I just got home from an incredibly relaxing couple of days and thought I may as well share a few snaps from our trip. Bryce and I have been so busy lately that even finding time to hang out between uni, work, family and everything else going on is so hard so when we worked out that we had a few days off together we planned a little camping trip to Lake Macquarie. I detached completely from social media/phone and it was great- so liberating to be in the moment. Enjoy a snapshot of my mini-break!
I pretty much went product free for the couple of days and only took this stuff but really only ended up using my toothbrush and deodorant. Its so nice to pack little of this kind of thing and realize how much you actually don't NEED it.
I am loving these swimmers from Dotti...I think my stripe obsession is getting out of control...
I have the tendency to collect things that I find pretty or different when I go places. I have added these to my window sill.
I had such a lovely couple of days exploring rockpools, wandering caves, eating snacks, swimming in the sea and relaxing. Never underestimate the power of a good weekend away for de-stressing! -Caitie x
Hey Guys, I thought seeing as though it's so easy to get stuck in a rut, especially with date night/day I would write up a little list of some ideas that shake things up a bit to hopefully give you some ideas!
1. Geocaching For those who have never heard of Geocaching, it's basically a treasure hunt that has 'caches' hidden all over the world. You buy the app and then search for the geocaches near you, and follow the map/directions to find it. The actual geocaches can be anything really- I have found ones as big as army barrels and ones as small as a 5c coin. The fun is in finding them (and doing so discreetly because the rules of the hunt are to not let any "muggles" work out what you are doing) but if you do want to take something (they can be filled with all sorts of random stuff), you have to put something else in. It's really fun and there are a lot more around you than you think!
2. Secret/Hidden bars A quick google search and I found an abundance of "secret" bars and even restaurants in Sydney alone so just do a bit of research and find some of the best ones around you. Some require a password, some hidden beneath ordinary shops and some in quiet alleys with no signage. I really enjoy the adventure of searching and when you are with your partner it only makes it better! Go out with a basic plan of which one/s you want to find and enjoy the night even if it doesn't go to plan (some of the best nights start with a foiled plan).
3. Picnic at a lookout Food and a great view, how on earth could that go wrong!? Bonus points if you make the food at home together before setting out to find a location.
4. Indoor Rock Climbing It's reasonably cheap, gets you active, is challenging and is great for a rainy day. Maybe even follow up with frozen yogurt or ice-cream (I know, this kind of defeats the whole "get active" part but oh well).
5. Drive-Ins I did want to avoid the
movies as an option but this is still mixing it up. Where I live there is actually a
drive in cinema that has a 50s themed diner with it, so grab a burger
and watch a movie. Bonus points if you have a ute and deck it out with
pillows and doonas. I actually find that this is about 3 times cheaper
than 'normal' cinemas too. If you don't have drive-ins then just try and
find something a little out of the ordinary. Maybe a Beanbag Cinema?
Gold Class? Get creative! Maybe even look at hiring a projector and set up a
cinema in your own backyard with a sheet. 6. Creative/Art Day Buy some cheap paints (kids poster paints are probably best considering you will likely get it on skin and need to wash it off) and some big sheets of paper and get to work. Painting in general is so relaxing so doing it with the person you love only makes it better. Even better, ditch the paint brushes and opt for your hands instead, getting messy is half the fun! Plus you will have an artwork as a keepsake which is nice.
7. Spa Night Treat yo' selves! Pull out the face masks, moisturizer and a good movie and just chill out. I know this may seem kind of odd for some people and maybe this isn't the best for a first date but I assure you this is so much fun and really relaxing and any guy who tells you he doesn't enjoy a bit of a pamper is lying haha.
