Would you let your young daughter wear these?

Today I took my daughter shopping at Westfield Northlakes. While we were in Big W she came across a pair of shoes she completely fell in love with. I can understand the fast and intense love you get when you find the perfect shoe and because of this I will sometimes cave in. These shoes were only $25 and would keep her lovely, perfect feet warm in winter. They were also a great and practical colour for mixing into her wardrobe.

My lovely 6 year old daughter had fallen in love with a pair of wedged desert boots and I am not talking about a little appropriate child height wedge. My 17 old niece wouldn't have been able to walk in these (sorry Mariah, but it's true), even my sister would have struggled (also true). These child sized 13 boot had a heel height around 4cm. My daughter would be lucky to be 110cm tall. So, if I mentally recalculate this heel height for my height of 170cm (well 169cm) it would be about 6-7cm high heel on me.

Seriously, I wonder who decided this was an excellent idea for little girls?

Would you let your young daughter wear these?

PS: I didn't buy these and would never. Shocked that Big W would even be selling them.

Bloody Insomnia

I was awake all night and at about 2am I gave up and came downstairs. I watched the movie "The Other Guys" with Will Ferrell and Marky Mark (he'll always be Marky Mark to me). Will Ferrell's face makes me laugh. Silly movies are always really funny when you are delirious from lack of sleep. I ended up falling asleep around 5.30am to be awoken 5 minutes later with my oldest crunching on cereal beside me.

My eyelids feel like they are made from sandpaper and there is a paper weight attached to the top of my head but I have injected coffee, had a long shower and now feel slightly more human.

After the school run I am looking forward to having coffee with Lisa from Mrs BC at Reef Point Cafe. Then in the afternoon watching '21 Jump Street' at AMC (Hoyts) Kippa Ring with my sister. I use to love the series and I don't mind a bit of Channing Tatum so this should be fun.

First Impressions...

One of the few things to make an impression on me this week are first impressions. I think people are often curious about what first impression they may make. I know I am.

What I find interesting is that first impressions go past the presumption you make about their personality. I had a conversation once with two friends and we were talking about height. One of the threesome was quite tall, the other average height and I was shortest. We then realised we were exactly the same height, all 169cm. The weird thing is that I wear heels a lot. So, I was towering over at least one of them regularly and they still thought I was the short one. Hmm, thanks.

When first impressions are discussed I am always surprise and slightly disappointed in the impression I must give. I have heard that I seem confident (I'm not), bitchy (I don't think I am), uninterested (I am really interested in you, in fact too interested), blah, blah blah. If I had to describe myself it would be awkward, a little shy, self conscious and (hopefully) funny.

Some of the best people I have met have been at complete odds to their first impression and similarly, some of the nastiest, craziest have seemed the friendliest and sanest.

I make a vow now to not judge people on first impressions. I am going to give every crazy-assed weirdo the opportunity to shine and I am going to start smiling more.

Last night...

I was reading one of my favourite blogs, Fox in Flats. They had posted a list of their Top 50 Style dare bloggers and I was number 33. You can imagine how excited I was. There are so many great bloggers and people listed. You must check them out.

www.foxinflats.com.au/2012/03/top-50-style-dare-bloggers/

Are you ready to change your life?

I try to exercise regularly, I think I have managed to convince myself that I really enjoy it but I am pretty certain it's only so I can be a bit indulgent occasionally. But, one of my absolute favourite exercise activities has been bootcamp. I did a few with Fernwood Rothwell a couple of years ago and I am not the fastest or strongest person but I am probably the most competitive. I also love them because as well as increasing my fitness, I get to play in the great outdoors and meet fantastic people.

So this morning I am excited to be heading to Northlakes for a workout with Danielle Belshaw. I have been hearing a lot about Danielle on the grapevine and I can't wait to meet her. She owns Girls into Boxing Fitness team. How awesome does that sound? They specialise in Mummy Bootcamps and have a special Mummies n' Bubs 5 week beginner bootcamp coming up. If you need some motivation and have been using your innocent bubs or toddlers as your excuse, you can no longer do that. Bring your bubs along.

