Lauren Mangioni

It’s hardly a well-kept secret that I love anything and everything to do with Paris. Ever since visiting in 2009, I’ve been obsessed and living there is a dream of mine.

Living in this apartment, however, would be above my wildest dreams.

All photos from Paris Apartment.

Wouldn’t it be amazing to own this apartment?

Although this time last year (almost) the boyfriend and I spent Valentines Day relaxing and pampering ourselves at the Radisson on O’Connell Street, this year we’re celebrating a few days early, that is tomorrow night. We’re heading to a Japanese restaurant in Surry Hills whose menu I cannot stop dreaming about. On Saturday night, I’m ditching the man and spending the night with the girls.

So even though the concept of Valentine’s Day might have Hallmark stamped all over it, I hope you have a fabulous weekend filled with love wherever you are and whoever you spend it with.

Here we are folks.

It’s that lovely albeit hair-tearingly frustrating time of year when the department stores have Christmas carols on repeat, the word ‘turkey’ is thrown around often and on a personal note, when Love, Actually finds a home for 30 days in my DVD player.

This year my sister, boyfriend and I are hosting a small Christmas Day gathering at our apartment in Sydney’s stinking hot summer, unlike my previous Christmas which was spent building a snowman in the Swiss Alps. I love Christmas, despite the commercialism; being a Sydney girl I love the heat and the late dinners and unwrapping a few (I’m not greedy) heartfelt presents with a chilled glass of wine by my side.

So what’s on the menu this year readers? A late afternoon roast? A BBQ by the water? Or a picnic perhaps? The wonderful thing about Christmas is that every family does it differently…

After stuffing myself silly and swearing I’ll never eat again, the boyfriend, a few good friends and myself are heading off to spend the New Year in Fiji. With a couple of buffets and all you can eat feasts, I doubt my resolution to be sensible around food won’t stick. But really, when do resolutions really stick?

This poor blog has been suffering from a slight case of neglect.

Due to the fact I’ve been enjoying my job so much (a really great and very welcome change to what I was going through earlier in the year), I come home with only enough energy to tweet and catch up on Glee and Gossip Girl.  However it’s a rather humid but wet Sunday and I’ve got a dusty head and nothing to do but sit under my air conditioner, hoping and praying that this horrible Spring weather takes leave of us Sydneysiders very soon.

In the meantime, here are a few of the blogs that I’ve been loving lately; Deeelightful, What Is Reality Anyway? and The Cherry Blossom Girl. All of these bloggers are fabulous women with wardrobes to envy and I promise you, they update a lot more frequently than I do!

What about you readers? What are your favourite blogs?