What better images to post here on Australia than some of one of Australia’s iconic Bondi Beach. I avoided the Australia Day crowds and took a trip there yesterday when it was surprisingly quiet! Admittedly the weather was not amazing but still I was surprised at actually how quiet it was down there considering it is a long weekend here in Australia. I hope all my Aussie friends have enjoyed a relaxing and fun Australia Day and for those on the other side of the world I hope you are not caught in snow storms!
While I love a trip the beach in summer I have to admit this year I have avoided it and opted for the “lets just stay home and swim in the pool ” – the beach is stressfull at this time of the year – the parking, the crowds, the stress of watching the kids go out too far in the waves when I am not really in rescue mode and I will say it again – the parking! On Monday however it threw caution to the wind and did an impromptu “let’s go the beach kids”. It was 4pm when I said it so with that everyone threw on their swimming costumes, grabbed a towel and we jumped in the car. By 4.20pm we were parked beach front at Manly (for a cost of $8 per hour mind you – while this did save the finding a park stress, it still freaks me out that a few hours by the beach costs this much).
The weather was perfect – a beautiful 28 degree summer day! My idea of magic – the old fashioned fish and chips while watching the locals was also a pretty good way to end the day!
With a new year always come new inspiration so I have decided to try a regular favourites post where I share four favourites from the week – anything from blog posts, to inspirational articles to new things I just love! Here is my first one for the year! Random things this week – things I think you should check out!
First up is the recipe to this amazing cake & cordial I enjoyed last year! Both amazing and both definitely worth giving a try.
Find the cake recipe here and the cordial here.
I have found a few great You Tube Channels to get into lately. This weeks favourite is by Mimi Ikon.
Find it here.
I write a gratitude journal every day so when I read this article this week about setting goals for 2016 around what you already have it really resinated with me.
Find it here.
We are heading to the USA for a family holiday later this year. I have always dreamed of staying at Shutters on the Beach in Santa Monica – even just one night would do me. I might be dreaming but you never know! Check it out here as it is just worth the look even if I don’t get to stay the night! Would love to hear from you if you have stayed here or have any good tips for other places to stay in Santa Monica!
Happy New Year Friends! Well 2015 wrapped up beautifully and now we are in 2016. I hope you have had a wonderful start to the new year. We have just been soaking up the sun here in Sydney and enjoyed some down time pool side! My favourite time of the year when there is nothing pressing to be done while the kids are on school holidays!
So has anyone else jumped on the best nine bandwagon over on instagram! I loved seeing everyone posting their most popular instagram posts for the year so I decided to check out mine as well! No surprise really that it involved a lot of cake and flowers. My instagram feed has changed a lot as the year has gone on with the change in direction of my photography work and my wellness journey – it is always interesting to see the change in number of likes when this happens!
Instagram however remains my favourite form of social media so while it is lovely to get likes it is more important that my feed shows what I love photographing at this point in my life! So here are my most popular 9 instagram images for 2015 – some are definitely my favourites as well.
