the week that got away . . .

 Greetings all,

Phew, the week totally got away from me.  Last weekend we went to a family wedding in Sydney, which was an amazing experience - i'd never been to a Macedonian wedding before.  It was so vibrant, full of love & energy, really fun with lots of dancing & fantastic food.  We only had to purchase one new outfit - a dress for our eldest daughter, who would rather be in running shorts & spikes - so when she agreed to a patterned, layered, pink Alannah Hill frock, we were shocked & thrilled.  Needless to say she looked lovely & received lots of comments from family . . . she's quite statuesque & carried herself very well in heels. 

 The children were so well behaved, it was a very long day (midday wedding, 5p.m. reception) but by 10p.m. they were exhausted. We booked a suite at the Shangri-La in advance, so we were able to enjoy the room in the break between wedding & reception, relaxing in the complimentary lounge with cold drinks & afternoon tea . . . it was also a quick escape after a huge Sunday night event.  Amazing views of course!! 

We drove home to Canberra on Monday; the children went to school Tuesday, however my eldest had a moderation day - she stayed home to work on assignments while i ran errands (instead of shopping, crazy right??)  I picked up Sarah Wilson's I Quit Sugar & am reading it thoroughly before i too, quit sugar.  I volunteered as a time keeper at the primary school swimming carnival Wednesday & came home with a cracking migraine, spending Thursday in a heap . . . all the while watching a debate carrying on my Instagram feed - after posting this image!!  How can decreasing sugar & being educated about fructose hidden in food, be a bad thing??!!  This book is thorough, fact, interesting . . . & so far i haven't seen a negative remark which Sarah hasn't already addressed in the book - so read the book before saying ridiculous things like "Sarah says never ever eat another banana" as she doesn't, she simply explains the fructose levels in fruit & to reduce, be aware.  Sugar is sugar, not good (because it comes in fruit wrapped in fibre) or bad (because it is dressed up in a lolly) . . . your body doesn't care, it just senses sugar.  I'll be sure to write extensively on this topic as i start the detox in a couple of months.  Don't worry, Sarah even requests you don't become "a sugar bore" just clued in & enjoy your own personal journey.

So i spent the rest of the week sipping iced tea (FYI i never sweeten it, or drink caffeine, it's basically pretty water) curled up on the lounge.  Sigh.  

 Have gorgeous weekends everyone, it's my adopted city of Canberra's 100th birthday, so lots of parties, events & fun going on here + a long weekend, so i'm finishing off my studio & shock horror, might even sew a stitch.  I shock myself, it's been 18 months!!  Love Posie

Daily Posie updates are on Instagram, check them out at PosieShoots!!  We now have bunnies.

things i'm loving . . . 'treats & goodness'

Greetings all,

I've possibly cried more this week than ever, i really miss my husband.  All this festive  'family' orientated vibe only reminds me of who will be absent at the Christmas table this year - my Mummy's Alzheimer's has stolen her away & my husband will be overseas.  I'm just focussing on the children & riding their new shiney bikes!!  If you get the chance to see the New Year's Eve movie, it's great, but think of me when you follow Halle Berry's story (to the end)!! 

I'm taking time to treat myself, facials, massages, walking away from passive aggressive mums . . . stop messing with me, i know better!!  My hands are sore but i'm stocking up on fabrics for future projects - Lotta Jansdotter - you are about to be quilted, hexagons i think, later this Summer.

 I needed new tongs (read: i loathe our tongs, they jam closed) & was thrilled to pick up these beauties for $3 at the supermarket!!  Little things make me happy. 

 While my car is having a major service, it was cheaper to hire a car than get a cab home, so i've been enjoying this new Mitsubishi Outlander, i like it!!

 Loving the extra pretty stationery at Kikki-K & their 25% off days . . .

 & 15% off at Peter Alexander, come on, Babushka pyjamas, as if i could resist!!

 It's official, i'm collecting pears.

 Reading in bed, using her glasses just like she's meant to.

 Ending my evenings with candles & calm.

