dreaming of decorating

We've been spending the day getting the house in order as we're hosting eight fifteen-year-olds for a sleepover tonight. Yes, eight. Eep. In order to do so, we've dedicated the entire guest room to mattresses (and kind of expecting a serious lack of sleep during the night).

Doing this has made me get an itching for redecorating. I think I'm a little bit in love with this shade of blue - and this awesome little shelvy thing spotted at housetohome.co.uk - cute huh?

We're doing pretty well with our Happy House List. Ticking off a little something every weekend.

meal planning monday

Hey, look at me with three blog posts IN A ROW {well, days of posting, you know…} I'm in a super-organised mood at the moment. Spring's in the air and I'm determined to end the year on a high. So I'm back on the meal-planning mode this week.

Monday: caramelised chilli chicken thighs with glass noodles and greens.

Tuesday: beef burgers and lemon slaw.

Wednesday: chicken chipolatas, greens and mash.

Thursday: mexican tonight - quesadilla perhaps?

Friday: dukkah-crusted salmon, lemon potatoes and greens.

Saturday: we're off to my in-laws for dinner. There is a very good chance we'll have roast. :)

Sunday: I might have to fire up the bbq to get in the mood for summer. If it's really summery I'll do garlic prawns with a salad, if not, steak with a nod to France (simply seasoned with garlic, salt and pepper and grilled over the flames. Yum.)

the happy house list

I love a list. I do! If there's anything I need to get done, you can pretty much guarantee that I'll make a list for it. Primarily for the satisfaction of ticking things off.

But I don't like to get disheartened. So I am not a fan of the long list. Lists that are too long can seem overwhelming and scary and like just too much trouble.

So I've come up with a cunning plan for the loooooooooong list of jobs we need to do around the house. I'm calling it The Happy House List. We're going to come up with a list of tasks to accomplish each weekend, from the teeny, to the huge. Then, we'll go through plotting and ticking them off - and celebrating them with a very big 'hurrah' at the completion of each.

Rather than moaning that we need to prune the roses, we'll do it with the end goal of a bushy shrub just like the one in the pic above {because my house looks extra-pretty when viewed through pink and red rose bushes!}. Touching up a spot of peeling paint just by the front door is a 10 minute job - but the satisfaction will be long-lasting. New front fence? Oh, priceless!

Do you love a list?

sweet saturday

This is our first weekend without sporting commitments {and may I throw in a small 'hurrah'?}. I do love my netball teams, but that full Saturday morning commitment really adds up. I did have to do a couple of hours work this morning, but the weekend's drawing out before me looking fabulous for getting things done.

I must say, it kicked off well. Last night my friend C and I checked out a friend's Art Exhibition opening, had a glass of champers, chatted with other friends, then went for a sneaky pizza and beer in what I think might be my fave pub in Newcastle - The Oriental in Cooks Hill. Why's it my favourite? Because it retains the classic bones of a pub, but has a slightly updated edge. It's cozy, has good beers on tap - and oh THE PIZZA!

Then we wandered down to a 'venue which shall remain nameless {because, well, blerk} to meet our friend A and see the formidable Courtney Love. My inner rock chick loved being able to see Courtney live again - it's been years and she hasn't lost her edge. My voice is sore from screaming along with the songs - and my body's sore from spending 30 minutes in the mosh pit {so worth it}.

We also bumped into some fabulous peeps along the way {one of whom was wearing FABULOUS red lippy for Courtney!}.

Today's it's family time - complete with paella for dinner.

I love weekends :)

image from housetohome

well hello

As you can probably guess from this pic, I'm yearning for Paris a little. Life's back to normal now, which makes me cast my mind back to days when I had nought to do but wander the streets of my favourite city. Oh well, we'll be back there soon enough.

This weekend was a lovely combo of catching up on stuff, and spending time with friends and my lovely little family. Last night's birthday night out with my gal pals was just perfection. First of all, there was sparkling rosé at Newcastle's newest small bar - The Red Baron's. It was pretty darned cool. We also shared some russian-style tapas before moving on to another pub for a quick drink. Then, we were still a wee bit peckish so we went to Chook and Broosky - a chicken and beer bar! SO GOOD! Fried chicken, coleslaw and chips with lime-zest for the win!

After this we ducked down to the Lass for a dance. We saw THREE great bands/performers, including my new favourites Nova And The Experience. What an experience! They played danceable indie rock while doing such awesome things as throwing paper aeroplanes, passing out newspaper hats for us all to wear, or passing our percussion cuteness and bubbles! We danced our wee feet off we did.

Hurrah for fun nights with the very best of friends.

Today I caught up with a very old friend from way-back-when for lunch and a brainstorming session. It was super-fun. Then I helped my gal with a crazy-difficult assignment for school. Oh, and it was a GOOD DRYING DAY! So hello clean sheet night.

Tomorrow I start a new adventure at work. I've moved over two desks and into a new role. I love a new challenge. Bring it all on.

And you, how's things with you?

meal planning monday

Well, I'm back! It's been a week now, and I think the jetlag has finally vamooshed. Pesky thing that it is. So last week was a bit of a write-off meal planning wise - I think I only cooked once (no idea what we ate…) This week we're back to normal. I'm going to use my food from France and England as an example to follow. See that pic above? It's just a salad, from a café in Paris - but check out the detail. That's finely sliced raw beetroot you're seeing - candy-striped, yellow and white. Seriously. I'll be digging out my mandolin and adding some of this to my salads this summer - it was both pretty AND delicious. Here's what's on the menu this week.

Monday: I'll ease back into the week with a simple meal of Nigella's Greek Lamb with a spinach, feta and walnut salad.

Tuesday: my gal's netball training. It'll be COLD. To warm us up when we get home I'll make a quick butter chicken, rice and wilted greens.

Wednesday: it's my 11-year-old netball team's last training session for the year (*insert sad face here*) so I'll make spaghetti and meatballs. I'll make the sauce in the slow-cooker then brown the meatballs while I'm cooking the pasta when I get home.

Thursday: hubby and I are off on a date with Underground Epicureans. We're off on a marvellous food adventure. Not sure what's happening with the gal yet. Either she'll stay with a friend or we'll ask my husband's parents to come stay. If they stay, I'll make a cottage pie wednesday night so they can heat it and serve it with veg.

Friday: chicken provencale tonight. With roasted potatoes and lots of greens.

Saturday: it's nearly spring isn't it? If the weather's kind I'm going to do a bbq. When in France we'd merely season steaks with garlic, salt and pepper. I'll do that. And serve it with a big salad like the one above (sans the raw salmon).

Sunday: pork belly roast on a bed of rhubarb with lots and lots of veg.

And that'll do it.