NYE 2012

This is what Maddy and I think of NYE, a lot of hype over nothing. Which is why we are spending it at home in our pjs where it's warm, comfortable, cosy and NOT crowded with drunk fools.

2012 has been quite the year! It started off with a big high, David proposing to me with a stunning ring and the start of our wedding and honeymoon planning. Towards the middle of the year there were lots of changes at work, fell victim to the flu not just once, but twice and have been on a bit of a health roller coaster since then.

This year I have learnt to really appreciate good health, looking after myself properly, simple things like making our home my haven where I can relax and destress and the joy that a pet (more like fur child) can bring.

2013 brings a happy marriage and amazing honeymoon, good health and an increased positive outlook on life. I aim to do more things that make me happy and I would love to master the art of meditation and reap the rewards of being a calmer, peaceful person.

Cheers to 2012, we have had our ups and downs and I wish you all (if anyone even reads this haha) a happy, healthy and fun filled 2013!

Sick day

And I hate taking sick days but this morning my stomach was burning and as soon as I got up I kept throwing up. Nasty. TMI for you yet?

I get awful acid reflux and I've had it now for weeks without relief, Zantac has not been working its magic. According to Dr even with such bad reflux I should not be vomiting.

Anywho am taking Losec now will see how that goes. Last time it was this bad I took Nexium and I had the worst side effects ever. Fingers crossed.

I leave you with my faithful companion keeping me company in my misery. I luff her so much!

Happy Boxing Day !

So I've been a bit of a bad blogger, but I did receive an iPad for christmas and have downloaded the blogger app which means I should hopefully get better at it!

Hope everyone is enjoying their holidays. Ours has been lazy with christmas lunch at the parents and we are having a BBQ at our place this evening for family and whoever is not doing anything haha.

My first Boxing Day sale purchase was a Tontine Australian wool quilt since we are in desperate need of a new one. It was half price with free shipping on the Tontine website! A kind voguette pointed me in the right direction.

I really want to buy Little Big Planet Karting, but only if D will play with me. Games on your own aren't much fun. Might head to Spotlight to get ourselves some new bed linen as well.

Have been feeling a bit poorly lately, my stomach has been even more sensitive than usual and I keep getting really bad reflux which makes me feel miserable, yuck.

Wedding centrepieces

Invitations have been ordered, I'll post photos once we receive them. These are the 2 centrepieces I am tossing up between. I like fish bowl incase you hadn't picked up on that.

 

 

What do you think?!

I am a bad blogger

But here are some cute photos of Maddy to make up for it..

 

 You can never get upset at a face like this!! How hot was it this weekend?! Ridiculous. It is now windy as anything, I hope it's blowing in some cooler weather!

 

 She looks a little bit guilty in this photo, that's because I was scrunching the dead leaves and she kept stealing them from me to chew on.

Had a tasty dinner at the Sunnybank Hotel last week (it seems so unlikely but their food is really really good!). This is parmeson, pistachio and thyme crusted pork sirloin on mustard seeded mash with steamed green beans and a red wine jus. Delicious!

Loving the latest delicious magazine, everything is so pretty and some nice easy recipes in there.

Hooray that Monday is over. I had a bad, bad case of Monday-itis today.

Sydney Town

Off to Sydney next month for the weekend to attend D's dad's 60th birthday!

It will be at some hotel in Cabramatta but we will be staying in the city. Any recs for a fab hotel would be much appreciated!

Booked our flights tonight as Jetstar had a crazy sale where flights were $45! That's less than half price! Bargain.

Seeing as we've been to Sydney a fair few times and D used to live there we won't be doing any sight seeing or shopping this time round. I'm more interested in food. Thinking Laduree, Zumbo's at Star, Jamie's Italian, Ms G's and Ms Chu's. A stop by the fish market would be fab as well.

Sydney-siders, what else would you recommend?!

A Revelation

well a small one. It was Sunday afternoon, D was playing games and Maddy napping after our walk. I had just finished painting my nails (see below) and was having a soothing mug of English Breakfast with some whipped PB on crackers when I decided to browse Etsy for wedding stuff.

