Garden variety
The week that was
Dear diary,
Just a ‘day to day’ post this week - getting through the heatwave and adjusting to having a toddler now - Seren’s definitely not a baby any more and my life is different for it!
He’s been in a foul mood the past few days, we think it’s teething in combination with an all over the place nap schedule. He’s finally tailoring his two naps down to one, but it depends on when he wakes up - sometimes it will be two naps, sometimes one, which makes it very had to plan anything for the day! Also, we’ve been on a two nap schedule for so long that it’s another period of adjustment for me as well, but I’m doing better with the unpredictable nature of the routine this time around. Maybe something to do with not being intensely sleep deprived. I’m tired all the time, yes, but not questioning reality and hallucinating kind of tired.
It’s been so hot too, and I love summer immensely but 45 degrees is a little bit on the warm side for me. You can’t really take Seren out, so it’s a recipe for going stir crazy. I’ve come up with all sorts of games or rather distractions - we got sand for a sandpit, spent hours in the bath, play with bubbles.. I’m going to make some play dough tomorrow on the 45 degree day I think. It’s true that you really do need to be extremely resourceful and on your toes when you have an active toddler and a dog in a small house.
I’ve still been taking even the shortest of Seren’s nap times in the studio - a couple of drawings in my sketchbook, and working on some craft projects for my sister’s Hens Party that’s coming up this Saturday. I can’t wait to show you what I’ve been working on for it - just cute things for the table and decorations - but I’ll have to wait till next week to post because the whole thing is a surprise for my sister!
Guess what, I have another night in a hotel coming up. My two sisters and I have booked to stay in a hotel the night of the Hens Party. That’s two nights in a hotel in a month! With great thanks of course to Simon for holding down the fort at home. I’m hoping Seren’s mood improves for Simon for the 24 hours I’ll be away… one on one with grumpy Seren is not for the faint of heart!
As for what I’m going to wear for the Hens, I’m thinking of going with the pale pink Aje dress that I got at Brunswick Savers. I’ve never been to a Hens before - personally when I got married I had a Kitchen Tea - so I’m excited! And not just for the night in the hotel, haha, although… that is the cherry on top!
***
The play dough making activity yesterday was a big hit. I think it bought me 20 minutes of independent play for Seren.. worth it? I guess so even though it was about 40 minutes of making and then cleaning up on my part, ha. But now I have like three big globs of it that he can use whenever so that’s good. I used the recipe on the tin of Cream of Tartar - you can find it here. It was easy and worked well! And I low key love the smell of playdough cooking. Mmm childhood.
Look at these amazing vintage stickers I got at Savers!
Pancake parlour. Again.
Turns out you only need two 20kg bags of sand to fill the shell pool, not 5.
Could have picked a less fleshy colour for the play dough.
Still on my quest for the perfect marg. Dinner with my sisters and Aunt. This was a coconut margarita at an Indian Restaurant. 7/10.
Some sketchbook meditations.
Hens dress - I’ll probably change my mind 7 more times from here.
Watching/Listening:
Simon went out the other night and so I had a solo night in front of the TV, I watched the new Elizabeth Smart documentary on Netflix which didn’t really provide any new perspective on the case for me personally, but was a sobering watch nonetheless.
I’m also obsessed with this song:
Wishlist:
Seren broke my beloved Gucci sunnies that I’ve had for 5 years and I’m lost without them. I need a replacement but I don’t have the money at the moment so I’m wearing an old scratched pair I have. Long term wishlist is a new pair of sunnies that are as comfortable and chic as these. Something about the wire arms that I really liked. Needless to say I’m a bit pedantic about sunglasses!
He also broke this mid century lion ornament that I’m devo over. A replacement for that is going to be a little harder to come by 😭
Ins/Outs:
IN: Paper chains - I know I’m a bit late on the trend… but I may have been making a paper chain this week for the hens! Cursing that I didn’t have the energy/time/materials to make this one, though!
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OUT: 45 degree days.
Inside a book/magazine from my collection:
This is Dolly Magazine, February 1996. I’m obsessed with the toxic (and poorly written) marketing for Schoolies Week 1996 “If you’re in Year 12 and you don’t finish the year by going to the Gold Coast you haven’t really finished school as you will spend the rest of your life wondering what your friends got up to on Schoolies Week. It’s the greatest party holiday that you could ever imagine to finish your high school years.’’
I’ll share the second half of the magazine next week :)
