Tomorrow I'm going on the trip of a lifetime

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This is one of those posts that is not intended to make you jealous, but it might.
See, tomorrow, I am leaving behind the humdrum everyday world and going on the trip of a lifetime with my handsome hubby. We'll be traveling through Asia on the Eastern and Oriental Express. (That's a train, by the way - and it's meant to be one of the world's most romantic rail trips. It's hubby's work trip; part business for him, all pleasure and relaxing for me.)

If I'd ever thought it might be humanly possible, I would have included the Orient Express on my bucket list (it's a very bucket-listy thing to do), but the idea simply never occurred to me. I never could have dreamed I would get to travel by luxury train through Asia, see the historical bridge on the River Kwai among other amazing sights, and stay in fabulous colonial hotels at either end. Who'd have thought? Not me.

Girls Weekend in Wellington

I'm an Auckland girl through and through, but I have to take my hat off to Wellington - the Windy City really did show us a good time this weekend.

Six of us "girls" (three mums, three cheerleading daughters) packed our bags and took off in a rainstorm, with a bit of trepidation (i.e. "if the weather's this bad in Auckland, how will we ever land in Wellington???") heading for the National cheerleading competition in our nation's capital.

Imagine our surprise when we touched down and - no wind. No rain. Eek, is that the sun??? Imagine!

It's My Blog's Seventh Birthday (Let's Party)

It's hard to believe that I've been writing this blog for seven years. (Actually I thought it was my 8th anniversary, but then I counted back, and it's only seven.) But still - seven years blogging! that's like 45 in blog-years. I'm like a blog-granny or a fairy blog-mother. What started out as a little exercise in party idea-sharing has turned into a place for me to share my life-journey, with all the fun of the circus, and all the stomach-dropping ups and downs of a rollercoaster. > > Where/how this blog began Today to celebrate my blog-birthday I'm sharing with you my favourite parties, in case you've missed any. I've made the pictures clickable, so if you want to check out a party from days-gone-by just click on the picture and it'll take you to the post.

Read on for a GIVEAWAY to celebrate my seven-year blogiversary...

Easy Gluten-Free Scones (that aren't like bricks at all)

I am excited to share this recipe with you today - gluten free scones that are soft, fluffy, delicious and completely un-bricklike!

I've attempted a gluten-free version of my regular scone recipe before and they were VERY brick-like. Hard, crumbly, ugh. I had given up on ever being able to serve up scones that were gluten-free AND edible.

So yesterday when I invited my mum and dad over for afternoon-tea scones-with-cream-n-jam (and then remembered that they can't have gluten!) I turned to my friend and ally, Google....

Dyslexic Brains are Good Brains Too

Hi, I'm Simone and I'm dyslexic. Did you know that about me?
Just typing the word, "dyslexic" it came out "dysexlic" the first time I wrote it.
But writing things backwards is not what makes me dyslexic. In fact, that was just a typo that may or may not have anything to do with my dyslexia.
Being dyslexic is very different to what most people think, if they think about it at all. Most people's understanding of dyslexia is typified by this joke (that I thought was really funny when when I first heard it, before I knew I was dyslexic)...

Hey did you hear the one about the dyslexic agnostic insomniac? 
He stayed up all night wondering if Dog really exists.
Yeah. Ha. Ha.

Most people (including teachers) think that dyslexia is struggling with reading, writing and spelling. Full stop.
Unfortunately for people who are dyslexic, they are only touching on a fraction of the issue.
In fact, they are missing the point altogether.