Fridays Letters - Dear Sparkly Scarf

It's time for my favourite link up party Friday's Letters if you want to meet some fabulous friendly bloggers head on over to Adventures of Newlyweds and join in the fun

I'm imagining my letters are written from this funky home office today although I'm wondering if I could restrain from doing a crossword on the wallpaper!

Dear Sparkly Scarf - I've been feeling under the weather this week but when I put you on suddenly the world seems like a sparkly brighter place. Thanks for making me feel better. 

Dear New Followers - Welcome to my humble part of the world, I have really loved getting comments and emails from you lately it truly makes me smile and brightens my day.

Dear Taste.com - You are full of simple and easy to follow recipes that people have cooked and reviewed so I can see the tried and tested recipes worth making. Thanks for saving me this week.

Dear Hot Water System - Why did you have to break on the coldest morning in decades? A week of boiling the kettle to wash dishes has made washing up even more painful if that's possible. I hope you get fixed this weekend.

Dear Granny Flat - You know I think your scary and daggy and can't really stand to go inside you on my own but your hot shower has saved my cold naked butt this week and for that I'm grateful.

[Image via my likes on Pinterest]

Recipe: Bacon and Egg Spaghetti

If you ever have one of those days when you get home late and realise the meat you took out to make beef stroganoff is actually for stews and will need hours to cook which you don't have considering it's already 8.30pm and your still in your work clothes and dying for a hot shower ....

That's when you whip up this little recipe in less than 30 minutes all you need is bacon and eggs in the fridge and fresh parsley in the garden and you'll be eating this quick and tasty dinner

Bacon and Egg Spaghetti

(Serves 2 - see Taste for the full recipe)

150g spaghetti

2 tbs white vinegar
2 eggs
4 bacon rashers, finely chopped
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 long red chilli, seeded, finely chopped
1/4 cup coarsely chopped flat-leaf parsley
1/2 cup finely grated parmesan

Cook the pasta in a large saucepan of salted boiling water and drain well.

Meanwhile boil water and vinegar in small saucepan and poach the eggs 1-2 minutes, remove, cover loosely with foil to keep warm and set aside.

Heat a large frying pan over medium heat. Add the bacon and cook for 2-3 minutes or until crisp. Remove from heat. Add the oil and chilli and stir to combine. Add the pasta, parsley and parmesan and gently toss to combine.

Divide the pasta among serving bowls and top with freshly cracked pepper and extra parmesan. Top with a poached egg and serve.

[Image via Taste]

Book Review: Smashed Growing Up A Drunk Girl By Koren Zailckas

A good friend was tired of me whinging about having nothing to read and grabbed this book from her bookshelf Smashed Growing Up A Drunk Girl by Koren Zailckas

This book is a bit of a self help memoir by a girl Koren who takes her first drink at 14 and stops by her mid 20s because she doesn't like who she is when she drinks. She says she's not an alcoholic but she also can't function without a drink either, each time she trys she caves and it's all or nothing with her she can't drink in moderation.

The book speaks about how kids from mid school onwards can't function without drinking - they don't have anything in common when they stop drinking or even like one another (or themselves for that matter) without being under the influence of alcohol. It covers a lot of statistics of American schools and has become a bit of a topic of conversation which is a good thing getting it out in the open. This book did put me off alcohol for a few days so I guess the point of it worked.

I found it hard to relate to the main character Koren because she didn't really drop her guard and share about herself as a person, it was all about the booze and drinking and her self hate. The writing style was a bit clunky and I noticed a few times it had already repeated itself, something the editor didn't pick up on perhaps.

I would recommend this book for tweens to maybe scare them into not drinking for a while or give them a heads up on what choices you have coming into the adult world - you can choose to drink yourself stupid or learn how to have fun moderately. Everyone has a choice. I give this book 2 stars.

Jarrah Jungle's Star Rating:

1 Bad - I'd rather eat brussel sprouts topped with anchovies than read this again

2 Not Good - I'd rather watch re-runs of Neighbours than read this again

3 Ok - I'm sitting on the fence - its not great but not terrible either

4 Good - I'd pass up a pack of tim tams for this read

5 Great - I'd pass up a date with Johnny Depp for this read

[Image via Randomhouse]

My Funky Terrarium

I found this funky terrarium on sale at Sussans for $19.95 they have been getting in some really cool homewares lately

It has a solid concrete base, glass dome lid and fake succulent and I added the white pebbles and clear marbles to make it look a bit more real

I really love terrariums but they can be quite expensive and I know I'm too slack to make my own no matter how many I pin!

I'm not usually one to go for fake plants but I figure I can put this in the guest bedroom and forget about it and it wont die - because its already dead!

