Hello Monday

Happy Monday!! I’m back here linking up with Holly and Sarah for today’s Hello Monday post. It was such a fun birthday weekend for me full of surprises from so many of my favourite people. I’m not really big on birthday celebrations for myself. I hadn’t planned anything special yet I had one of the nicest birthdays ever and I was really spoilt and shown so much love!! Friday I was off from work on Friday which was the day of my actual birthday. I’ve taken some days off to be with my mum as she recovers. It was strange being home on my birthday as that rarely happens unless my birthday falls on a weekend. If I was at preschool all the kids and staff would have sung happy birthday and I would have blown out the candles on this cake. Years ago, whenever any of the preschool staff had a birthday. We used to also get birthday claps from the children. You know, one clap for each year. Mercifully that no longer happens! It was getting rather traumatic for the staff to count out so many years/claps. And I’m sure the poor kids were having trouble counting to such ridiculously high numbers, on top of that their poor hands were probably sore at the end of the whole process!! Some Lovely Flowers My husband went out for his morning swim at the local pool and when he came home he surprised me with a lovely bunch of flowers. A card and my favourite block of chocolate! Oh yes, he also cleaned the bathrooms for me. I have this cleaning routine that I stick to for my own sanity. Where I do the main bathroom and ensuite every day except on the weekends. I don’t go crazy deep cleaning them. All it takes is a quick clean and it means they are nice and fresh every day. I then leave the deep cleaning for when they need it. Anyway, Steve did them for me on my birthday. He knows the way to my heart!! Lunch While Watching The Office I was craving Red Rooster so Steve and I ordered some for lunch. While we ate we watched a few episodes of “The Office”. So funny!! Messina Ice Cream Steve went to work and then, later on, there was a knock on the door and I was surprised with a delivery of ice cream and spreads from Messina. A birthday present from my sweet cousin! Friday was a really hot day, yet the ice cream was still frozen when it arrived. I never even knew that you could get ice cream delivered. My cousin had picked all my favourite flavours for me. Hazelnut, strawberry, coffee and chocolate. Hmmm, they were so delicious! I had never tried ice cream from Messina before but had heard that it was good. Indeed it was!! Surprise Visits! Around 4 pm there was another knock on my door and it was my lovely bestie surprising me with a visit after work. It was so good to see her! She gave me a yummy box of nougat chocolates. How did she know I love nougat? I love my sweet friend. A couple of hours later I heard yet another knock on my door and there was my lovely friend and her two most gorgeous children. I was blown away and so excited to see them. They gave me some beautiful presents along with a birthday balloon and a plant. My friend’s beautiful daughter was in my class at preschool a couple of years ago. Now this year I am lucky enough to have her little son in my class. I just love them so much!! When Sam got home from school he gave me a lovely card and a candle. I love this Yankee candle, the scent is subtle but really nice. I lit it and had it burning all Friday evening and Saturday. Another fantastic surprise happened later in the evening when my oldest son Luke came over. We didn’t get to see his lovely fianceé as she was away for the weekend with her sister. Steve got home from work around midnight. So we all stayed up super late to watch a movie. We wanted to find a movie that was interesting yet none of us had seen before. No easy task and in the end we watched a movie with Nicholas Cage called “Pig” I know right! weird name and I hadn’t ever heard of it. None of us loved the movie but it wasn’t terrible either. We were all just excited that none of us fell asleep watching it! Luke lives about 45 minutes drive away so he ended up sleeping over. I was one happy mama!! Birthday Cake I forgot to take a picture of my whole birthday cake. which we ate at around 1 am!! But I got a quick pic of a slice. I like to keep things simple so I just ordered a white chocolate mud cake from Woolworths along with my usual shopping order the previous day. Luckily I remembered to check the size this time. I learnt from last years mistake when I ordered my husbands birthday cake and this is what I got! A Cheesy Bagel Saturday morning another lovely friend dropped in and gave me a cheesy bagel she had bought at the farmers market. Oh my goodness, I love anything with cheese and this bagel was delicious! She stayed for a quick visit and then when she left it was around 10 am. This is when my appetite usually kicks in so I ate my bagel. I meant to share it with Sam and Steve but I couldn’t stop, so I ate it all myself. A Good Book For lunch, I had some leftover chicken soup and read some more of “The Sister” by Sally Hepworth. Oooooh, I am really enjoying this book but I am getting a bit stressed that things

