Girls night out!

Friday night was girls night out and what better way to do it than cocktails dinner and an exotic romp in the desert? The company was sensational, the cosmos were awesome and the movie...well the movie was fun but unnecessary. Don't get me wrong, I'm a great fan of SATC but I just felt like they were trying to milk the cash cow on this one. I loved the shoes and clothes so I was easily pleased but seriously there were some cringe inducing moments in it.

And since I was going to see a brightly coloured, fashion forward show I felt it only right to wear my own very brightly coloured outfit to honour it.

DVF Julian mini in ruby spotted cat, Diana Ferrari boots

The big news of the week? I've actually sold 3 pairs of shoes that don't fit. I couldn't bear to part with them but I know that the homes they are going to will love them just as much as I did. This takes my beautiful collection back down to 6 pairs. I was actually looking forward to having 10 pairs soon too! Oh well, gives me something to aim for now doesn't it?

Saturday was a great day with a brief reprieve from the rain that had drenched us all week. Good thing too as we were going to a BBQ for a friend's birthday that night and the BBQ area of their house is outdoors!

And now it's Sunday...I had plans to do stuff but since it's gone back to raining & miserable I delayed them. Plus we stayed a lot longer than we intended to at the party so motivation levels are sitting at about -10 right now!!

I've recently started getting interested in cooking again. Not that I ever really lost it as I would cook dinner etc but I mean the passion and creativity and the gumption to get off my ass and actually cook stuff from scratch. No packet stuff. 

Just last weekend M and I went to Victoria's Basement and drooled over pots and pans. Sounds extremely daggy I know but I get excited when I think of all the good food we could cook with a better set of cookware. We ended up getting a nice kitchen knife block as all our knives are getting a bit old and ratty. It's such a fresh change to be able to cut something first go with a knife that's as sharp as it needs to be!

We also went to Ikea to get an idea of building our own kitchen island as we have ideas to help us increase the storage area in the kitchen to accommodate all these pots and pan we want to buy plus help us store the stuff we already have. Our one bedder isn't exactly crawling with storage space unfortunately. Why are home improvements so exciting? Well I find them exciting anyway and if that makes me a giant nerd, then so be it!!! :)

Speaking of all this desire to cook from scratch I have done a bit of cooking lately and I'm loving it. I made a chicken drumstick casserole I haven't made in ages. I browned some onions and herbs in some olive oil, added the drumsticks and panfried till a nice colour had been achieved, then added some diced tomatoes, tomato paste, some wine, water & bacon and simmered for an hour or two. The result? Some seriously tasty, tender chicken!

Another great favourite I had to pull out of the archives was shepherd's pie. Not done the traditional way with left over lamb roast but with beef mince. I know I seem like I'm cheating but it was tasty. Mince, carrot, onion & red wine done like a bolognese sauce and then baked in the oven with a fluffy mashed potato topping until brown and slightly crispy. Delicious!!

Today I made pancakes from scratch which I haven't done in more than 10 years! Those shake bottles are just so easy! I had forgotten that batter takes 30 minutes to rest and I was starving by the time I got to eat but the end result was so worth it!

Don't they awesome?! And the best thing is that we have enough batter to do desert tonight - apple & cinnamon pancakes! I'll keep you updated on how I go with dinner and desert!