Hello Monday

Hi there everyone, Happy Monday! It’s great to be here today linking up with Holly and Sarah for Hello Monday. You know, I made sure to soak up every minute of the weekend because, well it’s back to work for me this week. And let me tell you, when that alarm went off this morning, finding the motivation to get up and get going was a serious struggle. But hey, here I am, ready (sort of) to tackle a new week. Now let’s jump right in and dive into a recap of the last few days of the school holidays. More Beach Time! Last Thursday we went to check out a new cafe called Ramsgate Beach House. It’s right on the water with spectacular views. We ordered the oh-so-yummy fish tacos, and I gave the Aperol Spritz another shot. I remember trying it years ago but it was really bitter and I didn’t like it. This time the mix of flavours was spot on and now I’m totally won over. I will definitely be sipping on these more often especially in the summer time as they are so refreshing. I snapped this pic and I love how pretty the drink looks against the view. It almost looks like I applied a fancy filter but nope no filters here. Just nature and Aperol Spritz teaming up to create an amazing combination of colours! Then we went for a walk along the esplanade. I think that I have spent more time at the beach these last couple of weeks in the middle of winter than I did the whole of last summer! Mama Mia I went to the Lyric Theatre with my lovely friend to see Mama Mia. It was such a fun production and I would be perfectly happy to go and see it again. The final two numbers when everybody was invited to get up and dance was such a blast! Have I told you before how much I love to dance? The Weekend Saturday was just a lazy morning and I loved it. Once I peeled myself out of bed I hopped on the computer to catch up on my favourite blogs. Then the day just drifted by as I did some housework and laundry. My usual cleaning and meal-planning routine has taken a backseat for the last four weeks. I really needed to hit that reset button and get back on track! Dinnertime called for a chicken stir fry loaded with veggies to make up for all the naughty snacks I have been devouring over the school holidays. Then it was time to catch up on some episodes of MasterChef that I had missed. I wanted to be up to date with all the episodes because the final was on Sunday night. So Saturday night I watched the semi-finals and was sad that my favourite contestant got eliminated. Sunday On Sunday we had fun celebrating my cousin’s birthday at Oatley Pub. The pub has a really nice family-friendly atmosphere and delicious food. I ordered the chicken schnitzel with gravy. I just love gravy so much and I ended up needing a top-up because those schnitzels were big and I needed extra gravy! Berry cheesecake for dessert. I absolutely loved spending Sunday lunch with my awesome family. We never run out of things to say, and we’re always teasing each other in the most fun way possible. One of my cousins has the most contagious laughter ever, and it’s like a domino effect-we always end up laughing so hard! In the evening we watched the Masterchef grand final. My friend and I were texting each other the whole time and It felt like we were watching it together which made it extra fun! Well, friends I guess that’s a wrap on the last few days of the school holidays. I can hardly believe how fast the days flew by and It sure was a fun two weeks! Thanks so much for stopping by to read my blog and I hope that you guys have a great week. Happy Monday!        

Hi, friends welcome back to this week’s edition of Hello Monday link up with Holly and Sarah. It’s nice to be back today sharing a bit about my very relaxed weekend with you guys. I hope you had a wonderful weekend and were also able to unwind and spend some time with your favourite people. A Relaxed Weekend Saturday My relaxed weekend was off to a super slow start and my biggest achievement on Saturday morning was getting out of bed and having a shower. I feel great post-surgery but I can tell I’m not quite there yet in terms of motivation and energy. I can totally understand why the doctor recommended taking two to three weeks off from work. I was just plodding along not doing very much. When my friend rang and invited me over to her place for a cup of coffee. So I went over and had a really nice time chatting with her for a couple of hours. When I got home I got started on making a chicken casserole for dinner. Even cutting up an onion felt like a big effort on Saturday. So I was really happy when I remembered that I had frozen some chopped onion a short while ago. Sometimes if I have a big onion and don’t intend to use it all I will just chop up the whole thing and freeze what I don’t need for later. Recently my aunty showed me that she uses this cold-pressed garlic paste instead of fresh garlic as it saves her a lot of time. So I went ahead and bought some to try. She was right, it does taste good and it saved me time fiddling with garlic cloves. I will still use fresh garlic but it’s handy to have this garlic paste in the fridge as a quick and tasty alternative. Welcome Home Sam Sam got home in the evening at around 7.30 and it was so good to see him! He had gone away to Evan’s Head with a friend for about a week. His friend was house and dog sitting and the owners of the house had said he could invite a friend over to keep him company. So Sam went along for a mini getaway as he is off from uni at the moment. Evan’s Head is about an 8-hour drive from where we live. But Sam and his friend flew there and back for $90 which was much more convenient. And with the price of petrol, flying was also probably a whole lot cheaper than driving. Saturday morning Sam caught an early flight back to Sydney and went straight to his