May Happenings

Hey lovelies!

I can't believe it's almost the end of May! Just where has the time gone!?!

I should be busy packing packing packing for our move next weekend.. but instead, I'm mooching on the couch surrounded by a mountain of tissues... because I'm sick sick sick.... and let me tell you, I'm the biggest sook when I'm sick!

I blame my sickness on my plane ride! I was fine when I left Taiwan... I was fine for my 10 hour layover in Hong Kong where I got to catch up with two girls I went to high school with.. makes you feel old when you can say you've not seen someone in over a decade!!  But my voice had disappeared by the time I arrived in Heathrow... luckily I managed to escape the airport in the space of half an hour with passport stamped and luggage in tow!

Our first stop was afternoon tea on the 102th floor of the Ritz Carlton.

I've completely fallen off the photo-a-day wagon this month.. we had lots of rainy weather in Taiwan before I left so there were entire weeks where I didn't leave the house.. which don't make for very interesting photo taking.

I was also preoccupied playing with the momster's new blender. She bought the local equivalent of a Vitamix and it's TOTALLY made me want one of my own.. I mean I've wanted one for a long time.. but now I REALLY REALLY want one!

I even made the batter for this Chocolate Earl Grey cake in the blender!
Don't mind that the momster attacked it with her hands! Hence why there is a weird chunk missing from the corner!
SAVAGE!!

The cake was deeeelicious! The recipe is on my FB page if you want to try it out! I used loose leaf Lady Grey and absolutely loved the fragrance and delicate sweetness it brought to the cake. I dialed back the sugar as I could only find semi sweet instead of bitter sweet chocolate and it came out sweet without being sickening. Perfect for an afternoon snack with a cup of tea or coffee!

A friend of the momster's also introduced us to a fantastic Japanese restaurant in Taipei.. where I ate what is quite possibly THE BEST sashimi and nigiri I've had IN MY LIFE! Seriously... it was so good, we went back again the next week.

The shrimp heads were still moving when this arrived at our table.
The shrimp was so fresh and sweet.. it was delectable!

The rest of the meals really deserve posts of their own.. it's on the list! Along with all the other fun restaurants we went to while I was in Taiwan.  Promise!

Me and my #firstworldproblems

Hey ya!

I am currently facing a conundrum... and it is absolutely a #firstworldproblem..

{via}

I am going to Turkey in June for the wedding of a good friend from NZ... I also have a ticket to see Pearl Jam in Manchester June 21st...

I will be road tripping around Turkey for about two weeks after the wedding.. ending up in Istanbul on the 21st June.. which is almost like fate is telling me to go to Pearl Jam.. is it not?? I can fly direct from Istanbul to Manchester the day of, and hit the concert that same night...

Or, I can give up my PJ ticket and stay on in Turkey and have time to explore Istanbul...

I put the question to my fb and the votes are about 50/50 at the moment about what people think I should do...

I am leaning towards Pearl Jam, as I've never seen them live and I'm not sure when I'll get a chance to see them in concert again... and Istanbul will still be there next trip right??!!

The other thing about going to see PJ is that I will get to hang out with Ms Sok, and what's not to like about spending time with a bff??!

So my friends... what do you think I should do??!!
What would you do??


ps.
This picture cracks me up.. probably the best example of #firstworldproblems! Also appeals because I suck at Mario.. :D

{via}

If you want to see some other funnies relating to #firstworldproblems.. go here and here..

BlogOverhaulin~

Hey peeps!

I have been suffering some mad insomnia this past week.. I slipped back into the habit of being up until 3 or 4 am the couple of weeks before... but I have been awake until 7 or 8am the past few nights (mornings).. I made a concious effort to get to bed early... ie. by 2am.. but I just laid in bed with 10 million things going around and around in my head.. until I gave up the idea of sleep and did some writing in my journal and spent the rest of the hours reading... hoping that as my eyes got tired, my body and mind would too.... No such luck!

I let my mind run free and just wrote down each random thought as it came to me and one of the things I wrote was Blog. Blog More. Blog Often. So I shall try to endeavour to get some life back in this blog and catch you up on all the fun things I've been up to!!

