well it was the view from here a few weeks ago
now it seems to be grey skies at this time
of the day & it's so much cooler
definitely time to light the fire
cook up some hearty food
& enjoy the evening with my little family
the view from here
well it was the view from here a few weeks ago
now it seems to be grey skies at this time
of the day & it's so much cooler
definitely time to light the fire
cook up some hearty food
& enjoy the evening with my little family
The Big Upgrade!
Goodbye..
I am in love with my new ride!!
Isn't she lovely?! It's a 2008 Ford Edge Limited! We really needed a newer and bigger vehicle before September. There was no way I was toting a baby around in a two door car. The Edge has great reviews, especially for safety. The back seats/leg room area is very spacious and there is plenty of trunk space as well. Plus, I'm loving the bells and whistles on it! I can't wait for the day we're bringing Addison home in it :)
My New Book - Decorate by Holly Becker
I have been an avid follower of Holly Beckers Blog Decor8 for sometime and have followed her journey to create her book Decorate.
I was so excited to finally get my hands on my very own copy courtesy of Mr A and my girls for my birthday last weekend.
The pages are jam packed with loads of the most wonderful decorating tips and tricks.
As it says on the cover "1,000 inspirational design ideas for every room in your house"
The photography by Debi Trealoar is amazing and just flicking through a book like this gives me so much inspiration for both decorating and in my own photography.
There also lots of wonderful tips and quotes from the world's leading stylists, designers, bloggers and artists.
When I am not flicking through the pages my book has taken up residence on my favourite display table as it really is such a lovely book to have out on show.
Congratulations Holly on such a wonderful book.
Images: Sweet Style
The sound of silence...
Mothers Day is this Sunday, and yesterday a little bag of scented pot pouri and a painted card came home with my daughter from preschool (along with half a sandpit in her shoes) ... bless.
It will be my third Mothers Day, but my first as a mother-of-two and I'm looking forward to it like it's Christmas! Not for the gifts (I have mine already, slight misunderstanding about the date, but I'll tell that story a bit later!) but rather for my romanticism of two little talcum-scented, pajama'd cherubs with tousled hair tumbling into my bed at their usual ungodly hour with promises of Cappuccino and, if I play my cards right, a tray laden with pancakes!
Mothers Day is, of course, a rite of passage for mothers. As it should be! Motherhood is a full-time, 24/7 position that offers no long service leave, lousy overtime penalties and no lunch break!
This year I am prompted to reflect on WHY I became a mother. There's lot's of reasons, of course. The ability to justify buying way too many Easter eggs (they're for the kids!), for starters. Having an excuse to decline attending undesirable social events. Decorating a cubby house. Having a trampoline in the backyard. Reading pop-up books. That sort of stuff. ;)
Given this blog is really a lot about motherhood you might be surprised to learn I had no early ambitions to be a mother. It was always something I saw myself doing one day, but it wasn't until I turned 30 that I really thought seriously about it. It hit so fast, I didn't see it coming. And it hit hard.
Where once I was completely fulfilled with my own life, I suddenly felt... well... bored. With myself. With my life which was then all about work and saving up for holidays and clothes and stuff. I shopped. A lot. But none of it filled the growing sense of emptiness growing inside me.
I've never really spoken publicly about my journey in falling pregant with Fern. I still find it difficult to be completely open. I was 30. I was ready. But life sometimes throws a curve ball ... when you are not pregant and you want to be, it seems like everybody else in the world is having a baby except you.
A year goes by. We're trying. And every month there's nothing. Nothing nothing nothing. And then it it's Christmas. And here comes my REAL reason. My reason for wanting. Needing. To have children.
It's Christmas morning. Early. I still awaken early and excitedly on Christmas like I'm a child. But I'm not a child. Nor do I have any children. And it's never been more obvious.
It's Summer and the windows are open. And the sound of children squealing excitedly peals in. Laughter and tinkly little voices.
And inside my own home it is silent.
Silent silent silent.
The sound of silence can be deafening.
And it's empty. My home is immaculate; designer Christmas tree brandishing silver designer baubles; gifts in white paper arranged artfully underneath... but across the hall from ours, is an empty room. I keep the door ajar, I'm not willing or ready to close it yet.
Fast forward two years and I awaken on Christmas morning to the sound of laughter and tinkly little voices. Except, this time it's coming from that once empty room. Last night's peas are smushed on the floor, there are My Little Ponies littered on every surface. The Christmas tree is decorated in all the colours of the rainbow, hastily wrapped gifts stuffed underneath. It's pandemonium. And I am happy. My heart is full.
And that, THAT is why I have children.
They fill my home and life and heart with song.
Happy Mothers Day xox
Read More...
It will be my third Mothers Day, but my first as a mother-of-two and I'm looking forward to it like it's Christmas! Not for the gifts (I have mine already, slight misunderstanding about the date, but I'll tell that story a bit later!) but rather for my romanticism of two little talcum-scented, pajama'd cherubs with tousled hair tumbling into my bed at their usual ungodly hour with promises of Cappuccino and, if I play my cards right, a tray laden with pancakes!
Mothers Day is, of course, a rite of passage for mothers. As it should be! Motherhood is a full-time, 24/7 position that offers no long service leave, lousy overtime penalties and no lunch break!
