christmas in july

I have wanted to host a Christmas in July dinner for months now.  Something about the cold weather just reminds me of home and since I am officially obsessed with Christmas, it was just another excuse to eat stuffing and listen to Christmas carols. Suddenly it dawned on me that today was the last day of July so I was determined to put together some sort of family dinner in order to celebrate. Luckily, I was feeling better after sleeping for a ridiculous amount of time last night and pretty much back to my old self. Mid morning, I met up with my lovely friend Alexia, whose adorable baby bump is now on full display, for a walk and bit of sunshine before picking up some groceries. I didn't have the energy to do a proper Christmas feast, so I focused my energy on the best parts - the side dishes.  I love the side dishes. Anyways the rest of the afternoon was spent packing for my trip and resting up for the week ahead.  Dinner was delicious, complete carb overload topped off with a lemon tart.  Now I'm going to finish watching The Devil Wears Prada (don't judge me, I love this movie) and catch up on some more sleep...

the calm before the storm

This coming Wednesday I head down to Melbourne for our two biggest work events of the year. This means the past week has been filled with long hours, stressful deadlines and the typical sore throat that always seems to creep up right before a big event. Despite the craziness, we did manage to squeeze in a bit of fun this week and got to check out Wild Beasts at the Oxford Art Factory (and pay a visit to my favourite Mexican joint in the city - bring on the burritos!)

The weather in Sydney today seemed more like summer than winter so we happily ran errands, picked up some things for my trip and enjoyed the sunshine before heading home to rest up and soothe this sore throat with some Lemsip.  I'm off to bed early tonight to rest up...hoping tomorrow I feel back to my old self.

a sunday stroll

Sunday...a long walk around Manly, coffee on the beach, a few new Jamie Oliver cookbooks and some much needed fresh air.  After all this rain I can't tell you how nice it was to get out of the house, see blue sky and a few flowers in bloom, maybe spring isn't that far away after all...

scenes from saturday

Saturday - sleeping in, slow cooker on, a glimpse of sun, reading by the fire, sipping chai tea and completing my knitted pot holder.  I love the weekend.

create the look

Tonight I did two things I normally don't do: wear heels and go out on a school night. crazy huh?  I can say that wearing heels while running for a cab in the rain isn't at the top of my 'fun' list but considering I was carrying a bag full of Inside Out and Freedom goodies, it wasn't so bad.  Me and a few girls from work headed over to Moore Park to see Jason Grant give a talk about creating new looks for your home and some of the upcoming trends we'll be seeing this season.  I ate canapes and sipped sauv blanc  - how very professional of me don't you think?  It was fun (despite the rainy weather) and while my co-workers shopped around I finally got a chance to say hello to the always hilarious and very lovely, pottymouthmama (thanks lexi, had a great night!)  Now it's time to kick off the heels and head to bed...

movies & mayhem

I'm actually embarrassed to admit how much TV I watched on Friday night.  It was cold and rainy so we picked up a bottle of wine, popped in a DVD and let the stress of the week fade away. Saturday we ran errands and celebrated with friends at a birthday BBQ - too much food and wine - all signs of a good night.  Sunday I met up with Amanda and we picked up some crafty bits for current and future projects.  I've got bags full of yarn for Christmas presents - time to get knitting!

so french, so chic

I will embrace any holiday that involves garlic snails, cheese and beaujolais...happy Bastille day!

what's for dinner?

Last night I had high hopes of getting up early and going for a walk on the beach. I wanted to get some exercise, see the sunrise, feel the breeze in my hair, perhaps get a coffee - all before work. I decided this would be my new routine, my own 'thing' just for me each morning.  Who needs a gym when you've got mother nature at your doorstep right? Wrong. The alarm went off and the cold air lingering in the room slapped me in the face the second I tried to get up and you guessed it - back to bed I went. Intention was there but not much else.  It's kind of been like that lately. Busy days at work as I'm trying to complete one role and move into the next. At home, I have a list the length of my arm of all the things that I want to do.  Yet why is it that when I finally get the energy, HBO or some related TV channel just happens to premiere a new series?  I'm going to blame True Blood, Weeds, Sons of Anarchy and Entourage for my lack of energy - I can't resist.  Well, I did do one productive thing today - I made a tasty (although difficult to photograph) veggie frittata for dinner...that's something to be proud of right?

p.s. - happy birthday to grandpa Carlson...so happy to hear your voice today. x

the weekend

Another random collection of images from our weekend. Despite the sunshine, something about this cold weather has put me into full hibernation mode where I all I want to do is turn the heat on, curl under the blanket and watch a movie.  I managed to make it into the city for a birthday lunch and yes finally got to wear my dress which I am happy to say is complete and not too shabby if I do say so myself.  One cocktail turned into two and so on...it was a blast but made for a very unproductive Sunday which I was perfectly okay with.  J and I nursed our hangovers with chicken burgers and hours of lounging and movie watching.  Sometimes lazy isn't a bad thing...