part-time job. So we didn’t see him until the evening when he got home. Sushi missed him and was happy to have her buddy back. After telling me all about his fun trip where he did a lot of fishing and swimming (It’s a whole lot warmer in Evan’s Head than it is in Sydney!). Sam lay down on the sofa and fell asleep. He was so exhausted, and when I went to bed I just let him stay asleep. There’s nothing quite like falling asleep on a comfy sofa. Sunday Sunday I felt way more motivated! I even vacuumed under the sofa cushions. It wasn’t too bad but I’m always amazed to find bits of crumbs from snacking on the sofa while watching TV. I mean I thought we were pretty good at aiming for our mouths when we ate! Sunday afternoon I needed to grab some Panadol and an asthma inhaler at the chemist. I don’t have asthma but I have been battling a bit of a cough and cold. With the cold air, I find that my chest feels tight and I cough a lot, especially at night. It’s usually an annoying winter thing for me, but with my neck still healing it feels extra annoying having to cough so much. The asthma inhaler really helps. On the way to the chemist, I spotted these pretty flowers at the florist. But look at the prices!! Woah, flowers are so expensive! I forgot to take many photos this weekend. But I couldn’t believe these prices and so I remembered to take a pic right then and there. Blake St Kitchen When I got home Steve and I decided that it would be fun to go out later and grab a drink and something to eat. It felt like ages since we had gone anywhere together. We decided to go to Blake St Kitchen and enjoyed a really nice time. We had some wine and shared a fisherman’s basket. Steve was also happy that he got to catch some of the footy game on the screen. Ha! I quickly worked out why he chose to sit at the table we were at! Favourite TV Shows When we got home I felt so relaxed and sleepy. I had a lie down on the sofa and watched ‘Escape To The Country’. I was surprised that the couple on the show actually bought a property. I’m pretty sure that it’s the first time that I have ever watched an episode where they buy any of the properties that they visit. I had a nap and then when I woke up we watched a few episodes of Blue Bloods. We are up to season 4 and I just love this show so much! It’s a perfect blend of crime-solving, family dynamics and relatable characters. I think my favourite thing about Blue Bloods is that it really does an amazing job of capturing the essence of family values and strong bonds. If you haven’t watched it you really should! So I guess that is about all that I got up to this weekend. Thank you so much for joining me today and taking the time to read about my relaxed weekend. I hope you have a great week and I look forward to being back here on Wednesday for

Hello friends and Hello Monday! It’s time to welcome a brand new week and after such a fun and super busy weekend, I’m ready for it (sort of 😜). Friday night I felt pretty tired after such a busy week at work. But luckily I didn’t have to worry about making dinner because hello leftovers! And so I got onto doing some food prep to get things rolling for our Saturday night Cousin Connect dinner. I always look forward to our fun monthly get-togethers. And this time It was my turn to host! Here is the menu for the night While I was making the sauce for the chicken lasagna and beef lasagna. I was watching/listening to Masterchef on my Ipad for extra cooking inspiration. I love using Mutti passata because I think the tomato has the right balance of sweetness and acidity compared to other brands. Haha, I’ve really been influenced by how they talk on Masterchef. They are always commenting on the right balance of flavours! This Speedy Spaghetti spice from Gewürzhaus is amazing because it makes bolognese sauce taste so good. Now I use it all the time whenever I make spaghetti bolognese or beef lasagna. I seasoned the chicken lasagna with some sage and thyme just to give it a unique flavour that set it apart from the beef version. Then I let everything cool and popped the sauces in the fridge ready to make the lasagnas on Saturday. Relaxing with Friday Night Sweet  Treats Afterwards, it felt so good to finally sit down to watch 9-1-1 with a cup of tea, some cookies and hazelnut chocolate. Aaah so relaxing and a delicious Friday night treat! Saturday Dinner Prep On Saturday around midday, I assembled the lasagnas using my incredibly easy lasagna recipe where I don’t have to bother with making a bechamel sauce. Instead, I just mix ricotta cheese and cream and it turns out amazing. I roasted the chicken. Made the potato wedges. And a big salad. I set the table and everything was ready when everyone arrived at around 5.30 pm. We ate so much! Then we played a super animated, loud and very fun board game. Time for dessert! There were so many sweet treats. We had the apple crumble with ice cream that I had on the menu and my aunty also brought some fabulous-looking doughnuts. We’ve added another cool tradition to our family dinners: birthday cakes! My cousin brought a small birthday cake, which we’ve decided to do whenever someone in our family has a birthday during the month. And guess what? In June, we’re celebrating two birthdays! It was a fantastic night with lots of yummy food, fun games and a whole lot of belly laughs. Sunday Sunday I visited my aunt and uncle who I hadn’t seen since February. My aunty made a delicious lunch and I stayed and chatted with them for ages. She gave me some huge avocados from her tree to take home. I’m really looking forward to enjoying them when they are ripe enough to eat! It was such a lovely way to spend a Sunday afternoon. When I got home I had to take care of this mountain of folding. Haha, after such a fun weekend it was back to the reality