simple pleasures

The last few days I got to experience some of life's most simple pleasures. One being...sleep! My husband travels a lot for business and normally I am the one that gets left at home with the kids (which I don't mind) but sometimes I dream of being able to fly off with him, just to experience that one morning of sleeping in. This simple pleasure happened yesterday for me when I was able to travel to Sydney for a night with my husband. It was so exciting stepping onto a plane with no kids and nothing to worry about but what I was going to read for the hour plane flight. Then we landed and stayed at a quirky/arty hotel which was an experience in itself. Then came the deep sleep of two adults that had spent the last 6 months waking up every night, feeling like there was no end in sight (until our kids are teenagers- which is a long time away)! That next morning was bliss. I woke up in crisp white sheets and wait for it....I had slept in till 8.17 am. Now, this may not seem like a big sleep in, but the mere fact that I had slept from about 12 am till 8.17 am with NO INTERRUPTIONS was simply blissful. I dream of that moment as I am writing this. Following my delightful sleep, I woke up to get ready and spend the morning with my husband. We went off to the the book cafe in Sydney which has become my new favourite inter-state cafe. It's a simple concept but so fulfilling for a foodie who loves grazing through cook books. I spent the morning eating baked spanish eggs with chorizo and tomato and capsicum followed by some pikelets with poached pear and rhubarb and vanilla ricotta. Needless to say, breakfast was enjoyed with a lovely hot skinny latte too. I browsed through numerous old and new cookbooks and felt so inspired and rejuvenated. We then had to get down to the business end of the trip so spent the afternoon listening to auditions and rehearsals for the business which was very relaxing (for me).

That night we headed into the city, had a coffee, looked at a few vintage shops and then had dinner at Longrain which is modern thai food. The food was sensational, and the atmosphere was exactly what I was after. The restaurant has one big long table and all the customers sit together and eat and whilst the table is quite large and you can sit close to your loved one, you also feel like you are in an amongst the people. One other thing that I noticed was as you walk into the restaurant, I saw the two most happiest fish swimming around in a tank by the front door. There was no tank full of lobster and fish looking gloomy and cramped, knowing that their life is going to be short, instead there was this clean, fresh tank with two friends swimming around enjoying life. It inspired me to enjoy life and that moment just watching them.

So that was my 24 hours of being able to experience life's simple pleasures. I've come home to my two delights and whilst I enjoyed every minute of having some alone time with my husband, nothing compares to being together as a family and trying in and amongst the bustle of life to stop and experience those simple pleasures.