The fashion pack comes to the 'burbs

So, Little Miss L and I rocked up at Westfield Garden City this morning for our weekly dose of 'Babies Books and Rhymes' at the library, only to find a packed car park and a glossy white stage set up in centre court... It was then that I realised that stylist extraordinaire Gok Wan was appearing live today. Excited much? You bet.

We sang our nursery rhymes to a packed house (so many babies - Little Miss L loved it - big smiles all round), and then we headed to the Shingle Inn for milk, coffee and a choc raspberry muffin.

Much needed soy latte & choc raspberry muffin

Outfit shot

Little Miss L wore the colour of the season - orange - in an ensemble from Target (she is bang on trend that girl although kept being mistaken for a boy - seriously, there's flowers on her outfit!), and I wore my pink roses Timeless by Vannessa Tong dress.

And then we went to centre stage and waited. And waited. And waited. Well, we only waited about 45 minutes, but that seems like an eternity when you've got an impatient 8 month old. She eventually fell asleep in the pram. And then Gok arrived to loud cheers, applause and thumping music and woke Little Miss L up. D'oh!

With babe in arms I avoided the rude shoppers who kept pushing in front of me (seriously, they were so rude) and watched Gok. He was funny and entertaining, but kept reminding us that he was gay. Ok, we get it. You're gay. Just show us your makeover skills! But I missed these. Little Miss L got bored, so we left.

A good mix of people and styles in the crowd

Gok Wan wooing the crowd

It was fun checking out the crowd... There were your typical suburban Mum's, Grandmas, teenagers, middle aged women, the fashion-fashion girls and the gay boys. I scored some Dove samples and Schick discount vouchers. All in all, a fun outing for this Mum and her bub.

C xo

3 hours of bliss

3 hours. To ourselves. Without baby. It was bliss. Here's a recap on the night - the outfits, the food, the arguments haha.

I wore this:

Dress: Leona Edmiston
Brooch to hold together dress so as not to flash the waiter: Mimco
Shoes: Martinez Valero
Earrings: My vintage style chandelier earrings worn on my wedding day. Can't quite remember wear I got them!
Clutch (lying on messy bed): Leona Edmiston

Mr B wore Ben Sherman shirt and Levi (I think) jeans

We arrived at the restaurant (Alchemy) around 7:30pm and hit the bar for a drink. As decided in the car, Mr B was to be the designated driver, so I could drink to my hearts content (which means having about 2 drinks. I am such a cadbury).

I ordered a Lychee Lust cocktail and Mr B went for a Peroni Leggera. Then we went to our table. We had an excellent view of the Story Bridge.

We ordered our entree and mains. I got the scallops for entree and lamb for main. Both excellent, especially the scallops. Mr B had a beef-o-rama and ordered ribs for entree and Alchemy's signature beef cheeks for main. I would have had photos to show you, but Mr B largely protested my photo taking at dinner and jested with me that it was obvious I don't come into the city very often nor go out to fancy restaurants (he works in the city and often dines out for work related purposes). Hence the argument portion of the evening. Despite this, nearly every couple around us was either taking photos of their food or of the view. So Mr B had to pull his head in. And I took a photo of my dessert, complete with 'Happy Anniverary' written in chocolate. I resisted the urge to swipe that chocolate away with my finger. I ordered a chocolate honeycomb bar and Mr B got the souffle of caramelised apple. I even scored a glass of dessert wine compliments of the house.

Overall an excellent dining experience. Food was good. Company was even better. We had a great time making up the background story of all the other diners in the restaurant, especially the 40 something old woman dating the at least 60 something old man flashing around his money and buying expensive caviar and vodka.

C xo

Update - No Shopping. No Buying Anything New.

Right. Mr B is out at a work function, Little Miss L is tucked up in bed, so I thought what better opportunity do I have to update you all on my shopping ban and my participation in Buy Nothing New Month.

