3 More Sleeps...

...'til my Girls Trip to Surfers Paradise.

My beautiful friends, Ali, Camilla and I are 

heading north for a bit of a mini-break.  

3 nights and 4 days of relaxing, shopping, swimming, wining,

dining and dancing... bring it on!

These are a few of my favourite things...

These are just a few of my favourite things of the moment...

{WINE}

Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc &

Waipara Hills Marlborough Cuvee Sauvignon Blanc (sparkling)

{NAIL POLISH}

OPI Just a Little Rosti at This

{TRASH TV}

Jerseylicious

 {FOOD}

Noodles

{SHOES}

These ones

{BIG SUNNIES}

Cheapies (5 dollar!) from Cotton On

 

{SMELL}

Ecoya French Pear Jar Candle

Happy days, bunnies!

x

Study Time

I have been neglecting my study since Uni ended for the year.

  

 We have had to put a bed in there for guests who have visited a 

few times in the past couple of months.

The bed will be moved downstairs shortly into the 

special space I want to create for guests.

I use my desk for wrapping gifts, but besides that, 

it hasn't seen a lot of activity. 

 

On Sunday I started tidying it up a little and 

sat for a minute looking around me. 

 

I love my little space, it is getting organised 

and starting to really come together.

 

Uni starts up again mid-March so I have a bit of time to get it 

ready for some serious study time!

 

So I get to start buying stationery again shortly 

{my favourite part of going to Uni!}.

 

^ This is above my desk. 

A little collection of things I treasure. 

It makes me happy to look at it. <3

Repaint: Diva - Catch up for Coffee

This is a cheapie from Diva (yes, the cheapo jewellery shop) called "Catch up for Coffee". I love this colour, it is nice and neutral and goes with everything. And the colour reminds me of chocolate Paddlepops (yum!).




- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Cricket, Chairs & Couches

My weekend started at midday on Friday as we took the afternoon off to go to the cricket. It was pouring with rain though so we thought it would be either delayed or cancelled. Then the sun came out and it turned into a perfect day.

 

Had so much fun, there's nothing like watching a live game of cricket.

 

Our little garden is coming along. Slowly.  We picked our first tomato.

Well, we didn't pick it, it fell off its little tree.

We made the final decision about couches and are ordering them this week.  This is the style we're going with:

In this fabric:

 

I am so excited! Can't wait for them to get here {cue the seven week wait}.

How was your weekend?

Repaint: OPI Suzi Skis in the Pyrenees

I have just finished doing my nails with OPI 'Suzi Skis in the Pyrenees', and I must say I am not a huge fan of this colour. 

 

It looks quite nice and charcoally grey but is actually v dark and almost black. I didn't want another black, I only have about 37,000 varieties!

It will do for now but as soon as it chips, I'll be repainting. Again.

Weekend

Has it really been and gone already?!

We had amazing weather this weekend so we were out and about enjoying the sunshine and blue skies.

On Saturday Husband and I went to the local home base and spent hours wandering the stores looking at furniture, electrical things, plumbing, hardware, camping goods, and more.

We picked a new couch and armchairs for our loungeroom (YAY!).

We spent some time with family burying my Grandpa's ashes on my uncle's beautiful property by the river that Grandpa loved and spent so much time on.

 

We watched some movies:

^ Confusing.

^ Crap

 

We took more photos of our beautiful boys! Yes more!

Oh I LOVE weekends... just wish they weren't so far apart!

x

Repaint

I am slightly addicted to nail polish... Just slightly...

Just some of my collection! ;)

Today's Repaint on my fingers is OPI Lincoln Park At Midnight

I love!

Ahhhh...

I can't tell where one ends and the other begins.

My beautiful boys! <3

Look at me. I'm Stylish.

A big THANK YOU to April from A Bird's Eye View 
for nominating me for a 
Stylish Blogger Award. 

The conditions of receiving this award are:
* Thank and link back to the person(s) who gave me this award.
* Share 7 things about myself.
* Pay it forward to 15 recently discovered great bloggers.
* Contact those bloggers and tell them about the award.

7 Things About Me:
1. There are 5 children in my family. 2 boys, one at each end of the family, and 3 girls in the middle. I am second youngest and therefore the youngest girl. Mum and dad still call me "baby girl" even though I am 28 years old. I like it.

 2. I work as an auditor in a state government department. What they say about auditors is true. You should meet my workmates. I have a personality and therefore am an exception to the rule.

3. My wedding dress was dark grey. Everyone said it was too unusual and that I would regret not wearing white. White has never suited me, I am too pale. I loved my dress and wouldn't change it for the world.

4. My husband and I were only going out for 7 months when we got engaged, and we got married 3 months after that.  On our first date he took me to my favourite restaurant, then we went for a walk and sat on a park bench drinking hot chocolates and people-watching. He proposed to me on that same bench.


