One of the things I love about Instagram is its ability to enable us to share in the ups and downs of other people’s lives.   To have a laugh, groan or fist pump with someone else who captured a moment of their day that you could relate to.  Or aspire to.  I also love the motivational quotes people I follow share with me.  Instagram currently feels like a happier place to be than twitter which seems to be full of spam and ads at the moment.

The mundane, the once in a lifetime, the poignant and the random.  It’s all on Instagram along with the perfect flat lays of people’s wardrobes and magazine worthy snaps of their houses and holidays.  I enjoy it all as it washes across my iPhone screen in a blue and white framed sea of images separated by blocks of text and emojis.

Today, however, I’m all about the relatable and  real life moments shared aspect of Instagram.  And this is what my day looked like.

Being a ‘day off’ Tuesday, it began with a bit of a sleep in and a loiter at the gym before donning my mum uniform of a black T, cropped skinny jeans, black Havs, no makeup, hair back in a pony and a couple of accessories slipped on as I dashed out the door ahead of Toddler SSG.

I took a few moments at daycare drop off to catch up on the communication book for Toddler SSG’s room.  Each day, the educators write a few paragraphs about what the children did and how they enjoyed it.  Their comments and activities give me some ideas about what I can do at home with Toddler SSG.  Walking around his room and seeing the progress in the craft that the two year olds are doing gives me a chance to share some of this world of his that is separate from the time we spend together.  I forget the dramas it took to get us to the front door of day care today and say a silent word of thanks for having the chance to be able to reflect like this.

I celebrated my car tyre breakthrough with a coffee and bonus trip to the post office to pick up a work related parcel.  A parcel’s a parcel though.  It’s always nice getting things in the post.

I’m on for morning tea at work tomorrow so I took my coffee home and got started.  First up was an old school, no bake lemon and coconut slice.  Featuring a Milk Arrowroot crust.  I’m intrigued about the New Look Pack advertised on this packet.  It’s Coming Soon so hopefully all will be revealed soon.  Do we even need a New Look Pack for a biscuit that we love for tasting the same as it always has?

Anyway.  Was too lazy to haul my food processor out of storage so I blitzed the biscuits using my Braun stick blender and its bowl attachment instead.

Ahhh…. the sight of a lined lamington / slice tin…  A soothing sight indeed.

The crust smelled and looked beautiful thanks to the lemon zest.

My no fail method for pressing a crust into a tin involves using a sheet of baking paper under your hands as you press.

While the base was firming up in the fridge, I got started on my Nutella Muffins using this recipe from Mother Thyme’s blog.

I wanted something quick, easy and not too over the top and this recipe was perfect.

I can also confirm that a half cup of Nutella is equivalent to most of a small jar of Nutella.  Which is perfect because this then leaves you with a couple of extra table spoon fulls just for yourself.  Not wanting to be wasteful or anything, of course.

Then disaster struck in the form of my simultaneously having a front loader that refused to drain and non functioning power points in the kitchen and laundry.  Luckily, I managed to get the muffins baked beforehand.  I love how they look innocent enough to be served for morning tea but are actually made up mostly of Nutella and chocolate chips.

Back to the slice.  The crust of which had managed to chill nicely in the fridge whilst I was sorting out all those other dramas.  The icing is made of softened butter, icing and lemon juice and I was a bit sceptical at first about it all coming together to make a spreadable icing but it did.  Though I did need some extra lemon juice.

As for evenly spreading the icing over the slice?  May I present my patented tip and sip technique.  So easy yet so effective.  The icing managed to slide evenly over the slice in a glacier like fashion simply by my tipping the tin this way and that.  It’s slow work which is why you need a drink in your other hand as you work.

And here’s the finished slice ready for some more chilling time in the fridge before it’s ready to be cut up for tomorrow.

Okay.  I think that’s it.  There can’t possibly be any more drama left in today.  I’m going to find some lunch, read the paper and wait for the electrician.  It’s almost going to be relaxing going to work tomorrow.