So PaisleyJade, that is what I'm Loving this week.  You can find those candle paper bags here & if you're into IKEA toys or love baking with Donna Hay, check out my current giveaways below.  Love Posie

things i'm loving . . . 'the stocking fillers of my week'

Greetings all,

'twas a week filled with pockets of joy, the stocking fillers of my life, so for PaisleyJade's Things I'm Loving this week, it's lots of things!!
My little fella has been doing the old 'can i just fall asleep in your room' routine, why yes almost 8 year old, while i'm still your hero, you can spend as much time with me as you wish (his Peter Alexander eye mask is new, he said girlie would be Ok) . . . 

 our school did a fundraiser with mangoes, gosh they smell great . . .

 goodness this is cute, my son has a collection of felt acorns & wanted to put them in a basket, we found a mini trolley - note the tiny baby felt acorns (navy & brown) in the child seat!! 

 We have our fair share of sulphur crested cockatoos in Canberra (they changed the spelling to sulfur when i was at Uni, but i'm still confused!!)

 Oh how lovely is this clip on glass mushroom, perfect for my toadstool loving 3rd girl.

 Treated myself to a new white ceramic love heart (large one) for about $3 . . .

 moment of weakness at the supermarket, these two DVDs for $30, after what seemed like 40 days & nights of rain . . . not a Jim Carrey fan but this was a really sweet family movie - penguins, what's not to love??  Ice Age 400 or something, who cares, it was practically free & it's a bit Christmassy.

 Oh how neat are these pears - i have a vision for how my house will look when i'm 50 & it will include pears.  Lots of them.  Never too early to start a collection . . .

 blame Brenda from Red Stitch Designs & her delicious linen pears, of which i have many!!

Are you gliding into the Christmas spirit??  I just love this time of year as school wraps up, it's Summer, we're swimming, the shopping + i love wrapping & sending off gifts to those i love, ahhh . . . can you tell i'm well ahead of schedule & can laugh at the chaos??  Love Posie

a very wordy Presidential Wednesday

Greetings all,

Simply could not cope with a Wordless Wednesday today, not with such an incredible week already!!  Air Force One has landed in my adopted home town of Canberra.

 US President Obama flew into this view - Canberra may be our nation's capital but it's a regional city in the middle of a sheep paddock, population of the Australian Capital Territory is under half a million people!! 

 Hmmm, he landed just in time to clog up the school run.  Children were stranded as buses & parents were stuck in grid lock between the airport & Parliament House, but no one was unhappy, we had plenty of notice & it's exciting . . . Canberra is not known as a 'happening place' so to have Queen Elizabeth last month, President Obama this month & OUR Crown Princess Mary next month visit, we're feeling a bit important, special & smug.

 I'm wondering if i might try my luck at a photo opportunity at the War Memorial tomorrow?? 

 Rumour has it President Obama is going to visit a local school in Canberra.  Hmmm, might supervise which shorts my son wears just in case??  Nothing like the school ringing you to say your son's shorts are ripped - if only i knew how to sew??

 I wonder what delicious food we're going to serve the President of the United States of Amercia.  I highly recommend my Sunday night's roast beef.  I just know they'll try to make him eat crocodile & kangaroo in Darwin tomorrow, so cliche (but tastey).

 Fresh garlic beans & salty rosemary potatoes, mmmm.

 Feeling completely exhausted this week, a mix of pride & heat stroke . . . at the high school state finals for athletics.   

 My eldest girl is a long distance runner, long & high jumper, winning places in the regionals, but to our shock, she came 3rd in the ACT for javelin??!!  She's reserve for the national finals.  All this talent, completely untrained + she's petit, once she gets some power & height, i can't imagine what she'll be capable of.  She absolutely loves sport & i hope, like me, she never thinks it's uncool.

 Before we went out to the Australian Institue of Sports, i swung by Peter Alexander for a little congratulations gift & could not resist these banana bloomers!!

She liked!!  We danced & then back to reality to finish an assignment.  Yawn.  Love Posie

the unglamorous side of designing . . .

Greetings all,

Ever wonder how designer's really work in their studios??  I dream of having a beautiful big old vintage cutting table, suitable shelving & storage - i'm using up as much of my stock as possible so when we do finally move into our homestead, it's with a small stash of materials & clutter.  I have a fantastic studio, don't get me wrong, but i often find myself cutting on the floor . . .

