Life, Prams & Product Reviews
I’m unreasonable excited about this hair brush coming into our lives. I received the Happy Hair Brush Family Starter Pack a few weeks ago at the Kids Business Bloggers Brunch and it’s been a bit of a hair-game-changer.
So, a couple of days ago I engaged in a conversation on Facebook about the idea that choosing to not have a baby is selfish. I’m sure it’s a sentiment you’ve come across before? I know I’ve heard it. Many times. I’d like to immediately point out that this doesn’t …
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Only 3 hours from Brisbane is a unique paradise ready to be explored – the Solomon Islands! Sitting in the same timezone as Australian Daylight Savings Time it is a great spot to take your family for an overseas trip without jet lag, long flights or over the top commercialism. …
However, here are a few little things that I do that actually make applying makeup easier. Or at least help the end result look a little more like I actually know what I’m doing.
I have to admit I’ve fallen in a bit deep with online shopping lately. I’ve been freshening up my wardrobe. Also maybe maturing my wardrobe a little. There’s a few specific brands of clothing and shoes that I’m collecting. I’ll clearing out some older stuff and making room for a fresh new me. Or the same old me, but in pretty new dresses….
I love being thrifty. I love saving money. Unnecessary spending or wasted money stresses me out. And we’ve lived reasonably well on a quite tight budget at different stages of our lives – so I think I’m pretty good at saving money around the house without feeling like we’re missing out.
Firstly, we’re following the double negative here, right? I’m suggesting maybe you SHOULD do pole fitness – if you really want to. (If not, no drama. I get it’s not for everyone.) I’ve been doing Pole Fitness now for only 5 months – but I almost can’t imagine not doing it. It’s still my favourite part of the week.
Today my son who is an incredibly fussy eater and hasn’t eaten a vegetable except for potato in potato chips in years had all of these vegetables. And not only did he enjoy them he promised to have them every single day.
The first time I made this recipe it happened by accident. It was one of those nights where I had a handful of ingredients that needed to be used up quickly and they just came together so perfectly.
I was a little nervous baking this for my birthday because I pretty much just blended together two different recipes with absolutely no experience making either of them. By some miracle it turned out great (but admittedly I have done a lot of baking, so I’ve got a little base knowledge to go along with it…. And perhaps just a bit of a lucky fluke!)
I LOVE pizza. So much. Which has been a bit of a struggle this last year as I’ve been on a low carb “diet”. (Diet in quotation marks, because it’s more that I’ve change the way I eat rather than a short term change.)
A few months ago myself, two friends, and my dear darling partner (who so generously came as our designated driver!) went on a day trip to the Yarra Valley to visit some wineries.
So, this wasn’t part of anything. It wasn’t for Dry July, which is coming up in a few days. Maybe I should have waited a month before I started my alcohol free month so I could tie it into Dry July, because it is a great charity that raises money for cancer patient.
Larissa Waters Breastfeeding In Parliament Shows the No Win Situation For Mothers Larissa Waters does yet another breastfeeding first https://t.co/A5a18083VE pic.twitter.com/BXMh7vYH5M — Karen Barlow (@KJBar) June 22, 2017 First time I've had to move a Senate motion while breastfeeding! And my partner in crime moved her own motion …
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It seems like an innocent enough question and McDonalds has been doing this for years. Asking parents whether or not the Happy Meal is for a boy or a girl and assigning them a toy based on their gender.
I can’t believe I’m coming up to my one year anniversary on my LCHF diet. A whole year! And I can already hear the other LCHFers groaning at the use of the word “diet”. It’s not a “diet” in the sense of “I’m going on a diet for a couple of months”. I mean more like – “I’ve changed my diet.” I know that LCHF people tend to use the term “way of eating” or “WOE” for short, instead of “diet”, but I’m a rebel.
Helen’s Hill will be my last in my Yarra Valley “Time For Wine” series for a while. Hopefully we’ll be planning another trip out there soon – or maybe down to the Mornington Peninsula wine region instead. In the meantime I’m going to leave on a high note with Helen’s Hill winery.
