Yo! Yo! Yo! Jingling all the way with Bondville

In the last of my Jingling all the Way series, I chat with super Steph from Bondville. Steph's site is this awesome and inspiring hub of local designers, artists and crafters - supporting our Aussie community. She does an outstanding job and always has something creative and cool on the boil. 

I often pop over to Bondville to find out the latest and greatest in Australian design, and find inspiration for cool gifts. 

Let's cut to the chase, let's go!

What do you do on Christmas eve?

We are so lucky to have family based on the Sunshine Coast, so Christmas Eve we are likely to be veging out on a couch under a ceiling fan after a day at the beach. Oh, and wrapping presents. I'm soooo last minute. 

Please tell me your favourite Christmas childhood memory.

My favourite childhood Christmas memory is unwrapping all the decorations to trim the tree. Each piece of tissue paper had to be gentle removed to reveal a nostalgic ornament that my sister and I had made, or been given. It was a lovely long, slow process as many decorations were fragile. Then finding the perfect spot on the tree for each one. I make sure that my girls have the same great experience each year and I love to hear their exclamations: "remember this one!?!" and "oh I love this one!". And... my sister and I wore matching red and green Christmas dresses that my Mum made for us, and that my girls now wear. Too cute.

What did you leave out for Santa? 

A biscuit and a beer. Definitely beer.

What time do you get up on Christmas morning?

As soon as the kids are up, and with daylight savings in QLD, that's 5am!

Favourite part of Christmas?

Relaxing with my family at my parents' house and having 24/7 babysitters - they are amazing with the kids. We get to go on Date Night nearly every night! 

What's on your wish list this year?

I picked up my big Christmas wish list item a little early this year at the Armadillo & Co. rug sample sale. Loving it already! As we travel for Christmas, we have to go very light on presents; also OK by me. But if I didn't have to take hand luggage into consideration, I would wish for a yellow butterfly chair, a Gorman lobster bucket hat, an Eames Hang-It-All from Living Edge, some new Pony Rider cushions, Beci Orpin's Make & Do book or Jerusalem by Yotam Ottolenghi.

What's one thing you'll be gifting/giving this year?

Our family is into US-style BBQ (in a big way), so my husband is getting the Myron Mixon Smokin' cookbook - everyone wins! 


Take a look at Bondville here. 
And follow Steph on Instagram, pronto! 

Frocktober 2014:: Day 30 - It is easy being green (BirdsNest)

I can't even begin to tell you how frocking tired I am. Exhausted even. 

Frocking up doesn't sound like a lot, but there's the planning, the learning new hair and make-up, the social media-ing late at night. I am totally pooped. 

Thankfully I had this maxi from Birdnest to throw on. Seriously. A saving grace. 

A casual classic, it's great belted, or if you prefer things breezier, leave it loose. Either way, it's super comfortable and the oversized shape works well on lots of body types. 

Now let's carefully think of this. There's only ONE more day of Frocktober to go. 

That's one more day of me banging on about it. You might be relieved, well I am more relieved-er. I was looking forward to a sleep in on Saturday until I realised we had swimming first thing in the morning. And by first thing I mean we have to leave the house by 7:45am.

Cue the world's smallest violin.

By the way, if you haven't already donated to Frocktober to help kick ovarian cancer to the kerb, you still have time! Go here now - every amount is brilliant. 

The OCRF is not government funded, and with one Australian woman dying every 10 hours from ovarian cancer, it's the aim to find an early detection test to help change that figure. 

Thank you so much to everyone who has supported me this month. I really couldn't have reached my goal without everyone of you. Thank you. 

As a side note, if you feel like getting frocked tomorrow - please do! I'd love to see your frock - so please use the hashtags: #frocktober #pmmfrocks so I can see you! We need to raise awareness for ovarian cancer and spread the word. 

Dress: Bonnie Maxi dress in Floral Garden by that bird label from Birdnest

Reading:: Murder in Mississippi

It's been a long time between good reads. In fact, I've been so flaky I start reading and then drop off. Like a fly.

There are so many books beside my bed, and I hang my head in shame - I've finished none of them.

I start with great gusto - all a-buzz to get into something new.

I get a few pages in, and since adopting the idea that if it doesn't grab me, I'm not going to further punish myself to read it, I abort mission.

