Roots

Although we live in Sydney.
My heart will always belong to Melbourne.
My home town. Where I grew up. Where my family is.
I feel that our daughter needs to have some real Melbourne influence in her life.
Yes, we will be visiting A LOT... But I need something else...

We are loving the cushions we bought from Make me Iconic and when looking on their website the other day I came across this

Can be purchased HERE

It's wooden. Comes with 12 passengers and the lid comes off! 

It's totally and utterly COOL! 

It's $90 hmm... Maybe a Christmas present? Maybe nana and pop or aunty or uncles might buy it?

1st Birthday Parties!

Today we had little Alexandra's FIRST birthday!
The birthday girl was so very happy crawling around having a ball! Getting very very dirty and eating lots of party food!

Our best friends daughter Hania got in on the fun! There was fairy bread!

Now I have to say... Little Hania looks so much like her daddy! Bit she does have her mummy's eyes

Little Arkie (5 months) had a ball! But she stayed in her daddy's arms

These are my three best girlfriends daughters and the ones that our own daughter will spend a lot of her growing up with. Lets hope the older girls don't lead her astray!

Even we got in on the action! (I even indulged in a small glass of red!

I can already feel the sugar hangover coming on... But it didn't stop us from taking home a lolly bag!

Such a lovely way to spend a Sunday afternoon. Family, Friends and FUN!

Now at home, curled up on the lounge in my PJ's with the fire on.

How did you spend your Sunday?

W.F.H. My day in photos

Today I spent the day working from home (WFH) a perfect Friday!
The day started out with the plumber coming to fix our pipes - I didn't take a photo of that!
The plumber is my husbands cousin and yes he is a little cute, but I don't think he would appreciate me taking his picture!

Then I pulled out our slow cooker we got for Christmas for the first time and whipped up a beef and red wine casserole for dinner

The man came to deliver our new dining chairs!

And the mail man came at the same time!

He bought me a letter from the RTA with our new address stickers!

And an awesome sale card from Country Road!

After actually doing some work... Yes I do work when I'm at home! I headed off for a quick lunch with some girlfriends and their daughters

I wore my Jeans West maternity jeans, a black 3/4 sleeve top and a leopard print scarf I bought at Jeans West 40% off sale the other day.

People are still amazed by my small (26 weeks today) bump.

I love it! I'm happy for it to stay small for as long as possible! 

As long as Buggy is safe, happy and growing well though.

After lunch, I popped to Harvey Norman to get a TV for our bedroom. They are having a 20% off sale folks, today, Saturday and Sunday. This is a good sale! It means that items are below cost and below staff pricing! I know! And if your in Sydney, may I suggest going to Broadway as they are having a Renovation sale so their prices are 20% off their marked prices! This means even cheaper! Again... I know... My washing machine is cheaper today and for the weekend than what I got it for 3 weeks ago at staff pricing... Grr

I didn't take a picture of the TV... Boring.

I then bought a pair of tights from K-mart for $9

Finally I renewed my gym membership

Hopefully I'm looking better naked again soon...

And picked up a package from the post office! Our cushions from Make in Iconic!

Phew! What a day! Now I'm just waiting for the shutter man to come and do a final measure for our plantation shutters and then I am going to catch up on what's been happening in the blog world!

Looking forward to a quiet night in tonight, a quiet day tomorrow and another night in tomorrow night!!! First Saturday at home in weeks! 

Sunday we have a First Birthday Party!

What's everyone else up to this weekend?

Hey Big Spender

Last week I was at Broadway Shopping Centre and I popped into K-Mart (I don't know what for now though?)
While I was there, I thought "why not! Lets look at the baby stuff!"

And this is what I stumbled upon!

Little swimmer bottoms! I bought a 00 and a 000 because I have no idea how big Buggy is going to be in Summer! One little ruffle at the front and three on the bottom! CUTE! Ah... 50 cents each! YES! Score!

A little rashie for Buggy too! Goes with her little swimmer bottoms! At the grand price of $1

This cute little top for $1 Can you believe it! (Though I think the tag says $1.03...)

I have also been on ebay quite a bit lately, what ever possessed me to start baby clothes searching... BAD BAD move... but not so much when you can pick up a cute little pinafore dress for 99 cents plus $5 postage!!! It's brand new! Still with the tags attached!

