Earl Grey Cupcakes

Today I wanted to do something nice for Luke while he was at work, so while I was having a cup of tea and reading some blogs this morning, I decided to bake him something. After I saw Miss Kait Online's Earl Grey Cupcake recipe last week, I was pretty keen to try them. So that is what I made today! They sure don't look as lovely as the ones that she made, but they sure do taste lovely!

Kitchen Covets

1. Venture Horizon Granite Top Kitchen Island 2. Eco Print

3. Laura Ashley Pots & Pan Hook 4. Red Smeg Fridge

5. Yellow Pepper Artisan Kitchen Aid 6. Single Saddle Seat Stool

7. Four Seasons Rob Ryan Plates

Start Your Week Off With..

• My better half by Amanda Jane Jones
• The most amazing bookmark in the world made by Opps I Craft My Pants
• Dial C for chicken by Anne Mage
• Two ingredient ice cream by The Perfect Pear
• Earl grey cupcakes by Miss Kait Online

I came across Amanda Jane Jones' blog this week, and she does this really adorable feature 'my better half' with couples. I found an awesome bookmark diy, a funny office story about chicken, a delicious tea flavoured cupcake recipe, and two ingredient ice-cream. 

Also.. would you like the chance to win a custom illustration of yourself by me? You would?! Well, head on over to Miss Teacups to enter her giveaway where she is giving one of her lucky readers the chance to win an illustration done by me. And if you just can't wait, check out my custom page for information on getting your own illustration, or send me an email if you would like to know more! Have a great week!

A Kitchen Tea, A Coffee Date & A Wedding

1. At Elisha's kitchen tea 2. Making a wedding dress out of paper

3. A coffee date with Ally 4. Mr & Mrs Ayton 

5. Me, Elisha & Abby 6. Reception

Thursday evening I attended Elisha's kitchen tea and got the chance to meet a couple of her old school friends, and members of her new family. It was a lovely evening which was spent playing a 'getting to know you game' with toilet paper, I'd never played it before, but it was a lot of fun. A roll of toilet paper was passed around and we were told to tear off as many pieces as we liked. Once everybody had, starting with Elisha, for every square of t.p you had to share a fact about yourself with everyone. It was a great way to start the evening and get into a good comfort zone amongst friendly strangers. And we got into little girl gangs for a paper dress competition where you were given a stack of newspaper and had to make a boss wedding dress out of it. The whole evening made me that much more excited for Elisha to get married on Saturday!

I left my house Saturday morning a little earlier to meet up with one of my lovely friends Alyssa for a morning coffee date at one of my old favourite cafes in Newcastle. I can positively say that I frequented this cafe at least twice a week, not including take away coffees! After raisin toast and coffee, I dropped her home so I could meet her new ferrets. I'm still a little freaked out by them, so I'll have to visit a couple of more times while I work my way up for a full on nurse of them! They are little furry babes though. 

The wedding was on afterwards, and it was a slight 'amazing race' moment trying to get there on time! The ceremony was in a lovely, sunny park/hill reserve and the weather was perfect! Elisha looked beyond stunning in her wedding dress with bright yellow heels. It was exactly how I imagined it! The ceremony was short and sweet, and afterwards Abby & I made a quick stop off to buy shoes before going to the reception so she could ease her high heel regret. The reception was on the waterfront at Newcastle and it was just a casual drinks and canapés type function, which was great. I love laid back, easy weddings.

After Elisha's wedding, I came back to the coast to help out at another wedding my family was catering for, and had dinner at my parents house & then came home to a cup of tea with Luke & an episode of Daria before bed. It was a pretty lovely Saturday!

Mr & Mrs Dirty Linen

(source)

It is my friend Elisha's wedding tomorrow and I'm so excited to see her get married. And to give her my awesome wedding present! We met each other a couple of years ago when we both lived in a share house. I let her have one of the rooms in the house because she was the biggest babe & liked maxi dresses! As I haven't been to her new house (as she lives in another state), I wasn't sure what things she would need for her new house etc. So I browsed on Etsy and found these bad boys! There are almost too good to give away! I found lots of cute variations on the design by other Etsy patrons but was most drawn to the Dustys & Lulu Mr & Mrs pillow case set. I was so excited when it arrived in the mail, and was even more thrilled to open the package and find the pillowcases neatly wrapped with accompanying Dustys & Lulu postcards with awesome illustrations. The quality of the pillowcases are excellent and I received them within a eight days after purchasing them. I'm pleased as punch with these and I cannot wait to give them to her tomorrow! I also think that I need a set for myself.

Zig Zag Nails

A couple of weeks ago The Dainty Squid & Elycia did a nail art tutorial for zig zag nails. I tried it out this week and was a little bit impressed with myself! I'm going to try water melon-esque colours next. 

Start Your Week Off With..

• Easy pick-me-up's by A New View 365
• Someone like you by Caught Up In Cake
• One girl, one dream by Apple Blue
• Ruff water by Little Friends Photography
• Mckenzie of Basil featured on A Girl Named Leney

Another Monday it seems! Throughout this past week I've stumbled upon some really neat blogs that I can't believe I hadn't already read. So this week I incorporated a little blogging strategy - linking a guest post on a blog. A Girl Named Leney is such a wonderful, cute little blog I've recently started reading. And through Leney's blog I found Basil. So to share them both, I've included a link for Leney's blog that features Basil's so you can start your week off with two new blogs! Also! I highly recommend you check out the Ruff Water series by Little Friends Photography. Puppies jumping in water. Genius! Its been my desktop background all week!

I started my week off with a teeny sleep in, & a delicious mocha from my work. And because the sun was actually out today, I did three loads of washing, went to the shops to pick a shirt up for Luke & a cute little mustard number for myself. Luke finished work a little earlier today and when he got home we played Mario Party and had cups of tea before he went back to work. I also finally invested in a water bottle with a filter to ease my e. coli paranoia!