of chores that I hadn’t had a chance to get onto. In the midst of getting everything ready for our awesome family dinner, I managed to keep up with the washing and hey, I figured I’d tackle the folding whenever I got the chance. It didn’t take too long as there were a lot of sheets and towels so I was done in no time. Sunday Night Steve had Sunday night off from work. He hasn’t been home on a Sunday night in two years! So it was really nice to hang out on the couch eating snacks and watching TV. But after a couple of episodes of Blue Bloods, I kept doing my old snooze and wake-up routine. So I’ll have to go back and rewatch the episode properly. I went to bed and I’m pretty sure that my head must have touched the pillow and that was it. I was out, so tired after a really fun and super busy weekend. I hope you guys had a great weekend! Thanks so much for stopping by to have a read and I hope to see you back here on Wednesday. Linking up with Holly and Sarah Sharing on          

Hey there friends welcome back to ‘Hello Monday’ hosted by Holly and Sarah. It was a really sweet and simple weekend where I enjoyed spending time at home getting a few things done around the house. As well as getting out to do a few things that I enjoy to keep myself distracted. I have been in a bit of a fog last week and I think I’ll be the same until I get that dreaded specialist appointment out of the way this Wednesday. Ugh! I wish I could be all zen about it but I’m not. Anyway, I’m trying hard to stay focused on the moment and not letting my brain take me to places that I would rather not visit. So a sweet and simple weekend was exactly what I needed. Friday! Friday afternoon after work I made a quick dash to the Woolworths metro for some Friday night treats. I was really excited to find a bag of chips for half price! All the grocery items have increased ridiculously! Packets of chips are between $4.00 to $6.00. Which I think is a lot of money for a snack item, even though I do love salt and vinegar chips! Look at the price of tomatoes! It’s been so cold and so that’s a perfect excuse to cook up some comfort food. And nothing beats a huge lasagna, creamy potatoes and a big guilt-relieving salad. I made it on Friday night and it kept us fed and warm all weekend long! Saturday We had planned to go out for breakfast on Saturday morning. But I had a feeling that there was no way we were going to make it. It was Steve’s turn to close the restaurant on Friday night and he didn’t get home until 4.00 am. So on Saturday, he had a very much-needed sleep-in. And instead of going out, we stayed home and drank hot chocolates and enjoyed ham and cheese croissants for brunch. To be honest, after the week I just had I was also more than happy to stay home warm and cozy in my robe and pyjamas for the whole morning! Hourglass Face Tint Saturday afternoon I went to our local Westfield just to have a wander around (keeping distracted). I bought some face tint from Mecca that I was running low on. The sales lady told me that they are discontinuing that particular item and I was lucky to get the last tube. Sigh! I’ll have to find another product that matches my skin tone once I run out. But first I’m going to make sure that I scoop out the very last drop of tint from this old tube! A Very Cheap Iron I don’t own an iron and just use my handheld steamer when I need to. Would you believe that back in the day I used to iron everything, even tea towels! I clearly must have had rocks in my head!! Anyway, sometimes I find that I do need an iron so when I spotted this one in Kmart for $7.50 I grabbed it. I won’t be using it very often but at that price, I really hope that it doesn’t explode or something! I also bought a cute top from Witchery and when I walked out of Westfield it was getting dark even though it was only 5.20 pm. And by the time I tuned into my street after a fast-paced 20-minute walk, it was nighttime. Even though our area is pretty safe, I still don’t love walking home when it’s dark. It was a freezing cold night and I was craving soup! I threw together some two-minute noodles, snow peas, slices of rotisserie chicken and an egg. It didn’t look as pretty as I had envisioned but it tasted delicious! Then I spent the rest of the evening watching some favourites and drinking lots of cups of tea snuggled up under a soft blanket. Sunday Sunday morning I went to church and even though it was sunny and the sky was bright blue. It was so cold and windy! Haha! I was wearing a super warm alpaca scarf and I had to take a pic of my hair going everywhere so you could see what I meant by windy. Even a good spritz of hair spray didn’t do much to help! After church, I stopped off at a small local cafe called’ Stevies’ where they have so many delicious fresh produce, gourmet food items, artisan bread and ready-made meals. I wanted to pick up something for a quick lunch to take home and share with Steve before he had to go to work in the afternoon. When I walked into the cafe I was so surprised to see some of our friends having coffee! I love these guys and I have known them forever. I stayed for a chat before I headed off home with some goodies. We had some olive sourdough, with beef ragu and shared a very filling salmon pattie. It was nice to taste some of the food from the cafe and I think that I will get some things from there more often to enjoy after church. Sunday afternoon I got my shopping delivered. Then it was time to meal plan, blog, and get my head around the fact that the weekend went by in a flash. It really was a very sweet and simple weekend which I am very grateful for. Thanks so much for stopping by today and letting me share with you a few of the things that I got up to. I really love and appreciate this wonderful blogging community! Have a wonderful Monday!

