Taking the blog to the next level

Recently I was contacted by a friend who asked if I would be interested in providing help to her 3 daughters on packing, bedroom and wardrobe organisation.

They are a very busy family with 3 high school-aged girls with an equally busy school, social and sporting life.

Miss P and I had a wonderful day with the girls and talked through many of the packing tips mentioned in my previous blogpost. The girls seemed to enjoy what they had heard and were especially happy to be given the packing list to make their next trip a piece of cake.

The youngest daughter put her newly learnt skills into practice by packing her suitcase for camp. She did a great job. The girls noted how kind the schools are to provide a packing list to make the job so much easier.

Miss P - my beautiful girl inside and out

We then talked about bedroom organisation and how to have a vision or idea for how you want the room to look and feel. We then discussed organising items into zones and how that might work. The girls already had some pretty good organisation happening in their room and picked up the new ideas really easily. We also talked ad nauseam about the art being able to discard things – a skill I still struggle with.

Lastly Miss P and I worked with the girls to organise their wardrobes. We pretty much pulled everything out and worked through what they loved and what didn’t give them joy. The girls were so decisive and it made our job super easy.  Quite a few bits and pieces were discarded and there were many golden moments of ‘ah, there it is’ (how I love it when a lost item is found). They arranged their remaining clothes into categories and then placed them in colour order. The middle daughter certainly picked up the concept the easiest and had a real flair with how her clothes should be arranged.

With the very stylish Miss P

Our visit lasted 4 hours and we were quite exhausted by the end of it but what made it so worthwhile was the sense of achievement Miss P and I felt. It was lovely to put our ideas into practice. Thank you Miss P for your hardworking and diligent nature – I couldn’t have done it without you. Who knew what a great little organiser you are!!

The stunning Miss P

We are both looking forward to our next adventure taking the blog to the next level.

Until next time xx

Stanthorpe Apple & Grape Festival

Every two years we head to Stanthorpe for the Apple & Grape Festival. 

We stopped off at the Aratula BP for their fantastic breakfasts.

First stop was at Sutton's Cidery and Juice Factory for a spot of afternoon tea. Here's their famous apple pie served with Lick ice cream.

When we stay with the extended family this is our accommodation of choice. It sleeps 10 and is super cosy.

We hit the streets for a lively bit of exercise.

We headed to Ballandean for a spot of sightseeing.

We stopped and took a photo of this pyramid in the middle of a grassy field. Bizarre!!

The Bramble Patch was perfect for brunch as always.

The owners had opened up their garden especially for the festival. Their garden is simply paradise.

Then it was time for the Grand Parade in the main street of Stanthorpe.

We had early dinner at Anna's Restaurant but alas, we were having too much fun feeding our faces to take any photographs of the food - needless to say it's worth a visit. Anna's has the most amazing buffet of their a-la-carte specialities on Friday and Saturday nights.

We sat near the bridge that crosses Quart Pot Creek and took in the fireworks display. For a small country town the fireworks were epic!

The next day we stopped by Heavenly Chocolate and tried some of their amazing hot chocolate varieties. Miss P doesn't like milk/dark chocolate but she was happy to see they had included a white chocolate variety.

 

On to the Girraween National Park. We walked across the granite boulders which litter the park.

Then it was time for the Multicultural Carnival and Wine Fiesta in Stanthorpe's Weeroona Park. There are bands, stalls offering all sorts of food and of course wine from the surrounding wineries.

A great long weekend again with all of our family. Can't wait for the next festival in two years' time.

Until next time xx

Boston Guide

This is my third city guide. My first was all about New York and second was all about Washington DC. We travelled to Boston in late July 2015, right in the middle of summer. We stayed 3 nights and if I had my time again I would increase it to 4 nights.

Accommodation

We stayed in an AirBNB townhouse in South Boston. The townhouse was located about a 20 minute bus ride from Boston’s CBD.

It was a 2 bedroom/1 bathroom loft style house.

It had an enormous marble kitchen, timber floors and rear deck which looked out onto a multitude of neighbouring backyards and gardens.

It was two short blocks from the seaside and sandy beach.

