30

The big day is here. Today I'm 30. I feel better today, much better than I have the last few weeks. I've been dreading today, like I dread my Birthday every year. But here it is, and there's nothing I can do to stop it.


I feel ready to move on from my 20's in a positive way. I plan to lose all that tension and anxiety about who I am and what I want to be.


I am going to embrace life. Did I think my life would be like this 10 years ago? Probably not. But I love what I have. 2 gorgeous kids. An amazing partner. A fantastic family who care about me. A new home that I feel blessed to call my own and my health. At the end of the day, what more can you ask for.


Tonight my parents are minding my babes while James and I are heading to dinner at Rockpool in the city. Tomorrow, no plans yet. We will see where the day takes us. Mathildas Market, the beach, who knows. Sunday, my whole family are heading to Bather's Pavilion at Balmoral Beach for a gorgeous lunch. Hopefully the sun will shine, the salty breeze will blow and we will laugh and be merry.


See you on the other side. xx

July - In Photos

I've been so lost lately. Can't find my mojo. My blogging mojo. My friendship mojo. I'm barely holding my wife mojo together too, while focussing everything on my 2 tots.

Here is what I did in July. Easier to show you then to tell you.

She played with her toys

We went to Fagan Park in Galston,

where we had a picnic and cuddles.

My new double pram is amazing!

We drove to Glenorie and enjoyed the scenic back roads

Edward rolled over and loves tummy time on the mat

Abi is in love with Masterchef and made me play-doh cupcakes for days

We are really settled into our new place now. I have a love affair with my kitchen.

Saturday nights are for takeaway and DVDs

Edward's favourite place to fall asleep, on my lap

Abi is delighted that she still fits in the bumbo baby seat!

My little mermaid at swimming lessons

A very generous gift from my inlaws! Abi turned 3 and this is her awesome new cubby/playground. I never have to visit the park again!

Edward tried his first meal, organic rice cereal. He wasn't thrilled.

Here is my angel on her 3rd Birthday. She was so inspired by Cadel Evans winning the Tour De France that she wore her helmet around for 3 days.

We went to the beach house for 4 days. Why on earth do we need so much stuff?!

James and Abi swam at the indoor pool and enjoyed the quiet family time,

until I ended up here. 6am, Monday morning, Wyong Hospital ER. Was picked up from the beach house by an ambulance with chest pains and difficulty breathing. Once I arrived at the ER, I was more frightened by the general filth of the ER wards and the mental patients roaming the aisles. Avoid Wyong Hospital at all costs.

Edward loves sitting in his bumbo seat

Where did my other baby go?! 3 going on 13 sometimes

My crazy outspoken lady with my quiet prince, what a pair!

Siblings. Best Friends. Love.

Edward and I playing around with photobooth on my iMac

Currently - The July Edition

Current Book: No new books this month. Have been reading some magazines though, Donna Hay, Real Living, Home Beautiful and Masterchef.


Current Playlist:

• M83 - Midnight City
• Gotye - Somebody That I Used To Know
• Yeasayer - Crazy (Seal Cover)
• Avicii & Sebastien Drums - My Feelings For You
• Portishead - Over
• Sarah Blasko - Hey Ya (Outkast Cover)

Current Shame - Inducing Guilty Pleasure: Chocolate. My cocoa friend and I have been having a serious affair. 

Current Colour: Gorgeous blue winter skies. 

Current Drink: Water. English Breakfast tea.

Current Food: Wraps, oats, cheerios, eggs, pasta bakes, spinach, feta.

Current Favourite Show: Curb Your Enthusiasm has started a new season and it is brilliant. Larry David is a genius. I laugh till I cry watching this show. If you have never seen it, I highly recommend it.

Current Wish list: A tropical holiday. A healed back. Willpower to stick to a diet. 

Current Needs: Must make time to get to the pool and swim laps. My physio has ordered me to. No excuses now!

Current Triumphs: Abigail's 3rd birthday party was a complete success! 32 guests, lots of food, wine and laughter. She is STILL talking about it, 2 weeks later.

