Things I am loving...

This blog post is going to be a bit of a brag post I think.  The things I am loving are related to one thing and one thing only, my amazing honeymoon in Bali!!!!!!

I LOVED Bali so much.  It is a country rich in culture and traditions.  The Balinese people are friendly and value family above all else.  It is a poor country that survives on tourism. 
We stayed 8 nights in Sanur and then had two nights in Nusa Dua.  If you know Bali, these two places are on the other side of the island to Kuta.
We loved Sanur very much and will definitely go back there in the future.

 

The photo above was taken in the morning and is the beach directly outside our hotel in Sanur.
 

We loved our hotel the Puri Santrian (in Sanur). The grounds were beautiful and facilities were great and the staff were very friendly.  It was a lovely place to relax, soak up the sun and read by the pool (they had 3 pools).

In Nusa Dua we stayed in a 5 star resort style hotel that had hundreds of rooms.  This hotel had fountains galore, water gardens, 5 restaurants and beautifully manicured grounds.  The downside was that because it was so much bigger that you missed out on the personal service and everything was a lot more expensive then Sanur.  Lovely none the less...

We had the best time and I am loving looking back over the photos we took over the course of our holiday.   1500 photos if you want to be exact.

We visited an area called Tegallantang, this area has the most stunning rice terraces.  This is north of Ubud (a lovely little place to visit) and there are rice terraces and fields all over the place.  Very picturesque.  

We visited a temple called Tana Lot which was very beautiful.

 

We had a ride on an elephant at the Elephant Lodge and Safari...

I loved being able to take my book, get a sun lounger and relax at a beach side cafe.   The staff would come and take food and drink orders from you when you called them over.  Bliss! 

  

View from our fave beach side cafe.

We loved having front row seats to the best sunset that I have ever seen. 

I loved the cooking class I attended.  We made the most delicious food and I came away with a recipe book so I can make the dishes at home!  I can not wait to make a lovely Balinese feast at home.

 

Things I am loving...

My amazing bag I got in Ubud.  I bartered very well to get this baby at a good price and I love it!!!  I did not see anything else like it the whole time I was in Bali.

I am loving the stunning silk tunic dresses I purchased.  They don't look like anything major hung up the way they are but believe me they are lovely and will be nice and light to wear with tights in summer along with the many pairs of bright coloured beaded sandals I purchased in Bali as well.  Each tunic as steal at around $25 NZ each.

 I love the beads I purchased!!  The yellow ones are very funky!  Very cheap ranging from $1-$2.50 NZ each.

 I love these greeting cards I purchased.  They are so pretty and have very beautiful images on them.

 I love this silk scarf I purchased at the Nusa Dua markets.  So bright and perfect to wear on a dreary winters day.

 I am madly in love with this stunning sarong I purchased.  It is thick and large at around 1m x 2m.  I did not use it as a sarong and am unsure of what I am going to use it for.  I am thinking I might make a skirt out of it or maybe use it as a table cloth (if it fits our table).

 I love homemade soaps and these Bali Soaps are just devine.  The cinnamon one is my fave however they all smell beautiful.

 
The thing I am not loving is the fact I can feel my tan fading as I type and that I have to get up early in the morning and head into work.  By the end of the week our amazing honeymoon with feel like a life time ago and we will be back to the realities of life.
At least I have my 1500 photos to look back on.

Have a lovely week!!!

Lovin...

Brief things I am loving for this week...

After a mega crappy week my husband came home on Friday night with flowers!!  I love flowers and it was such a nice suprise.

That very same night I had a hot date with 5 of my good girl friends from work to see Bridesmaids!  What a funny movie!!  LOVE it, would have to be one of my fave movies I think!!

And finally, I am LOVING that I only have 5 more sleeps until we leave for our honeymoon!  OMG Singapore and Bali here I come.  It is my saving grace at the moment with stress levels being at a high and now with having a head cold to add in the mix.

Travel Journal...

I am so excited!!!
6 more work days and then I am flying on a jet plane!!!
Andy and I are flying out on Friday at 12pm to Singapore for 3 nights then onto Bali for 9 nights!!  I am so excited!!

