Extreme Excitement

Oh my! I cannot believe that for those of us living this side of the world, that spring is very, very, very near. I am extremely thankful to Ally from All Things Sweet as she has brought to my attention that spring is only a month away. A month! Oh I just cannot wait!

This spring I plan on/look forward to:

  - buying and wearing new dresses and shoes

  - sitting outside and reading and enjoying the surroundings

  - being able to start swimming in my pool again, oh how I miss swimming

  - outdoor dinner parties, I plan to have as many of these as humanly possible

  - finishing school - yes, this also means that there will be a heck load of studying and stress, worry, concern, pain, blood, sweat and tears (okay, I exaggerate a tad) but as of Tuesday 8th November at 5:15pm I will be done with year 12. Huzzah.

  - a small holiday with some friends from school down to the beach, celebrating the completion of school - you will get much info on this further down the line including many photos and details of the trip, you've been warned

 - going for bike rides (my sister, lovely lady that she is, has given me a pretty bicycle that needs some fixing but will hopefully but up and running riding by the time spring comes)

 - spring cleaning - I do love cleaning and I feel that it's time to have a spring cleaning and doing it during Spring is just an added bonus

 - and doing many of the things that I talked about in this post

What are your plans for the upcoming Spring?
XO Samantha

Inspirational

Some pictures filled with messages of inspiration found here!
XO Samantha

Fill In The Blank Friday

1. My favourite colour is   all of them. I know this sounds completely lame, but I just love colours. I have actually come to love them all. Pink and brown are still a little iffy for me, but aside from that, I LOVE colours. They make me happy. Short answer: My favourite colour is colour.

2. My travel destination of choice is   wow. There are too many to choose from. At the moment I desperately want to go to New York City, but I would travel anywhere if I had the opportunity to do so.

New York City!!! Pic found here.

3. My favourite food is   chocolate, followed closely by bread. Though not together. But yum. I am also beginning to love macaroons. So much. So so much. I think in fact that they have overtaken bread. Oh yeah, they're that good.

4. My happy place is   anywhere where I can take a book and music. Somewhere near a beach/pool/river/lake is also preferable.

5. My favourite saying is   "C'est la vie" meaning such is life. I know this is rather cliche however I always find myself in stressful situations and as soon as this pops into my head, I feel an instant relief. 

6. My dirty little secret is   I love watching stupid girly romance movies even though they would usually make me gag, I use way more scoops of milo than recommended and I'm a tad obsessive compulsive but I'm also lazy so I hide it quite well.

7. Something friends might say about me is that I     am a little bit crazy, a little bit quirky, listen to music a little to often and that I am (hopefully) a fun and caring friend. Well, at least I'd like to think so.

If you too want to join in, click here.

I hope that you all have a fabulous weekend.
XO Samantha

Changes To The Blog

As I'm sure you can tell, I am extremely new to the whole blogging thing so I am still learning the ways the of the blogger. I have just just just figured out how to add a "Reply To Comment" button which I am super happy about having because I love to respond to the comments that come my way and I think this makes it easier for both me, the blogger and you, the readers.

So I hope that you find this somewhat helpful and I assure you that you will get a response to every single comment you leave, big or small, one comment or a gazillion, you will get some sort of acknowledgment. 

And now, I shall leave you this beautiful photo of a city I one day hope to visit.

Source: Unknown (sorry).

XO Samantha

Updates

So my day has been extremely eventful, but first...

I love desserts. So here's some recipes that I've found which look soooo so good.



And in other news...
On Tuesday afternoon I went and got my hair cut and dyed. I have never had it dyed at a salon before so this was quite the treat. And, I have to say I rather love my hair. It's a brilliant shade of dark brown with a hint of red which makes it look real pretty in the light.

Problem: I think I may be allergic to the hair dye they used. It might not be due to the hair dye, however, this morning whilst I was eating a yummy breakfast, watching Gilmore Girls and drinking my third cup of coffee for the day (I really, really, really love coffee) when I started to have difficulty breathing. Thought it was asthma, didn't think about it. My throat started to hurt, thought I was merely getting a cold, lay down and tried to sleep it off. Didn't work. Started to get annoyed at my skin and how itchy it was. Walked to the bathroom and realised my lips and whole face was extremely swollen and all (oh yes, all) of my skin had turned red and blotchy. So, called the ambulance and had a fun ride in the ambulance to the hospital.

