C is for Cookie

One of Brad's favourite cookies are these light and thin over sized cookies. When I was living at Mums, she really liked them too, so did her husband. A full tin would be gone in a couple of days.  Just as well these cookies are super simple to make.

I once posted about a big batch of cookies, and Mariah questioned me asking if twenty seven cookies was generally a big batch for me, as it wasn't for her. But these suckers are big!

I usually make these with a combo of choc chips and smashed up chocolate melts in both milk and white varieties. Today I only had choc chips in the cupboard, so I rolled with that. Normally they'd be called Triple Chocolate Chunk Cookies. But today, in my house they're just Giant Choc Chip Cookies.

Triple Chocolate Chunk Cookies



2 C Flour

1 tsp Baking Powder

1 tsp Salt

2 tsp Vanilla

225g soft Butter, cubed.

1 C Sugar

1/2 C Brown Sugar

1 Egg (at room temp)

1 Egg white (at room temp)

Pinch of cinnamon (optional)

1 C (or more) of a mix of your favourite chocolate chips/chunks/drops



Sieve dry ingredients in to a 1 Litre measuring jug. Whisk together.

Beat Butter and Both Sugars, until light and fluffy. Add eggs, vanilla and cinnamon and beat until combined.

Add dry ingredients, in two batches, beating on low speed.

Add Chocolate and stir in with a wooden spoon.



Take heaped dessert spoons full of the dough and shape in to balls. Place dough balls on a lined oven tray, and press down slightly with hands.



Bake at 175 degrees Celsius for 12 minutes.

"Candle In the Wind"

I love candles. I especially love scented candles. I am now at the point where cheap scented candles (thank-you The Warehouse) just will not cut it. I've also heard a little bit about the nasty chemicals which are mainly found in the cheaper candles. So recently I've been on the lookout for some delicious scented candles, of the tad more luxurious calibre. Here are a few which I like.

Pomegranate and Raspberry Scented Candle - The Body Shop 

Price: $40

Burn time: 40 hours

Ingredients: Made of responsibly sourced palm oil, paraffin free (no yucky chemicals) with an unbleached cotton wick.

Smells Like: Deliciousness. I love the fruity and fresh smell of this candle. It almost smells like a really delicious fruity candy. Would be perfect for Spring/Summer.

Where you can buy it: Check here for a store closest to you, or if you're outside of NZ, you can buy online.

Verdict: 40 hours is quite a long time, but in comparison to other candles in the same price range, the burning time is half of it's competitors. Not great value.

Love Candle - Ecoya

Price: $53.25

Burn Time: 60 hours 

Ingredients: Hand poured natural soy wax. Presented in a Sorrento jar with velvet
drawstring bag & gift box. 

Smells Like: Sexiness! The scent of the Love Candle is noted as Pink Champagne. It is a beautiful warm, almost spicy smelling. It has notes of blackcurrant and blood orange, but it's not too overwhelming. 

Where you can buy it: at Ecoya online, or check here for local stockists.  

The verdict: A really beautiful smell. Not sure if I'd be too keen to have it as an everyday scent as it is quite sexy smelling. It is the most expensive of the bunch, add that to it's lack of versatility, I probably wont be saving my pennies up for this one.

Tahaa -Vanilla Caramel Triple Scented Candle - Glasshouse Fragrances 

Price: $49.90 

Burn time: 80 hours 

Ingredients: Made in Australia using Non-toxic, food grade wax. Double wick for even burning. Also comes in a re-usable glass jar, with lid (to use as a snuffer). 

Smells Like: You crawled inside a caramel sundae. I could subtly smell this candle as I was walking down Lambton Quay. I followed the delicious warm smell of caramel to Peter Alexander, where I discovered these candles. The smell of this candle is incredibly inviting and not overpowering or too sweet, as some vanilla candles can be. If you have a stockist near you, go in and smell this baby! 

Where you can buy it: Peter Alexander Stores nationwide or Click here for other stockists both in NZ and international. 

The verdict: The shop assistant said she had bought this candle, and that she hadn't
started burning it yet, because the smell was amazing, from just having
it in her room. For 80 hours burn time, compared to the Body Shop's candle, it is quite good value. My favourite of the bunch. Start the saving.