 I may be in my pyjama pants, in the middle of the day.  Ok, so if i wear a skirt on the school run, i can't get comfortable on the floor, so i change.  Like my new leopard print cardigan??  Another must wear for we designers in cold studios, the mighty cardigan.  Oh from that angle it looks more like leopard slug, sorry, just showing what i see!! 

 Truth is, i get easily distracted, especially when making lunch & picking salad ingredients from my herb garden.  I'll wander off & water the plants, play with my puppy & compost the willow-vine-crowns my children make.  They look so pretty but they don't 'dry' well, or i'd keep them as wreaths. 

 I'm a bit of a stickler for being on time for the afternoon school run, especially as our car parks at both primary & high school are hyper competitive, so i normally knock off early, toss a magazine in the car & read while i'm parked outside school.  My 4th graders can see my car from their class room & call out to me, it's so cute!!  They have a patient teacher.  Actually she often tosses forgotten lunch boxes & jackets out the window to me. 

You might consider the lounging about on the floor cutting fabric in jammie pants a bit lazy, not a real job??  It's all about comfort & efficiency for me, steady production lines whatever it takes.  If that means hand sewing on the lounge watching The Hills on a Friday early afternoon, i'll do it. 

Can anyone explain The Hills to me??  We watched it in Italy last year (one of the only English speaking shows) & i can't tell if it's scripted, acted, reality or why i worry??  I think it's real but my husband insists with the camera angles, it has to be directed.  I know, why does he care either??  We pride ourselves on loathing reality television but the fashion & lifestyle these young girls have, fascinates me.  FYI Lauren is my husband's favourite, she's so adorable & i simply don't understand Audrina, Heidi is beyond hope & why isn't Whitney on it enough, she's the most sensible one.  Love Posie

why my home won't be winning any style & design awards this Winter

Greetings all,
A lovely mummy fresh from the gym breezed into Shop Handmade & purchased a couple of dozen ceramic dishes in all sorts of sizes & colours for her dining table - which was ready for a Housing Design Awards photo shoot.  I wish.  While i have amazing plans for the homestead we're going to build, i have a vision of organisation, storage & casual, comfortable styling . . . reality is, i live in Army housing, our house is too small for our big family & the laundry is too tiny to even house an airer for Winter washing. 

 So as my eyes rest peacefully at this part of the lounge room . . .

 this is the reality . . . i'm sure the Italians who designed these dining chairs & the Stokke folk planned them to double as flannette-sheet-dryers . . .

 or the Biggest Loser trainers would like to see a treadmill acting as a giant clothes line!!

 It's not often i lounge about in my knitted booties, but i'm letting the last of my head cold leave . . .

 & enjoy OffSpring, i ponder about life like Nina (now on twice a week, loving that) . . .

 pretending my cushions are styled nicely, not where the children let them land . . .

& like i cared that our puppy had helped himself to a blanket!!
I do love a neat & tidy home, at least one where the laundry is in . . . the laundry & puppies aren't lounging on human blankets, i also don't mind a bit of honesty in stylish blog world.  Keeping house . . . sometimes i throw up arms & consider watching the likes of OffSpring as a much better headspace than primping & preening a home which a stampede of children will dishevel again in the morning.  No, i will straighten the cushions, wash that blanket & fold the blankets, i have to wake up to a tidy house, but the washing, well, it's -1C when i drop the children at school, those sheets are only going to dry indoors.  Love Posie

brrr it's cold in Canberra so i'm dreaming of Brisbane & beaches

Greetings all,
Thanks for all the head-cold-well-wishes, too sweet!!  Today i treated myself to some Peter Alexander knitted booties & flannel jammies, mmmm, cosy +.

 Dreaming of warmer places . . . i realised i hadn't done a post on our Easter holiday in Queensland!!  We dropped the puppy at 'doggy camp', then hit the road after a first-thing-in-the-morning-tyre-change (argh!!)  It took 3 attempts to leave the house, finally we were off, headed to . . . we'll see where we are at 4p.m. 'twas THAT kind of day!!  

 After an evening of fantastic Italian seafood in Taree, we got back on the Pacific Highway & headed to Coffs Harbour.  With my husband as the prize that afternoon, i was NOT stopping for family photos at the Big Banana.  My eldest daughter took this shot as we drove by (note: the family who DID bother to stop for family photos!!)