Consequences: Spent the whole day in the hospital (even when I was feeling much, much better I had to stay for "observation"), have to get allergy tests and carry around an epi-pen until I know the cause. Um... Ick!!!!!

I do not mean to alarm you, I am really fine. Just annoyed at the yucky day I've had.

The only good things that have come from my day: I saw my father for the first time in months and he brought me fancy chocolate = score! Aand, the ambulance officer was really cute and super nice and spent ages talking to me whilst I was waiting for a bed in the hospital. And he didn't even laugh at me for my ridiculous pyjamas.

So I'm hoping that you have had a bit of a nicer day than me, do feel free to share.

XO Samantha

Weekend Adventures

I don't know about you guys, but I have had an lovely weekend.

Saturday morning I drove down to Ikea and had breakfast with my family. I love Ikea so much that it was a wonder that I purchased very little, however, I did spend hours and hours wandering and thinking up ideas of what to buy when I have money, space and a home of my own perhaps. And is it just me or is Ikea baby central?

I did however find this adorable table that I very much want to buy!!! (Sorry about the dodgy phone photo).


On Saturday night I went to my friend's house for dinner where we ate random Romanian food, watching Amelie (I loved it!), contemplated the complexities of life (yes, it was an intense night) and make a chocolate cake for her family. I don't have a photo of our creation, and that's probably a good thing, seeing as it definitely was not pretty. Delicious, yes, but hideous.

Sunday morning was spent sleeping in, having a lazy morning filled with lots of coffee,  watching Gilmore Girls (I have watched this way too much, I think I know the episodes off by heart) and attempting some much needed studying.

Later on my darling sister and her husband came round and we enjoyed lots of coffee and cake and talked about baby names (a bit of a random topic seeing as neither of us are pregnant, however I think she's starting to think about it!!!) They have just left and I am now set to have a quiet, early night in preparation for the hectic week that lies ahead.

So how was your weekend?

Fill In The Blank Friday

1. One of my happiest moments ever was   I honestly don't think I can answer this. Nothing stands out to me as my happiest moment ever but the moments to choose from would be those spent with my family and friends. If I ever come across a moment which I could consider one of my happiest moments ever, I will most definitely be sharing it with you.

2. Summer is wedding season and weddings are   beautiful. I never used to like the idea of weddings, but after my sister's wedding (I was the maid of honour woo!) I have come to love love LOVE weddings.

3. This summer  will signify the end of school for me, something which I am so greatly looking forward to. Don't get me wrong, I do actually love school (yep, I'm a nerd, I said it) but this year is beginning to kill me. I will be spending my summer relaxing, at the beach, working, and enjoying life. I CANNOT WAIT!

4. My summer food of choice has been  fresh fruit and vegetables. I don't know why, but something about summer makes me crazy for fruits and salads and sometimes even fruit salads.

5. My summer uniform has been   shorts. I love the versatility of shorts which makes them perfect for anything. Summer definitely calls for shorts.

6. If I could spend the entire summer in one location I would choose   anywhere!!! I long to travel, and anywhere with sufficient beach/pool access would make me insanely happy.

7. My summer anthem is   oh, anything happy, chilled, & happy. Jack Johnson, Otis Redding, Little Joy, Beastie Boys, The Beautiful Girls, Ben Harper, The Donnis Trio, Eagle Eye Cherry, Elliot Smith, Jeff Buckley, Jimi Hendrix, John Butler Trio, Kool & The Gang, The Kinks, Lou Reed, Miami Sound Machine, and I think that's enough for the time being.

Jeez! Now all I can think about is how badly I want summer to come and the ability to travel anywhere.

Feel free to join in with Fill In The Blank Friday here.

Internet Finds

Oh the internet, what a magical, magical place.

Here's what I've found recently:
Found here.