Thank-you

On Friday night over on Facebook, a friend and I were discussing baking. Well, piping bags and nozzles to be precise. Johanna, from One Girl's Thoughts on Life, piped (teeheehee) in and said she had some of the new brand that she didn't need and asked if I would like them. I said I would. She said she would drop them off Saturday. I said that I'd swap her some cupcakes but that would have to be next week as I was busy over the weekend. She said that was fine. We made a deal.



I arrived home today to find this waiting for me.

 

You are such a sweet lady Johanna and I love your blog too. Thank-you so much for a lovely surprise, you made my day. 

Thank-you, Thank-you, Thank-you.

Cupcakes shall be on there way soon. 

X

"Every day, I'm Shuffling"

So it's essay time again. You know what that means...I've tuned in to the procrastination station.



Here are some things that I have Googled, over the past week, when I am procrastinating from completing assignments.



"How to pronounce L'OCCITANE"



"How long does Coconut Milk last?"



"What the hell is Primogeniture?"



"OPI Mermaid Tears"



"Nutritional information for reduced cream"



"Swarovski Nirvana Ring"



"Engagement gift ideas"



"Flood icing"



"Photo wall ideas"



"Badgley Mischka Shoes"



"Flash Diffuser for Canon EOS 1000D"



"Hugh Hefner's Fiancee cheating with Dr Phil's son"





Why do I do this? In the time that I've Googled all these bits of mostly useless information, I could have written an entire post...or better yet completed some of my many assignments.

Imagine being a Kennedy

I got a few guesses and a few emails telling me to hurry up with the reveal.



I WAS Jacqueline Kennedy. Well actually we both were Kennedy's. It was a bit of a fail on Brads part. When we were standing apart people looked at him and said "I don't get your costume". But with our powers combined!

Some more pics from the party...

Pocketful of Sunshine

The lotto powerball jackpot sits at thirty two MILLION dollars this week.

On the train ride to uni last week I sat and day dreamed about what I would do with the money.



Of course I dream of helping charities, travelling, designer shoes etc., etc.



But this dream was more about what I would like to do day-to-day.



I'd open my own Cupcakery. I sat on the train and thought about all the different flavours I'd bake in my shop.







Today, my friends Ren and George and I made three of them.

 

 Lemon Meringue Pie...

Coconut Ice...

Cookies and Cream...

Topped with a mini Oreo...

Doesn't that Lemon Meringue number just look like a pocketful of sunshine?

What would you do with THAT much money?

Road to Morocco

Ok, so this is not one of my recipes. I stole adapted it from a good friend. And it is amazingly delicious and twice as easy. I don't have a photo of the dish, but to be honest she ain't a looker. But trust me, if you like Moroccan flavours, you should love this tasty dinner. You can make this in your slow-cooker or in a standard casserole dish in the oven. 



Moroccan Chicken Casserole



Ingredients:

4 Skinless,boneless Chicken Breasts

1 Medium Onion

1 TBSP ground Coriander

1 TBSP ground Cumin

1 tsp Turmeric

1/4 tsp Cinnamon

2 cloves fresh Garlic

400g (or near enough) Can of Chickpeas.

410g (or near enough) Can of Apricots in natural juice

1 1/2 chicken stock cubes

Plain flour for dusting the meat\

1 TBSP Butter





 Drain your chickpeas and rinse them well. Set aside.



Add a couple of tablespoons of flour to a zip lock bag with the chicken.
Close Bag and shake to coat meat.

Using a little oil of your choice, lightly brown the chicken breasts on each side.

Set chicken aside in a crock pot or casserole dish.

In a clean pan, using a TBSP butter, sweat out the diced onion.
Add all of the spices, chopped garlic and the drained chickpeas to the onion.

Stir to coat peas with spices.

Pour chickpea and spice mix over the chicken.

Drain Apricots, reserving the juice.  Use the juice and extra hot water to makeup the stock to one and a half cups.

Pour Apricots and stock over the chicken and chickpeas.


Bake covered on 185 degrees Celsius for an hour or in the crock pot for 7-8 hours on low.





This is great with couscous and a salad.

For the colder months (and for those who have partners/flatties/husbands that don't like couscous) I always serve it with green beans and garlic mashed potatoes.



For your Garlic Mash just add a peeled clove of garlic for every two serves of potatoes to the pot when you put the raw spuds in. Once boiled, drain and be careful not to tip the cloves out. Leave the boiled cloves in the pot when you mash 'em up as you usually do - de-lish!

