Dr Jays Fall sale delivery...

I have been looking for capris everywhere... Now that my tattoos are going further down my legs, I need shorts that cover them for summer... I checked Dr Jays and their capris were 60% off, plus an extra 20% with a discount code I had! So I ordered 4 pairs and a singlet, all under $100 delivered! Love that... They were a little delayed after Sandy hit, but I got them and love them! I'm always concerned with US sizing, but I guesstimated perfectly! Am a happy lass!

Nails did... Houndstooth mani...

I do love the ease of the Sally Hansen Salon Effects! The houndstooth might just be my favourite so far... Love them!

Friday baking... Caramel Twix brownies...

Woke up this morning in a bad place after Mace woke me up a lot in the night... I always feel bad about being grouchy about it because he really isn't that kid who wakes in the night, 6.30 sometimes, 7 most of the time, but 1.30, 5 and 6 very upset, maybe once or twice in his little life... So I got up at 6 and started baking... My BFF has been going through something and I deal by baking trays of brownies, unfortunately after they were made she couldn't get here to grab her tray, she's back in Brisbane today...

The batter is made for a bigger pan then mine so two times the ingredients makes 3 trays... So I made two trays with the caramel swirl, which made them quite pudding-y, and one tray without which feel a bit more like your usual brownie... The caramel swirl are definitely more rich, both are good!

From Two Peas and Their Pod
http://www.twopeasandtheirpod.com/twix-caramel-brownies/

Twix Caramel Brownies
Yield: 24 browniesPrep Time: 10 minutesCook Time: 35-40 minutes
ingredients:
1 cup (2 sticks) butter
2 cups granulated sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 large eggs
3/4 cup cocoa
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups chopped Twix candy bars
1/3 cup caramel ice cream topping

directions:
1. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease a 9 x 13 pan with cooking spray. Set aside.

2. Place butter in medium saucepan on the stove. Heat over medium heat until butter is melted. Remove from heat and stir in sugar and vanilla extract. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well with spoon after each addition. Add cocoa; stir until well blended. Add flour, baking powder and salt; stir until combined. Stir in Twix candy bar chunks. Pour batter into prepared pan.

3. Drizzle caramel evenly over the brownies. Using a toothpick, swirl caramel into brownies. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until brownies begin to pull away from sides of pan and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Cool brownies completely in pan on a wire rack. Once cool, cut into squares and serve.

Hilltop Market Saturday 17th November 2012 Mount Waverley

Even though I work from a church's gardens, I am not a churchy person, organised religion doesn't work for me, but this Christmas Market does! We went last year and it had some brilliant kids activities (magician, jumping castle, face painting), delicious strawberry sponge cakes, amazing Christmas chocolate houses (the main reason for attending), and a market... Not super interested in the market, but they do have a lot of stuff!

If you are in the area, it's on from 9-2 on Saturday... I can't wait to choose our chocolate Christmas house, they are amazing, and reasonably priced!

iPad mini...

I never thought I would be the parent buying her toddler/preschooler an iPad each, but the mini is perfectly suited to our needs as a family... Firstly, we get our iDevices back! The kids have a long battery life with access to their free play games, music and tv shows, perfect for long drives, sick grouchy kids, quiet time or a longer coffee session! In all honesty, they really don't use them loads, but when they do, I am guaranteed some quiet, they are happy, we are all happy!

We did have a leap pad for Marley, but the ridiculous battery life, actual batteries, 8 AA's for 2 hours use, was too much, and there are limited games at crazy prices, it would have been a further $350 to catch Mace up in his leap pad when for around that we got the mini, and I already have all of the apps, TV and music, so no further costs... And to make it even better, we got almost $200 for the leap pad on eBay last night! I am a happy lady!

Grug - Ted Prior... Book and old friend...

Today in quiet time I brought out these books... I had been saving them for a time that they would be appreciated, today was the right time... Mace went crazy for Grug, Marley insisted I read them over and over... I used to love the Grug books, he is a character that sticks with you, and generally speaking, books are great!