Hey friends! Well, it’s Monday again and it sure feels like the weekend went by way too quickly! Don’t you agree? Oh well, I guess I just have to keep reminding myself that there are many reasons to love Mondays. And linking up with Holly and Sarah for Hello Monday is definitely a highlight! I loved this weekend because I got to spend time with my family, enjoying some yummy treats and watching some fun TV shows-it’s the simple things and I couldn’t have asked for anything better! Friday Night For me, the weekend officially starts the minute I walk out of work at around 4 pm on Friday. And I love to kick it off with a sweet (or savoury) treat for the evening. So on Friday, I decided to stop off at our local 7-Eleven for a Krispy Kreme doughnut. I stood there staring at the glass cabinet for ages like a kid and I just couldn’t decide. In the end, I chose my usual- the pink one with sprinkles because they’re the best! I enjoyed munching on it while I watched TV in the evening. Saturday Saturday my big boy Luke came over for the day, his fiancee was working all weekend and she couldn’t make it. It seems that my family have weird working hours and it’s getting to be a bit tricky finding a time when we can all be together. So Luke, Steve and I had lunch together minus Sam because he was at his part-time job. Then Steve went to work and Luke and I hung out until Sam got home and the three of us ate dinner together in the evening. After dinner, we had good old Sarah Lee apple pie with ice cream for dessert. And watched a few episodes of Dr Who. I hadn’t seen any episodes for a while and now I’m right back into this classic show again! We watched an episode that was all about time dilation. And afterwards, we were all discussing what this meant. Luke has this incredible ability to understand the most complicated theories and has a head full of facts and general knowledge. Bless him, he tried so hard to explain time dilation to me in a thousand different ways complete with YouTube videos and simple diagrams. But I was all like…. I just could not get my head around it! Sam was also confused which made me feel better😂. And in the end, we were all roaring with laughter. Because clearly, physics isn’t my thing! We laughed so much my stomach hurt! I love those kinds of belly laughs. I gave up trying to understand and poor patient Luke gave up trying to explain and we just kept enjoying a couple more episodes of Dr Who. It was such a funny night! Sunday Sunday I went to church and I’m excited that we have started a new sermon series on the book of Romans. It was around lunchtime when I got home from church and I was feeling hungry for eggs so I had breakfast for lunch. I don’t ever feel hungry first thing in the morning and my appetite doesn’t seem to wake up until around 10 am. Then I spend the rest of the day thinking about food and excited for my next meal! This avocado was looking and feeling a bit dodgy but when I opened it, it was ok. Avocados are funny like that. One day they are as hard as rocks and then the next day they’re almost too soft. At least it always feels like that to me. I sprinkled some of this delicious seasoning on the avocado and it was so good! I love the crunchy saltiness. It’s no secret that Bundaberg ginger beer is one of my favourite soft drinks. The other day I bought some mini cans which are really great because I can satisfy my craving without committing to a whole regular-sized bottle. In the evening I did my meal plan and then online grocery order.  And I finished off a very pleasant Sunday by catching up on more 9-1-1. I am so addicted!! And just like that, the weekend was over. But it sure was a fun one enjoying the simple things! Happy Monday!        