Guess Who

Brad & I attended a Birthday Party over the weekend. Actually it was a double-Birthday. A guy that I work with turned thirty, and so did his wife. It was a dress-up party, and seeing as we were celebrating two thirtieths, appropriately (and awesomely) the theme was 1960's.



Can you tell, by the close-ups, who I went dressed as?

Take a guess by leavin' some comment lovin'. Come on it's pretty easy!





P.S: If you do actually know, because I told you, or you were there, then...Ssshh!

"Live Your Life

Something that I've wanted to post about for the past few months is success. As I have an assignment due tomorrow and am 0/1000 on my word count, I thought "hey, now is a great time to procrastinate write a post".



A few months ago when I was re-enrolling for my last year of university I was struck down with a multitude of emotions.

I felt relieved that this would be my last undergraduate year.

I felt proud that I had finally made it to this point.

Then I felt embarrassed.



I
felt embarrassed because of the time it has taken me to complete my
degree. Yes, I've had a few stop/starts which were beyond my control.
But I also had a few bouts of failure. 

I am reminded of this
every day that I sit in a class with students that had not even begun
high-school, when I began at University.

I am reminded of this
every time that Brad and I talk about plans for the future. I get mad at
myself and feel as if it weren't for those failures that we would be
realising those dreams now. It hurts.



The reason I
wanted to post about this, is because I know others in my life hurt too.
We look at the achievements or milestones in the lives of those we
know, and instead of feeling out right joy for them, our feelings of
congratulations are marred with a tinge of jealousy.



We wonder what life would be like if we took a different career path.

We dream about where we would be if only we had done some thing different.

We wish that we had finished our degrees, and were out in the real world, earning real money. 

We worry that we may never know what it is we want to be when we "grow up".

We feel like we may be stuck at uni/in an un-fulfilling job forever. 





We have got to stop measuring ourselves against the success of others, their relationships, their jobs, their fortunes.



We
have to focus on our own happiness, in what ever shape or form it may
take. And whilst we are at it we may as well take an audit of all the
wonderful things we have in our own lives. 

All this energy wasted on entertaining the possibilities of our parallel lives is pointless.

In
wanting what others have, we miss the beauty of what we have already
been blessed with, our partners, children, our friends and family and
for some freedom.





I sat at my
Faculty Adviser's desk yesterday. He remarked on how long I had been at
University, and how many papers I had missed. He rudely, albeit, subtly
suggested how embarrassing that might be for me. This is what I said:



"Yes
I have failed a few papers. But I'm still here, aren't I? And I'm
applying to Graduate in December, so it can't be that bad, can it?"









Some people say that to enjoy life you must live it without regrets.



I don't believe this to be true.



What
I do believe is that whatever life you're living, enjoy it. It's yours,
and only yours. You can have regrets, as long as they are your regrets. You can and will have failures, but make sure that you failed doing something that you chose to do, not what others were doing or wanted you to do. It is your life after all, you may as well make the most of it.



Think about it.

“No I am sorry I think you've mistaken me for somebody else”

When I was in my last year of high school I hung out with a
girl who had a sister who was three years younger than us. One night I was
staying at this girl’s house and her sister had a friend over too. My friends
parents were going out for dinner that night, so the younger sister’s friend’s
Mum popped in to say hi check on us. This girls Mum was and still is a local
bus driver.

About eight months after I met this lady, I met her again as
I was getting on a bus after a long, looooong day at work. I was tired. The bus
driver might have said “hi Becky”. I was so tired that I just registered the “hi”
and I said hello back and found a seat. I thought about it on that ride home. Did she call me
Becky?

I told myself “Oh well next time if you are certain she says Becky, just
say actually it’s Nicole”.

A few weeks passed and I saw her again on the bus. She didn’t
say my name, but we had a big, quite in-depth talk about her kids, and her job and what I was doing
with my life. It was a nice chat. As I stepped off the bus and on to the foot path she called out “See you next time
Rebecca!”

I cringed. I turned to correct her. The doors closed and the bus pulled away. I just stood there
on the curb, feeling like twit.

 I didn’t catch the
bus as much after that. Not because I was avoiding her, but Brad and I usually drove to uni together or I bummed a
ride with his parents.   

