Baby Shower

Baby showers are sweet. Everyone is so happy for the mum-to-be & there's so much anticipation in the air. I was invited to one recently & had a lot of fun.
There were plenty of gifts for the bub in the tum,

 fun(ny) games,

(pin the dummy on the baby)

(guess the number of jellybeans in the jar)

scrumptuous food

(delicious white chocolate mud cake made by Samantha at "Cake Smitten")

&.....a fingerprint tree.

Here's another way to use the fingerprint tree (in my previous post it was used at an engagement party):

get all the guests at the baby shower to pick either blue ink or pink ink, depending on whether they think the baby will be a boy or a girl, & add their fingerprint to the fingerprint tree. Then they can put their name next to the fingerprint. It's a beautiful alternative to a guest book & a fun idea so that the mum-to-be can look at all the baby predictions on the tree. Also nice to pass on to the baby as a keepsake for them to have later on.

There was a 50/50 split on the predictions at this baby shower.

Upon leaving, we each received this gorgeous Thank You

with an ultrasound photo of the baby on the back.

A nice way to spend a Sunday afternoon.
Have you been to a baby shower recently? How much fun did you have?

High Tea at Sofi's at the Hotel Sofitel-Melbourne

My friend & I visited the Hotel Sofitel in Melbourne yesterday for High Tea at Sofi's Lounge. We were celebrating her birthday so I was hoping it would be a memorable experience. It was! She was thrilled!

After doing much research on Afternoon/High Teas in Melbourne, I decided to take her to Sofi's Lounge at the Sofitel because they were one of a few places that provide gluten-free options & a beautiful atmosphere. Also, the weekend afternoon tea at Sofi's is a buffet, so you are welcome to go back for seconds, & thirds...

From the moment we arrived, we were made to feel very welcome. We started with a glass of sparkling wine & from there, the delicious afternoon began.

Here are some photos from our experience:

There were tables with a variety of sweets, including panna cotta, creme brulee, opera slice, fruit scones, & a multitude of cakes. Also on offer was a decadent chocolate fountain with different options for dipping, such as fruit, turkish delight & marshmallows.

As if that wasn't enough, there was a pancake station, where a chef was cooking fresh crepes & pancakes, with accompaniments of berry coulis, warm caramel sauce & thick cream.

Also on the menu were hot & cold savoury items, including mini shepherd's pies (which my girlfriend loved), cream cheese & cucumber sandwiches, egg & mayonnaise sandwiches & mini quiches. The sandwiches were so fresh & soft that I lost count of how many I ate.

As my friend has a gluten-free diet, she was given a 3-tiered stand with a selection of gluten-free savoury & sweet items, in addition to all that was on offer.

There was also unlimited coffee & tea, & a pianist was playing beautiful music in the background.
To top it all off, one of the songs he played was Happy Birthday & at that moment, several waiters came out with plates of cake with a birthday candle for the people celebrating their birthdays. Such a nice surprise!

High Tea at Sofi's was a  beautiful afternoon to celebrate the birthday of a beautiful friend. For anyone struggling for ideas on how to make someone feel special, consider a High Tea. It's such a treat & it's nice to spoil or be spoiled every once in a while.

Melbourne International Flower & Garden Show

For the garden lovers out there, this one's for you. Today was a warm (albeit windy) day in Melbourne & we decided to visit the International Flower & Garden Show at the Royal Exhibition Building in Carlton (apparently one of the top 5 garden shows in the world!). We arrived in the morning & by lunchtime, there were quite a few people around so it was a challenge to get about without bumping someone with our pram.

There were many avid green thumbs everywhere: looking at the beautiful outdoor garden displays, getting gardening tips from the experts, buying plants, sitting by the fountain & the lakes, enjoying the decorative flower displays inside the Exhibition Building & admiring the vibrant artwork displayed upstairs.

There were even stalls selling showbags (Burke's Backyard, Yates & Better Homes & Gardens were the ones I came across). Given that I do enjoy my gardening, I couldn't help but buy 1 or 2. There was a variety of goodies inside: vegetable seedlings, various magazines, fertilizers, gardening gloves, pest control, just to name a few.

