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Random Favourites

Hi everyone it’s so great to be back today for Friday favourites with Andrea and Erika. This week feels kind of strange because today was my first day back at work. So yesterday felt like a Sunday and today feels like a Monday except that now it’s the weekend. It’s so confusing! But anyway, I am so happy to be here today sharing a few random favourites. A Few Random Favourites A Trip To Ikea I had a fun trip to Ikea with my lovely friend the other day. Going to Ikea with her is a big favourite because we both like to browse around at the same pace. Which is nice and slow, checking everything out and even going back if we have missed something. I noticed that they have some new furniture like this comfy chair which reminds me of the very expensive Eames chair. I could totally see myself relaxing on one of these. Walking around made us both really hungry so we stopped for lunch. I nearly chose the meatballs like I usually do but then decided on the healthy salmon. I was pleasantly surprised that it tasted so good because I nearly didn’t order it thinking that it looked a bit bland. For dessert, we had orange cake. I also had an iced mocha and my friend had tea. Tea My super sweet bestie went to Melbourne for a week and she brought me back this yummy tea. I really loved the flavour because I could taste the black tea (my favourite) but as I sipped it I could also smell and taste the vanilla and rose petals. I googled who Ruth Crow was and it turns out that she was a social activist who believed that people could go on to achieve great things when they met together over a cup of tea. How interesting…go, Ruth! Delicious Dip Another random favourite is this fetta and olive dip that I bought from the farmer’s market. It tastes so good with wholemeal crackers. Frozen Avocado Slices My aunt told me about these frozen avocado slices. I didn’t even know that you could freeze avocado. We love to eat avocados but they ripen so fast all at once and if we don’t eat them quickly. Then they turn mushy and I sometimes end up having to throw them out. So these frozen slices are perfect! The Last Day Of The Holidays Thursday was our last day of the school holidays and it was Australia Day. My sweet friend who I am very lucky to work with. We both decided to make the most of the last day by treating ourselves to a lovely lunch in the city. We had a look at the shops first and then we stopped off at a bar called Reign which is located inside the iconic Queen Victoria building. I love the decor it’s just so beautiful with great big windows and gorgeous chandeliers. It was so lovely sitting there enjoying some fancy cocktails. It almost made me forget that we had to go back to work the next day….almost but not quite! The cocktail I ordered was called ‘La Vista Azul’. The waiter recommended it to me but I was a bit unsure at first because it had jalapeño as one of the ingredients. He assured me that it wasn’t spicy and I was glad that I listened to him because it was really good. I just made sure to stay away from the big jalapeño garnish! My friend enjoyed a cocktail called Kyoto Rose which looked so pretty garnished with a big bright rose petal. A Long Lazy Lunch Then it was time to head over to the restaurant for our 2 pm lunch reservation. And we had such a delicious lunch while looking at some gorgeous views of Sydney Harbour. We both ordered the barramundi. And the apple crumble. Then we wandered around Circular Quay which was absolutely buzzing with people celebrating Australia Day. And there was so much to see as we walked along to The Rocks. We ended up at a pub where we hung around for a while listening to a live band. Some people were dancing and really getting into the celebrations and enjoying the public holiday. Back To Work Then just like that, our fun summer holidays were over and today I went back to work. During the holidays the carpets were all cleaned so when we walked in this morning. All the furniture was piled up like this! It was a pupil-free day and so we started the day with a very long and productive planning meeting. The meeting finished at lunchtime and our lovely director had lunch catered for us. After lunch, we spent the rest of the afternoon moving the piles of furniture and organising the classrooms. This year I am in a different room because we rotate every couple of years. The classroom that I will be in is much bigger than the one I was in for the last two years. Getting The Classrooms Organised Our preschool building isn’t purpose-built. And it’s actually in an old heritage building which was originally the council chambers. So trying to work out the learning areas can be a bit tricky. But because we are starting fresh in different classrooms. We got creative and made quite a few changes. It meant a lot of moving furniture around but I quite like reconfiguring rooms. The classroom teacher and I were both on the same page and we wanted more space and less furniture. We ended up putting some furniture aside that was looking a bit tired. And we will decide on Monday if we are going to store it or give it away. We still didn’t finish setting up the classrooms but that’s ok because Monday we have another pupil-free day. And the children don’t start preschool until Tuesday. I’m so glad that we have an extra day because it means we can

