Thursday Afternoon Smoothie

Thursday afternoon and I completely hit the wall. 

Everyone thinks working four days is some plum gig. The reality is you wind up working longer hours to balance out that missing day.

And then there's the people who call and say: "Hey, I know it's your day off, but..."

I'd love to call them on a Sunday morning and say the same thing. 

Anyway, back to Thursday afternoon. I'm pooped. I need to power up. Matt's working in the evening, and I need some pep in my step pronto. 

I made myself a smoothie using the KitchenAid blender (best thing ever). I know it sounds lame, but I just didn't have the energy to do much prep, so this is how it played out:

1 cup frozen mixed berries
a big, generous handful of fresh mint. Because I love mint.
2 teaspoons of Vital Greens*
1 tablespoon chia seeds
2 cups water

Blitz in the KitchenAid blender, et voila. Instant power up gamers!

                                                               ***

Onto Vital Greens. I read about it first over at Checks & Spots. For anyone living a busy life, who might be worried about missing out on vital nutrients, Vital Greens is packed full of goodness to help you get that balance you yearn for. Well I yearn for it anyway. 


* I am a massive fan of KitchenAid, and have been lent some of their products to try. They are ace. Totally ace. And the blender matches my pink KitchenAid mixer. It must be love.

The Long Week Of Birthdays

This was a week of cake. Of presents. Torn wrapping paper. A few balloons. Singing that memorable song. 

Two birthdays in one week and I am totally k to the nackered.

Matt's birthday kicked us off and I made Stephanie Alexander's 'Best Cheesecake'. It took longer than anticipated, and, well I have a lack of skill when it comes to reading ahead - to discover the cake had to sit overnight in the fridge. No matter, we just drew out his birthday festivities! 

I must also declare that it is indeed the best cheesecake. Ever. Like EVER. I would share a photo but there's only a thin slither left. It will be Fight Club when it comes to divvying it up. 

Matt really wanted a New York cheesecake, I couldn't find a recipe and had to appease him with this. I do believe that man was a little disgruntled. That was until he tasted the goodness of Stephanie's cake. 

Then it was my little man's birthday. I raced home from work on Monday to bake cupcakes for his class. I was so dog tired after a crazy day at the office. I knew I'd make Nigella's cupcakes - which for me are failsafe. Usually. 

I tossed the first lot into the oven, came back 15 minutes later - and instead of perky cupcakes, I pulled out a rack of deflated, inverted things that looked more like pastry shells. 

Pooh! 

I put another lot in thinking surely this can't be happening. 30 cupcakes required. 

The second lot came out. Plop. Same thing. 

I went to bed feeling a bit cross, having tossed the remaining mix in the bin - they were all unsalvageable, and I had to go to bed before I turned into a pumpkin. 

Got up the next morning - well actually was woken up by an excited birthday child - at 5:50am. Er. Thanks.

Made breakfast, and went for second shot with the cupcakes. 

SUCCESS!! 30 - actually 36 perky cupcakes. I let them cool, iced them with butter cream icing, topped each with a Malteser and boom - up to the school. 

Then made another cake for that afternoon with our little family. This time Nigella's birthday cake. Success again people. By this point I am willing to throw the towel in and become a baker. Or something. 

By the night time I was exhausted. But happy. 

Making Nutella Ice Cream. It's Ah-MAZING!

This is the best ice cream you're ever going to make. Ever. 

I've been using the KitchenAid ice cream bowl attachment - and it's so ridiculously simple to use, I would be crazy to buy ice cream. Especially when it tastes this good. 

So I've been making Nutella Ice Cream for the kids, but secretly, I've had a few spoonfuls too. 

PottyMouthMama's World Famous Nutella Ice Cream AKA The Best Thing Going Pty Ltd:

Ingredients:

2 cups of pouring cream 
2 tablespoons of sugar (I use brown)
1 cup of milk
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract - or a vanilla pod if you have one fancy pants
1/2 cup of Nutella
handful of chopped chocolate

First things first: 

Pour the cream and sugar in together and whisk. Whisk it baby, until the sugar has dissolved. 

