Taking Stock

making. Christmas decorations. I have a few ideas, like dried citrus, stick stars, using the polymer clay I bought a while ago and never used. HAHA. Want to try and not spend much money this year on Christmas.

Doing. Cleaned for a rent inspection last weekend. We passed (and it will be our last one, not including a vacate clean at the end of our lease) but man it feels good to have a clean house after a passed rent inspection… and knowing we won’t be having anymore.

Pinning.

All the Dream Home ideas - especially for the garden. I’ve also been looking into Shadow Work journaling - it’s looking at more negative aspects of your life and being, and using the feedback you have on yourself to build and grow your life in a positive way. To me, I feel like it’s teaching me that it’s okay to not be okay.

cooking/eating. 

We are back trying to be as frugal as possible with our grocery shopping and food usage. Making sure we use our left overs etc. Last night we had the most amazing leftover toastie cheese sandwiches! Also attacking our freezer stock - small things to make it easier to move, when we move… eventually. Mostly frozen Pork Buns, Gyoza, Fish & Chips etc.

sipping. 

Coffee, all the coffee… too much coffee. If anyone has a suggestion on how to graciously break up with coffee… that would be nice.

reading. 

Parental As Anything By Maggie Dent - technically I’m listening to it as an audiobook, because I don’t really find I have the time for books at the moment.

listening to. 

*see “Reading” - but also the radio. There is something I missed about Radio DJs mindless and sometimes random AF chatter. Is it just me, but are all the “popular” songs on the radio just songs I’ve heard on Insta Reels? (yeah, I know TikTok started it all, but I just hate TikTok #sorrynotsorry) 

watching. 

Big Mouth S5 (when we are bubba free), Love Your Garden (getting all the ideas for the future garden), Swap Shop on Netflix - pretty much Netflix’s version of American Pickers.

loving.

Just the way my life is headed at the moment. With all the ups and downs, I can feel like I’m headed in the right direction.

Buying. 

A few little presents to add to CJs advent calendar. Some stamp and ink for my journaling, and lay buying the most amazing quilt cover.

wearing.

Starting to wear my spring and summer dresses again. It’s almost Summer, but it feels like we haven’t really had the sunniest of Springs. Hopefully a few sunnier days in the future.

feeling.

All the emotions. Excited and scared about buying a house. Sad about having to move, but also my brain is busy with the idea of being able to renovate a place without needing permission! HAHA!

Love Molly xoxo

Little Things to do when you’re sad

Add PINS to a dream home Pinterest board

Bake cookies

Spend time in the sun

Have a long hot shower

Listen to music really loud

Have a coffee

Pat a cat

Take selfies with funny filters

Paint, draw, journal

Eat something yummy

Move furniture around / redecorate

Watch a funny movie or a movie you really love

Dance

We Are Buying A House!

Guys, we are buying a house! We have pre-approval, and my father in law will be helping us (and moving in with us), so we are in the middle of house hunting - and honestly, it’s a really bad time, but oh well! We want 4 bedrooms (and room for a Man Cave and a craft room) land for chookies, and gardens, and of course a granny flat for the FIL. A great kitchen would be a plus! A little bit of a fixer-upper, but not that much :) It’s exciting, and anxiety inducing all at the same time!

I’m excited about being able to paint, and renovate without someone else's permission (well except YumMan) and grow all the plants, and get some more chookies!

This week's recommendations...

Reading

Parental As Anything by Maggie Dent, listening to the audiobook (usually when I’m having a shower), also enjoying the Very Excellent Habits weekly email from Carly (which this post is based on), and Pip Lincolne’s Daily email. I love getting a little slice of love in my usually full of crap email account.

Watching

Big Mouth S5

Starstruck on ABC iView. If you don’t know who Rose Matafeo is… get on it! She’s gorgeous and hilarious!

Wearing

A new black summer dress (yes black and summer CAN go together) It’s Midi length and is off the shoulders. It’s super comfy and flowy. Perfect summer staple, for those days that I don’t feel the full floral numbers!

Listening

Very Excellent Habits podcast, random Spotify playlists at work (I really need to create my own)

Eating

We made pulled pork in our slow cooker, and have been eating it all week. It’s so easy and yummy!

Doing

I guess it might be time to think about decluttering and packing etc. We have a rent inspection in a couple of weeks (hopefully our last ever one…) so cleaning will be happening, but I want to get rid of some stuff… lots of stuff, but it’s hard to let go sometimes.

Something old...   

It is mine and YumMans birthdays this month and we are old! Haha!

Something new

Animal Crossing 2.0 update is out, and so is the DLC Happy Home Paradise, and OMG, I'm having a ball. It's like a whole new game. I'm even planning on having a virtual animal crossing Birthday party for myself in a couple of weeks … because what 35 year old wouldn't want an animal crossing party?

Something borrowed

Borrowing a six figure amount from a bank to buy a house counts right? Eeeeeppp!

This week's tip?

Have trouble drinking enough water a day? I'm supposed to be drinking 2.5L a day. So I bought myself a 1L water bottle and find that only having to refill it a few times means I end up drinking more! 

Love Molly

Be Kind, Weird, and Curious (This week's recommendations)

Reading

Just finished listening to The Midnight Library by Matt Haig on Audible! It was such a great story, I was sad it ended. I’m currently listening to The Call of the Wild and Free by Ainsley Arment, about homeschooling - I’m pretty sure this isn’t the way I will go with CJ, but it definitely gives me some ideas on how to educate CJ myself before he starts school in 2025.