When I was lurking on Pinterest about a week or so ago I came across a picture of the cutest travel journal.  I loved the look of it and went to the blog where the picture cam from.  It did not have instructions and the pages inside were handmade but I thought I would make my own version.


Here is the picture that started this...

And last night I made my own.  I already had a spiral bound notebook and decided to make a slip-cover for my notebook and embelish it with lace and other bits and bobs that I have.

I am really pleased with how it turned out!!  I love the fabric I used and love that I could use some cute buttons and the flower I made a month or so back.

 

Front

 

Back

 

Open to the first page

I think it is just so cute.  I thought a travel journal would be a good thing for us to look back on in our old age or show our kids. 
Lets hope I keep up to date with it when we are away!!

Things I am loving...

Right now family are at the top of the list.

Last night our house was broken into (see previous post) and Andy and I were in a big grump last night and in a grump all of today.
We were both stomping around the house and being a bit short with each other.
I was even rude to the poor glazier that came to fix our broken window (something I feel absolutely terrible about!!!).
Anyway back to the story...
My Dads side of the family are rugby mad and there was a pre-season Waikato vs Auckland game in Pakuranga.  We had planned to go along, neither of us could be bothered but thought we better make an effort.
My Dad and his partner came up from Cambridge, my Aunty, her partner and my cousin who lives up here and Andy and I headed out to watch the game.
All my family supporting Waikato and poor Andy supporting Auckland.
To be honest a pretty average game (Waikato lost) and it was very cold!!!
After the game everyone was at our place for dinner, my in laws even joined us.
Good company, warmth of the heat pump, wine, home made chicken soup (see recipe section), homemade bread, chocolate cake and laughs made us both feel so much better about the stink bum thief who ruined our Friday night.

Everything in the world seems right again.
Yay for family!

"Other things may change us, but we start and end with family."
"The love of a family is life's greatest blessing."

Bad people!

I had a pretty good day today.   I am finally starting to feel better after being sick for a few days.  It was a nice sunny day, which always makes things brighter.  I had a great workout at the gym (1 hour and 10 minutes cardio!!).  I caught up with an old school friend I had not held an actual, real life conversation with in about 15 years.   And it is Friday... what is not to love?

SOMEONE BREAKING INTO YOUR HOUSE, that is what is not to love about Friday!!

After the gym Andy and I went to the local supermarket to get some food for dinner as well as ingredients to make chicken soup for tomorrow nights family dinner.  We were only gone around 20 minutes.
As we drove in our driveway a guy was walking down the end of our drive next to Andy's car, he bent down and pretended to tie his shoe lace and moved out of the way of the car and continued to do this.
There was something not right about this, obviously.
I got such a really good look at him.  I even noticed a distinct likeness to an ex All Black. 
I watched him walk away as Andy went towards the house, and then the house alarm went off.
The guy started running and jumped into a car which was parked about 10 houses down and it drove off.
I was so tempted to hop into my car and follow them but did not think I would achieve anything by doing this.

It ended up that the beepen beep beep (I wont swear) had broken one of the windows at the back of our house, put his hand through, opened the window, climbed through and opened the back door in preparation for stealing our stuff.
I think when we saw him he was either about to flag down his mate in the get away car or the alarm had started to beep and he left before it sounded.

Thank goodness we got home when we did!!!!!!!!!!!

Anyway the creep did not get a thing!!  Thank goodness!!!  I am just so thankful we came home when we did, the universe was smiling down on us.

We were broken into 6 weeks after moving into our house (a year and a half ago).  I was the one who found the house ransacked.  I felt so violated and annoyed that someone could taint our happy little house!!  All my jewelery was taken (except my christening bracelet), a couple of Andy's watches (that he never wore) and some money from Trade Me sales we had stashed in a money box.  It took me ages to get over that and feel safe in the house again.  I was very cautious for a long time and did not want to be the first person home for a few months!

I am just mad this time.   I am mad that someone just thinks they can steal someones stuff.  I work bloody hard.  I don't work hard for someone to come and take my stuff!
I believe in karma.  I believe that people who do bad stuff will always have bad luck and will always struggle in life.

I am going to go online now and buy a lotto ticket for tomorrow nights draw.  Maybe luck will be with me!