Merry Christmas!

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas. I sure did.

The Christmas Tree.

These are some of the presents I received:

This is from my youngest brother who was my Secret Santa. It had me rolling on the floor laughing! I think I will frame it. Or maybe I'll just frame the photo of it and buy myself something, if I can unglue the coins from the card.

From the in-laws. I might already have a hundred scarves but one can never have enough.

From hubby, one of my favourite books of all times. The other is Pride and Prejudice. This is my third copy of the book, + other stories.

Such a beautiful book.

I was determined to get this book for my brother but it is sold out everywhere and there's already a waiting list for the reprint. I also tried to convince hubby to buy it for his sister. I don't even know how he got hold of a copy. Such a heartwarming book, I finished reading it already, well it's 98% photos.

A Mark Ryden 2014 diary. I love his work. I can't believe hubby found this diary and it's pink! I have decided to give my trusted pink leather Filofax a break this year. Plus this is easier to cart around.

My favourite thing to do with a new diary is to enter important dates. Hubby thinks it's a funny thing to do. I thought everyone does it.

 I hope everyone had a very merry Christmas!

There's Never Enough Time.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, I don't know how stay-at-home-mums of 2+ kids do it. This is the first moment I had in a long time and that's only because I chose to ignore the folding, the mess and the toddler so I can write an entry.

A couple of days ago I had to see a solicitor so hubby came home in the middle of the day to watch the kids and I got to go out on my own. It was a boring meeting but it was adult time for me and the conversation was not about garbage trucks.

I was so excited to have a to wear heels! It must have been over a year since I wore high heels, thanks to being pregnant and running around after a toddler and now carrying around a chubby baby while running after a toddler.

The rest  all of my time is spent feeding the baby, keeping Bubby out of trouble, cooking, cleaning although you would never really guess it and getting ready for Christmas. I still really struggle mentally with not having quality time to myself. I love my kids but spending day in and out with them is pretty mind numbing.

In random news:

We have a real Christmas tree!

No more of these next year. What a shame as this saved me $11.

I love this plant. If I were a plant I would be an Impatiens.

Chububby did this. The lion is now completely decapitated.

Summertime!

We found this gift card from our wedding when we were unpacking boxes from when we moved like one and a half years ago. It expired in 2009. How annoying that gift cards have an expiry. The card says treat it like cash, well, cash doesn't expire.

This is a weed but it looks rather festive.

We are well and truly into solids.

Well it has taken me three days to finish this post. Someone disrupts me every time I think I have a spare five minutes to write.

It's Now The Mash. A Room With A View.

It's now the monster mash...

 This can only mean one thing. No Chububby isn't on solids yet but it's just a matter of weeks so I'm stock piling frozen mashed food. This is mango, we had more than can be consumed in the next few days so I mashed some for the baby.

I used to think that the toilet on level 9 of Fisher Library at Sydney University had the best view but I was wrong.

View from the Parent's Room at Westfield Bondi Junction. 

It's so easy to get distracted looking at the window and forget what you're there for. I like the padded change mats too but I still use my own. I like a posh parent's room.

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas. High Tea. Happy Second Birthday, Blog!

I put the Christmas tree up last Friday. Here is Bubby attempting to put the star on top of the tree, unsuccessfully. I really didn't realise how tall the tree was when I bought it. I got it from a Christmas warehouse place and it wasn't the biggest tree there so it looked 'small' in comparison. We still haven't finished decorating it but it's only November. I want to take Bubby shopping so he can choose some Christmas tree decorations.

Today, I hosted a High Tea. It's amazing how fancy a sandwich becomes when you take off the crust. The hydrangeas are from the garden.

The blog turned 2 on the 21st of November. I have been meaning to write an entry but have been too busy. I meant to update the blog layout and finally add an About Me but that will have to wait. All I can say is the blog has once again been living up to its name.

Rain Rain Go Away

I'm a bit over this weather. I keep checking tomorrow's weather forecast hoping that it will change to something not so gloomy. Being stuck indoors on my own with two kids is doing my head in.

At least I don't have to water the garden.

It's a good day for watching a movie.

Bubby has been really difficult to put to bed of a night lately. *Sigh* I can't for hubby to be back home as the mega tantrum is taking a lot out of me. 

I Am a Changed Person.

Now that all the leftover cake and dessert from my birthday party and chocolates from Halloween have been consumed, I can now start eating healthily. I have come to accept that exercise alone will not get me back my pre-baby body, especially since I don't actually do any.

This is what I had yesterday for lunch

 Salad consisting of asparagus, lettuce, baby kale, baby spinach, rocket, mixed nuts, smoked salmon and a pinch of parmesan. 

Today I ate a little bit more as yesterday's lunch only filled me up for a couple of hours.

Smoked salmon, cream cheese, baby kale, baby spinach and rocket sandwich and roast pumpkin.

Two big tablespoons of yoghurt and a handful of strawberries, grapes and blueberries.

Yes there's a bit of cheese and full fat yoghurt (but goodness it tasted so good) but I hope this is what people call 'in moderation'. After all, I could be having a cookies n cream ice cream.

I might exercise or I might just take a nap. I'm not that much of a changed person.

26th Birthday Ten Years On.

Another year, another 26th birthday. This year's theme was The Sound of Music and I had a great time! I'll let the photos do the talking.

The invites. I also wrote a telegram style message on the back.

'I have confidence in me'/'The poor didn't want this one'. My brother asked me where I got my outfit from. They're clothes I already owned. I think I need to revamp my wardrobe!  

Brown paper packages tied up with string.

My niece and soon to be goddaughter in an outfit her mum made. So cute!

My brother the paparazzi. My sister in law also made his outfit. I wish I could sew or I wish she had more time to sew for me.

Brown paper packages tied up with string. Also sleigh bells. There were also whistles and pine cones and a frog.

Schnitzel with noodles (noodles inside rice paper roll), pink lemonade, crisp apple strudel, frankfurts (not Austrian but close enough geographically). Not close in geography are the dim sums. Well they're easy to cook.

An unexpected visitor.

Presents!

A pop up Sound of Music book to add to my collection of pop up books.

I was very much spoilt :)

An Unhealthy Obsession.

I used to have it with shoes. I used to have over a hundred pairs until I culled my collection and now I am cured of it. Can't say the same for scarves and bags.

I'm not the only one with an unhealthy obsession.

I don't know if I should organise them according to colour or pattern or designer. This is going to take all afternoon.

ETA:

These are just the blues and grey/creams. I ran out of hanger for the reds and yellows. I was going to say I feel better now, until I realised the hanger on the right is facing the wrong way. It annoys me just looking at it. 

What's Your Excuse?

This photo has created a bit of a furore on Facebook.

I can see why it pissed off a lot of people, the slogan is just a bit inflammatory. But I don't think she could have put anything down that would not be taken negatively. She has some pretty good advice on her blog here. Good for her, I say. As Britney Spears says, if you want a hot body and look good in a bikini, you better work b**ch.

So what's my excuse?

This,

this,

this,

this,

this,

this,

this,

this,

this,

this,

this,

this,

this, 

and this.

Do I feel guilty? Not really. I'd rather have eaten them than not. Anyway, I'm just waiting for my abdominal separation to close itself then I can start really working out. I heard it can take months and months to fix itself.