I've never been much of an ice cream eater--until the awesomeness that is New Zealand ice cream became my norm and now I might have a problem. I used to be adamant that ice cream is only for summers, but it's fully winter here and I had a bowl of cookies and cream last night (with chocolate sauce) (and a marshmallow). This fun Felt Ice Cream Cone Scissors Pouch is making me super happy right now with far fewer calories than my bowl last night. This post contains affiliate ... Read More
Starry Starry Night Painted Galaxy Banner
It took us a long time to find the right house for us mostly because we wouldn't budge on the number of bedrooms. It was important to us that the girls each have their own room, which meant a five bedroom house. Those are rare in New Zealand as it is and because we were fixed on a small area, it was even more difficult. I still can't get over that we found our house! We're letting the girls design their rooms themselves (within reason!) and Pippi is going full outer space with hers (she's ... Read More
How to Update a Lampshade using Rub On Transfers
We are slowly but surely putting our stamp on our new home. We have a lot of big projects on our list but I'm finding great joy in the smaller ones. One big problem we currently have is that there simply isn't enough light in the house. It's winter, so it's dark already and there aren't many light fixtures in the house right now. I bought a couple of cheap lamps from Kmart just to help out with the lighting situation, but I barely took them out of the box before I knew that there was no way I ... Read More
A Sentimental Visit to Butler’s Chocolate Factory
It would be difficult to visit Ireland and not see boxes of Butler's chocolates. There are cafes scattered around the country and boxes of their chocolates can be found in train stations, airports, and gift shops. Our first exposure to Butler's, though, was in New Zealand way back in 2006. A new cafe opened in our local mall that specialized in chocolates and hot drinks. The flavours were intriguing and they had the best mocha. Getting a box of Butler's became a special treat for us and we said ... Read More
Statue of Liberty Embroidery Hoop
My first visit to New York City was for a school trip during my senior year of high school. We did all of the standard school trip stops, including visiting the Statue of Liberty. I absolutely fell in love--so much so that I returned for university the next year. My school was downtown and I spent many an evening wandering down to Battery Park and just watching the Statue of Liberty stand proud. If I were able to visit NYC tomorrow just for a day, I would go say hi to Lady Liberty. I ... Read More
Where to Get American Food in Edinburgh
I LOVED our time in Edinburgh and was sad to leave. We had moved there intending to stay but it turned into a less than two year home. Reasons happen and we're pretty good at rolling with the punches but it still hits me that we're not currently on vacation and heading home to Scotland soon. The funny thing with me and expat life is that for the most part, I'm perfectly fine with having left the States. I miss my friends because we all know that I'm much better at staying in touch when I see ... Read More