Hello Monday and hello friends. Hope you are all well and were able to enjoy a really great weekend. In honour of this special day when we celebrate all things love. I thought I would share with you a few fun Valentine’s Day Facts. Who was St Valentine? Well, apparently there is a whole bunch of historical confusion about who deserves the honour of having Valentine’s Day named after them.  This is because there were two equally deserving men named Valentine. And either one of them could have been the reason behind Valentine’s Day. One was a priest way back in third-century Rome. The other Valentine was an early Christian martyr. Valentine’s Day Was An Ancient Pagan Festival Like almost all holidays we celebrate today. Valentine’s Day also has Pagan roots. Some scholars believe that St Valentine’s Day was in fact originally a pagan fertility festival. Pagans celebrated the day by sacrificing animals. Then interestingly in order to encourage fertility. Women were slapped with animal hides! When Did Valentine’s Day Become Associated With Love In the fifth century, Pope Gelasius ended the pagan fertility festival. And then the Catholic Church declared the 14th February to be a day when the martyred St Valentine was to be celebrated. Valentine’s Day finally became linked with love and romance in the Middle Ages. Where did Cupid Come From? The story goes that Eros was a handsome Greek god who had the ability to make a mortal fall in love with the power of his magical arrows. The Romans then reinvented Eros into Cupid during the 4th century. However, Cupid didn’t earn his title as the face of Valentine’s Day until the 19th century. Where did Valentine’s Day Cards Come From? Esther A. Rowlands from the United States began making pretty cards in the 1840’s. These soon skyrocketed into a major commercial success and made a whopping $100,00 a year. That was a whole lot of money back in those days! Before this, people were celebrating Valentine’s Day by handing out cute little handwritten notes to each other. Valentine’s Day And Chocolates Clever Richard Cadbury the son of the Cadbury chocolate manufacturer. He was the one who first brought chocolates and Valentine’s Day together. He came up with the brilliant idea of packaging Cadbury chocolates in heart-shaped boxes. Go, Richard!! Flowers and Valentine’s Day It was all the way back in the 17th Century when flowers became associated with Valentine’s Day. Venus the goddess of love must have had excellent taste because she chose roses as her favourite flower. Over time people gradually began giving flowers to their loved ones. Then in the Victorian era men began giving flowers to the women they were seeking to win over, woo or date as we now say. Valentine’s Day Isn’t Just For Couples Valentine’s gifts and treats are for everyone and not just for your romantic partner anymore. Nowadays it is quite common for parents to give their children Valentine’s Day presents. Furry friends are also happily enjoying Valentine’s Day treats too! Although this is much more popular in America than in countries like Australia. A Few Fun Quotes! Although Valentine’s Day is not crazy popular here in Australia, I think it’s still a good time to reflect on the gift of love. We can stop and appreciate our families, human friends, or furry friends who we love and who love us back unconditionally through thick and thin. Even if they do make us crazy sometimes!! So now along with a few fun Valentine’s Day facts I will also leave you with some quotes on this Valentine’s Day and hope that you have a most wonderful day!!       Linking up with Holly and Sarah for today’s Hello Monday post   Also linking up with

Hi friends, hope you are all well and enjoyed a great weekend. Sadly mine didn’t start well at all. My poor mum had a horrible fall, broke her nose, and bruised her lovely face quite badly. She is in the hospital and because of COVID, I can’t be with her. I was so anxious and worried all weekend but I spoke to the doctor today and she seemed happy with her progress, I was so relieved to hear some positive news! Although she also has other issues that go along with being quite elderly, the road to recovery looks slightly less scary today. One day at a time I guess. I have to keep reminding myself of this!! If you could, I would really appreciate prayers for my dear mum! Even though this weekend is up there as probably one of the worst ever. Friends and family reached out to me and I can only say that I see God’s loving hand in this. He sent me comfort through loved ones! This is my mum and this photo was taken about a year and a half ago. Saturday I had plans to catch up with a couple of friends on Saturday morning. With everything that happened, I thought that I might have to cancel. But I didn’t in the end because I couldn’t be at the hospital with my Mum anyway. I had been so excited to meet up with my lovely friends as I hadn’t seen them in ages. And I was really glad that I was able to make it. We