 5. My best friend and I have known each other since we were babies. Our older brothers and sisters were all friends so when we were born later on (a fortnight apart), it was a natural progression for us to be friends too. BFFs. :)


6. I have 3 nephews, the eldest is 5, middle one is 3 and youngest is 2. The middle one lives in England so besides their short visit here over the New Year break, we only get to see him on Skype. The other two live 5 houses away from us so we see them most days. I adore all my nephews, they are such beautiful, sweet, funny boys!

7. We don't want to have children. As much as my MIL, family and others try to convince us otherwise, we are not planning to have children and we are happy in our own little bubble, loving our nephews to bits and cherishing our time with them and on our own.

 15 Blogs I Love:
 Blighty
Chocolate & Bubbles 
Cupkates
Dachsboard
Days Like These
Diary of a Girl Abroad
Fat Mum Slim
Faux Fuschia
Lola Constance Evelyn
Love, bubs and life on our lilttle farm
Ninja Tales
Semi Expat in Oz
She Will Have Her Way
The Red Deer
We Heart Life
 
xx

The Llama Thing

My husband has a bit of a thing for llamas. Nothing weird. They are just his favourite animal. 

His website has llama in its title.

When we went to NZ I organised a Llama Trek as a surprise for him.

 

 He loved it, this was his chance to be at one with the llama.

 I even did the trek with him. Now I like llamas too.

I am not one to buy crappy presents, especially if they are going to be displayed in our house. I had this photo framed for our 1st wedding anniversary.

As I don't want to turn our home into a Llama Shrine, I am selective with what I buy him.

But every now and then, something catches my eye and I can't resist.

I found this on eBay a few weeks ago and had to purchase.

And I couldn't really leave this one behind, entitled "Llama in Cab New York City" (love the vintage cars)

Then I found this little guy, and I knew he would fit in well in Husband's study

And then I stopped, as I realised I was showing something nearing Husband's obsession, and that is never wise.

x

Kitty-cats. Gift wrapping. Monday Pain. Blog award.

Our kittens, Roy and Billy, are settling in so well.

  

They love each other so much and seem to be pretty happy with us too! 

We love them, they are such great company, they make us laugh and sigh in adoration over and over again.

Just recently a beautiful friend of mine lost a very dear pet. I sent her a little gift to let her know I was thinking of her. 

It arrived today. She said she loves it. :)

Was today the longest day ever? I think so. I seriously struggled to make it through.  The light at the end of my Monday-tunnel today was lettuce burgers for dinner. Since making the burgers yesterday, I couldn't wait to eat them tonight. Small things.

One last thing. A big THANK YOU to April over at Birds Eye View for the Stylish Blogger Award. I will answer this and pass it on in my next post. Thanks April!

Taco Salad, Lettuce Burgers & Other LC Delicacies

Since I have been introducing more low-carb meals into my life, I have come up with some variations to our favourite meals.

Instead of tacos, we have Taco Salad:

Mexican Mince

500g beef mince

1 garlic clove, crushed

1 birds eye chilli, diced

1tspn ground cumin seed

1tspn ground coriander

1Tbspn tomato paste

Brown mince, add garlic and chilli and stir through, for 2 minutes.  Add remaining herbs, tomato paste and 1/2 a cup of water and simmer until fully combined and cooked through. (Measurements are approximates, so add your spices to taste, and use chilli powder instead if that is what you have.)

Salad

Iceberg lettuce

Tomato

Red onion

Red and green capsicum

Cucumber

Grated cheese

Sour cream

Salsa

Shred the lettuce, place in the bottom of a large bowl for each person. Top with mince. Dice the tomato, onion, capsicum and cucumber and sprinkle over mince. Top with grated cheese, a big dollop of sour cream and some salsa. Enjoy!

I also make it with chicken coated in the same spices:

Lettuce Burgers

Mince

Salt & pepper

Lettuce

Onion

Tomato

Cheese

Mayo

Tomato sauce

Combine mince, salt and pepper.  Shape into a burger and cook through. Take a full lettuce leaf and layer with tomato slices and onion.

 

Top with burger, cheese, slices of onion,and top with tomato sauce and mayo.

Fold lettuce leaf around contents and enjoy!

 

Obviously not the most thrilling menus, but they make yummy quick alternatives to higher carb meals that we love.

Another really quick and yummy recipe is Low Carb Cheesecake:

250g cream cheese

1 sachet diet jelly

Soften cream cheese in microwave for 40 seconds.  Mix jelly into 1/2 cup boiling water until dissolved. Beat cream cheese with electric beaters until completely smooth.Mix jelly through cream cheese until completely combined. Place in fridge until set.  Any flavour is great but Mango & Passionfruit is especially delicious!

x