Friday Favourites

Hi friends, it’s great to be back today. Can you believe that the first week of 2023 just passed? I know that I can’t as it feels like we only just finished celebrating Christmas! I hope that you all had a fantastic New Year’s Eve. Mine was really low-key and exactly what I needed. I spent some time with special friends and then I got home early to watch the fireworks on TV. You can read all about my New Year’s Eve here. Well like I only just said the first week of 2023 has just flown by. And a big challenge for me is that I have to keep reminding myself to write 2023 instead of 2022 and stop myself from saying ‘next year’ because it is next year! Anyway, I guess it’ll take a little while and then I’ll get used to it. So this past week was just wonderful. Gloriously boringly wonderful!! Apart from one fun outing, I have just been at home all week doing all the mundane tasks and loving every single minute. It is just the best feeling to not have to be anywhere or do anything. I have been cooking, decluttering and organising as well as watching some of my favourite movies and TV shows. The Finale So let’s begin this week’s recap and talk about one of my all-time favourite shows…… I had to say goodbye to The Doctor on Monday night when I watched the final episode ever. The ‘Doc Martin Christmas Special’🥲. I won’t give away any spoilers but I will say that I loved how it ended. It was just perfect….sigh. If you haven’t watched this show you really should. It’s a brilliant combination of drama and comedy. I only started watching it a few years ago. It never interested me when I used to see it advertised on TV and I remember thinking that I probably wouldn’t like this type of show. I couldn’t have been more wrong! Then I think one night my husband was flicking channels and started watching it while I was playing Candy Crush. I was obsessed with this game at the time. And it sparked my interest because something funny happened. So we both started watching it from season one and we have been huge fans ever since. I think that I will go back and start watching it all over again from season one. I just can’t imagine my weeks without my favourite doctor! Afternoon Treats After decluttering and organising I have been rewarding myself with little treats like this Oh, it’s so good to sit down and have a cup of coffee and a cinnamon roll. Late Breakfast On Tuesday morning I made everyone pancakes for a very late breakfast. I have been going to bed late after enjoying some TV. One of my big goals is to go to bed early but that goal starts when I go back to work! So on most days, I have been eating breakfast after 10 am which is when I usually start to feel hungry. I always skip breakfast on work days because I feel sick just thinking about food any earlier than 10. After that then food is pretty much all I think about all day long! We had our pancakes with Queen Pure Canadian Maple Syrup which was incredibly delicious. But I can’t say that it’s any better than the usual Woolworths home brand that I buy. The only difference is the price. This one was $9.00 and the home brand is $6.00. I bought the other one to try but because they taste the same I’ll just get the cheaper one again next time I shop. Seafood Steve and I went out to enjoy a big seafood dinner on Wednesday night. The seafood was amazing but the weather was pretty bad so this was the view from the restaurant. Cloudy and rainy again. We were going to order dessert but there was nothing on the menu that we were keen on. So I suggested we just go home, watch a show and have some apple pie that I had in the freezer. So we did just that. I popped the pie in the oven and then when it was cooked we all enjoyed hot apple pie and ice cream. Nom nom! Shopping In Bondi Junction I caught up with my bestie on Thursday and we spent the whole day in Bondi Junction wandering around the shops. We visited Williams Sonoma, West Elm and Pottery Barn. You can only find these shops in Bondi and Chatswood here in Sydney. I bought a packet of blueberry muffin mix and I am excited to make them soon. It’s been raining and cold the last couple of days so it’s perfect baking weather. We then went to look at the shops inside Westfields and I convinced my friend to go inside Louis Vuitton and Chanel. Haha! I have only been inside these super high-end shops a couple of times just out of curiosity. We looked at some small card wallets and they ranged in price from $800-$900. Then we went and had a look at some of the clothes. This jacket was priced at a cool $16,000 It was funny visiting these stores because there was no way that I was going to buy anything. To be honest I can’t say that I even liked the products in Chanel. They are just so over the top with all the embellishments and not my style at all. Which is a very good thing considering the prices! Lunch Afterwards, we went to the food court and enjoyed some lunch. It was so fun eating and chatting. I love my friend! We both ordered the avocado, pesto and goat’s fetta toastie. It was really delicious. More Shopping Then we went to Zara and tried on a few things. I ended up buying a really nice pair of grey pants. We looked at some cute puppies in

Hi, friends I just wanted to jump on the blog quickly to wish you all a very Happy New Year! I have really enjoyed linking up with Andrea and Erika and joining in the Friday Favourites linkup each week. And I always appreciate you guys stopping by to have a read. I would also like to say a huge thank you for your lovely comments. They always make my heart sing! However, you are ringing in the New Year. Whether you are out partying, staying at home in your PJs in front of the TV or blissfully asleep. I hope that you have a wonderful evening and I pray that in 2023 you will be blessed with peace, joy and happiness. As well as faith, strength and perseverance through any challenging times that may come ahead. I’ll leave you today with a few thoughts about the New Year and I look forward to being back here on Monday. Happy Friday and Happy New Year!  