When Mark woke up from his snooze, he looked stumped 'what is Grug?', luckily I bought the first book!!! I'm pretty sure we will collect these, as we have other series, as the stories are simple enough for Mace to sit through, with enough pictures for Marley to talk to me about what's happening and also learn some letters... Am very happy with these books reemerging into my life!

Baking Peanut Butter Rolo Blondies (think snickers brownie)

Sometimes I bake with my desires in mind, sometimes I bake with Marks, today this is definitely a Mark recipe... And on finding out that my best friend was jetting to Melbourne for a crisis, I made an extra tray for her... I don't eat peanut butter, satay, etc, even though I enjoy the occasional peanut, but I have to say that these are surprisingly delicious!!!

From the Two Peas and Their Pod website:

Peanut Butter Rolo Blondies

ingredients:
1/2 cup unsalted butter
2 cups light brown sugar
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups all-purpose Gold Medal flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup Rolo candies, unwrapped

directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a 9-inch by 13-inch pan and set aside.

2. In a saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter and brown sugar, stirring constantly until smooth. Remove from the heat, and stir in the peanut butter, until creamy and combined. Set mixture aside to cool.

3. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

4. Add the eggs, one at a time, to the peanut butter mixture, mixing well after each addition. Add the vanilla extract and stir to combine. Pour the mixture into the prepared dry ingredients, and stir until batter is smooth. Stir in the Rolos.

5. Transfer the batter to the prepared pan, spreading the batter evenly to the edges of the pan. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until the top is golden and the edges are slightly browned. Remove blondies from oven and place them on a wire rack to cool. Once cooled, cut into squares and serve.

Baking Chocolate pudding with caramel chocolate chip cookies...

I saw the new caramel chocolate chips at the supermarket and bought them without really knowing what I was going to do with them... 2 days later Mum pulled the pin on Childcare last minute, so I thought I should bake for my extremely awesome friends Kelly and Chris for covering for us last minute, so that we could enjoy the Melbourne Victory game...

I was inspired by the two peas and their pod recipe for banana pudding cookies, but I altered it to suit my needs... Everyone who tasted then loved them, that's always a bonus!

Chocolate pudding with caramel chocolate chip cookies
ingredients:
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 package chocolate instant pudding mix
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups plain flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 packet caramel chocolate chips (could have done with more!)

directions:
1. Preheat oven to 160 degrees. Line trays with baking paper

2. Using a mixer, beat together butter and sugars until creamy. Add in pudding mix, eggs, and vanilla extract. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until just combined. Stir in the caramel chocolate chips.

3. Drop cookie dough by rounded tablespoons onto prepared baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes, or until slightly golden around the edges and set. Remove cookies from oven and let cool on baking sheet for two minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack and cool completely.

Liknuts with support by Onyx at Prince of Wales Bandroom November 2012

The idea of seeing this show was ridiculously exciting! We got tickets immediately, booked Childcare and waited patiently... Unfortunately my aunt's funeral was on the day of the show, but I was determined to power on and have a good night... On arrival I was an empty shell of a human, devoid of emotion, full straight face, so I decided to drink the pain away... I thought it would be drunk (haven't been drunk in years) party girl, or drunk crying girl... There was a bit of a compression session backstage so I inadvertently got dizzy, and then, after many acts, hours later then expected, Onyx came on... They were the support, but having missed them in the past I was crazy excited to see them AND THEY DID NOT DISAPPOINT!!! Dudes have energy, skill, professionally killing it!!! Rocked me to the core, I forgot it could be that good, and that I could actually do almost front row again!!!

I'm not going to say much about the LikNuts, they were okay... Didn't kill it for me, like because there were more of them, they didn't have to give as much...? Juju was my favourite thing about them with some crazy facials and his funny/charming/scummy charisma... Otherwise I would have been happy for it to be called an Onyx show and pay the same just to see them, not a bunch of crappy support acts and the LikNuts...