The little ones weren't left out either. There was a Children's Garden that included a petting zoo, face painting, drawing & a Giant's house, but he was sleeping at the time we got there, so hubby & Little Miss tried catching some bubbles while I took a short break (don't kids love bubbles!).

Although we only stayed a couple of hours, you could easily spend the whole day there & it's probably worth staying all day to ensure you see everything. At $22 a ticket for adults, you may as well make a day of it.

I happily came home with some stunning red long-stemmed roses which were bought for the bargain price of $20 for 2 dozen. I decided to experiment a bit with my camera, & here's one of the photos I ended up with.

I hope you're all having a wonderful weekend, whatever you get up to. Enjoy.

Great Day for a Walk - Right?

I thought I'd share a funny story today, though it wasn't funny at the time!

After a very rainy night & a showery morning, I decided to go out for a walk this afternoon, as it was a warm day, the sun was out & it hadn't rained in a few hours. I put my tracksuit pants on, a singlet top, my runners, organised the pram with water & snack for Little Miss, grabbed my keys, mobile phone & sunglasses, & off we went.

What a beautiful opportunity. I was planning no more than about half an hour around the neighbourhood. 20 minutes into the walk, there was a brief shower but a few steps later had stopped, so I detoured through a different street so I could keep exercising. Why waste an opportunity, right?

About 2 minutes later, & about a 10 minute walk from home, the showers started again....& then became rain. Well, my Baby Jogger pram was put to good use. My beautifully blow waved hair was getting wet, I was getting wet, my sunglasses were getting wet (what did I bring them for?). Being a 10 minute walk away from home became a very quick 2 minute jog in the rain.

The moral of the story. If you're going to be outdoors & don't have a quick way of getting back home, don't go too far. More importantly, even though there's sunshine, look up at the stormy grey clouds in the sky before going on that well-intentioned walk. Those clouds are the warning sign telling you to stay home & have a cup of coffee & a biscuit instead!!

PS. Toddler in pram was kept wonderfully dry but jogging mummy was wet & sweaty with frizzy hair!

A Family Outing - Mt Dandenong

Hubby & I took our Little Miss to the Dandenongs for the first time on the weekend. It was a perfect sunny day, & the area was abuzz with people: young families, elderly couples, young couples, tourists, cyclists, locals, & the odd motorbike rider or 2. We stopped at Sassafras & Olinda. Here are some of the highlights from our day:

Tea Leaves - a store full of tea, coffee, teapots, infusers, mugs, chocolate-coated coffee beans & more. If you enjoy your tea, or know someone who does, it's definitely worth a visit. It's at 380 Mt Dandenong Tourist Rd, Sassafras, next to Miss Marples Tearoom (another fabulous place which we didn't visit this time around, as our pram was very likely going to be in everyone's way on a busy Sunday afternoon).

Olinda Cafe - a spacious cafe which also has a produce store where you can sample jams, relishes & other yummy local produce. The cafe menu was quite good & the staff were courteous, fast & helpful. Easy access for a pram. 17-19 Olinda-Monbulk Rd, Olinda

Westminster Gifts - my favourite store in the Dandenongs. It has such beautiful gifts, you could spend quite some time in there, as I usually do. They had some lovely French music playing (so I bought a cd), lots of French inspired gifts (I bought one of their canvas prints of the Eiffel Tower), bridal & baby gifts, Venetian masks, ceramics, lace, & so much more. It's a very pretty store. Hubby stayed outside with Little Miss, so she couldn't grab or break anything. It also gave me some valuable time alone to shop. 381 Mount Dandenong Tourist Rd, Sassafras

The Dandenongs are a great day out (or half a day in our case). It's a relaxing day, whether you choose to do some shopping in one of the many little shops, have a picnic, hike on one of the many tracks, have breakfast or lunch, or just take a leisurely stroll. It's beautiful any time of year.

x  Kathy  x