Hi friends welcome to Friday favourites! I’m sharing a quick New Year’s recap as well as a few other favourites. Thanks so much for stopping by.
New Year’s Celebrations
For New Year’s Eve, we had no plans right up until the last minute. Steve and I were quite happy just to stay home and binge-watch a new series on Netflix. Usually, Steve works on New Year’s Eve but as it fell on a Sunday this year and Sunday is his usual day off. It meant that he got to stay home. Yay! Sam was out at a friend’s place for a small gathering with a few of his friends from school.
In the end, a friend of ours invited us and another couple over to their place for an early dinner. It was a lovely cozy evening with lots of cheese, wine and a delicious dinner. The night ended at around 11 pm and luckily our friends live within walking distance. We purposely didn’t drive so that we could both enjoy a drink or three.
On the way home there were so many fireworks being let off and you wouldn’t think that they were illegal over here! We got home in time to watch the midnight fireworks on TV. But we had our own local fireworks going off right near our house. Thanks again to some enthusiastic local residents! So I ditched the ones on TV and ran out to watch the ones outside our house. They were quite impressive!
On New Year’s Day, we continued with our celebrations and enjoyed prawns, oysters and some fancy French bubbly.
That’s A Wrap For Christmas 2023!
Later on, it was time to undecorate the house. I love Christmas and I feel sad that all the fun festivities are over so I prefer to get this task over and done with.
Admittedly I do like the extra space when everything is packed away.
In the evening we went out for dinner with the same friends we spent New Year’s Eve with. After all the delicious food I wasn’t feeling very hungry so I just ordered a burger.
My Favourite New Diary
On Tuesday I caught up with my bestie for brunch. We went to a cafe called The Leaf Cafe and it was decorated with all this amazing greenery.
I had the poached eggs.
My friend had the smashed avocado.
She surprised me with a new Twigseeds diary.
My lovely friend gave me one last year and I used it the whole year. In the past my diary game usually drops off as the year moves along and then I start to rely on my memory…big mistake! But this gorgeous diary is full of cute illustrations as well as inspirational quotes. So it’s very motivating.
Salads Again
I have gone back to eating salads for lunch!
As much as I love all the treats and delicious meals over Christmas. After a while, I find that I start to crave simple fresh meals. When I’m at work it’s the other way around and I start to crave burgers and fries after eating salads all week. Ha!
Sydney Kings vs Melbourne United
A big favourite this week was going to see a basketball game with Sam and some of our cousins. It was the Sydney Kings Vs Melbourne United. We had so much fun watching and cheering for Sydney. Well, half of our group cheered for Sydney but my cousin and her family are big Melbourne United fans.
The whole atmosphere in the Qudos Bank arena was amazing. I love how basketball is a fast game where both teams are constantly scoring. Then during the breaks the DJ plays music and people get up and dance hoping to win prizes and get a chance to be on camera.
My Favourite Ikea Purchase
I love my shopping trolley from Ikea and it just might be my favourite Ikea purchase ever. Look how much shopping I can fit into it. This afternoon I went to get some things for our Cousin Connect dinner tomorrow night.
We are having Italian food, that’s why I got all the fresh parsley and basil. So I better jump off the computer now and start food prepping!
I hope you all have an amazing weekend and I look forward to being back here on Monday.
Happy weekend!
Linking up with Andrea
Happy New Year! Looks like you had some fun celebrations.
What a great start to the new year! The unplanned events are always the best, the dinner with friends sounds lovely! There were fireworks here too but not as many locally as there usually is.
There does always seem like there’s much more room when the Christmas decorations come down.
I am looking forward to eating salads again when it gets warmer here.
Have a great weekend. x
Fireworks are illegal here too (in our state anyway; it varies by state as to what is allowed) but we often see spectacular displays set off in the summer. I don’t think anyone local does anything for New Years since it’s so cold this time of year. I always think our house looks larger after all the Christmas decorations are put away and I enjoy that sense of minimalism for a few weeks before I add back any other decor items. It sounds like your new year is starting just right!
Your New Year’s Eve sounds perfect. Friends are part of life’s treasures. #MMBC