spent a lovely morning chatting over a delicious morning tea and I was so grateful for this as it took my mind off worrying about my mum for a little while. In the evening Steve was at work and Sam went to a friend’s house. My Aunty invited me over to her new place for dinner. She had only just moved in a few days ago. I’m so happy for her because she has found a really lovely villa after looking at places for at least a couple of months. We had some yummy cheese and wine, then she cooked a delicious meal. We watched a couple of episodes of Chicago Fire too. So it was a really lovely evening and once again I was super happy for the distraction. Sunday Sunday morning my friend messaged me asking if I wanted to join her at church so I said yes!! I hadn’t been to church in far too long. At first, it was because of lockdown and then once lockdown was lifted I felt safer staying home as much as possible. I had every intention of going back but was just being plain lazy about it. (Not good!) Anyway, it was really encouraging to hear the sermon and sing the hymns after such a long break. I was happy that I went along plus I got to spend time with my friend after the service. My friend is waaaaay younger than I am but we get along so well and share so many things in common. She also has excellent taste in shoes! Haha, we both wore our clogs from one of my favourite stores called Funkis. Funkis is a really cool design store in Paddington, Sydney. They have a great collection of Swedish and Scandinavian products. Even though it’s a small shop they sell clothes, bags, home decor, and of course clogs. I just love all their products and I especially love their comfortable clogs.   I guess that’s about it for today. My weekend was certainly not at all what I envisioned but I am thankful my mum is on the mend. I’m keeping it short as I really am super tired and my brain feels like it’s all over the place. I do hope you have a great rest of the week and thank you so much for stopping by. Here’s hoping for a better week!! Linking up with Holly and Sarah for todays post.      

Hey Monday, you sure came around quick! Hope you all find yourselves well and had a great weekend. I spent a lot of my weekend cleaning and organising. It sure feels great to purge, donate and throw out all the things that we no longer use and have been taking up space at home. Friday night before I went to bed I made plans in my head to do some much-needed cleaning and organising on Saturday.  That’s how usually like to start. I will visualise what I want to get done and then I give myself a pep talk. I’m not a big list writer, although I should probably try and make this a good habit. It might make life easier as far as not forgetting things. Also, it must be very satisfying to see the things crossed off the list once they are finished. Yes, I should really work on writing out some lists. Fun things first Saturday mid-morning Steve suggested we go and have a browse around our local farmers market. Get a coffee and have something to eat. So we did just that! I also wanted to pick up some fruit. They have such a lovely variety of fresh fruit and vegetables at the market. As well as so many yummy food stalls. It was such a beautiful sunny Saturday. Normally I like to finish all my chores before I have a fun outing but that wasn’t going to work because Steve started work in the afternoon/evening. So we headed out and had a fun morning together. We shared a lamb, mashed potato, vegetables, and gravy lunch. Yum, so good! Time To Get Stuck Into It! When we got home I was feeling a little too relaxed. I had to dig really deep to find my motivation again. I could have easily plonked myself on the sofa and camped out there for the rest of the day. See why I like to get my chores done first!!! Council Clean Up Four times a year our local council offers a free clean-up service to all the council residents. This means we can put almost anything out front of our homes that we want to get rid of. Things like old furniture, mattresses, green waste, carpet, and white goods. Council gives us the dates for collection and then we can place all our unwanted things out on the kerb 48 hours before the collection date. It’s such a great service and we are really lucky that our council does this as not all of them do. Some councils require households to book times and dates for individual collections. Getting Rid Of Stuff The past few clean-ups I hadn’t needed to get rid of too many things. But this time around I had accumulated quite a pile. I even threw out my ironing board. I haven’t ironed on an ironing board in forever. When my iron stopped working early last year I didn’t bother replacing it. Instead, I just got in the habit of using a handheld steamer. So much easier! Plus I try to fold all my laundry as soon as it comes off the line. So far I can’t say that I have missed not having an iron. Doesn’t look like a whole lot there but I had already taken three garbage bags full of clothes and shoes to the charity bin. I had been piling up all this stuff in my little