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A Fun Weekend

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Hi friends I hope that you all had a great weekend and are all ready to jump into a brand new week. It was so good to have the sun shining all weekend long. Bright sunny days and blue skies always lift my mood and make me feel motivated. The wind had a bit of a bite to it and it still didn’t feel quite like Summer. It kind of felt more like the beginning of spring or late autumn. Ha, I always seem to bring you a Sydney weather report every time! Anyway, it really was a fun weekend and I’m about to photo-bomb you with all of the Sydney sights I enjoyed. A Fun Weekend Friday Night But first up Friday night was our regular monthly ‘cousin connect’ as we call it. Our family meets up for dinner once a month either on Friday night or Saturday the first week of every month. We started this tradition in February this year and I am so grateful that we did. The weeks and months just roll by so fast and it’s so easy to forget to catch up with family. This had happened to us over the years. Our family all live pretty close by. But over the years we had let months slip by before we caught up with each other. Then when my mum became sick earlier in the year we were all so saddened and shocked. And truly rattled to our very core. We realised how disconnected we had become. And so we came up with the idea of monthly dinners and my little cousin gave our catch-ups the name ‘cousin connect’. So out of such a great loss, we have now started a wonderful family tradition. It was my cousin’s turn to host and she spoiled us with a most delicious dinner! We had ribs, wings, mac and cheese and salad. Very American! My cousin’s husband is from Ohio and I love hearing his accent. Their kids also have such a cute Australian/American accent. For dessert, we had a huge chocolate cake. It’s two of my cousin’s birthdays in December so we sang them a happy birthday. Their cute dog Amelia came up to me to say hello while we were eating. She probably fancied a treat. Saturday I spent the day with my lovely bestie in the city. We started off by browsing through the shops and admiring the lovely Christmas decorations. There were so many people shopping in the city. I think that everyone is just so happy to be out and about without any covid restrictions. But in saying this, my friend and I played it safe and wore our masks on the train and whenever we were around too many people. We stopped to look at the David Jones Christmas window display. But it was a bit underwhelming this year. It’s hard to see in the photos because of the reflection in the window. But it was just a whole lot of mechanical things and it reminded me of something out of Willy Wonka and The Chocolate Factory. We were feeling a bit hungry so we stopped for brunch. I had the bruschetta with a poached egg. My friend had smashed avocado with lots of rocket. Visiting The Art Galley Of NSW Afterwards, we walked over to see the opening of the new art gallery building. Here’s the original building. And next door is a very modern-looking building. The view from the back of the building was pretty spectacular. See that long grey building. That’s where Russell Crowe lives. I didn’t catch a glimpse of him though hehe. I thought that this big flower sculpture was bright and pretty. It was very spacious inside the new building and all the artworks were contemporary. This pic looks blurry but it’s not. The art was meant to be blurry! I think that this was the most interesting piece. It looks like a big skyscraper. But it’s just a whole lot of mirrors. I felt a bit dizzy looking down though. And then my friend noticed that all those colourful things on the levels were actually body parts. Hmmm………I’m not sure how I feel about contemporary art. It always leaves me feeling baffled and I’m not really a big fan. I felt the same way when we visited the MCA back in September. I did like these colourful windows. Then we got a chance to create some art for an exhibit. The instructions we were given were to roll out balls about the size of our palms. Then the best ones would be added to the middle of that huge table and that was the art! Look at our spectacular clay balls. Who knows? We may be commissioned to produce these amazing pieces of art!! It was therapeutic rolling our clay and we both agreed that we felt like we were at preschool (I’m lucky enough to work at preschool with my lovely friend). The Rocks Markets After the gallery visit, we walked over to the Rock’s “Christmas markets”. None of the stalls had anything Christmassy for sale which was a bit disappointing. We had a brief look and then stopped for a drink in an outdoor cafe. Saturday was such a fun day. I love getting out and about with my sweet friend and I’m excited to plan more outings for our summer holidays. Sunday I had a mini panic when I realised that I had not yet bought a single present for anybody. So I made a dash back into the city on Sunday afternoon. And I was on a mission to tick off some presents from my list. Luckily I found a few things and I even got the presents gift-wrapped for free. That’s one of the big perks of shopping at DJs. I feel a whole lot better now that I have started my shopping. I had every intention of doing this in November but November flew by in a flash