Not so with this book. John Safran's 'Murder In Mississippi' is a really, really great read that I could barely put down. In fact, while stirring risotto one night, wooden spoon in one hand, I had the book in the other. I churned through this in a short term - as testament that it's so well written.

Without giving anything away, the true story is about the murder of a white supremacist in  deepest Mississippi, by a black man. Safran digs up all the grit behind the scenes, finds out more about the supremacist (who he'd met the year before), and about the murderer. 

For the longest time (since I was a teenager and Safran appeared in Race Around the World on ABC) I've been a fan of Safran. His wit, intellect, and ability to pull out an enthralling story and make it not only hugely engaging, while weaving it with humour - it is a real rare talent. I found myself laughing in many places - while Matt looked at me quizzically. I was after all reading about a serious subject.  


You'll like it if you liked: In Cold Blood by Truman Capote. 

Big Dreams Launches New Online Magazine - And It's Dreamy

this is a sponsored post

When we visited Melbourne at Christmas time, I gathered up some recommendations from friends on great kids shops. I still had some gift shopping to conquer. 

In all of those recommendations Big Dreams kept coming up. Obviously this was a gorgeous store - my friends have impeccable taste. So I swept in there, my jaw dropped (because if you haven't been there, it is beautifully styled and there's so much awesome-ness to drink in) distracted the kids with all the beautiful merchandising, and set to secretly squirrelling bits and pieces away at the counter - those little people of mine were oblivious. 

It was such a great, and memorable shopping experience - the store is filled to the brim with goodness, it was difficult to not go completely crazy (except for the fact my husband was staying within a 3 metre radius of me). 

Happily Big Dreams have launched their brand spanking new magazine for Winter. It's a beautiful edit of pieces available in store (and in their online store). It's the mix of seeing the clothes on real kids, and also the way it's styled - Big Dreams understands kids, and lets them be kids - it's playful, real and big on colour. Just the way I like things. 

Follow Big Dreams on Facebook
Check out the action on Instagram
Shop online here
And download the beautiful magazine here 


* Very occasionally I write sponsored posts. They're only ever about brands/stores I really, really love, and I know you'll love them too. And I am a massive supporter of Australian retailers. Shop local! This is my honest opinion which is why I can blog openly about it. It's rad. I wanted to share. 

I Can't Wait To See This

Mainly because I really love Adam Driver. But it looks pretty amazing. 

Possum Magic Turns 30:: A Giveaway

I grew up on a diet of Possum Magic and Vegemite sandwiches. I used to lie on the spare bed, in the sunshine, and read books. Book after book after book. 

Idyllic really. 

Possum Magic was always a favourite. Mem Fox, one of Australia's best-loved authors, created Grandma Poss and little Hush way back in 1983. Can you believe it? 

It's one of those iconic reads that has been part of many generations lives. I love reading it to my own smalls, it's such a beautiful story.

To celebrate this literary milestone, courtesy of Scholastic Australia, I've got three copies of the deluxe clothbound hardbook to giveaway (valued at $29.99 each). 

To enter all you have to do is comment on this post and tell me what your favourite sandwich is. 

- One entry per person
- Please, please, please ensure you leave your email address, if I can't contact you, I can't send you your prize. 
- Entries are open from Tuesday 23rd April and close midnight 29th April 2013. 
- Open to Australian residents only (sorry!)

Part One:: A Weekend Venture To The Capital:: The Human Brochure

Just in case you missed it, last weekend we went to Canberra as part of The Human Brochure. We were in the 500 selected out of 31,000 applicants to take part in this world first online experience - pretty darn exciting.

So us four humans left Sydney as soon as Matt finished teaching on Friday, and hit the road. It was such a pretty drive. You know when you've had a long week - there's nothing that gives you perspective quite like going on a road trip - straight out of the city and into the real world. It perfectly quenched my thirst for space - those green rolling hills, that unending blue sky. It got me dreaming. 

Before I knew it - and before the smalls could be too disgruntled and start chiming in with 'how much longer?' - we were meandering our way through the green, tree-lined streets of Canberra. 

Our first stop was to meet with the rest of The Human Brochure group that were at the Australian War Memorial. Unfortunately we were late, but we managed to spot some rabbits grazing on the lawns (see that top pic where Tiny expresses her excitement), and then made our way inside. 

