There’s something decisive about grating a hefty wedge of parmesan reggiano on a Thursday afternoon.  The activity itself is very therapeutic and while it is monotonous, it frees your mind up for a few minutes to do a bit of thinking and reflecting.  It has to be a hard cheese for me though, I’ve accidentally grated my fingers when I’ve zoned out with a block of mozzarella.

As I grated my cheese and then corralled the delicate wisps into freezer safe containers, I suddenly realised that I was having one of those rare ‘I’ve got this part time employment / mothering balance’ down pat days.  It did take me until 3pm to realise it though (mainly because I’d been on the go all day making things happen) but better late than never.

We didn’t do anything special yesterday but we had time to fit it all in.  My days off are usually planned around getting Toddler SSG out of the house and off on adventures he seems to really enjoy like riding in the supermarket shopping trolley with both of his hands clutching the trolley handle as he turns his head this way and that.  We get to the pool once a week and I structure any errands I have to do around their proximity to shopping centres with indoor playgrounds.

Naps were had, meals were eaten (a fifty fifty split of mouth to floor is as good as it gets at SSG Manor these days) and I managed to tick off everything on my hastily scrawled to do list for the day.  Even the daunting task of arranging prints of the last 5 months of Toddler SSG’s life for the baby book and album.  Approximately 357 iPhone prints are on their way to my local Big W and I’m pretty sure I’ll find what I need for the various records I’m making of the last year and a bit.  As I clicked to confirm my order, I sighed a very long sigh and had to have a bit of a lie down.  It was more mentally exhausting than I anticipated it would be.  But it’s done.

Ever since Toddler SSG started solids, I’ve been waiting for the day when he’d finally be ready to eat things like chicken strips.  I  made mine in the oven and they turned out better than I had hoped.  I used panko crumbs seasoned with some of that grated reggiano after coating strips of chicken thigh in an egg and milk mixture.  A spray of olive oil gave them a bit of a golden finish.  They were a huge hit and leftovers freeze well for a quick reheat in the oven.

In non parenting news from yesterday (good work life balance days always include a few moments in which I get things done purely for my own enjoyment), I’ve tracked down what were previously elusive make up finds in the drugstore price range.  I’m talking about pencil eyeliners in the taupe/nude colour spectrum.  Those eye makeup miracle workers that magazines are always reporting that makeup artists swear by when asked to reveal the secrets of train cases.

The beauty blogger world has been abuzz for some time about Rimmel’s recent relaunch of their eyeliner pencils.  Previous incarnations have boasted good colour payoff but a rather hard consistency.  The Scandaleyes range manages to get a good balance of colour and performance.  Sarah from More Than Adored has reviewed the Nude shade in her best eyes in 2013 of post here.  Kat from Kitsch Snitch has a very comprehensive post here where she compares the Nude and Taupe Scandaleyes pencils as well as an Illamasqua version in Vow that I am now mildly obsessed over.  Kat’s post features a comparison of the shades as worn on the lower lash line in the same eye look.  

The blog posts I’ve linked to feature much better swatches than mine but I’m including my swatches in my capacity as a mummy/beauty/food/fashion/shopping/all of the above blogger.

Both the Rimmel and Models Prefer pencils glide on very smoothly on the lower lash line.  I was really impressed at the performance for the price point.  They both have great staying power.  I was unable to find Rimmel’s Nude at my local Priceline yesterday and was a bit disappointed at first but have read that the colour can be a bit orange and harsh on some skin tones.  Taupe is subtle on me and blends in subtly if I stray beyond the lash line.  Models Prefer’s Nude Appeal actually works better for me in terms of achieving that ‘bright eyed’ look that kicked off the whole lower lash lining trend all those years ago.  The vanilla shimmer isn’t as obvious as the pure white I mistakenly attempted in my younger years.

If I do track down the Rimmel Nude, I will update you in a future post.  In the meantime, I’ll be using Taupe as an alternative to the Maybelline blackish brown shade I use most days.

My other find was from Aldi.  I’m not sure if this is a limited release but I found a LaCura Colour Correction Cream ($7.99 for 30 ml) at my local store yesterday.  The only shade available was medium.

The cream comes in a sturdy flip top bottle.