What I wore: Working it in Wet Weather

It's raining and it's cold and I have a busy day. It includes an early meeting and the hairdressers. I need to wear something that doesn't show up drops of rain, my hair has to be rain and wind proof. You can read my tips on how to work it in wet weather here. 

This is another Desigual dress. Have I told you how much I love this brand. The embroidery is so pretty. The neckline is a bit booby, but what the hay, I'm a girl. I tried to soften the boob-in-your-face look with a few necklaces. I also have a pair of black voodoo tights and an old pair of Wittner booties. These are great for stomping through puddles. A slick of deep, pink lippy and I'm weather proof.

What are your best wet weather tips?

At Last, The Etta James Story & Tickets to Opening night $138

Competition closed and the winner has been notified.

I know this is short notice, but I have a double pass to the opening night of At Last, The Etta James Story to giveaway. This is at the Brisbane Powerhouse at 7.30pm on Wednesday 5 June 2013.

This narrative concert is starring the amazing Vika Bull and she puts her heart into telling the story of Etta's turbulent life. Etta's prolific career was shadowed by recurring problems with drug addiction, her time spent playing to thousands of fans juxtaposed with period inside severals prisons and rehab clinics.

This looks like an amazing night out and I know I am certainly looking forward to it.

If you are interested in winning the double pass to see At Last, The Etta James Story, please comment below. Please do this before 6am on 3 June 2013. Make sure you leave your email address, so I can contact the winner and give you time to pick out an outfit.

"Her songs have become the soundtrack for not one, but easily three generations. She has played and partied with the very best.  Her life was a tapestry of highs and lows, of incredible musical moments, tumultuous relationships, a constant battle with addiction and the poThe Etta James Story – a powerful 2 hour show that traces Etta’s life and the music she made. It’s part music-documentary, part music-biography, extremely moving and a show that shines the light on the great and wonderful first lady of song, ETTA JAMES."

WHAT: At Last: The Etta James Story

Where: Brisbane Powerhouse

When:  Wednesday June 5 to Sunday June 9, 2013

Wednesday June 5 at 7.30pm

Thursday June 6 at 7.30pm

Friday June 7 at 7.30pm

Saturday June 8 at 1.30pm

Saturday June 8 at 7.30pm

Sunday June 9 at 7.30pm

Bookings: Brisbane Powerhouse Box Office on 07 3358 8600 Ticketmaster.com.au 136 100

Tickets: Concession $59.00 / Adults $69.00

Information: For more information visit: www.atlasttheettajamesstory.com.au   Facebook.com/atlasttheettajamesstory     

http://www.brisbanepowerhouse.org/events/view/at-last/

This is not a sponsored post

You call this a gift???

A few weeks ago my husband and I were gift shopping for someone. We were standing in a shop, looking at a something on a shelf and he nudged me and pointed to something down low.  "What do you think of those?" he asked. I sided-eyed him and told him that I wasn't sure but I knew my sister had one and loved it.

Fast forward to a week ago, my husband handed me a prettily, wrapped present. I unwrapped it and what do you know...this shiny, smooth device was sitting inside. I must admit, I was a little surprised and curious. I politely said thank you and then hid it high in my bathroom cupboard.

My husband enquired a few times over the course of the week if I had given it a whirl. "No babe, but I will"

This afternoon, while the girls were watching TV, I snuck upstairs and unwrapped the gift again. I thought 'Why not', 'Other people have done this' etc, etc, etc.

I hope the buzzing, humming sound wouldn't call the girls upstairs.

OH MY FREAKIN' GOODNESS!!!!!

The girls came running because of my screams. I didn't mean to be so loud but I couldn't help it.

Anyone that thinks this is a great way to remove hair is insane!

Braun Silk Epil 5

Have you experienced the pain?


PS: If you decided to give it a whirl, don't start with your bikini line.

What I wore: Work meeting at Max Brenner

For some reason many of our Blog Power Events meetings take place at Max Brenner. This can not be good for my arse but it sure is enjoyable at the time. It's like a wind tunnel at Portside, so I always need to rug up. They also have some fantastic clothes shops, so I need clothes I can whip on and off to try things on.

Today I wore a Gabriella Frattini tunic. This is about 2 seasons old but I love the cityscape print.  I rarely wear this tunic. I think it's because I'm angry it doesn't have side pockets. Yup, I'm so angry I punish it by making it sit in the naughty corner of my closet.

I also wore bright, red voodoo tights and Zu booties. These Zu booties are about 5 years old and are probably one of the best investments I have ever made. The cost-per-wear must be down to about 1 cent per wear.  I decided to wear this Revlon Just bitten in Gothic because who can resist the name and it matched the tights perfectly. I accessorised with two silver knot lace necklaces around my wrist to toughened it all up a bit.