Hey friends! Hope you are all doing well. I’m happy to be back here today linking up with Holly and Sarah for a recap of my weekend. I had a pretty relaxed weekend, just soaking up the last of my holidays. I didn’t get up to anything too exciting but it was a nice relaxed one and I loved every minute of it! Saturday Saturday I just slept in and then I spent most of the day leisurely catching up on a few bits and pieces that I needed to do around the house. It has been wonderful not having to rush around getting things done or playing catch-up for the past two weeks. Banana Bread I grabbed a couple of things from Williams Sonoma when I went shopping at Bondi Junction on Friday. And one of them was this banana bread mix. I love banana bread because it tastes great and we always seem to have very ripe bananas that I need to use asap. It was so easy to make and I just added some crushed walnuts on the top before I popped it into the oven at 15o°C for 50 -55 minutes just like the instructions said. I ended up having to put it back in the oven for a further 30 minutes because it was still raw in the middle when I took it out. But it was perfect after cooking it for 30 minutes longer. I had a slice with a nice cup of tea on Saturday night. Then Steve had some for brunch with plain yoghurt and strawberries on Sunday morning. Sunday My last bit of holiday fun was a shopping trip to Ikea on Sunday. I needed a new lithium cell battery for our remote control for the under-cabinet lighting in the kitchen (our whole kitchen is from Ikea) so I thought that this was a perfect excuse to go. Well, it turned out that they didn’t have any in stock. But I still ended up leaving with a trolley full of this and that. Funny how this always seems to happen whenever I go to Ikea! I bought another plant for the lounge room to try and hide the ugly cables under the TV cabinet. And I also got a little plant for our ensuite. Since I have been much better at looking after the plants that I already have at home. Im feeling confident that these new additions are not destined for doom. A few other things I bought were a coffee plunger, candles, containers and a new clock for my bedside table. This new school term I am determined to make sure that I get out of my cozy bed once I hear the alarm go off. I usually use the alarm on my phone but it’s just too tempting to keep pressing snooze. I find it such a struggle to get out of bed in the cooler months! The new Ikea clock doesn’t come with a snooze button so that’s a good thing! Even though I went to bed at a reasonable time I didn’t sleep well at all. I seem to struggle to get a good night’s sleep on Sunday nights during school term which is super annoying! I must be jittery about going back to work. Monday It was a pupil-free day today and we had an emergency response training session in the morning. It was a fun and informative refresher course. The trainer, a seasoned firefighter, kept us all engaged from start to finish. And we even got to try out a fire blanket and an extinguisher, those extinguishers are so heavy! It was great to revisit the basics and brush up on our skills. After the training session, we had a long meeting and then a delicious lunch which was provided by the preschool. Then we finished off the day by getting the classrooms set up for the children who start back on Wednesday. Tomorrow is Anzac Day so it’s a public holiday. Anzac Day is a day of remembrance for the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps and all servicemen and women who have served in wars. It is nice to have a public holiday but it kind of feels strange going back to work for one day and then have the next day off. Even though it will be a shorter working week, weeks like this never really seem to feel any shorter. I wonder why that is?? Anyway, thank you so much for stopping by to read a recap of my weekend. All in all, it was a nice relaxing one. I’m excited to have a day off tomorrow for Anzac Day and I look forward to being back here on Wednesday. Happy Monday!    

Hey there friends! How was your weekend? I hope that you all had a good one. Mine was pretty mellow, but sometimes those are the best kinds right? I spent most of my time at home, doing a whole lot of things that I totally enjoy but don’t usually have the time to do during the busy school term. And boy it was such a treat! Saturday For the past few weeks, I have been really keen to find a show that I can binge-watch on my own. Currently, I’m watching Blue Bloods with Steve and The Walking Dead with Sam and I’m loving both. Although The Walking Dead sometimes scares the living daylights out of me! But I like to have a show that I can watch at my own pace. And I found one that I’m totally loving- 911 on Disney Plus! It’s so good with just the right amount of tension, drama, and possible romance. I managed to tear myself away from the umpteenth episode to make dinner and I think this was my biggest achievement on Saturday! Spare It was pretty late in the evening and after watching TV all day I almost felt like my eyes were going square so I decided to jump into bed and start reading Prince Harry’s book, Spare. I’m pretty late to the party and it seems like almost everyone has already read it. But I was determined to wait patiently for it to become available from our local library. Now I have to admit that I had heard so many details about the book that I thought that I might not find it interesting anymore. But I was wrong and I’m so glad that I was wrong because I absolutely loved it and could not put it down! So here are a few thoughts. I’m going to try and stick to a few thoughts because I could probably go on and on! No Time To Grieve Right from the first few pages I was hooked and as I read it I could almost hear Prince Harry’s distinct voice