Hi, friends I am officially on summer holiday since Wednesday !!! And now it feels like it’s Friday every day! I think my husband must be sick of me asking him what day of the week it is haha! But because preschool finished on Tuesday it felt like a Friday and then the rest of the week felt like the weekend. I’m totally confused and will probably remain like this until I go back to work. Thanks so much for reading along and letting me share with you some highlights of all my Fridays this week hehe! Meetings Then Cleaning And Organising The children all finished preschool the week before. But the staff had two pupil-free days on Monday and Tuesday. We had a super long staff meeting on Monday. Then the rest of the day we got stuck into some cleaning and organising. We didn’t have any meetings on Tuesday. Because Tuesday was all about getting a long list of chores done before 3.40 hit and we were out of there! Thankfully our preschool is pretty organised. All the staff do an amazing job of keeping the cupboards etc tidy during the year. We also keep on top of washing and disinfecting toys. But at the end of every year, we do a big clean up of the classrooms, storeroom, office, kitchen and shed. It’s a big job! We leave the whole preschool looking pretty bare. All ready for some new crafts and works of art that will be displayed next year. My co-worker and I gave the shed a good tidying. I forgot to take a before pic but here it is all neat and organised. It’s nice to have a clear floor! Before this, there was a whole lot of equipment that needed a home other than the floor. At the end of the day, we all wished each other a Merry Christmas with cuddles and plans to get together for lunch or something in the new year. I work with such a great bunch of ladies! A Fun Overnight Stay About a month ago we went to a really fun wedding and because it was a bit far from where we lived. We decided to stay overnight at the Parkroyal in Parramatta. It was such a lovely hotel so my husband booked us a night’s stay to celebrate the first day of my holidays on Wednesday. Parramatta is a vibrant city with lots of history and a large multicultural community. There are so many trendy bars and restaurants buzzing with so many people. And I was amazed by all the huge buildings and big commercial areas. It also has a lovely riverside cycle path. So many old buildings like these ones. As well as some super modern ones like these. I don’t think that you would really call Parramatta a holiday destination. But it was so fun staying in a lovely hotel and relaxing after such a busy last few weeks. And I am also a big fan of being a tourist in my own backyard (I don’t have to get on an aeroplane and that’s a big win for me!!) A Delicious Dinner Wednesday night before dinner, we had a couple of drinks in the hotel bar and shared a small appetiser. Yummy crab croquettes! Then we walked around looking for a place to eat and we found a really nice pub. There were heaps of restaurants everywhere but they were so busy and we hadn’t booked anywhere. So we were happy to find a nice quiet place that just so happened to serve the most amazing food! Steve ordered a steak and it came with mash AND veggies. We were both laughing about my experience a couple of weeks ago at a fancy restaurant with ridiculous prices. Where I had to make a tough choice between chips and salad because they didn’t serve both. I had the beef ragu pasta and it was so good. I love how they gave me lots of parmesan cheese on the side too. For dessert, we shared a brownie and ice cream. Buffet Breakfast The next morning we enjoyed a buffet breakfast. But I wasn’t very hungry after such a big meal the previous night and all I could fit in was one plate of breakfast. I normally like to work my way around a buffet and try a bit of everything!! It’s Nearly Christmas!! This morning I went to the shops nice and early before the crowds got too crazy. And I picked up a whole lot of things from the two dollar shops for our Christmas eve party games. I have also borrowed a small karaoke machine from preschool. We are all looking forward to a fun night at my sweet cousin’s house tomorrow. So I better sign off now and finish organising all the last-minute things. I am also cooking a fall-apart roast pork to take for dinner tomorrow night. If you are looking for a delicious, juicy and flavoursome roast pork recipe you can find it here. I love this recipe, it’s a huge winner every time I make it. It has just the right amount of seasoning and the meat comes out all tender. Oooooh so good!! Merry Christmas! I would also like to take the opportunity to wish you all a very Merry Christmas. And say a huge thank you! Thank you so very much for stopping by to read my blog. I truly appreciate every single one of you. And I hope that you have a wonderful time with your loved ones this weekend as you celebrate together. Much love    