Current Bane of my Existence: Laundry. I hate you. I often walk past you and just ignore you for days.

Current Celebrity Crush: Leo DiCaprio. I recently watched 'Inception' and 'Revolutionary Road'. He totally deserves the top spot on the Forbes Highest Earners list. What a god. Kate Winslet, you should totally seduce him!

Current Indulgence: Long showers. Sitting in the sunshine.

Current #1 Blessing: My inlaws and parents have been real troopers the last few weeks. I barely had to lift a finger at Abi's party. They did most of the catering and cleaning on the day. They mind Abi and Ted when I need to duck to the shops and run errands, they clean my house and fold my washing, they let me whinge on the phone and still offer stellar advice. I feel pretty blessed having them in my life.

Current Slang or Saying: Random movie quotes from Billy Madison, Happy Gilmore, Annie and Goonies.

Current Outfit: asos, bonds, peter alexander, nike.

Current Excitement: I'm turning 30 in 3 weeks. I can't believe it. I am excited, but also a little sad.

Current Mood: Feeling sorry for myself and my recent bad bouts of health. I know I'm the only one who can fix it and overcome my health problems, but in the mean time, woe is me.

Current Link: 

• asos.com - for great ideas for spring fashion
• ittibitti.com - I am considering making the switch to modern cloth nappies. These are the cutest for sure!
• qantas.com - I am always browsing on here, calculating where my frequent flyer points could take me.

Current App: 

• Instagram - very cool photo app. Love seeing my friends creative photos.

Renovation Photos - The Main Bathroom

The main bathroom was SCARY when we bought the place. It was 3 pokey rooms. Separate toilet, separate vanity and then main bathroom area with shower and corner spa bath. 

So out with the old and in with the new.

Before:

 There wasn't any room to move. The spa was way too big for such a small area.

The shower was leaking in the walls and causing water damage and wood rot.

After:

 Everything is new in the bathroom. The only downside is it's quite large and tiled so freezing at night!! This is the main bathroom and will only be used by guests. Abigail has her own ensuite and James and I have a master ensuite.

 I picked the tiles and fixtures. I'm really happy with the finished result.

 The bathtub is really deep and I can bath with both kids easily with room to spare. 

 Love the huge double mirror and double vanity. The vanities are custom built. I chose the under mount sinks too. 

Renovation Photos - The Formal Living Area

Finally!

These are just a few quick photos to let you see the final result of the reno! 

Here is the rundown of our renovation.

House purchased in October 2010.

We decided that it needed complete gutting and removal of some walls and almost all fixtures.

Renovations began in December 2010. I have lost count how many tradesmen have been through my house but to give you an idea I've a draftsman, builder, apprentice builder, plumber, landscaper, tiler, painter, floor specialist and more!

Almost everything in the house is brand new. New garage doors, carpet, bamboo floors, kitchen, bathrooms, some new walls, all new LED lights, new fans, new doors and handles, new blinds and new windows.

Here is the formal living area before and after. The before shots were taken just after we made an offer on the house. I was 5 months pregnant in the photo. And my hair looks crap. My inlaws are also in the photos below. It's quite hard to see what we did here. We knocked out walls to open the area up. It was a formal living/dining area but it was very narrow and a wasted space in our opinion. Now it's a formal living area. With no furniture yet!

Before:

 Formal living area

 Looking at onto the porch

 This photo gives you an idea how UGLY everything was. The old bar was the 1st thing to be ripped out.

 This room was dark and cold. You can make out in the photo, but the carpets were soaked and stained with cat urine.

 Through those doors, lead into the old kitchen and hallway. It was pokey and narrow. 

Formal dining room

After:

 New windows and shutters. New lights. Air conditioning added. New front door. New floors.

We knocked out the old windows and added new stacker sliding doors that open onto the undercover pergola. 

 This is the view from the front door. Now the house is long and open instead of little rooms and narrow halls.