 Oh we do love our BIG things in Australia.  This is the Big Prawn in Ballina, in it's new location, i hope it's temporary??

 Yay, we made it to Brisbane.  My husband stood on the main road to 'wave' us in & much to everyone in the peak hour traffic & her parent's shock . . . our 3rd daughter leapt from the car at the red traffic light & ran to Daddy.  It was alarming & beautiful all at the same time, quite sure i looked like a kidnapper though. 

 The official first day of the Easter school holidays - we went to South Bank (remember seeing on the news - that man made lagoon area on the side of the Brisbane River that went under in the floods) & we worked out the parking machine.

 Just as the children announced they were starving, precisely 30 minutes after eating breakfast . . . we walked into an official opening of a refurbished-post-flood park at South Bank & da dah, fully catered marquee.  We assumed it was a private function, or at least for actual Queenslanders, but it didn't stop us from filling our bellies on delightful tastey treats. 

 Oh dear, like this shot of Anna Bligh, Qld Premier??  I don't think she would like it either.

 There were all sorts of clowns & entertainment - like bubblers??  We were quite impressed, within our first half hour of site seeing in Brisbane, the children had been filmed by news crews (so glad they didn't ask our children where they were from), we'd seen the state premier & we'd eaten a feast.  Thanks Queensland!! 

 Then handsome soldier took us on a tour of his current home town.  Clearly i had brought the chilly weather, sorry Brisbane, like you needed more rain.  This is Kangaroo Point, where the television stations set up to bring us views of the Brisbane River flooding. 

 Driving around Brisbane, i felt like i knew where i was going - from being glued to the news during the floods. 

 OMG, proof a man WILL read a map!!

 It wasn't very sunshiney at Easter but nothing stops my 4 children from swimming.  As Daddy was at work, we'd go swimming every day, rain or shine . . .

 or when soldiers are doing 'river crossing training' in full combat gear, packs, machine guns & boots!!  It's not every day your children are up that close to guns, at the pool??

 My husband LOVES his milkshakes & showed off his favourite milk-shake-shop.

My favourite place was the SunShine Coast, this is a water park at Kings Beach.

 As i lounge with a head cold under a blanket, it's nice to dream of the beach.

 We went past the GlassHouse Mountains a couple of times, on our way to the SunShine Coast & Australia Zoo (which deserves it's own post).

 Absolutely loved spending Easter Sunday at Dicky Beach.

 Our guys had a ball here, hours & hours playing by this wreck!!

 . . . discovering periwinkles . . .

 . . . being chased ashore by the waves . . .

  . . . collaborative sand castles . . .

 . . . ambitious plans . . .

 . . . while mummy relaxed . . . that is a great holiday Sunday!!

 Another day at South Bank, this time requiring emergency medical treatment!!

 You guessed it, our accident prone girl.

 Before we knew it, it was time to say farewell to handsome soldier & we left the eldest girl behind to spend a little more grown up time with Daddy & she flew home (lucky girl!!)  Must admit, the 1500km journey home, i wished i was flying not driving too.

 How pretty is driving through Tenterfield??  On to my brother's house 100km further down the New England Highway where i caught up with his family - all 4 of his children were home from University & boarding school, yay.  Oh, i got breath tested for the first time EVER!!   

 My sister-in-law had bought some wigs on eBay (99c) & my guys went kind of nuts playing with them, like totally crazy, possessed even!!  Oh that shiner my son is sporting was from their insane Boxer puppies who got a tad overexcited & jumpy.

 On the way back to Sydney we passed the 'Cloud Factory' near Newcastle.

Poof, another school holiday over, almost time for the next one.  My husband has been living in Brisbane for 18 months, so we're officially half way through our living-apart-situation.  His bachelor pad is fabulous, so close to the city & in lieu of our visit, he purchased a fridge/ freezer, washing machine & vacuum (don't ask how he lived 15 months without these basic appliances, but he's just never home!!)  Until then he had the basic man needs of bed, lounge, television & a small bar fridge.  No point in investing in anything else, he'll be home with us before we know it, yippee. 
Stay tuned for a post on Australia Zoo & some Brisbane shopping too.  I did a post on all the lovely bloggers we met on our holiday here.  Love Posie