office. So it was so nice to get my floor space back and have everything looking neat and tidy again. Sunday I managed to get most of my cleaning and organising done on Saturday, I only had a bit more to do on Sunday. So I was really happy about that. I had a nice slow morning and then around midday I made spinach pie. It’s a big favourite around here! Full of cheesy goodness and lots of spinach!! In the late afternoon, I made a trip to Bunnings. I had to return a fan that made a weird noise when I turned it on. Then I went to Kmart to return a pot plant and a wooden tray that I had bought but didn’t end up needing. New Things For My Little Cat While I was at Kmart I spotted a new kitty litter box which is very similar to my cat’s old one. Her current box is ten years old and cracked so I bought her this new one. Cats are such creatures of habit, fingers crossed that she will get used to her new box. I did put her old litter in so she could smell it (ugh!). I gently placed her inside the new litter box and she used it. Hope she does this on her own without any problems. I also got her some new bowls for her food and water to replace her old plastic ones.  She was perfectly happy to eat out of them. This new laser toy I bought for her kept her very entertained for a while. She was a spoilt cat this weekend! In the evening I worked on my blog and then Sushi (that’s my kitty’s name) came to say hi.   It certainly was a weekend of cleaning and organising. I was happy we were able to squeeze in some fun too! Happy Monday friends!! Linking up with Holly and Sarah for today’s Hello Monday Post    

Hi all! I am really excited to link up with Holly and Sarah for today’s hello Monday post. I’m doing a quick recap of my super low-key weekend and I’m really glad you have stopped by to join me. Isn’t it funny how in December you hardly get a chance to stop and breathe as it’s so busy? Then when January hits everything kind of just stops! But I am really grateful for weekends like this one where I was just able to enjoy hanging out at home and really appreciate the luxury of spare time. I’ll be back at work in a couple of weeks and I know my weekends won’t be quite the same. Friday night It’s been super hot and steamy so I was really happy to sit in the dark, have the air conditioning on, and watch ‘Kingsman: The Secret Service”. I felt so comfortable and relaxed that I nearly dozed off a couple of times. Lucky the movie had lots of cool action scenes so they kept me awake. Saturday Saturday morning I got up and I must have slept well because I had lots of energy. I felt really motivated to spend time in the kitchen doing some cooking. We had finished our favourite granola and I hadn’t made it in a while, so I went ahead and made a batch. As well as the granola, I made my apple and berry gluten-free loaf. The granola is full of crunchy goodness and we like to have it for breakfast, sprinkle it on yogurt, or just munch on it as a snack. Another big favourite is the gluten-free apple and berry loaf which is made with almond meal. It’s really moist, delicious, and super filling. It’s also great for breakfast and even dessert. It tastes even better if you serve it toasted and you can add things like Greek yoghurt, more berries, sliced banana, or anything you like. So good!! I also made some turkey patties Roasted off some pumpkin Made some couscous with olives, Spanish onion, and semi-dried tomatoes. Lastly, I cooked off some mushrooms that needed to be used up and added chopped parsley. The great thing about doing a whole lot of cooking all in one hit was that I didn’t have to worry about lunches or dinners either Saturday or Sunday. The turkey patties were so good and they turned out really moist and super delicious. We had them with buns and made them into burgers for lunch. Then for dinner, we ate them with couscous, mushrooms and roast pumpkin. Easy peasy!! More Water!!!! Before I started all my cooking I made sure to have a glass of water. I am so inconsistent with my water intake but I am determined to improve. So I left this glass out near the sink and made a real effort to drink throughout the day. I did the same thing on Sunday, here’s hoping I can keep this up for the next three hundred and something days. Cable Concealer I found this cable concealer on Amazon and as you may have heard, I am fast becoming a real fan of Amazon Prime. I know I am late to the party compared to a lot of you. But in Australia Amazon Prime was only launched in 2018 and I joined late last year. The cables from the TV to the power point were so obvious and looked really bad. The way everything was arranged in the living room before meant that you couldn’t see the cables. They were all hiding behind furniture and curtains. But since I moved everything, the cables were just there looking really obvious. This cable concealer was really easy to attach to the skirting board. I used the double-sided tape that came in the packet with the cable concealer, I didn’t bother with the complicated-looking screws. Now it looks so much better