2016 Resolutions

 

 

Hello 2016. Im pretty much following the wise words written on the page above this year. I plan to continue on this journey of mindfulness, simplicity, choosing quality over quantity, supporting local artisans where possible, sewing more & opting for experiences over stuff. Plus ofcourse being the best damn mama (full of patience, well trying) to my 2 babies.

What are your resolutions?

Happy Sunday friends!
Grace

 

 

 

 

November Review

Wondering why we have toys in the house when Kobe prefers boxes & recycling? And yes we made a rubbish truck out of boxes:)
Feeling inspired to create Christmas gifts.
Relieved Dylan is now immunised so can start taking him out without worrying of whooping cough & mumps.
Happy Kobe has embraced Harry Potter.
Overindulging in McFrappes. Oh how I have missed you so!
Wishing that Kobe would stop poking/prodding Dylan while he ate/slept.
Excited Sooty is back on tv.
Over processed food.
Craving these Turkish coffee creams.
Thinking this is the prettiest Christmas themed window display ever!!!
Laughing because this quote is so me.
Isn't this bag just delightful?
Reading the lastest Peppermint magazine.

Happy Tuesday friends!
Grace

October review

*Welcoming Dylan to the family. He is the sweetest thing & completes this family of mine.
*Exhausted by Kobe playing up with the arrival of baby brother. He is so lovely to Dylan but a real pain to his parents:(
*Trying to channel patience & mostly failing.
*Grateful to my twin sister Annie who has been amazing helping out with Kobe.
*Watching Bachelotte. #Team Sasha!!! Although I did shamefully cry when Richie left.
*Making last minute Halloween costumes. I hope I finish!!!
*Farewelling Luke's nana GG.
*Honoured my new niece has my name as her middle name, (FYI she isn't named after me as my sister in law has a sister named Grace too).
*Frightened about this scary fact about baby talc powder. I wasn't going to use it on Dylan but was going to scatter it around the house to deter ants but NOT anymore.
*Surprised by my older sister deciding not to get her whooping cough injection therefore forgoing meeting Dylan until he is immunised as she cant afford it. She instead chose to spend money on getting her hair done & going to see Robbie Williams in concert. #Disappointed.
*Organizing a seed/seedling swap picnic catch up between friends.
*Growing corn, beans, tomatoes for seedling swap picnic.
*Estatic I found this Hershel backpack at the markets for $5. Perfect to pack all the kids stuff for an outing & Luke isn't embarrassed to lug it on his back (unlike the black studded girly bag I carried before).
*Drowning in laundry. Its never ending.
*The child in me is wanting ALL these monster lego figurines...

Happy Wednesday friends!
Grace

September Review

 

 



Enjoying watching Kobe tending to his micro herbs (above). How cute are these vintage Noddy egg cups?
Smiling over Kate (from Lunch lady blog) doing a good deed to help out a family in need.
Over the damn housework. Where is the cleaning fairy when I need her?!?
Craving chai lattes.
Seriously thinking about doing plastic free October. I missed the memo for plastic free July.
Wondering how a family's waste for a year can fit inside this small jar? What do they do with bandaids & broken things?
Blog crushing on Local milk blog.
Loving Kobes attention to kicks inside my belly from baby brother. Finally acknowledging that he is going to be a big brother.
Playing the waiting game. Surely any day now... Hoping I don't give birth the same day as my sister in law.
Horrified that when visiting Lukes grandma, Kobe complained (within earshot) about the friendly aged care worker, "Poo. Her breath smells. She needs to brush her teeth". She did have smokers breath thou but still horrified nonetheless. He also likes telling everyone they smell like onion?
Watched Maze Runner; The scotch trials.
Happy my nanny sister is back from travelling. I have a half day of me time planned whilst Kobe is looked after. Yippee!!!
Looking forward to visiting some open gardens.
Dreaming about a holiday. Yes my timing is super bad but I can always start planning the itinery & budgeting.
Decluttering magazines. Off to be recycled they go. Sure my clothes need a desperate cull but its a start.