Can you tell I’m a little excited about this one. Can ya?! Chandon is what we usually drink at home so there was something very cool about going to the place where the magic happens. In my mind Domaine Chandon is like my Willy Wonka’s Chocolate factory. Except wine, because I don’t really eat chocolate.
Yering Farm is just down the road from Yering Station and is an absolutely adorable winery. And it has such a cute, old, Australian farm vibe.
My partner is great at networking. He’ll walk into a room and seamlessly float in and out of conversations with anyone and everyone. I don’t understand how he does it so easily. Just like he doesn’t understand why I struggle with it so much. It seems to be something that people have, or they don’t.
Yering Station was Victoria’s first vineyard, so that fact alone makes it a must-see if you’re visiting wineries in the Yarra Valley. The estate is grand and impressive – though some spaces of Yering Station feel almost intimidating formal.
Kellybrook Winery was the first winery we visited on our Yarra Valley wine tour. It’s only a 45 minute drive from Melbourne’s CBD so it’s one of the closest wineries to Melbourne.
Stop buying clothes and not wearing them.
Start only buying and wearing clothes I love. There are SO MANY REASONS I need to stop doing this. It’s neither economical nor environmentally friendly to keep buying clothes and not wearing them.
I love sparkling wine. It’s pretty much the only alcoholic beverage I drink. There’s just something festive, fun and decadent about a glass of beautiful bubbles.
So, there’s not really a whole lot of point to writing this list, other than if anyone happens to ask me what I want for Christmas I can direct them to this blog post (Joking)
Christmas is rapidly approaching, which is wonderful! I love Christmas. It’s my favourite time of year! Christmas carols, decorations, seeing family, buying presents – the food. Oh how I love the food.
I’ve recently binge-watched the whole 7 seasons… though I peaked too early and finished it a few weeks ago, so I’ve been re-rewatching it. Which has given me A LOT of time to think about the BIG question of Gilmore Girls… *drum roll*.
The Moment I Quit Writing This morning I sat in front of my computer in tears. My stomach in knots. And feeling utterly done. Something had gone horribly wrong on the website – I’m not going to bore you with too many of the details, but we have a …
How I lost more than 10kgs in less than 3 months with no calorie counting, shakes, pills, programs, starving myself or increased exercise. I’m just eating delicious food whenever I’m hungry (okay, with one catch…)
I’ve been back from bloggerland (aka Problogger) for a few days and I’m so lost and forlorn. I miss it so much. I want to go back. I want to go and live in bloggerland forever. My family can just come and visit me from time to time.
Surely I can’t be the only person who’s thought:
“I’d love my body if I weighed X amount”
“I’d love my body if I wear X size clothing”
“I’d love my body if it looked exactly how I want it to look.”
LCHF with a Carb-Eating Family I’ve been following a LCHF (low carb, high fat) diet for the last 10 weeks now and one thing you need to know about me is I don’t like cooking things that I perceive as being too hard, too complicated and I REALLY don’t …
I’m so emotionally exhausted victim blaming, slut shaming and the relentlessness of rape culture.
They’re constant, and everywhere. It’s perpetuated by men and women, mothers and father, even police.
I’m heading to Problogger in Queensland next month and I cannot tell you how excited I am!!!
Seeing Darren Rowse, other speakers and learning things – I’m sure that’ll all be good. BUT the main reason I’m excited about going is the “networking” and when I say “networking” I mean spending time with all my favourite bloggers – and there’s a lot of them.
Thank Goodness for an Easy LCHF Baked Cheesecake
As I’ve mentioned I’m currently on a LCHF diet, and it’s going REALLY well for me. In less than 2 months I went from my size 12 jeans getting a bit too tight – to fitting into size 8 – which even on diets where I’ve been starving myself I’ve never been this small.
I had NO IDEA Myuna Farm existed! It’s located a little over half an hour South-East of Melbourne CBD and was the most incredible “farm experience” for our family.
