Thursday, May 17, 2012

Dave Grohl Nothing Left to Lose - Michael Heatley

Put simply: I am a fan of the Foo Fighters, Nirvana and of course Dave, if you are a fan of this man and his bands, you must read this...

The nice thing about this is it's pretty fact based, not much speculation, and when there is, it isn't conveyed as fact... A nice mostly professional history of Dave, nice to reminisce on all of the brilliant music he has made... I do love a bit of personal life gossip, but am glad this book didn't have that, made it feel more credible! Like I said in the beginning, if you are a fan, read it!



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Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Hart of Dixie Season One

This show was an immediate addition to my viewing rotation because of Josh Schwartz and Rachel Bilson... In the beginning I wasn't certain but soon became addicted... A lovely little show that doesn't require too much attention or thought, but brings pleasure when I watch... No spoilers for the finale as I know Australia is a bit behind!

All I can say is I don't get the George thing, Wade definitely has it!!!


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Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Raising Boys (book) - Steve Biddulph

As you may or may not know, I have a 3 year old daughter, when she turned 2, I gave birth to her baby brother... I always thought that boys and girls were the same, it's all about nurture... And after a year of having baby Mace, I see now that I did have a point, but you can't argue with biology...

This book has helped greatly with refining my ideas and feelings about having a boy... Boys can be soft and sweet, as I type this on my iPhone, Mace sits on my lap playing with my hair and face singing along with some nursery rhymes, but Mace also has this soldier mentality, he likes to do things, climb up everything, throw himself around, get a bit more physics then I am used to with Marley... Raising Boys helped explain the biology and chemistry of boys so I better understand Mace's needs, and I feel that it is the sort of book I will return to as he grows and I need some guidance in guiding him... Not to say he can't enjoy his bubba, or his ponies, but his needs are varied!

There is a lot of talk about teenage boys in this book and I can see why... As a girl, there was always talk of 'becoming' a woman, and what that means, and I think boys need more of this, more talk about what it means to be a man... But I am sure there is plenty if time for that later, for now I will just enjoy my sweet, soft, robust, soldier baby!


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Monday, May 14, 2012

The European Cafe Restaurant

The European
161 Spring Street, MELBOURNE

My BFF was in town so a few of us went to The European for brunch... It was recommended everywhere I went to have the Eggs Benedict, so I did! Great choice, the eggs were cooked to perfection and the hollandaise sauce was divine! All 3 of us agreed that it was a great breakfast! Only downside foodwise was my fresh squeezed apple juice, it was sour!!!

They don't take reservations for weekend breakfasts, but just as we walked in a table was available, on the proviso that we take less than an hour and a half, which was fine with us... The service did feel like they just wanted to get us in and out, but the food is what made it worthwhile... It also had lovely decor, very cosy place to eat...


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Saturday, May 12, 2012

Equal Love Rally Melbourne State Library 12th May 2012

I have been meaning to show support at these last few rally's, but things always seem to be happening on the dates... I made this one a priority, went down after brunch with two of my best mates and we stood in the cold with a couple thousand other people and listened to the speakers... For the most part it was interesting, witty, touching and definitely made me feel even more amped up about a cause that is extremely important to me... We didn't stay as long as I would have liked because Tracey didn't wear sensible shoes, but I was still glad to have been there and shown some love...











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Friday, May 11, 2012

Las Vegas state of mind...

If you don't know, we are planning a child free trip to Vegas next May... It is a year away, but the minute the flights are booked I can start my official countdown... Whenever I am having a bad minute/hour/day with the kids, I fantasize about it... Remembering how much fun we had there on our last trip, and how lovely it is going to be spending time with my lover without our beautiful babies in our not to distant future!

I have started preparing, reading tripadvisor Vegas forums every night over my hot chocolate from Mark before bed... Looking at all of the things that have changed in the years since our last visit, researching clubs, pool parties, shooting ranges... To say I am excited is an understatement! I even bought a couple of items online that were delivered yesterday, to help me get in a Vegas state of mind... I know it's too early to think about packing, but my wardrobe is seriously lacking bling!




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Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Nails did...

Getting ready for the weekend... An Equal Love Equal Rights Rally and then the Mothers Day Classic... The weather is going to be miserable, thought we need to keep it bright! It's pink leopard... Have recently realised that I can get a mani AND a pedi out of half a packet of Sally Hansen Salon Effects... Even at the most you will pay ($15), you will get 2 matching mani pedis! Can't wait to flex this in summer!