Hi friends can you believe that we are only days away from Christmas!! It’s crazy how fast the days are flying by, isn’t it? I have so many fun end-of-year favourites for this week and as usual, I am linking up with Andrea and Erika for today’s post. My Energy’s Back! I finally feel like I have my energy back after being sick with covid about a month ago. I can’t believe that it’s taken this long for me to start feeling like my old self again. My symptoms all went away after a couple of weeks (except for an annoying cough that I still have!). But I was really lacking energy and oomph. Now I finally feel like I have turned a corner and that is a huge favourite!! Preschool Favourites The last week of the preschool year is always so much fun. And if ever I needed to have my energy back. This was definitely the week! It has been such a busy week with concert rehearsals right up until the day before the actual big events. We always have two concerts and Christmas parties because we have different children attending preschool at either end of the week. So that’s a whole lot of rehearsals!! But the kids were amazing and they did such a great job. I was so proud of them and I’m sad to see many of them go off to primary school. Thankfully we still have quite a few children who will be returning next year. I always joke with my little friends who are leaving and I say to them ” I’m going to miss you guys!! Who am I going to play with next year?” they always giggle and I usually get a Ruuuuth….. you’re so funny! Setting Up For The Big Day Before the concerts, there is a whole lot of lifting and moving furniture to get the preschool ready. We always joke that if we ever lost our jobs at preschool then we could always go into the furniture removal business! 25 Years Of Service During Tuesday’s concert, I was so surprised to be recognised for 25 years of service at the preschool. Wow, that’s a long time!! And the scary thing is that those years have gone by in a flash! Our parent committee along with our Director presented me with a beautiful framed certificate. As well as a lovely bunch of flowers and a very generous amount of gift certificates! I honestly did not expect any of this and it was so just such a lovely gesture. Back Stage Shenanigans For the Tuesday concert, we had to help the children with a few quick props and costume changes. So my fun colleagues and I hung out behind the curtain ready for action. Thankfully we had practised enough and we didn’t fumble around trying to find things (like we had many times before). By Tuesday we were on point with the props and costume changes haha! Backstage the three of us were dancing around singing and doing all the actions to the songs as the children performed for their parents. It was fun doing our own little concert with no one watching. Party Food The parents generously brought a plate of food to share and there was so much. Everyone enjoyed all the yummy party food. And it was so great to see everyone mingling and having the best time after two long years of concerts and parties on hold. Presents As I have mentioned before I am always so touched by the kindness and generosity of our lovely preschool families. I received many lovely gifts and cards. These most gorgeous Christmas ornaments went straight onto my tree as soon as I put the date and the name of my little student on the back with a sharpie. Then reading special cards such as this one will always make me cry happy tears. And this one too. It’s so special how these lovely mums have written what their beautiful kids have said. A New Diary I mentioned to my lovely friend that this year I was NOT  going to buy a diary from Kikki.K my favourite stationery shop. I know that this is going to sound ridiculous but buying another diary from them just felt wrong after this year was so yuck. Instead, I had plans to buy a cheap one from Kmart or not buy one at all. But my bestie surprised me with this beautiful diary and I love it so much. So I’m sure that 2023 is going to be a great year. Every week there is an inspirational quote. And I am so ready to be showered with bucketloads of inspiration that’s for sure!! The pictures are so cute too and I’m excited to start writing in it soon. It was a fun week full of end-of-year favourites. I am looking forward to the weekend as I have a bit more shopping and a catch-up with some family on Sunday. Then next week I only have to go to work on Monday and Tuesday for a meeting and a big end-of-year cleanup. Then that’s it for the year! I hope you all have the best weekend, Happy Friday!  