New front door. I chose this. Everyone loves it. It weighs a tonne though! 

New plantation shutters, I love them.

Currently - The June '11 Edition

Current Book: When I have the chance, I am off to purchase the new Charlaine Harris book, the latest release in the Sookie Stackhouse collection.




Current Playlist:

• Bon Iver - Perth (Paper Tigers Remix). Amazing. Bon Iver is a musical genius.
• Editors - No Sound But The Wind. Off the New Moon soundtrack. I can listen to the Editors all day.
• LMFAO - Party Rock Anthem. There is no escaping this song. Abi and I love dancing to it.
• Lupe Fiasco - Out Of My Head ft. Trey Songz. This song is f-u-n-k-y! I turn it up and roll my shoulders and get jiggy.
• The Potbelleez - From The Music. This makes me want to dance. Sure, it's loaded with cheesy riffs but it makes me want to run, dance and jump!
• Bon Iver - Calgary. I couldn't resist adding this to my playlist. This song is devine. 

Current Shame - Inducing Guilty Pleasure: Showering for a few minutes longer than usual. Baby it's cold outside!

Current Colour: Green grass in the yard. Grey skies.

Current Drink: Water. Fresh orange juice.

Current Food: Yoghurt and museli, weetbix, salads, salmon patties, lamb meatballs, pasta, ragu, pork stirfry.

Current Favourite Show: True Blood has started again. Parks and Recreation and Arrested Development for a good laugh.

Current Wishlist: For my random junk on ebay to sell!

Current Needs: The usual. More time for me, to sleep and exercise.

Current Triumphs: Abi has been wearing undies for 2 weeks now, with only 2 accidents. She has really grasped toilet training quickly and I hope it's all upwards from here. I bought her some cute Rio undies from Big W on the weekend which she chose. And Edward rolled over too! What a champ!

Current Bane of my Existence: Trying to get to the bottom of the washing basket. It may never happen. Also, having tradespeople at my house nearly every day for the past month. Last week involved a plumber, builder, landscaper, pool man, installation of blinds and shutters and deliveries from Matt Blatt and Domayne. 

Current Celebrity Crush: Pink. I've always liked her. Yes, her music is mainstream but I like her attitude to many things. Including motherhood. She has stepped out in the spotlight with 1 month old daughter Willow and shock horror, has a normal post baby body. It feels satisfying to finally see a celebrity mother looking like the rest of us look after giving birth. Go girl!

Current Indulgence: I've cut the iced coffee from my diet but allowed myself to have one on the weekend as a treat. And a lamington too!

Current #1 Blessing: The house. It really has come together well. We love being here, living here. 

Current Slang or Saying: Where's my boofy - To Edward... Do you need to use the loo - To Abi... 

Current Outfit: Bonds Trackies, ASOS jeans, Toms shoes, Vans, Nikes, ASOS cardigan, 

Current Excitement: We are having a Mickey+Minnie Mouse themed party for Abigail in 3 weeks, she is so excited. I'm pretty chuffed to be pulling out my Mickey ears for a good cause.

Current Mood: Happy. Super happy.

Current Link: 

• Babyology - for the best updates and baby related news
• asos.com - for great ideas for spring fashion
• ebay.com.au - I've just started selling some stuff here and while I'm still new to it, it's pretty fun!

Current App: OzWeather - to know what the elements will be like before I leave the house!

Baby Jogger

Look what arrived at my house this week, my new Baby Jogger City Elite Double pram.

Even though Abi is nearly 3, and never uses a pram anymore, she surprisingly LOVES it. I wanted a double pram to start exercising and going on daily walks and so far, she loves sitting for 45 minutes on the walk as we stroll the streets.

This pram is amazing. It weighs a whopping 16kgs though, which means when I add both the kids in the pram, I'll be pushing some heavy resistance around my local streets. I'm hoping to transform my "tuckshop lady" arms into toned, buff arms.

I look forward to long walks in the fresh air, getting fit, exploring our local area and most of all, the kids to get out and about and see new things along the walk.