because you can’t see the cables anymore. The only thing I had trouble working out was the super sticky double-sided tape. I couldn’t for the life of me figure out how to unstick it. In the end, I watched a very helpful YouTube video. Seriously YouTube must have almost an answer for anything and everything!! A Relaxing Face Mask After dinner, I enjoyed a cup of tea with a slice of apple and berry loaf. Then I treated myself to a face mask. One of my preschool children gave me a little pamper pack as a Christmas present last year. This Vitamin C mask was in it and it was so refreshing. Every time I put on one of these sheet masks I think I look like the guy from the movie ‘Halloween’ Ha! Sunday Is anybody else watching ‘Money Heist’? Such a great show!!! We watched one episode Sunday afternoon and we only have three episodes to go before the big finale. Steve and I have really loved this intense and very clever series and we are sad that it is almost finished. ‘Money Heist’ is in Spanish so Steve has to read the subtitles. I can understand almost all of it but the actors talk incredibly fast. Sometimes I find that I need to read the subtitles too. There’s a lot of swearing in the show and the translation sometimes makes me laugh. It’s not always spot on! Crispy Kremes We very rarely have Krispy Kremes even though I could probably quite easily have them every week. They are loaded with sugar and goodness knows what. But they are so delicious and were such a nice Sunday treat. Three down, one left. Wonder who will get the last one. Maybe we should cut it up into thirds and share! A Yummy Milkshake Sunday, after lunch, I made myself a banana milkshake. In this heat, the bananas were looking a bit sad and I needed to use them up before they went completely mushy. I threw in a handful of almonds to my shake and it tasted great!! Another

Hi everyone and welcome back to a new year of blogging! Wow, feels like I’ve been away for ages. Hope you are all well and were able to enjoy the Christmas and New Year festivities. The week leading up to Christmas just felt like a whirlwind!! Now we are into January everything has sort of come to a stop and I’m really grateful to be off work right up until the very end of January. I’ve been binge-watching a lot of shows and staying up super late. My two favourite things to do!! Quick Christmas Re-Cap Christmas feels like a lifetime ago now! This year I hosted Christmas at my place and I had to make sure I was super organised because my usual right-hand man had to work that night. Oh yes, I should mention that in keeping with our South American tradition, we celebrate on Christmas Eve. Our house is very small but I did everything possible to accommodate our fifteen family members and thankfully everyone was comfortable and really had a lot of fun just enjoying the evening laughing so hard and eating way too much food! But if you’re like me and have a small house, you might find some useful tips for entertaining in a small space here. Here are a few pics from Christmas Eve Summer Is Definitely Here! It has been so incredibly hot and humid here in Sydney for the last two weeks. But I’m not complaining because I love Summer! I don’t feel the heat as much as the rest of my family do (they’re not fans of Summer). A long time ago a friend of mine nicknamed me Sahara, ha! she couldn’t understand how come everyone else was a sweaty mess and I seemed to be fine in the heat! De-Cluttering Again It never ceases to amaze me how clutter just happens! I don’t hoard and I am consistently cleaning and tidying up, yet I still had to take a whole day and do some serious de-cluttering. My son was away for four days after Christmas. He went with his best friend and his family on a beach holiday. So I took the opportunity to tackle his room first. He had so many clothes that didn’t fit him anymore plus bags and bags of junk!! Usually, Sam is pretty good about keeping his room sort of tidy but he has a big built-in wardrobe and this is where all this “stuff” had accumulated. I took down all the Christmas decorations on Boxing day and as much as I love Christmas, for me once it’s over it’s over. All I want to see is my house back to normal. A New Year Of Blogging January will be my eighth month of blogging! I am really enjoying it and towards the end of the year, I felt like I was finally getting into the rhythm of things. But, I did find that with working full time and trying to stay on top of all the things, getting a post out every day was a big challenge. For this year I’m thinking that a realistic goal for me would probably be posting three days a week. So I’m aiming to post every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Like I mentioned before I’m off for nearly the whole of January so I might be blogging more. But when preschool goes back I will definitely be back here at least three days a week. I’m hoping to keep posting about everyday life, self-care, Early Childhood Education topics, recipes, and tips on cleaning and home organisation. I do hope you will join me in 2022!    