Hey friends it’s so great to be back for this week’s Friday Favourites. Wow, so it’s the first weekend in December. Can you believe it? I know that I can’t! This week has flown past in a flash and I’m sure that the next few weeks will be exactly the same. Because December is just such a busy month! I don’t mind December being so busy because it is just such a fun month of planning, prepping and catching up with friends and family. Yes, it really is my favourite month of the year! As usual, I am linking up with Andrea and Erika today. Thanks so much for stopping by and letting me share with you a few of my favourites from this week.  #1 I mentioned last week that I bought some new make-up for a wedding that I went to. I tried to do a smokey-eye look but I’m not sure how successful I was. I’m always very conservative when it comes to using makeup. But anyway I was happy with how my makeup turned out. And I’m sure that if I applied more than what I normally wear for special occasions then I just wouldn’t have felt comfortable anyway. I bought this lovely NARS eyeshadow palette from our local Mecca store. It has all of the earthy brown colours that make my heart sing! The bottom row of colours also had some nice shimmer. I was happy with all of the colours and how soft they were to blend together. I hadn’t bought any makeup for myself in ages. Because my mum used to love using Estee Lauder products. And she would always stock up on her face creams etc when they had gift pack offers. Then she would give me the gift packs which came with eyeshadows, lipstick, mascara and even sample-sized jars of eye and face cream. #2 I also bought an Hourglass eyeliner. Except for this time I went with a brown colour instead of the black colour that I normally use. As I’m getting older I think that black eyeliner looks a bit too intense and harsh on me. #3 I have been really happy with the Chanel lipstick that I always wear. But the bright dazzling lights in the Mecca store had me in a trance I think. Because I splurged and bought myself a new Hourglass lipstick (which looks very similar to the colour I already own 😬). The good thing about this lipstick is that I’m pretty sure that it can double up and be used as a self-defence weapon. Because look at the lid…….it’s super pointy!! #4 I went out to the front of the house to put the rubbish out and I spotted this big beautiful pink rose. It smelled so lovely too. It’s funny that I hadn’t really noticed it before but that’s probably because I don’t often put the rubbish out. That’s Sam’s job but he’s away until Monday. #5 I used the pledge grab-it duster to dust my blinds. It did an amazing job of picking up a lot of dust. Look at how grey and yucky the duster looked when I had finished. #6 Thursday night my bible study group got together for our end-of-year dinner. Our lovely hostess made us the most delicious cocktails. It was such a lovely evening! We started with an amazing cheese platter. Then for mains, we had a  delicious fall-apart lamb with a variety of salads and sides. Then we finished off with a cheesecake and ice cream. #7 I was in Bed Bath and Table the other day and I saw this cute gingerbread man decoration. I nearly bought six for the tree but I was in one of my indecisive moods and I didn’t buy any. Then when I went home I couldn’t stop thinking about how cute they were and how I wished that I had gone ahead and bought them. Anyway, I was telling my friend this story and the next day she messaged me to say that she had found the last two at the shop and she had bought them for me. How sweet was that? So I’m very happy to have two of these cute gingerbread men. And next time I won’t be so indecisive!! I guess that wraps up my seven favourites for this week. As soon as I finish this post I’m going to get ready for our monthly family dinner at my cousin’s house. Then tomorrow I am so excited to spend the day with my bestie. We are heading into the city for the opening of the new building at The Art Gallery Of NSW. Then we are going to have a look at The Rocks Christmas markets. Going to a Christmas market is number one on my December bucket list. So I’m happy that I get to tick this off the list so early. I’m looking forward to a fun weekend and I hope that you have a great one too. Happy first weekend in December and Happy Friday!

