mamma's big day out

woo hoo, i had such a decadent day today.. kid-free !!!! i took off into town and sipped espresso and read a magazine in the sun.. then tootled around the shops looking at beads, clothes, fancy schmancy shoes, and grabbed some sushi.

i popped by the second hand shop where i found seven odd white dinner plates for 35cents each (cos we keep throwing ours on the floor..) and a funky pink "hot tuna" top for $3.00 YAY!!! i also found two more espresso cups to add to my growing collection, only $1 on a sale table. they're chunky and were actually sold as "cotton bud holders".. how bizarre is that? but, hey, no one knows :o)

i took a massive bunch of grapes and my fave simply you magazine and lay on the beach in heaven, reading about the french woman's approach to fashion:
French women thoroughly deserve their stylish reputation. They look sensational! Whether their personal style is traditional, trendy or somewhere in between, they achieve elegance and originality. There is a certain mystique attached to French chic, because it is so indefinable, so inventive and so sought after... A Frenchwoman usually shops selectively. Her criterion is a coup de coeur – in other words, she only buys what she loves and what she feels beautiful in.

so i popped to another recycled clothing store where 4 women were chatting behind the counter IN FRENCH !!! and of course i eavesdropped but only picked up little snatches cos they were talking so *quickly*!! and so i chickened out of saying, "bonjour.." but i did find my *coup de coeur*, a little brown and pink top.. oh and i tried on perfume (estee lauder's pleasures) and later found a delightful frangipani handcream. (mmmmm.. i know why you like the fragrance of frangipani flowers, Dad)

and now i have been banished from the kitchen and hubby has gone out to hunt and gather some dinner... he took the kiddos to rearrange his office today, and then to the library, then home to mow the lawns.. so everyone's very happy.
R12 and Daddy (aka Jamie Oliver) made the dinner.. gorgeous butter chicken and rice and perfect veggies.. with a glass of red !!!