Kelly did a blog post about all the new things she did in 2011 so I am basically copying her idea for this blog post:

Lots of amazing new things happened to me in 2011. A few I can remember like meeting celebrity chefs, and having an amazing culinary experience in some of Melbourne’s top restaurants and others I can’t really remember but just know they were new experiences that I thoroughly enjoyed. However, one of my highlights this year would have to be taking a chance via twitter and inviting a couple of librarians I had never met before to spend a day with me while they would be in Perth for NLS5. I never thought one simple day without any solid plans would turn out to be one of my most memorable days of 2011. Thank you Jo and Teresa!!!

What was new for you in 2011?

We had all these plans for this Tuesday but friends cancelled and we were left to our own devices so we made the most of our now available free time to head to the movies to see Happy Feet 2. We didn’t go into this movie expecting much but it was quite entertaining, funny and gorgeous as. Those penguins are so darn cute! After much giggling, we hit the shops and purchased a few sale items but I also saw the runners I want. Unfortunately they weren’t on sale so I refuse to buy them at full price although I have been wanting them for quite a number of months now. I’m not the most patient of people but I will wait for these as I don’t NEED them. They are not particularly expensive but I just don’t feel I deserve them just yet. I will earn them soon enough!!! Then I will post a photo of my favourite new shoes

Boxing day we woke up to some awful news of Chef Matt Golinski losing his wife and three children in a house fire and had also suffered bad burns himself.

Our thoughts go out to him.

I had an amazing Christmas day. It was all I could have wanted it to be. A day surrounded by love, great company, delicious food and lots of rest. We started off with ripping open presents we were lucky enough to get from Santa. My favourite item was a Peter Alexander shower cap with donuts on it – so cute and so practical at the same time. We felt very blessed and thankful because we were showered with gifts we wanted and gifts we did not even expect. The kids of course left some Coca Cola for Santa and some Marie biscuits for the Reindeers – by the way they were stale but Santa enjoyed his can of coke

We had a beautiful cooked breakfast with some family members then in the afternoon we kicked off the feast with some pudding and custard and the opening of the gifts with the rest of the family. We then enjoyed the rest of our feast of roast pork, glazed ham, salads, roast vegetables etc … etc … and finished off with a nice hot drink and mum’s trifle.

The weeks of endless shopping, gift wrapping, cooking, baking and time organising were so worth these few hours of fun spent with loved ones and we also took the time to give to those who are not as fortunate as we are. I hope we helped make someone’s Christmas very special.

Whenever tradies visit our house whether they be electricians, delivery persons, plumbers etc … I always find myself in a conundrum. Do I keep busy so I look like I’m a hardworking housewife or do I just sit there and watch tv until they finish? I always feel so awkward in my own home whenever a stranger visits especially if he/she is being paid to be there.

I like to see how things are done but if I watch they might think I don’t trust they can do a good enough job. If I sit in front of tv and enjoy a cuppa, how can I not offer them one but they never accept “Oh no I have my own in the van thanks.” If I sit and do nothing, do they think I do nothing all day? If I try to keep myself busy in the kitchen or with the kids do they think I’m pretending to be busy?

Or do they just not care????? and why do I care?
It’s just something that occurred to me and I’m wondering if others out there feel the same whenever someone visits their home to do some random work around the house.

Many of our friends travel with their children of various ages but I have to say I am in total admiration of those who travel with babies or toddlers. Hubby and I enjoy spending time with our kids and we enjoy taking them to new places to experience new things but I am not comfortable travelling long distances with my kids at the age of 0-5. I know it may sound a little archaic but my idea of a holiday does not include having to change nappies or having overtired children because they did not nap at their normal time or having to put up with tantrums because they need a nap but mum and dad decided to do some sightseeing. I can name many more reasons than the above but I’m tired just thinking about them

I am at my happiest when my children, hubby and I are relaxed and happy and just enjoying each other and the moment. Miss5 is an absolute joy to travel with and that is why I think 5 and upwards is a good age and they remember more at that age too. I want them to remember something special about where we travel to and take in the surroundings, the views, the culture and the food.

Of course if I could afford for a nanny to travel with us I may have a different opinion of travelling with children

I had my work review today and although I was quite apprehensive about it, I had a positive outcome do shouted myself dinner to celebrate a year of hard work paid off
Dinner at The Cabin for the happy librarian included some gorgeous tapas including battered zucchini flowers, boxed camembert with honey and crumbed hazelnuts, a beautiful lemon curd topped with restaurant made marshmallow.

Why are some people’s first reactions always no? Why not open your mind to positive possibilities? You might be missing out on a learning experience. You can approach them in a multitude of ways and you will still be met with a NO! Then they sit down, have a think about it and realise that they can indeed do it and that it is quite a simple task.

Why live your life being so negative all the time? Surely you must have a pretty sad life if you say no to everything. Just give it a go or even have a good think about it and then decide. You could say: “I’ll think about it for now and get back to you once I’ve made a decision.”

Saying NO constantly only irritates the people around you and if you think you are making their lives miserable you couldn’t be further from the truth. When you say No, they think: “Negative Nancy” and move on and try to think of other ways to get what they want – someone else will say yes!
Oh and I also hate those who use double negatives!!!!
I ain’t saying nothing more neither!

So I have a Spanish friend whose mum owns a restaurant called Spanish Flavours. A group of us wanted to have a tapas feast and we certainly did. We had a beautiful Seafood Paella followed by some Chorizo a la plancha (grilled Spanish chorizo), Croquettas, Pulpo a la gallega (octopus with olive oil, salt and paprika) – this was definitely the dish of the day.

Dessert time!!!!

Chocolate con churros, Flan de huevo and a banana toffee cake

How can one day be filled with such simple pleasures, great catch ups and lots of laughter and yet how can another day be so torturous?

Every day is a new beginning – a fresh new start!

Imagine waking up with a slight pounding headache, you have a shower and hope it will disappear then you start getting the kids ready for school and yourself ready for work and about an hour into it, you realise that the slight pounding headache has now turned into a sharp stabbing pain. The kids are dropped off at school, you take a panadeine and start work hoping that by concentrating a task, the headache will go away.

Eight hours later, 4 panadeines later you can’t focus on anything – you feel like your head is about to explode. You want to rock yourself back and forth and wish someone would cut your head off. Two hours after that after having done all compulsory motherly duties, you throw yourself into bed with two panadeine extras, you are dizzy and nauseous and having the worst stomach cramps ever and your head feels like it doesn’t belong to the rest of your body. You feel like you will wake up comatose in a hospital.

You wake up the next morning no more migraine thank goodness but you also seem to have hardly any recollection of the evening before. Oh well it’s a new day who cares what happened last night. Today is a good day already since you have woken up with an appetite and without a headache. Today as you walk down the street people smile at you, today as you drive down the street someone lets you merge nicely in front of them without having to push your way through. You meet an old friend for coffee and laugh the morning away, then you get to shop at your favourite boutique and buy a couple of awesome cookbooks. What? Another meal out? Oh yes please! Out to lunch with a friend then back to do some work and actually getting through the list of things on your to do list because you can finally concentrate without being blinded by pain. Kids get picked up from school and are having a ball and you head over to some fantastic friends for a feast of chilli mussels. When friends or random strangers see you today, you look fearless, happy, strong and very well … they would not have a clue as to what happened the day before.

Let’s hope for more ups than downs! To Health!