Four years passed
by and I am now back catching the bus. Every now and again I see this bus
driver. And she always greets me with “Hi Rebecca”, or “Good Morning Becky”.

Now it is awkward. 

It has gone far too long for me to tell
her that my name is not Rebecca.  

Hasn’t it? 

If I tell her now, she will be the
one left feeling silly. Well that’s not entirely true, she won’t be the only one.

So the other morning I’m standing at the bus stop, and I see
the bus come around the corner, and this particular driver is in the driver’s
seat.  I said to myself, “just tell her”.
I said it in my head over and over “actually, funny story, my name is not Rebecca,
it’s Nicole”.  I play over the awkward
silence in my head. 

The bus stopped. 

The doors opened. 

I got on.

“Morning Becky, where are you off to love?”

“Just the station Thanks”.

I guess I will have to continue on being Becky. At least for
the twenty minute drive on occasional mornings.

''The Landlord'

The house that we rent is a self-contained flat, which is downstairs from a main house. The land-lord's beach house. This means that we have the place to ourselves most of the time, but occasionally we have to share. This is no problem for us as our land-lords are nice, easy-going, lovely people.



One thing that has been a little annoying lately is that they are having some work done on their house. This means we have a lot of tradesmen around. Mostly they are pretty good, but the early starts are staring to wear my patience thin, especially on my day off when all I want to do is sleep-in.

Luckily for us our landlords are great. One of them popped in on the builders one day and this is what I heard him say to them through the floor boards "Hey, turn that music down! I have tenants downstairs, they shouldn't have to put up with this! And you guys need to tidy this place up!" Then all you could hear was his footsteps stomping down the hall-way. If you listened really carefully you could have heard a few heads hanging in shame.

Thirty minutes later said land-lord came downstairs and apologised over and over for the mess and the loud music. He also handed us a big bottle of nice bubbles to apologise. How unnecessarily kind. Now if only he were here today to cull the loud, constant swearing and the littering of energy drink cans everywhere. But on the other hand it will be fun to hear his reaction when he checks in this afternoon. Look out sloppy builders.





I heart our land-lord.

"Sunny Days"

So as I said a few days ago, we recently went to Papamoa with Brad's Family. We stayed in a huge house (it even had an elevator). We had a wonderful time.



Some Highlights:



Swimming in the clean warm (23 degrees) Ocean, under the delicious Sunshine.

Going on a Fishing Charter and seeing a Shark!

Seeing a cruise ship up close. HUGE!

Walking up to a little look-out at Mount Maunganui Beach. ( click to enlarge)

What a great little break away.



Have you been anywhere interesting recently?

"First Year Blues"

So uni has been back in full swing for a few weeks now. The first Trimester of a University year is always the most irritating for me - and it has nothing to do with going back to study whilst the sun is still beaming. It has every thing to do with first years. And because I was stupid enough to over look one first year paper way back when, as being a major requirement, I now have to endure the First years, as a third year, at close proximity in order to complete my major.

Next year I am going to produce a pamphlet entitled "A first years guide to University life". Here are some points I am mulling over for the pamphlet.

• University life is not a fashion show, and the Campus is not your cat walk. I love shoes, but you do not need to wear 6 inch heels to class. You do not need to wear a full face of packed on make-up and red lipstick. You do not all need to shop at the same stores, buying expensive outfits - you look like some weird genetically engineered species.

• So the Government gave you $1000 and you bought yourself a MacBook. Well gee whizz, aren't you cool? The average paper costs you about $500, maybe stay off Facebook during lectures, because if you fail two of them, that laptop just cost you $2000 and six months of your academic life. 

• Afternoon classes start at ten minutes past the hour at VUW. You do not need to show up at ten to the hour and hang around/clog the walkways. If you do show up early and there is a class being held in the room you are waiting for DO NOT think that your class has started twenty minutes early. DO NOT go in to that room. You will look like an egg. And you'll feel like one too.

• Don't come to classes and chat about your new lease on life/sex/alcohol now that you're "an adult". We don't pay ridiculously high fees to here about how you got mashed on Jägerbombs over the weekend and let your room mates friend pash you in the taxi. This is CLAS104 and if you keep talking I'm going to suggest that you leave and take your chit-chat to NOBODYCARES101.