Transport

Right outside the house was a local bus stop with buses running every 20 minutes into the CBD. From there we would catch whichever subway took us in the direction we needed.

We did a bit of research before we left home and found the buses and subway easy to navigate. We walked a heap and the city was easy to transverse.

We purchased a CharlieCard from the local 7-Eleven and loaded it with enough credit for the 4 days of travel.

Sights you must see

1.  Harvard Square and Harvard University, 18 Brattle St, Cambridge – the streets overflow with bookstores, boutiques, coffee shops, record shops, street performers, an information centre and street dwellers, it's a fun place to hang out, walk the Harvard grounds to feel the ambience

2.  North End, Hanover St – Boston’s Little Italy district, walk Hanover Street and get your fill of pizza, pasta and Italian pastries, Paul Revere’s House can be found in a back street – 19 North Square (built in 1680)

3.  Boston CBD – Old State House and Boston Massacre site (dating to 1713, Boston’s oldest surviving building), Quincy Market and Faneuil Hall (enormous food hall and markets)

4.  Trinity Church, 206 Clarendon St – Richardsonian Romanesque style church, best photographed reflected in the modern mirror façade of the John Hancock Tower

5.  Copley Square, 560 Boylston St – this square is surrounded by exquisite architecture in Back Bay, see the neo-Renaissance Boston Public Library, finish line of the famous Boston Marathon and New Old South Church (puddingstone Venetian Gothic Church)

6.  Boston Common – Victorian flowerbeds, verdant grasses, willow trees shading a tranquil lagoon, swan pedal-powered boats, a wonderful place to sit and people watch, starting point of the Freedom Trail (2.4 miles of red paved path that winds through the city via the points of interest)

7.  Massachusetts State House, 24 Beacon St – majestic building with a striking golden dome

8.  Beacon Street, Beacon Hill – distinctive architecture and neighbourhood charm, Boston’s most prestigious address, narrow cobblestone streets lit with gas lanterns

9.  Charlestown – visit the USS Constitution (sails yearly on 4th of July – unfortunately it was under major restoration when we were there) and its Museum, Bunker Hill Monument (via the Freedom Trail) 220ft obelisk

Supermarkets/Pharmacy

1.  We found a couple of local supermarkets which provided us with all that we needed

Dining Out

1. Maria’s Pastry, 46 Cross St – run by three generations of the Merola family, we ate cannoli and crostoli here

2. Mike’s Pastry, 300 Hanover St – contains 19 different types of cannoli, Mr P recommends the ricotta filled one

3. Quattro, 264 Hanover St – Italian food done beautifully

4. Parish Café, 361 Boylston St – Boston’s most famous chefs have created their take on salads and sandwiches, creative and yummy, feels more like a pub than a café

5. Quincy Market, Congress & North Sts – this food hall offers a variety of places under the one roof, 20 restaurants and 40 food stalls to choose from, choose from chowder, bagels, Indian, Greek, baked goods and ice cream, heaps of seats to enjoy it

6. Max Brenner, 745 Boylston St – we discovered that Max Brenner does more than just dessert in Boston, we had a lovely dinner in this restaurant

7. Russell House Tavern, 14 John F Kennedy St – had a great lunch right in the middle of Harvard Square, great gastropub with classy food with hints of Southern goodness

Shopping

1.  Harvard Co-op Store, Cambridge – all of the family were mesmerised at the enormity of the Harvard Store, there are souvenirs, memorabilia, hats and apparel that has to be seen to be believed, I have never seen the kids happier than when they were shopping here, they love to wear their Harvard stuff on University days

2. Master P purchased an Armani watch in one of Boston’s department stores and had a smile from ear to ear.

Look up you’ll be surprised what you see

This is a city that is clearly all about America's forefathers.  It is scattered with old buildings, monuments, statues and plaques commemorating its historic past.

Weather

The weather was quite mild when we were there. There were some cloudy days and we found ourselves moving out of our shorts and into jeans and carrying a light cardigan. It was a nice change after the oppressive Washington DC heatwave that we experienced a few days earlier.

Until next time xx