Also just picked up 2 books to help motivate and inspire me a little - Futuresteading and The Good Life

Following

veryexcellenthabits (her weekly email newsletter inspired this post!

Watching

Squid Game - what a f$%#ing ride that was! It’s a Korean series, but has been dubbed in English (which I really couldn’t stand, so ended up watching in Korean with Subtitles) but it was incredibly full on (re: gory, thrills, chills) I’m not going to say much more. Have a look into it yourself and decide if it’s right for you!

Wearing

I’m obsessed with Sneakers at the moment. Including a new pair of Nike’s my partner got me! I’m also super excited that the weather is getting warmer, meaning I can get my floral dresses out of hibernation!

Listening

See Reading - all the audiobooks. Also the Futuresteading Podcast. 

Have you heard the Coldplay x BTS collab song My Universe… I’m not a huge fan of Coldplay, but boy do I STAN BTS (RM is love), My Universe is a bop!

Eating

Trying to eat more fruit and veg (especially veg from my garden) - I was super proud of the feast I made for Ostara, and I’m finding baking calms my soul after a rough or frustrating day at work.

DID you know you can get WHITE CHOCOLATE Hazelnut Spread? It’s amazing! I made “Nutella” Cookies, but used that instead of Nutella, and they were so yummy! I shared the recipe on Instagram!

Doing

Trying to do more things for me.. re: taking time off for me, not feeling guilty for taking time off work with CJ is sick, not being embarrassed to like the things i like, and remembering to stay kind, weird, and curious!

Love Molly xoxo

the little things

1. rain when your snug in bed

2. breakfast dates

3. sun showers

4. watching bees

5. laughing until you cry and can hardly breathe

6. rainbows

7. toast with butter and vegemite

8. fresh sheets

9. baking cookies

10. toddlers laughing uncontrollably

11. having the perfect sticker for your journal entry

12. finding $5 hidden in you wallet

13. finding that playlist from 10 years ago and reliving all the awesome music

14. good night kisses

15. hugs

love molly xoxo

Something Good Every Week (mini edition)

Inspired by Pips Something Good Every Day, but knowing too well that there is no way I can post every day, I am going to start Something Good Every Week!

1.

Something Good Every Day by Pip Lincolne (link)

2.

Biscoff Rocky Road -- Biscoff, Caramilk, Macadamia Nuts... What could be better? (link)

3.

Spring is here! The flowers are blooming, the sun is starting to shine more! So excited!

4.

Custom made bonnet made by Gemiviv The Label for CJ (link)

--

Hope you are having a lovely change of seasons! 

Love Molly xoxo

on being mama - a zine

 

NO-COOK PLAY DOUGH RECIPE

 

2 cups plain flour

2 tablespoons vegetable oil (baby oil and coconut oil work too)

1/2 cup salt

2 tablespoons cream of tartar

1 to 1.5 cups boiling water (adding in increments until it feels just right)

gel food colouring (optional)

few drops essential oils

Method:

Mix the flour, salt, cream of tartar and oil in a large mixing bowl

Add food colouring TO the boiling water then into the dry ingredients

Stir continuously until it becomes a sticky, combined dough

Allow it to cool down then take it out of the bowl and knead it vigorously for a couple of minutes until all of the stickiness has gone. 

* This is the most important part of the process, so keep at it until it’s the perfect consistency!*

If it remains a little sticky then add a touch more flour until just right

I don't have any dedicated play dough toys yet, but you can use kitchen utensils, sticks, rocks, plastic animal toys, whatever you have!

Go Wild with colours! Make the dough without the colouring then split into 3. Dye one red, one yellow, and one blue, then you can take little bits from each to make the full spectrum of colours!

Mushroom & Chicken Soup

 Mushroom & Chicken Soup

ingredients

2 tablespoons butter

500g mushrooms, sliced

1 tablespoon butter

1 onion, diced

2 carrots, diced

2 stalks celery, diced

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1 teaspoon thyme, chopped

6 cups chicken broth

1 cup rice

1 1/2 cups chicken, cooked and diced or shredded

1 cup milk or cream

1 cup parmesan cheese, grated

salt and pepper to taste

directions

Melt the butter in a pan over medium-high heat, add the mushrooms and cook until the mushrooms have released their liquids and the liquid has evaporated, about 10-15 minutes, before setting aside.

Melt the butter in the pan, add the onions, carrots and celery and cook until tender, about 8-10 minutes.

Mix in the garlic and thyme and cook until fragrant, about a minute.

Add the broth, rice, chicken and mushrooms, bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer, covered, until the rice is tender, about 20-30 minutes.

Mix in the milk and cheese and cook until the cheese has melted, before seasoning with salt and pepper to taste.

Beautiful Love

 

#BringBackBlogging

 

Pip wants us to Bring Back Blogging. Who’s with us?

It’s time to #BringBackBlogging

My name is Molly, and I used to be a blogger. I spent almost a decade with one blog. The Princess & The Geek, then one day, it wasn’t cool anymore and I just stopped. People stopped reading, commenting, interacting with me... so I stopped. To be honest, I also stopped reading people’s blogs. So it’s time to BRING BACK BLOGGING, writing AND reading!

So if you’re reading this, and have a blog, leave a link I’m the comments and I will head on over and have a read. We need this back. We need to reclaim this amazing way to connect, find weirdos like us, and share just how awesome we all are!

Love Molly xoxo