Happy Monday Friends! Well, it certainly was a weekend of ups and downs. Friday night started off strong with a fun Christmas work dinner but unfortunately, Sunday night was a real low as we ended up in the emergency department. But thankfully everything worked out all ok in the end! Friday Night Fun For this year’s staff Christmas dinner we all went to a fancy Greek restaurant. I just love Greek food and there was so much of it I almost wished that I had worn big elasticized pants!! I had worked at preschool on Friday and admittedly I was a bit tired after a full day. So when I got to the hairdressers for my appointment to have a quick wash and blow-dry. I found it so hard to not fall asleep! There’s something about having my hair done that almost sends me into a sleepy trance. Speaking of hair, oh my goodness, am I sure glad I went to the hairdressers. As you may know, I am in a constant battle with my frizzy hair, and because Friday was such a miserable rainy day. There was no way that I could have tamed my hair, as well as my hairdresser did!! So Much Delicious Food! All the ladies looked beautiful and I think everyone enjoyed being out of their usual preschool teacher clothes. We were all starving and excited for the entree of Greek dips and bread. We indulged in some delicious cocktails Followed by more dishes. There was salad and halloumi drizzled with honey. I have never tasted such delicious halloumi. Then Balmain bugs Grilled octopus Scallops Carrots with fetta and lastly, a shoulder of lamb slow cooked with delicious herbs !!! See what I mean by so much food? We ended up sharing the lamb to take home. We finished off with pannacotta and coffee for dessert. Phew, what a food marathon!!! Saturday Luckily we had no Saturday plans so I slept in for a bit longer and then in the afternoon, I went to Bunnings to exchange a clothesline. My husband had bought a bright sunny yellow one to replace our old broken grey one. He couldn’t understand why I preferred the grey one?? Anyway, after I changed it for a grey one I went home and with the help of my younger son Sam, I managed to rewire the clothesline. I did get a bit tangled up and had flashbacks to when I was putting up the Christmas lights. My husband was at work and probably very happy to avoid this task. He’s a great chef but when it comes to handyman jobs, let’s just say it’s not his thing! Ha! In the evening I filled my Christmas tray with chocolates that I had received as a present from one of the lovely preschool children. I was very good and I only had two and then settled in to watch a Christmas movie from my list of favourites. Sunday Sunday started off strong but then fell apart in the late evening. It was another nice lazy morning and I spent much of the day just pottering around the house. Steve went to work in the afternoon and I watched not one but two romcoms. I love this one and then while I was making dinner I watched Bridget Jones Diary for the first time. I really enjoyed it and I’m not quite sure why I have never watched it before. I’m pretty sure everyone I know has. After dinner, I surprised my mum by taking her out to look at some local Christmas lights. This house was definitely the best one and funnily enough, it turns out that I knew the people who lived there! On the way home we stopped off at Mcdonalds and I bought some fries for my mum (she loves fries) and I had a Happy Meal with a strawberry milkshake. A Trip To The Emergency Department I got home and was just about to go to bed when Sam, my 17 year old showed me an abscess on his leg. Without going into any yucky details, let’s just say that as soon as I saw it I knew we needed to see a doctor. He had shown it to me about three days before and I thought it looked small enough and would probably go away but boy was I wrong. Then I got all the guilts because I honestly forgot about it (cringe!!) Sam had fun plans to go to his friends for a sleepover. They like to pitch a tent in his friend’s backyard and have a campout. So I thought that if we went to emergency and got his leg seen then he might have been ok to go. Well, that was overly optimistic!! We arrived at the hospital around 11.30 pm Sunday night and didn’t leave until 6.30 am Monday morning. It was so strange walking out and seeing daylight. By that stage, we were both wide awake and completely disoriented. I almost felt jet-lagged. The doctors and nurses at the hospital were great but it was a busy night so we had to wait for what felt like forever! No Sleepover for Sam Anyway, they did what they did to the abscess and now Sam is on strong antibiotics. And unfortunately, he had to miss the sleepover. His friends were so sweet, they dropped off a handmade card and a note for me begging me to let him go and promising to take care of him. But it really wasn’t up to me, he was under the doctors’ orders to rest. Anyway, his friends have assured him they will do the sleepover again soon! Poor little Sam. He’s over 6 foot tall but he’s little Sam to me. So that’s it, a weekend of ups and downs for sure!! Today I ended up taking the day off from work. There was no way I could have gone to work with no sleep. Well,