First of all, the shopping ban. I've survived a month of zero, zilch, nada shopping for myself. A WHOLE month. Let me tell you, I am a bit proud of myself. When I told my out-laws that I was on a shopping ban, they laughed in my face! They don't think I'll be able to do it. But let me tell you, the doubt of others only makes me stronger. Even Mr B said to me the other night that he thinks I will just revert to my old shopping obsessed self when the 6 months is up, but I don't think I will. Even a month of not shopping for myself has made me realise that I was obviously doing it to fill a void, and I was buying things that I don't need. The shopping ban has already taught me to really think about what I have in my wardrobe and to figure out what I really need. I am embarrassed to say that the three outfit options below have never ever been worn before. I have three beautiful dresses just sitting there, unworn. What a waste! That's why this shopping ban is so so so good for me. I am cutting down on the unnecessary buying and 'shopping my wardrobe'. Man, it feels good. I've even found myself being really really careful about how I spend my gift vouchers I have sitting in my wallet since Christmas and my birthday. I value these gift vouchers so much and want to make sure I make the best use of them. I have come a long way people, a long way. I wonder what five more months will do?!!

And Buy Nothing New Month. Holy moly its hard. I have to really make a conscious effort not to buy brand new things (apart from groceries, hygiene products, medicine, etc). I want to take Little Miss L swimming, but alas, we have no togs for her. I can buy second hand, but didn't know if that was a bit gross for baby swimmers??? Who knows what the previous owner did in those togs?!! I guess we'll have to wait until November to go swimming. And Little Miss L is growing so fast... she's nearly out of her 00 clothes so we might have to hit the op shops for some size 0 outfits this month.

So there you have it. The update. Now, I might go and wash my hair, put a face mask on, and tuck in to a bowl of Peters Light & Creamy raspberry ripple icecream with a dark chocolate TimTam mushed into it. Yum!

C xo

Fashion Friday: Let's put it to a vote

So, my slopping around the house outfit today is highly unworthy of a Fashion Friday blog post, hence why I thought I'd do something a little different today. Mr B and I are going out on our anniversary dinner date tomorrow night at a fancy schmancy restaurant in the city, so I need you to help me choose what to wear.

Here are the options:

Outfit 1:
Black dress, blue heels

Outfit 2:

Watermelon red dress & black sparkly heels

Outfit 3:
Pale pink & lace dress and pink sparkly wedges

Send me your vote in the comments box below!

Hope you all have a lovely weekend filled with fun, family, food and friends.

C xo

Happy Anniversary Mr B

Four years ago I walked down the aisle with the biggest grin on my face... I married the love of my life. We have been through a lot in the past 4 years of marriage - travel, mortgage, illness, child - and throughout it all, you have been my rock Mr B. I know you're going to read this and shake your head and think its so cliche, but its true. I don't know where I'd be without you. I love you. Happy anniversary.

C xo

p.s. found this diagram and thought you'd like it, seeing as its from your favourite song and all :-)  (hehe personal joke)

Snapshots of my day

I had one of those days. Little Miss L woke up on and off several times between 2am and 4am, I spilt my tea on our rug (while rushing to clean up a Little Miss L vomit), I couldn't get a reservation at the restaurant we wanted for our 4 year wedding anniversary tomorrow, I had to travel out to the sticks to pick up our groceries because I missed the online reservation for delivery this morning. Uggh. Hopefully tomorrow is a better day.

Hear is a few snapshots of my day:

Porridge & berries for brekky

Spilt tea on the rug :-(

Burgen Fruit & Muesli toast for afternoon tea

Getting Little Miss L ready for her bath

C xo

I have betrayed you iPhone

So, I have had to be a grown up and get my own phone. For years I have only had a work mobile phone - work was quite flexible in letting me use it for personal purposes, however with me moving to the Brisbane office next year, I had to give up my mobile phone which was a 'perk' of working in the Gold Coast office.

I decided to stray from the iPhone crowd and be an individual and get the Samsung Galaxy SII. So far, I'm loving it. Although I do miss some of the cool iPhone apps - especially Instagram. I have managed to find a cheap imitation though. Introducing Mytubo.

Behold, my first Mytubo photo. My pretty lamp from Freedom sitting on my side table in the lounge room in the 80's filter style.

C xo