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A Low-Key Weekend

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Hey everyone it’s good to be back today linking up with Holly and Sarah for this week’s Hello Monday. I hope that you all had an amazing weekend and are all ready for a brand-new week. I’m happy to report that after a very low-key weekend I am feeling better. On Friday I shared with you guys that covid finally got me in a big way. Thankfully I feel that I am getting better each day. Even though I still have an annoying cough and my energy levels are still pretty low I’m slowly getting back to normal. But I guess it’s just going to take a bit of time before I feel one hundred per cent. Saturday I’m excited that next Saturday we are going to our friend’s son’s wedding. I decided that it would be a great idea to get a manicure and pedicure this Saturday because I knew that I wouldn’t get a chance to get one during the week. I’m planning to wear strappy silver heels so I really needed to get my toenails looking decent. I chose a very neutral colour with a bit of shimmer in a shellac finish which should last longer without chipping or peeling. Neutral colours are always my go-to. I considered something a bit more colourful but I’m always drawn to neutrals! I just can’t help myself!! After my mani/pedi, Steve and I went out for brunch. I had smoked salmon, smashed avocado, tomatoes, edamame, and fetta sprinkled with sweet potato crisps. It looked like a spring garden on a plate and it was very delicious too! I nearly finished it all but I left a bit because my appetite is still not quite there yet. Steve had a burger and fries and he commented that he should have ordered what I did. He always says that!! In the evening Sam was out with his lovely girlfriend and Steve was at work. I wasn’t feeling very hungry so I just made myself some chicken nuggets with tomatoes and cucumber for dinner. Then I had a fruit smoothie for dessert while I watched one of my favourite movies ‘Parenthood’ with Steve Martin. Sunday I went to church in the morning and even though I had lovely conversations with some of my church friends I was feeling pretty down on the way home. I’ve been feeling really emotional lately especially more so since I got sick. And as we are heading closer to the Christmas season it’s getting harder and harder to face the fact that my lovely mum will not be with us this year. Sunday afternoon my friend texted me this beautiful photo that she found while she was sorting through some things at her home. It’s a photo of my mum (in the middle) and my friend’s mum (on the left) with another family friend (on the right). These three were very best friends and they loved hanging out together. I have the most amazing childhood memories of the three of them chatting and laughing together constantly. They always had so much fun and their friendship was just so special. I can honestly say that they were the best example of what it means to truly be a good friend. Because while they enjoyed all the good fun times. The three of them also went through some tough and dark times in their personal lives over the many years of their friendship. But they were always there for each other both emotionally and in practical helpful ways too. They supported each other through things like life-threatening illnesses of their loved ones, separations and divorce. Always showing each other so much love and respect with never a cross word spoken between them. Sadly they have all passed away now. My friend texted me the photo along with these words…” Just came across these beautiful girls who now look out for us from up above”. Sigh……I miss them so much. I loved getting the photo but it also sent me into a flood of tears. I ended up calling my friend and we had a great chat. Good uplifting conversation is so wonderful for the soul. In the evening I was still feeling a bit fragile so I took it easy and spent a lot of time resting. I also treated myself to a face mask as my skin has been feeling so dry! Not sure if it’s a combination of the weather or my crying that is making my skin feel so dry. Probably both!! I also had a coffee and a doughnut with delicious pink icing and sprinkles to cheer myself up. Before I went to bed I spent time reading some of my favourite blogs. It’s so lovely to read about people decorating their homes and about some of their Christmas traditions. It helped to make me feel a tiny bit more Christmasy. I won’t be putting my tree up until the first weekend of December. And this year I’m really going to miss my mum saying what she said every single year “Ruthie…the tree looks lovely but it needs more tinsel” haha…..as far as my mum was concerned there was never enough tinsel in the world! I hope you guys have a great Monday!

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Shows And Movies For The Weekend