LCHF stands for Low Carb High/Healthy Fat. It is a way of eating that consists of a very low consumption of carbohydrates, moderate consumption of protein, and a high consumption of healthy fats.
Wombat Bend Playground in Templestowe is one of my favourite playgrounds, and it’s actually so close by to my house I really should visit it more often.
I really like the idea of a Love Bank. Basically people have an “account” with you, and they can make deposits and withdrawals – if someone invests a lot of time and love into your relationship with them, then there’s a long line of credit for them to withdraw from.
I was doing a little bit of housework while babywearing with my baby girl in a carrier on my back.
I turned on the upright vacuum cleaner and as I started to work on the living room floor two bullants dropped out of the vacuum onto the carpet.
Is your newsfeed constantly flooded with “jokes” about how fathers need to be micromanaged to care for their own children? Or how men generally incapable of parenting, housework and keeping themselves alive? That men are irresponsible and essentially additional children?
For quite some time I was under the impression I couldn’t be a feminist and wear make up. Or I couldn’t be a feminist and have casual sex. Or be a stay at home mum. Or love knitting. Or any number of things that I didn’t think that feminism would approve of.
This is my favourite television show genre. The “So Bad It’s Good” shows. It’s a tricky genre, because exactly what falls into bad enough to be good, but then also good enough that it’s not just completely terrible – it’s a fine line.
You don’t necessarily need to buy a whole new wardrobe to accommodate pregnancy and breastfeeding, nor do you need to buy maternity or nursing specific clothing. There are many different ways you can use regular clothes throughout these phases of your life.
I know it’s not the most romantic idea – having your children in the background for a date – but sometimes it’s the reality of being parents. Not all of us have a family member or friend that is willing and able to take our children for a couple of hours – nor the means to pay for a babysitter. So what happens to romance?
It’s not okay to shout at, call to, or proposition a stranger on the street. EVEN if you think they should take it as a compliment. EVEN if it’s happened to you by someone of any gender. It’s still not okay.
This week we took the children to the Royal Melbourne Zoo for a glorious family outing. We’ve been to the Zoo a couple of times before, but we always have a great time and there’s always something new to see and experience.
When my first born was a baby, I used to anxiously wait until she was asleep, then I would whisk through the house and clean up. When she woke up, I would be all eyes on her, sitting and playing and taking care of her until at last she would fall asleep again. Repeat.
“I’m perfect just the way I am.”
“I accept my body for how it looks.”
“My weight has no bearing on my self esteem.”
(Lies, all lies)
I’ve been asked a few times for a packing/moving checklist so with all my experience moving house, this is what I can come up with.
We move house in THREE DAYS! THREE!!!
Uno. Dos. Tres.
That’s it. And then we’re there.
Yesterday we put a rental application in on a house – a whole house – that has easily twice the space of our current home, and I’m crossing all my fingers and toes that we are accepted. It has two living rooms, 4 bedrooms, and more cupboards than I’d know what to do with!
I’ve noticed quite a few posts in my newsfeed lately declaring that hairy armpits is a new “trend”. A “trend” that seems to be bothering more than a few people.
Here’s the thing though – allowing body hair to grow wherever it grows naturally is not a trend – shaving it off is.
Have you heard of the Bechdel Test? It’s a way to show gender equality in films and to demonstrate how women are under represented due to our old friend, sexism. It has 3 criteria that must be met to pass. It must have 1- two women in it 2- who talk to each other 3-about something other than a man.
I recently read this blog post “Consent: Not actually that complicated” that has been made into a stick figure cartoon. I think this is a great way to explain consent. I think it should be shown to teenagers as part of sex education in school, or by parents at home. It’s a good way to get a conversation going about consent, to explain consent in a light but clear way.
Firstly, this was written our of pure, genuine enthusiasm for all things Ikea. I love the food, the furniture, the design, the space saving ideas, the bargains, the feeling that anything is possible – I just love the adventure of it all.