   

I started off looking for hair things but that became boring. I then started looking for guest books. I was planning on having one of those where it's just a picture and everyone signs their name on a leaf/ balloon/ love heart/ whatever so we could then frame and display it.

After some browsing I still wasn't feeling overly inspired with what I could find so I threw an idea out to D - let's not have a guest book.

D is a minimalist, and was a big fan of this idea so, that is one chore ticked off the list! We will not be having a guest book. I am not really the sentimental kind and besides, we will have wedding cards and photos to remember the day by.

Hens Night / Bridal Shower / ??

I know "traditionally" the bridesmaids or in my case I'm only have one so my Maid of Honour is the one that organises the "hens" and it's usually a surprise.

For those who know me this is no surprise but I am a total control freak and the thought of a surprise event gives me the heebeejeebees ! Now I don't want a traditional "hens", no strippers, no penis straws, no veils or banners. I want to keep it simple and classy and have so far decided.

Kitchen Tea
- a catered high tea in the afternoon which I will be inviting all female guests to attend. This is to be held at an apartment in the city which I'm thinking of booking for the weekend. I don't mind if a few games are played, just nothing too cheesy or invasive haha!

Dinner & Drinks
- with whoever wants to stay on into the evening, most likely the "younger ones" haha. Am thinking Jade Buddha but I haven't been there in forever so will need to visit them sometime to make sure it's up to scratch (told you I'm a control freak!) - I would hate to have an event somewhere which served mediocre meals and drinks!

I won't be having any themes or make the guests wear / not wear any particular colours (not such a control freak after all? haha) as I'm sure they will dress to the occasion. We will not be putting a dress code on the wedding invitation either, if someone ends up attending looking absolutely drab that's just embarrassing for them and will make the rest of us look even more fabulous!

Now the question, where does one purchase pretty yet inexpensive bridal shower invitations. Is etsy the way to go?

Blueberry Rant

I love blueberries, fresh ones. They are my favourite fruit (well, one of my favourite fruits) but their season is quite short and even when they are in season, are expensive. I've been paying about $5 / punnet so when I saw them at Coles today for $3.50 I got so excited and bought two punnets. They  looked beautiful and fresh. But I have been deceived. They are incredibly sour. I have eaten about 10 in the hopes that the next one will be better, but without luck :(

What does one do with 2 punnets of sour blueberries? D suggested I sprinkle sugar or icing sugar over them to sweeten them up.

Kicking off the long weekend..

with an awful awful tummy bug!! I had the worst tummy pains all day Friday and Friday night was spent in the bathroom. Am feeling better now but have no appetite whatsoever (which is VERY unlike me!).

 

 D has gone out to dinner with the boys, so it's just little Maddy and I tonight. First we watched Dynamo the magician and now Madagascar is on! Best. So funny, looking forward to the 3rd one coming out on DVD (don't have any legit reasons/children to see it a the cinema!).

 

 D spoils Maddy and last week ordered her a whole box of treats!! This should last quite awhile. There's all sorts in there, sweet, savoury, crunchy, chewy... she was pretty chuffed!

 

 This week our lily bulb flowered as well, we got 2 flowers out of it! And there is a 3rd at the back. So pretty, we will have to get more.

Wedding Update

I'm sitting here rugged up in my Hello Kitty blankie, watching Breaking Bad with D and decided I'd update ya'll with some wedding news. A tentative booking had been made for our reception venue (the dinner is going to be a traditional Chinese wedding banquet with several ... I think 12 in total, courses). Well today the full deposit was paid and our date officially locked in. We had originally planned on 70 guests max which sounds like a lot, but turns out I have approx 20 relatives coming from overseas which was completely unexpected, meaning I had to reduce the number of friends I wanted to invite. Anyway, we need to have a minimum of 80 guests which means we "have" to invite 10 more people! I'm pretty excited that I'll be able to invite a few more friends, I just don't know who now! Our "B List" is very, very long. But I'm happy and feel more at peace that I can have some of my friends attend.

T is for Tuesday

 

It was a snuggly Sunday at our house!

 

 

Little words of wisdom and encouragement. There's a little quote for each week in my Moleskine. This week's is as above!

