All Things Pink!

So last Friday was my birthday.  

Since I'm approaching a ripe old age, it's a day I'd rather slip by quietly without much fanfare. For this reason plus the fact that we've just arrived home from a rather expensive holiday, and that we have an engagement party and wedding to save for, I asked Liam not to buy any presents.

He begrudgingly agreed; yet on the day these gorgeous flowers were delivered to my office!

He made sure they included my favourite oriental lilies, and asked for a super smelly bunch.  The fragrance of sweet fresh flowers that is currently radiating all over the house is just divine. Add that to the two lovely bunches my best friend brought by for me last week which are sitting on my bedside, and the orange lilies I bought for the lounge, there's a lovely Spring atmosphere in the air at our house!

That evening we went for dinner with my family and grandparents and mum bought me this fantastic vanilla slice cake.  It's the same cake she bought for my 21st birthday, way back when!

That pink icing on top was soooo good! Yum yum yum.

Speaking of pink, as well as trying to organise our engagement party, I'm also hosting a baby shower for my cousin in a few weeks. The party planning started off with a few hurdles and family politics, but now that we've managed to overcome that, it's time for the fun part!

I found some great free customizable websites, and put together these cute little invites. She's expecting a little baby girl, so I thought we'd run with the stereotypical pink theme!

To decorate, I thought I'd try my hand at  some of those tissue paper pom poms that are all the rage at the moment. Initially I thought I'd just take the easy way out and order them from eBay for about $3 - $5 a pop, but then I realised that they had to be delivered flat packed and I would have to fluff them myself, which is the hardest part anyway.

A quick Google search showed how simple these were to make from scratch, and a quick visit to the shops down the road and $1 a pack later I was armed with the tissue paper I needed to get started!

My first attempt turned out surprisingly well! Subsequent attempts were a little messy; I think I must have gotten a little over-confident with my initial success and was not careful enough with the "fluffing". They're very simple to make, but definitely require a bit of care and a delicate touch!

To get an idea of what they might look like, I strung some up on the deck roof. I will need to make many many more, but I think they look quite nice! I am going to try making them in varying sizes and different shades of pink, and also have them hanging inside above the dining table which I will set up with whatever pink treats I can come up with!

Also, the new deck has been completed, along with a snazzy little boardwalk leading towards the garage. It looks absolutely schmick, and we love it! It's given us a lot more usable space in our already much-loved entertaining area, and turned it from great to almost perfect!

I made the most of the Sunday morning sun, and indulged in a few cocktails with a friend.

First up, was an espresso martini, which I forgot to take any photos of :( but we finished up with a few flavored piña coladas which don't quite run with all the pink pictures in this post so far but I added a nice pink cocktail umbrella in there for good measure!



While we were in Kuala Lumpur we found this bar that served the most amazing cocktails ever! I fell in love with their flavoured piña coladas, whilst Liam got stuck into far too many of their special Long Islands. We ended up paying them a visit every single night of our stay in KL, and the bar manager was so friendly! As a parting gift, he offered me the recipe to my beloved piña colada. So far I have tried the original pineapple and lychee flavours, but am yet to source the ingredients which will produce my favourite passion fruit flavour.

I'll guess I'll just have to keep trying out the options until I find the perfect one!
And once I do find it... I'll just have to keep trying some more! ;)

Wordless Wednesday : Healesville Railway

Liam absolutely adores trains and trams, so a few weeks ago I planned a surprise trip to the Healesville Heritage Railway Festival.  As you can see, the weather wasn't the best, but it was a fantastic day out! 

And of course - what's a festival without a little kiosk food?! :)

Wordless Wednesday happens here, here, here, here and here!

What a Weekend!

We had a rather eventful weekend, which resulted in two ambulances careening up our driveway at 5:30 in the morning to wheel away a rather sorry feeling patient. 

We had a few friends over on Saturday who decided to bunk in for the night, after dinner and perhaps a few too many drinks.  A few hours after we had all tucked ourselves into bed, my friend's fiance required a bathroom stop, but unfortunately in his half-asleep and possibly slightly still intoxicated state, forgot where he was and turned left instead of right at the bedroom door and proceeded to try and walk straight down the stair case.  Unfortunately, attempting to walk down steps instead of actually stepping down them meant he ended up tumbling down the entire flight, hitting the bannister with such force that he somehow dislodged and dented it, and continued tumbling down until he landed face first into the tiled floor at the bottom.

I was woken up by the sound of my friend screaming in panic whilst her fiance was bleeding heavily from a massive gash in his neck.  The sheer force of the fall meant that he split right through all layers, to the point where the jaw bone and other innards were visible. 

Almost luckily, I had crawled into bed that night (or morning) minus any clothing, as I'd stored my pyjamas in the spare room upstairs were my friends were sleeping.  This turned out to be a blessing in disguise, as if I had been fully clothed I would most likely to have been the first one out the door to see what the commotion was about.  Instead, I roused Liam from his slumber (no mean feat!) and let him investigate. 