Happy Monday friends I hope you are all well and had a great weekend. Mine went by in a blink. But I’ve got a few fun snippets to show you for today’s Hello Monday post. Friday Night Friday night I was pretty exhausted after work. I did a few household chores just so as not to fall behind. Then I had a shower, popped my pyjamas on, and settled down on my comfy lounge to watch Steel Magnolias. Ahhhh I absolutely love this movie, it would have to be one of my favourites. I cry every single time I watch it. So good! I love Friday nights because I can stay up really late and not feel guilty. So I did just that, Steve came home from work super late or should I say early morning!! He watched the last few minutes of Steel Magnolias and then we went to bed. Saturday We had a nice slow morning at home and then in the afternoon, I went shopping with Sam. I would have liked to have done Christmas shopping but we went to get Sam some new clothes. He has outgrown nearly everything!! The Black Friday sales meant a lot of things were discounted so we did pretty well. He found a few T-shirts, shorts and a pair of pants. He shops fast like his Dad, I take forever to decide. We stopped to have something to eat in the food court. It was so busy but we managed to find a table. I had a really delicious Vietnamese roll. It was full of crispy fresh vegetables and a strip of crumbed Barramundi. I really enjoyed it and it was quite filling. Sam had a chicken schnitzel burger and he shared some of his chips with me. We had a really nice time shopping together! When I got home I spent some time cooking for the next day as my oldest son was coming for lunch on Sunday with his lovely fiancee. Sunday Sunday morning I made a quick trip to the Gamesmen to pick something up and I saw this Seinfeld lego set. I am a huge Seinfeld fan and although I am very tempted to buy this I am going to resist. I probably would never have the time to put it together nor the space at home to display it. It is very cute though! The Sesame Street one caught my eye too. Makes me wish I was a kid, I love lego! Ha, good thing I work with children, I seem to have many of the same interests as they do!! On the way home I stopped off at the bread shop where they sell really nice crispy bread rolls. This shop is a bit out of the way and parking is always a problem so I don’t often buy my bread from there. But because it was Sunday it was really quiet and I got a parking spot really fast. On the way back to the car with my bread, I took a photo of a couple of things that caught my attention. Funny, I have lived here forever and I seem to take my surroundings for granted. We have a statue of Miles Franklin. She was a famous Australian writer who wrote”My Brilliant Career”. This is a cute little historical museum that I haven’t visited in a long while. I am going to go back when I have some time in the holidays. We also have an old fire station. This is a  Civic Centre where my boys used to have their end-of-year school presentation nights. A few years ago Molly Ringwald performed here too! I got home and got everything ready for lunch. We all enjoyed a lasagna that I made the day before. I made a fresh garden salad to go with it. For dessert, we had a Sara Lee sticky date pudding with ice cream. Sticky date pudding is more of a winter dessert which was just perfect because it still feels like winter! It was fun having my family together for a Sunday lunch. In the early evening after everyone went home. Sam did some school work, he has so many assignments due in the next couple of weeks as well as exams. It’s been so rainy and dreary here in Sydney thanks to La Niña. Keeping up with the laundry has been a challenge, to say the least. Thankfully because it was a pretty dry weekend I was finally able to catch up. So this is one of the highlights of the weekend. Dry laundry!! Who would have thought that such a thing could bring me so much joy!! Unfortunately, I do have a massive pile of folding to do. But at least it’s all dry! Monday Monday morning I was the first one up and I walked into the kitchen to find this guy. I was about to let out a huge scream but I managed to stop myself because I didn’t want to scare everyone who was still asleep. So I was very brave and just let out a little squawk. Then I got rid of it all by myself!! I went to work and showed some of the kids this photo. I am now a superhero in their eyes!! That’s about it for this weekend. It was low-key and fun, just the way I like it! I did have big plans to put the Christmas tree up and decorate but that didn’t happen. I just had no time!! So I’m hoping to do it on Tuesday night. Fingers crossed!! I hope you all had a great weekend and are ready for a brand new week! Happy Monday Friends!!! Linking up with My Glittery Heart for today’s Hello Monday post