Then I finished it off with Banana crepes and a cappuccino. I'm really going to need a good run this afternoon.

Driving an Icon: VW Beetle

Sponsored Post

You have probably noticed on my twitter and instagram, I have been zipping around in a VW Beetle this week. Thanks to Northstar Volkswagen my girls think I am the coolest mum ever because this is their dream car. Well, it would be if it was pink with flowers and sparkles all over but I was quite happy there wasn't a sparkle in sight.

It's no secret I love Volkswagens. These cars are beautiful to drive, sit on the road nicely and feel safe. For some reason I thought the Beetle would lack these qualities. I thought it would bounce along the road with rainbows coming out the exhaust pipe. It wasn't like this at all. Once I was in the driver's seat I forgot that I was driving the great-grand niece of Herbie-the-love-bug and it feels like a real car. It was very similar to driving a Golf. Comfortable, fast and zippy. I love those quality in a car.

Flipping through the brochure I noticed they come in a great range of colours but what I love most is, they extend the colour to the interior. I wish I had the opportunity to drive the Saturn Yellow Beetle. It would have been like driving sunshine, delivering happiness where ever you go.

Highlights
Petrol lasted forever. I drove and drove and drove but it didn't come close to the half way point.
The sunroof. Perfect for gorgeous sunny days.
Parking sensors. I really should have these in every car I drive.
It's different to every other car on the road.

Lowlights
The boot is smallish but the rear seats can split and fold down for more space
I like drink holders and I didn't have enough. There are two in the front and I need two just for me.

Some facts
Vehicle style: Small, 2 doors and 4 seats
Power/Torque: 118kW/240Nm
Engine - 1.4L TSI
Fuel consumption - 6.4 l/100km
Safety - 3 point seat belts fitted to every seat
from $34,274 driveaway

Conclusion
I thought this was a fun, neat and zippy car. This is a great car for a single person or a small family. In my perfect world, this is the car I would buy my girls when they start driving. I might even let them pick their own colour and throw on some sparkles.


This is a sponsored post but my reviews are always my honest opinion.

Northstar Volkswagen
320 Anzac Avenue Kippa-Ring
3480 8600
www.northstarvolkswagen.com.au

My Amazing Weekend...

My husband and I flew into Sydney Friday and spend Friday walking, eating and drinking our way around Sydney. I also I helped Julia write a speech, assisted some old dude with a maths problem, solved some real #firstworldproblems with OB and had breakfast at Tiffany's.

After a 2 hour wait for dinner, we ate at Jamie Oliver's Italian Restaurant. This is what happens when on the spur of the moment you decide to eat there on Jamie Oliver's International Food Revolution Day.  What a restaurant! So huge, noisy, busy and fabulous. The food was delicious.

I was very excited and nervous Saturday. I was really looking forward to the Kidspot Master Class. There was some great speakers and two awesome panels. There were also a bunch of amazing and intimidating bloggers followed by the Kidspot Finalists Party. I love a good party. Great food, bubbly drinks, lots of laughs with really cool people. I was too distracted to take many photos, so a few of these are 'borrowed' from instagram feeds. Check it out! Love life Hiccups, Carly Findlay, Hair Romance, Danimezza, Katrina from the Block, Milk Please Mum, Ich & Chi. Seriously, awesome crowd. There were about 100 other bloggers I should have hunted down too.

Then we woke up early (4.15am) to fly back to Brisbane for the Beautiful You Bloggers Spa day. There were eight amazing Bloggers treated to an indulgent day of Hair and Spa treatments. I was working, so got to serve (and drink) champagne while listening to how awesome their day was going.

Thank you to the Beautiful You team for giving up your day and throwing an amazing day and another big thank you to the two lovely Redken ladies. Check out our beautiful bloggers, Wait until the Sunset, Suger Coat it, Sheri Bomb, Five Little Reasons, Veggiemama, Kim-Marie, Sew Cook Laugh Live and Engineer Mum.

After hanging out with so many quality bloggers over the weekend, I'm so inspired and motivated......

.....but first I'll have a nap.

What I look for when buying clothes.

There are a few boxes that need to be ticked when I'm on a serious clothes buying mission:

1. Comfort. If it's not comfortable, I won't wear it. I hate the feeling of claustrophobia when you put on something tight or fitted or itchy or with fabric that doesn't breathe. The more it feels like I'm wearing PJ's the higher it ranks on my 'Get in my Wardrobe' list
2. It must be easy to put on. It doesn't matter how amazing it makes me look if I pull a muscle pulling up an awkward placed zipper. I'm going to wait until I'm in a nursing home before I ask for help to dress (or undress). 
3. It doesn't need dry cleaning. This is for two really good reasons. I am cheap and lazy. I don't have time to drop off and pick up clothes (I barely have time to pick them off the floor) and if I have the dollars to spend on dry cleaning, I'd rather buy a nice bottle of wine and split it with someone awesome.
4. It doesn't require ironing. I try hard to avoid ironing. I did iron a dress yesterday and I was pleasantly surprised how uncreased and groomed I looked. I am sure people that know me did double takes. They probably assumed it was my evil, well groomed twin sister; 
5. It must work well with my existing wardrobe; and
6. It must be a bargain.