Happy Tuesday friends!
Grace

August Review

Enjoying the annual Tulip festival, been twice already (photo above is from the festival).
Craving chocolate chip cookies all day long.
Over the rain, chill & viruses.
Welcoming Spring.
Watching Tru Blood Season 7. Somehow I missed Season 6...
Hating impatient drivers who cut infront of you at the very last second.
Blog crushing on Peggy from Cake crumbs beach sand blog. Beautiful photography & delicious looking recipes.
Cranky & moody all the time. Oh pregnancy hormones.
Grateful to the elderly gentleman who took my empty trolley back to the trolley bay at the shops. Bless him!
Reading this article about buying less stuff for 200 days. Thanks for the recommendation Kym!
Trialling out orange skins in the garden to control the gazillions of slaters that midnight snack on my seedlings.
Growing micro herbs in egg cups with Kobe. Cant wait to see vintage Noddy & Big ear (egg cups) grow wild herb hair.
Baking quiche & raspberry chocolate muffins.
Sewing a dress for as upcoming 3 year old party. Need to get started on some bibs.
Bought a pack of beeswax eco wraps. An alternate to gladwrap. So far so good for wrapping sandwiches, cut fruit, muffins & fruit. Will be interesting to see how they cope in the heat of summer & how durable they are.
Slowly packing my hospital bag.
Making a fathers day card for Luke with Kobe.

How was your August?

Happy Wednesday friends!
Grace




How was your August?

Happy Monday friends!
Grace

July Review

Sewing matching pajama pants for the lil one & I. Why not? lol. How darn cute is the fabric? Luke even mentioned he would wear a matching pair (inside where his mates couldn't see lol) but unfortunately I used up all the fabric.
Thinking what a wonderful group of people these are for cutting the homeless people of Perth's hair for free & giving them that extra confidence.
Reading this article about giving up buying more clothes.
Dreading Kobe is back into playing with mini toy bins. Must of been all that gift wrap (recycling) from his party. Bugger...
No longer buying garbage bags & settling on using around 4 of those normal sized grocery bags a week for rubbish disposal. Trying to do our best to minimise waste.
Planting beetroot, beans & flowers. Could you please thrive???
Enjoying reading my friend Helen's story website, Story ninja. She sure can write.
Mending Kobe's beloved Sooty bear. He has seen so much wear & tear & finally an eye came out. After a quick sewing operation, all was well.
Sad over a friend's sister losing her short battle with cancer. Life really isn't fair sometimes:(
Feeling like a frumpy pig as I cant seem to fit into anything anymore... What I really want to fit into is this floral ensemble. I sure can dream!
Wishing for warmer weather. It feels like Winter has been here F.O.R.E.V.E.R.
Eating far too many sweets from all those birthday parties this month.
Yet still craving these Oreo donuts from The Caffeniated Kitchen instagram account.
Panicking over Luke & I having no baby names for baby 2# yet? Suggestions anyone?

Happy Wednesday friends!
Grace

June Review

*Planning a 4th birthday party for Kobe bear. He has asked for LOTS of junkfood. Hopefully I will be able to make a rainbow cake for him.
*Shocked at this brawl between parents at a kids playcentre... Reminds me of the time when I was a kid & my sister smartmouthed another smartmouthed kid so her mum said it was ok to smack my sister or if she couldn't catch her, me. What a stupid parent...
*Baking any lemon based recipe with lemons from my mums tree.
*Craving butter mixed with sugar & dough?!?
*Cringing over Kobe calling his aunty & nano "dumb sh1ts". Eek!
*Mending missing buttons, dropped hems & holes to make use of the clothes I already have. I still cant stop fantasizing & pinning my dream outifits on Pinterest.
*Searching for the perfect retro fabric to make curtains for the bedroom.
*Loving Game of Thrones. C'mon Sansa & Reek drum up some courage!
*Grateful for Luke painting the bedroom. So over boring white walls. Hello light grey walls.
*Having a mini breakdown over everything that has to be done before bambino 2#. Oh pregnancy hormones are here...
*Enjoying sister time before my twin sister jetted off travelling again. It went too fast!
*Reading about Kit Willows new eco label KITX.
*Worried about this immunisation article.
*Oops about being a day late posting this.

