:: Come Dine With Me - Part One ::

I come a fairly large family (second eldest of six kids). Most of us are old and grown and have moved out of home. As a result we don't see each other as often as we used too, so to make sure we see each other once a month we have decided that once a month we will have a three course meal at one of my brother's or sister's houses. This weekend marked the second meal we have had and it is so much fun getting together and eating fabulous food.

The very first meal we had together was at my brother and sister-in-law's house. These two are known for their culinary masterpieces, so we were all salivating in anticipation! They chose an Asian themed menu of Thai beef salad, satay chicken skewers on fried rice, and sweet rice pudding. Mmm!

My sister-in-law has made a guest post over at my other blog :: Mind Your Crumbs :: because the entire menu was gluten free!

Now that I have the recipes in my hands, I will definitely be making them a part of my weekly meal rotation. Satay chicken on rice would be perfect with the chilly weather we've been having lately!

What would you serve if you were hosting a dinner party? Mr LG and I are hosting next month and any suggestions would be wonderful!

PS. A MASSIVE thank you to everyone who voted for my photo last week. Even though voting started five weeks before I entered my photo, with your help I managed to make it to ninth position with 193 votes! I felt so loved every time I saw my vote count jump up. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. xox

:: It's Not Easy Being Green ::

I like to take photos, so I thought I would bite the bullet and enter one of my photos in a competition! Now, what is about to follow is a shameless self-promotion and I promise I won't ask something like this of you ever again (okay, maybe not for a while at least!).

I have entered the photo below in Queensland Rail Travel's "All The Holiday You Can Take" competition. We had to enter a photo that represented one of QR Travel's five travel types: beach, reef, outback, city and rainforest. I chose rainforest!

You can vote for my photograph here. All you have to do is log into your facebook account, 'like' the 'Queensland Rail Travel' facebook page and vote for my photo! You can vote once every 24 hours until the competition is finished.

I would love, love, LOVE it if you guys could vote for me as many times as possible. I found out about the competition a little late, so I need those votes!

Thank you SO much!

:: Winter Warmer ::

Winter has well and truly hit Brisbane. And I don't just mean the fact that the first official day of Winter was yesterday. I mean that I spent yesterday rugged up in three tops, long pants, and two pairs of socks.  I realise that "Brisbane cold" does not really measure up to "real cold" standards, but spending most of my life living in a semi-tropical climate has made me a big wuss!

When the cooler months hit, I drown myself in entirely too much tea. The above tea towers were a wedding gift from an unknown guest! They came with no tag and we haven't managed to find the giver yet. I love them - such amazing flavours (Coconut Chai? Yes, please!) and best of all - they're organic and fair trade certified, certified gluten and allergen free AND the tin they come in is also recyclable (should I ever feel the need to throw the prettiness out).

So far my favourites are Coconut Chai, Raspberry Earl and Peach Ginger. Mmmm!

Are you a tea drinker? What's your favourite flavour? I like good old English Breakfast and Orange Pekoe on an everyday basis. I also like to indulge in a chai latte sometimes when I go out!

:: Montville ::

Two weekends ago Mr LG and I went up to Montville for the weekend. Montville is about an hour and a half from Brisbane and is in the Sunshine Coast hinterland. We were given a voucher to stay there as a wedding present and it was amazing to get away from the hustle of our daily lives. We stayed in a little cabin surrounded by trees and woke every morning to the heat of a slowly crackling fire and the birds waking outside. Bliss!

Jasmin Cottage!

Montville is full of antique shops, crafty stores and little cafes. We had fun walking up and down the main street, stopping to look at almost every store.

Lavender and Jasmine, such a great combination, wouldn't you agree?

This is where we ate our lunch at a local bar! Isn't it adorable?

Over the past few months we have visited a few places in our home state. I'm really enjoying getting to know Queensland better! Where is your favourite place to visit in your home state? I think Montville is up there in the top five for me!

:: Snail Mail ::

My mail box has been a happy camper these past few weeks. My pen pals have been spoiling me with wonderful letters to brighten my day!

Incoming:

The above was from Megan. Such a great little package!

From Claire all the way over in England! Such a cute postcard!

And Easter card surprise from Claire!

From Gracie for her Postcard swap. Love.

Another letter from Claire that included the most beautiful surprise - an embroided book mark!

Another letter from Megan. Love the flapper girl on the front!

From Jess. Love the homemade envelope!

This letter and cute print out came from New Zealand from Hayley!

Outgoing:

For Megan.

A return letter for Claire.

Not much outgoing photos to post - I don't want to ruin anything for the girls who haven't received their letters yet! Writing letters is the highlight of my week. I love choosing what paper, pens and stickers I will use!

What has been the highlight of your week so far?

:: Postcard Swap ::

A little while ago Gracie organised a wonderful postcard swap. I was partner with the lovely Alicia who sent me a little package full of surprises!

"Be pretty if you can, be witty if you must, but be gracious if it kills you" - Elsie de Wolfe

I was completely spoilt - a great post card, a letter, stickers and a gluten free recipe! Wow!

Here is what I sent Alicia.

"Tell me what it is you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?" - Mary Oliver

"Some women are meant to change the world, while others are meant to hold it together" - Jodi Picoult, 'Second Glance'

I then sent a post card to Gracie to say thank you:

"Thank the Lord for the friends he cast in the play he wrote for you" - Unknown

What is your favourite quote? I had a hard time choosing the above, I have so many quotes that I love. I've actually decided to start a quote book!

Thank you Gracie for organising such a fun swap! I now have a new penpal!