Fully recharged after a weekend in the sun, I was my best possible self on Monday morning as I faced the first preschool drop off and work commute for the week dressed (relatively) immaculately in a freshly ironed shirt dress.

Thursday saw me set out for the day dressed thus as I carried a bucket of cars down the road because they were hungry (according to Preschooler SSG) and needed breakfast.  We bumped into some new friends at ‘our’ cafe and the cars soon forgot their hunger as Preschooler SSG and his new friend put them through their paces.  I was also blessed with some lovely adult conversation and the luxury of enough time sitting at our table to finish my coffee at a leisurely pace.

To new friends, to new adventures and the joy of getting to know even more neighbours!

The teabag cupboard (ain’t nobody got the time for loose leaf tea around these parts at the moment) has been fully restocked with all manner of T2 teabags.

Morning Sunshine ($15 for a box of 25 tea bags)  is a blend of Assam, Darjeeling and Rwandan estate black teas.  T2 tells us that the result offers ‘malty notes with a touch of muscatel and mild fruitiness’.  Which makes Morning Sunshine sound like a wine.  To my unrefined palate, though, it just tastes like a darn good cuppa.  I found it pretty strong compared to some of T2s other black teas, on par with the UK supermarket brands I love but yes, with that more refined and complex combination of flavours.  Morning Sunshine is a favourite of mine already.

Did the mug look familiar in that previous photo?  It’s one of my set of Jamie Oliver for Woolworths china tea mugs.  The ones you needed stickers to purchase and that you all helped me with by giving me all your extras.  I was saving the set for some elusive special day but when I saw them sitting in a kitchen cupboard the other day, I threw caution to the wind and decided that the special time they were to be saved for was now.

Wet weather weekends around here means that all the roads of the suburb invariably lead to Westfield.  We, at SSG Manor 2.0 are joiners and here we are at our  my local Lulu Lemon store.  I had the dubious honour of being the only female in the store who was sitting on the instore easy chairs because the preschooler I was shopping with needed ‘some quiet and rest time’ and the Lulu chairs were just perfect, thank you very much.

www.lululemon.com.au

The Quick Pace LS top ($99 AUD)  was my find today.  It’s perfect for running as its lightweight while the back is typically Lulu with the crossed, slightly cropped open style.  I’m convinced that all of this will help me shave seconds off my splits when I go running tomorrow with Map My Run….

It goes without saying that after spending some time in store at Lulu Lemon, you pretty much have to do some family yoga practice when you get home.  It got creative and way off point very quickly.  Humble apologies, Mr Iyengar.

We then eased into the evening routine with a lot less angst than we usually do so I suppose the practice was successful on some levels.  Dinner was a homemade Hokkien noodle stir fry.  I know this sounds wacky but adding a few fresh, chopped baby tomatoes to your serve at the table adds a lovely tartness and zing to the somewhat strong and hearty flavours.  This is possibly an extension of my passion for tomato sauce with fried rice but try it and let me know how you go.

How’s your weekend been?

Are you a T2 or Lulu fan?  Are you borderline obsessed as I am?  If so, we should talk.