LIKNUTS (THE ALKAHOLIKS & THE BEATNUTS) (USA)
Thursday 01 November, 2012, 08:00PM
Prince Bandroom
Prince Of Wales Hotel
St Kilda, VIC

Baking... White chocolate brownies and chocolate fudge brownies...

I got both of these recipes off two peas and their pod... Baking this week was for my Aunt's wake, so I made 3 trays with two types of brownie, the chocolate fudge batter makes two trays, working out perfectly for me!!! The white chocolate, chocolate chip brownie was Mark's favourite, the chocolate fudge was mine, seriously rich and delicious!

It has been a busy, sad and stressful week with the loss of an exceptional human... I'm still struggling with the idea that she will never sit around the table with us all again... Blegh... Drank very quickly to drown the pain last night, it worked, I am paying for it though...

Ker Plunk

Being an only child, I didn't have many games at home, even though I had my cousin next door to play them with... I always wanted Ker Plunk, and now I have it!!! Well Marley and Mace have it, haha... Having extreme tiredness today I busted this out at 1.30pm for the first time ever, and 3 hours later had to pry them away to go to Nanna's house... What an awesome way to spend the afternoon! Helping Marley with her turn taking, Mace has a long way to go!! In any case this is a great game to play with a 3 year old, keep it in a cupboard for a rainy, or tired/no frills day, it's a keeper...

Foxtel Minimote

I never thought I would be the parent that lets my kids embrace technology, but here I am and it seems like the obvious choice... I bought Marley a mini Foxtel remote, which is preset to the children's channels, it does seem extreme, but I work from home during Mace's sleep and Marley's rest, which is spent on the couch chilling with books and TV... It is the worst when a client is opening up to me on the phone and Marley is whinging that she does not like Handy Manny!!! So now she can take control of what she watches, obviously within reason, and I can get my work done uninterrupted so that it doesn't overlap into our play time!

Ben and Jerry's Maple Tree hugger

This is new in Australia so we had to try it, and I will tell you now, it is goooood! My favourite Ben & Jerry's flavour is Phish Food, this comes close! The mapleness of it is such a refreshing flavour, with enough breaks from it to leave you wanting more and not overloaded with sweetness... You should definitely try it!

Divergent and Insurgent Books Veronica Roth

I'm pretty sure this is one of those young adult type books that isn't a literary masterpiece but is very easy to read and is also addictive! The characters are likeable, you want to know more, it's goes down a treat! I'm almost certain it is being made into a film, I will definitely catch it... An easy read in the same sense as Hunger Games, some politics and a love story... I read it quite quickly and started the next one immediately and finished them both in a week... I still felt like there was more to get out of it, so I read them again! I do this, it's a kindle thing... I read so quickly I miss the characters terribly when I am done so do it again, why not?!?

La Soirée at the Forum in Melbourne October 27th

My ticket to La Soirée was a gift from my aunts for my birthday, The Forum is quite possibly my favourite venue in Melbourne, and I had good things about some of the acts... I was excited to say the least! We made a plan to go out for drag, drinks and dancing afterwards, but unfortunately my Aunty Doris, who was terminally ill, was in her last moments, so we cancelled and kept it as quiet as we could...

The Forum was set up as a little circus, we sat third row in hope that we didn't get roped in for audience participation of any sort! There were loads of brilliant acts, mostly obscure, quite like a super freaky circus, in the best possible way! Opening was Le Gateau Chocolat, who I just adore! He came back for more, which made me very happy... The English gents with the intense strength and balancing acts and later an act by each of them individually, one on a pole which was so hot!!! Ursula's famous magic hanky/striptease, which I wish Mark had have got to see, stripping AND magic!!! She ended up butt naked, which was a surprise! Captain Frodo the hilarious contortionist, I loved and hated this, too stressful to watch but couldn't look away!!! Gloria's fabulous stage debut - if you see it DO NOT volunteer to read for her! Bret Pfister who I just fell in love with, did some amazing aerial ballet to some 80's synth pop... Some of the acts were on twice, only one wasn't completely enthralling and I haven't detailed it here because I'm sure someone liked it!