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Hey everyone thanks so much for joining me for today’s Hello Monday post where I am linking up with Holly and Sarah. I hope that you guys had a great weekend! I had a super low-key one and spent all of it watching a variety of random shows and movies. It was one of those weekends where that’s about all I got up to! Shows And Movies For The Weekend! Jack Ryan I started watching the first season of Jack Ryan months and months ago and I really enjoyed the few episodes that I watched. It’s a great political action thriller and I always meant to go back to finish it but never got around to it. Well, this was the weekend to pick it up again and I finished seasons 1 and 2. I love John Krasinski and I think he makes a great Jack Ryan. It’s definitely a show worth watching and I really loved all the action scenes and tense plot lines. Homes Under The Hammer I had forgotten all about this show and then I saw it on BritBox. This was one of my favourite shows way back in the early 2000s. I love home renovation shows and I like that this show has multiple before and after home renovation stories in one episode. It was also good to watch this show in between episodes of Jack Ryan just to get a bit of a break from so many tense moments. Manifest This show is about a plane full of passengers that disappears mid-flight for five years and then miraculously reappears and lands. All the people on board haven’t aged and they have no clue that so many years have passed. I watched about seven episodes and then I stopped. It’s not that I didn’t enjoy it because I did. It’s just that I couldn’t stand the suspense. There were more and more questions at the end of every episode and it reminded me of the show ‘Lost’. I used to love watching Lost, I was totally obsessed with trying to work out all the possible theories. Then I thought that the later seasons got silly and the finale was such a huge disappointment! I have to confess that I may have googled the ending of Manifest and ruined it for myself (or saved my sanity). So I doubt that I will go back to watching it. Let The Sun Shine In I found this French movie when I was flicking through SBS on demand. Pretty much the only thing that I enjoyed about this movie was listening to the lovely French accents. It stars Juliette Binoche and it’s about a divorced woman trying to find the love of her life. Throughout the whole movie she hooks up with losers and then in the end it’s implied that she finds “the one”. I wasn’t feeling well when I watched it and maybe that’s why I couldn’t be bothered changing channels or pressing stop. Father Of The Bride I was feeling so disappointed after the French movie that I was desperate for a feel-good pick-me-up. I probably know Father Of The Bride off by heart. But it’s such a sweet movie and the characters Franck and his assistant always have me in hysterics. Doc Martin The lovable but grumpy Doc Martin is back for its final season (insert sad face). If you haven’t seen this show then you need to ASAP!! It’s about a gifted surgeon who develops a phobia of blood and ends up practising as a GP in the sleepy town of Port Wenn. The show is full of quirky funny characters and the humour is always spot-on! Because season ten has only just been released they are airing one episode weekly. This feels so weird now that I am used to binge-watching everything. I watched one episode and the second one came out the other day. I’m taking my time watching them because I want to savour every minute. That’s how great this show is! Monk Do you remember Monk?? Hahaha, what a brilliant show about a detective who suffers from anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorder. I remember watching some seasons way back when it was first aired on television. I never saw all of them and so now I have started season one and I am thoroughly enjoying it! I love how this show is a perfect mix of drama and humour. That’s about it! My whole weekend of TV viewing and now my eyes are probably going to go square! Thanks so much for stopping by to have a read, I always appreciate each and every one of you! I hope that you have the best week. Happy Monday

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Borrowing, Planning, Prepping And Reading

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Hi friends, I’m so happy to be joining this month’s edition of ‘Currently’ and linking up with Jennifer from Overflowing With Thankfulness. Today we are looking at what we are borrowing, planning, prepping and reading. Borrowing I’ve been borrowing ideas from Pinterest! I have an exciting wedding coming up in a few weeks so I have been looking at some outfit ideas. I won’t be buying anything new to wear because I have a few outfits that I can choose from. And it’s been ages since I have worn any of them because of the pandemic. But I still like to borrow ideas from Pinterest on hair, make-up and accessories. Buying I’ve gone through a bit of a scented candle-buying phase. I branched out and tried a few different scents. Normally I just buy French Pear from Ecoya. But I haven’t bought it for a while and I have been really enjoying trying out different scents. I bought a soy candle from the farmer’s market a couple of weeks ago and so far this one has been my favourite. Next time I visit the market I’m going to make sure that I buy another one. Is it just me or do you guys get excited about groceries too? Ever since I joined Woolworths delivery unlimited and I do my grocery shopping online. I just save so much time and energy! And I get such a kick out of having my groceries delivered all nicely packed for me. I wish that I had done this sooner instead of going to the supermarket every week. I am also planning to start my Christmas shopping soon instead of leaving it until later. Because I know that the next few weeks are absolutely going to fly by!! Planning My lovely family are coming over this Saturday for our monthly family get-together. It’s my turn to host this month so I have been busy planning the menu. I’m really hoping that the weather is nice because I would love to be able to use our courtyard space. Our dining room is small and so entertaining in a small space can be a challenge! We are usually all squished together when we sit around the table to eat. I always have visions of eating under some fairy lights in the courtyard. But the weather never seems to be on board with me. I was thinking that I might cook some Italian food (my favourite) and see if we can eat al fresco! It’s not supposed to rain this weekend but the weather has been all over the place lately. So I’ll see what it’s like on the day. Prepping This week we have been talking to the kids at preschool about our end-of-year plans for a Christmas concert. It’s been two years since we have had a concert with parents being allowed to come inside the preschool to watch their children perform! Wow, two whole years!! It’s always fun getting ready for the end-of-year events at preschool. It makes me reminisce about the time when my Sam who is now 18 was at preschool with me as one of his teachers! Here he is at his preschool Christmas concert when he was five. Reading I have been really enjoying reading some blogs from many lovely bloggers around the world! It’s been great to get to know a bit about them and their everyday lives. I also love reading about fun topics such as decorating, organisation, fashion and meal planning. It really is such a sweet and inspiring community! That just about sums up this month’s edition of Currently. Thank you so much for stopping by today to read about what I am currently borrowing, planning, prepping and reading. I hope that you all have the best day!