Found here.
(FYI. Both of these dresses are sold by the store Red Velvet which was created by the authors of A Beautiful Mess and Food Coma)

Both found at fab.com a groovy little site with daily sales and specials which are ah-ma-zing!

Found here.

Found here.

Found here.

Have you had any good online finds recently? Please do share!
XO Samantha

Are You A Morning, Afternoon or Evening Person?

Sooo, someone recently asked me whether I was a morning, afternoon or evening person. At the time, I was unable to answer her as it just seemed like far too hard a decision to make. However, today's Fill In The Blank Friday had the same question on it, so I thought I'd take a crack at it.

My Answer: I would have to say all three. Yep, I sound crazy and I still haven't really answered the question, but truth be told, I have begun to really, truly enjoy them all. Here's what I love:

Early mornings: when the whole world is peaceful, the sun coming up, yummy breakfast and brunch foods, coffee (not that there's a bad time for coffee), slow, unagitated traffic, being able to have a slow start to the day, sitting around reading the paper and preparing for the day ahead, having breakfast in bed on weekend mornings.
How much would you LOVE to be waking up to this bedroom?

Afternoon: summer afternoons going to the beach and swimming, afternoon tea parties, the way the sun streams in through the windows which I find is the perfect time for reading in a comfy armchair, coming home from work/school/life and unwinding, afternoon bike rides, and, this is a weird one but I really like doing laundry at this time of the day.


Evening: when life becomes vibrant, putting on heels and a fancy dress and going out, colourful lights and beautiful cities, perfect time for watching movies cuddled up on the couch, dinner parties, the only good time to watch horror movies, deserts :), walking along the beach at night, and another weird one but I prefer cleaning later in the day, preferably with music blasting.


So are you a morning, afternoon or evening person and why???

Weekend!!

Unfortunately, my holidays are coming to an end. It is back to school for me next Monday, drat! But I still have one lovely weekend to relax before the madness begins again.

My Plans For The Weekend:
   - help my sister pack up her house in preparation for her move
   - finish reading Year Of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks
   - have a South African themed feast with my family on Saturday night
   - pick up supplies from the hardware store to fix up a chair and a chest of drawers
   - go to Officeworks to pick up some supplies - I freaking love buying stationary
   - aaand thats all I got so far.

What are your plans for the upcoming weekend?

You know what would make my weekend so, so much better?
If I had this bag to carry my belongings:
Found here. I love it!

Hope you're having a fantastic Friday and a wonderful weekend.
XO Samantha

Strawberry Shortcake

I have been seeing so many people devouring strawberry shortcakes on so many different blogs that I have become extremely jealous.


Today, however, I accidentally came across this recipe which I have not tried yet, but it looks so simple that I think I will have to ASAP.



Ingredients
  • 1 3/4 pounds (6 cups) strawberries, rinsed, hulled, and quartered
  • 1 1/4 cups plus 2 tablespoons sugar
  • 3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 4 teaspoons baking powder
  • 3/4 teaspoon salt
  • 12 tablespoons cold (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
  • 2 cups heavy cream
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Directions
  • Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a medium bowl, toss strawberries with 3/4 cup sugar; let sit to bring out their juices.
  • In a food processor, pulse flour, baking powder, 1/2 cup sugar, and the salt until combined. Add butter, and pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal but with some pea-size bits of butter remaining, 10 to 12 times. In a medium bowl, whisk together 1/2 cup cream and the eggs; pour over flour mixture, and pulse until some large clumps begin to form, 25 to 30 times.
  • Using a half-cup measuring cup, gently pack dough, invert, and then tap out onto a baking sheet. Repeat to form 8 biscuits. Bake until lightly golden, about 20 minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool, about 15 minutes.
  • Beat remaining 1 1/2 cups cream and 2 tablespoons sugar with the vanilla until soft peaks form.
  • Slice biscuits in half horizontally. Spoon strawberries and their liquid over bottom halves. Spoon whipped cream on strawberries, and replace top halves of biscuits.

Hope you enjoy!
XO Samantha

Life

I'm pretty sure this says it all!

