Slouchy Saturdays

I read something the other day that said "never trust a woman who says she doesn't own track pants". Now I wouldn't say I would go as far as not trusting her, but I'm not sure we could be good friends. You see track pants are an important ingredient in slouchy Saturdays, which are one of my most favourite things. Other important ingredients are a complete lack of plans, to-do lists or time pressures. A slightly grey sky is helpful, as it negates any chance that you feel compelled to take advantage of perfect weather by leaving the house.

Slouchy Saturdays are not lazy Saturdays. In fact quite a lot often happens on them. It is just that with no to-do list needing to be ticked off by a certain time or having to leave the house, things happen in a relaxed, pottering kind of fashion.

Silk flower cleaning - the kind of chore that only gets done on a slouchy Saturday

Sleep-ins are often involved. Followed by some chores done in a random, as I feel like it, order. A bra is optional, track pants are not.

At the end of a slouchy Saturday I generally feel incredibly relaxed, and yet I have a tidy house, something delicious simmering on the stove and a neat garden. It feels like without any effort I've done everything that is needed.

With a busy life slouchy Saturdays are fairly infrequent. Usually we have plans, something that needs to be done, or people we are seeing, activities we are doing. Those weekends are great, but there is something so refreshing about a slouchy Saturday.

Mini Break

I first heard the phrase "mini break" when reading Bridget Jones Diary. Since then I've become a dedicated fan. There is something amazingly refreshing about taking just a couple of days out of your normal routine. There isn't the level of expense and planning that a proper holiday requires, yet it provides a complete change from every day life and the result is just so refreshing.

Last week S and I enjoyed mini break on the Gold Coast. The Gold Coast wouldn't be our normal choice, too many people, too humid and being such white, white people, a day on the beach would end in hideous sunburn but we had another reason for going - a birthday party. My Nanna (who isn't my Nanna at all, I adopted her from my best friend) celebrated her 90th birthday.

It meant we got to spend most of  what would normally be a work day being wined and dined. There is nothing quite like a glass of champagne at 3pm on a Thursday when you know all of your colleagues are hard at work.

We walked kilometers each day, wandering through the shops and along the beach - which was excellent given the number of calories we ingested! After a day of celebration with Nanna, the following day S indulged me by taking me to Palazzo Versace for high tea.

It was just enormous! At least 15 items each, including sandwiches, scones and a huge array of sweet treats. Each was small, delicate and intricately crafted. My only real criticism would be that it was a bit overwhelmingly sweet, but it was a gorgeous venue and a fun way to spend a few hours before slowly wandering back, trying to walk off those calories.

It was just two days but they were two fun, refreshing, relaxing days that has stretched the summer holidays out just that bit further.

I will end with some advice from Nanna as recounted by her daughter at the birthday party.

Be kind to your mother

Keep a positive and happy outlook on life

And always have champagne in the fridge - you never know when you will need to celebrate something!

Bliss

A deep feeling of peace and calm. The slightest of tans. Feet polished by sand. Pure, utter relaxation.

S and I have spent the last week with my family at the beach. We drank champagne and ate oysters watching the sun set. We took long, leisurely walks on the beach. We ate a massive feast for Christmas Eve, then did it again on Christmas Day and not to be put off, had a whole second Christmas on the 28th. I read 4 books, probably as many as I had managed to read all year. It was bliss.

I don't really have the words to say how after a hectic, draining year, the last week has replenished my soul - so here are some photos. I hope your Christmas has been as truly wonderful as mine.

A little pampering

As someone who likes to do what she can for the community, I've attended many fundraising balls over the years. And as a keen shopper I have been caught up in the excitement of the accompanying charity auctions on more than one occasion. However the thing with those charity auctions is that you rarely actually get time to properly look at the item you are buying prior to bidding on it which can lead to some surprises. Many years ago one of those surprises was when I bought what I thought was gift voucher for a massage and discovered I had actually bought a four hour deluxe pampering package at the gorgeous Endota Day spa. Needless to say I was quite happy with that purchase!

