we got to spend our last few days in australia staying with some of eric's friends in perth.  they have an adorable 5 year old named freya (coolest name ever), and i was excited to get to hang out with her.  when her parents asked us to stay with her for a day, we made big plans.  obviously we pretended to be her parents the entire day.  i think we had more fun than she did :)

first stop fremantle markets!  freya had a great time looking at and touching all of the goodies for sale. the freo markets are one my favorite things about perth and we didn't have time to stop by on the way in, so i was happy to get it in on the way out.

 the most exciting part of the market was the fairies who would paint your face! freya chose a rainbow (such a great choice) followed by a rainbow ice cream.  pretty sure she didn't eat anything the whole day but sugar, but we thought it would be the best way to get a 5 year old to love us.  lots of sugar then give her back to parents! they did say we could give her anything she asked for :)

with a painted face and ice cream, it was time to enjoy a pirate sword swallowing show followed by lunch at cicerellos and a trip to the beach.

^^we ran past the ferris wheel and it was our first time as fake parents saying "no".  rides were 12 dollars!^^

^^freya and her dog tully.  thanks for showing us a great last day in australia!^^

we live by the weather here in shark bay.  if it's windy, we stay on shore and work, and if it's not, we're out on the water.  there's always something to get caught up on or some kind of maintenance that needs to be done, so it's not too often that we just get a day off.  but everyone once in a while, a super windy day will come along after a long string of days on the water, and we'll take off at least some of the day off to relax.

i decided to use part of my day off on personal maintenance with a nice shower, freshly painted finger and toenails, and clean sun-dried laundry.  since discovering that you really can use dr. bronner's soap on everything, i've been doing just that and i must say it makes your laundry smell divine.

in the afternoon i forced eric to take a break (he's not good at taking a break when there are things left to be done) and have some coffee at the newly opened resort restaurant (where i worked the last time we were here - they've redone the whole thing).  it was nice for the two of us to get away from the group for a minute and the restaurant looks so much brighter and fun!

then eric and meg spent the evening making everyone a super special treat of homemade pizza! with meat! you know our favorite meal is pizza and salad.  and eric, as usual, made some delicious pies that were savored by all.

 ^^ i was there for moral support while eric and meg cooked ;) ... and to get bits of dough and toppings ^^

cheers to the chefs for a great meal and to a perfect end to a wonderfully relaxing day!

^^oh mom, here we go again...^^

^^i'm wearing a hat^^ 

 ^^and rocking it.^^

 ^^what you looking at?^^

 ^^don't need eyes... that's what my nose is for^^

 ^^***poof***^^

^^i do what i want^^

check out the girls playing at the water park!

belle loved flying through the tubes and bella loved running around chasing the other dogs. hilariousness.  if you think bella is funny looking, you must check this out.

Aaron and Rebecca went to the family friendly Arlington County Fair with us this weekend.  There were rides, games, craft booths, and treats.

Most importantly, there were PIGLET RACES.

some pictures of our saturday stroll through the market.  it's always so tempting to buy everything in sight, so instead i took pictures of things i'd like to buy.  it's almost as satisfying.

we DID buy some fresh squeezed lemonade :)

and i bought a hat!

My favorite blogs to read have before and after pictures, so I figured we could contribute.

We were able to check two significant items off of our post move in list today.  Re-staining our coffee table and finally hanging curtains.

First we re-stained our coffee table chest.

Before

Sanded and ready

After!

In the photos they don't look much different, but the chest is much prettier in real life now than it was before.

Then, after seeing this photo float around Pinterest for long enough, we rehung (or just hung) our curtains!

I absolutely hate measuring the rod length to window length, using a level, figuring out how to use the plastic anchors, etc.  Eric left town right after we moved in together, and I found that I had come into the ownership of a staple gun from combining our possessions. Of course I immediately had to use my new found toy, and the only thing I could think of stapling right then and there were the curtains to the wall. Pretty tacky now that I'm looking at it.

Before

After

They weren't pretty.  And today we did something about it.   I still can't believe how much of a difference it makes.

Eric's out of town.  I already saw Magic Mike with Cara.  Rebecca's out of town.  I'm all caught up on work and just finished Mockingjay.

What-ever will I do with an entire Saturday to myself?

Thrift store: Check!

Bake cookie-muffins: Check!

Blast music an do something artsy: Check!

I'm not an artist, please don't judge :)

My attempt to copy Leonid Afremov

Last but not least, snuggle with my girls, drink some moscato, and watch Pride and Prejudice: Check, check and check!!!

Best movie ever.