Whilst he did this, I ran to the wardrobe to find some clothing while Liam was on the phone to emergency services.  I could hear him describing the amount of blood all over the floors, and as I frantically fumbled around to find some pants, it dawned on me that the worst possible thing I could do for everyone would be to go out and try to "help".  Let me put it this way - not long ago my mother ended up passing out and hitting her head on the side of the wall, face planting into the tiles giving herself a nice big black eye, all as a result of the sight of a little blood oozing from a small cut on her hand.  We are NOTORIOUSLY bad at handling the sight of blood in my family, and the carnage at the bottom of my steps would almost certainly mean that there would be two people lying on the ground to take care of rather than one!

Thank God for Liam and his calm demeanour!  He has seen enough blood in his lifetime that the sight that greeted him left him completely unphased.  He was so great with it, as he calmly assessed the situation and tried to calm down my friends while they waited for the ambulance.  Unfortunately all I could do was listen to it from the bedroom, but he handled it all with such ease and managed to stay level-headed.  I was so proud of the way he looked after everyone, and kept everyone calm until the paramedics arrived!

Thankfully there was no permanent damage done.  Numerous tests were done, and although surgery was required to mend the gigantic gash it should all heal up nicely save for some scarring.  But as Liam says, chicks dig scars! :)

Anyway... now for the more mundane parts of my weekend! Friday night.

This -

Plus this -

Equals this!

Liam cooked up this yummy paella for dinner.  I have leftovers for lunch today, and I am so looking forward to it! I usually take care of all the cooking in our house because I love it, but I think from now on I'm going to make him cook for me once a week!

I didn't completely reounce my duties in the kitchen, however!

I baked a big batch of these scrummy choc-chip cookies to fill my cookie jar with!  It was such an easy and tasty recipe that I decided to do a few batches and handed them out to my new neighbours and family.  More to come on the cookies later!

Liam was absolutely ecstatic with a Hawthorn win this weekend, which means a Sydney vs Hawthorn Grand Final next week!  We're holding a BBQ, and Liam has already started decorating the house in preparation...

I'm really looking forward to having some of our closest friends come over to watch what should be a riveting game next week! I only hope to rain will hold off... PLEASE Melbourne!

What are your plans for the big day next weekend? xx

Wordless Wednesday : Forty Winks

Rocket loves an afternoon nap.

I wonder what he's dreaming about?

Wordless Wednesday happens here, here, here, here and here!

The Early Bird Gets the Worm!

I was awake bright and early on Saturday morning.

Not because I had to be.  I didn't have any pressing business to attend to, or anywhere I had to be.  Liam left early for work, but I was free to laze around and have a mega sleep-in.  But I didn't. 

I didn't, because I couldn't breathe. 
It's hard to breathe when you have this fatty lying across your body, compressing your lungs!

But with a face like that, it's hard to stay mad!

I decided to start my day with a long soak in the hot tub.  I've been coming down with a fluey sort of cold, and the steaming hot water did wonders for my aching muscles!

We were having friends over on Saturday night, so I headed to the shops to pick up some supplies.  While I was there, I decided it was time to get some fresh flowers to replace the drooping bunches that I bought last week.  I managed to find these native buds for a mere $4! What a bargain. 

I also picked up some gorgeous yellow lilies for the top of my step cabinet, but I forgot to take a photo.  They look fabulous though!  I've got a beautiful healthy looking stem which I picked out of last week's bunch sitting on the coffee table too.  As I mentioned in my previous post, the natural lighting in the house is fabulous and that with the addition of fresh flowers scattered throughout the house it almost feels like you're outside enjoying the sunshine, from the comfort of my own living room!

Saturday night's activities involved copious amounts of alcohol, some oldschool Atari battles, and dancing around the back deck trying to learn the choreography from internet tutorials to Oppa Gangnam Style.  If you haven't seen it yet (perhaps you've had your head buried in the sand?) you should YouTube it quick smart!

We ordered some Vietnamese take away from the restaurant around the corner, but beer, cider, red bull & vodka, and perfecting our Gangnam Style took precedence.  Rocket didn't mind though, because it meant there were plenty of leftovers for his dinner the next day!

No where it my pet care manuals does it give me serving suggestions for noodles, so I made sure to cut them up into small pieces so he wouldn't choke on them.  With the speed that he wolfed down his dinner, I can safely say that Rocket did not object to the way I served his dinner, and it appears he is partial to some egg wonton noodles, and combination beef pho!

The humans of the house however, had a spicy green chicken curry for sustenance.

My lovely mother text me early on Sunday to tell me that she had spent her morning in the kitchen whipping up a curry and spaghetti bolognaise for the week.  She also kindly informed me that I could swing by at any point that day, and collect my serve of each.  I do not object!

And before we know it, and all too quickly, yet another weekend is gone!  Four and a half days until the next one... bring it ON!