Since then the Endota Day Spa has been my go to option when I need a bit of me time. Everyone in my family knows that it is a great birthday option and I receive their specials by email each month. So when an email from them arrived with their November special of a combo pedicure and facial, I knew I had found the perfect way to unwind after the conference I had been working on.

I headed over on Friday afternoon. It has been a recovery / clean up week, but I was still feeling quite worn out. The spa is hidden away in the basement of a city building, which may not sound glamorous, but as you descend the stairs it is like entering a hidden oasis of tranquility.

I was a little early, so I was given a cup of soothing lemongrass tea and settled into their peaceful lounge area where I was confronted with the task of choosing a nail polish colour. After much deliberation I went with "Mildura" a pinky orange colour which seemed to fit with the light summery weather.

A few minutes later I headed on in to the treatment room where for an hour and a half I was pampered to the point where I nearly fell asleep on the table!

It is a real luxury being able to be pampered like that and I absolutely adore it. I came out with pretty nails, a slightly shiny but glowing face and a deep sense of relaxation. What a delicious way to spend a Friday afternoon.

Massage

I've never understood the concept behind "relaxation" massages. Those gentle swishy massages that my sister gets.  When I have a massage I want someone pummeling me.  There is nothing I love more than when the masseuse actually gets on the table to attack me with knees and elbows.  Now that is what I call relaxing.

As a result I favour the various Asian style massages and am lucky enough to have a great Chinese massage place located in a nearby shopping centre.  It is a tiny hole in the wall, just two tables and a couple of curtains but by golly do the people there know how to find every knot in my muscles and work it away.

However the other thing I love about that place is that because it is so tiny you can hear all the people walking by outside in the shopping centre.  There is a constant low hum of activity but when someone walks past close you can catch 4 or 5 words of what they are saying.  With such tiny snippets of conversation you have no idea what they are actually talking about so I let my mind wander with the possibilities.

Somehow the whole experience is intensely relaxing, my muscles come out marshaled into order and my brain has been completely diverted from life's stresses to a hundred tiny fantasies.  It really is the perfect activity for a Sunday morning.

Do you like massages and which type do you prefer - relaxation or pummeling?

Time Out

It has been a busy and stressful few weeks, so S and I used a few free days before the Christmas festivities begin to escape the hubub and head to the most relaxing place on earth, which (in my humble opinion) is the NSW south coast. 

On the whole the weather has been grey, but today is glorious. But it doesn't really matter what the weather is like down here.  Somehow within minutes of arriving and smelling that fresh salty air, cares and worries disappear, muscles unwind and a deep relaxation sets in.

We have walked on the beach, eaten ice-creams by the sea wall, had lazy meals and generally done little.  And as a result, I feel great.  Energised and ready for a busy Christmas which will include a trip to Adelaide to be with S's family.  It has been the perfect break.

Afternoon Nap

With the week spent busily getting all the chores out of the way early, today was a day of leisure.  S and I made a cheesecake to take to a BBQ later today, but with done and the skies dark and rainy, it seemed a perfect excuse for an afternoon nap.

We curled up, listening to the sound of the rain on the roof and daydreamed, chatted, occasionally napped, just generally relaxed.  Life is normally so busy, being able to just stop and let our minds and bodies fully relax is a real treat.

A langerous day

One of the great things about Christmas Eve being the big celebration is that Christmas Day becomes a day of true laziness. There is no desire to be up at the crack of dawn for presents so you can sleep in. There are leftovers galore to keep people fed and gifts to play with and amuse at your leisure. The day is spent in a pleasant stupor of relaxation.

Being the foodies we are a new dinner is cooked (roast duck) but even that is a more leisurely exercise.

It has been a truly indulgent and wonderful day.

A slow start

Last night I danced more than I have in ages and came home bone weary.

