Recent Things: Happiness, Road Trips and Faves

Why, hello there! This week has been pretty awesome and I don't feel so much like I've survived it as I do in other weeks. Since it's the beginning of May, here's hoping that's a sign of things to come as April was a littttleeee bit cray. 

Not-cray-May... I think that's what I'll call it from now on.

But enough mindless chatter, let me share what we've but up to recently! >> 

This illustration is from my FOMO & Bloggers Why It's Okay to Say No To Brands post!

Recent Happy Moment: So yesterday it took me almost an hour to walk home when it usually takes me 15 minutes. Why would that make me happy? 

Because the reason it took me so long is because I kept bumping into friends who stopped me for a chat. I stopped at every single cafe on the way home as well as randomly in the street as I crossed paths with people I knew and I arrived home with a huge smile on my face!

It was this awesome realisation that I have surrounded myself with a community people who I know and love - and who know and hopefully love me too - and that's pretty incredible if you ask me! God has seriously blessed us!

Recent Adventures: On Saturday we all loaded into my Dad's car, with Jesse and I squished in the way way back (and I mean squished. This girl has legs for days and they were sitting at my chin level :P) to head out to a family reunion of sorts! We picked up Dad's cousins Don and Liz and we all drove to another one of Dad's cousin's properties for the get together.
Jesse and I hadn't met a lot of the people there (or I hadn'tseem them since I was a wee little curly haired thing) and it was so nice to hear them share family stories and memories and I'm so glad Jesse and I tagged along!

We even got to feed some cows as Jenny has ten or so absolutely beautiful cows (who are seriously spoilt!) who were more than happy for me to snap away ;) 

Recent Beauty Faves: Since sharing my #RealGirlFashion posts (that's what we're calling my outfit posts because whilst I may not be a fashion blogger, I am a real girl who needs to wear clothes... you know... to not get arrested and stuff), I've received quite a few emails about sharing some of my "Real girl" beauty faves!

Here are some of my current favourites. I'm pretty low maintenance when it comes to beauty products. I don't have a huge collection and I get pretty loyal when I find the right product. Lately I've been loving Burt's Bees tinted lip balms (pink blossom is my favourite with hibiscus coming in at second), Rimmel London's Kate Sculpting Palette (I'm not into contouring but I do love this as a bronzer/highlighter/blush combo and it fits my skin tone perfectly! and Rimmel London's Volume Colourist Mascara - I haven't been using it long enough to see if it's tinted my lashes (and I don't wear mascara every day) but it does give me seriously awesome lashes and it doesn't clump like some other mascaras!

Recent Outfits: Speaking of #RealGirlFashion, here's a couple of recent outfits!

The weather is getting cooler in Sydney and I've been layering it up! This Friday I paired a grey knit sweater with one of my favourite leather jacket's for a little extra warmth and it actually turned out pretty cute! Throw in a cute necklace and you're good to go! ;) 

And you really know it's getting cooler when the beanies come back.  This is what I wore to our family reunion-y thing as it was pretty casual. 

That striped cardigan was actually a random eBay find and paired with my favourite cream beret/beanie, a black top, jeans, brown boots and a statement necklace. This locket necklace Jesse actually gave me for Christmas one year and I absolutely love it! 

Now, this was a throw-together outfit that I wasn't really sure about, however, Jesse liked it and multiple people at church commented on it so I guess it wasn't such a bad idea?

I paired this print maxi skirt with a baby pink long sleeve top, cream cardigan, statement necklace and a brown belt to cinch it all in and bam! Outfit made ;) 

Truth be known, I only chose it because I didn't have any jeans or pants to wear as they needed to be washed and it was a little too chilly for a dress. #rainydayproblems :P 

Recent Joy: So, I don't know if I've mentioned this on the blog yet... but my Nelly has been on a bit of a weight loss diet lately. You see, she's a little bit porky and needed to shed a couple of kgs (so did Trixie, but she lost her 1kg already!) so the vet put her and Trix on this weight loss challenge. I kind of treat it like the biggest loser and get a little bit too competitive (who? me? competitive? NO WAY ;) ) but whilst it may sound cruel, it's probably the best decision we've made.

Why? Because our Chanel has SO much more energy! She's chasing Trixie like she's a puppy again and yesterday I sat on the floor only to have her notice me sitting down and run, bounding like a rabbit almost, to me to sit down beside me. It's so awesome to see her clearly feeling so much better!

Recent Randomness: Yesterday I told Jesse we were celebrating Cinco De Mayo, simply because I felt like Mexican food for dinner. You see, on Tuesday (Taco Tuesday) I'd originally planned to have enchiladas but when they didn't have any corn tortillas at the shops, I had to switch and make something different. My Mexican Cornbread Bake (see below) was deeelicious but I still had enchiladas on the brain :P 

This Cactus was the only thing remotely mexican I had to share on instagram so yuh... here's a random cactus for you, friends! 

Recent Favourites: Soup for lunch (or dinner!). This Healthy Pumpkin and Lentil Soup Recipe is one of our favourites and I'm so glad I made a double batch to freeze last time we made it as I've been enjoying for lunch on cooler days! 

Recent Bad Decision: Wearing heeled boots to a meeting in the city when I had to walk from home to the train station, walk to the meeting from the train station once I got to the city and then walk back to the station. 

Luckily Jesse was working from home that afternoon so I got him to pick me up, however, those boots are definitely not made for walking!

Recent Snacking: I cannot stop eating or making this Healthy White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookie Dough No Bake Bites Recipe! I made up a new batch yesterday and have been devouring them ever since :P 

Be warned! They're seriously delicious!

Recent Dinners: We have been eating some deeeelicious dinners!

On Friday I was feeling like breakfast for dinner so our Healthy Potato Crusted Egg Bakes Recipe was on the menu, filled with ham and cheese. On Saturday we had my Healthy Vegan Pumpkin and Lentil Soup Recipe and on Sunday we made yet another SIL recipe - our Healthy Creamy Chicken and Rice Soup Recipe!

On Monday I made our Healthy Sticky Peanut Stir Fry Recipe and served it up on top of quinoa. On Tuesday as I said above, I couldn't have enchiladas like I wanted to as they didn't have any corn tortillas so instead I made a new twist on tacos - this Taco Cornbread Pie well.. that's what I'm calling it at least ;) 

On Wednesday night I wasn't cooking for Jesse so I decided to experiment! I made our Healthy Boscaiola Pasta Recipe but used sweet potato noodles instead as I felt like playing with my spiraliser (and girl needs carbs and calories so zoodles are no good for dinner :P). It was pretty good but I think I overcooked them a little as they were kinda mangled.

Last night (Thursday night) I made the Enchiladas I was dreaming of on Tuesday and used Cinco De Mayo as an excuse. They were SO good - topped with my Ultimate Nomato Sauce Recipe since I can't have tomatoes and usual enchilada sauce!

But tell me, how has your week been? 

What's something that's made you happy this week? 

and do you have any plans this weekend?