I am loving Sydney

Was lamenting not being able to wear jeans to work this week... And Mr HEA says ( and as usual he's right) "I'd rather not work on Friday than to be sad about missing out on casual Friday..."

Fair Enough.

Here's an early Easter post to show how just how much I love living in Sydney:







Put together this edible centerpiece for Easter







Walking to work this morning.







And just how gorgeous is that weather promising a great Easter long weekend?






Hot cross buns from Central Baking depot for the office Easter celebrations

Happy Easter peeps!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Recipe for the perfect day with the Husband - the inpromptu version

This recipe serves 2 but can easily be multiplied to include other couples with a few compromises

Preparation time: Less than 2 hours from idea inception

Ingredients:
Sunny weekend with no concrete plans
Good humoured spouse x 2
Live near enough to a nice beach/ park
Picnic Basket- ours come with plates and cutlery so there's less to pack
Beach Towels/ Picnic Mat
Leftovers or well stocked fridge (In our case we had a barbie the night before and had a mound of fresh leafy boccocini salad, curry puffs, chicken drumsticks, Pumpkin and pine nuts angel hair pasta and chilled Solo cans in the fridge)

Method:
1) One spouse notices the good weather and mentions to other spouse that they should go outdoors.
2) The other spouse then mentions that a picnic at the beach (substitute locale with preferred beautiful place to your fancy) is in order!
3) The spouse in charge of cooking then whips together quick meals from fridge: For us it was tossing salad, warming up pasta and meat and curry puffs before packing into tupperwares, but other ideas could be to put together a leftovers club sandwich, a quick pasta salad or bread, crackers, cheese and dips and fruit.
4) Whilst food is in oven, quickly toss on appropriate outfit that suits the locale. In my case it was a cossie and a cute purple beach dress.
5) Apply sunscreen on all exposed areas.
6) Pack beach towels into beach bag and make sure you've got your M.I.L.K (Money, Identification, Lippy, Keys)
7) Now that you are ready to leave the house, cold drinks and water are placed in a separate compartment from the hot food and picnic basket is closed up to maintain the temperature of food and drink.
8) Gather other spouse and hop into car. Optional: Wind down car windows and blast poppy happy music like Jason Mraz.
9) Drive to selected Destination and find parking
10) Find good spot, preferrably with good views (Also Optional: Put on sunnies so that Spouses can enjoy 'good views' of the buff Bra Boys sans detection) and set up towels/ blankets.
11) Unpack picnic and enjoy!






















Footnote: Apologies if you really wanted an actual recipe, I was just mucking around today. To make it up to you, I promise I will share a proper recipe post with you this week. Am deciding if it should be a dessert one or a simple weeknight meal dish. Let me know which one you'd prefer and I will happily oblige!

 - Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

The perils of age

Remember the birthday post where I decided with great age comes fine lines and with Strawberry.net offering a sale on eye-creams, I took it as a sign to purchase the Chanel Beaute Initiale Eye Multi-protection Precision gel.





I have been using it for a fair few weeks now and can give some honest notes on it. The texture of this is light and it is easily absorbed which is great. After application, lines appear less prominent and the moisture leaves eyes feeling less tired and taut. Lines have not lessened after all this time though, so I reserve that the gel acts only to preserve the condition of the skin and does not really reverse the harm already done.

In March's Bellabox, we were each given a sample pot of the Bellamer Eye Balm. The website says it is a Botanical Skincare used daily and evening for eyes. I was excited about using it as a wrinkle fighter, but the site also promotes this as a primer for eye make up.

 

To me, it smells like Vanilla Peppermint and has the texture of Vaseline. You dab it on around your eye and wipe off the excess after it has had some time to absorb. I don't find that it absorbs as quickly as a gel, but I am not about to stretch my delicate eye area any further by wiping off balm, so I use this only at night and just let it set throughout the night despite funny remarks from Mr.HEA about my shiny eyes. A good moisturiser, at $40 a pot, you'd find this will last a lot longer than the Chanel one and so a lot better bang for the buck.

Also in March's Bellabox I found The Eyelift Kit ( Did someone write them to tell them of my latest obsession with my eye lines?) These little pots fill in lines and pull your skin tauter so that you look younger or that you have had an eye lift. They are tricky to apply. In my first attempt, I creased the biggest line underneath my eyes because I looked into the mirror at an angle that brings on the line. So in the next application, I had to avoid the appearance of that particular crease for the good ten to fifteen minutes it takes for the gel to dry. You'll feel your skin getting really tight as the sign that the gel has set. I liked the results, it did make my eyes seem smoother, but its too fiddly to incorporate into my daily makeup regime.

This ulittle beauty is indeed a real beauty. I really liked that it is Australian made and owned. I jut don't support enough local products. The application of this is light and it smells lightly of soy. The results are tamer and lighter hair that bounces. I've used it a couple of times by now with consistent results, but the first application yielded the best improvement. My dry, just dyed hair lapped it up with joy, replenishing all its missing nutrients.

Oh and last review/ rant: I was clearing out some samples I had previously gotten when I got excited over a seaweed peel mask. I haven't had a DIY mud mask since I was a teenager (having since then begun using SKII instead). Anyways, I tried the Apivita express gold seaweed peel off detox & radiance mask and it was absolutely hopeless. It became gel all too quickly and I couldn't apply it very well. When I washed it off, my skin felt really dry and I come to the conclusion that what worked really well on my puberscent skin that raged with hormones, no longer work on my late twenties skin today. Sigh.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Empty

Look at the house now, it's the first time we have cleaned it and know that it will remain how we've left it. But yet, it feels more empty than clean.

Listen to the quiet, no more annoyance at your constant pacing and rummaging through the 'larder' for snacks. But yet, it feels more empty than peaceful.

The three years gone had been brutal on our relationship, both you and I constantly at each other's necks. We have been cruel in our teasing, selfish in our wants and proud in our most helpless times.

I remember when you were young and you first came back to live with us and I was jealous because I thought mum loved you more. Because I knew that one day they will rely on you and not me because you are their son and that is just the way...but yet today, I am relieved that they have you by their side and that no matter how hard they are on you, you will forgive and you will be there, strong and diligent.

I never said kind words. Only stern lectures. But when the tears dropped today at the airport... I hope you will see that I really do love you and that you can forgive me too, that we will always remain blood. Remain the kids we used to be. Sharing every moment of our lives and being each other's one and only sibling.

I miss you already.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

The Hunger Games - My take

This story is gruesome and immoral. Not my usual cup of tea. But Suzanne Collins threw a love story in there somewhere and suddenly I am intrigued. With my interest piqued, I convinced S to spend an afternoon with me watching the movie and made sure I didn't spoil the story for him (I looked it up on Wikipedia as the trailers did not let on anything about what the story is about).

Now that I've watched it, I can't stop thinking about it and I'd love to read the books, if only my friend didn't tell me that it would be a lot more gory than the movie. I have a vivid imagination and even if the book (as the reviews say) is written for a fourth grader read, I am pretty sure we would have a very terrifying few nights of my active imagination running wild with me within the HEA household.

So, the verdict hangs. I am still undecided on whether I should pick up the three books or not.

The above is a fan-made movie of a scene from the book which I think has been done better than the movie. Perhaps another hint at how the books are better than the film?