This morning I woke up, nestled deep in my bed. I lay there, muscles still tired but deeply relaxed listening to the sound of the rain on the roof.

Everything was still and quiet except for the raindrops on leaves and tiles. The world seemed calm, peaceful and I felt free of cares and worries, perfectly at one with the rain.

Eventually I got up. A hot shower revived the senses and I moved on with the day, but it was the perfect slow start to a Sunday.

The fluff is flying

Once, many years ago, a large number of cottonwood trees were planted in Canberra. They are lovely trees, members of the poplar family if I'm correct but can be pests because they spread so easily, so only female trees were planted. The thing is, female trees produce this light fluffy (cotton like, hence the name) seed. When it isn't fertilised, it is extremely light and blows around in the wind, in massive quantities. For weeks every year, large parts of inner Canberra are covered with white fluff from the cottonwoods.

For students, the cottonwoods hold special significance as the general consensus is that if you haven't started studying for final exams when the fluff starts flying you are in deep ****. As a result, the sight of that first piece of fluff in the air causes nerves and apprehension for students.

For those whose student days are past them however, the sight of fluff reminds one that while some of the freedom of those times might be gone, so too is exam stress. Every year as I pass through drifts of white I feel a deep sense of relief that I no longer have that pressure on me.

Today, I glanced out the window and against the blue I spotted a small white object. Seconds later I noticed another, then another. That is right, today is the day the fluff has started to fly. Within days there will be great drifts of it caught in the grass or swept on any breeze into our building, but even those first few pieces are enough to make me revel in the joy of not having to do exams!

Super dooper pampering

A couple of months ago I bought a voucher to a local day spa at a fundraising event. Given it was basically a donation, I didn't pay too much attention to it and it was just sitting in my desk drawer. This week I suddenly realised it was going to expire, so I booked myself in and went off for a "body" treatment with no idea of what it included.

I am now a puddle of relaxation. I've been scrubbed, oiled, massaged and moisturised to a point where I had to think carefully before standing up. It was FANTASTIC.

I love pampering treatments, but they are definitely at the luxury end of the scale, so they don't fit into my budget very often. Today I was treated to a foot spa, a body scrub, hot oil treatment, head massage, spa and finished off with an all over body relaxation massage. I feel sooooo good.

If I win lotto one day, this will definitely be at the top of my list of life improvements!

P.S. Picture isn't me, just illustrates how great I feel about today's treatment.

Head Massage

So today I was going to take a picture of all the little yellow daisies that have popped up in lawns across Canberra, and write about how their happy little faces always make me smile. But it has gone really dark, started to rain and they have closed up! A blog for another day.

So instead I'm going to write about head massages. Massages in general are wonderful. I was recently used as a distraction by a friend who wanted to indicate he wasn't interested in an persistent, amorous, married cougar. He must have sat there massaging my shoulders for well over an hour. It convinced her, but also started the odd rumour as people tried to work out if we were friends or "friends". When asked about it, I've always replied, if someone starts giving me a massage, I'm not going to stop them!

But head massages have a special place in the pampering world. They are just so relaxing. I had my hair done today and the girl who looked after me gave me a super fantastic head massage. My salon (Franco's of Canberra) also has the massaging chairs at the basins, so the combination of the two nearly sent me off to sleep.

Ahhh, so relaxed, heading back to work is difficult!

Sitting Down

This post is going to make me sound like a little old lady but it is so true - how great is it to just sit down on a comfortable couch after a long day?

I've been at tango workshops all day and I ache. So just a little while ago I came home and flopped on the couch. My feet thanked me, my back thanked me, really just my whole body thanked me.

I had my couches recovered a couple of months ago. They were perfectly good, but I had inherited them from my grandparents, so speaking of old ladies, they were old lady taste. Anyway now they are stunning in shades of deep red with black and gold accents. And they are super comfy. So with my feet up and my back supported, here I shall stay for a good while.