Sweet Easter

Spring at Home


This week on Flickr Faves Sunday, instead of my usual mosaic of pictures I wanted to share with you just one gorgeous photo from Sweet Berry Me. I just love the colour and composition of this photo from the pretty egg tree to the glass butter dish filled with chocolate eggs and the beautiful colour in the bird card. Just looking at it makes me want to start crafting and baking  for Easter!

Have a sweet day!

Giveaway: Take it from this career mum... literally.


My clever sister wrote another book. Have you met Al? Yep, she's my sister and I'm very proud of her.

She wrote Career Mums with Kate Sykes because Australian mums needed it. Really. It's a practical manual that is going to help mums everywhere work out whether they can afford to work or not work. Afford the time, afford the head space, afford the costs, afford the alternative.

I read this book in one sitting. I'm actually in the book under a pseudonym, but I'm not going to tell you who I am. When I got to the case study that I contributed, I was so pleased with how Al and Kate (Kate and Al) had pulled my words together that I just knew that the rest of the book was going to be truthful, practical, objective, warts-and-all. Yeah, okay, so I read my bit first!

After I finished reading this book, I knew that I could finally do something I've been considering for a long time and resign from my corporate job. Ironic much? Not at all. Career Mums had so much advice from so many different women, in so many different career lifestyles, that I realised I didn't have to stay on the same path I was on. It opened my eyes to all the possibilities out there for mums who want to work.  There are lots of things that mums can do. There are lots of things that I can do.

You can too! I've got one copy of Career Mums to give away. Actually, they didn't send me a giveaway copy, so I'm sending you my copy and I'm going to bludge another one for me off Al later. Now I'm a very neat reader, so I promise you're not getting a broken spine or dog-eared copy. I haven't even highlighted anything. [EDIT 5.3.2013 - Al has come to the rescue and you will in fact be getting your own, fresh copy! Secretly I knew this would happen all along... you understand that, don't you? Don't you?]

To win, just leave me a comment telling me about your worst parenting / career moment ever. I'll decide the winner based on the story, if that's okay! If you haven't got a bad career moment, any old terrible parenting moment will be just fine. Entries close next Saturday at midnight (Sydney time) and I'll publish the winner next Sunday at 4pm.

I can't wait to read the comments on this one!!

What's your worst parenting career moment ever?




The randomly drawn winner of the 'Be Kind to Others' giveaway is Trudie from My Vintage Vow

Yay Trudie!

Thanks Tessa!

3.1 Philip Lim & $100 Shopbop giveaway

3.1 Philip Lim
Left to right:
Cutout shoulder sweatshirt top & collapsed kite dress from 3.1 Philip Lim Runway, ruffle leather jacket & open weave cropped sweater from 3.1 Philip Lim

I'm so pleased to announce a giveaway of $100 worth of store credit for Shopbop, which you can spend on anything, and it's open to readers worldwide!

Shopbop is a premier online shopping boutique for the fashion-savvy female. Carrying everything a woman needs for her wardrobe from dresses to denim; swimwear to shoes -- Shopbop has over 200 different designer labels such as Marc Jacobs, Superfine, Catherine Malandrino and Matthew Williamson. Shopbop has become recognized by consumers and the media as an excellent one-stop fashion resource. Unique site features, such as styling tips, Look Books and Season Trend Previews are highlights on this easy to navigate site. You can also find lots on sale like the 3.1 Philip Lim Sale.

To enter, please visit Shopbop and then leave a comment below this post letting me know what you would spend your store credit on. The giveaway ends on Saturday, March 17th 2012 at 10pm (GMT) and I will randomly select and announce a winner on Sunday, March 18th.

To increase your chances of winning this fabulous prize, you can gain one additional entry for doing each of the following:
  • tweeting about this giveaway
  • blogging about it
  • following/subscribing to the Torie Jayne blog/twitter

For the first two, please leave a comment below with the link to your tweet or blog post.