Really it was awesome, completely unexpected and it's on for another few weeks, so book a ticket already!!!

www.la-soiree.com

Halloween Spiderweb Nails

I do love me some Sally Hansen Salon Effects, nice to switch it up a little! For Halloween I went with the spiders web, and I must say, they are very cute! I stupidly opened both packets trying to get centre of webs on each nail, but they just weren't made that way, so I got a pedi out of the pack too!

Toca Boca Tailor is out!!!

Marley has counted down to yesterday when the new Toca Boca app 'Toca Tailor' was released... It's a great app, geared towards pre schoolers, making outfits for the Toca crew... She is obsessed with it, spending 45 minutes playing it before bed, talking about it relentlessly and asking for it the minute she gets up this morning!

We are big fans of all the Toca Boca apps, they are about free play, not winning or losing or running out of time etc... They just work out what they want to do - no rules! And do it... As they get older the way they play changes and they cater for that... And no in app purchases!!! So If I need to make a work call, I can slip them the iPads for 20 mins and work undisturbed... The only downside with Tailor is Marley wants a photo with all of her creations, which is a bit of a bummer... This morning she has worked out that she can make Mace pose with them though, hopefully that sticks! But there is a reason that we don't use iPads unless its the end of the day, car rides or if everyone is sick, and that's because iPad addicted babies are like crack addicted grown ups, keep it in check!

Marshmallow Halloween Spiders...

I saw these on www.taste.com and had to make them... To start with they were really hot to mould into spiders, so I only did half that way, the rest I put into cupcake holders... It was much easier that way and they still look like spiders! They taste about a million times more delicious then chocolate crackles because it marshmallow holding them together... A fun easy treat to make for your little ones on Halloween!

The Robert Hunter Cup...

I don't know where to begin if you don't know Hunters story... Google it... Seriously...

To celebrate Hunters life and commemorate his death, Bias B and Dedlee put together a friendly AFL game comprising of artists and fans from the east coast (Eastside Kings) and west coast (Westside Warriors)... There was a massive sold out night on Saturday with many of the artists playing, and the game on Sunday...

I still have a rush of feelings about the day, and Hunter's death... He wasn't someone I was close to, hung out with or had even spoken to for around 8 years, in fact the majority of our relationship was held on msn messenger (the way we communicated before twitter/Facebook/MySpace)... But the news of his illness was heartbreaking, we donated things to the Heat For Huntz eBay auction, and followed his story closely... In a community as small as ours I'm sure just about everyone was touched and sent our prayers, love and support... This was made clear, by the interest that this event inspired, the amount if people who showed up from all over Australia, to play and to support, that people with long history or beef were setting it aside to have a wonderful, peaceful day filled with love...

The weather held out, the game was intense, everyone was kind to each other... You couldn't have asked for more... I'm sure Hunter would have been proud!

His son, Marley, did the coin toss, there were lots of tears... I was just hoping that one day he will find comfort in what Hunter meant to this community, that he will see what a good human his Dad was, that he could bring us all together in this way.. And maybe when he is big enough, he can play in the Robert Hunter Cup... I do hope it continues, even if it switches from one coast to the next, we will be there... RIP Hunter...

Also if you want to check some non iPhone photos check www.runtheline.blogspot.com for my husbands pics...

My Week With Marilyn Film

There was so much talk about how well Michelle Williams did as Marilyn, they failed to mention how boring the movie was... A brief liaison between a man and Marilyn, a brief opportunity to see how messed up she was, but that is all... There is nothing else to say, it sucked!!!

I need some good movies to watch... Feel inundated with crap right now...