Then toss in all the other ingredients (except the chopped chocolate) and mix until combined. It is imperative at this point to have a taste. 

And then have another taste. 

And then throw it into your KitchenAid ice cream maker for 25 minutes. Once it's done churning it will be a beautiful thick consistency, and usually the mixer will make a slight clicking noise. 

At this point, I remove from the mixer, and stir through the chopped chocolate pieces. Honestly, these are like nuggets of gold. But not a deal breaker. You don't HAVE to have them. But my goodness, you'll be loved if you do.

Now transfer into an airtight container, and freeze. 

Once set, it's ready for serving. 

I would show you a bowl of the ice cream, however my children always lick their bowls clean, and that's not demonstrating much. So you'll just have to take my word for it. 

Take a look at the KitchenAid range here. 

Kid Snacks. It's A Smoothie. We Love Smoothies.

I've been messing about with smoothie recipes over the last couple of months to find what my smalls like, and what works best. I wouldn't call it a science, I'd call it - what's in the fridge, and what appeals to kids. I can recommend it for getting rid of some slightly overripe fruits, and sneaking a bit of extra nutrition into your kids day.

Take this one for example. Not groundbreaking, but really delicious - and the smalls woofed it down. Or is it wolfed it? Either way, they were into it. 

PMM's Raspberry & Banana Ripple

1 cup of frozen raspberries
1 ripe banana (go for frozen, it makes smoothies creamier)
1 cup almond milk
1 tablespoon chia seeds (any colour)
1 tablespoon honey (not pictured)

Toss all ingredients into your blender, pulse for 1 minute or until smoothie is at a consistency that makes you happy, pour into two glasses. Straws. Smiles. BOOM! 

Another alternative to this? I love this one. It's fresh, and delicious.

PMM's Minty Raspberry Slushie

1 cup of frozen berries (choose whatever you like)
around 7-8 frozen cubes of natural apple juice*
a handful of mint leaves
1 tablespoon of chia
1 slurp of water 

I throw everything into the blender, the water helps loosen up the mixture so it's not so thick. Blitz for 1 minute and serve in two glasses, with a straw and a spoon. 

This is a good alternative to a normal smoothie, as my kids really like that it's more a slushie than a smoothie.

* by freezing apple juice (I put them into ice cube trays) means the smoothies take on a slushie consistency, which my kids are mad for. 



KitchenAid lent me some attachments to try out, and I've loved using them. This is not a sponsored post. The blender is so great, easy to use, and I wanted to share.  

No Dessert For Me

So I skipped Bikram last night. Which yes, I know, was incredibly naughty. Scandalous!

Something's got to give, and dinner didn't really satisfy, but instead of going for a chocolate fix after dinner, I made Matt and I a quick and healthy smoothie. 

It's filling, it gives us two serves of fruit, plus the added bonus of chia, the Omega-3 and protein from almond milk and it was sweet - satiating that thing in my brain saying: gimme, gimme!

This is what you need:

1 generous cup of frozen raspberries (or you could use fresh if you have them)
1 small ripe banana
1 cup of almond milk
2 tablespoons of chia

I tossed everything into the Kitchenaid blender - 30 seconds later - yeah baby, fresh, cold, tasty. 

And totally worth skipping Bikram for, right?!



* I am a massive fan of KitchenAid, and have been lent some of their products to try. They are ace. Totally ace. And the blender matches my pink KitchenAid mixer. It must be love.

Dream Weaver:: Natalie Miller

This weekend I was lucky enough to spend six beautiful hours sitting, chatting and weaving with eight other women.

What a rare treat!

I was so fortunate to be able to attend Natalie Miller's weaving workshop. 

Honestly, this was such a gift - to spend a day doing something I wanted to do. I felt so, so lucky. 

I left the kids at home with Matt for the day, and drove the green and beautiful drive to Robertson. All lush hills, rainbows, cows and  me busy daydreaming - wondering how I could move down this part of the world. Dreamy McDreamerson.

Although I am not what I would term an adept crafter (in fact I may be called the dunce), I had such a great day. It was the perfect therapy: making, chatting, drinking tea, eating incredible cake, and learning from Natalie. 

