Work / life integration


My life as a 'working mother' is not something that I talk about half as much as I'd like on my blog. Naturally it comes up from time to time, but to give it the same amount of focus that it has in my real life, well... I think my corporate job would bore the pants of half of you and make the other half cringe at my 'working for the man' status. Well, maybe one or two of you might be interested... so I've blogged over at the Careermums.com.au blog about my theories on 'work life intergration'.

It's not about the balance, baby, it's about the seamless integration.

Do pop over and see me there. I don't think they get as many passers by as they deserve. It's a really fantastic blog for women working in the home, outside the home and on the home. Time management, prioritising, goal setting, writing stuff down... see, we are all working mothers at the end of the day.

Come on over for a chat! (With a bit of luck, they might have me back!)

Are their parts of your life that you don't blog about in quite the detail they probably merit?

Cake Stand Giveaway

Happy Monday everyone! 

 I hope you had a fabulous weekend.  We took the girls to see Mary Poppins the musical on Sunday and had the most magical day - if you haven't been to see it yet it is a must!

Today is also back to school for my girls after two weeks of school holidays - it is lovely to have a break from the routine but almost impossible to keep on top of running a business and blogging with kids home - I did read a great quote this week on Facebook (thanks Jordan) that struck a chord "Remember you are not managing an inconvenience you are raising a human being" - I need to be reminded of this a lot lately! 

Exciting news today though as I am having a giveaway to celebrate the launch of my new newsletter.  

Would you like to win one of these gorgeous square glass cake stands that are valued at $109.95.  There are two colours to choose between, crystal or amber.

To enter just leave a comment here letting me know your favourite product in the Sweet Style Store or any products you would like to see added to the store.




The winner will be drawn on Sunday 16th October at 10pm (Sydney time) so make sure you comment before then. Unfortunately because of postage costs, this giveaway is only open to Australian residents (sorry)!

Don't forget to join my mailing list so you receive my monthly newsletter which will come out at the beginning of each month.  Just fill in your email address on the top of the right hand column where is says sign-up to our mailing list.

Leanne

blog love

it's monday.schools back.i miss her.my brother is holidaying in Bali.lucky him.we have had a lot of rain these past few days.i love gold class movies.the only way to go when it's a special treat.i promised to get my household chores done before i turned the computer on. i did well & now i have so much blog reading to catch up on.these i would love to share with you


3191 Miles Apart
erin ever after

undefined

happy monday & happy reading

My birthday in snaps

Last week I turned 35. Yes, 35. I don't feel old but I think I must be -- it took a friend on Facebook to politely remind me that I was not turning 36 as I genuinely thought. I had to get a calculator to check. Oops, they were right. I mean, when you can't work out your own age using your fingers, you are getting on, non?

Anyway.

35.

When you've got two fiesty kids under 3, you don't have a lot of time to lament the fading memory of your 20's...

This year, I celebrated my birthday with my little family. We went out for lunch. Ate chippies. Shared a milkshake. Dripped melting icecream everywhere. And I stole an hour or so at the shops to buy myself a few little treaties. Mostly clothes. Highly overdue. And to my surprised pleasure, the realisation that this season is about colour.  Oh joyous COLOUR is back, folks! So I went a little mental. And somehow I now have a lot of mustard in my wardrobe. Mustard on mustard. With some subtle undertones of salmon pink and turquoise.

Colour.

Oh happy days!

Amongst my gifts, I scored a (colourful!) Fossil purse and handbag and little Summer dress from Dan, and a handmade skirt with matching cushions (match your outfit to your homewares - now there's another post!) from my MIL which I must share with you later this week...

Here's a few happy-snappys..... have a great week!

yes, Fern is sporting socks with her sandals. No, it wasn't my idea..... Mustard pants. See?
me, Elli-Boo and Ferny share a strawberry milkshake...

My daughter is a tiny bit cute with a sandwich as large as her...

Me and the kiddies.

who needs a double-pram? The kids share a moment...

I scream, you scream....... check out Elli eating the side of his. You can guess how THAT ended! ;)

My life

forever changed
3

but couldn't be any more rewarding
DSC_0704

love them!
DSC_0714
all three were passed out. camera woke Roxy up :)

Week-a-Boo *Storms and Sunny Days*

I haven't done a week-a-boo in so long! I guess weekends get so busy and the weeks are even busier that by the time I sit down to think about writing about my weekend then next has rolled along. Even though Claire from Scissors Paper Rock doesn't get to week-a-boo much these days either...I'm sure for the very same reason..you all must go and read her blog. Her writing is so beautiful and real.

This weekend started off with a bang! literally...a massive bang! We woke up to a very big and loud storm. Boom!!! The first thunder that woke me was at 7.00am and I shot straight out of bed and raced into Ruby! We are pretty lucky with all of our animals. They are storm lovers like their mummy and daddy. Our beautiful Bindi LIVES for the rain. The minute it hits shes out there chasing it and jumping at the rain drops. Shes a special kind of something ;) haha anyway this storm was Ruby's first so I was worried about her. But as I got to her cage she was sound asleep in her bed! Bless! the storm didn't even faze her! We brought all the animals inside however and had a Saturday morning storm party in the back room! 2 dogs 2 birds and a cat just chilling and hanging out while listening to the booms and the clashes. Miss Ruby was delighted with the storm. She was laughing the entire time and singing and chatting away!

 Poor Bindi! Robs mission is for 'everyone to live in harmony' 
hahah look at poor Bindis eyes! She so sad! Get this dam bird off my head hahah

While I was prepping for my tests and recovering, I did a lot of research on food and diet for eclectus parrots. I found a lot of native trees that are really good for them to nibble at and chew on! So Rob and I are going to start giving her a branch a week to play with and eat! Her first this week was a callistemon! 
She LOVED it!