Hi friends, as usual, I am linking up with Andrea and Erika for today’s Friday favourites. Thank you so much for stopping by to read about my week and some of this week’s fun favourites. It honestly feels like I blinked and we went from Monday straight to Friday! I’m sure you will all agree with me that the days are just flying by so fast. And I can hardly believe that it will be Christmas in only a few short weeks. I hope that you have all had a great week and that my friends in the U.S.A had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I’m really looking forward to reading about everyone’s fun Thanksgiving blog posts! But first here are a few of this week’s fun favourites that I am excited to share with you. End Of Year Parent Comittee Dinner We had our end-of-year parent committee dinner at our local club. This is when the preschool staff and the parents from our management committee get together and enjoy a lovely dinner to celebrate the end of another preschool year. The amazing parents do a wonderful job volunteering on the committee. They take on various important roles that help our preschool to run smoothly. It was a really nice evening and I was so happy to have the opportunity to chat with some of the lovely parents. Even though all the covid rules and restrictions have been abolished in NSW. At preschool, we are only just starting to let the parents on the premises. So sadly this year we haven’t had many opportunities to get to talk to the parents when they come to drop off or collect their children. When I reflect on this I realise that this is another way that sadly covid has robbed all of us yet again. It’s been two years of not being able to build proper relationships with our preschool parents. On a brighter note, I think that next year things will be different. And we will be returning to the good old days when parents were free to come in. I’m really looking forward to this a whole lot! A Fun Cocktail And A Delicious Meal At the dinner, we enjoyed a deliciously refreshing watermelon cocktail. It was so sweet and delicious but it was packed with ice. My throat is still sensitive and the cold just sends me into a fit of coughs. So I was forced to drink this super fast before it got too cold hahaha!! Luckily it really wasn’t a strong cocktail so I didn’t feel it go straight to my head. I ordered the pork belly with sweet potato mash, gravy and salad. It was a delicious meal and we had a very fun time. Time For New Hairbrushes I was excited to find some hair brushes in the exact same size that I was looking for in T.K maxx the other day. My other brushes were looking pretty old and a bit icky. Date Night Another one of this week’s fun favourites is that Steve and I enjoyed a date night on Wednesday night. We had a delicious meal and then finished off with a cheese board. I often prefer to finish a meal with a cheese board instead of a sweet dessert. On the way home, I snapped a pic of the pretty sunset. Preschool Concert The children have been rehearsing for their end-of-year concert. It’s been two years since we have had a concert where the parents have been allowed to come into the preschool to watch their children perform. So it will be really lovely to feel like things are finally back to normal this year. Although in saying that, we are now in the middle of another big covid wave. But I can’t see us ever going back to any restrictions or lockdowns ever again. This is one of the songs that the children have been practising. Friends this is the cutest song ever! And I don’t even mind that this song is stuck in my head on a constant loop. It is just so cute!!  So if you have little ones I really encourage you to show this song to them. I guarantee they will love it and you will too. Some songs drive me insane especially when I can’t shake them out of my head (hello…..Baby shark!!) but this one is a firm favourite for sure! A Dash To The Mecca Store This afternoon I did a mad dash to Mecca for some eye shadow and lipstick. We are going to our friend’s son’s wedding tomorrow and I needed some make-up. Well, confession time I didn’t need make-up because I do have some BUT it was a good excuse to get some fresh new products. It has been ages since I updated my eye shadow palette. I’m keen to do a smokey-eye look so I have been watching a few YouTube make-up tutorials. Fingers crossed I get the look right because the last thing I want to look like is a racoon! I don’t wear a lot of makeup even when I go out. I always like to keep everything subtle and I’m a firm believer that less is more. But I have always wanted to try a smokey eye look and right now I’m feeling a bit more daring. After all, if it looks bad I can always wash it off, right? Hmmm….we’ll see. Getting Ready For A Fun Weekend I picked up some chicken chow mein for dinner tonight because I knew that I wouldn’t have time to cook. And Sam was so excited because we don’t get takeaway very often. But there are quite a few things that I need to get done tonight like colouring my hair and packing for our overnight stay after the wedding. The church and the wedding reception are both about an hour or so from where we live. So we thought that it would be a fun opportunity to make the whole event