This giveaway is open to readers worldwide.

Good luck and have a sweet day!

February 2012

A month filled with love, determination, success and adventures.


 x S.K.K x

Friday Feature - Jon Day

Jon Day
Jon Day
Jon Day
Jon Day

Welcome to Friday Feature. This week I am sharing with you the beautiful Spring-inspired photography of award winning British photographer, Jon Day. Based in Central London, Jon specializes in interiors and lifestyle work.

To see more of Jon's beautiful work check out his site.

With all this talk about weddings and the sunny days we have had recently I have started to dream of Spring! I am looking forward to leisurely bike rides along the river as the evenings get lighter, the garden beginning to bloom and a spot of decorating. How about you?

Happy Friday, sweets!

52 Weeks of Grateful: Marriage



It's our 10th wedding anniversary tomorrow. Third of the third. Cue the marching band! Or, at least, the Irish folk band. But more on that later. Let me show you around some of my album...

It rained for weeks before our wedding. It was the wettest start to the year ever (this was pre-2012, of course). I thought about making rainy day plans, because there was a bush-walk involved during the proceedings - as you do - but something told me we'd be okay.

The sun rose at 6:44 am* like a good luck lantern.



We were married in the chapel up on the hill at Manly. The service was austere and formal; getting married is important business and I wanted to capture that. An acapella group sang Morning has Broken and Ave Marie as I walked down the aisle. Yep, what's an Italian wedding without Ave Marie? I was going for it!


I know the father of the bride is supposed to be the proud one, but I had never felt prouder as I walked down the aisle with my Dad. I felt so overwhelmed with everyone's eyes on me, yet solid as a rock because my father had my arm.

As I walked towards my beloved LOML with my beloved father, I felt very keenly that I had been raised by a good man and I was about to be raised even higher by another.


I do, my love, I really, really do.



It is true that I wore adidas trainers on my wedding day. How else is a girl going to bushwalk down to the pre-dinner drinks? I also wore the most marvellous floral garland, painstakingly made by one of my oldest friends. It was the most beautiful creation and made my whole wedding outfit so extra-special and me.


A sweet Irish band played merry jigs as we all walked along. The flags fluttered, the sun beamed, the tunes floated and I felt that there was so much joy in the world that I could cry. Why is it that I always want to cry whenever I am happy?



Our reception was held at Le Kiosk at Shelly Beach in Manly. It had to be there - private, beach-side, quaint and whimsical. It was also the most awkward place to pack 100 people, but we managed with plenty of room for dancing. Andy 500, the coolest-cat band you can imagine, kept that dance floor hopping. They were the band that were playing the night LOML and I met in 1996.



Ten years isn't so long. This man is my man. The years with him fly by and we are happy every day. If he is happy, then I am happy. If I am happy, then he is happy. It seems to work out just fine.

I am grateful for him. Every day. For every thing.


We're going away this weekend (of course we are!). Don't worry, I'll be along to visit you early next week - I wouldn't miss it.  In the meantime, don't forget to visit me at our Kidspot Grateful group where this week I'm talking about drinks, drinking and the trouble with prompts. 
Please leave me some love over there if you can. 

So, what's making you smile today? Add your post to the list below (and please, we love you, but it really does matter that your post is a Grateful one and not just a random) and pretty-please add a link back to this linky. Then pop over to visit other bloggers who are spreading a little sunshine.




* thank you, Google.

still the rain comes...


so we build us a mountain
of cushions and pillows and slopes that give way
I watch as our little girl
giggles and tumbles and
wishes the baby would sleep the whole day

we make us a tower
from white toilet paper
a dozen rolls high with a wobbling top
the crash is fantastic
it knocks out her teddy
making the most of our latest bulk shop

we spy on our neighbour
with plastic binoculars
watching a sky that's so dismal and grey
the baby starts crying
her sister gets cranky
small bits of stir-crazy flavour our day.