Okay, I’m ridiculously late in getting this out, but then it’s been a ridiculously busy week in the day job. Anyways, without further ado, here’s the week that was…
Who I met in real life…
One of the highlights in this manic week was a completely unplanned catch-up and drink with The Annoyed Thyroid. That’s us in the pics above. We didn’t have nearly enough time to talk about everything we had to talk about. Next time there will be dumplings as well.
We went to this little bar in York Street called Stitch. You enter through a faux dressmaker’s shop and head down a staircase into the bar – which feels as though it’s in the belly of a ship. All very cool.
Being back in Sydney…
I make no bones about the fact that I find it exhausting to be back in Sydney. This is partly because it always coincides with a particularly hectic time in the day job and partly because I’m doing the daily bus commute and partly because I also try to catch up with friends after work – and going out on a school night is something I don’t normally tend to do.
I do, however, stay with my parents and it’s good to have some one-on-one time with them – plus their dog always loves to see me; even if the photo below doesn’t show the extent of his enthusiasm.
Where I Valentined…
Although I’m absolutely a romantic and believer in happy endings – after all, I write enough of them – I’m not at all into Valentine’s Day so wasn’t too hung up about spending it away from hubby. I do, in fact, think that with all the commercialism that surrounds it Valentine’s Day is probably the least romantic day of the year.
Having said that, when you’ve been together for a while and (heaven forbid) might be taking things just a wee bit for granted, days like Valentines and anniversaries are little reminders that every so often your relationship needs to be put front and centre. Valentine’s is good for that I suppose – the sentiment, not the expenditure.
Anyways, I spent the evening with my friend at a bar in Barangaroo – Wild Sage – catching up on girly gossip and eating yummy food. The rose petals on the table might have been wasted on us but we both agreed it was the best Valentine’s Day ever.
What I blogged…
To be honest I wrote very little last week that wasn’t to do with the day job. I did, however, pop something up for the Nigella Diaries on Chocolate Self-saucing puddings. If you missed it you’ll find the link here.
Random dumplings…
As if I hadn’t eaten out enough last week, I was completely knackered on Friday when I got home so we took the easy option and went out for Chinese for dinner. Yes, dumplings were involved.
What I attended…
Books By The Beach – the Romance Edition – at Mooloolaba on Saturday.
Unfortunately, because I was away during the week, we had friends due for dinner on Saturday night and Ms T was due to head out for a week in NZ at 4am Sunday morning, I could only get to one workshop – but it was a good one on branding and general marketing.
I came away with plenty of ideas – one of which was to keep my brand consistent across each of my websites/ blogs – hence the change at the top of this website. I’ve also changed my foodie Instagram account to one specifically for my author business. It will be pretty much books and baking – given that there’s plenty of baking happening in my books. What I’m writing, reading and baking. You’ll find it at @joannetraceyauthor. Of course my usual daily beachy walky inspo and whatever will be unchanged at @jotracey.
What I read…
Given that I had a couple of flights and daily commutes I read four books from the “to be read” pile in my kindle last week:
- These Girls and The Opposite of Me by Sarah Pekkanen – both really enjoyable
- The Christmas Wish, by Tilly Tennant – I’ve added Christmas in Lapland to my bucket list
- Any Way You Want Me, by Lucy Diamond which I didn’t enjoy at all – even though I normally enjoy Lucy Diamond. I suspect that it was because I found it a tad uncomfortable at times, but given that this was her debut and written a while ago, it could also be because the writing was a little more try-hard than I’m used to with her. Maybe.
What I cooked…
A basil oil from How To Eat that I used to make what would have been a pesto rice salad for Saturday night – except I knew that one of our guests is allergic to nuts so pine nuts were out and basil oil was in. Anyways, I’ll blog it for The Nigella Diaries on Thursday.
Also from the Nigella files, I made this no-fuss, no-cook lemon curd cheesecake that you seriously need in your life. It took about 30 minutes to prepare (and that included time for the base to rest in the fridge) and then you let it chill for 4 hours and toss some fruit on the top. Aside from the fruit, this uses just 4 ingredients: digestive biscuits, butter, lemon curd and cream cheese. Express entertaining at it’s finest. The recipe is here.
Okay, that was my week – how was yours?
And Anyways... 
It was so fun to see you and I’m so honored to have made it into a blog post! I finished reading your book – Happy Ever After – this week and loved it. It proved very good company on the long flight to London! Totes agree about Valentine’s Day – we spent our first one apart this year although we still swapped cards! And love the rebranding – very fancy!
Not only did you make it into the blog post, but you got a headline role – that’s pretty special lol. Glad you liked HEA & glad my little book is getting to see Lincoln.
How great that you got to catch up with Sammie – blogger meets are just the best, and you’re right there is just so much to talk about. Looks like you’ve had a busy week as usual and I can relate about how exhausting big cities are. But Sydney is soooo beautiful 😉 I ran away with a girlfriend for Valentine’s Night and we had such a fun night – my dear hubby had to get together with some male friends for a barbie – I suspect they had a great time too! Oh, I love your cocker spaniel – too cute #MLSTL
Sydney truly is a beautiful city to visit – especially when the weather is good. It’s a tough city to live in when you’re in the suburbs and need to commute. After all these years of doing it though, I still get a thrill when the bus goes over the harbour bridge and an extra thrill when there’s a cruise ship in.
Yay for a return to Sydney (biased) and the chance to meet up with a fellow blogger!
SSG xxx
Lol re you bias – although it doesn’t show at all… Have a great week.
Your weekly wrap ups always make me laugh because you accomplish more in a week than I do in a month! My husband was away for V Day too – our romantic gesture was a Happy V Day text to each other. It’s our anniversary in week so maybe we’ll lift our game a bit for that. Lovely that you got to do another blogger hook-up – you’re just popping up everywhere IRL blog encounters 🙂
It’s so funny when you say that as when I have weeks like last week – full of overwhelm – I truly feel like I accomplish nothing. I am, however, loving these IRL encounters…
Yum – Pesto rice salad and Homemade Basil Oil. I can’t wait to read more about that!
aaaah you’ll need to wait until Thursday for that…
I love your updates Jo, you do so much in a week! Great to see you had a blogger meetup too 🙂 #lifethisweek
I do love a bloggy meet-up. I love how we have so much in common before we even meet.
That’s part of the fun isn’t it?
I still enjoy driving over the Bridge. Never gets old. What I did not like about my trip back to Camperdown yesterday was the TRAFFIC even out of peak times (do they ever end I wonder) and then NO PARKS where I could park for a reasonable amount so I paid $30 to park in grounds of St Johns College. I really want to come down to Sydney one time and explore Barangaroo because it was still in development stage when we left.
So glad you got home safe and sound…and to unwind from being in the city.
Thank you for linking up for Life This Week. Next week’s optional prompt is: 8/51. My Favourite Decade. 25/2/19. Denyse.