There's something about making something with your own hands that is positively life-affirming and good for the soul. 

We learnt about yarn, dyeing wool, weaving, and all from the beautiful, generous and talented Natalie. She's pretty darn ace. 

I'm now trying to finish it off at home, with Tiny very keen to help with the bobbin, and Happy Cat available to swipe the yarn at every opportunity. 0_o

I'm So Dog Tired. Please. Hold Me.

How did I end the weekend even more tired than when it began?

Friday night we went to The School. I got home late. 

Saturday night Matt got home from work looking sicker than any dog I've ever seen, and went straight to bed. I sat up by myself, and when I finally went to bed he woke up. It was one of *those* restless nights. Then Tiny came in. Then I took Tiny back to her bed. Then Matt tossed and turned. He was hotter than a volcano. In temperature. I lay awake. Then I finally fell asleep. Then Tiny came in. And so on and so forth. Repeat. 

I finally fell back into a deep sleep at 6:08am - when really, I could have just gotten up, but I was soooo doggone pooped. 

Then I ran around, and went to work. I didn't eat lunch, I just kept going and going. 

Man. Totes pooped. 

Two good things I did today? Made pikelets for my babes in the morning. And made Gourmet Girlfriend's haloumi and spinach gozleme for a crazy late lunch. 

What was good about your weekend? 

PS - I have a giveaway coming up this week! Stay tuned. 

The School:: Paper Art with James Gordon

My sisters and I signed up to do James Gordon's paper art class at The School.

Last night we had such fun. SUCH FUN! Hot diggety. 

I don't remember the last time I've had such fun - so many good belly laughs. And being roused on by our uber talented and hilarious teacher.

And Megan Morton encouraged our naughtiness. 

James creates the most exquisite pieces from paper. He's amazing, and after last night's class, I've realised just how bloody extraordinary his talent is. My bugs looked NOTHING like his bugs, and despite the fact I think I was worst in the class, it didn't matter because he told us to embrace our insects for their uniqueness. 

We met so many great people, had a sneak peek at the set up for the Horse's Birthday Fete (on today and tomorrow 10-4pm), and just laughed. 

If you get the opportunity to do a class at The School, I say take it. 

Since reading The Happiness Project, I've decided to do things that make me feel happy, set things that I can look forward to - and laugh. 

You can follow James on Instagram for a look into his inspiring paper world (and his too-cute dog, Bob). 

Victoria Mason Is Awesome. And Teaching You How To Make

If I lived in Melbourne, and if I were you, I would totally sign up for this class with uber awesome contemporary jeweller Victoria Mason.

I've long been a fan of her work, and now I see you can learn first-hand. 

Anyway. I can't do it. But you could. 

Sign up now - there's only 6 spots available which means you'll get plenty of attention. It will be amazeballs. Learn from a leading light in Australian handmade jewellery, and take home a ring. It's all win:win:win:win:win.

image via Victoria Mason

Things I Love and Making With The Smalls At The School

Last week I was lucky enough to attend the launch of Megan Morton's brand spanking new book 'Things I Love'. It's beautiful, and if you don't already own a copy - get your mitts on one, Christmas list it, buy it as a gift for yourself, whatever it takes - just get one. It's sheer brilliance.

Full of beautiful homes - and even more beautiful inspiration, and ideas-a-plenty Megan once again trumps it with her own brand of beautiful. There's a lot to love.

And on the night itself, she was glowing.

 Absolutely take it from me, and put it on your Christmas - or treat yourself. You can buy 'Things I Love' here.
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I took the smalls to make God's Eyes with Little Nicki at The School on Saturday. Megan met us at the door, and was doing her thing, charming the pants off anyone who came in.

The Doctor hears me talking about Megan quite frequently, so knew meeting her was kind of a big deal. He was SO cute and chuffed to be talking to her.

We spent such a lovely morning sitting together creating amidst a sea of coloured wool. It was such fun. 

If you've thought about doing one of Megan's classes - do. It's such a rare treat to sit and make. And for me, it was so good for me (and no doubt my smalls) to sit with them and not have any other distractions (other than the need to Instagram what they were doing every now and then) - and be.