in my head. The book starts with Harry describing that horrible time when he was a young boy and he learnt of his beautiful mother’s death. Prince Charles came into his room, told him the news and then pretty much left. No hug, no comfort, nothing. Then the next day it seems that it was business as usual. Even after the funeral, it seems that nobody talked about the tragedy. Not his family, his school friends. No one. Remembering That Fateful Day It made me think about what I was doing when I first found out that Princess Diana had been killed in a car accident. I remember it was a really cold afternoon and we were living in the tiny flat that we were renting. Steve was getting ready for work and I was playing playdough with Luke who was nearly four years old at the time. Funny how some details stick in your head! Anyway, I turned on the TV and there it was. Every channel was reporting this terrible news and I literally could not believe my ears! I wanted it to not be true. How could this possibly be true? I was so sad, and I remember calling my mum who hadn’t yet heard the news. After I called her I called other relatives and then friends. We were all stunned and very very sad. I cried watching the funeral and seeing that letter on the coffin that said ‘Mummy’ just about broke my heart. It seemed that everyone was talking about Diana everywhere. I know that I was. I guess my point is that it almost feels like everyone else in the world had the opportunity to grieve the loss of Diana, Princess of Wales. And we didn’t even know her personally. Yet Harry and I’m sure this includes William didn’t. It sounds like they just had to carry on. So it’s no wonder that all of this has taken a huge emotional and mental toll on Prince Harry. And maybe this book is part of his grieving and healing process. A Great Read I have read some comments about Spare being a book full of whingeing and complaints, but it’s not like that at all. Prince Harry’s story is laid out in raw detail. And it’s all about him finally having the voice, to tell the truth- even if it’s incredibly uncomfortable! The book highlights the enormous struggles and challenges that Prince Harry has faced throughout his life. Yes, he is a Prince and so comes from incredible wealth and privilege, but he is also human. And what comes across clearly is his desperate plea for awareness and change in regard to the press and tabloids. As I read the book I often found myself shaking my head in disbelief at how reporters can make up such blatant lies. And then get enormous financial rewards for selling these lies! And it really makes me sad that people can be so unkind. I really like Harry and Meghan and I hope that they can have a long and happy life together with their children. And I really wish for the day when I open up my Google home page and I don’t see yet another mean story about them. Sunday The only downer to my mellow weekend was that I started to feel unwell again on Sunday morning. Remember that annoying head cold that I told you about last week? Well, it turned into a sinus infection. My face was aching so badly that I ended up going to the doctor in the afternoon and he prescribed some strong antibiotics. I’ve been taking Panadol for the pain and I’m hoping the antibiotics kick in fast and do their thing to get rid of the infection. So I didn’t really do much on Sunday other than blow my nose, watch more 911 and read Spare which

Hi there, friends! I hope you are all doing well and enjoyed a great weekend. For me, the weekend was an absolutely perfect opportunity to enjoy a cozy weekend at home. I didn’t have any plans for Saturday or Sunday. So I took full advantage of it by staying home all weekend long. It was so lovely to spend the time catching up on a little of this and that. It was wonderful to be in my own space, surrounded by my favourite things, and take the time just to be. I really needed a weekend like this one! Friday Night Pasta Night But before my cozy weekend at home started I enjoyed a fun family dinner on Friday night. My aunt hosted this month’s cousin connect. She is such an amazing cook and it was delicious pasta and schnitzel on the menu. An Early Egg Hunt We even had an easter egg hunt because my cousin and her family are flying to Ohio next week and they won’t be here for Easter. And to make the hunt a bit more competitive we decided to include anyone 18 years and younger. So Sam, his sweet girlfriend who are both 18 and two of my cousin’s kids who are 12 and 9 all got to hunt around my aunt’s house for chocolate eggs. It was very funny to watch these two grown-up kids against the real kids! Reminiscing We sat around talking for ages after dinner. I just love how we never run out of funny family stories. This time the conversation turned to my mum. And we all reminisced about her funny antics, especially the way that she used to tease our cat Sushi. She loved our cat and she used to tell me how much happy she felt having Sushi’s company when we were all at work and school. We all had a good laugh remembering how mum used to have staring contests with Sushi to see who blinked first. Yeah, my mum was funny and we all miss her very much. Saturday Just like that, the summer sunshine disappeared and autumn arrived. The sky was grey and it rained all weekend. I found myself reaching for my warm hoodie and I had to put cozy quilts on our beds because hey when it’s 15°C-21°C in Sydney that’s when I start to shiver hehe. Sam went to work early and Steve and I enjoyed a very late breakfast of scrambled eggs and crispy bacon with tomatoes and mushrooms. I saved some for Sam to eat when he got home in the afternoon. It was also perfect weather for hot chocolate with marshmallows. And for lighting candles and embracing the cozy atmosphere. I’m so proud of myself