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A Good Start To The Term

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Hi everyone, it’s great to be back again for this week’s Friday favourites link up with Andrea and Erika. Wow, this week went by so fast! And now week one of term four is done and dusted! It’s been a good start to the term and funnily enough spring break almost feels like a distant memory! The days are just flying by so fast but I’m excited that we are now really heading into the fun festivities. It’s so great to see all the Christmas decorations hitting the shelves in the shops. I have also seen Halloween things but here in Australia Halloween is not such a big deal. I did a blog post about some of the reasons why Australia doesn’t fully embrace Halloween. And also about my plans for this year’s Halloween that you might like to read here. Preschool Favourites It was good to see the preschool staff and catch up on what everyone had been up to during the break. We hit the ground running because we didn’t have a pupil-free day like we usually do when we start a new term. We had kids attending preschool right from day one. But it was great to see that they were all happy to be back at preschool and they settled in like champs! A good start to the term meant that we had lots of the usual fun favourites like messy sensory play with shaving cream. Playdough noodles for me! One afternoon I was tidying up our preschool classroom when I spotted this poor doll. I burst out laughing and wondered which child might have done this! So funny!! I wore my new shoes to work this week. They are not the fanciest shoes but they are comfortable for running around preschool all day. They also fit my custom-made orthotics which is a bonus. Comfortable shoes are my favourite!! I was chatting with one of my sweet preschoolers and she showed me her new shoes. I told her mine were new too and we both agreed that hers were the prettiest. She asked me to take a photo of our shoes so that she could show her mum. I love chatting with the kids at preschool and I think that this is definitely one of my favourite things about working with children. Food Favourites Onto some food favourites for this week. This delicious dip!! I bought this dip during my trip to the farmers market last weekend. I almost didn’t buy it because I saw that it contained jalapeño and I thought that it might be too hot. But the lady who was selling the dips assured me that it was mild and she was totally right! Not only was it mild but it was also very delicious. My family love hummus and I usually make it myself. I have a really simple hummus recipe that you might like to try. But I’m more than happy to buy this dip again, especially because the jalapeno and roasted capsicum added a really nice flavour to it. Another thing that I like about the dip is that it isn’t made with canola oil and I really try to stay away from canola oil if I can. Look at these huge scrolls! We bought these from a place called Oregano bakery as an end-of-holiday treat last Sunday. The bakery is famous for its delicious scrolls and they have such an amazing variety of flavours. We chose Nutella and banana, banoffee, and cinnamon scrolls. They were so big and so filling that it took us a couple of days to finish them. I’m back to healthy eating now that I’m at work. I was pretty good during the holidays but as you can see I did indulge in some delicious treats and snacks. Which is totally fine, I’m all for a balanced diet that includes treats. I’m not a vegetarian but I did enjoy my all-vegetable lunch on Tuesday. A New Bible Study Group I started a new bible study group on Thursday nights. I was originally going along to a Wednesday night one. But I changed because I couldn’t make it on Wednesday nights anymore. There are about ten of us in the group and they are all a bunch of really nice people that I know from church. This term we are looking at Growing In Prayer. I really enjoyed going along on Thursday night. It was very relaxed and casual. We started off with a cup of tea and cake, there was time for sharing thoughts, casual conversation about the topic and lots of laughter. I really like being part of a bible study group that enjoys good humour. ********** That wraps up a few of my favourites for this week. It was a good start to the term but I am so tired after just one week back at work! I am really looking forward to this weekend. The weather is supposed to be beautifully sunny and warm tomorrow. So we have plans to go out for breakfast. Then on Sunday my son, Luke is coming over with his lovely fiancee. We are going to have lunch together to celebrate his 29th birthday. We are waiting for Sam to finish his HSC exams in a couple of weeks and then we can celebrate properly with the rest of our lovely family. Fun times are ahead! Happy Friday!

