Unfashionable Friday + She's Here (Part 2)

I'm feeling so blurrggh at the moment. Fat. Wobbly. Yuck. I need to get my 'losing weight' mojo back. You'd think that picturing myself in togs on the beach at Christmas would spur it on. But alas, its not. 

How do you keep motivated? How do you say no to those yummy baked treats, and chocolate, and wine? I need some motivational ideas because my motivation has seriously gone out the window.

In other news, look at this:

Yep, that's right. Mr B hung his sloppy clothes (or house clothes to you folk) up on the knob on the back of the bathroom door and I didn't even have to hassle him about it! All week I had been thinking 'Why does he just leave them lying on the bathroom floor? Couldn't he just hang them up?' and low and behold, he's done it. He's read my mind. Thanks Mr B!

And in more exciting news my youngest sister H is here from Melbourne!!! Yay! It is so good to see her and have some family time together. She is a laugh a minute and has been showing us cat gif's and telling funny stories. She has loved seeing Miss L and is so amused at her shenanigans.

Today, J, H, Miss L and I went for a drive to Mt Nebo and went for a forest walk, and ate a picnic lunch together. It was lovely. We took photos, but they are on J's camera and she's off having dinner with her uni gang tonight, so I will post some later.

So loving this sister time together. They are so funny and make me laugh all the time. Love you heaps sisters!

Tomorrow we are off to the Rocklea markets for some fresh produce! Hope you have a lovely weekend.

C xo

Urgent Dating Advice Required ASAP (not for me, obviously)

Gorgeous artwork by Rachel Castle

So, I was speaking to my bestie today. She has just started online dating, and so far she has met with three guys. The first two were duds and she promptly moved on after the first meet up with them knowing that there would be somebody better for her out there. The third guy has absolutely blown her away. She has used the following statements numerous times: "I think I really like him" and "I've never felt like this before". Yep, its serious.

But get this, she's only been on six dates with him. Yep, six. AND he's 11 years older than her. 41. 41! But a good 41 at that. I've seen a photo. I want to know his secret. Seriously.

Anyway, I turn to you dear blog readers, as we need some advice. He is whisking her away to Noosa for the weekend, which is his home town. They are staying in his apartment away from his family, but he has organised for a meet up with his... (wait for it)... MOTHER. After SIX dates. Six! Is that too soon? We feel like its too soon! Six dates. 3 weeks. Meeting his Mum. Is he breezing through the dating process because he's 41? Because he wants needs to settle down? Or is it purely just so she can meet someone in his life that is important to him and we're just making a big deal about nothing? Or are we just totally out of the dating loop at the moment?

Mr B and I had been together a couple of months before I met the parentals. I feel like we had enough time together to find our groove and realise that this was something serious and we could take that next step of meeting the family.

Three weeks just seems too soon. But maybe its a good thing too because it shows that he's serious about her?

What should my bestie do? Can she say to him that she feels things are moving too fast? Will that ruin the relationship potential? Or should she just go with the flow?

Help!

C xo

Chilly Day

The weather is unseasonably chilly in Brisbane at the moment. It's such a nice change from the usual sweltering heat that we are used to at this time of year. My sister J and I ate a delicious couscous and vegetable soup for lunch and drank copious amounts of tea and coffee. We even fit in a trip to Target and Spotlight. We're going to get our craft on!

I have packed a lot of my cooler weather gear away, so today opted for a maxi dress and cardi.

Miss L has outgrown a lot of her gear so it was slim pickings this morning when she got dressed.

I am wearing:
Dress: Big W (I wore this when I was preggers too! So versatile)
Cardi: Saba

Miss L is wearing:
Dress: Cotton On Kids
Pink bird tights: Trade Secret

Hope you are all keeping warm!

C xo

Baking and stuff

Little Miss L is sick. Diarrhea. Its not pretty. Sleep has been scarce in our household... But we soldier on.

As my sister J finished marking her students assignments, I baked up a storm.

First off: scones. With copious amounts of jam and cream. My Mum makes the. best. scones. ever. I am somewhat hopeless at making scones. They always look demented. These turned out ok at best.

Next, a coconut bread. Which is not really a bread, its more a loaf. Mr B and I went to the Cook Islands for our honeymoon and we ate the most delicious and moist (yep, there's that word) coconut bread there. This is nothing like it, but still tastes good. The coconut gives it a nice texture and the cinnamon gives it a bit of spice.

Have you heard of Lucky Magazine? I bought a few issues when we were in the USA last year and I just love the magazine. Great tips on fashion and shopping and beauty. My kind of magazine, really. Devo that I can't get it here. Anyway, so then I found this book that they put together. The Lucky Guide to Mastering Any Style. Sorry, the photos are sideways. Why can't I change them in Blogger? Uggh.