Check out the timetable here for The School.

Yo Mama! An Interview With Jennifer Loiselle

Life is funny how it dishes things up. Kooky even. Once upon a time, perhaps three or so years ago, I posted about some fabulous earrings I had discovered on Etsy. I loved them so much, and wanted to share them. 

A day after that post I received an email from Jennifer Loiselle. Creator of the earrings I was salivating over. She was emailing me to tell me we knew each other. And that she'd married, changed her surname (which was why I didn't initially twig) and was now in my inbox. And indeed, we did know each other. Jennifer had been working at The Sydney Morning Herald's (sadly) now defunct Good Living fashion pages. I worked in PR. We chatted quite often. And when she left our bonny shores, I distinctly remember feeling a pit of sadness that a kindred spirit was now a bit further away.

This, my friends, is serendipity.

So it's with pleasure that I serve up for you, an interview with the beautiful, intelligent and super creative talent behind the eponymous jewellery label - Jennifer Loiselle. 

PMM: When and why did you make the move to the UK?

JL: I moved to the UK 8 years ago (almost to this day!). Before that I had been working and backpacking through India and before that living in Tokyo . I had big time wanderlust in my 20s and that very Antipodean need to travel.

You started your professional life as a stylist, how did you make the transition to creating jewellery? 

I was a fashion journalist and assistant stylist at the Sydney Morning Herald, so I think I've always had a creative eye, even if it wasn't as hands on as what I'm doing now. Much later I went on to  study footwear design at Cordwainers college in London but after that took a sideways step and ended up as  creating content at a fashion website for a while. When I was pregnant with my daughter I went on maternity leave and felt like I needed a creative outlet of some kind  and had a real urge to  create something with my hands. I initially started crafting and making headbands for myself to jazz up my maternity wardrobe(!!), then started getting requests from friends and the occasional fashion blogger and then started selling them on etsy which was actually a great way to start a small business and test out products. The jewellery line came from there - it was all pretty pretty organic.

In my (humble and non-pro) experience, getting crafty can be therapeutic. But getting crafty when the smalls are around can be - er - difficult. How do you manage it? 

Oh super difficult, but I made a decision early on to make sure that my daughter was in some kind of of part time childcare from when she was quite tiny, even if it was just for a few hours a week (for my sanity, really) so I've always had some time to myself from early on - plus I spend a lot of my night hours making jewellery.  She's also  been taught from a very young age that she's not allowed to go near mummy's "work stuff" that's scattered all over the house - in fact when other kids come over to play, she gets very territorial about my things! 

As a mum, what are your tips to manage the juggle of work - and home-life?

It's hard work and I don't always feel like I get the balance right! I think trying to make sure that work doesn't bleed into home life too much, that you set aside proper time for family and that there are strict boundaries (I have a huge problem with this as I work from home). 

Where do you seek inspiration?  

London - so many museums and galleries, more exhibitions than it's possible to keep up with and it's full of incredibly creative people and genuinely original talents - I'm very lucky to live here!

What's been the highlight of your career to date?  

I still get a huge thrill seeing my designs on people I don't know in the street, it's a real buzz; way more exciting than any press endorsement.

What's next for Jennifer Loiselle?

I try not to plan too far ahead but more of the same but on a bigger scale and working towards reaching a bigger audience but still maintaining my strictly hand made to order ethos.

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Jen has recently launched her new website - don't take my word for it - it's a visual haven for those who love beautiful and unique pieces that will be treasured for a lifetime. 

Shop here in time for Christmas!

This is the first of my Yo Mama! series - interviews with creative working mamas.  Look out for them weekly. 

Crafty? Calico + Ivy On SALE!

Pssst! If you're a crafty cat, you'd better listen up.

Calico + Ivy are holding a short and sweet sale from tomorrow for 3 days only!

Friday 7th September
Saturday 8th September
Monday 10th September

20-50% off fabric
20% off yarn

You had better hot foot it in store to make the most of the merriment!

image via here

Making Memories:: Roadtripping with Toyota

I always remember road trips from my childhood. Those early starts when Mum and Dad roused us from our slumber to get dressed, get in the car, and leave home at 4:30am to get on the road.

