Saturday, November 10, 2012

Young One, Theres A big Sun!

Oh, November so far you've been kind! In the short week and a half you've been here lovely, every day sorts of joys have happened. I won my first giveaway! After blogging for a year and half, and entering countless awesome giveaways for things that I didn't actually need, I won one that was delightful and practical. Peta from The Sea & Me Change's giveaway was an awesome bike helmet from the helmet company Nutty Helmets. I received a $5 voucher from price line in the mail, which is always a good thing because who doesn't like buying things and having $5 knocked off the price! I received another gem in the mail from my cousin, her save the date for her overseas wedding next year. Even though Luke & I won't be able to save that particular date to go to the wedding, it was still really exciting to get something about it in the mail. Luke & I have something as equally exciting planned for that week, but more on that later! 

This past week has also seen the return of my energy, and good moods! I haven't been posting very much for the past two months because to be completely honest - I've been asleep most of the time. When I get home from work I've been afternoon napping well into the evening, waking for dinner and then clocking in some more z's. Its been a horrible pattern that I am beyond thrilled to get out of. And now that I have more energy, I'm in a better mood. I may as well have been napping in our bin because I having been acting like a petulant Oscar the Grouch. It hasn't been pretty. And I also changed my hair style a little with some layers and a straight across fringe. And I found a packet of fingerstache rub on tattoos that were a lovely distraction today while I was working on some custom portraits. So if this is how you're going to roll November, I'm happy you're here!

Monday, November 5, 2012

Start Your Week Off With..

I had the loveliest little Monday off work with Luke today. The past week or so I've been getting up early each morning for work, and luckily my body clock didn't fail me this morning. I avoided checking the time because I didn't want to know if it was after 10 am, which is generally the case when Luke & I have days off together. Lucky it wasn't, and it was a nice sunny day outside to wake up to. We went for breakfast at this gorgeous new breakfast & lunch restaurant The Lakehouse. The interior is a perfect mixture of natural woods, creamy whites, fresh flowers, old fashioned jars, sweet treats & natural light over looking the lake. After breakfast we made a quick trip to the shops where I got a long summery dress and some cds. Our trip was cut short as we had to attend a house viewing because our current lease ends in a couple of weeks. If there is one thing I am sick of doing it is moving. Luke & I are being extra picky this time around as we intend on staying at our next place for as long as possible to avoid the constant hassle we bring upon ourselves once a year. Anyway, check out these bad boys - theres a dinner idea, birthday drooling, something to read and the cutest couple + the cutest cat doing their own lunch thing. Enjoy!

Monday, October 29, 2012

Start Your Week Off With..


Over the next two weeks I'll be working a lot because my boss is overseas. Today was my only day off this week and I didn't use it as wisely as I could have. After a handful of 5am starts last week I gave myself a sleep in, bought some vitamins & had cups of tea with my Mum. I hope everybody else's Monday was more productive than mine!

Thursday, October 25, 2012

Let's Swap Buttons For November!

It's that time of the month again!
If you would like to swap buttons for the month of November, and we have similar blog content, then send me an email - laurenemily[at]y7mail[dot]com - with a 230x110 button.
I'd love to hear from you!

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Mother Daughter Weekend On The Gold Coast

Top L-R: Rikki, me, Mum, Aunty Lea, Aunty Sharon, Mandy, my sister Ash, Sophie & Kate
Bottom L-R: Me, Rikki + Jackson, Sophie + Nick, Gertie & Mandy, Ash, Kate + Andrew

Last Friday my Sister Ash, my Mum & myself hoped on a plane to the Gold Coast for our second MDWE (Mother Daughter Weekend) of the year. This one was a little extra special because my cousin Sophie was back in Australia after living overseas for almost two years, my cousin Kate was about to drop a baby, and there was a new addition to our MDWE - my cousin's girlfriend Rikki! Rikki is an absolute babe fox, she takes dreamy pictures that could be postcards sent from love club island & she is also super duper sweet.

We arrived early at the Gold Coast where Kate picked us up from the airport and we went for breakfast. After our eggs, we made our first stop at Mandy's house for a quick tour. I wish Mandy blogged, because if she did and took pictures of her house, it would seem more like a dreamers pinterest pin board than somebodies humble abode. We then made our way to Kate's house to check out her little set up that awaits her baby, and then we checked into our rooms at the resort. Our afternoon was spent around a cheese plate, with cups of tea and catching up. Throughout the afternoon my cousin's partners came to visit too as they all live on the Gold Coast, and it was really lovely getting to see everyone after such a long time. We went for dinner at this cute gourmet burger place across from the resort where we had lettuce cup burgers. I was secretly beyond excited to try out this whole lettuce cup burger thing after seeing them on a couple of blogs, and they were definitely amazing! 

On Saturday morning we woke up to Kate & Ash making pancakes and fruit salad. Whenever we go away on these MDWE's, breakfast is always one of the funnest parts, and the biggest deals. It takes us all forever to get up and get ready and sit down at once to eat together, but Kate got her mother on and bossed us all into line! After everyone was dressed and had their post breakfast cup of tea, we went for a walk to find our lunch destination. And yes, (unfortunately) we left the resort wearing those hideous blue t-shirts. I am such a grinch when it comes to dressing up or fancy dress, I've just never ever been into it. However, everybody in my family seems to love it and therefore it is part of MDWE. Last MDWE the theme was 'sparkles' and the Daughter's organised a sparkly super hero outfit, while the Mother's went over the top and blinded us with their sparkles. We thought we had the cat in the bag with our costumes and would win our little dress up competition, but we didn't. So this time around we had the idea to go with a t-shirt saying 'You Win -MDWE'. And once again the Mother's went above and beyond with the 'medical' theme and had cute little nurse get ups. I wish I had of taken a photo to share because it was hilarious!

Aside from getting to spend quality time with my family when we go away together on these weekends, I love going away with them because I'm always introduced to something new. This time around I tried white leaf tea, ginger in a fresh juice, lettuce cup burgers and a vegetarian bento box when we went for lunch at this mixed Japanese restaurant. It's just so lovely spending time with your family as an adult, because it isn't something our parents make us do, we all want to. Our MDWE's are something that I really look forward to because we're all so lucky to be friends and share the similar interests, especially ones that clearly run in the family like watching cyst videos on youtube!

Monday, October 22, 2012

Start Your Week Off With..

I hope you all had a more productive Monday than I did. Luke & I went to The Black Keys concert on Sunday evening in Newcastle & visited my Sister for her birthday, which ended up being a late evening for us by the time we drove back to the coast. We woke up today after lunch, watched some bad day time tv with cups of tea and French pastries and went grocery shopping. Whenever I sleep in late and waste the day I feel really guilty and rather than turn the day into a productive one I generally have a sook in bed. So that is what I did. Luke put on Beauty & The Beast, filled up a hot water bottle and tucked me into bed and then he made dinner. I woke up in a better mood to a lovely dinner, X-factor & cups of tea. I may just have to bake Luke some cookies tomorrow for being such a boss! 

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Do You Have Instagram?

A couple of weeks ago I joined the iPhone club and one of the first things I did was get instagram. It is seriously addictive, and a way better time waster/filler than Facebook. So if you have an instagram account let me know! Until I change my blog layout and include a instagram widget, this will have to do! Oh, and my username is tasteslikelove.