Girl behind the blog - Vlog

Happy almost weekend!


side note - It was Thursday night at 10:00pm when I posted this and I wrote happy hump day...where is my brain?

I am linking with Ashley from 5ohwifey and Nicole from Our Crazy Beautiful for the fourth (I said third in my vlog, oops!) instalment of the Girl Behind the Blog series. 

This is my first vlog and I have learnt a lot already..Such as - I lose my train of thought easily, dogs can be distracting when you are in the middle of something and it takes more than one go before I get it right!

Please forgive how awkward/nervous I am. Even though I am not talking to you all in person, I still get super nervous and go red (which you might be able to see on my neck).

So, here goes..


(Haha, is my mouth really that crooked??)

Kitchen by Mike - Rosebery

Most weekends, S and I choose a different cafe to try out. This past weekend, we chose Kitchen by Mike after I read a review about it.

Upon arriving, I noticed there was a lot of seating which was mostly full. There was also a huge line up of people waiting to be served. Whilst I stood in line, S snagged a table and waited for me. I was in line for about half an hour because out of all the staff there, only one person was taking orders. I was starving and just wanted to order but the guy taking orders just wanted to chat to everyone.

S ordered the pancakes with lemon curd and I ordered yogurt with stewed fruit. Both meals were delicious though, mine was small and S's only had a small dollop of lemon curd; not enough for the 3 large pancakes in the stack.

I thought my breakfast was quite small. I had to eat some of S's pancakes so I didn't leave hungry. I gave S some fruit and yogurt so that he wasn't just eating dry pancakes. 

We love our coffee, especially on Saturday morning. Luckily, the coffee was fantastic.

The cafe itself is located in a warehouse which also houses Koskela which is a homeware shop of sorts.  It offers kooky and unique furniture items and good for the home. I enjoyed looking around, but it wasn't heated in that part and I was freezing cold, so we left to go home.

I'm not sure I will go back to Kitchen by Mike. I wasn't really happy with the service and the fact that after sharing S's food, I was still hungry. 

Currently

Thinking

- About uni, the subjects I have to go and my plans for the future.

- How grateful I am to have S. He is so supportive and loving it overwhelms me.

Eating

I was supposed to be going sugar free this week. Not to lose weight, but to feel healthier overall. I failed miserably, but today I am yet to eat any sugar and it's almost 3:30pm! I ate left over Shepherds pie for lunch.

Listening

My current favourites are The Jezabels and Owl Eyes.

Reading

I need a new book. I just finished Lavender Morning by Jude Deveraux and will do a review this week. I guess I could say I am currently reading Uni textbooks.

Any recommendations?

Watching

I don't watch much TV and all the series I LOVE have ended (Downton Abbey, Mad Men, The Walking Dead). I am waiting for Winners and Losers to start back and Beauty and the Geek. Beauty and the Geek is so trashy, but so good. Don't judge! ha.

Loving

- Little rendezvous' in the city with S. Since he started working 3 streets away, we've met every day for coffee!

- Also still loving that Teddy wakes S in the morning instead of me. I am NOT loving how he plonks himself between us before it's time to get up, which pulls the blanket off me. Thanks Ted, I love being cold in Winter. I am glad you are warm though, Ted.

- My new print from Casey Wiegand art. SO pretty!

Happy Thursday, Friends. It's almost the weekend.

A farm weekend

S's family have a farm out near the Southern Highlands. It's our happy, relaxing place - to get away from the daily grind that is city living and listen to nature, instead of cars.

Ted loves it as well, he loves to run around or rather frolicks like a little lamb. Give that boy a wide open space and it's like Christmas...

Saturday evening after dinner, we relaxed by the fire with whiskeys in hand. There is something about a fire and drink that just makes everyone sleepy, which meant we were all in bed by 10:30pm..on a Saturday evening. Lame, I know! 

S's sister, D.