Happy Wednesday friends!
Grace

#Sidenote; Photo taken at King Neptune which I heard may be demolished soon, so if you want to visit I would do so asap!

May review

 

 

This month has flown by hasn't it?

Baking apple tea cake & eating half in one sitting, oops. (The above photo is my first effort:)). Never thought it would be so easy. Putting this on the weekly baking rota.

Drooling over this Tim tam cake. Gimme gimme.

Wanting Lemon Breelands (Jaime Kings) entire wardrobe off tv show Hart of Dixie. Think I will try & sew a similar floral jumpsuit after bambino 2# is born.

Laughing at Kobe telling me to "take a deep breath & calm down" when I get cranky. We say it to eachother all day long.

Angry that I stupidly dropped my beloved camera off the table. Take a deep breath & calm down Grace. It needs fixing, just what I need. Grrr...

Cooing over newborn clothing & going thru mountains of hand me downs that I kept from Kobe.

Thinking about attending this suitcase rummage but do I really need more stuff?

Sewing or mending shall I say a thrifted gold lame jacket. Stay tuned, if I fix it right I shall do a feature on it. Its divine!

Addicted to Pinterest. I could spend forever on here but limit myself to an hour. So inspiring.

Wishing I could braid my hair like this.

Hoping this charity raises the much needed funds in their lastest campaign Empty bowls where you can purchase a bowl & soup to support Foodbank. You can also bid on signed bowls by Eagles & Dockers.

Happy that Luke is rotating shifts with me getting our bedtime fighting child to bed.

 

Happy Wednesday friends!

Grace

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



A mini break

 

Well I seem to have let the cobwebs grow in this web space of mine. Here are a few things happening at the moment.

 

*Enjoying a quick mini break to Donnybrook, home of the apple.

*Shocked at the scandal of this lying natural health advocate who spruiked that natural living helped heal her cancer (which she never actually had?!?). Shame on her! I didn't buy many things last year but I did purchase her cookbook. #regret

*Reading (if you can call a few pages here & there reading) The Golden compass trilogy. I started it 4 years ago & think its time I finished.

*Laughing at this video of a mock dinner party starring Jon Snow (Game of thrones). Funniest thing I have seen this year.

*Trying (& failing) to have a day of bed rest. I find it hard to rest even when I am sick & really need to. Luke is on daddy duties with a cranky overtired child (which I accidentally woke up at 4am to get a drink of water).

*Sewing some fabric ice cream cones. Slowly trying to get rid of the plastic childrens toy food.

*Painting a watermelon door mat.

*Baking bread.

*Cranky at rockmelons finally growing after months only to have been ravaged by catepillars. Im going to soak those vines in chilli spray.

*Planting coriander, capsicum & peas.

*Excited. Cant wait for October.

 

Happy Saturday friends!

Grace

 

 

 

 

This space

 

Its coming up to a year since I started this space. I originally started this space to promote a vintage clothes business however over the days, months its been trying to find any fabulous vintage pieces to sell at a fair price to reflect time spent; sourcing pristine stock, cleaning, photographing, editing, uploading, answering queries & posting. Not to mention storage in a tiny house where there is no spare room & mums guilt of leaving kobe under someones elses care while I trollop off to search for items & mostly come home empty handed. I don't want to miss the small moments of him growing up so I happy to be at home with him for the time present & focus on being the best mum I can be.

 

So instead Im gravitating more (on what I already had been doing but adding more depth) on things I rather enjoy like creating, & sewing (keep an eye out on upcoming things I made giveaways), motherhood, the ongoing quest on green living (& the failures too), travel adventures, promoting Perth, a few budget tips on one income families & fashion tidbits.

 

So that's my plans for this space plus getting a bit of a website image update. I will still be selling some of my personal clothing so I will keep you posted on any wardrobe cleanouts as Im doing a declutter before Christmas.

 

Happy Monday friends!

