Chaos, Birthdays & Liptember

If you're wondering where I have been, the answer is working. Although you probably guessed!

 

I worked on my first 'hostile' takeover which meant 2 weeks of little sleep, very long days and having literally no weekends (I'd consider being in the office from 7am until midnight all weekend worse than your average weekday, so definitely not 'weekend' within the normal meaning of that word!)

 

In the midst of these chaotic times, I had a birthday. It would have gone uncelebrated (I had to cancel both my birthday lunch with girlfriends and my birthday dinner with the boy) but for an amazing and unexpected office delivery from my friends in Canberra:

 

 First I saw these fantastic balloons. Did I mention that I LOVE helium balloons!? They remind me of carefree childhood days...

 

 Then came a big box with lovely ribbons... which contained:

 

 A delicious chocolate mud cake!

 

Last but not least, I got this fabulous card. You can't tell from the photo but it's holographic and moves. All very exciting...

 

It made a dark day so much brighter!

 

I have just now gotten back from a whirlwind weekend trip to Canberra which was exhausting but so enjoyable. We had the 1920's ball and I caught up with all my friends, which brought back such lovely memories.

Photos of the ball will be coming soon (you will be able to see the dress I ended up wearing). In the meantime, if you haven't already please check out Project Girl's blog and sponsor her for Liptember. Liptember is all about raising funds for women's mental health, and encouraging open communication about and familiarisation with gender specific mental health issues.

In blogging about her life, Project Girl shares her personal struggles with mental illness (which is much braver than I could ever be, I am not a personal sharer!). I just sponsored her and I hope you will too.

Bub Turns 4

As with many childrens' birthday celebrations, Bub's has been ongoing now for what seems like forever. It started with her "at school" birthday, for which we made cupcakes to take to her class. She is only at preschool 3 days a week, so this had to be done the day before her birthday.

On her actual birthday, we had some friends over for dinner and used it as an excuse to eat delicious seafood (fresh tiger prawns - yum!). We had pre-baked 2 cakes, and the kids decorated them with edible sparkly paints until they looked almost inedible:

Today we hosted 20 energetic 4 year olds for her birthday party. We couldn't have asked for better weather (thank goodness) so they could run around outside and the house was not trashed as much as it otherwise would have been.

 About 60 mini cupcakes were baked and iced.

 This cake was made, a la the Womens Weekly retro kids cake book... They have cakes in there that I had for my own birthday parties as a child :-)

 Decorations were put up. This reminds me of a scene out of The Castle ;-)

 Party hats are a must at any birthday party.

20 tornadoes unleashed in the games room...

 There was also painting...

 And party games.

It was a very successful party. We are all now thoroughly exhausted!

Macaroons et Petits Fours

At work we have a tradition. Whoevers birthday it is, has to bring in a cake or some other source of food to share with the work group for morning tea. It's a little strange having to buy a cake for yourself on your own birthday, but it works. People are too unreliable to buy for someone else!

These delicious macaroons and petit fours were from Croissant D'Or, a French patisserie in Canberra. The best part is, guess how much all of this cost me? A whole $12, with a voucher pre-purchased on Living Social. The macaroons alone are usually $2.40 each, so it was definitely a bargain. We enjoyed them with Quinche (green) tea from T2.

As birthdays are all about eating (and calories don't count), at lunchtime I enjoyed Canberra's best laksa at Asian Noodle House:

Mmmm delicious! Overall a nice day, but I probably would have preferred to take the day off work. I wasn't particularly productive, it doesn't feel right working on your birthday!

In shopping news, I have decided to buy a pair of wedges for summer... only problem is, I can't find the perfect pair. What do you think of these?

Bub didn't have an afternoon sleep at daycare today, and boy did we pay for it this evening. She was in one of those inconsolable, irrational, just totally overtired moods. On the plus side, she's already asleep so I have time to contemplate the stillness of the night...

Every year, on my birthday,
I think about how glad I am
that I was born,
how thankful I am

for all I have in life.