• Most external doors at uni are automatic or button release operated. Always look for the little green button. Standing at a door, trying with all your mite to force it open is embarrassing for you. It is funny to everybody else. 

• Do not ask if the notes will be put on Blackboard later. They will. 

• And finally, if you are in a tutorial with someone who seems to be a tad older than you, do not under any circumstance ask "so, like, are you, like, a Mature Student or something?" Do not ask this especially if they have just told you that they are twenty three years old. Not cool. Not. Cool.

"We're only young"

It's been a wee while since I've posted. Although there has been so much going on I haven't felt like there has been too much to share. Here's twenty quick(-ish) bits of info to get you (and me) up to speed on what's been going on.



1) I'm taking a Novel paper this Trimester. I have to read 'Pride and Prejudice', 'Emma', 'Jane Eyre', 'Great Expectations', 'Sons and Lovers' and 'Passage to India' all in a few weeks.



2) I saw my Endocrinologist recently. It was mostly positive.



3) I started a healthy eating plan  - (refer to point 2).



4) Brad turned 23 recently. We. Feel. Old. This occasion was the catalyst for many discussions which in short covered "what are we doing with our life?" and "where are we going?" topics - (refer to point 2). It also resulted in some exciting decision making for us, although with that comes a sense of disappointment. We both want everything and we want it now! We now realise that is just not possible. We will have the things in life that we want the most, but good things. take. time. and "we're only young".



5) We went on holiday with Brad's Whanau to Papamoa. It was lovely. Solo post to follow.

6) A close friend moved away for a few months. Miss her. Lots.



7) We've been seeing heaps of Movies lately. HEAPS. We wanted to host an Oscars party and place bets but we were away - (refer to point 5).



8) I tried on a $150,000 diamond ring, after an old school acquaintance and I bumped in to each other at a jewellery store. It was so big. Too big to feel real - it was actually kind of gaudy.



9) Got sick, completely out of the blue. Whammo! Down for a week with a virus.



10) I recently used my day off to clean out and organise our kitchen cupboards, my jewellery box and scrub the shower floor. I'm not a dirty person - but I am a tad untidy, so this was a weirdly enjoyable day for me.



11) A few weeks back my cousin Courtney came down from Palmerston North and we hit the dance floors of Wellington with my sister Kels and Brad a.k.a "Man enough to go out with 3 chicks". I wore my new dress which was bought with Birthday money from Brad. It originally cost $200. I got it for $40.

12) I've lost my skull candy headphones. I think I left them in Papamoa. Womp wow.



13) I relished the opportunity to bake and bake and bake so we had things to nom whilst in Papamoa. I made a Choc-Caramel Slice, Lemon Bars, Apricot & Coconut fudge slice, seventy chocolate chip cookies and a bacon and egg pie. Guess what Brad did not pack? I'll give you seventy guesses.



14) I used the sewing machine I got for my Birthday to sew some tights for my God-Daughter, Aaliah. I sewed up the wrong seam. I don't have a quick un-pick.



15) Speaking of the cherub, I looked after Aaliah a few weeks ago. I made play-dough, we played outside, played dress-up and read stories. It was an awesome day. My heart beams for her. Even though she wouldn't sleep.

16) Following Brad's Birthday and a decent sale at work our house has a few new gadgets. Brad got a bluetooth earpiece from me for his Birthday and he got Xbox Kinect from his parents. Kinect is crazy cool. Even as I write this I can hear him bounding about in the lounge. We also are the proud owners of a new webcam. Skype ahoy!



17) We are trying to sell the car. Trying and trying, but no one is buying.



18) My song addiction has a few new titles in it's rotation. I am hooked on Lady Gaga's 'Born this way', despite it's plagiarism similarities with Madonna's 'Express yourself' (note the tune, the dance-moves and the tuxedo costume) I am also having delayed affections for this New Zealand tune.












19) After being sick (refer to point 9) I have been put back on my Asthma preventative inhaler, which I take through a spacer. We have dubbed this the 'Asthma Bong' as it looks fairly suspicious.



20) We have many events coming up including, a Fiftieth Birthday, a 60's themed 30th party (for two people, thus the 60's theme), a new baby of a work mates to meet and an awesome time hanging out with my friend Hannie. I am very excited about these. Hopefully with all this happening I will manage to blog on a more regular basis and to actually comment on the amazing blogs that I've been rush-reading as of late.