I shall end this post with some words of wisdom, and the motto from my weekend.

Do it.

Weekend Fry Up

One thing that I absolutely adore about our new house is all the natural light.  The sunlight streams through the windows, casting warm rays over the living, dining and kitchen.  It makes mornings such a joy, and it is almost refreshing to get out of bed to. 

We're still busy sorting things out, and getting things in order, and on Saturday morning we had plenty of things to do before heading out for dinner with my family visiting from overseas. 

We had a rather big night on Friday at the Hawthorn vs Collingwood game, so I decided to put my lovely new big kitchen to use for the perfect thing to get us going over the weekend. 

If that's not the breakfast of champions, then I don't know what is!

Light sourdough toast with crispy bacon rashers, crunchy hashbrowns, meaty beef chipolatas, creamy scrambled eggs, fried onions and sauteed mushrooms & spinach.  YUM!

On Sunday morning, we had another busy day ahead of us with friends coming over for lunch.  Again we had lots to do and a lot of cleaning on our hands (new furniture and appliances = a lot of packaging/boxes and mess!) before they arrived so sustenance was required.

A golden brown omelette, filled with spinach, bacon, sausage, fried onion and a sprinkling of parmesan! 

You'll be pleased to know that it did the trick. The house was pristine by the time everyone arrived! :)

 

Happy Weekend!

My favorite time of the week is finally here... WEEKEND!

It's chilly outside in old Melbourne town. 

I'm trying to build up the courage to get up out of bed to start my day.  

But in the mean time...

I've got my beautiful boy snuggled up keeping me warm while Liam is at work.

On second thoughts, I think I'll stay here a while... this is a perfect start to the day!

I hope you all have a Happy Weekend! xx

Grateful For A Little Winter Reprieve!

If you live in Melbourne, you'd be accustomed to the cold weather it has been bestowing upon us lately!

However, I'm looking out the window right now and it is a beautifully sunny day!

We were fortunate enough to have a lovely uncharacterisically warm day on Saturday too.

It was such a gorgeous day, and it's making me so excited for Spring. 

Liam made the most of the good weather and attacked our overgrown lawn for the last time ever!  We only have the tiniest patch of grass in our new house.  I will miss the vast expanse of lush green grass in the backyard, but one thing I will definitely not miss is the hours of maintenance it required!

Rocket spent the afternoon supervising the work, and soaking in the rays.

I hope the sunshine is here to stay!

Wordless Wednesday : Sunrise

Wordless Wednesday happens here, here, here, here and here!

Another Monday morning...

...and I'm sitting here munching on my morning tea snack of steamed carrots & broccoli and homemade garlic mountain bread chips, while lamenting at how quickly the weekend has flown by.

Friday night was the big Essendon vs Hawthorn match at Etihad, which is the game of the year for us!  Liam is a massive Hawks fan, and I am an avid Bomber and we attend most games for both team every weekend, so this clash was some major rivalry for us.

There was a lone seagull who appeared to have been trapped in the stadium when they closed the roof, and the poor little thing appeared to be hiding in the painted white part of the ground, to camouflage itself!

Unfortunately, as an Essendon supporter the little seagull was probably the most entertaining thing to watch as the game itself  was a dismal disaapointment from start to finish.

Luckily it wasn't all bad this weekend.  I got to see this little guy -

And we caught up with Liam's dad and best mate over a yummy lunch and a few games of pool.

Can you believe this delicious steak only cost $13?! Plus an extra $3 for the sauce, but still so worth it!

I overheard an interesting conversation on the tram late at night, about a bubble tea diet.  A young gentleman explained to his friend that he was off to get a bubble tea fix.  Apparently, it was the best way to go since bubble tea is very low in fat, but the fact that there is something to chew on satisfies his craving for solid food. GENIUS! Except what he forgot to mention is that a cup of bubble tea equates to around 400 calories per serve.

But that's just a minor detail!

I'm totally on board with this bubble tea diet! :)

While at the shops, I also picked up these cute ninja earphones! Unfortunately, the rubber on the earpieces were shoddy so I took them back and exchanged them for adorable little matryoshkas instead!

Did a bit of a tidy up in my bedroom, and realised I have quite a collection of scarves!

Just ignore that horrible Hawthorn scarf nestled in there.  It's Liam's and it is horrid and full of germs and other bad things! Terrible terrible colours.  But yes, I realised pretty quickly that I was starting to run out of room for storage of scarves! It's not just one layer either...

The wall of scarves is approximately 4 or so scarves thick, and the hanger has seven loops lengthwise and about 4 across. Now I understand why Liam always has a look of horror on his face whenever I wander into the accessories section to look at scarves! Oh well. At least I know I'll always be warm!

And now I've taken so long to finish this post that it's time for lunch! I've got a delicious chicken and salad roll which my lovely man prepare for me last night... YUM!

Half a day down... another four and a half to go until the weekend!!!