Friday Favourites 18-11-2022. Hi, friends thanks so much for stopping by for today’s Friday favourites! I hope that you all had a great week and are looking forward to the weekend! As usual, I am excited to join Andrea and Erika with this fun link-up where I am sharing a little of what has been going on with me during the week. Covid Got Me! Well guys I have to start by sharing with you that Covid finally caught up with me in a big way!! I had somehow managed to avoid getting it up until now. And I was starting to think that I might be immune or that I was blessed with some kind of special covid resistant gene. Maybe I was a Novid!! After all, I have been a close contact so many times and I managed to avoid getting sick every single time. But nope, it turns out that I am none of those things and covid knocked me down pretty hard! I don’t think that I have been so sick in a very long time. I was off from work for a week and then I went back to work yesterday. But I probably should have just taken the whole of this week off too. Because I still felt unwell today and I ended up leaving work at lunchtime. Fingers crossed that after this weekend I will feel like myself again. So I guess that one huge favourite for this week is that I am slowly starting to feel better. Even today after I came home early and had a rest I am feeling much better than I did this morning. After being flat out on my back with high temperatures, back pain, face pain, all over my body pain, nausea etc (so many random symptoms!!) even my scalp hurt!! I am just so thankful to be improving every day. My cute little cat kept me company while I lay there watching TV and wishing myself better. Boosting My Immunity I am on a mission to boost my immunity! So I have been taking these echinacea, zinc and vitamin C tablets. They are really nice and refreshing too. I just pop one in a glass of water and it tastes like a fizzy drink. When I did my online grocery order I made sure to order some fresh berries, mango and kiwi fruit. I also ordered some frozen fruit to make smoothies. Initially, I lost my appetite, along with my sense of taste and smell. Thankfully everything is slowly coming back. But I found that it was much easier to drink a smoothie than it was to eat a whole meal. I love eating and I will smash through a big plate of anything! So I am really looking forward to being well enough to actually enjoy my food again. My Favourite Cup My sweet friend gave me this Starbucks cup a while ago and it’s my favourite. It kept me hydrated the whole time I was sick. Vitamin D Last Monday I gathered up enough strength to have a shower and wash my hair. Afterwards, I sat out in the sun to get some vitamin D for a bit before the weather turned. I’m still waiting for spring over here!! I think we are going through some kind of freak polar blast at the moment. Sigh! Chicken Pie And A Cannoli My husband was worried that I wasn’t eating much so he made a trip to one of our favourite cafes and bought me a chicken pie and a cannoli. It was very delicious and I managed to finish the pie for lunch and the cannoli for dinner. Ha! cannoli for dinner…that’s a first!! Healthy Pancakes Wednesday this week I finally felt well enough to get up and cook something so I made some pancakes. I also cut up some delicious fruit. I love the golden kiwis, they are my favourite fruit and I prefer them to the normal green kiwi. These pancakes are really delicious and healthy too. They are super easy to make and they contain nutritious ingredients such as mashed banana, ground sunflower seeds and pepitas. My family love these pancakes for breakfast or as a snack. You can find the recipe here. We had our pancakes with a good splash of maple syrup. Lately I seemed to have a better appetite for sweet things than savoury which is kind of weird because I prefer savoury foods normally. Maybe covid has changed my tastebuds permanently! I was testing negative by Wednesday so I felt ok about moving around the house. Up until then, I had isolated myself and every time I had to go to the bathroom I would disinfect everything I touched as well as spray with Glen 20. Thankfully Sam and Steve managed to avoid getting covid this time. They both had it earlier this year and luckily only had very minor symptoms. A Flowering Peace Lily I was excited to see that my peace lily was growing again this year. It seems to flower every year around this time.   I guess that just about wraps up this week’s Friday Favourites post! I spent the whole week recovering from covid and didn’t really do much. I’m really looking forward to healthier days ahead so I am making sure that I get plenty of rest this weekend. Hopefully, I can also get back on track with blogging. I felt so sick that I could hardly stand looking at a computer but I should be ok next week. I really hope you guys have a fantastic weekend and I look forward to being back here on Monday. Happy Friday!  