I've lost a lot of steam for blogging lately and I can't really tell you why... I have all the time in the world, I've been on some fun adventures.. but I just haven't sat down and blogged about it... I was blogging a lot more when I was working.. probably because my days were more structured and I would work on posts if I had downtime at work. With no access to facebook... and its evil time sucking ways.. I was a lot more productive with my time online!

Another reason is that I've been wanting to make some changes to how the blog looks but hadn't really had  any inspiration about what I actually wanted to do... I didn't really have a vision when I first started this blog about what I wanted it to look like, so I just went through the paces that blogger gives you and chose what vaguely appealed to me at the time... and I haven't really made any changes since then... Although I think at its inception I actually had a black background, but I don't think that lasted very long! I began to really pay more attention to the layout and design of all the blogs I visit and started to take note of the things I liked or disliked about each page..

So, my insomnia fuelled project last night was to overhaul the blog... I made me a new header from some of the feedback I got from my lame attempts last time... I got rid of the leafy backdrop and even threw in a widget to get you connected with my new facebook page!

One more tweak I would like to make is the height of the navbar.. but I can't seem to figure out how to do it.. the only way blogger will let me is if I change the size of the font.. but I don't want the writing any smaller.. I just want the nav bar to be smaller while maintaining the font size! If anyone knows how I can do this.. please please please let me know!!

If you're reading this on google reader, come check out the blog's new look and have your turn on the soapbox! I've love to know what you think!!


Happy Weekending!!

Final April Photo-a-day Round-up & May's Prompts

Hey lovelies,

I hope you've all headed along and 'liked' my fb page to stay up to date with the latest posts and other tidbits I find interesting during my web travels!

So Monday was the last day of April's photo-a-day challenge and aside from stacking a couple of days, I think I did pretty good! Here's the final round up of last month's photos..

Day 23. Vegetable {there was a discussion about what this vegetable IS... a friend suggested it was a marrow... which I think is correct, but upon asking wiki, it is actually a type of luffa as in "loofah"!}

My nana used to grow these and let them rot on the vine, then when they dried out, they became loofahs! Great for washing dishes as well as exfoliating your body!! When they're dried out, they look like....


Day 24. Something you're grateful for {yoga and the ability to practice at home} I first tried yoga when I was at university through a yoga'lates class I used to go to three times a week with the lovely miss Sok.. our instructors were seriously hilarious and made the class so fun. I've since practiced on and off for the last decade.. I love that it is something I am able to do at home if I'm not able to get to classes... I love being able to practice outdoors~

Day 25. Looking down {tootsies clad in my latest obsession - Sanuk shoes!}

Day 26. Black + white {an old photo I found of my pa while he was doing mandatory military service, I never knew that he played the guitar}

Day 27. Somewhere you went {cherry blossom viewing}

Day 28. 1pm {at my photo scanning work station} I scanned over 2100 photos in the course of a week.. there's more photos downstairs in the basement but we have decided to save those for another time...

Day 29. Circle

Day 30. Something that makes you sad {that my nana and pa aren't around anymore}

And there you have it!!

I am embarking on May's photo-a-day challenge...

Here are the prompts...

courtesy of Fat Mum Slim

How'd you think I did in April?

Are you playing too?

Caz Monkeys Around on Facebook!

Hey lovelies!!

This blog has a new hangout~

just click on the photo to go~

Come 'like' my page on facebook!! Not only will you be in the know when I write a new post but you will also be privy to lots of extras.. you know all those cool things you see floating around on fb or the web and think, oh that'd be fun to share with my blog readers but then it feels kinda awkward to write a post about one tiny thing, well those are the kinds of things I share on my fb page.

I'm not very good at collecting things and doing a weekly round up like some blogs, I have so much traffic on my personal fb newsfeed that if I don't 'share' something straight away, it's often really hard for me to go back and find it, or remember who it was that posted it in the first place.

I could copy and paste onto blogger each time until I had collated enough to 'warrant a post' but, let's be honest.. I am just too freakin lazy lack that kind of motivation!

So, come join me on facebook and find a recipe for a delicious looking earl grey and chocolate cake, 50+ ways to wear a scarf or how one of these could help you keep loose cables tidy!!

Once I get back to doing outfit posts, you might even find some goofy out-takes on the fb page! I can't tell you what other goodies you'll find there in the future, but be sure to come along so you can find out for yourself!!

See you in FbLand!!