another Vanity post.

It's all about me again. 


I have been tuned into a lot of diet talk again recently. More to the point I feel like everywhere I go people are talking about what new fancy schemes and tricks they are trying or want to try. Everyone knows someone who tried this or that and seems to have an opinion on it. 


I am fully aware that what works for me may not work for everyone else. I know that I have made the right choices for me. I also know that other peoples success can be feel threatening because it highlights your own failures - and I know because I have sat in that space all to often in my short life. It is no longer important for others to do things my way. I have no need to have the approval of others to make sure that I have done the right thing.


Approval now comes from success. So get ready for some extremely vain opinions of myself!


This was me towards the end of last year. I had already started my healthy journey so I'm sure I probably looked far worse - but I never let there be any photographic evidence

And this is me now 21KG's lighter!

Ha - Don't I just love myself sick right now!

Now I would like to point out that I am not wearing any "shapewear" in these photos,(but I truly do believe that every girl should own some for every red carpet event and that includes grocery shopping and school runs!)

My body type will never be stick thin, and I am OK with that. Perhaps your thirties are for accepting the body you have and not trying to make it into something unattainable.

I got here from no secret remedies or potions or fads. Just one day at a time healthy living. My unhealthy life was built much in the same manner, one day at a time of bad eating and no exercise and sad excuses.

I now include myself in life much more. The idea of bathers doesn't make me want to hurl. And I have loads more photo's of myself with my kids, because I'm not more worried about how I look than capturing the memories.

I still have demons - ones that feed on sugar and doubt. But now they only have visits in my head instead of taking out long term leases. 

Life is good.

my first EVER quilt.

I was totally inspired my an old school friend - well she isn't old - I guess we both are - we just went to school together a very long time ago. Anyway she cleverly made a quilt for her daughter and it is totally groovy. I had started one months and months ago and had it unfinished in the cupboard for far too long, so last week I pulled my head out of my butt and finished it.

It is a cot sized quilt because I didn't want to over extend myself on my first quilting attempt. It won't be useful in our household so I need a friend or family member to get knocked up with a baby girl so I can gift it!

Quilts, vegie gardens, recipes - Geeze am I a nanna much?

WiTKLB........... 13

EEEEeeeek the camera - or camera cable - is playing funny buggers this morning! Perhaps it has the Monday morning yips. Everyone else in the household has them, so why should the camera miss out.
I did take a photo this morning, and it is stored safely on the camera. However I am having trouble loading it onto the PC so I will have to add it in later (when the hubby gets home and fixes it all) All done now, apparently it was "user" error. HA typical


So after a lovely Mothers' day weekend, week 14, this kid has:

• a "green eggs and ham" mountain bread wrap
• sesame snaps
• a fruit crush up
• grapes for recess

I thought that maybe having a funny theme for a simple old wrap or sandwich might provide a bit more excitement. Lucy seems to think it's pretty funny too. The "green" part of the wrap is provided by the ham which is speckled green with pesto. You could also add spinach or lettuce or herbs to get more green. We didn't simply because we ate all of ours on the weekend and I forgot to go to the markets yesterday and get some more.

Just so you don't feel left out in the photo department here is one of the two cuties who make me a proud mummy, and gave me a wonderful mothers' day full of love and cuddles.

my favourite lunch right now

The weather has turned and winter has almost fully set in. I have had about all I can handle of salads now and lunch for me has been a bit boring - tins of tuna with a carrot chaser just isn't cutting it! Last week I remembered a segment of Good Chef Bad Chef and was inspired to give this a try

http://www.goodchefbadchef.com.au/recipes/263

It's basically a homemade baked beans.


My recipe is a tad different. I use half an onion diced, 1-clove of garlic, 1-800g tin of diced italian tomatoes, 2 teaspoons of brown sugar, 2 teaspoons of Australian mustard, a sprinkle of oregano, and 1-400g tin of cannellini beans. Once it has all heated up I remove a little bit and reduced just slightly, I add goats feta on the top and then stick it under the grill.


I get about 4 lunches out of each batch, which makes each serve cost just under $2 buckaroos.


How clever am I! Don't I think I am a great big smarty pants! YES I DO.