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Monday, May 7, 2012

Bless my little girls heart...

When you have kids every day is kind of like a roller coaster... Every day brings highs and lows, some days are mostly highs, and others lots of lows (these days in my house are closely related to colds)... Overall I love being a mum, I make a point of spending 90% of my waking hours with my little darlings, it is important to me to be the one that teaches them about relationships, love, respect by example...

I am rewarded with beautiful moments... Last night while we played with Marley's My Little Pony train set, she comes out with 'I am good at love'... She was absolutely correct, and thats what I told her...

Love is definitely one of her strong points, cuddles, smiles, caring for the well being of those around her, trying to look after her baby brother, all of these things about her just melt my heart... This is the absolute core of why I love being a mother... I get to share this love with my darling girl...




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Nerd do well - Simon Pegg (biography)

This was one of the brilliant gifts I bought for Mark, knowing perfectly well I would get to enjoy too! We love Simon Pegg, we love his tv, writing, films... There was a time we watched 'Shaun of the Dead' almost daily, it was one of 'our' films, as you do when you are dating/honeymooning etc... So my expectations were high... Unfortunately they weren't met!

I know that reading a biography is to fall into the self indulgent world of the writer, and usually this is the appeal... In this case I just felt like I was taken there, but I didn't enjoy the place, it was too focused on what I view as pointless little stories with a couple of interesting snippets in there... I guess that's because I wanted to know more about his adult life, what his inspirations are, things that are more relative to now... So I missed the point, or there wasn't one... Not great either way...



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The Women of the Cousins War - Philippa Gregory and David Baldwin




I love Philippa Gregory, I love reading about England in the middle ages... I'm not sure I love reading historical essays...

This took me ages to read, like almost 2 months, I read other books while reading it... It was hard going, at times so dry I wanted to stop, but I persisted... I wanted to read about these women back to back and in the end I felt satisfied... Would I do it again? No...


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Sunday, May 6, 2012

The fructose friendly, gluten free lifestyle...

Yesterday we found out that my husband is fructose intolerant... As it turns out, this sucks... He is allergic to most fruits, onions (BOO!), coconut cream/milk (BOO!) and wheat (NOOOOOOO!), needless to say from this day forth, our lives are going to change... The good news is that his 'problem' isn't cancer, and I would definitely take a whole diet change over the big C!!!

So I went to do our weekly grocery shop at 7.30 this morning, it's lovely really, kids stay with Mark, I get some time out as well as getting to walk at the super fast speed that I like, not 3 year old speed... So, I'm shopping, I start reading labels, lots of labels, and for the most part have to put things back on the shelf... This was really disheartening... I bought loads of chocolate to make myself, but not my waistline, feel better! I eventually found gluten free everything, at 2 to 3 times the usual cost... So sad... I did buy gluten free everything for Mark to try, but there is a definite feeling that we have to change the way we eat, change our staples, change our attitudes to food... Mark is also vegetarian, and it turns out that onion is in majority of the vegetarian foods we eat... It just keeps getting better...

Next month we find out whether he is also lactose intolerant... Fingers crossed that he isn't!

Looking forward to getting a handle on it, then the only big struggle will be eating out...




My eggs on toast vs Marks eggs on gluten free toast! You pay double the price for half as much!!!

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Sweet like chocolate...

After finding out yesterday that Mark has a fructose allergy, which I will at some point dedicate an entire post to, I did a depressed fructose friendly shop today which included buying loads of chocolate to make myself feel better! Thought I would give this Cadburys Marvellous Creations Jelly Popping Candy Beanies chocolate a go... Good choice! I LOVE popping candy, delicious... Mace had a taste and it didn't freak him out at all! Check it out, in the very least, for the 5 year old on the inside...




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Saturday, May 5, 2012

The Ikea Tunnel for kids

We love Ikea, always good for a browse... While 'browsing' last week we stopped on the kids section, as expected and saw the tunnel set up, it looked pretty awesome... Which was the first of three selling points, the second was that it's so easy to store, it's basically a bit spring, so you push it down and do it up with the Velcro... It stores so small, which is exciting when you have a house FULL of toys! And the final selling point is that it was only $20!!!

This is just about the perfect toy for rainy winter days! All week it has rained and we have spent hours playing with it all week long... Best kid related $20 spent!