Firstly - I was nervous. Mainly because this is what I was wearing, and when we walked in - there were many people dressed in military uniforms from different eras, and I was afraid I was going to be mistaken for someone in costume (it wouldn't be the first time for Canberra to do that to me*).

It was such a great evening, and I learnt so much. I am always interested in hearing about war-time efforts, it's so heartbreaking, and incredible what our men and women went through during this time. 

We're absolutely going to go back to the Australian War Memorial - they're hosting an open day on 6th April 2013 that I've heard is going to be a big one. 

And you might be thinking, might be interesting for you PMM, but what about the kids? Well they were definitely catered to. There were dress-ups, puppet shows and stories - all of which were perfectly pitched to their younger audience (and I found interesting too). Plus the exhibits are really interesting - you could spend a few hours there, easily. 

If you're in Canberra on 11th November, or can travel there easily - it would be worth taking a look at the AWM's Rememberance Day services. 

We then made our way to our accommodation for the weekend - the Clifton Suites on Northbourne. The kids always love staying in hotels (who doesn't? No housecleaning!), and the rooms were so spacious the Doctor and Tiny asked if we could live there (heck, our two bedroom apartment was bigger than our house). 

Finally, we wrangled the smalls in to bed and crashed for the night - preparing for the big weekend that lay ahead. 

* When I was in Year Six, we visited Canberra. Because I was the tallest out of the year, the waitress at the restaurant asked me at dinner time if I was sitting with the teacher's table. HA! She thought I was a teacher. And I was a lanky 12 year old. 

Disclosure: This is not a sponsored post. Honesty is the best policy! Our accommodation and itinerary was covered for the weekend. We liked it. We had fun. We wanted to share our trip to Canberra. 

We Are In Canberra

We drove down to Canberra yesterday to be part of the #humanbrochure - it was such a pretty - and short - roadtrip, I've already started planning our next trip down.

We arrived at the Australian War Memorial to meet with everyone else, and hear stories about our brave Australians who went to war so young, and so many who never made it back.

The kids got to dress up in the different uniforms and learn more about men and women - many who were not really so much older than our own children - who did brave things. Oh the loss. 

It's incredibly humbling. 

Remember When You Voted For PMM To Be PM?

Well I'm heading to the capital of Australia to take up my role today. I was voted in, remember?

Oh. You want the truth?

You can't handle the truth.

Oh. You can. Oh alright then.

I'm one of 500 humans heading to Canberra to be part of the first ever #humanbrochure . I'm pretty excited too - and for a number of reasons.

Firstly, I get to meet the uber talented Michelle of Hugo & Elsa fame and the wonderful Christie from Pigeon Pair (who I had a chance meeting with in Melbourne back in August!).

Secondly, I haven't been to Canberra since I was 12 - it's 21 years since I was last there, so really, it's like I'm celebrating my 21st birthday all over again. Right?

Thirdly, we have a mega, mega fun itinerary ahead of us, jam-packed, super busy - and it looks fabulous.

I am truly looking forward to exploring our capital city.

So buckle up your seatbelts and get ready for our weekend away. Because you're coming too. Travel with me this weekend via Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, FourSquare, and this blog. We're going to have a real hoot!

Florals + Brights = WINNER!

Bold floral prints, bright colour, print and pattern clashing. Never has a 78 year old Australian woman looked so beautiful. Because that's how old Sussan is. Pretty hot right?!

And so the love affair continues.

As soon as I saw this dress on Sussan's Facebook page - I knew I had to have it. A Warhol-esque print in a timeless shift - perfect to slip on for work, and a great transeasonal piece - just throw on a cardi! Never before has a dress procured so many compliments (this one's a similar shape, or if you too really love the print, you can get it in this shirt).

And Tiny loves it too (we were both wearing bold florals so we had to be photographed together.)

If you're into frocks, you should most definitely try this one - it has a beautiful ombre of cream to a very pale petal pink at the hem. And it has POCKETS!! YES! I love frocks with pockets! I am still unconvinced I don't need this one.

Being a big fan of being comfortable, I had to try on these pants. Talk about comfortable. I probably could have gone down a size, but I like the less fitted feel - and don't tell anyone - but they have an elasticated back which is perfectly suited to long lunches (which I never seem to go on - but it doesn't stop me dreaming). Couple it with this punchy hibiscus knit - well hello ladies! I am not one to shy away from the bold and the beautiful, and this marriage of print and colour is a marriage made in heaven (and ridiculously comfortable). Plus that hue teamed with my pink lipstick - yes please!