"As Brothers we will stand, and we'll hold your hand"

Today I woke up next to my partner, safe in our house. I knew that my family and friends did the same.



I had a hot shower, ate fresh food and drank water without having to boil it, or thinking twice about how much I could drink.



Many people in Christchurch did not. How could this happen again to an already broken city? How could another earthquake strike with so much more destruction. It just is not fair.



I feel guilty. I feel guilty for feeling safe and comfortable when I know that so many are not. I feel guilty for knowing where and how my loved ones are. I cannot imagine the horror of waiting at the door for a loved one who has yet to return home. Waiting for a loved one that may never return home.



I can't imagine the panic people must feel in Christchurch. As I watched the television yesterday as the news broke I saw raw footage of people running for their lives. I heard parents say to the media "I can't talk I have to get to my children". I can't imagine how that must feel. I get a lump in my throat and a churning in my stomach to even begin to attempt to understand how it feels to be apart from your children in such a disaster.



Today as the people of Christchurch fight for their city, their homes and their people, we watch and wonder what we can do to help.



We can support them. We can stand by them. We can pray. We can donate.



We can make sure that the people who are trained to offer the best help have all the resources they need. This may be food and water, medical supplies and blood or trauma and grief counselling. We can make sure that the people of Christchurch are not alone in this.



I hope with all that I have that the rescuers have the strength to bring people home to their families.

May God be with those who have lost someone. 

I pray that peace be with those on their journey to heaven.   





How you can help



You can donate to victims of the earthquake at:

Online at www.salvationarmy.org.nz

Online at www.redcross.org.nz/donations

Any ANZ Bank: Account number 01-1839-0188939-00.


Any National Bank: Account number 06-0869-0548507-00.

"Dear John"

Dear John, 

Which version of you are you trying to be? The version that's too cool to care?

Get a better stylist.

Kind Regards, 

Nicole

Mayer crush...

..Officially. Over.

P.S Still in love with the music. Just not digging this Depp-wannabe style fail.

P.P.S Is John Mayer purposely making himself look mingin' to use as an excuse for women not wanting to sleep with him?

"Birthday passed"

I have not yet had time to share what awesome Birthday Presents I received this year. I was totally not expecting this amount of presents.I am lucky. Anyway I thought I'd share them with you, as they are key to pretty much anything and everything I will be doing in the coming weeks (post exams).

Here's the run down, roughly from left to right:

Breville Food Processor


Patrón Silver, Añejo and Reposado Tequila

Rainbow Stemmed Dessert glasses and flutes

A 4gb micro SD card and SD carrier

OPI nail polishes in 'Rising Star', 'Greenwich Village', 'Affair in Red Square' and 'Glow up already!'

A 1TB external Hard Drive

Lavender Coloured pearls

Money!

A cupcake shaped oven timer

A Breville Kitchen Wizz

'500 Cakes' Compendium

Silver Double Photo Frame

A Sewing Machine!

A polka dot swimming/gym bag

A new pair of suede black peep toe heels.





Stay tuned to see what I did with that money and what I'm going to do with all of this!

"If it makes you happy"

I am super busy again with Exams. Thus the reason for the lack of posts. Fear not, my exams will be over in a matter of days, and I will be granted a few weeks off. This means more posts to come, and lots and lots of cool things to share. Here are a few things that made me happy in an otherwise pretty average week:

• Nail polish. It's glittery! It’s called ‘Glow Up all Ready’ by OPI. Every time I look at my
  nails I feel like a rebel.
  

• This song. If you didn't catch the link on my last post, here is the video clip. I'm in Love with this song.














• Worky Perky’s.  My
  boss had a smattering of furniture that had to be written off due to some
  damage caused by some shonky carrier habits. She asked the team if we wanted to buy any of them
  cheap. Ding, ding, ding! I got a desk for ten dollars because it has a (barely)
  scuffed corner. Also we were selling all Faber-Castell coloured pencils for $8
  or less over the weekend! Hello 48 pack. Hello savings of $29.











• The return of Modern Family. The second season is airing on
  TV3. I am stoked. I find it just so funny. Have you guys seen it?