I was the smallest, and therefore neatly sandwiched between my two sisters in the back seat.

Our road trips were punctuated by stops at the petrol station, a strong desire to reach our destination, and some sibling bickering.

Road trips, for me, were like the prologue and epilogue for a memorable trip away.

We were lucky to be guests of Toyota last week. On Friday we drove down to Thredbo, after Matt finished teaching, in the darkness. In the Toyota Prado we forged our way almost seven hours out of Sydney. When we arrived it was snowing heavily, something I've never seen before - and the kids were wide awake at 10:30pm, spellbound by the flurry of white snowflakes flying towards our headlights. It was their first time to see snow, and they were enchanted and ridiculously excited.

On the winding road into Thredbo we passed other cars that had had to pull over, the snow so heavy it had made it impossible for them to continue.

We finally reached our hotel, hurriedly unpacked the car out in the snow, and then went to bed. Ah bliss.

We awoke on the Saturday morning to such a beautiful and memorable sight. A thick, heavy carpet of the most pristine snow across the countryside. Banked up on our window ledge, icicles frozen in motion from the guttering, it was Narnia-esque.

We rugged up and headed off to get kitted out, then off to Friday Flats for a day of skiing delights!

The kids were booked into Thredbo Land, and Matt scurried up the hill as quick as he could to snowboard the morning away. Me? Oh poor me. I had to suck it up and spend the morning with Christoph. The hot Austrian ski instructor. I know. Poor, poor me.

Prior to this particular morning, I had been enduring great, great skiing performance anxiety. At one point I had talked myself out of it. Then back into it. Then out of it. Then back into it. I was into it, lucky for Christoph, and off we went. I had such a hoot!

In the afternoon we got back together again and went back to the hotel. It's no understatement that we were all k-to-the-nackered. We lay on our beds watching TV and recharging our batteries.

That was until we rocked up to dinner with the Toyota crew (where - I am sorry friends - I had to wear ugg boots because the size of the blisters on my shins were out of control - I know - the shame of it), where Tiny hijacked my phone and tapped into her inner food blogger and started Instagramming the dinner plates. If you follow me on Instagram you will know this to be true.

But let me go into more detail later in the week. When I can recoup my thoughts, and share the awesomeness of hitting the road and making memories as a family. Trust me - it was like soup for the soul. Snow for the soul.


Disclosure: We travelled to Thredbo courtesy of Toyota. We drove in the rugged luxury of the Toyota Prado Kakadu in the darkness and against the elements. Honesty is the best policy. We had a great time. I wanted to share.

Vivid Festival:: ETSY Success

This weekend I am lucky enough to be involved in ETSY Success – part of the Vivid Festival. I’m talking DIY PR – a really, really practical guide to getting yourself out there. Because let’s face it, promoting yourself can be awkward.

Together with a host of ace speakers, such as Wee Birdy, the editor of Frankie Magazine – Jo Walker, and the CEO of ETSY, Chad Dickerson, it’s going to be a jam-packed day full of tips, tricks and case studies to help build creative businesses.
I am a long-time ETSY fan, and am really looking forward to this event both personally and professionally, as well as meeting some of the cleverest minds in the biz.
You can still buy tickets for the day here – and let’s face it – a day spent in the salubrious setting of the new MCA building, overlooking Sydney Harbour? Super fantastic. Plus there’s bound to be some top learnings from the day.
You can see how the day looks here.
If you can’t make it – the event will be filmed (eek!). You can read more over here.


image via the Etsy blog

PottyMouthMama: Reporting For Domestic Duty

This weekend was going to be all about me being a domestic goddess and surpassing my motherly duties. Ticking every box and getting a gold star. 


And do you think that happened?


Er. A little.


I had plans to tidy the whole house. To ditch all the junk hovering around our house. It's mounting. In piles. In bags. In boxes. And I can't seem to get on top of it. Well wait - I can get on top of it, I can lie on top of it, I just can't control it. 


I was going to get wildly domestic in the kitchen. I had grand aspirations.


Instead Saturday I had a wee hangover, and shuffled around the house like a hermit crab. What kind of young player am I? 