[All images my own]

Point and Shoot: Upmarket at UWA

When: Sunday, 24 June 2012 @ 3pm

Where: Upmarket at UWA Gardens, Crawley

I made the most of the break in the cold winter days we've been  having and spent a sunny Sunday afternoon at the beautiful University of Western Australia where the Upmarket was on. I use to want to go to this Uni just to experience the UWA gardens, there are always weddings and events being held here it is so beautiful.

The Upmarket is held about every 3 months and is a showcase for all WA designers there was fashion, jewellery, kids stuff, stationary, bags, relishes and jams, so many things to look at. I bought myself some cookbooks which were taken by a WA photographer Lustre Publications and has stunning photos and recipes, some cool posters from Mokoh Designs I'm going to frame for gifts and some cute yellow rose stud earrings. I couldn't resist a take home pack of Cookie Dough Cookies they were so rich and indulgent, some banana and coconut chutney that is meant to go nice with curry, and some tomato chutney mmmm I love my savoury sauces. 

I went with my bestie and her little boy (in the snaps above and below) and I'm not a coochicoo kid type of person but I am tempted to steal this one somedays he's such a cool little dude :)

As for the rest of my weekend it was very quiet, I haven't been been feeling too crash hot so pretty much spent the whole time on the couch by the heater. The renovations continue outside and the renderer finished the garage (woo hoo) and Mr P got more work done on the roof. I'll share some progress photos with you soon. 

How was your weekend? What did you get up to?

Why not share your weekend over at Sunny + Scouts linkup Point and Shoot

[All images my own]

I Heart Typo

I'm like a kid in a candy store when I go into Typo so many pretty stationary things to look at. A store has opened in Carillon City so I can pop in there on my lunch break when I need some retail therapy.

I mentioned Typo has a sale on and I bought a few things to put away for Christmas presents and to do up little packages with notebooks, pens, clips, etc. These are some of the goodies I came home with (most were $1 each)

Vintage block print - I got this for a friend it is a mirror image of her pet dog

Wooden numbers - I got these in my house number to do something crafty with

Bondage tape - I got a few different styles of these tapes for wrapping gifts

Lust Have Bulldog Clips - Funky stationary

Primo Paperclips - I got a few different styles of these so cute

To The Point Page Flags - these are perfect for all those magazine pages I dog tag

instead I can flag them with exactly what I want to say

More To The Point Flags - I already use these for flagging recipes I want to try

and I bought some more for gifts

Recipe Journal - Another pressie this is to keep recipes in and write in favourites

Weekly Planner - I got some menu planners similar to this one

which have made it really easy to write out my menu for the week and stick to the fridge

Notepads - A girl can never have enough notepads

I got a few of these in different styles

They also have adorable tea pots and tea cups in hot pink and yellow colours so I got a set of those as well but I can't decide if I'll  keep them for myself or give them away ... I always have good intentions but end up keeping them for myself. Oppps!

Have you found any bargains lately?

 

[All images via Typo]

Fridays Letters - Dear Flannelette Sheets

I'm hooked already and joining in again with the Adventures Of A Newlywed and this weeks Dear Friday's Link Up Party. I have met some lovely bloggers and look forward to reading everyones letters, it must be the snoop in  me liking to hear about what everyone is up to in their lives!

Today I'll imagine I'm writing letters from this vibrant funky yellow home office space

Dear Flannelette Sheets - With the nights getting colder you have no idea how good you feel to climb into bed with. Thanks for keeping me warm at night.

Dear Soup - I've discovered when there's nothing in the fridge to eat I can throw some things together in a pot, blitz you up and call you soup. You will  no longer be an overlooked dish.

Dear Library Books - Every book on my must read list has been reserved by someone else and as a result I have been insanely bored with nothing to read and spending my travelling to and from work staring out the buss window drives me insane. I'm on a mission to find some more must read books this week.

Dear Buns Of Steel - I know I said I would start to exercise months ago and work on those buns of steel. But I lied. I just can't keep up the motivation as much as I want to.

Dear Holiday - 3 months from now I'll be cruising around the tropical islands with a cocktail in one hand and Mr P's hand in the other. Can't wait.

[Image via my Pinterest]

Shhhhhh Its A Surprise

I've been doing some secret squirrel business this week and planned a surprise dinner for my friend's Birthday tonight (who also had a surprise party thrown for her last year but she found out about it so it wasn't much of a surprise!). This time we have all managed to keep it a secret and she thinks she’s having dinner with 4 of us girls – but there will be a table full of her friends waiting at the restaurant with balloons and flowers when she walks in

It feels so good to make a fuss out of someone and make them feel special and I hope she feels really loved because she is. I can't wait to see the look on her face!