As usual, Teddy was the first one up and tapping us on the head with his paw (sometimes he even sticks it up our nose, cheeky dog). If dogs could talk, I imagine he would be saying 'Wake up, there are horses to play with and things to sniff' because as soon as we open the door and he is outside, he runs off like a maniac and finds the closest horse that will let him smell it. He has befriended one horse in particular who is calm and lets Ted have a sniff, whilst smelling Ted at the same time.

Teddy has a major jealous trait. If something else has something, he has to as well. S fed the horse some grass and Ted just had to have some too. 

Our farm stay was just in time. We needed to relax for S's impending new job, which he starts today. Another reason for visiting the farm, as S's parents took us to dinner to congratulate him on his new job.

How was your weekend? Relaxing or busy? 

Pets - Oscar

I read a story today that brought tears to my eyes. A lady had a dog who was 14 and a half years old and seriously ill, so her family made the decision to lay her beloved dog to rest.

Not Oscar, but he looked exactly like this.

Growing up, I've always had pets. Our first dog, Oscar was a keeshond. I was about 4 when my family got Oscar from the pound. He had been hit by a car and someone found him under their house and took him to the pound and when we got him, he still had stitches in his leg.

Oscar was the most beautiful loving dog. He shed fur like crazy and as such, he was an outside dog. Lucky for him, we always lived in houses with substantial undercover areas because the funny boy wouldn't use his dog kennel.

He was never a very active boy, which is characteristic of Keeshond's anyway and during his last years, he aged rapidly and developed arthritis. When he sat on his hind legs he would wimper with pain and we would have to help him stand up again. Despite this, he was happy and loved all of us kids. One night when I was 14, at about 2am my Mum woke to Oscar's yelps. She rushed outside and saw Oscar laying on the desk frothing from the mouth. Mum knew there wasn't much time left and no vets nearby to help at that time, so she gave him water and sat with him all night. Unfortunately, Oscar didn't make it through the night. My poor boy at 10 years old had passed in my Mum's arms.

The next day, Mum woke me before the rest of the house and took me out to the deck and explained what happened. I was devastated that my beautiful family pet had passed away. I took the day off school and my parents and I had a little memorial for him before we burried him. I will never forget my Oscar. He might not have been active, but he loved us and we loved him. I loved to sit with him and have chats with him and he would just sit there and listen. He put up with us kids and our rabbit, Rex who used to hop around Oscar and jump on him when he was laying down. He put up with our Chicken, Bomber who would go up and peck him and run around in circles.

He was truly a beautiful addition to our family and I am forever grateful for him being in my life.

Happy Birthday, Queen

The long weekend for me, was spent in Canberra. I will write this post in dot points, because if you are anything like me, you get distracted easily.

- Saturday we woke early and were in the car heading to Canberra by 9:00am. We stopped by Grandma's Bakery at Fedra Olive Grove. If you ever head to Canberra, this stop is a must. The food is incredible and the service friendly.

- Upon arriving in Canberra (we stayed with S's sister and Brother in Law), we headed out for coffee. Canberra is unfortunate in their cafe choices. Many are quite good, but close early or aren't open Sundays.  Saturday we went to The Realm which is a self rated, 5 star hotel. S and I have stayed there and I wouldn't give it 5 stars. The rooms are nice, but basic and they don't compare to other 5 star hotels I've stayed at.

- Saturday evening, S's sister and I went to see 'What to expect when you're expecting'. I think I may have found this a bit funnier if I had kids. I did enjoy it though, but found it hard to relate.

- Sunday, we ventured to Questacon for S's nephews 2nd Birthday (time flies!). Little H loved it. He may only be 2, but Questacon is really great for kids. If you haven't been there in the last 10 years, don't worry - you're not missing out. It hasn't changed!

- We headed back to Realm for lunch where I had a chicken burger and S had the ribs. The food is great and the seating area is comfortable with a choice of lounges or tables.

- Monday was spent relaxing in the morning and driving home in the afternoon. The weather was clear in Canberra and the closer we got to Sydney, the more it rained! The snowfields opened on the weekend which created a bit of traffic on the highway, though nothing too bad.