for sticking to my goal of meal planning every week. I think I have only had one week where things went off the rails. Despite this small hiccup, I’m happy that I haven’t let one bad week derail me. So as planned I made a mouth-watering roast lamb for dinner. It was so tender and juicy. The best part was that it was deboned which meant that carving it up was a breeze. I also made some blueberry muffins. I opened my T2 tea sampler that Sam’s girlfriend gave me for my birthday. And I made a nice cup of white tea. It really was white! A Cozy Sunday Sunday I didn’t even make it to church. Instead, I stayed home and had a late breakfast of crunchy rice bubbles. Then at around midday, Steve and I watched the last two episodes of season one of Blue Bloods. It’s such a great show and we are absolutely loving it! Steve went to work and I had a very late lunch. I made a lamb wrap with some salad and pita bread. It was so good. Then I pulled down my small box of Easter decorations. I don’t have a lot of decorations, just a few. And I scattered them around the house for a bit of a cozy Easter vibe. I added more eggs to my bowl of stone eggs that I always have on the dining room table. Hung some eggs with bunny faces on my decorative sticks. I placed a silver bunny and a couple of light-up ceramic eggs on the hallway table. A green bunny and Easter sign. And because we don’t have a lot of places to put decorations in our small house. I sat these silver bunnies on the open shelf in the kitchen. I was really happy with the small Easter touches around the house. In the evening I used up a whole lot of vegetables that had seen better days and made soup. In the evening I wrapped myself up in my soft pink blanket to watch my favourite movie ‘Volver’ with Penelope Cruz. Phew, after a hectic week at work that left my head buzzing, I was just craving a cozy weekend at home. I really needed to hibernate indoors and recharge my batteries. Now I feel ready for the short working week and I am so excited that Thursday is the last day of preschool and then it’s a wrap for term one 2023! Thank you so much for being here today. I hope that you have a wonderful week and I’m excited to be back here on Wednesday. Take care, friends! Happy Monday Linking up with Holly and Sarah Sharing on  

Hi friends I hope that you all had a wonderful weekend! I am really sad to see the weekend end so fast but I am very excited that we are now in the countdown for the end of term break. We finish term one on the 5th of April and then we are off for Autumn break until the 24th of April. I can NOT wait! Anyway, I am so glad that you are here today where I am linking up with Holly and Sarah to share my weekend wrap-up. FRIDAY Friday seems like a distant memory now but I just wanted to show you the beautiful sunrise from my kitchen window. Please excuse the not-so-clean window oops! The days are getting shorter now that it’s Autumn and I can’t say that I’m a big fan. When I wake up it’s quite dark and it also gets darker much earlier in the evenings. Daylight saving ends the following weekend which will leave me so confused for about a week or more! On the flip side, I am really happy that the days are still very sunny and warm. You gotta look at the positives! SATURDAY Saturday was election day and we all had to vote for an NSW Premier. Steve and I decided that we needed a bit of motivation to get us to the polls. So he suggested that we vote first and then go to the Ramsgate farmers market aferwards. We went to our local polling place and I honestly expected the lines to be super long. But luckily it wasn’t very busy which was a lovely unexpected surprise. So that meant that we were easily in and out in about ten minutes. Ramsgate Farmer’s Market Afterwards, we went to the market and bumped into our friends Marianne and Daniel as soon as we got there. We hung out with them for a while and had something to eat. I have known my friend Marianne forever, and she makes me laugh so much. We always say we need a proper agenda every time that we meet up because we have so much to say and our conversations are usually all over the place. We start by saying one thing and then digress to another bunch of topics. In the end, we totally forget about what we were talking about in the first place! Lunch Steve and I shared some Vietnamese noodle soup called Fuh which I’m never sure how to pronounce properly. We also had some prawn and pork spring rolls followed by a custard tart and coffee. After lunch, we said goodbye to our friends and had a browse around the market. I just love looking at all of the food stalls. Chicken Pie I found my favourite pie stall and bought the last family-sized chicken pie. Sadly I totally forgot about buying the jar of honey that I wanted. Oh well, I’ll just have to go back again next weekend hehe. A New Premier For NSW Saturday evening I watched the election results on TV and we said bye bye to the current NSW premier. and hello the newly elected one. A New Mini-Series After I had enough of watching all the political stuff, I started watching a new miniseries on Netflix called Safe. Steve came home from work just after midnight. I filled him in on what he had missed and he was totally engrossed in the next episode that we watched together. It truly amazes me how he can so easily get right into any show and it doesn’t matter to him how much he has missed. I always need to start from the first episode and work myself in. SUNDAY Some of the kids at preschool have been coming down with coughs and colds. I have been really motivated to remember to take my vitamins because I’m determined to try and stay healthy for the holidays. It’s easy to drink this Vitamin C effervescent tablet first thing in the morning because it is so refreshing. Hello Sushi what are you doing there? She knows that she is not allowed on my bed but she always tries hard to ignore this rule! Mid-morning I had a nice piece of raisin toast and a cup of coffee. A Fun Catch-Up In the afternoon I caught up with my lovely fun friend and we had a delicious lunch at a place called Japanese Kitchen. The food was so delicious and incredibly filling. Yum, I love Japanese food! Then we spent the rest of the afternoon strolling around the local shops. After watching ‘The Spice Trails’ together on TV last week we were keen to explore some of these global foods and spices. I took her to a local shop that has an amazing variety of spices and food products mainly from South America.  