It’s pretty hard not to be loving life at this time of the year, if you ask me.  There’s just this feeling in the air and possibly even something in the water.  Summer, holidays and celebrations are so tantalizingly close.  Close enough to be looking forward to but not so close that you’re a bit panicked at how much you have to do between now and the close of business for Christmas.

It took me about four gifts until I realized that it was easier to write the post it note before wrapping the gift rather than wrapping first and trying to remember what was inside the paper.

Mid November is that sweet spot in the retail cycle where the stores are beginning to fill with things for summer and Christmas but they are still relatively empty of holiday shoppers. In other words, it’s still a relatively nice time to be visiting your favourite shopping centre for a few hours of errand running and heat escaping.

We were at Top Ryde over the weekend to take advantage of its unique and winning trifecta of plentiful parking, K Mart and Aldi.  I managed to get all the goodie bag gifts for The Festival of Four in one hit at K Mart.  Don’t worry, I’m not that mean and thoughtless – I thought twice about the finger paint set and put it back on the shelf.

Wouldn’t you know it?  I was googling for an image of the Aldi sea salt dark chocolate I then stocked up on and my photo turned up on the first page.  If that’s not a sign of my dedication to this chocolate then I don’t know what is.

Thanks to the Asian grocer next door we also now have a freezer full of restaurant grade xiao long bao for the craving next hits Preschooler SSG.  Surprisingly,  he hasn’t found them in the freezer yet…

Visiting Coles with a Woolies trolley….  always a good move.

Part of the excitement over the renovations at Top Ryde is over the super sized Coles on the first floor.  Sadly it doesn’t have Mix Apparel in store though.

The Coles opens out onto an airy and spacious food court and fresh produce market style area.

The children’s play area has been refreshed with two new and popular attractions taking up residence where shops used to be.

In addition to a mini golf course there was a room full of foam building blocks and it was these that were most popular with Preschooler SSG and his bestie.

Together they gathered bricks and built towers before eventually letting a third party join their team.  In this world of smart phones and tablets, it was great to see such a relatively basic toy engage so many children and their families for an active afternoon of interaction, problem solving and building.  Parents built elaborate arches and cars, the older children  made complex course through which balls could be rolled and ‘the babies’ (as the preschoolers hilariously referred to them) toddled amongst it all exploring with their hands.

I’ve been on about these yellow arrow tins for ages now and I’m not finished yet.  These are the only three cities available at my local Dan’s.  I know. Where’s Sydney?  Wouldn’t it have made sense to ship cartons of tins packed by city… and possibly even to the namesake city?  Have you seen any Sydneys around Sydney?