And just for good measure, and because I liked what I am wearing today... Here is a 25.5 week belly shot!

It's actually not that great a shot... But, I have on my Cue blazer that I love, Target grey and black striped maternity/breast feeding top, black stretchy Target maternity skirt, black opaque stocking and I'm still in heels! Black suede ones from DJ's

Light me up baby!

The lights in our living area are (we think) pretty horrid...

The rosette features are lovely and in excellent condition. A great feature of the house.

So now we need to decide what we are going to replace them with?

Chandelier? Old style? Retro? unique?

A plain 'normal' light?

What? I just don't know...

But I have found this which I think could be pretty good for our bedroom.

Chandelier-ish but not too over the top?

Problem is I was google searching and searching and now I can't remember where I saw this one?

I'd imagine it is fairly common though so can probably try a few different places and I'm sure to find it.

Thoughts?

Ideas?

 

Shoe Bag

Seriously! How cool is this bag!

Perfect for the girl that looks after her shoes!

I actually have the clear shoe boxes & I love them! I bought mine from Pink Lily. I am very happy with them.

I just received an email from Peep Toe Shoes and this is what it is all about...

Now, I haven't bought Peep Toes for quite a while, in fact I think their quality is no where near as good as it used to be, but I still get their emails and this bag IS cool!

More information can be found HERE

They start at $179 for the quilted one in the photo above.

Hmm... Do I need one? I'm thinking maybe? But maybe my shutters, paint, security doors etc... need to come first right now. DAMN!

Chairs, Shutters and More!

I'm so excited! And I just can't hide it! I know I know... I've now got you thinking of that song!

Why am I excited? CHAIRS!
Yes! We finally bought our chairs!

We ended up getting them from Dare Gallery

www.daregallery.com.au

They came in White, Black or Brown. We went with Brown.

They are going to be delivered on Friday. We decided on 8. Thanks to everyone for your help with making that choice.

A bonus! When we went into Dare yesterday afternoon, the guy tells us they currently have a 10% off sale! 

Chairs were $99 each, then a 10% discount! But an $80 delivery charge... All up just under $800 for the 8 chairs. No complaints here! 

We can now stop eating dinner on the lounge.

That then brings me to the shutters. After the horrible man from Half Price Shutters on Thursday, we had the lovely Paul from Shutters Australia come on Friday morning (20 mins early! - no complaints - except I was in the shower!)

Quote for our 4 windows came in at just under $2200 so they are being ordered Monday morning.

It sure pays to get quotes and do your research. That second quote saved us about $1000.

www.shuttersaustralia.com.au

We have found our quote for the security door and window cover so Mister E will be onto them Monday to firm up the quote and hopefully we can put that order though too! 

Our quote is from Kings Security.

Painter still waiting on his quote and cabinet maker hopefully coming to sort something for our laundry this coming week.

On cabinets and laundry's - I took some photos of our friends last night, so I will post about that soon to show you the idea that we are thinking.

Also, I'm excited because my little sister has started a blog! She is doing it to document her renovations of her 1950's home in Melbourne. This is a great way for me to keep up with what's happening down there with her, rather than pestering for new photos all the time!

Feel free to check it out! Living through our renovations.

Herbs & House Warmings

We have had a few sets of visitors in the past week.
Samantha and Adam (And little Alexandra) bought us some herbs!
Parsley and basil. We have already used the parsley in our dinner earlier in the week!

Buying herbs from the supermarket is highway robbery I say! So damn expensive!

So I have decided to also get some thyme and rosemary and get a pot type thing and keep them on the kitchen bench! 

Then when we sort out and re-do the backyard, I will plant them out the back and watch my herbs grow!

Any other 'main' herby suggestions?

We have also received a lovely plant/flower that can be kept indoors or I think it can go outdoor too?

I can't remember what it is called? I'm hopeless with that kind of thing.

I have always been a NO WAY kind of person when it comes to indoor living things... But I really do like this one!

Again I will need a nice pot for it and now just need to find somewhere to put it.

(And um, on the floor where it currently is, is just not going to work.

I have also been on a bit of an Ebay hunt... 

It is a dangerous activity when there is so much great stuff out there!

Look what I got for Buggy!