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A Fun Surprise Birthday Party

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Hi, friends for today’s Hello Monday post I thought that I would do a quick recap and share some photos of the fun surprise birthday party we had recently for my cousin’s 30th. My aunty did such an amazing job organising such a great night. She recruited her son’s girlfriend and me to help her with planning and decorating. We really enjoyed being part of the whole process. A Star Wars Theme My whole family are huge Star Wars fans. We had this really cool tradition too. As a family, we would always make sure to go and watch the latest Star Wars movies together at the cinema. I have been a massive fan since I was seven years old when the original movie came out. I remember falling instantly in love with Luke Skywalker. So it’s no coincidence that we named our oldest son Luke! Don’t worry we didn’t call our younger son Han Solo haha!! So it was a perfect theme for my Star Wars-loving cousin. We the party planners had our own WhatsApp group. Where we would communicate all our top secret plans. I think we all did such a great job too because my lovely cousin had no clue and it was so fun to see her reaction when she opened the door. We all did the usual “SURPRISE” and then played the Star Wars theme. It was great!! Costumes I found our costumes online and my aunty bought one for my cousin to change into once she arrived at the house. Oh yes, I forgot to mention that we told my cousin that we were taking her out for dinner to celebrate her birthday. But first, we were meeting at my aunty’s house. Here are some pics of the costumes everyone wore on the night! Ooops this picture is blurry because the stormtrooper was having a great time dancing! A DJ We had a great DJ who played all our favourites too. It was a really fun mix of music my cousin liked as well as good old disco and of course some ’80s music for us oldies. Every time I went to sit down and take a break from dancing. The DJ would put on another song we all loved so up we’d go again. The Cake The cake was delicious and decorated with a whole bunch of Star Wars characters too. It really was such a fun surprise birthday party! Linking up with Holly and Sarah for today’s Hello Monday post Sharing on

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Dream Travel Locations

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Hi friends, today I am looking at dream travel locations! What a fun topic, I love the idea of visiting many dream destinations BUT as I have mentioned many times before. I am totally afraid of flying so unfortunately some of these locations will always remain a dream for me! I have to say though that my fear will NOT stop me from traveling. So if I am invited to a destination wedding like I have been for January next year. Then I will get on THAT plane. If I won a trip around the world then I would definitely go. I would just be paralyzed with fear and not want anyone around me to speak to me. You see I would be too busy concentrating on making sure the plane was flying along nicely as it should be. (because I would really know if something was wrong….not). I am thankful that I have put my fear aside and have been on a plane many times before and traveled to a few really beautiful destinations. So I have listed some dream locations that I have already visited and added a few that I haven’t. Disneyland I just love love love Disneyland and I have been very fortunate enough to visit it three times. I first went when I was 10, 14, and 30. It truly is such a magical place and I remember feeling so emotional when I walked through the entrance the last time I went. I still get all choked up thinking about it. The Netherlands My husband was born in Australia but his family is from The Netherlands. I have seen such beautiful photos of the buildings, landscapes, and scenery. All looks so breathtaking plus I love the sound of the language. I tried learning Dutch a while ago but I just couldn’t get my head around it! Machu Pichu I was born in Peru but my family moved to Australia when I was an eight-month-old baby. So aside from visiting family when I was ten, I haven’t been back and I never got to see any of the touristy places. Machu Pichu does look like an amazingly interesting place to visit. Hawaii Hawaii is just beautiful! The people are so relaxed and friendly, the pace is so much slower than in the big cities. It definitely makes my list of dream travel locations. I have family who actually lives in Hawaii so I really should visit more often. The last time I went was back in 2004. New Zealand I was lucky enough to visit New Zealand in 2007. My cousin had the most spectacular wedding there as his wife is from New Zealand. We stayed in Christchurch and loved every minute of our stay. So much beautiful scenery and interesting places to visit like The Antarctic Centre. Fiji I have never been to Fiji but have heard that it is beautiful and that the people are extremely friendly. Bula! Lord Howe Island This is where Steve and I went on our honeymoon and we spent two glorious weeks on Lord Howe Island. It’s an amazingly beautiful place to visit. Lord Howe Island is a tiny Australian island in the Tasman sea. It has crystal clear waters and the most gorgeous beaches. There are not many people living on the island and they only allow a certain number of tourists in to visit at any one time. So this means that it is never crowded, you can literally have an entire beach to yourselves!! Furthermore, what totally surprised me was that you can leave your hotel room unlocked and leave any valuables on the beach and nobody steals anything! Nantucket I hear about Nantucket a lot from many blogs I read and it just sounds like the most fantastic place! I don’t know much about it other than that it looks like such a cute place to visit. Canada Canada looks just glorious! A friend of mine visited a few years ago and she went to places like Lake Louise and Whistler. Her photos of the scenery looked absolutely spectacular. Someone once described Canada to me like this “Canada is like Australia only way better”???hahaha!! Sweden I watched a show called “Wallander” a few years ago. This show was set in Sweden and I think I loved looking at the background scenery as much as I loved the show. Sweden fascinates me but I think that I would have to visit in the Summer. If I can’t cope with Australian winters which are mild compared to most of the world. Then there is no way I could cope with a Swedish winter! ******** So these are my dream destinations. Some of these places I would love to go back to. Others I would really love to visit in the future. Thank you so much for stopping by to have a read and I really hope that you have the best week! Linking up with Sarah and Joanne for today’s post Sharing on