  Well hello everyone and Happy Monday, I am on a mission to be a tourist in my own city of Sydney this Summer and to kick things off  I am going to share with you what a fantastic time I had on  Saturday visiting The Grounds Of Alexandria with my lovely fun friend. We had promised to visit here after lockdown and finally, we did!! This post features some sponsored content. I believe in transparency and only collaborate with brands aligned with my values. You can count on me to share my honest opinions. Your trust means the world to me, and I appreciate you being here! Visiting The Grounds Of Alexandria You will find The Grounds Of Alexandria in industrial Alexandria, which is an inner-city suburb of Sydney. It has a large cafe, restaurant, bar, bakery, mini farm, and a florist. You could definitely spend the whole morning or afternoon there enjoying the sights, sounds, and oh-so-delicious smells. Until January next year, if you visit The Grounds you will see that it has been transformed into a most amazing Beauty and The Beast experience. My friend and I booked a table at the cafe so we could enjoy brunch and then have a wander around. As soon as we walked inside it was buzzing with so many people.  After being in lockdown for so long, it felt a little overwhelming being in a crowd. But I was happy to be out for the day and because everyone still has to wear a mask I felt pretty safe. There were couples, groups, and families enjoying the beautiful sunny day. I also spotted quite a few little girls all dressed up as Belle from Beauty and The Beast. They looked so cute in their yellow dresses and they were obviously big Disney princess fans. Hello Sunny Sydney! During the week, the weather had been just awful. It was back to winter again and it was raining,  windy, and even cold enough to be wearing a jacket! The weather forecast didn’t predict good weather for the weekend either. But thankfully Sydney graced us with beautiful blue skies and sunshine. Yay! I was really convinced it was going to be a really wet weekend, I’m so glad that I was completely wrong. We were about 15 minutes early for our table reservation at the cafe so we took the opportunity to have a little stroll around the Grounds. There were a few stands lined up along the entrance. They were beautifully decorated and looked so appealing. The first one we saw was a lemonade stand where they also had the most beautiful plump red strawberries for sale. They also had a yummy donut stand too. When visiting The Grounds Of Alexandria you are sure to find all these cute props and backdrops for taking photos. This old truck is one of them. So I climbed right in for a quick pic. Beauty And The Beast At The Grounds Of Alexandria Look at this giant Beauty and the Beast Rose and book display. Isn’t it beautiful!! I noticed there were lots of fairy lights around. I can only imagine how beautiful and magical it must look in the nighttime. We saw some Beauty and The Beast storyboards and a fun cake display. (The Cakes weren’t real) There were red roses everywhere and they looked so real too! See the beautiful gown in the glass display. I tried to get up close to read the small sign and find out where it was from. It was obviously related somehow to Beaty and The Beast but the writing was so small and the sun was reflecting off the glass. So I gave up trying to read it and just admired the gown instead. A fun Chandelier! The Brekkie Burger My friend and I went back to the cafe as 15 minutes went by in a flash and our table was ready.  We thought we would eat first and then keep exploring afterward. I was really happy to find that we were seated at a table in the outdoor area as it looked super crowded inside the huge cafe. After going through the menu and feeling indecisive I finally picked a brekkie burger with polenta chips. And let me tell you it did not disappoint. The only complaint I have is that I didn’t have a large bib to wear while I ate it! Ha! The burger was so full of delicious bacon, avocado, relish, mayonnaise and an egg cooked just the way I love it, nice and runny. At first, I didn’t even know how I was going to pick it up with my hands because the burger was so full of ingredients! I was eventually able to try and sort of hold it in the most ladylike way possible. Not sure how successful I was because when I brushed some of my hair away from my eyes that were bothering me, I got some egg on my forehead! At this point, I just gave up and ate the rest of my brekkie burger with a knife and fork. Ha! My friend ordered the eggs on sourdough toast with avocado and spinach. There was a lot of green going on with her plate and we both agreed that it probably would have been better with a dash of tomato relish. A delicious berry smoothie! I just ordered a coffee which was very nice, but I will definitely be trying this smoothie next time! So Much More To Explore After we finished eating, we kept wandering around because there was still so much more to see. We went inside the small florist shop, gosh it was beautiful! The flowers were so colourful and the variety they had was just so amazing. We spotted some potpourri, body scrub, and soy candles for sale. They all smelt so good!  I have such a weakness for soy candles they make my home feel so cozy when I light