holidays are quickly coming to an end and this week has been my last full week of school holidays. I honestly cannot believe how fast the last four weeks have flown by. And it feels like only yesterday that my colleagues and I were all excitedly wishing each other a Merry Christmas and happy holidays. After locking up the preschool on the last day of the term. I start back at work on Friday next week which is going to feel really odd! And it means that I will still be confused about what day it is. Because it’s just totally weird starting work on a Friday. Don’t you agree? But that’s just the way the school calendar worked out this year. Hmph!! Anyway, we have a pupil-free day on Friday and then come Monday it will be all hands on deck as we welcome back the children. And I’m sure that they will be all ready and excited for a brand new year of preschool. But before all the back-to-work madness begins. It’s fun to look back and be grateful for a wonderful break from work and take a look at some of my summer holiday favourites! Summer Holiday Favourites Being At Home! I am the biggest homebody. I just love being at home with no pressure of having to be anywhere at any particular time. Some days I was in my pyjamas until midday! I Watched A Lot Of Shows Because I didn’t have to worry about getting to work in the morning. I stayed up super late watching shows that I have been really wanting to watch for a while. More Time For Blogging I love blogging but because I work full-time. It just means that I don’t have as much time to devote to it as I would like. But during the holidays I blogged more often and I also had time to read more of my favourite blogs as well. Yay! Cooking Was Fun I have to admit that after being at work all day. Coming home to cook can be a bit of a drag. Especially on the weeks when my meal planning has gone out the window (oops!). So being on holiday and having time meant that I really enjoyed my time in the kitchen. I even had time to bake some goodies like peanut butter M&M cookies. Banana bread I also felt like a total hero when I made creme caramel the other day! Shopping Days It was great going out with my lovely friend to enjoy some fun shopping trips. We got to hang out, shop, chat and eat lunch together. Time For Decluttering As much as I like to organise and declutter consistently. Things just tend to pile up, especially after Christmas. So it was really great that I had the time to go through drawers and cupboards. Sort things out, and donate, recycle or throw ‘stuff’ out. Here’s the pile I got rid of! Family Time We are at that stage in our family life where work and other commitments get in the way of us being able to sit down to have dinner together. But for the last few weeks, we have been eating lunch together as a family on most days. This is because Sam has also been on holiday after finishing school and my husband doesn’t start work until late afternoon. Eating together has certainly been one of my biggest summer holiday favourites! Self Care Another one of my summer holiday favourites was having time for self-care. I loved painting my fingernails while I listened to music. It was also great to try out some face masks and hair masks. And soaking in a warm bath with bath salts was an absolute treat! I was pretty bad at remembering to drink water though. It’s easier to remember to drink water while I’m at work because we all remind each other. Thank you work friends! Sleeping In I think that at the top of my list of summer holiday favourites is the luxury of being able to sleep in. I’m pretty sure that I have caught up on all of my lost hours of sleep from the past year. And I may even have one less eye bag. Winning!! Telephone Chats It’s interesting how I have become used to just shooting off a quick text to friends and family. But during these summer holidays, I was actually able to have proper telephone conversations! Is it just me or are they a thing of the past? It seems that these days it’s all about quick texts. Which is totally ok because I get it. We are all busy! But it was really nice to spend time chatting on the phone without feeling rushed.   It has been wonderful having time to unwind and enjoy the simple luxury of just being at home. I have had a really fantastic summer break and even though I haven’t gone away anywhere. I have relished every second of being at home. I am feeling really positive about 2023 and looking forward to what the rest of the year will bring our way. I hope that you all have a great weekend and thank you so much for stopping by. Happy Friday!