The Bootcamp is starting on 17 April in our own gorgeous Scarborough. Come along, meet some great ladies and enjoy the beautiful beaches. Book in early, you really don't want to miss out on the opportunity to change your life.

You can find all the details here
www.girlsintoboxing.com.au
Or visit and like them on Facebook
www.facebook.com/GirlsIntoBoxing


PS: She has just opened a beginners boxing class in Redcliffe. It's at 6.30pm on Monday nights. Mention Redcliffe Style and she will give you a free class. Woo Hoo!!

On Tuesdays I link up with Jess from Diary of a SAHM.

10 Things that annoyed me today

Ok, I am not remotely annoyed but I can't do perky isn't-the-world-great posts everyday. So I am going to dig deep.

1.  I was hungry when I woke up, but I couldn't find anything I wanted to eat. So I gave up.

2. My hair was really fizzy this morning and I didn't have time to wash it, I didn't even brush it. Just a tight fizzy little bun.

3. There was a slow and unpredictable driver in front of me nearly all the way to the school this morning then they turned off so I couldn't see their face and imprinted it on my brain.

4. I had a singing lesson today and I still don't sound like Adele

5. I had a run but I couldn't get 'in the zone'

6. I wore my new dress that I bought from Myer last week (the one reduced from $159 to $23). It really is too big and was annoying me the whole time. I can't work out how to alter it, but I will.

7. I was going to have an AFD (alcohol free day) but gave up.

8. I only have a cheap bottle of wine.

9. My dog vomited.

10. It made me want to vomit when I cleaned it up.

Is there anything you feel like getting off your chest?


PS: I can hear my husband and the girls crunching on nuts. Aaaugghhh

How I know I am old

Last night I went into Cloud Land in the Valley to celebrate a friend's 30th. It was a fun girls night out, dinner, drinks and dancing. My husband was awesome enough to buy me a new outfit from Kitten d'Amour in Chermside. This is one of my absolute favourite clothes shops but I just can't afford the gorgeous pieces. Lucky they have a sale on at the moment. When I tried this outfit on for him, he asked it it actually gets worn in public. He was a little concerned about the skimpiness of it. Huh! Anyway, I felt quite ladylike and teamed it with an old pair of Lou Lou heels I bought from Shoes on Scarborough years ago.

This is my new bustier

This is the back of my skirt, I love the little feminine ruffles.

Umm, it turns out that the dress code in the Valley is more like "find something 3 sizes too small, team it with Mammoth heels and if you cover your nickers it's a bonus".  I felt like a nun in comparison. Lucky I was out with the rest of the convent and we were all prudishly attired.

So I can tell I am old because I am shocked by what the kids are wearing today. One of my biggest hates are the micro denim shorts all the girls are wearing. I can remember trying to hide my flaws and accentuate your positives. I know we want to teach our kids to love their bodies but there has to be a line about how much you should show...right??

I am also reminded that I am old because I can't party until sunrise. I ate dinner about the same time I usually go to bed. I got home about 1am and I am completely shattered and grumpy today.

10 Things that made me happy today...

 1. Buying a dress from Myer at North Lakes. I liked it but balked at the price, it was $159. I took it to the counter to see if it was marked down. It scanned at $23. What!!! Obviously it was meant to be and I won't even hide this one or reduce the price when I show my husband. It's a little big, it must have been designed for ladies with actual breasts, so I'll need to grow some or do some alterations.

2. Running 17.5km on the treadmill while watching Breaking Dawn. I think Breaking Dawn must be one of the most boring movies ever. Maybe I managed this distance because I feel asleep from boredom and was sleep running for most of it

3. Watching my littlest eat a Kiwi berry. The faces she pulled where hysterical.

4. Eating leftover Roast Pumpkin Rissotto for lunch. It was better than last night.

5. Getting my RACQ card in the mail. It made me feel like a real grown up. More than marriage or children did.

6. Nurofen plus. I have a sore ear and the codeine made me happy.

7. A cup of Earl Grey tea.

8. Meeting someone in real life that reads my blog.

9. Receiving a free coffee at Gloria Jeans Kippa Ring

10. The chilled crisp NZ Sauvignon Blanc I'll open at 5pm.

What made you happy today?