I could bang on and on about the new Summer Collection from Sussan - but without doubt, they've filled a void in the fashion terrain for women who want smart, accessible fashion.

If you've not been into Sussan for a while - the time is nigh.

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Epilogue: I have discovered that my husband really detests taking my photo. I asked him to take these shots for me, and he resisted at first, then succumbed to my charms. However I did have to ask him to reshoot given he was in such a hurry to have it over and done with, they were all blurry.

He likes drawing me. But hates photographing me. I've come to the conclusion that: when he draws me, I have to sit very, very still and not talk. But when he takes photos of me, I talk and I move.


 

* This is a sponsored post.  I was given a $100 Sussan gift voucher, and then I went a little nuts and paid the difference. And yet I am still dreaming about what lies within Sussan. Honesty is my only policy. I tried it. I liked it. I wanted to share.

Send Teegs To Mexico

Being part of the blogging community, you get to know really awesome people. Like you. And you. And you dear reader.


AND like Tegan. I 'met' Tegan of Ink & Spindle fame - gosh, must be at least four years ago. She is vivacious, tenacious, enthuasiastic, uber talented, intelligent and beautiful to boot. And she's funny.

Teegs has the opportunity to travel to Mexico for a traditional Mexican textile artist residency. If you can help fund her trip that would be so super ace. You can pledge as little as $1 to help her on her way.

I will let her video do the talking, because she is good at that too. Very eloquent. WOOT!

Click here to help send Teegs abroad and continue her learning and her art-making.

LEGO Celebrates 50 Years In Australia

Fifty years ago, a man named John Peddie landed in Sydney carrying a briefcase of LEGO. I don't know whether he brought any clothes to change into - Sydney can be humid, it's wise to travel with spare clothes. But nope - John arrived with a suitcase of LEGO to introduce us Aussies to the humble brick.


John, who is still a member on the Australian LEGO Board of Directors said: "The brand name LEGO comes from the Danish expression 'Leg Godt', which translates as 'play well'. When first arriving in the country, this was my mission, to encourage Australia to 'play well' and it remains the same today."


To celebrate the 50th anniversary, LEGO are hosting a series of events all inspired by the iconic LEGO bricks. There are loads of ways to become involved - which we will be doing our utmost to be part of! We live and breath LEGO. It's part of our daily routine - and that's about to ramp up! 


Did you know that every Australian owns an average of 70 LEGO bricks? We have much, much more. In fact we've probably got about 70 Australians worth of LEGO. That's a heck of a lotta LEGO.


Meanwhile, you should totes check out the website, because I just have the hunch something is brewing over there. Something good is brewing. 


This is not a sponsored post. I love LEGO. You love LEGO. We can all LEGO love together.

LAMB

You really must check out this new clip made to advertise lamb for Australia Day. Featuring Melissa Tkautz. And the Justice Crew. It's solid gold.

Support Your Local:: Shop Loyal

I am one of those people that loves bookshops. I love the smell of them. The look of them. I love spending time in them. I love meandering down the aisles, picking up books, flicking through them, finding hidden gems, smelling those crisp new pages, those new images. I love my kids being able to look at books, find new favourites. Explore classics. Feel those pages. I've got so many happy bookshop memories, and I remember where most of my books are bought from, which holidays, who I was with.

But apparently, you're not going to be able to do that in five years time if we keep spending like we do. I'm not going to be able to do that. You're not. My kids aren't. No one can.

Pip wrote about this a month or so ago. About supporting local booksellers. (I can't find the link but if you do, it's worth a read).

And we're all too aware of the demise of Angus & Robertson. The loss of local jobs. The loss of livelihoods. And the loss of books.

But it's not just books that are going to be burnt if we continue to spend our dollars offshore.

It's all our local sellers that are hurting. Losing business. Losing their livelihood.

And you're there thinking - well I save dollars! I like a bargain. I like mail!

Ever wondered why all our retailers seem to be on this endless merry-go-round of sale after sale after sale? Oh yeah. Because we're all too busy online shopping and receiving the cheap thrill of a parcel in the mail.