After the storm had past and all the animals were back inside cages and outside, I went back to bed. Those silly tests really knocked me round and I was just so exhausted I slept the entire day! I woke up in the afternoon feeling a bit better but still a bit sore! hahah if that makes any sense??? Rob took me out to our local nursery to get me out of the house and to buy some new herbs for my new pots for the kitchen. We went with basil, chives, mint and rosemary. I think we will use these 4 in most of our cooking! We came home and potted them and I am so happy with the way they turned out! They look FABULOUS in the kitchen on the windows edge!


After potting our plants we went over to visit out next door neighbours and took Ruby with us! I love our neighbours. Beside, behind, diagonal. We are so lucky where we live and we have become very close friends with all of our neighbours. With my best friend down one end of the street and my cousin down the other I am in the most perfect position! We have created a little community and it makes me happy and feel safe. We just sat down and had a talk and a laugh. It was great to be out of bed and enjoy special peoples company.

Miss Ruby opening up a beer for daddy at our neighbours bar! CUTE! 

Sunday morning I was woken up to breakfast in bed. Rob had made me scrambled eggs using our fresh new herbs. It was deliscous and it was nice to be spoilt. Rob and I have been taking turns each Sunday morning to make breakfast for each other. It has become a little unspoken and unplanned tradition. Even though Rob is working most Sundays its our little time that we take just for us! 


This was a beautiful start to my day and as Rob went off to work I got myself up and decided to enjoy the beautiful weather instead of wasting it away in bed like I had the past couple of days. I spent the day cleaning and playing in the backyard with the animals. I do this a lot lately. It gets lonely with Rob working a lot but I am so grateful to have such beautiful animals that love me unconditionally and are so much fun. haha oh o I'm that crazy lady with all the animals. Oh well its true and I wouldn't change it for the world. Ruby went for her first surf in the pool! She also went for a dip! It was funny, she spread out her wings and just glided in the water on my hand. I didn't get her too wet as I'm not sure if the pool water would be good for her so I bathed her straight away just in case!


3.00 came and it was time to go to a special girls birthday party! My cousin (who is also one of my best friends and lives down the road) her daughter turned 5 today! I headed off for a family celebration with laughter, food and cake...there's always cake! mmmm! I had a fabulous afternoon! My family is so hilarious! there is so much laughter and joy that surrounds every get together that makes me so happy! We have fun together and that whats so important.

 Look at that sausage! Now that's a sausage!

The weekend came and went so quickly and before I knew it I was at family dinner at mum and dads house. I got these beautiful flowers from Rod and my favourite chocolate! What a beautiful sweetheart. He knew I was feeling a bit yukky after my tests so he bought me them to cheer me up! I cried! What beautiful gesture!


They fit perfectly in my new beautiful kitchen. O.k so its years old but its amazing what 4 new pots, 2 new chairs and a beautiful bunch of flowers can do!



Have a gorgeous, fun and safe week everyone!

x S.K.K x

Snowflake cookies

Pretty Snowflake cookies

This week on Flickr Faves Sunday, I bring you some of the prettiest snowflake cookies. This year I am determined to make some of my own...., to serve on my Winter Wonderland dessert table and give as gifts.

Some beautiful shots from my Flickr favourites (clockwise from top left):
Have a sweet day!

A fairy party...

Well its taken me all week to start this post and a few bloggy friends have asked how Louise's party went so though I had better get moving. It ended up being quite an event and once again there never seems enough time to take any decent photos so this is the best of the lot.

I love entertaining and really at the moment the kids birthdays are the only excuse I really have. Louise and I made all the decorations and boy was it fun setting up her fairy princess kingdom.

I am still sweeping up rogue glitter 8 days later. She said it was her best day ever so it was probably all worth it.







~A FEW THANK YOUS~


Of course I didn't do it all by myself and wanted to take this opportunity to thank some amazing businesses out there in the handmade community.
First off the fabulosly tallented Cathie from Melbourne Epicure for making the beautiful fairy cake topper and cupcake fondant toppers. Thank you so much - Lou is in awe of her fairy and is most treasured. I'm so sorry I didn't do it justice by making a cake to match - Lou really really wanted icecream cake for the day so icecream cake it was.

Also, I got the scalloped circles I used in the decorating from A Scrap of Paper on Craftumi - Kerri was very helpful and I practically had my custom order the next next day.



I found Party Hire for Kids on facebook - Sue did an amazing job on the balloons she delivered and it was great to be able to have child sized table and chairs.



A friend of mine has recently started up a fantastic handmade sweets business with her friend and I was dying to have an excuse to order something. 
Susie made me a custom order of the MOST delicious pinwheel cookies ever. Seriously the hubby and I actually fought over the last one left. You must check out their facebook page. The cakes they have been making are stunning -  but you can order anything from a multi leveled ruffle cakes, cupcakes and gorgeous petit fours. I wish I had ordered more! 
You can find them on facebook here but be careful not to drool on your keyboard when you look at the photos...


Louise was lucky enough to have a very special visitor by the name of "Ms. Fairy Floss" all the way from Fairy land, attend her day ~ she really was remarkable. Lou got a beautiful letter in the mail from her a few days before the party and her facepainting skills were wonderful. Having an entertainer for the 20+ kids was the best idea ever and really took the pressure off. It was so nice to actually have a bit of time to enjoy the day.

Also thank you to Louise's lovely Aunties, Nonna and friends that helped her mum on the day too.