6 Things to do this Spring in Lockdown

Spring is FINALLY here and I don’t think I’ve ever been so excited to welcome a new season (it’s the little things now, isn’t it). If you’re in Melbourne like me, I’m sure you’re completely fed up with Lockdown 6.0 and over not having anything to look forward to, especially on the weekends. Well spring arriving and the beautiful sunshine that came with it on the 1^st of September gave me some hope for the months to come. I decided to share a few things myself and the girls at Le Beauty have been getting up to in lockdown, which can make for some cute and exciting weekend plans to come!

1. Backyard brunch, Amalfi Coast edition

Ciao from Italy! My roommate and I actually managed to catch a plane and it landed in our courtyard which transformed into the Amalfi Coast – incred! We set up the cutest table with a gingham tablecloth, flowers from @blossmbby, a variety of delicious pastries, waffles, fruit, Prosecco, iced lattes topped with whipped cream and mini mandarins from our garden as a final touch on the table. We played some Italian music on the UE, our pooch Queen got into character as she always does, and we had the best arvo in the *Italian* sunshine.

2. Master the Watermelon & Strawberry Marg

If you weren’t drinking margs all last summer, were you even living? Social queen Hannah has been whipping up her new fave margarita and safe to say I’ve made it, and it is in fact too tasty. The combo of watermelon and strawberries makes it sweeter than a classic marg which is a bit of a vibe. Add some chopped chilli if you like your margs spicyyy!

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup of chopped watermelon (seedless)
• 1/2 punnet of strawberries
• Juice of 1 Lime
• 90ml Tequila
• 45ml Triple Sec
• Ice

Directions:

1. Rub the rims of two glasses with a little lime juice. Then dip in salt to coat the rim with salt evenly. Set aside.
2. In a blender, combine your watermelon, strawberry, lime juice, tequila and triple sec. Blend for about 20-30 seconds until completely smooth.
3. In a cocktail shaker, add 5 ice cubes and pour in the mixture from your blender. Shake for 10 seconds.
4. Pour cocktail mixture into your glasses - and voilà!

3. Create the best smoothie bowl ever!

Not going to toot my sisters horn too much, but her smoothie and acai bowls are *chef’s kiss*. Being an acai connoisseur myself, I can appreciate great acai, however I do not appreciate or value spending almost $20 all the time on this delicious bowl of goodness. That’s where Claudia’s homemade smoothie comes in… it only takes about 5 minutes to make, costs roughly $5 per serve and tastes phenom. Tip: do not skip the crunchy peanut butter, hands down the best part.

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup of coconut water 
• 1/2 cup of frozen coconut chunks
• 1/2 cup of frozen Mango
• 1/2 cup of frozen Raspberries
• Toppings: crunchy peanut butter, coconut flakes, buckwheat kernels, apple
• Ice

Directions:

1. In a blender, combine a few ice cubes, raspberries, mango and coconut chunks until smooth.
2. Transfer smoothie mixture into a bowl.
3. Add toppings and make sure presentation is immaculate.
4. Try not to consume in 1.2 seconds because you can’t help yourself!

4. DIY beaded phone accessories

You’ve probably noticed these cute phone strap charms are super trendy atm, and it’s likely that your initial thought was “surely that’s just for kids, right?” I had the same reaction at first, but that quickly changed when I saw our graphic designer Laura flaunt hers in the office a while ago. This is the perfect lockdown arvo activity – they’re fun to make because you have full creative control of what it will look like, you can match it to your phone case or personalise it with your name or whatever you want it to say. Don’t even stop at phone charms, make a new necklace, bracelet, even earrings!

Laura bought her bead kit from trusty Kmart, the smiley faces from Etsy and if you live close to Collingwood, The Bead Centre have a great variety of beads there too.

5. Make an outdoor cosy cubby

Perfect for entertaining the little ones, turn your outdoor trampoline into the cosiest of cubby houses. If you don’t have a trampoline, you could use that tent that’s been collecting dust in the shed, the perfect substitute! Then fill the cubby with lots of blankets, cushions, snacks, a laptop to watch Disney+ and decorate with fairy lights. If you don’t have any kids, another idea could be setting up a little outdoor cinema in your backyard; projector is required but well worth it!

6. Have a western-themed BBQ

As soon as we get another sunny weekend… the BBQ is being lit, sausages and meat will be cooked, drinks will be drank, and to spice it up why not chuck on a cowboy hat? The western-theme just adds a bit of fun to your BBQ, you can play some country music, decorate the table with some sunflowers and I’m sure you’ll be dancing to Ring of Fire by Johnny Cash in no time.