So let me take you through all the things I love about Ikea. It’s something we do fairly often as a family – we just go to Ikea to walk around, have a look, touch, sit, play, open, design, dream and eat.
There are some things I can relate to in the recent Huffington Post article titled “Why my husband will always come before my kids.”
My initial gut reaction is to say – of course I love my children more. But I don’t think that’s entirely accurate for me either.
I’m going to talk about sex. Because we’re grown ups and sex is important. I’m going to be frank, and I’m going to be talking about my own sex life in detail, so if you don’t want to know what goes on between my sheets – or you’re my mother reading my blog – please don’t read any further.
If you choose to proceed, consider yourself warned.
50 Shades of Ughhhhh…..not really my thing.
He stalks her, taps her phone, he’s manipulative and intimidating, he’s not big on gaining true and informed consent and even though he’s a hot billionaire, he does not float my boat, for all of the above mentioned reasons.
We can learn some powerful lessons from the people who truly love us. When you love someone unreservedly, and you trust them completely – you can allow them to show you how they see you.
What have you learnt from those who love you? This is how I learned that I am beautiful. It took me a while.
I don’t want to shave my legs. I’m sort of proud that I managed to go over a month without shaving my legs.
Last time I shaved my legs was before Christmas and yesterday I caved and did it. It’s this bizarre inner battle. It’s a life time of social conditioning that ladies legs must be smooth and silky at all times.
I’ll start by saying this isn’t a complaint, I do actually get a bit of a thrill every time someone says to me “Oh, did you make that ?! It’s great! You should sell them!” Or I get the more forward “So, Rach, when are you going to open a …
What does “Feminism” mean? “The advocacy of women’s rights on the ground of the equality of the sexes.” This is one of the big misconception I myself held about feminism, is the name; because it’s FEMIN-ism, not EQUAL-ism or HUMAN-ism I wrongly assumed that feminism meant not just equality, but seeking privileges for women.
Do you know those ads that trying to make us feel like everyone is judging us on the cleanliness of our homes to make us buy their products? The Harpic toilet clean ads with the line “What does your loo say about you?” ads, or the “Ajax Spray and wipe” ads where someone has unexpected visitors and runs around cleaning their house so nobody ever knows that they live the way they live! Am I alone in thinking that your toilet says nothing about you? Except that you clearly have indoor plumping! Winning! But otherwise – I know I’ve never inspected anyone else’s loo and made an assessment on their character based on it’s condition.
Whether you’re a mum and dad working on a rural angus beef farm in Bathurst, NSW or a couple in inner-city Melbourne living the corporate life, the decision to have children is a big one. It affects not only your life, but your daily and monthly routine for the indefinite future.
I hear the advice of making time for our partners, to nurture our relationships, but I keep thinking – how can I make time, there’s still the same number of hours in a day, I can’t make more time. Also with “finding time” as though we might just stumble upon it. It doesn’t feel like that’s how it works.
I love before and after shots, I don’t even really care what the before or after is. Home renovations, landscaping, city building, rearranged bedrooms, hair cuts and make overs; the idea of one photo on the left and one on the right of the exact same thing,
5 things to never say to your other half!
I feel I need to share this to any daddy followers out there, the top 5 things to never say to an exhausted, run down mamma.
The birth of your first child will be a turning point in your relationship. Every relationship is different and so will be your experiences. While for some dads-to-be it will be an easy shift into fatherhood/parenthood, for others it may create some challenges. Your relationship with your partner might change after …
Flying with kids This is something I’ve had a bit of practice at, flying more times now with little people than without them, and I’m still by no means an expert, but now with well over a dozen flights clocked up between two children, often on my own, I’ve had …
Valentine’s Day In some ways I feel like I’ve traded Valentine’s Day in for Mother’s day. This will be my fifth Valentine’s day as a parent, so I’m pretty much totally to terms with the fact this day doesn’t really mean much anymore, we are too busy, tired or I didn’t even notice the last one …