Hey everyone well well well….. isn’t it crazy how quickly this week went by and now it’s Friday already! I hope that you all had a great last week of October. I’m excited to be here linking up with Andrea and Erika for today’s Friday Favourites post. Thanks so much for stopping by to have a read and for letting me share with you a little bit about what went on in my week. The Last Week Of October! Some New Sneakers I was really happy that my new sneakers got delivered on Monday. They were waiting for me when I got home from work and it was like opening a birthday present even though I had ordered them for myself. Yesterday I blogged about simple things to be happy about. Receiving parcels in the mail is definitely on the list! Because I haven’t exercised in forever I actually didn’t even own a pair of proper sneakers. So when I joined the fun dance exercise classes a couple of weeks ago. I had to wear my work shoes because they were the closest thing to a sneaker that I owned! A Play Tent For Our Preschool Room We got a new tent for our preschool classroom. It was easy to put together but I had to get inside it to attach the poles. Hahaha! Medical Stuff Tuesday really wasn’t my favourite day because I had to have my thyroid scanned to get some nodules checked. I get my results next Wednesday but I think everything is looking like it’s ok. Anyway, I was stressing before my appointment because whenever I have to deal with anything medical my anxiety just skyrockets!! I had a few hours to kill before my appointment so I did some stress cleaning and cleaned out the cupboard under the ensuite sink. BEFORE AFTER Dinner Out Wednesday evening was fun because we went out for dinner. We had some bruschetta on black bread with prosciutto and figs. It wasn’t anything like the bruschettas we normally have but it was very delicious. Then for mains, we had some good old chicken schnitzel with salad chips and gravy. Hooray For Some Sunshine! We finally had a few sunny days this week along with nice temps in the mid 20’s! Uni Welcome Sam got a nice welcome letter from the university where he will be studying next year. I still can’t believe he’s 18. He has one more exam next Monday and then he’s officially done with school. Halloween House I walk past this house on my way to work every day and I think that this is the only house in my suburb that has any Halloween decorations! But in saying this I have to admit that I don’t decorate for Halloween either. All I have are two plastic pumpkins sitting on my verandah. World Teachers Day Today was World Teachers Day and our lovely director welcomed us with some surprises this morning. She had all our names on individual certificates stuck up around the staff room. We got to choose a pen and notebook! I picked a brown notebook because neutral colours make me happy! I couldn’t resist a glittery pink pen because I love pink too! And that’s it the last week of October! Wow, I can hardly believe that the month has just sped by and left my head spinning! I hope that you all have the best weekend and I look forward to being back here on Monday. Happy Friday!      

Hi everyone it’s lovely to be back again for today’s Hello Monday link-up with Holly and Sarah. Didn’t the weekend just fly by so fast!! I had a few plans to do this and that but in the end, I just had a very much-needed low-key weekend enjoying the little things. After spending so many weeks longing for Spring. Most days have been like this. We had a gorgeous weekend last weekend and then that was it. It was goodbye sunshine and hello neverending grey skies for the rest of the week including this weekend! There is so much humidity and the air just feels so thick. We are really lucky in that we usually do have such beautiful blue skies. So when it’s so grey and gloomy like this I don’t really feel in the mood to do very much. Enjoying The Little Things So even though the weather wasn’t helpful. I still wanted to keep a positive mindset and so I thought that a good way to do this was to appreciate and document the little things that I might sometimes take for granted when I’m busy or distracted. Things like……. A cup of tea and vegemite on toast for breakfast. When I was little I really hated vegemite and I didn’t grow up eating it because my mum never bought any. She was always horrified by the taste and couldn’t understand how people could eat something so salty that looked like shoe polish! When I was in kindy I ordered a vegemite sandwich from the school canteen. I had seen my friends eating it at lunchtime and they seemed to love it, so I must have had a serious case of FOMO when I decided to order it. Well, I didn’t have the best introduction to vegemite. Because, the enthusiastic canteen ladies must have spread about an inch’s worth of vegemite on the sandwich, ugh!!! That is such a no-no. You only need a small amount. I threw it out and decided that vegemite was not for me and my mum was totally right! It was only after I got married that I started to eat vegemite. I would buy it because Steve loved it and I would often steal a few bites of his toast. So eventually I ended up liking it too. I guess you could say that it’s an acquired taste! I Enjoyed A Haircut! On Saturday afternoon I went and got a haircut. It wasn’t really a cut, it was more of a trim to get rid of the dry ends. Even though I didn’t get much taken off the length, my hair felt instantly lighter and bouncier. Then after I finished at the hairdresser I wandered around the shops for a little bit. Christmas Decor It was really nice to see so many Christmas decorations in the shops. This always makes me happy! I didn’t see many Halloween things, here in Australia it’s mainly all about Christmas decor from mid-October onwards. These gift tags were cute so I went ahead and bought them. I need a new wreath for my front door but the ones that I saw were huge and probably bigger than my actual door so I passed on them. I saw some cute tops in Witchery so I went in and tried on a few. They looked ok and they fitted well. But