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candles for fun things to do when you are at home alone

Staying Warm And Cozy

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Hi friends, I know a lot of you are enjoying Summer at the moment and I’m feeling a bit jealous looking at all your sunny pics haha! As for me here in Sydney, it’s been freezing cold so this weekend has been all about staying warm and cozy! Hope you all had a great weekend. Here’s a snapshot of mine for today’s post, thank you so much for stopping by to have a read. I always appreciate it so much!! Friday Night We had our first Friday of the month dinner with my family at our place on Friday night and we had a blast. I love my family so much and every time we get together we have the best time. Not everyone could make it this time around and we missed a couple of family members. One had to work and the other had another commitment. But that’s ok, we’ll blink and before we know it, it will be our July get-together! Time flies by so crazy fast! I tried to keep the menu simple. With Steve working Saturday evening it meant that I didn’t have my right-hand man to help me. Because he’s in hospitality he knows exactly how to time things just right so that the food miraculously appears all hot and ready on the table. But I think I did ok and everything turned out great. We started with a cheeseboard. I made Mediterranean chicken served with a big salad, rice, crunchy baked potatoes, and garlic bread. Because you can never have enough carbs! For dessert, my aunty brought a big chocolate cake and I completely forgot to take a photo. But everybody loved it. Saturday I went to the bakery to pick up some bread rolls and on the way back to the car. I was struck by how blue the sky was. It was bright blue and sunny but super cold and windy. I spent most of the day doing some chores that I didn’t get to during the week. I went to change my son’s bed sheets. He normally strips his own bed but routine flew out the window this week. He was sick again with an upper respiratory tract infection plus he had a bunch of assignments due. Anyway, when I went to get the sheets off his bed I heard an unimpressed miaow. My little cat was staying warm and cozy all wrapped up in the sheets. Ha! she wasn’t too happy about having to move! I watered the plants with this cute watering can I picked up from Ikea a while ago. Initially, I didn’t like it because the water spilled if I tipped it too fast. But I have learned to tip slowly and it works great. A couple of months ago my Monstera plant had lots of new leaves that sadly turned brown and then black. When I googled it. Google said that it was because I wasn’t watering it enough. So now I am making sure that I water every Saturday. The same goes for my Peace Lily. So far so good. No more droopy plants or brown/black leaves. Fingers crossed these lovely plants survive my brown thumb. I washed my rangehood filters. I’ve heard you can put them in the dishwasher?? I didn’t this time but I should try it next time. A Surprise Dinner Invitation I was all set to spend the evening home alone watching a movie under a cozy blanket after dinner. Like every Saturday Steve was at work and Sam was out with his lovely girlfriend. But my friend rang me at around 6.00 pm and invited me over to her house for dinner. We only live a few streets away so I said YES! Got changed and was there in a flash. Impromptu dinner plans are so much fun and we had a great time. She made cottage pie and I found out why hers always tastes so good. She mixes parmesan cheese into the mashed potato before she spreads it over the mince. I will be doing this from now on for sure! Sunday We all slept in and skipped breakfast. Before we knew it, it was lunchtime. We had leftovers from Friday night (yes, I always seem to over cater). Steve went to work and I caught up on some blogging. It was another cold day and it just got colder as the sun went down. The sky was a very pretty pink though. As the sun started to set I went around the house lighting some candles. I’ve got these great battery-operated candles that I bought from Pottery Barn. I love them because you can set them with a timer and they turn on automatically at around 4.30 pm every day. Such a cool feature! I really love lighting candles in the evening, especially during winter. The warm soft glow of the candles makes me happy and It’s one of the things I like to do to make my home feel snug. A while ago I did a post on “How To Make A Home Feel Cozy”. If you would like to read about five simple ways to do this, you can find them here. We just spent the rest of Sunday at home relaxing which was really nice. See my little cat, she’s all curled up on her soft pillow under the coffee table. That just about wraps up my weekend. It was a fun one that as usual went by way too fast. I really do hope you all have a wonderful week. Happy Monday! Linking up with Holly and Sarah Sharing on

