A Sparkle-icious Saturday.

If I put my mind to it, I can be ruthlessly efficient on Saturday mornings.

When in doubt, title your posts after shades of OPI.

By lunchtime, my work for the day was done.  A trip down the road to my favourite cafe for an almond croissant for breakfast, a Sparkle-icious pedicure, the housework and The Royal Wedding Souvenir Edition of the AWW on my coffee table.

Do not be fulled by the artful food styling, I am not on holiday just yet.  Those homely smudges on my tumbler are a dead giveaway that I'm still very much in SSG  Manor.

So, I'm just kicking back with my magazine and my diet coke watching the sunny world go about its business.  Having now read all the 'mature' Australian women's magazines Royal Wedding Souvenir Editions, I think my vote goes to The AWW.  It's got the best photos and articles (including a tribute to Princess Diana), bonus photos from Vincent and Charlotte's christening and NO Shane and Liz.

The food section is also a winner this month.  The Julie Goodwin recipes are budget friendly mid week dinners - who can ever have enough of these?  And interestingly, an excerpt from Gwyneth Paltrow's cookbook.  Now that's a concept I never saw coming.  I love Gwyneth's work but sometimes a person can be too Hollywood Royalty to do 'normal suburban mum and cook' in a completely believable way.  Gwyneth looks beautiful in the accompanying photos and she has a chatty style with her anecdotes that accompany her recipes but I'm more excited about Julie Goodwin's recipes.

I did take on board Gwyneth's love of the Mediterranean though and had my bread with olive oil today.  This oil was something I picked up when I was Paddock to Plating at the Pyrmont Market last month.  It's extra virgin olive oil produced by Sam Mancini's company in the Riverina area of NSW.  The brand is called The Little General and the oil is superb.  It has a green, grassy and very fresh taste.  The way I never imagined olive oil to taste.

I found the canvas bag at Big W.  It's got a handbag printed on its side and cost a grand total of $8.

I'm just about ready for tomorrow.  The house is clean, the fridge is nearly empy and I'm crossing my fingers that the pot plants will survive while I'm away.  I've banned myself from putting anything else into my suitcase.  I've stocked up on face wipes because I've suffered the effects of leaky bottles in a suitcase one too many times.  I've wrapped my toiletries in a plastic bag just in case...

Can you believe it?  All my carry on liquids easily fit into an airline approved zip lock bag!