Beyond cute! And will be the perfect size for winter 2012... 

She already has expensive taste just like her mummy and daddy!

Renovations

Remember my blog used to be "renovations" and not "motherhood"...
Well there has been a little of the 'renovations' bit happening (well being prepared for) lately.

We have no window furnishings to speak of in this house.
I love plantation shutters. I just love them.
We have 4 x windows that I want to get them put on.
they all pretty much look like this one:

This window is in our front room, so has the frosted glass at the bottom for a bit more privacy.

Ok, so Half Price Shutters came over today for a quote... $3140 for the 4 x windows! Now I knew they were going to be expensive... But JEEPERS! 

We have another company coming tomorrow to quote also, Shutters Australia.

Can anyone give me any other recommendations for plantations? I really do want them, but just want good quality and at a great price.

This then brings me to the next issue...

Our bedroom. We don't know what window furnishing would suit and look best and we need a lovely new light fitting. But what?

Maybe a chandelier? But nothing over the top?

Buggy's room has 4 x down lights with a dimmer switch so we are going to leave her room for now and just pop the shutter in.

We also have pretty horrid lights in the living areas... Will post about that another day.

We have also had a painter come in and quote to get some walls re-painted... Especially the horrid red in the dining area! And all those that commented on the lovely bedroom colour? Well we are going to keep it pretty similar! We have decided we really like it too! 

Next is the cabinet maker to come and put our laundry behind cupboards and also make us some storage/linen press out the back too...

Then it's also a security screen door and window for the front of the the house.

Phew... More money... But well worth it in the end.

All suggestions, recommendations and ideas are most welcome please!

Wheely Bug

I seriously want to get one of these for Buggy!
Ever so cute!
I think they are pretty readily available so wont be too hard... Or maybe we could ask for one as a gift?
Or do we wait and get her one for her first birthday?

Have I mentioned before how easy it is to buy for little girls!

Cosy & Warm

No unpacking tonight.

We are lazing on the lounge in front of our gas fire place!

It's lovely and warm and cosy...

A few more boxes to go... Stuff that doesn't really have a place? Not really sure where to put it stuff...

Oh and my clothes... I can't be bothered. Most need re-washing anyway.

Feeling really at home and loving the new house LOTS & LOTS.

24 Weeks

After a 24 hour forced Blogger break? (What happened there?)
I have a 24 week belly shot for you!
I did have a 22 week shot, but it was just in undies! So I thought better of it.
Although the 'belly' is not huge. my body is. I have grown in size all around my middle.

People say this is normally how you 'carry' when your having a girl.
Not sure if it's a good thing or a bad thing when it comes to stretch marks?

Yesterday was a trackies and t-shirt day as it was moving day!

Some slight hick ups along the way, but we are in now!

We have emptied about 15 or so boxes. All the fun ones that were in storage! Our wedding presents! And I did the books this morning too.

Our new bed was delivered at 6am this morning so last night we slept on our old mattress on Buggy's room. We love her room it is really peaceful and has a really lovely feeling to it.

Another hick up this morning with the new bed... The base wont fit up our stairs and needs to be lifted over the balcony... (Damn terrace houses with skinny narrow stairs) so it's currently sitting in our living area waiting for the Mister to call up a few mates tonight when home from work to try and sort this out.

Buggy's furniture was also delivered this morning and that went without a hitch! 

Lovely chaps that did the delivery too!

Now I'm just waiting for the new washing machine and dryer to get here (within the next 2 hours) and then it's off to an Engagement/40th Birthday celebration tonight. 

Phew! A big sleep in tomorrow (poor Mister is working again though)

Best I get to it and start unpacking some clothes...

Baby Showers...

I think I have mentioned before that I am having a baby shower 'Australian Tour!'
Well the Melbourne one is actually not all that far away!
16th of July to be exact.
We have worked out the guest list. And the next thing is invites...
Mum is very old fashioned and doesn't wait to just do an email... But is also useless on the computer...
Sister wanted to pay to get invites done! NO WAY! I said! A waste of money...
So I did them myself!
And the same one can be used for Sydney! But I have put my foot down and that one will only be sent as an email.

What do you think of my handy work?

And can you guess what the theme is going to be!

(Moving day tomorrow!!! Yippiee!!!)