Our weekend was relaxing, yet exhausting. H is a beautiful little boy and oh so energetic. That little boy can outrun me any day!

The last thing Thursdays

Today I am linking with Jenna from The Life of a Wife for The last thing Thursdays.

The last thing....

 I ate: A turkey, cranberry, baby spinach sandwich

 I sewed: A navy fitted dress, you can read about it here

Childish thing I did: Used the swing at the park near us. Yeah, I'm a big kid!

I baked: Berry muffins.. I won't even show you a picture because I put them in the oven, went to clean the bathroom and forgot about them. Who does that!

Read: Lavender Morning by Jude Deveraux

I planned: A dinner out with S to celebrate a promotion and a new job. Win!

Thought about: Getting someone to make over my blog!

I hope you have all had a lovely Thursday, the weekend is near.

I tried to put Jenna's 'last things Thursday' button, but it didn't work. I will update when it's working.

Conversations

Conversations with S just before bed go something like this:

S: So Rhi, will you come walking with Teddy and I in the morning?

R: Yeah sure, that sounds great. Where will we walk?

Then we plan our walk..there are a number of walks we go on so we pick one and settle on it then go to bed. In the morning the following conversation unfolds

S: Rhi come on, time to get up

R: What time is it? It's not time to get up, go back to sleep! (Then the excuses come...I need to wash my hair, I need to iron a shirt).

Then I roll over and go back to sleep. After 3 years living together, you would think S has cottoned on to my sweet talking before bed. No way am I getting up before 7am.

Happy Monday

This happens every time we go on a walk..

A fitted dress - Simplicity 2444

This pattern has done the rounds on almost all sewing blogs that I read. The pattern is versatile, with many options for the dress including cap sleeves, longer sleeves, two types of collars etc. 

I choose to go very simple for my first make of this pattern and didn't use any collars, sleeves or pockets. I actually thought this wouldn't work at all and as such I used cheap Navy cotton. It in fact worked perfectly and the dress fits really well.

I found the instructions easy to follow and there wasn't any stage where I was stumped with what the instructions told me to do. It took me about three weeks to make, but that is because I had very limited sewing time to spend on this dress. In all, I estimate it probably took me about 6-7 hours to make. Not bad for someone who is still a beginner sewer.

The dress has a fitted bodice, front and back darts, front and back pleats and a back zip. I cut the dress out exactly as the pattern showed and made no adjustments at all. I used a 1.5inch hem and the dress still sat just on my knee which I think is a little long. I am 169cm tall, so the dress would be quite long on most people. Next time I make it, I will take it up further.

It has a very 50's feel to it, which I love. So simple, classic and elegant. I wore it out to dinner last night and paired it with a red belt, red cardigan and black heels. 

If you asked...

I would tell you I really want another dog..A little friend for my sweet Teddy.

If you asked, I would tell you I am more and more in love with S each day. He finished Uni on Wednesday and I couldn't be more proud. He is such a calm minded and generous person to me and I am forever grateful.

If you asked, I would tell you my parents (and 4 younger brothers) recently moved in to the most beautiful old house I have seen. I am so happy for them.

If you asked, I would tell you that I'm not really looking forward to starting back at Uni, but I know it's necessary and I will try my hardest to keep my focus.

If you asked what I was sewing, I would tell you a dress. I would also tell you I am almost finished and so happy with the outcome. It's the best garment I've sewed yet.

If you asked me, I would tell you that I often wonder about this little blog I have on the Internet. I wonder if it will grow and I wonder if my readers even enjoy what I write. I wonder if I bore people.

If you asked me, I would tell you that I am loving this lovely Winter weather. Where the days are crisp and cool, but sunny and bright. I would also tell you that I don’t mind when it rains, because I find it soothing.

If you asked me, I would tell you I recently got a promotion at work. I am no longer an admin assistant and I am so happy in my new role. I can see a career path in front of me and I am learning more and more each day. The best thing – I don’t sit there waiting for work all day.