There were more photos but they were sideways... And I don't know how to rotate them on Blogger?

The weekend

Maddy having a lazy afternoon nap on Saturday with our teddy bear and papa (not in the photo!). Lazy sods they are!

 

Visited Rocklea Markets on Saturday morning with our parents. Had delicious German sausages and bought lots of lovely fresh fruits and vegies. Also bought some macarons from Monsieur Macaron's stand. Coffee, macadamia, hazelnut, pistachio, passionfruit and salted caramel.

 

 

Spring time is gorgeous with all flowers coming into bloom. Our potted chrysanthemums are doing exceptionally well, I just love how white and fluffy they are!

 

 Whilst the lazy beans were snoozing, I made myself a cup of coffee and sat down with my macaron and latest Yen in our backyard, enjoying the sunshine and fresh air.

Hope the rest of you had a lovely spring weekend! Loving this weather! x

Chevron

I'm loving chevron printed textiles at the mo. So happy, bright and cheerful. Would love cushions for the couch and a sheet set for the bedroom.
I know UO sells the doonas online but they don't have the size/colour I want.
Where have you seen or purchased some chevron or zig zag printed textiles or linen?

It's a dog's life

A lovely spring day here in Brisbane. Took Maddy for a drive and some big walks out to the bayside.. She's now snuggled in her bed nice and clean after a warm bath when we got back.

What's For Dinner?

Tonight we're having lemon roasted chicken drumsticks! I hope they turn out ok. Have decided on my breakfast for this weekend is going to be toasted banana and walnut bread with ricotta and organic honey, with a big mug of English Breakfast. Weekends are the only time I have for a "fancy" breakfast. Wonder what everyone else is having for dinner tonight?

On another note, Brisbane has been beautifully warm lately, I luff it 110%.

What are you reading?

What is everyone reading at the moment? I'm in the market for a new book and not sure what's new, what's good or what's bad.

I tried 50 Shades of Grey. I truly did but couldn't even make it halfway through the first book. I wasn't expetting anything magnificent literary wise but my goodness the writing was so so awful. I cringed my way through the first few chapters.

I got halfway through the third book in the Hunger Games trilogy and it couldn't keep me excited enough to want to finish it. The first book I loved, the second was ok, the third I struggled.

So I've had a bad run of mediocre books lately :(

Happy Spring Weekend

Hooray ! Spring couldn't come quick enough this year! I normally enjoy winter but this year's winter seemed longer and colder than usual. Plus it's been a rough few months.

Had Yum Cha with the family at Landmark on Saturday. That place is always so incredibly busy!

Then picked up some essentials which I have been needing for awhile - some delicious tea from T2. So glad there's a store at Westfield Carindale now and I don't have to trek all the way into the city. Bought Strawberries and Cream and Sencha Peach. Could have so easily walked out with much, much more!

Also grabbed I Love Juicy shampoo from Lush. Best stuff ever for oily hair like mine. Also got a sample of their new Veganese conditioner.

Hope everyone had a lovely, sunshiney weekend! X

Unfashionable ?

I know the trend has well and truly come and gone but it has taken me this long to learn to love them. Harem pants.

When I first saw them I swore black and blue I would never wear them. But I saw a pair at Kmart (yes my friends, the store where true fashion lies haha) and the grew on me until I had to have them. So I bought them. And wore them. And love them! So deliciously comfortable!

I don't care that they're not "in" anymore I'm wearing them. And considering getting more!

Oh, The Places You'll Go!

Congratulations!
Today is your day.
You're off to Great Places!
You're off and away!

You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes
You can steer yourself
any direction you choose.
You're on your own.  And you know what you know.
And YOU are the guy who'll decide where to go.

Bit of hump day inspiration. Courtesy of Dr Seuss - what a clever, clever man! Over the last few years I have been wanting to study and move towards the career path of a Financial Planner. This requires a Diploma of Financial Planning which I would complete at my own pace via distance education. It seems there are 2 reputable choices, Kaplan Professional and RG146.The latter being cheaper for the exact same qualification so I think I'll be enrolling with them.