Grace

 

 

Currently

Obsessing about anything fruit related. Im crazy in love with these kitsch 70's pineapple & strawberry cookie containers I thrifted at the markets (& the juice just tastes so good plus has no added sugar in it).
Baking braided fruit bread. Eh yeah I need more practice...
Discovered Manning road markets. A great place to stock up on local produce. I vouch for the juice stall.
Grateful that Kobe mostly behaved while Luke was away camping for 3 days.
Failing decluttering. I seem to be attached to everything...
Watching Moonrise Kingdom. Surprisingly refreshing & I thought it was funny.
Realizing I cant gossip infront of Kobe. Don't want him innocently repeating my secrets lol.
Excited my sister is back for a month from her travels. Been way too long.
Trialling the no poo hair experiment for a month. Im on day 7.
Struggling to find vegan shoes (that are also pretty...).
Upset that its going to rain this weekend. Im a sunshine gal.
Laughing over the lil ones new mantra; "reduce, renew, recycle". He repeats it while playing the "bin man" game.

Happy Thursday friends!
Grace

Bits & pieces

 

Growing teeny tiny beetroot, after months this is the biggest beetroot I have grown:( Im happy that grapes are started to grow on our vines, I may have better luck...

Sewing thermal lined curtains for the loungeroom. Hoping I can finish on the weekend.

Watching crash test mummies & daddies about first time parents & how they are coping. So damn good!!!

Fighting off a friggin virus. Woe is me. Im a real sour cow at the moment so steer clear lol.

Invested in a Gro sleep trainer clock. Its been a week & it has been a real struggle to get the lil one to stay in his bed to 5.30am. (He wakes at 4.45am every darn day?!?). I have to go & stay in his room with him for 45 minutes for him to stay (he whines the whole 45 minutes non stop).

Wanting to make my own laundry detergent however cant seem to track down Borax. Can anyone recommend where to buy it in Perth?

Enjoying watching Luke & Kobe sing "wheels on the bus" (completely out of tune but it is the cutest thing ever!!!)

Pulling my hair out over toilets filled with unravelled toilet paper by a sneaky lil toddler. Arrgh!!!

Failing cutting down on plastics by relying on the squeezy yoghurt tubes for Kobe way more than I like to admit.

Breaking my buying nothing new (clothing) 2014 resolution by buying these delightful metallic slides from Country Road. My one treat of the year.

Grateful to my friend Haelee for providing me with handy information about healthy eating regarding portion sizes for children. Its been an ongoing battle to coax Kobe to accepting healthy food over anything coated in sugar. I just don't want him having rotten teeth like I did as a child. Now to pass it on to Kobe's grandparents...

 

Happy Friday friends!

Grace

 

 

 



In the now

In the now;
Sewing kids felt flower headbands & felt cameras.
Reading Insurgent. Im finally on the Divergent bandwagon.
Failing patience, finding it hard with negotiating with a headstrong 3 year old.
Discovering bagels are absolutely delicious!!!
Craving the lamb ribs at Bread in Common.
Crying whilst watching If I stay. Did someone cut onion in the movie theatre?!?
Laughing over some photos my friend Clare showed me, made my day/week.
Trying to reduce (& maintain) our weekly garbage wastage. For the second week we are down to 3 small garbage bags a week.
Wanting to organize a catch up between a group of friends to bring stuff they no longer need which can be shared within the group. I cant stop thinking about unwanted things going into landfill & how I can help reduce this.
Interested in knowing if anyone has used soap nuts instead of laundry detergent?
Looking forward to a Super Mario themed dress up night & the PFF Zhivago fashion show.
Excited that Kobe wants to learn how to write his name. Its the teaching bit that is the hard bit for me.
Cooking eggy fried rice, tuna salmon fish cakes & soy pork.
Grateful for friends like Louie & Kaysey. 2 kind sweet gals who are so supportive!!!


Happy Friday friends!
Grace

The road to happiness

 

I recently told a dear friend the road to happiness is never easy. Last year was one of the most challenging trying times of my life. So this year I have been putting the focus on making changes to being happier. Don't get me wrong, everyday I thank my stars for being healthy, having a roof over my head, loving friends & family & this mostly sweet child of mine. But still there were areas of my life I needed to change.

 

 

1.Purging toxic relationships was on the top of my list. Spending less time (or no time) with people who expect me to chase them for every catch up or dump their problems on me without listening in return. By letting these relationships slide, I found I see more of my real friends.

