This month, we had an Easter break, ANZAC day and school holidays, which I spent just playing catch up. I feel like I have been getting behind on my life admin and my list of things to do was getting ridiculous as the first quarter of the year has been so busy. I can’t say I am on top of everything but gosh it has been nice to have time to get some of the things ticked off the list.

In an effort to live more minimalistic, this month I cleaned out my wardrobe, pantry and laundry, and cleaned out more papers in my home office, cleansed with sage, and started fresh. We still have nothing much in the house as we are still very much in renovation mode, so every little bit is noticeable and eventually irritates me. It feels good to purge things.

Listened to - 

* Up and Vanished - good storyline but painfully slow to tell the story, about a girl vanishing in Alaska. I'm listening to Season 4 and made it through the first eight episodes but then they tell me the next eight episodes won’t be coming out till June. I'm not sure I will listen to other seasons.

* Serial Season 4 - about life in Guantanamo Bay. With my prior knowledge at 0% before listening to the show, it has been an insightful podcast, lots of new learning for me

* Where Should We Begin with Esther Perel - always love Esther’s style and the way she explains things to couples

Read - 

* The Creed Brothers by Linda Lael Miller - love a good cowboy romance

* The Dark Side by Sarah Bailey - kept me engaged for the flight to Samoa

Splurged on - 

* Commerical Industrial Cotton Mop to clean the new floors - so satisfying

Watching - 

* Wicked Little Letters - won two free tickets so took mum one night. Okay movie just a tonne of swearing but that’s sort of the point of the movie

* Caravan - a play with mum and sister at Castle Hill Players. Good acting, though cheating in relationships is a trigger for me which as part of the key narrative so had to get over that

Went to - 

* Samoa for five days during the first week of the school holidays - stayed in Fales by the beach, swam in the ocean, fed the turtles, watched the blowholes, read and relaxed. Samoa is very peaceful, simple and just what I needed after a hectic first term

* Archibald Hotel for lunch to celebrate my bfs sisters bday

* lunch at my BFFs house in Gladesville

* Archibald Prize at Hawkesbury Gallery - always amazed at the talent of artists

* Australian Pioneer Village—I took my boyfriend's mum for her birthday, as she has always wanted to go. I haven’t been since I was a kid, but it was interesting.

* see little sis for the day. Took mum and big sister along for the ride. Went op-shopping, out for $10 lunch and cooked sausage rolls in preparation for my sisters upcoming baby shower

Booked - 

* Akmal tickets for May

* Room at Four Seasons in Sydney for bfs birthday in a couple of weeks

Cooked - 

* Mango Chicken, Chinese Beef, Thai Chicken Curry, Masala Fish, Chicken Penne Pasta, Stirfry, Chicken Cassarolle

What's new - 

* home improvements - swapped out all downlights in the house to new LED ones, which makes a huge difference aesthetically. Placed our kitchen order, which is now in the queue. The guy says it could be about four weeks, which doesn’t sound promising. I am hoping to be surprised. I got three carpet quotes, one very cheap and one super expensive, so I went with Carpet Call, who did their best to match the cheap quote, and I saved a bit there. The carpet install is booked for early May, which is exciting and will be lovely, just in time for Winter. The timber floor downstairs is sealed, but my bf decided he wants it glossed, so that will happen after the kitchen goes in, before the ‘no shoes in the house’ rule comes into practice. We spent ANZAC day installing the fireplace (we had taken out from the kitchen) on the back verandah, which is great when cooking outdoors as the nights are getting colder. We have used it every night since.

* updates on my blog: I aim to publish a new blog post for each day of May. I will surprise everyone, including myself, and edit and push out all blog posts that have been sitting unpublished for ages. Time to bite the bullet and get back into it

* clothing sale with Luc - my sister and I had a stall at the Hills High-End sale at Castle Hill, attempting to sell our excess clothing that has been building up over the years. We both had a good clean-out and happened to make $709 over the four hours, which wasn’t a bad effort. I am over carrying the clothes to and from the car though.

* ten years ago, at Christmas, I moved to Morocco for a year. Before I left, one of my best friends gave me a Thomas Sabo bracelet with a Hand of Fatima charm on it to protect me on my travels. I have wore it every day since. My bracelet broke after five years of wearing it every day so I bought another one to replace it. Earlier this month, almost five years later, my second bracelet broke, so I bought another. My best friend has since past away, so it means ever more these days

* cancelled my pool aquatic membership. I haven’t been for the last month or so, and the $28 being debited from my card was doing my head in, so it had to go. Will just pay for a casual visit from now on

Looking for - 

* things I have misplaced around the house - hoyts $50 voucher, my probiotics, hair clip and the dog poo bags.

Sold -

* around 30 dresses, shirts and pants

Started - 

* planning for little sister’s baby shower. We are having a high tea event, treats and games.

Attempting to -

* floss my teeth twice a day. I have my six monthly dental check up coming up next month and I swore to my dentist I would floss each day. I have on and off, but not consistently. So, it's time to get serious and commit. It's been four days now, and I have managed it. Going for a streak.

That is April done. Hope it was a good one for everyone. Did you get a break or take some time off this month? With Easter and Anzac Day, what a great month! Feel free to join the conversation and leave a comment below. Don't forget to come back each day and check out my daily blog post during the month of May.

For other months in hindsight click here