Let Them Eat Cake

Tonight T made me the happiest woman alive. If he had presented me with a diamond that he hand cut to perfection, it would have earned a simple 'meh...' in comparison to this.....BEHOLD!

I present to you Adriano Zumbo's V8 Diesel cake. 

Brace yourself for the goodness that is flourless chocolate, chocolate crunch, brunt chocolate brulee, choc macaron, choc jelly, choc creamaux and choc chantilly, assembled into one cake! 

I don't even rate chocolate cake, send me a creme brulee any day, but this is just beyond.

I tried it yesterday and when T told me he would drop by with some real life tears nearly formed. Sure it kind of made the pushups I paid someone to force me to do tonight redundant, but god damn it was worth it. 

Current Obsession

Ecoya candle in French Pear. Smells absoluuuuuutely divine. 

Thought process went like this: Dear God and all things good in the world, this candle smells amazing. I must have this candle. Oh yes, this candle will be mine. THIS CANDLE IS $38?!?!?! Really? REALLY?! But it smells good. I will soooo still get it due to its intoxicating goodness. And when I get home and light it and let it's scent fill my room I will be happy, until I catch a glimpse of the price sticker  on it and begin to weep........

I need help. Or more of these candles. Either will do. 

Things That Make Me Happy

"Oh helllooooooo"

Going to the local RSPCA Care Centre and obsessing over the little cuties that need new homes! Eeeeek! 

Being cute and adventurous and stuff.

Moustachio is a lucky, if not the luckiest, RSPCA cat ever. We love him so much! I already loved cats, but he has turned me into a total cat lady. Trying to convince others that he needs a friend.....or five. Say hello to my future self!

Byron Eats

Thought I would do a quick post of some of the places we ate at in Byron Bay. Crappy iPhone pics ahead ya'll! Still haven't worked around the embarrassment of taking proper photos ha ha. 

The Balcony Bar and Restaurant

Popped in here for a cocktail after we got some Thai for dinner at the near by Asian Joe's.

I had a lychee caprioska ( I am a total caprioska/ mojito fiend) which was soooo yum but I had to palm the rest off to T as I was driving. BOOOoOoO, but on the other hand road safety comes first people!

We got a cheese platter which came with the most crisp green pear in the whole world. All pears should be crisp, not soft! The fig bread and quince paste was delcious too.

T got some sort of Kiwi cocktail which I sipped a bit of and it was so great. When we went back the next day I decided to order one. It was good until I realised that the frothy white stuff was egg white and I couldn't drink it anymore. Does anyone else get freaked out by raw egg whites? Wrong wrong wrong!

We also hit up a dip plate which featured a yum beetroot dip and a hummus that could only be described as 'meh'.

St Elmo's Dining Room & Bar

We seriously ate so much the day that we went to St Elmo's so we weren't even going to get dinner. That was until we remember our lives basically revolve around eating so we went out anyway haha!

So glad we did! I ordered a jamon plate with pickled vegetables. I love jamon and I really loved this jamon in particular. On top of some crusty bread with pickles, it was lovely indeed.

I have a pretty big statement to make. The cocktail I ordered was THE BEST OF MY LIFE! It was called a 'Vanilla Peach Mule' , made with vanilla infused vodka, white peach puree, lime and ginger beer. So very good. I was quite sad indeed that I could only have one.  

T ordered Roast dry-aged Angus rib eye, slow cooked onion, silverbeet, parsley and garlic. He reports it was  amazing. I concur from the bits I tried. T gets his meat done rare which I normally can't handle, but the fact I keep nibbling on some of this was testament to how good it was. 

We ate at a bunch of other places but I'm sorry to sad I didn't take any more photos!

Byron Bay Trip

Have just returned from the most amazing 3 day trip to Byron Bay with T to celebrate our sixth anniversary.

Words cannot describe my happiness! Our accommodation, the weather, EVERYTHING, was perfect.

We stayed at 'Summerhouse' which was the most perfect place about a 10 minute drive out of the centre of Byron Bay. It is a HUGE house with separate rooms and shared common areas. Luckily for us there was only one other couple there who checked out the next morning after we arrived so we had the place to ourselves. The view was absolutely breathtaking ,photos don't do it justice.

Each morning we woke up and wandered out to the common area where breakfast was cooked for us! Youghurt, delicious muslies, fruit salad, hot breakfasts ,coffee on tap and pancakes anyone?!

Sitting out on the deck with a plate of cheese and a glass of wine was heavenly. The weather was so warm , I didn't want to move.

 View from our balcony off our room. 

 If it has been summer, I would have been in this pool all day long.

Apart from driving around town ( we hired a car) we also drove up to the Bryon Bay Lighthouse which apart from being the most easterly point of the Australian mainland, has stunning views. The hike back up the stairs nearly killed us , it got soooo hot. 

Looking out from the lighthouse.

My beloved ♥

Forcing T to take photos of me doing jumps. May have nearly killed myself attempting cartwheels.

 Main Beach, Byron Bay. Best place to sit and eat fish chips and people watch.

 Love you T, you crazy kid! xx

Spending Ban Progress & Some Tips!

I am now into my FOURTH month of my spending ban! I say spending ban, but I guess it is more of a conscious effort to save more! I thought I would share a few of the things that I have been doing that have really helped me work towards my savings goals. I'm no expert that is for sure, but I try my best!

• Sit down and work out exactly what bills/expenses you will have for each month. For me this includes things like petrol, phone bills, car insurance payments, CC payments, gym membership and personal training etc. If you pay something weekly work out the monthly amount. Deduct the total amount from your monthly income and you will get a rough idea of that amount left you have to play with. I then aim to save most of the excess!

• I withdraw cash for things like petrol and personal training and keep it in separate envelopes so the money isn't sitting in my account and is less likely to be spent on an impulse purchase.

• Open an online savings account with a high interest rate. I use UBank and I find it to be extremely useful. UBank have the option to set up financial goals and watching your savings progress is totally motivating. Each week on pay day I transfer what ever money I have left over to save straight away.

• Be realistic about setting aside some money for entertainment. I learnt early on that it is unreasonable to expect that I won't go out and about on the weekend and might get a coffee, or see a movie with my boyfriend. I put aside a small amount for this each week and leave it in my everyday account.

• Birthday presents have always been a source of weakness for me. I love love LOVE buying people presents and sometimes go overboard. Spending less on presents has been a real challenge for me and I still feel quite guilty about it but at the end of the day it has to be done.

• If you are an impulse purchaser, stay away from credit cards! My biggest regret was getting a credit card last year. Looking back at the statements it is obvious that I spent it up on clothes and other crap that I barely use now. It is a lot harder to pay it off than it is to spend it. My CC is currently covered in layers upon layers of sticky tape so I can't whip it out and use it!

• Bring your own lunch to work. Enough said. Have also stopped buying the shitty coffee from the closest shop as a pathetic attempt of a caffeine fix! Easy money!

• Have goals! My goal is to save as much money as I can for New York, pay off my small CC debt and start up solid savings in general. Without a goal things get wishy washy quite quickly and it is easy to loose track. Think of the thing you are most passionate about achieving financially and strive for it!

If all goes continues to go well I will be buying  delicious things like this Alexander Wang Deigo Bucket Bag when I am in New York. Come to mama. 

That’s about all I can think of for now, but if you have any savings tips I would love to hear them! Is anyone else on a spending ban?