And if you think it's ok to peruse the shelves of a local retailer - scout out the goods - and then go home to Google and buy it online? Think again. Show some integrity! As my sister so eloquently puts it here - you're using and abusing locals. Your neighbours. Your friends.

So despite the fact I couldn't find the book that I wanted on the weekend, and I could go online and buy it in a snap, I've called a local bookseller to order it in. It does cost a little more, but it's worth it to help keep someone's livelihood afloat. I'll miss out on mass consumerism happily, and enjoy the things I buy local, in the hope that my kids, your kids and our fellow Australians can keep on experiencing the happy joy of the smell of a bookshop, or that cute little shop you so love to visit.

Or if the lure of that parcel arriving in the mail is still there, indulge in some ace local shops that I know can more than fill the void:

- ecobabe

- Calico & Ivy

- Georgie Love

- The Children's Bookshop (Jodes is right, I visit here weekly, amazing selection - they have a bricks & mortar store, but you can order online and over the phone)

- Little Pinwheel

- Style Milk

Spend how you want to spend, but if we all thought about where that money goes, the end outcome, and the thought that if we don't spend local, we're going to move closer to a recession and less beautiful local shops to peruse, then we can all spend smarter.

image via

Christmas Ideas... Australian!

Everyone's surely got someone overseas that they need to buy a little gift for? Or if not, then these ideas are chic enough (read: not those fluffy koalas that clip onto clothes or John Farnham's comeback tour album - again!?) to inspire patriotic Christmas love.Like balls? Or prefer bowling? Snaffle some of these Bowling arm bangles made from leather remnants from Australian cricket balls $44 Light up someone's world with this cool Eco-bulb from Queen B $22.50 A subscription to Monster Children - or Dumbo Feather

Who doesn't love a beautiful handkerchief?? Wombat's Big Sleep Handkerchief from Third Drawer Down $30

Scream it from the rooftops baby, this sterling silver 'Australia' necklace is the top - Victoria Mason $175

Nab this cool Able & Game 2011 calendar from Lark Handmade $29.95

...Howzat?!

Poop Du Jour

So I've been hanging out ALL FLIPPING DAY for Offspring.

Instead it's Commonwealth Games.

Imagine how bitter I am feeling. I was ready. Sitting on the couch with the wee patch. Ready with tea and water in hand(s).

Painful. Channel Ten - I shake my fist at you! I might even be foaming at the mouth. Get a vaccination fast programmer, I'm after you.

Oprah Autotuned

Have you seen this yet? It makes me laugh. The melodrama. The autotuning. And my favourite piece - Australia's biggest icon ever - not the Qantas plane - but Captain John Travolta coming down the stairs. He's Australian, right? Er.. No? Just everyone's favourite non-couching jumping Scientologist.

I'm thinking this will make a great ringtone. Just to really, really drive everyone stark raving bonkers.

Are you excited that Oprah and 300 of her best friends are going to be hitting our golden shores? I bet you are counting down the days.

We Will Never Forget

7th February 2009

A year since Black Saturday. A year since Australia's darkest day.

Image via.

Awesome Australians!

Sally Seltmann - delicious voice, lyrical miracles

the effervescent Maggie Beer (image via)

Grace Cossington-Smith - under-rated Australian artist

Margaret Olley (who I used to bump into doing her fruit and veg shopping)

Abbie Cornish - loved her in Somersault, Candy, adored to the power of adored her in Bright Star

Michelle Jank - ethereal, beautiful, creative goddess

Here are just a few of my favourite Australian women - creative geniuses. I'd like to be at least just a teaspoon of each of these. I like to marvel at amazing women. Even if they're not famous faces.

Happy Australia Day!

The Doctor woke at the crack of dawn, as only the Doctor would do, to tell us he was ready to go to the beach. And to get up. I bought another half an hour and then got up, fed the smalls and then finally sent the Doctor in to rustle up Matt.

We headed to the beach. With six billion other people. But it was ok. We had our own little spot on the sand and built our own Dino-world. The Doctor has been well and truly into trains right up until about NOW! And now he's starting to go dino mad. Which is seriously a blessing because there is only so much automotive joy I can muster.

This afternoon we've BBQed, eaten lamingtons, listened to Triple J's countdown. We've also hung out the washing. And made fresh beds. Cracking good day.

We also watched Perfume. Cracking good movie. Watched it?