Yesterday, I had a meeting in Hamilton and came across the Marg K Boutique closing down sale. Pretty much everything in this shop ticked all my boxes. I was very, very good and only purchased one dress. This Desigual dress was only $80 down from $145. I teamed it with old brown Progetto boots and a necklace from my aunt. I love brown with red, it's softer than teaming it with black.

What puts an item on your "Get in my wardrobe" list?

Win a Family Pass to Disney on Ice, Princesses and Heros

This competition has closed and the lucky winner has been contacted by email.

I have been busy going to plenty of 'grown up' musicals, plays and parties and I've loved every moment. My girls have been watching patiently as I frock up and try hard to get my pretty on. This time I have one for the girls. In the June school holidays I have tickets to see Disney on Ice, Princesses and Heros.

My girls are so freaking excited, they have spent many holidays watching all the Disney Princess movies over and over and over. It will be so exciting for them to see all the princesses twirly, jumping and being very princessy in real life.

I have never been to a Disney on Ice. I have seen the reviews and it looks fab.

But wait, there is more....

I have one family pass (2 adults 2 children) to see Disney on Ice, Princesses and Heros at 11am on 27 June 2013 at the Boondall Entertainment Centre, Brisbane. This will be a fantastic way to entertain your children in the holiday.  To enter:

1. Tell me why you'll be needing a break in the school holidays. Comment below or on facebook - here;
2. Enter before 6am on 11th June 2013;
3. If you feel like following Redcliffe Style on the blog or on facebook, that would be cool too but it's not a requirement.

Good luck!

"All the Romance,

All the Adventure,

Live on Ice!"
"Enter a world of wonder where heroes and hearts prevail.  Join Ariel as she yearns to explore the world above the waves, see Prince Philip defeat the evil Maleficent to rescue Sleeping Beauty’s Aurora.  Witness high flying jumps, daring acrobatics and breathtaking skating as you discover a whole new world with Jasmine and Aladdin and watch in awe as the dreams of Cinderella, Belle, Snow White, Rapunzel and Tiana all come true. "

On Tuesdays I link up with IBOT

My 5 absolute favourite beauty items at this very minute....

My beauty favourites change constantly. I'll have a favourite lipstick that I must carry everywhere and apply every hour, on the hour and then two days later I'll decide lipstick is dead and it's all about the brows. So at this minute, at 1.01pm on Thursday afternoon, my absolute necessities for the next 5 minutes are:

O.P.I Nail Lacquer in Red my Fortune Cookie

This red is so perfect that I can't imagine I'll ever wear any other colour on my nails ever again. 

Desire by Dolce & Gabbana

I wear perfume every day. I'll spritz before grocery shopping, going for a run or even to the tip. I'll even spritz after a shower at night. I got this one for Mother's Day.

Youngblood Brow Artiste in dark brown

I'm brow obsessed and this perfect kit contains everything I need to feed my addiction. I use the dark brown kit because it contains a lighter and darker colours and I can adjust it for the many hair colours I have gone through. It also has a good sized mirror, wax, brush, spiral brush and tweezers.

Maybelline Colour Sensational in Neon Red

I have been wearing this everywhere. People have even stopped me in the streets to ask what lipstick I am wearing. It's definitely not for the fainted-hearted

Finally, Lucas' Papaw Ointment

I have recently rediscovered my love for this product. I am using it for everything. I will not leave the house without it.

What are your current favs? Do they change?

When every thing goes right

I had one of those days today.

To be honest, I love my girls and my husband but I feel strange celebrating something I just do. I am lucky that my family feels differently and they went all out to make me feel special. I had a great day hanging out with my three favourite people in the entire world.

I woke up and stumbled downstairs to three happy faces and a pile of handmade cards and crafts and a bigger pile of prettily, wrapped presents. I ripped those babies open, oohed and aahed, threw back a cup of coffee and got ready for boot camp.

We dragged my mother along too and she loved it. I think I enjoyed kicking and punching the boxing pad a little too much while she was holding it.

 Followed up with a mountain of fruit crepes for breakfast to refuel.

Into Fortitude Valley for Rock climbing. We have done this a few times but we love it more every time we go. We are like a family of monkeys, squawking, squealing and clapping with excited at every climb.

After a few hours we worked up quite an appetite and hit The Vietnamese for vietnamese. It was so good, big and delicious. I was too faint from hunger to take any photos.