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Thursday, May 3, 2012

Southern Plate - Christy Jordan

Whenever we are in the US I jones for Southern food... It is usually heart attack on a plate, but always sooooo damn good... Had been meaning to invest in a Southern Cookbook for years, but they aren't readily available so put it off and off until recently... I ordered off Amazon, unfortunately you can't browse, so most of the recipes really aren't suitable for my families dietary requirements, and far too many desserts! There are some that look good, and as usual I will have to jiggle them around, not sure it was worth buying, but the browsing was pleasurable, as I'm sure the few appropriate dishes will be...


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Tefal pans

I know I have posted about Tefal pans before... I bought one aaaaaages ago and it changed my cooking life! I also love those deals websites, so imagine my delight when Tefal pans went on sale just as I was looking to restock my cooking cupboard... I ordered, a bit... It took some time, but today they arrived... 3 pots and 3 pans... Needless to say I can't wait to cook dinner tomorrow night!!!







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Monday, April 30, 2012

The house next door...

I have lived on my street on and off since I was 15... It's a court in Glen Waverley (Victoria, Australia), not far from a train station - 30 mins to city, shops and some great schools, which is why I wanted to come back here to raise my family... In the years we have lived here all but 2 of the houses on our street have been rebuilt... The latest being the house on the other side of mums (yes, I live next door to my Mum!), it's huge, we had a nosy on their open day... It's not spectacular in any way aside from it's size...

Anyway, the point of the post is that the asking price is 1.7 million dollars!!! It is crazy! I can't imagine anyone paying that much to live in Glen Waverley... It just doesn't make any sense to me!














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Sunday, April 29, 2012

Rites of Passage

Yesterday we had last minute childcare and were able to head down to Rites of Passage Tattoo Convention and Arts Festival over at Carlton Exhibition building... It was lovely afternoon, only there a couple hours but saw so much it felt like a whole afternoon!
Loads and loads of stalls, some brilliant art, and things I have never seen in real life before... The most important being the stalls doing traditional Japanese tattooing, manually, blew my mind... You see it on tattoo shows all the time, but in real life it feels really special... Don't think I would ever have the balls to get it done, but who knows what the future holds?!?
Some great artists about, Mark getting his tattoo geek on... Some really inspiring big pieces being done, while the customers sat so casually... I find it hilarious, knowing how badly I sit these days! Got some ideas about my next big tattoo, even though we are only half way through my current one!
It's still on today so there is still time to check it out!
www.ritesofpassage.com
A great afternoon out!





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Saturday, April 28, 2012

Nails did...

Sally Hansen pink a dot... Bought these for Easter but just didn't get around to getting them done in time! Used the extra on Marleys toes, a very happy 3 year old!



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Jay and Silent Bob get old - Review -Palais Theatre St Kilda

I found out about this way after tickets were released, when Jason Mewes tweeted about it, and immediately purchased some tickets towards Marks Christmas gift... I was so excited I gave them up him early... I am that person! This also resulted in us having appalling seats!

Kevin's wife, Jen, opened the show, which was quite cool considering the amount she is talked about on/and featured in Kevin's Smodcast (with Scott Mosier), which I have loved for years... It was running late due to Hay 'having the shits', but the minute they hit the stage, the laughs started... It is very niche humour, and we loved every moment... A lot of talk about sex, jerking, drugs, and the boys delivered... Jay is an excellent storyteller, with the stage as his prop, and Kevin is there on point all along...

It stays completely in line with their podcast, of the same title, so if you like that, you would have loved the show! Ending with Let's Fuck, where there is some audience participation, Kevin gives a sexual position and audience members get up and act it out with Jay, this had us in stitches!!! Freaking hilarious! At this point, some random dude got up and started yelling out that it's not funny, don't know how the dude sat through the entire show up until that point!

All in all was an awesome night! A great date night with my husband... Go and see the show if it hits your city...




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Friday, April 27, 2012

Tshirt Bordello Hello Zombie Tshirt

Tshirt Bordello has some awesome horror shirts! None of which were acceptable for me to buy when I spend 90% of my waking hours with tiny humans... I did find this which is absolutely acceptable to my 3 year old girl that loves Hello Kitty, she even thinks that Kitty is smiling at her in the tshirt... So sweet... Anyways check it www.tshirtbordello.com


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