Mary Mary, How Does Your Garden Grow?

At the start of the year I made an effort to make our side garden pretty, and thought I better do an update seeing as though we are about to come into summer again.

This is what I had in January

And this is what we have now

Bit sad, isn't it! With all the rain we have had recently, a lot of the plants got waterlogged and died :( Not to mention that I only ever got half way through putting the bark chip down before I forgot about it and went inside.

But now that the weather is warming up again, I am thinking of putting in some new plants, some more yukkas (because I couldn't kill those, even with all the water), some more cordilines (same story as the yukka) and maybe some banana palms (which are currently on special at the garden center).

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Bills Breakfast- Sydney

As you all know, as I couldn't keep my excitement contained, the lovely Britt and I went to Sydney for the weekend a few weeks back, and one of the amazing things we did was go to Bills for breakfast.

I have only been to Sydney once before, a few years back with the husband, and one thing I really wanted to do was go Bills, however we ran out of time. So I was super excited when we just happened to walk past his Woollahra restaurant! Even more so when Britt mentioned she was hungry, as I was starving.

As it happened, Lady Luck was on our side (finally, I was beginning to think I was cursed!) and we were seated within a few moments of arriving. It was a glorious day, with many people sitting outside in the courtyard, all enjoying one of two meals: ricotta hotcakes or sweet corn fritters. Hmmm, seems there are some clear cut winners in the Bills world


Me being me, ordered the fritters, as my friendship with corn will be coming to an end in a few weeks when they start to put fill back in my band. And Oh. My. God. They were delish! The word food and orgasm may have been mentioned. I may have also told the husband we need to move to Sydney later that day. For what looked like a smallish meal when it came out, I was more than well fed by the time we left! A-MAZE-ING!

Now, for the tricky part, does anyone know how to recreate these, as the husband said no to the suggestion of moving to Sydney.
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Loving Ikea (again)

As the title says, I am back to loving Ikea. It has been six months since my last visit, long enough that I have almost forgotten the hell that I endured in the store.

This time around, there is some new items on my shopping list, like these candle holders that would look super cute on our side buffet

and this vase to put pens in on my desk.

and this painting for in our bedroom, providing it is more red than pink.

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Uh oh

Boredom is never a good thing. Especially on a Friday night when home sick. More so when there is a conversation on twitter about buying shoes.

High end shoes.

mmmm, Christian Louboutin Corto 85's. I am in love.

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The Rug

A while back I mentioned about how a company was willing to give me a rug to promote their business in Australia? Well after many months it finally arrived.

Whilst I am happy with it, I am not thrilled. I should have ordered the next size up, however it was meant to go in the kitchen so I ordered that size. When I put it in the kitchen it was all kinds of wrong, and it found a new home in the dining room.

So my review of the rug and company it came from? The rug is nice, but feels a bit 'cheap', but that could be because its designed as in indoor/outdoor rug, and not the plush rugs I am used to. Either way, it is easy to care for, a quick swipe of the Dyson and it's happy. The shopping experience was less than ideal, despite there being a million choices online, everything I chose was out of stock and a due date was not known. And when I finally did find an item that I liked that was in stock, my order was lost. This was quickly rectified, but then the shipping company lost my rug.

After several months of hearing nothing, I contacted the rep I was assigned, who claimed she had contacted me but I never replied. This didn't really suprise me, as she was a touch vague at times, and often confused me with someone else. I was given the opportunity to chose a new rug, and start the ordeal again, eventually getting the above rug.

Would I shop with them again? Maybe, if the price was right, but I would expect a lot better customer service if I was actually paying for the goods. But a free rug is a free rug!
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Donna Hay General Store - Sydney

One of my favourite celebrity chef's is Donna Hay. She seems so down to earth, and anyone who bakes cupcakes and deserts is fine by me!

It was such a cute shop, filled with even cuter things. I was very restrained, given that I was threatened with divorce - prior to leaving Victoria - should I return home with a number of purchases. All I left with was two utensils that I haven't been able to find anywhere (a spatula and spoonula that are one solid piece instead of the standard plastic handle glued to the silicon blade), the Donna Hay Essentials Chocolate cookbook, a giant chocolate freckle and a hot chocolate spoon (read, giant blob of chocolate attached to a spoon - Genius!)

Whilst there were many other little things I would have liked, a quick glance at the prices showed me that I could buy a similar item a lot cheaper elsewhere, like on Etsy. I would happily go back though, as there was so much to look at and admire.

So there you go husband, I do have stingey days, I just have to travel to another state to have those moments!
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Yummy sandwichs

Every now and then I get a craving for a fresh sandwich, on fresh white bread, with heaps of toppings.

I wonder if this one would cut the mustard (geddit ;) ). Not too sure if I can digest felt better than regular bread though. Either way, it is super cute

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