It was an interesting shop and I liked the infectious music they were playing which reminded me of my zumba days. We also walked around the shops inside our local Westfield and I spotted this card. Haha, my friend agreed that this totally described me. I’m on a constant quest for smooth hair so I bought these products which were half-price at Priceline. I walked home and I was really glad that my ankle felt pretty good afterwards. It was a bit tender after the long walk but nothing compared to how sore it was a couple of weeks ago. As I turned into my street I spotted a pretty tree. I have no clue what kind of tree it is but I really liked the purple flowers. And that’s my weekend wrap-up! I hope that you guys had a great weekend and are feeling ready for a brand-new week. Now as the school week gets underway, I can’t help but feel a little distracted. The school holidays are just around the corner, and it can get a bit tricky for me to stay focused and motivated when such an exciting break is

Hey there, welcome back to another week! I hope that you had a fantastic weekend filled with plenty of rest, relaxation, and maybe a little adventure too. As for me, I had a really nice couple of days enjoying good times with friends and family. I’m so glad that you have stopped by and as usual, I am excited to be linking up with Holly and Sarah to share some of the things that I got up to on this very hot and sunny weekend. Friday Night I got a call from my friend and her husband inviting me over for an impromptu dinner. I was really happy to accept as I didn’t have any plans for Friday night. Steve was at work and Sam was out with his girlfriend. So it would have been just me and my cat Sushi at home. My friend whipped up a quick pesto pasta and some pizza. For dessert, we had good old Maltesers with ice-cream. Yum! Everything was so delicious and it was so lovely to sit around eating and talking. I have known these guys since I was about 14 years old and they are more like family than friends. Then after dinner, we just sat around listening and singing along to our favourite music from back in the day. It was such a fun and unexpected night which I was really grateful for. Saturday I had a nice low-key Saturday. We got up later than usual and I made some scrambled eggs for a late breakfast. I also made some more smoothies. Steve commented that this smoothie tasted even better than the ones that I usually make. I totally agreed and I know that it’s because I have been using different honey. Normally I just use honey that I buy from the supermarket. But the last few times that I have made smoothies I have used honey that I bought from the farmer’s market. It’s all-natural raw Australian honey and it tastes so much nicer. I’m planning on making a trip to the farmers market next weekend. So I’ll make sure to grab another jar of this sweet goodness! A Trip To The Hairdressers And Some Shopping Later in the afternoon, I went to the hair salon to get a much-needed trim. I hadn’t been to the hairdresser since around December last year. It was so nice to have my hair washed, cut and blow-dried. I always think it’s so funny how a few inches of less hair always makes my whole head feel lighter. Here’s a pic that I took in the evening of my fresh trim. Why can’t I ever blow dry it the same way they do at the salon? After my haircut, I went to Westfield to buy a birthday present for Sam’s girlfriend who is turning 18. I bought her some pyjamas from Peter Alexander. I picked out some cute pyjama shorts with birthday cakes all over them and a light blue pyjama top to match. Sunday Morning Sunrise It was so hard getting out of bed at 6.30 am on Sunday morning to go to Steve’s swim club. But there are only a few more weeks left until the season ends and it was the second last social event. When we arrived at 7 am we got to see the most beautiful sunrise. So it was totally worth the early morning start. All of the races were finished by about 9 am which is very quick compared to other times when they have gone on until 11 am. We all enjoyed a BBQ breakfast of eggs, bacon, sausages, mushrooms, onions and bread rolls. Yum! It was such a nice relaxing morning and I was so glad that I didn’t give in to the temptation of staying in my cozy bed. A Whole Year Late Sunday afternoon, my whole family got together for an early dinner at Oatley pub. It was a bittersweet day because Sunday marked a whole year since my mum passed away. It’s hard to believe how quickly time has passed, and yet it feels like an eternity since we last saw her. I miss her so much. It was a special time when we enjoyed a meal and then spent hours talking and just being together. In the end, I really felt a sense of comfort knowing that we are always there for each other, even on the toughest days. All in all, I really enjoyed the good times that I shared with my friends and family this weekend. But today I am feeling a bit down and emotional. I’m sure that tomorrow will be better and I am grateful for the memories of the last couple of days…….So here’s to brighter days ahead! And I hope you all have a great rest of the week.