Found here

My Baby - Lucy

I can't believe it's taken me this long to tell you all this, but a few weeks ago I bought myself a new baby. Wow that was a weird sentence but don't be alarmed, my baby, Lucy, is in fact a laptop. A shiny, brand new, still has that awesome factory smell (I mentioned this to the guy at the store and he just stared at me) MacBook Pro.


I felt as though it was time for an upgrade as my old laptop was barely turning on these days, so I did some internet research, talked to some friends and decided to drive to Chadstone and visit the Apple Store. Oh-my-deary-me! From the outside it appears to be just a regular store, perhaps a little pretentious, but nothing special. Boy, was I wrong! The whole place is like some freaky, wonderful adventure park, jam packed with all sorts of technology that isn't even available to be bought. It was a technology haven.

Aaand, the guy helping me was just so nice, I bought my lovely Lucy that day. What excited me most, besides the fabulous new machine I was bringing home with me, was that the helper dude (it was a while ago, I apologise but I have forgotten his name, he was kinda cute though) just typed in a few things on one of the display laptops and then some other dude just randomly comes and brings out the box from the magical wonderland behind the store. Talk about amazing! (or perhaps I'm the only one weird enough to find that amazing?)

It is in fact my first ever Mac, and at first I was a tad worried about converting, but after spending the whole afternoon and many days after that figuring it out and learning about it's wonderful features, I have fallen in love with it. It's just amazing!

And that's the story of how I came to be typing to you all on my wonderful Lucy.

Another exciting part of my day: Weeelll... Once I had visited the store and was in the 'ooh, do I buy it now as I know I really do want to OR maybe I should wait, it is the practical thing to do' mindset, I decided to do all my decision making at the Lindt store. Oh my, possibly just as magical as the Apple store! This was where I had my first-ever macaron.


I'm fairly certain it wasn't just me that had noticed the craze, so I felt it was prudent that I tried one. The photo is of a salted caramel macaron, and it truly changed my life it was soo good. So much so that I've even posted about a recipe for them here, purposefully gone out of my way just to enjoy such a treat and has spent many, many hours looking for a good salted caramel recipe.


And I'm fairly certain that it was the magnificent macaron alone which helped in my laptop purchase decision making. Yep, what else could it be?


Do you perhaps a macaron recipe you're willing to share? Please, please hand it over!


Xo Samantha

Christmas Joy

I know what you're thinking: Christmas isn't for quite some time, what on earth could I be talking about? Weeeelll, in my family, we like to celebrate, we go celebration crazy, dancing round to Kool & The Gang (okay, maybe I'm the only one doing the dancing). So this year we decided to have a little family Christmas In July gathering at my Aunty's house.





It was a lovely, lovely day and we even had a little Kris Kringle. I got my brother and gave him a huge bag full of South African lollies, chips, droewors, biscuits and chocolates. Yes, this doesn't sound like a great gift but my brother is insanely fussy and hard to shop for so in actual fact, this was his ideal present. My brother-in-law gave me (I was his KK) Harry Potter Part 1 DVD and a block of caramel Lindt chocolate and it was honestly the best present. I came home put on the movie, crawled under a blanket and ate chocolate. Yay.

Did anyone else happen to celebrate Christmas in July this year or are you planning to do so?

Family Fun

Last night my sister, my brother-in-law and I went out for dinner to a Vietnamese restaurant. It was absolutely amazing, so much so that I feel the need to learn how to make Vietnamese cuisine! So if anyone has any recipes or advice, feel free to share.

For desert we had fried ice-cream, something which I have never tried before. It was delish.


And it tasted even better than it looks! So, so good!

Hope everyone is having as good a week as I am, and to end of this post, here's a picture of my little dog - Yahoo (yes, that is her name!!!)


Xo Samantha

Online Shopping - Etsy

I don't know about you, but it took me a while to get into Etsy. There was just too much to look at, it was all too overwhelming. Until I started seeing different shops and items advertised all across the blog world. Now I think I'm addicted to it.

So here are some things that I've found which I love:


This cute print found here.


These adorable popcorn bowls found here.