On the spur of the moment we decided to stop by DFO. Once I discovered the Mimco store it was difficult to leave. I bought two amazing bargains. This white bag was reduced from $379 to $49!! And the purse was only $69. I'm a happy, happy girl.

Home to champagne. Mmmm.

I hope you had a nice Sunday too.

Another Mother's day highlight was featured in the paper, showing off my little monkeys. They were so thrilled to be in the paper.

Red!

Last night I had a girly night out with Lisa from Mrs BC's House of Chaos and Cate from Life Behind the Purple door.  We went to QPAC to see Red starring Colin Friels and Tom Barton.

Oh my friggin' gosh!! This play is the winner of 6 Tony awards including Best Play 2010. Colin Friels is fantastic to watch in action. He was recently awarded the best male actor gong at the Green Room awards for this role and he completely deserved it. Tom Barton was perfect as the artist's assistant. It would have been hard to come up against a talent like Colin Friels but Tom did it excellently. I loved every moment of this play (expect maybe the 2 minute I had to throw back my wine before the doors locked me out). This play runs until 19 May 2013.

I managed to catch up with Colin Friels and Tom Barton afterwards. They were both completely charming to the fangirl I turned into.

Evidence I am a Superhero...

Here is all the evidence you need to prove I am a super hero.

At 8.10am I realised it was time to leave for the school run. I was still running around in my PJs. By 8.12am I was heading out the door in my gym wear. There is no way my husband could achieve this in two minutes.

Back from the school run and I notice the kitchen looked like a bomb hit. It would have been impossible for me to concentrate on my run with this mess hanging around. Five minutes later, perfect.

Then the stench of the dogs caught my attention. It's pretty hard wrangling two naughty, wet dogs. But, I managed as only a woman used to wrangling wet, naughty children can. Twelve minutes later, they were clean, sweet smelling and even naughtier.

 Time for a run. 51 minutes and 10 kilometres later.

I love a challenge. I had a small window to get ready. I'm heading out tonight to see RED! at QPAC but I needed to get ready before school pick up and I also wanted to be done by 1.30pm so I could devote all the time necessary into obtaining a ticket to #problogger2013. Shower, cheat curls, bright lippy = 17 minutes.

Finally, preparing Bolognese sauce for the family for dinner. Mince + lots of love + 9 minutes = happy fam. Now it just needs to simmer.

Actually, all this proves is that I am an average mum, with all balls in the air, getting it done.

Meet 'The Mum', a superhero found in most homes. I sure hope all the superheros get spoilt this weekend.....

 

Bootcamp Embarrassment

As usual, on Sunday we went to family bootcamp. We were given a large wooden post each and were told to run to the beach. The PT apologised because it would be a little tough for me, being a girl and all. My husband stuck up for me saying 'I wouldn't worry about her, she's stronger than me'. Not true, but I appreciated it anyway. My chest puffed out a little, my back straightened and my biceps flexed. I was prepared to prove I could keep up with the men.

100+ push ups
Too many duck walks and lunges
Bicep curls, shoulder presses and more with the wooden posts.

It was time to head back. I noticed people were taking it easy. A power house like me needs to run. I grabbed my post, held it high over my head and took off. I ran around the Personal trainer, zipped passed everyone else and got into a nice rhythm.

I felt like Commando.

Until a car surprised me. I jumped out of it's way and missed the gutter and went arse up with my post. My ankle was all scratched, bruise and bleeding, but nothing compared to my ego when I realised the rest of the bootcampers could still see me.

Don't you hate that.

5 Clothes shopping tips

I have spent a little time shopping for clothes and I have decided it's time to share a few of my clothes shopping tips.

1. Go with your gut. You know how you feel when you first looked in the mirror. Your body language gives away a lot too. Are you hunching or standing tall?

2. Go shopping wearing clothes that are comfortable and are easy to whip on and off. Also wear flattering undies and bras. You're going to be seeing yourself in weird, semi-dressed positions all day. Your confidence might take a battering, so minimise it as much as you can. I often shop in tunics, leggings and ballet flats. You can always leave the leggings on and ballet flats are easy to kick off. Watch out for smelly shoes though. No-one will be happy to impart honest wisdom to someone that nearly knocked them out with foot odour.

3. Don't be talked into something by friends, family or sales assistants. If you do, it will probably stay hidden in the back of the wardrobe. I could tell you about some doozies I have been talked into.

4. Stick with your size. You are shopping for something to wear now, not in your dreams. It won't motivate you to lose weight or gain weight and it's going to sit in your wardrobe making you feel bad about yourself. Hunt down the clothes that make you feel good - TODAY

5. Don't believe every compliment given by a sales assistant. I'm sure most of them are true but they are also trying to make a sale.

What are your best clothes shopping tips?