This year I am prompted to reflect on WHY I became a mother. There's lot's of reasons, of course. The ability to justify buying way too many Easter eggs (they're for the kids!), for starters. Having an excuse to decline attending undesirable social events. Decorating a cubby house. Having a trampoline in the backyard. Reading pop-up books. That sort of stuff. ;)
Given this blog is really a lot about motherhood you might be surprised to learn I had no early ambitions to be a mother. It was always something I saw myself doing one day, but it wasn't until I turned 30 that I really thought seriously about it. It hit so fast, I didn't see it coming. And it hit hard.
Where once I was completely fulfilled with my own life, I suddenly felt... well... bored. With myself. With my life which was then all about work and saving up for holidays and clothes and stuff. I shopped. A lot. But none of it filled the growing sense of emptiness growing inside me.
I've never really spoken publicly about my journey in falling pregant with Fern. I still find it difficult to be completely open. I was 30. I was ready. But life sometimes throws a curve ball ... when you are not pregant and you want to be, it seems like everybody else in the world is having a baby except you.
A year goes by. We're trying. And every month there's nothing. Nothing nothing nothing. And then it it's Christmas. And here comes my REAL reason. My reason for wanting. Needing. To have children.
It's Christmas morning. Early. I still awaken early and excitedly on Christmas like I'm a child. But I'm not a child. Nor do I have any children. And it's never been more obvious.
It's Summer and the windows are open. And the sound of children squealing excitedly peals in. Laughter and tinkly little voices.
And inside my own home it is silent.
Silent silent silent.
The sound of silence can be deafening.
And it's empty. My home is immaculate; designer Christmas tree brandishing silver designer baubles; gifts in white paper arranged artfully underneath... but across the hall from ours, is an empty room. I keep the door ajar, I'm not willing or ready to close it yet.
Fast forward two years and I awaken on Christmas morning to the sound of laughter and tinkly little voices. Except, this time it's coming from that once empty room. Last night's peas are smushed on the floor, there are My Little Ponies littered on every surface. The Christmas tree is decorated in all the colours of the rainbow, hastily wrapped gifts stuffed underneath. It's pandemonium. And I am happy. My heart is full.
And that, THAT is why I have children.
They fill my home and life and heart with song.
Happy Mothers Day xox
Daisy Dukes and fairy floss
This year the Sydney Royal Easter Show wasn't about the rides or the show bags or even the wood chopping. The fairy floss, the demented fairies on sticks, the cheese sticks... all those fairies and sticks, they all took a back seat.
Because this year, the Sydney Royal Easter Show was all about the Daisy Dukes.
Pack after pack after pack of teenage girl gangs sauntered past in little, bitty denim cut-offs showing lashings and lashings of suddenly very large thigh. Seriously, do those pants look good on anyone?
It was easily less than 16 degrees in the cattle yard, thrumming with rain and still the Easter shorts parade went on. That darn Katy Perry, this was all her fault. Slashed shorts with the pockets hanging down the regulation 3cm lower than the actual short. The chain-store examples even had beading and studs on the inside-out pockets, thereby removing any semblance of nonchalance from the outfit.
The result was a line of Katys who were all so samey-same-same that I was surprised all the little Biebers running around could actually tell them apart. Did they find all those purplish, dimpled thighs hot, hot, hot or like me did they wish the Katys would swap their very-shorts for something a little more... flattering. Even the one girl in a million who could carry off the Dukes would have looked better in a cute little mini or a pair of skinnies.
Next time I'm tempted to indulge in foolish 'back when I was young and could wear absolutely anything' nostalgia, I will remind myself of those masses of short-challenged girls (and my own ill-advised green denim extra-mini skirt circa 1986). Trust me, thighs that need ample coverage can happen at any age and Daisy Dukes are not our friends.
Do I sound like I'm eighty? Or just from the eighties?
What was the most unflattering garment you wore as a teen? Did you think you looked hot?
_______________________________________
Today's the last day for votes in the Sydney Writers' Centre People's Choice Awards.
I would be ever-so grateful for your vote so please click the banner below and head to 'page 2'.
Thank you!
Buttercream grass
Vanilla buttercream frosting (to decorate 24 cupcake size cakes)
Ingredients
- 250g unsalted butter, softened
- 1 teaspoon natural vanilla extract
- 600g sieved icing sugar (confectioner's sugar)
- 1 1/2 tablespoons milk
- Green food coloring
What you will need
- Grass icing tube no.233
- Icing bag or bottle
Instructions
- Whisk butter until smooth and creamy
- Gradually whisk in icing sugar, 100g at a time, so the mixture is smooth
- Whisk in the vanilla extract and 1 tbsp milk at high speed until fluffy and stands in peaks
- Spoon into a piping bag or bottle fitted with a nozzle attached
- On top of the cakes, starting at outside edge and working in circles, pipe buttercream by squeezing a small amount on to cake at a 90 degree angle
- Pulling up and away when icing strand is long enough (about 2 cm) stop squeezing and pull tip away at various angles
- Repeat until cake is covered
- Push fondant flowers or bunny/butterflies lightly into iced grass
Have a sweet day!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)