Another awesome print found here.


This awesome travel diary that I want to buy one for everyone I know found here.


These cute hand towels found here which made me think of Blue Eyed Night Owl instantly!

Hope you enjoyed.
Xo Samantha

Sunday Morning

Today I am heading out to a family lunch. We are celebrating Christmas In July (I really, really love celebrating - even other peoples birthdays, I go overboard!!). I will tell you all about it later today, but for now...

How gorgeous is this:



Found here. I want to buy it so badly, but at $585, I feel it's a tad out of my reach. Free postage though!

Perhaps, when I have a bit more free time on my hands, attempt to make my own version of it. 

Currently:

Wanting: to see the new Harry Potter movie. Yep, I'm a nerd but I cannot wait!!
Drinking: coffee, what else.
Reading: Smokin' Seventeen by Janet Evanovich - I haven't bought it yet and it's already been out for a couple of weeks!!! I must buy it ASAP!!
Making: My own laptop case for my new lovely laptop (more on Lucy later - yes, I named my laptop)
Looking Forward To: my Aunty's delicious turkey - I'm not really a fan of meat but oh my, it's so so so good!!!

What are your plans for today or what are you looking forward to?

XO Samantha

New Blogs

Oh my, I think I am addicted to blogs. It's a sickness.

But here are three new blogs I've found which I thought I'd share:

Lou La Vie
Here on this adorable blog I saw this picture and just had to share it.


Little Random Happiness
Here I found a recipe for raspberry macaroons and they look delicious.








How good do they look?!?!? I will have to try make these myself as soon as possible!!!

*UPDATED* Happy Mail Love has been deleted but was such a cute idea. If you were ever fortunate enough to find this blog before it was removed, and if you did ever receive a piece of mail from them, I would love to know!  

I love mail. I love getting mail, sending mail, even just reading about mail (I also follow Send More Mail and Dolce Vita - My Life In Lists Swap). 

Hope you like these blogs, if you haven't already found them first.

Are there any new blogs you've found recently that you'd like to share??

I Want To Ride My Bicycle

Am I the only one that immediately heard Queen - I Want To Ride My Bicycle when reading the title?

Lately, I've longed to go for a bike ride. Problem being that I find myself without a bicycle. That makes it a little bit more difficult. Fortunately though, the weather here is so yucky that it would not be enjoyable. Perhaps by the time spring comes, I will have acquired a bicycle of my own??




Damn you winter!

Besides hating the cold, I am currently:
Reading: Year Of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks
Watching: The beginning of Charmed (not my best choice but I used to love it) and Will&Grace (ohmygosh, so addictive, I love it!!!)
Listening: Billie Holiday (man! she is amazing) & The Rolling Stones
Loving: being on holidays!
Wanting: to move out of home desperately, if only I could afford to do so!!

What are you doing/thinking/loving/etc. currently????

XO Samantha

Books and Croissants

Yesterday morning, I, along with my insane family, went for a visit to the Abbotsford Convent. Yes, sounds scarily religious but is no longer a working convent and is now filled with beautiful gardens, restaurants and so much more.

When we arrived we begun with breakfast at the Convent Bakery. Oh-my-goodness-gracious-me! This place was beautiful and their food was nothing short of delicious. 



This was my breakfast, an almond croissant and it was soooo sooo yummy. Wow!

We then went to the 3MBS Music and Book Fair which appeared to have little on offer, until I found my first book. 



1 hour, 25 books and $60 (yes, only $60, wow!) later, I walked out of there simply amazed. I could of kept on going, but felt my purse had taken a hard enough hit for now. 

From what appeared to be nothing special, ended up being one of the best book sales I've ever been too. I'll most definitely be going again next year!!!!

Have you been to any good book sales lately???

XO Samantha

Online Shopping

I love online shopping. I'm not to sure what it is about it, but I just can't stop myself. Problem being = very limited funds. If only I were a millionaire.

Here are some things I'm loving:

Found here

Found here

Found here

Found here

Found here

Found here

I hope you liked & that you are having a wonderful, marvellous weekend. 

XO Samantha