The reason I hadn't started sooner was because we bought a house, so I waited a few months to settle in. Then I got a new job, so waited a few months again to settle in, then we got engaged! So I thought I'd wait until after the wedding/honeymoon. But I think I'm just going to bite the bullet and start the study. I should be receiving my bonus in September so I will use a portion of that to pay for the course.

It seems there are quite a few opportunities for Financial Planning related careers in Brisbane, but a lot require experience. Would love to know how one gains experience without having any prior!

Monday is over!

Hoorah! It also means there is only four days left of this week. I had another strength training session yesterday, more focus on legs. A bit sore but not as bad as my arms last week!

Silly me had a nanna nap late yesterday afternoon so I didn't sleep well last night and was pretty tired today. I was planning on going to yoga tonight, see how I go. After a gorgeous warm weekend it seems to be getting windy and cold again.

Check out my pretty purple chrysanthemums! So cheery.

Happy Birthday Maddy !

Maddy's first birthday today! Celebrated by getting her stitches out (got her tubes tied last week) :( and then a BBQ lunch at my parent's backyard.

Such a gorgeous day for it too! The last few days have been sunny and warm. Mum baked Maddy some meatloaf cupcakes! She loved it obviously! She was spoiled rotten with treats, toys and lots of play time and cuddles. It's a dogs life isn't it?! I get very jealous at times. She is currently sleeping at the foot of our bed, wagging her tail around but fast asleep. Must be dreaming about all the fun she had today!

Arbonne

Has anyone tried this range yet? It includes skincare, make up, fragrances and health and wellness products as well - all natural. Website can be found here: http://www.arbonneinternational.com.au/

A friend has given me some samples and I am quite liking them (have only been using them for a few days though). I've got the FC5 samples for oily/combination skin. Both the Purifying Cleanser and Toner and Oil Absorbing Day Lotion smell beautiful. I really like the Day Lotion, it's lovely and rich, without being too heavy/rich? If that even makes sense. Tried the Hydrating Eye Creme for the first time tonight, feels light and fresh.

Am keen to try their Cosmetics range next, the colours look lovely and I've been told they're very pigmented.

At the moment I'm using Dermalogica, which is both expensive and full of chemicals. I'll see how I go when I finish the samples, but at this stage will probably purchase Arbonne to give it a real go, rather than repurchasing Dermalogica.

Would love to know if anyone else has tried Arbonne and what they thought of it?

Ouch?!

Woke up this morning and didn't think I could move! In pain from my STRENGTH TRAINING yesterday! It actually got worse as the day went on. Was thinking of going to yoga but I can't even hold my arms up straight! I'll go for a run/cycle on the weekend.

Today was also the first time I've felt natural warmth in a long, long time! It was lovely! Apart from the fact that our office still had heating on and it was unbelievably stuffy.

This is my puppy Maddy being a cutie pie! I luff her so much! She is poking out from under our chest of drawers - her favourite hiding/ playing spot. It's her FIRST birthday on Saturday! Very exciting.

la Orana!

I greet you in Tahitian as that is where we are going for our honeymoon! We have booked and fully paid it off - 6 nights in an over water bungalow at the Le Meridien Bora Bora! Bliss. They have their own sea turtle sanctuary! Excited would be an understatement, it also means I will need to start gathering beach clothes! Bikinis and kaftans mostly. I have plenty of dresses which I can wear for both day and night.

I had a bit of a rough start to my day today, woke up nauseous from reflux (I've felt it coming on the last few days). Dry retched a few times - gross! But forced myself to have breakfast, popped a Zantac and was better for the rest of the day. Think I'll pop another one before bed tonight, a repeat of this morning is not welcome!

On the upside, I started my STRENGTH TRAINING today! I say that in capitals because anyone who knows me, knows I'm not a fan of heavy lifting / manual labour! Lucky I have a pretty clever / encouraging / supportive trainer! I can't remember my exact stats but I could bench and squat 15kg and did a few other things. Looking forward to being fit and STRONG!! Would love to be able to handle a full basket of groceries without struggling, or to be able to lift our crazy, heavy cast iron wok with one arm! Those are my goals! Will be eating extra healthy (I already eat healthy) to complement my new regime!

Off to eat some apple slices for dessert now! Adieu xo