Have you ever thrown someone a surprise party?

[Images via my Pinterest]

Part Way Through Rendering The Garage

Heres a peek at the render going on to the inside of the new garage extension covering the mix of old and new bricks. This was a full weekends work by our plaster/render friend and its only halfway finished, he'll be back next weekend for my famous sandwiches and to finish off the job. The front of the house will be rendered next.

Remember how the wall looked before when we had chipped out the old fire place

Then bricked it in

And now covered in render

Its going to look like new

This is how the render goes on quite thick and you have to wait for it to dry

Now I know where the saying watching paint dry comes from

He actually does wait and watch it dry before he can do the next step

Once dried enough it can be screeded back with a metal screed

Then water is sprayed on it and a sponge used to wipe it smooth

It's going to look awesome

We are half way through our to do list and it's only been about 2 months so things are looking pretty good.

I never knew a garage could make me so excited until now, building something brick by brick and watching each step take place and lead to the next one has been a really fun project. I can only imagine what it's like to build a house - that will no doubt be the next project after this renovation.

[All images my own]

Point and Shoot: Fancy Dress Party

When: Saturday, 16 June 2012 @ 8pm

Where: My place pre party drinks

This weekend we still chipped away at working on the garage extension, the plasterer came both Saturday and Sunday to screeded and render the inside of the new garage and it looks totally different (I'll share some photos soon). Mr P removed all the fascias and the rest of the gutters off the roof ready for the new ones to go on this week. I did housework which I won't bore you with other than to say it is impossible to get sheets dry in this rainy weather when you don't have a dryer. Sheets draped over my bar stools in the dining area wont win me any domestic godess awards but what else can I do? How do you dry your washing in winter?

Saturday night we went to a fancy dress letter 'F' party for friends who are heading off to travel around the rest of Australia so we threw a farewell party for them. I dressed up as Flower Power and Mr P was The Fonz, there were Fairies,  Fallen Angel, French Maid, Foxy Lady, Frog Man, A Fridge, Fried Eggs, Females, Fur Coat and some cheeky ones that are too rude to mention! I also made fairy bread which is obviously an Australian food because most of the partygoers had never heard of it before, they had no trouble eating it though :)

How was your weekend?

Why not join in with this weeks Point + Shoot and tell us all about it!

[Image my own]

Love n Blooms

Mr P spoilt me for our anniversary on Friday and came home with a big bunch of flowers ...yellow and pink roses and a mix of bright gerberas all my favourites. I spread the bunch out into my funky blue Ikea vases

We also went out for a degustation dinner with matching wines. It wasn't just a meal it was an event and 7 courses turned into 11 courses they kept bringing out extras. The food was ah-ma-zing. I can highly recommend Jacksons in Highgate if anyone is looking for a romantic night out it is pretty expensive but for a special occasion well worth it.

Flowers, wine and fine dining that's my idea of a romantic night out :)

[All images my own]

Hey Girl

These Hey Girl posters absolutely crack me up, I adore the sayings they have put a smile on my face big time today

Because I felt like a dag not knowing what the whole Hey Girl thing was about I googled it and turns out ole Ryan Gosling here can take the micky out of himself and is playing along with these feminine flashcards. That's a boy Ryan you know how to make a girl blush, now how about that foot rub :)

I hope everyone's having a fabulous weekend :)

[All images via  my Pinterest]

Friday's Letters - Dear Alarm Clock

I'm a newbie and joining in with the Adventures Of A Newlywed and this weeks Dear Friday's Link Up Party. This is such a fun idea if you need to get something off your chest, share some news, have a rant, and make some new bloggy friends :)

I'm imagining my letters will be written from my favourite home office spaces like this one

Dear Alarm Clock ... I have finally conquered you and getting up 30 minutes earlier without hitting the snooze button for 30 minutes.

Dear Xtrainer ... can you please magically draw me to you so I can start exercising.

Dear Mr Weatherman ... your strong winds and heavy rain continue to stress me out and I'm worried it'll cause damage to the new roof tiles we just laid.

Dear Old Patio ... if you feel like falling over in this wild weather that would be ok with me you are old and rusty and nobody loves you anymore. Sorry buts it true.

Dear Typo ... I can't resist your 10 for $10 table and may not need 3 rolls of funky tape but now I have them and much much more.

Dear Mr P ... 4 years ago today my eyes met yours across a dark and smoky room and I knew that you were the man of my dreams - you are 'The One'. Please hurry up and ask me to marry you.

[Image via my Pinterest like]