• Fair day fun. I had to make a quick trip to my home town of
  Martinborough on Saturday.  I had to get
  my Dad to sign some StudyLink paper work. The Rotary Martinborough Fair was
  conveeeeniently also on that day. Finally a real fair. I got some beautiful handmade soaps and a cupcake
  fridge magnet, which I am going to try and replicate (and maybe launch giveaway
  with). It was 31 degrees, we had hot dogs for
  breakfast, and we ate snow cones and brought coconut ice and toffee apples. Oh well. If it makes you happy...it can't be that bad. Right? Just as well I can't make it to the March fair.



What are some things that made you smile this week?

"I heard your heart sing love love love"

Anniversary (self-) portrait fail. 

Five years. I can't believe it has been that long. It feels like only yesterday we were seventeen and falling in love. We could not have predicted then, how strong our bond would be and that we would make it this far. But I am so glad that we did. 

I had always dreamed of falling in love. Real love. The type of love that (little girls') dreams are made of. 

I always thought that I would eventually find it. 

But what I didn't know is that when I fell in love with you, that I would find So. Much. More. than I ever imagined possible.

Thank-you for this awesome journey so far. I am so looking forward to an amazing life with you, and figuring out where our next adventure waits.

"The greatest thing you'll ever learn, is just to love, and be loved in return"

Well it's been a while. I have been so busy with uni and work and lots of things in my personal life too.

I thought I'd finally share some bits and pieces from my Birthday BBQ last month.



What an amazing day. I had my family over to our place. Everyone brought a plate, and our collective haul was delicious. Everyone talked and laughed and ate - lots.  In fact I had such a good time I hardly took any photo's.



Some high points:



Where my six year old cousin Tino educated my Mum and Brad on what makes jelly wobble. Mum asked him how he learnt that it was the gelatine. He said "I googled it - duh".



Seeing my cousin Jhansi play with and look after my god-daughter Aaliah.



Having Kelsey be so full and tired that she fell asleep on the couch



Watching Aaliah go and sit on peoples laps as they ate, in the hope that they would feed her party food.



Jolly Drinks. Oh yeah.





Knowing that my Dad's family shared all of my childhood/teenage embarrassing stories with Brad's family.There is no running from the humiliation now.



It felt so incredible and surreal to have all my different fragments of family together. It really made me truly understand who my family is. My family is my Sister. Family is my Dad and his Brothers and Sisters and their children. It is my Mum and her Husband, and his parents. It is Brad. It is Brads family - they are my family too. My family is my friends.



At one point I stopped what I was doing and looked around. I really felt all the love that was in the room. I looked at the groups of people deep in conversation about fishing. I looked at the group outside playing cricket. I looked at Aaliah playing peek-a-boo from behind a tree with my cousin.

I felt really loved.

I felt really lucky.

In that moment I knew that I had been given the best Birthday Gift I could ask for, a patch-work Family that love me. And I know now that I have that three hundred and sixty five days a year - not just on my Birthday.

 

cheers to the beautiful Hannie for this photo. Check out here website here.

I have been a bit MIA this week. Following Birth-iversary week I got struck down with a virus. Suckiest Maximus.

Last week Brad and I celebrated 5 years together. Five. Whole. Years. That's half a decade. It's a long time, right? When I think of how young we were when we first started dating, it seems such a long time ago. But, at the same time, it feels like just yesterday. We were seventeen, when we got together so we have both grown so much since then. We are now adults (weird).

"Up"

 

Thanks for that finger crossing. X

"Auld Lang Syne"

This New Years season was filled with great laughs and few sad moments too.

As I already mentioned, Brad broke his arm New Years Eve. We spent New Years Day in the Emergency Room. Then the next two days at the hospital as Brad had to have surgery to fuse his wrist joints back together. *Sigh. Despite playing the age old Hospital favourite "you wait - we tell you nothing" game, it wasn't all bad.

The few days we spent basking in the hot Wairarapa sun were fantastic. Even some of the moments shared on a Hospital bed, in the short stay unit were amusing. My favourite would have to have been when I swapped my wedge heels with Brads jandals as we waited for him to go in to surgery. Within minutes the nurse was rushing around signing forms and collecting his personal items to put in a big brown paper bag with Brads name on it. My shoes were amongst his stuff. The nurses hassled him about this all the way up to the surgical floor about his choice of footwear. Me and my comfortable feet found it highly entertaining.