Hello Monday

Hi friends! Welcome to today’s Hello Monday Link up with Holly and Sarah. It’s great to be here on this sunny Monday to share a little about my weekend. Thanks so much for stopping by 😊

Saturday

It was one of those cold winter days in Australia—sunny but freezing—when I just couldn’t get warm, no matter how many layers I wore. I’m really trying not to whinge about winter (after all, our winters don’t get seriously cold compared to other countries). So I’ve always felt like I shouldn’t really complain.

I came across a few social media posts about how cold Aussie winters feel and realised I’m not the only one who finds them tough—and that made me feel a whole lot better.

People visiting from seriously cold countries say the same thing: the cold here somehow feels worse. And they’re right! In places where winters are harsh, houses are actually built for it—proper insulation, double-glazed windows, and central heating are common. Over here, our houses aren’t designed that way. And come to think of it, they’re not a great design for our hot summers either!

I saw someone on Instagram say, “It’s like they couldn’t decide which season to build for—so they picked neither.” Haha, it’s spot on! And that explains why we often feel just as cold inside our homes as we do outside.

Pizza Night

Now that my rant about the cold is over, I’m happy to share that I had a lovely Saturday evening with some of my cousins when we went out for pizza.

This month’s cousin connect didn’t quite happen. We usually try to catch up on the first weekend of every month, but we had cousins overseas, one away on a farm, and others tied up with parties—the younger cousins and their friends are slowly hitting the big 30. Haha, they say they feel old… wait till they hit the big 50!

We didn’t want to skip the month entirely, so my lovely cousin J invited me (I was the only one free) to hang out with her and her family.

Ever since our recent trip to Melbourne, when we went to Sal’s, I’ve had a serious craving for their pizza. Their crust and pizza sauce are just incredible.

We have a Sal’s in Sydney too, but it’s in Darlinghurst, which is about a 50-minute drive from my cousin’s house and around 25 minutes from mine.

They kindly picked me up on the way, and the food was so good that it was worth the trek.

When we finished eating, we went across the road to the Darlinghurst night markets.

It was pretty small, with a few food trucks, a flower stall, and a hall full of vintage clothing. We enjoyed wandering around for a bit. Then we headed out and got some ice cream at Messina.

I picked the hazelnut flavour, and it was full of crunchy hazelnuts. It’s never too cold for delicious, creamy, crunchy ice cream!

Sunday

Woollies delivered my grocery shop at 8 a.m.—a bit earlier than I’m usually up on weekends. The time slot sounded like a good idea when I placed the order the night before… not so much when I had to get out of my warm bed on Sunday morning. Still, it was nice to be up early and make the most of a precious Sunday.

My lovely aunt, who lives in LA, called, and we chatted for about an hour. Then it was time for fluffy scrambled eggs, bacon, and toast for breakfast. I was actually hungry for breakfast, and that rarely happens. It must be because of the cold weather.

The bomber pants I ordered from Zara arrived. The XS just fits me around the waist—but if I eat, it won’t be pretty. So I went ahead and ordered a size S and will return whichever one doesn’t work. I’m kind of in between an XS and an S.

Normally, I prefer to size up, but since they’re bomber pants—with balloon legs and a cuff at the ankle—I was a bit scared I’d look like a genie. And I definitely don’t want to look like a genie.

So I’ll wait and see: if I have to unzip the XS after I eat, or if the S doesn’t make me look like I’m about to grant three wishes, then I’ll keep them… and have my wish of eating as much as I like granted.

No try-on pic yet—just the package for now.

Steve made scones before he went to work.

Yum–scones with the jam I bought at the Lydham Hall Open Day, topped with cream.

It was such a beautiful Sunday afternoon, so I went for a walk.

I finished my afternoon catching up on some blogging. For dinner, we had steak sandwiches, then watched a couple of episodes of Better Call Saul (can’t stand that Chuck!). After that, I probably went to bed later than I should have—always trying to squeeze out the last minute of  Sunday.

That’s a wrap on my weekend. How was yours? Hope it was a good one.