PS: Tomorrow I might do 10 things that me me unhappy today. That would be fun.

I am raising technology addicts

We love our beautiful shiny pieces of technology in our house. Computers, cameras, kindles, iPads, iPod touches, chrome books, notebooks, iPhones, you name it we have it or are on the wait list. I love the quiet hums, whispers and clicks that goes with them. My girls are crazy about them too. When I received my new iPhone 4s one daughter broke into tears at it's beauty, well actually they were tears of jealousy and I understood. I had spent a few nights crying in jealousy over other peoples iPhone 4ss (see how I made 4s in plural looks like Ass, this is the stuff that amuses me when I can't sleep).

When our connection goes down we are completely useless, we run around like lost dogs or frightened kittens confused about everything. How do we know what the temperature is outside or if anyone has liked our latest status? We can't even phone anyone to find out because all the information is in the phone or computer.

Any woo, my 8yo daughter really feels like she need a new iPod touch and wrote a letter to my husband. I loved it enough to share it with you. I have left the spelling exactly how it was:

To Daddy doo,
Reasons Why I should Get a New iPod Touch
Reson 1
Mine is all cracked and it dosen't  work propperly
Reson 2
The game moves and the sound comes after it
Reson 3
It takes a long time to load and it takes longer to turn of and on
Reson 4
White is a better cauler and (sisters name here)'s iPod touch is newer.
From (name) bee

To be completely honest, I was annoyed that she was asking for another iPod when she was lucky enough to already have one, but I have completely moved to 'Team new iPod'. I really respect her convincing argument. I hate it when these littlies outsmart me.

Do you have a dribbling problem?

As you know, I am a big supporter of local businesses and you can't get more local than around the corner from me in Scarborough. A lovely local lady, cuts, makes, packages and sells Bibska Bibs. These are for babies and are so very cute. She sent me over a Bibska Dribble bib to look at. Why didn't I know about these when my oldest was a baby? She was covered in dribble for the first three years of her life.

I love that these bibs look cool and can blend or match an outfit. Plus, (sorry Belinda you might want to turn away for a minute) my dog looked super cute in it too.

You should go on line to look at the complete range, they are so cute. It makes me want another baby just to dress them up.

I think I might need a sequin red one when I head into town with the girls on Saturday. Sometimes my drinks miss my mouth and this might be handy.


www.bibska.com.au
www.facebook.com/bibska
sales@bibska.com.au

I have not receive any payment to review this item.

Do you love bedding? Giveaway valued up to RRP$205

I go through stages of insomnia and have trouble falling asleep and staying asleep. I have to trick my body into sleeping and then I'll sleep like a cat. Very lightly.

Because of this, I am crazy about bedding. I love beautiful quilts, perfect height pillows (three of them), soft comfortable sheets etc etc. If I am going to sit up all night looking at them I would prefer they look good. I am lucky enough to be married to a man with some great bedding connections and he is lucky enough to be married to me.

Landing in my hot little hands yesterday was a bottom sheet for my bed, thank you Wenatex Australia.  I was pretty happy, I know their products and know they are great quality. I immediately unwrapped the Bella Donna sheet because it was getting washed and put on my bed today. The sheets feel unlike any other sheets I have felt before and I have felt up a lot of sheets. They are made from Jersey combined with silk and aloe vera protein!! It's like a soft expensive T-shirt that hugs your mattress. It feels amazingly soft and shouldn't stretch out and get loose like cotton ones. I can't believe I am excited about a sheet!!

I am even more excited to be able give one lucky person the opportunity to receive a bottom sheet in a size of their choice (single, double, queen or king) and the colour of your choice (as long as it's white). All you need to do is;

1. 'Like' Wenatex Australia on Facebook, you can do that here;
2. 'Like' Redcliffe Style on Facebook, you can do that here; and
3. Comment below or on facebook on why you would like to win this great prize; and
4. Do this before 6am on 27th March.