2. Taking me time, this is by far the hardest concept for me to accept as I like to be a very hands on mama for Kobe. I put all my energy into being the bestest damn mama I can be & I try to be there for every milestone. However lately I have been feeling a bit burnt out & wanting some time to breathe & relax. Hence Kobe will be starting daycare for half day once a week, who knows I may even stay in bed for that half day:) Luke is stepping up & having daddy son special time for a couple hours on the weekend. Plus I have started having a sewing night (which sometimes leads into a movie night) to unleash some creativeness with a close friend once a week. Expect to see some sewing DIY blog projects coming up (once I figure out her fancy pants sewing machine, mine's an old school basic one).

 

 

3. Making our house a home; we have been in our house for a while now & it still doesn't feel quite like a home. It may be the piles of  clutter (Im a secret hoarder) I seem to hang onto for no reason but because one day I may use it (eh, not!). Im going thru room by room & deciding what to sell/keep/pass on/donate. Its quite freeing but I have a long way to go. The fun part will be scouring the web for décor inspiration & adding splashes of colour to our space. We have plans to paint the loungeroom this weekend, yippee!

 

 

(He doesnt know it but the lil one is totally flipping the bird in this photo?!?)

 

4. Lastly more exploring, Luke/I suffer from major wanderlust. Funds are tight at the moment so overseas family travel trips are sadly on hold but we are making plans on some local roadtrips exploring Western Australia by car. Coral bay & Balingup we are a coming (some time later in the year).

 

So that's me in a nutshell at the moment, how are you? What are you doing on your road to happiness?

 

Happy Monday friends!

 

Grace

 

*Sidenote; photos taken at this years Bickley harvest festival. 

 

10 things

 

 

I have just watched old school movie "Ten things I hate about you" & thought I would randomly write ten things about me.

 

 

1.Collecting old school boardgames, y'know because everyone should have Inspector Gadget & Disney Tailspin. Vintage boardgame night anyone?

2. Wishing for some spare time for sewing. I actually cut out some things to sew, whether they actually get sewn is another story...

3.Feeling constantly tired.

4. Watching Madmen & Game of Thrones. So damn good!!!

5. Smiling at Kobe going on the potty, yay it f.i.n.a.l.l.y happened:)

6. Thinking that Luke is way overdue to cook dinner, while I kick back...

7. Recently enjoyed a dinner at Benny's with the gals.

8. Getting slightly addicted to Instagram. I joined a few weeks back, nothing like snooping into peoples lives via their carefully stylised photos.

9. Craving ice tea, so refreshing.

10. Looking forward to Easter, cant wait to do an Easter egg hunt for Kobe bear. Do you like my easter rabbits (ie. the bunnies photo header)?

 

How have you been?

 

Happy Monday friends!

 

Grace

 

 

 

 

 



The past week...

 

 

 

Well Im not sure which direction I would like to grow this tiny space of mine on the world wide web but I thought I would inject some of me personally into it to make it less generic I guess. So Im introducing a weekly segment which I share a bit about my life behind the scenes. This post may seem more of a whine as it was a tough week so I apologize in advance, sorry!!!

 

Tough you say, how?

Well we had a bush fire scare so Luke, Kobe & I evacuated our home for the night. Once I smelt the fire from my living room, I didn't think twice of scooping up some belongings & Kobe & going to my mum's for the night. Thankfully the bush fire was contained overnight & all was safe.

 

Kobe then me feeling ill with a summer flu. Its hot enough without coming down with a fever plus having achy muscles too:( We are now fully recovered, yay!

 

 

Kobe casually dropping in the f bomb into his vocabulary (3 times now:(). Oh golly gosh.

 

On the upside, he told me "I love you WAY much". WAY too cute! Love my little guy. Plus he grabbed his toothbrush & put toothpaste on it & brushed his own teeth ONCE but Im still very proud:)

 

 

Happy Wednesday!

 

Grace

 

**Sidenote: the photo header is of a drawing on our hallway wall, Mr Kobe bear decided to sketch (& no it doesn't wash off, eek...).