I didn’t really love any of them so I stuck to my wardrobe organisation rule and didn’t buy any of them. Candles! Because this weekend was all about enjoying the little things. I made sure to burn some lovely scented soy candles. They make me happy, especially on days when the weather is dreary. Scrambled Eggs I was really craving scrambled eggs when I woke up on Sunday morning even though it was early. I was surprised because I’m not much of a breakfast eater early in the morning. So I went ahead and made some but first I snapped a photo of the eggs because I thought that they looked so nice all lined up in the box. They seemed to be all the same colour too and I thought that they were very good-looking eggs haha!! Church After breakfast, I went to church. It was such a drizzly morning that I was so tempted to stay home but I’m glad that I ended up going. Roast Beef Roll I had some roast beef leftover from dinner so we had some roast beef rolls with gravy for lunch on Sunday. So delicious and perfect for a cold drizzly day. I gobbled it up so fast and forgot to take a pic! Chocolate Chocolate with hazelnuts is such a simple little pleasure that brings me so much joy!! I ate a few squares after I finished doing some blogging.   And that’s a wrap! I had a lovely weekend enjoying the little things. Thanks so much for being here and reading along. I really hope that you have a great week! Happy Monday!                                                                                    

Hi, friends thanks so much for being here. I hope that you have all had a fantastic week but if you are like me. Then I’m sure that you are very excited that it’s finally the weekend! As usual, I am linking up with Andrea and Erika for this week’s Friday favourites post. Today I’m sharing a few fun favourites for the week so let’s jump right in with my first favourite….. #1 I went along to a really fun dance exercise class for the first time this week! I used to go to Zumba classes for years and then sadly our amazing instructors stopped holding classes about three years ago. So that was the end of my Zumba journey! I don’t love exercising and going to the gym just doesn’t appeal to me at all. My only motivation to do any exercise is fun music and dancing! I was really missing Zumba recently and then just by chance I discovered Dance Nation. An ad for their local Tuesday night dance classes came up on my Facebook feed.  So I pulled out my exercise outfit that hadn’t seen the light of day in ages and went along for the hour-long class. I had the best time!! The theme for the night was ’90s music and when I got there they were handing out fluorescent bangles. It was so cool to see everyone glowing in the dark! I loved all the music they played and I ended up getting a really great workout. My legs felt it for sure! Oh my goodness it was so hard getting up off the floor the next day at preschool when I was playing with the kids! I am excited to go back again next Tuesday night and I’m hoping that my sweet cousin (and former Zumba buddy) will be able to come along with me too. #2 Another huge favourite for the week was winning a $50 Country Road gift card at the dance class. It just so happened that on Tuesday night Dance Nation was celebrating its third birthday and they were giving out some prizes. I couldn’t believe it when my ticket number was drawn!! The best thing is that Country Road is actually my favourite clothing store. So I am very excited because now I have to go shopping for something haha!! #3 My kind neighbour knocked on my door the other day and she gave me a bunch of silverbeets from her own garden. She is such an amazing gardener and she loves growing all sorts of vegetables. I steamed the silverbeet and served it with our dinner that night. Yum! #4 I bought these cleaning brushes the last time that I went to Ikea. They are just so handy and I use them to clean all the hard-to-reach places in the shower. They are part of my cleaning kit and I totally recommend them! I can’t remember if I have already shared this with you but they are such a favourite that I just had to mention them again! #5 I really love reading and commenting on other people’s blogs. But for some reason, I was having so much trouble with commenting on some blogs. You see sometimes I would type a comment enter my name and URL then press submit and boom it would disappear! This has been happening for ages and it was just so annoying. Then the other day I had a light bulb moment. Instead of commenting with my name and URL I just commented as anonymous and typed my name after the comment. It worked and my comment went through! Yay!! I still can’t comment on some sites that ask me to enter my WordPress password. That just totally confuses me. If anybody can help me out that would be so great. #6 I always have some preschool favourites for the week that I love sharing with you. As I have mentioned before term four is my favourite term. The kids are just so settled, they know the routine and I have all built some really lovely relationships with them. I get sad thinking that some of them will be off to ‘big’ school next year because I will miss them. There is so much growth in term four! In the last few weeks, I have seen kids who have had such an aversion to holding a pencil begin to really enjoy drawing and colouring in. The children who were afraid to say boo are now laughing and enjoying my silly sense of humour in the classroom. We always encourage the kids to draw their own pictures but today they were asking me to draw spiderman, batman and Anna. I gave in and drew while they all oohed and aahed at my drawings. Kids can sure make me feel like a gifted superhero!! #7 After a long exhausting week, I think that it’s always nice to look forward to some treats. Tonight I am really going to enjoy a cup of tea as well as a couple of these yummy biscuits! So that wraps up some of my favourites for the week. I really hope that you have a wonderful weekend and I look forward to being back here on Monday! Happy Friday!