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Welcome Back Friday

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Hi everyone and welcome back Friday, so nice to see you again! Can you believe that it is nearly the end of February already? I usually feel sad to see the end of summer, but I feel differently about it this year. In all honesty, the weather this summer has been pretty blah! So for the first time ever I am actually happy to see the end of it. While we are on the topic of the weather I guess my first favourite for this week has been Listening to the rain in the evening! My goodness, it has been bucketing down for the last few days. While I am not a fan of wet weather during the day, I do love the soothing sound of it at night. Wet preschool days are definitely more challenging. Being stuck inside all day with about 40 kids is not ideal at all. This was what our playground looked like. I snapped these photos around pick-up time. Why does it always seem to pour down with so much rain during school pick-up time? The poor parents were getting saturated, even the ones with huge umbrellas! Some Pretty Red Roses I stepped outside my door to have a peek at the rain and I saw this pretty rose blooming in my front garden. Roses are my favourite flower and the other day when I was chatting to my lovely friend outside my place as she was leaving after a visit. I mentioned how I needed another rose bush as there was a gap where one had died. So when I saw her on Thursday. Look at what she surprised me with! Lovely groundcover roses, perfect for that big gap in my front garden. She is such a kind and thoughtful friend! A Cosy Candle I lit a candle that I got from the supermarket recently. I love the soft glow of a nice scented candle on a rainy evening. Most definitely a huge favourite! My Favourite Headphones I have decided that these are my favourite headphones! I bought some Jabra Bluetooth earpods last year and I wasn’t a fan. They hurt my ears and then only one earpod would reach full charge and the other one wouldn’t. It just annoyed me! I have had these Sony headphones for many years and they were a birthday present from my oldest son. They are so comfortable and the sound is great. I wore them the other day to listen to music while I was folding the washing (not a favourite chore). Fun 80’s Music Listening to music while doing any kind of housework is a favourite because it makes things way more fun. It does take me a bit longer to get the job done though because sometimes I can’t help but dance! While doing all my folding I was listening to some of my favourite 80’s music like I know, I know my boys can’t believe that this song is probably one of my favourites. This one is another favourite too and this I could go on and on. Just love 80’s music Comfy Summer Slides I bought these cute pink slides from a shop called Miniso. They sell all sorts of nick-nacks, gadgets and a variety of small storage solutions. I think the store originates from Japan. Anyway, these slides were only $10 and they are super comfortable and perfect for this hot weather. The little spot bump things on the inside of the slides stop my feet from feeling sticky. Previously I had a pair of Superga slides that cost way more than that. Unfortunately, they fell apart really fast and they were not nearly as comfortable as these ones. Playdough We are always running out of playdough at preschool so we have to make it constantly. I made some Autumn inspired colours! This playdough recipe I follow makes the softest play dough ever. If you are interested in making some for your little ones, you should really try it. Playdough has so many fantastic educational benefits too. You can find the recipe here. I guess that’s about it for this week’s favourites. I’m excited for a quiet weekend at home. It’s supposed to be stormy until the end of next week. Happy Friday friends, I really hope you all have a great weekend! Linking up with Andrea and Erika for today’s post

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