I have not been paid to review this product, this is a product that I came across that I loved and really wanted to share with you.

On Tuesdays I link up with Diary of a SAHM. 

Why, Hello Mr Darcy.

For the last few days my husband, the girls and I have been at Sovereign Hill in Ballarat, Victoria. My husband had to go there for a work retreat and we tagged along. There were plenty of "work' activities planned over the weekend but I was prepared to sneak off with the girls and spend our time on our own adventures until I heard whispers about some competition. I was like the Bionic Woman, with my super hearing listening into the conversation.

I'll admit that I am a wee bit competitive and once I heard this, I realised my poor girls were going to be dragged from gold mine, to carriage ride and back, all to aid me (and my team) in winning. The good news is that the sacrifice was worth it and I was indeed on the winning team.

Mr Darcy and Miss Bennet are now happily married and have two daughters

Yes I did find gold and no I won't show you.

My husband asked me to pose beside this. Maybe he thought it said "Phat, Phat, Phat"

I took the girls on the carriage ride too. I was pretending I was off to a ball to meet Mr Darcy but the girls little budgie voices kept cutting into my daydream.

The whole group travelled back in time to 1850 

I wish I had more time to walk around Ballarat, it was such a pretty town and we found a great breakfast cafe called Bibo.

 

Are you calling me a chicken??

Do you have a collection of something that you don't remember collecting? I was cooking dinner last night and noticed all these beading little eyes watching me. I am not sure why I have so many chickens in my kitchen.

These glass ones sit on my kitchen bench.  One was a gift from an aunt, the other a friend and I found the spotty colourful one at a jewellery shop in Kippa Ring.

These two crack me up. They sit on top of my range hood and critic my cooking. I imagine they have voices similar to the two old men in the muppets. I found them at Whisk in Northlakes

You have seen my chicken tea cozy with 3 chickens sitting on top.

 I even have a vintage chicken money box. It doesn't even fit 50c coins.

This lovely wooden one was adopted from a now closed Art gallery called Baci in Scarborough. My husband doesn't like this one, he thinks it looks evil. I am glad I didn't get it's evil siblings too then.

 

 I even have one that watches me through the kitchen window. I found her at a nursery in Clontarf. The easter bunny always leaves chocolate eggs around her.

Do you have any collections you don't remember collecting?

How do you buy for the man (or woman) who has everything?

I can not buy presents for my husband. I search for weeks (ok, days) for the perfect present. Then I give up and spend a stressful few hours running through every local shopping centre to find something. I then I take the purchases home, unpack them on the table and hit myself in the head a few times while wondering what I was thinking.

I know it can't just be me. My husband is notoriously difficult to buy for. If there is a new electronic device released, he'll walk into the house that evening playing with it. If he takes up a hobby, he'll have bought everything associated with it within 2 hours of taking it up (never to look at it again). If he needs jeans, he'll buy 3 pairs on the way home. He stopped wearing aftershave (much to my disappointment) and doesn't like cufflinks anymore. WHY!!!!

On his birthdays or Christmas I can see him looking at his pile of presents with a distinct lack of excitement. As he unwraps them, he smiles and says the right things and then pulls them in a 'special place', the place that is never to be looked at again and collects dust. So, now I tend to look at presents that I wouldn't mind inheriting when they land on that pile. Is that wrong?

Today I am wrapping a pile of disappointing presents. I really hope something hits the mark and is a winner. Do you have any problems finding your partner gifts.

I am so easy to buy for, any real piece of jewellery will always get a genuine smile.

How is your partner to buy for?

What the??!!

I have been trawling the internet, looking for beautiful wardrobe items to lust over. Instead I came across some amazing awful items.  Seriously, where would you wear these jeans and would you select those heels to go with them? I would love to see her trying to walk.

Would your man wear these? If my husband came home with them I would be very concerned.

 Just what we want, more camel toes to worry about.

There are so many things wrong with these shorts but I know that my butt would prefer to be cover by the hideous ruffles than just hanging out the back in a pair of bike pants.

The optical illusion pants, high waisted or low waisted?