Its brilliant and often gives me some great outfit inspiration. Today I decided to open the book on a random page and base my outfit on that (I'll do more of this I think). I opened it in the 'American Classic' section. This girl is wearing fur and cashmere. Really NOT suitable for Queensland weather. So I improvised.

I'm wearing:
Grey marle T-shirt: Bonds
Rolled up Jeans: Sass and Bide
Necklaces: Tiffany & Co, Urban Outfitters and a gift from my bestie

Oh, and see I got my fringe cut yesterday?

I'm still getting used to it. I'm hoping it doesn't look like Rod Stewart from the 80's. You'd tell me if it did, right?

Does anybody else find this image disturbing?

C xo

She's Here!

My sister J is here! Hooray! So so so excited to see her. We have been having a lovely time together and she has really enjoyed getting to know Little Miss L.

My brother came over yesterday arvo and we snacked on these:

J and I rustled up some yeast products. Its in our genes you know (daughters of a baker). Check out our pizza dough and bread proving on the stove top:

J and Little Miss L caught up. They chatted about all things laptop to the great outdoors. I know. So diverse.

This morning Little Miss L, my Mum and I headed off to the hairdresser. Whilst LML didn't get a hair cut, she enjoyed a home baked treat and a recline in the massage chair. That girl sure does know how to relax.

We then went back home and picked up J and headed off to the Woolloongabba Antique Centre. That place is amazing. We had some lunch at the 50's style diner and then browsed the antiques. LML was suitably gussied up in the baby carrier pod so I had arms free to roam.

I found Manolo Blahnik heels for $180 and a gorgeous Dior large leather tote bag in mint condition for $395. Oh, if money was no object........

We bought J some gorgeous accessories for her Christmas present and then headed home for a nice cup of tea and a Caramello Koala.

We love you J and we are so glad to have you here visiting with us (even though Mr B complains about having to eat more vegetarian meals)!!!

C xo

Fashion Friday: Vintage Prints

Dress: LE by Leona Edmiston
Bangle: Gift
Earrings: Turquoise - not sure where I got these? Maybe one of those little silver stores?

I love this LE dress. Its so cute and comfy. Love the vintage print on it as well.

I went to see Breaking Dawn last night. It was fantastic. I'm still a teeny bopper at heart. I'm Team Edward all the way, but phwoar... Jacob is looking mighty fine in this movie. Can't wait for Part 2. I've loved Twilight ever since we read the first book in Book Club a few years ago.

Speaking of Book Club, we're off to Lady Marmalade on Sunday for a coffee and a chat about our last book of the year... The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde. Although I have been a very bad BAD BC member and have not read the book. Oops! Oh well, looking forward to catching up with the girls.

My sister J arrives from Canada on Sunday. Hooray! I am so looking forward to seeing her and her crazy curly hair. The last time she saw Little Miss L in the flesh was when she was still in her little incubator thingy. I can't wait to see those two together...

I hope you have a gorgeous weekend!!!

C xo

Operation Christmas Decorating

Christmas decorating fever is rife in our household today. The first day of December. Can you believe it? Where has this year gone?

As soon as Little Miss L went down for her morning nap, I commenced Operation Christmas Decorating around the house. I sipped on much needed coffee, and munched on sweet little butter cookies. I wore denim cut offs and a white and grey/silver top gifted to me from an old work mate. Its from Katies.

I ventured down into our garage to get the Christmas tree and decorations, and got the fright of my life when I saw a MASSIVE lizard down there. Seriously, it is so huge. And its not a frill neck or a blue tongue. I have no idea what it is, but its massive and it freaked me out, although it seemed equally scared of me and ran away. Thank goodness.

So, up went the tree. I busily fanned out every little branch. Then on went the fairy lights. We have the plain ones and coloured ones, but this year I opted for the plain ones.

And then I added wispy bits of tinsel stuff, and then the decorations. I realised that we don't have many decorations at all. Must buy more, and make some.

Little Miss L was in awe of the tree.

Up went the paper star wreath on the front door that I lovingly hand made last year.

And out came the festive themed table cloth and table runner. I filled my Georg Jensen vase with a silver beaded garland whatsie and popped these glittery red stick thingy's in it. Its looking a bit 'antler' like at the moment - I need to fill it up with more glittery stick thingy's.

I love this felt table runner. Its bright green and I picked it up for a steal at the dollar store last year. Seriously people, the dollar store is your friend for Christmas themed decorating supplies.

Up went the 'Merry Christmas' garland over our french doors leading to the back deck.

 

And there you have it! Decorating done! Now we get to sit back and enjoy it all.

Did you action your Christmas decorating today?

C xo