Awards, Mums, Christenings and more!

Hi there!
A little secret... My Saturday post was pre written during the week last week!

I have been run off my feet busy, but having a great time!

Friday we had our Maxi Awards night for work... And guess who took home the gong for "Sales Representative" of the year? ME! Woop Woop!
I received a lovely trophy, a $100 Coles Myer voucher, a new Toshiba notebook and antivirus for the computer.
Here is me and 'my boys'

Saturday morning saw me up nice and early and off to Melbourne to see the family and especially mum for mothers day.
The talk of Christenings came up and mum bought out the Christening gown that her grandmother made for her a touch over 50 years ago. My sister and I were also Christened in the same gown. And little Bug will hopefully be Christened in the same gown too!
It is tiny! So she is going to have to be Christened probably within 3-4 months of being born.
Isn't it divine!

This photo does not do it justice

Here is a photo of a photo (crappy) on my Christening day.

Mum made the most wonderful roast pork for dinner on Saturday night. It was just the family (a rarity in their house) but minus my Mister.

But the hero of the night was the dessert! Lemon Meringue Cheesecake! OMG! I didn't take a photo... So here's the one off the Taste website:

HERE is the recipe 

Sunday it was MOTHERS DAY!!! A quiet day at home before heading off to my nan's at around 4pm.
And look at the cute gift from nan for Bug!

I was actually sick Sunday night? Not sure why? I (sorry) vomited (sorry) and had terrible cramps and because Bug was moving around so much it made it worse... But if I held onto my belly, it seemed to settle her and she would stop.

I decided to take an extra day off and on Monday my sister (who also took the day off) took mum to lunch at Breezes at the Casino. 

Very very nice! And they have a special $50 three course lunch special on! I highly recommend it!

BREEZES

And now it's a busy week of packing and moving on Friday. So I think it will be pretty quiet around here.

Hope all the mum's and mum's to be had a wonderful mothers day.

xoxo

Somewhere to sit?

I posted a while back that we ended up buying the table that was in the house when we bought it.
Here it is again:

We need chairs. We need chairs very very soon.

Moving date is the 13th of May! Yay! Can't wait!

We have guests coming to stay the first two weekends in June, so I really really want/need chairs by then...

(Weekend one - Mum and Dad! Weekend two - Sister and her husband!)

These are what we are thinking of getting

These ones are from Early Settler and are $129 each.

Early Settler

I have also seen some similar at Dare Gallery in a magazine, I just need to get out to a store and have a look...

Here is what  they look like (also $129)

Dare Gallery

What do you think? Will they match? Will they look good?

Still deciding if we should get 6 or 8.

MY Anniversary Gift

www.tiffany.com

I just realised that I never posted about my divine 1st wedding anniversary gift! 

Well there you have it! One lovely Tiffany Twist Bangle!

I love it! Or as Faux Fuchsia says... " I LUFF IT! 11/10"

It goes perfectly with the bangle my best girlfriends bought me for my 30th birthday.

Found on Google Images - Not on tiffany website anymore.

Needless to say I am a very spoilt and happy lady!

And I don't think there will be much happening next year as we will only be on one income so wont really have the cash to splash! But thats ok, we can survive on love! ha ha!

Shoe-bee-doos

I really wanted the perfect pair of shoes to wear with the dress I bought in Noosa at Kookai.
Today I got these!

Tony Bianco - Karr in nude.

Very comfortable and lovely! Will go with so many different things and I'm sure I will get some good use out of them.

Walking past our local sports store I spotted a cool pair of Nike runners that I got for $75 ! Bargain!

I'm not normally one for black runners... But I really like these ones!

Yesterday I was working in the office and I spotted a cool pair or wedges on one of the girls I work with. They are from RMK and looked great. I'm only just coming around to the wedges idea and I think I'm really going to need them as I already don't feel as agile on my feet as I used to.

Personally I think they look heaps better in real life than in this picture.

I looked at two different places today Wanted and David Jones and both stores didn't have them. Damn. I think I might just try and order them online.

Problem is, I haven't bought RMK shoes for a very long time so I don't know if I should get the 7 or the 7.5 ?

Anyone know their sizing? The Tony Bianco shoes I bought are a 7 if that helps.