Room for a BOY

We had planned for Flynn's "Big Boy Room" to be ready for 2nd Birthday, just as we had done for Lucy. I guess moving Lucy out of the nursery and into a new room was probably motivated by the fact that I was 3 months pregnant with Flynn and so we had a deadline that we really needed to stick to. Unfortunately the second child syndrome was in full swing and his room is now ready for him for his 3rd birthday.
He hasn't been upset about waiting. In fact both of the kids have spent most of this year camping in odd spots around the house and sharing Lucy's room. We have kind of embraced it because we figure that eventually they will be too cool to share or bunk together so if we don't do it now, the chance will disappear never to be enjoyed again.
Part of the reason of the extra wait, was simply because I couldn't settle on a furniture design concept. Or a decorating concept. I find girls rooms are incredibly easy to design and decorate. And most things are easy to adapt across large age brackets. But for boys, things are either too young or too old, or they don't really mingle well. For example: Girls can mix butterflies, fairies and princesses easily. But for boys - cars, super hero's and space themes don't always fit together well.
Plus to really throw a spanner in the works I want my kids' furniture to be able to last them through till at least their late teens. Wall decals and bedspreads are easy to swap out to suit their personalities as they grow but the furniture needs to stay!
So after a bit of too-ing and fro-ing between Hubs and myself, we settled on a slight industrial feel for his bed and furniture. Clint did some magic and Flynn now has an awesome bedroom suite with cool checkerplate features. Truly that man - my hubs - is very good at his trade, and super good looking too! Score for me.

There is storage under the bed so even his blanky and special bunny have a safe place  to live.

Storage galore. I highly doubt he should ever run out of storage space!

Because of the open shelving on the side of the wardrobe - display options are endless. And I will absolutely take every opportunity to show off his cool things. I can just imagine all of his trophy's up here one day too!

I loved the idea of model planes suspended from the ceiling. Clint supersized the idea and went with a huge RC plan that even has landing gear. I insisted that he cannot play with it until Flynn is old enough to play too. Not sure how long that rule will last! I painted the clouds with ceiling white paint and a sample pot of grey and a cotton tip for the detailing. Simple, cheap and effective.

To add an extra element to the room I had this idea of a light box. And as per usual, I mentioned the idea and Clint is doing all the hard work and bringing it into reality. We are still waiting on the light parts to be delivered, so it isn't in there yet. I will do a separate post when it is all finished.

I know I should have waited till I had all the finishing touches done - and then do this post. But honestly I just couldn't wait, I am so proud of it. And better still, Flynn loves it!

WiTKL.........12

I can hardly believe that I made it through last week without a single complaint about her boring lunch! It has planted seeds of thoughts into my head like: "why on earth do I even worry about making her something nice or vaguely interesting?" and "blow it- she can live on crackers and lamingtons and I will get at least an extra half hour sleep every week".
Alas I have not given into these thoughts. And here we are back again for another installment. 


Week 13, this kid has

• ham and salad sandwich
• mini blueberry muffin (if you haven't guessed by now - it came straight out of the freezer!)
• Soy milk and Sipahh straw
• and apple for recess (not pictured)

I am starting to need some inspiration. This week I will put my thinking cap on and try to bring a better game for next lunch. Please share if you have some great ideas! This challenge is tougher than I first thought. Maybe we need to go hot again?

decorating for boys

In the process of deciding what to do for Flynn's big boy room, I researched lots of different ideas and concepts. Some of them were so good even though they didn't make the final cut. So rather than it seem like a complete loss I thought I'd share some of them so that if anyone else is doing some decorating it might help or give you some ideas. But please be pre-warned, I do think that I am somewhat good at this decorating stuff - and there is every chance that most of the public may not agree - so if you don't just humor me, or silently ignore me.

Firstly, before you start any endeavour these days, whether it be decorating or getting married or hosting a dinner party, get straight onto PINTEREST. It is such a great tool. And that is exactly where I found most of my links and photo's for this post.


Generally my style is a bit eclectic with a modern edge. I also love things that are vintage and or re-purposed. Anything that could spark a conversation or hold a memory or make you smile is a winner in my book. So with that in mind I tried to do this and add in as much of my son's personality as possible. And in the end only so much could fit in one room. Here are the things that didn't fit this time.


1. Buntings
Buntings are by far one of the easiest and effective decorating items. They come in so many different styles plus are so easy to make. You don't even always need a sewing machine!

www.pinterest.com

www.pinterest.com

www.pinterest.com

www.pinterest.com

2. And this brings me to all things maps and Globes. Light fittings, wall paper, mirrors, anything and everything. I love how it can be adapted to any age too.

3. Light fittings. Every room needs light. But it doesn't have to be boring. How about an old guitar, gutted out and fitted with light inside? Or these little gems?

4. Storage. How cool do these wire basket ideas look

5. Lego. Embrace it and use it as a feature!

6. Hooks and handles.Step outside of the norm for a little bit of fun 

7. Artwork. Kids make some awesome things. And they love displaying it. So use their drawings in picture frames or string it up as a bunting or use their crafts as sculptures. 

8. Trophy's. No doubt in time they will have their own collection of them, but how about rescuing some old ones and reloving them. 

I hope someone will find a little bit of inspiration out of this. One of my dream jobs would be to style kids rooms all day long. Painting murals, sewing cushions and creating lovely spaces for little minds to grow in. Glad I have two perfect munchkins to be able to do it for!