8. Maze I feel like there is something quite romantic about the whole setting and although I have yet to go to this one, it's on my summer bucket-list (thinking of doing a blog post with my bucket-list soon). 9. Restaurant Crawl Start at one restaurant for entree, another one for main and another one for dessert. This probably works best in the city or somewhere you could walk to each place but it just adds a little something extra to the classic dinner date. Try and look for places that are known for that particular course and get a taste of 3 restaurants in one night! 10. Escape Room Puzzle Game This one is actually best done as a double, triple or even quadruple date. Most cities have some type of escape room and they are basically like puzzle rooms where you have to solve problems in order to "complete" (and escape) the room. Similar to the maze- I have never done this myself but it is on my list and I've heard great things about it from other people. Hopefully this little compilation has given you a couple of ideas to fill your weekend. Comment some of your best date ideas- I'd love to hear them! Caitie xx
I was out for afternoon tea with my grandparents the other week and ordered a 'Pink Salt Caramel Milkshake' and it was so delicious that I had to recreate it at home. In all honesty these measurements are kind of estimated considered I basically wing it each time but it seriously is so delicious! I really like the salt flavour so I add a fair bit of salt to mine but definitely tweak it to however you like yours!
What You Will Need: (Makes about 2 large milkshakes) 1/4 Cup Caramel (I make my own- it's super easy, just google a recipe!) 4 Scoops Ice-Cream 2 Large Pinches Pink Himalayan Rock Salt 1 Handful Ice 1/2 Cup Milk
All you need to do is dump all the ingredients in a blender and blend until its all mixed up.
The consistency should be kind of like a McDonalds soft serve ice cream. Because the caramel hardens on the impact of the cold ice cream, it
actually blends into shards which is really nice because you get caramel
specks all through the thick shake.
Hopefully you recreate this and it turns out as yummy as mine!
Hey Guys, I've been wanting to do a 'Whats in my bag' for quite a while now but in all honesty I've been taking my backpack most places so I figured I could start off with 'Whats in my UNI bag' and then move onto my handbag when I use it more in the summer/during uni holidays. So here it is- what I tend to lug around with me to and from uni.
The Bag: I got the backpack from 'Equip' for about $30 I believe, it's not particularly good quality or anything but it does the job.
Here's an overview of most of the things I keep: -Notebooks -Post-it Notes -Pencil case (with pens/highlighter etc) -iPad -Earphones and Phone/iPad Charger -External Hard drive -Coins -Paw Paw Cream -Moisturizer -Tissues -Hair Ties and Bobby Pins -Perfume Mini -Hairbrush -Vicks Inhaler -Panadol -Band-aids
Pencil Case- Kikki K Notebooks- 'Ideas can happen anywhere' (Kikki K), Brown & White (Officeworks)- I tend to make most of my notes on my Ipad so I usually just keep a few
small notebooks in my bag in case we need to write something on paper or
to make notes for completely non-uni-related things.
Harddrive (JB Hi-fi)- I keep copies of all my uni documents on the one hard drive so I don't
have to carry around my big heavy laptop and instead just plug my stuff
into the uni computers. Coins- Coins are always floating around the bottom of my bag and come in
particularly handy when a chip craving hits and the vending machine is
calling my name... Ipad, Earphones, Charger (Apple)- I actually plug my earphones into my iPad whenever I am using it in a lecture because it feeds all possible sounds through the earphones instead of the speakers. Yep, I learnt this trick after the immense embarrassment of having my iPad start making noises REALLY LOUDLY and then glitch up thus not allowing me to escape the app. Okay, it was my fault for going into Facebook during a lecture but I didn't mean to click on a video so I was absolutely mortified when it started playing full volume and wouldn't stop.
These are the more 'toiletry/beauty' items in my bag and I usually keep this stuff the front pocket so I don't have too many little things in the big pocket, plus, am I the only one who finds hair covering absolutely everything when you don't separate the hairbrush? Most of it's pretty self explanatory except for maybe the inhaler, which I actually keep on my pretty much at all times to help with my anxiety. I'm hoping to do a post on some ways that I fight my anxiety and de-stress and I'll explain a bit more there so stay tuned! That's pretty much all I keep in my bag, hope you enjoyed having a peek into what I take to uni!
I'm a 21y/o from Sydney who started this blog to have a little space on the internet to write about life happenings and things that I have been doing and loving. Hope you enjoy!