I did sort out some clothes. I did bake choc chip cookies. 


And tonight, Matt went out to do some painting, while I stayed at home - and thought - yes! I will make pasta. Then it all went to poo. I was rolling pasta, I had the water bubbling away - the pasta was rolling, rolling, too long to hold in both my hands - I felt like Big Anthony out of Strega Nona. Pasta everywhere. I finally got it into the pot and kept rolling out extra pasta - and then the pasta went bloaty and gluggy. Poor pasta.


So the smalls wound up with toast and baked beans for dinner. 


And then I hurried them through dinner, tucked them into bed and felt irate with myself for being such a grump. 

Help Me Win a New Ford Territory For A Year and $5000

Drive. I've given this word much thought over this weekend. Drive. Tossed it around in my head, it echoed a little and then it plummeted down to where I played with it for a while. I kept going back to it.

You see, this weekend was the weekend when we were celebrating the Doctor's 6th birthday with a little party with some of his new Kindy pals.

He wanted a birthday party. I wanted to give him a party. I love the idea of 'making memories', and this weekend, I've made memories. In my freaking muscles from standing up for 12 hours straight baking. I love baking. But not for 12 hours. By myself. While looking after two smalls.

The tension crept up ever so slowly. I started the morning pretty pleased with myself. I made cookie dough. Wrapped it. Refrigerated it. Moved on to the next gig. Cupcakes. Made them. Baked them. Moved on. Birthday cake. Made the first of three. And on it goes. We rushed out to the shops to grab some bits and pieces, came back, and the tension had crept up a little higher, until it finally rested in my shoulders. Aching.

I took stock of myself on more than one occasion. What was driving me to be so batty about this birthday party? Millions of women have successfully held birthday parties. And then it hit me. It hit me just like the sifter did this morning, as it fell out of the pantry. Straight in the back of my head as I was bending down to pick something up. BOOM!

I was worried about what the other mums would think of me. The driving force behind me being more Nigella, was what would the other mums think when they drop their wee darlings off, and I feed them with all manner of sugary goodness.

The telltale sign was the guilt of the packet cake mix. I for one hate packet mixes. But the Women's Weekly told me it was 3 x Buttercake packet mixes, and this time, I was loathe to stuff up my son's birthday cake (unlike his first birthday cake - but that's another story). I dutifully baked the packet mixes. In the back of my head - besides the egg where the sifter whacked me - is someone going to eat this cake and think - my goodness, THIS WOMAN USED PACKET MIX? Outrageous.

And then it got me to thinking about these cakes. These birthday cakes that are like show dogs. Look what my mama made for me! But then again, I remember the cakes that were made lovingly for me, they act as landmarks in my life - and I like to look back and remember those heady days.

The Doctor weighed in on my prowess early in the day with: "Your leaves look good Mum, but not as good as the ones in the book." Yowsers.

I had to slap myself out of it. No one else was around to do it (although I'm sure Tiny would jump at the chance to slap me). I kept thinking of the Doctor instead of the mums. I kept trying to think of 12 eager little children, and how excited they would be! That their drive is completely different to ours. How that innocence is so pure, and trusting, and proud as punch.

Maybe you'd say I reversed out of competing in the Mummy Olympics, and accelerated into trying to create some magical memories. Driven into the happiness, the chaos, the angst, the excitement of parenting. That's what drive is. I have the drive to make memories for my small fry, but sometimes I feel like I don't have enough petrol in the tank.

I can't even remember what I ate at birthday parties when I was small. It was all about that giddy excitement. Seeing your friends, playing games, balloons, and being picked up too early (it's always too early to leave a good party), and driving home with butterflies in your tummy, replaying all the action.

But Baby It's Cold Outside

For once, this song is strangely appropriate to Sydney.

Today I went to work in jeans, a wool knit, knee length boots and a scarf, and didn't take a stitch off. The girls were laughing at me, in the middle of 'Summer' (and I use that term veeeheeery loosely), rugged up for Winter.

Weather - let's get it together!

Which is one reason we dressed the house early for Christmas.

And while I'm on the topic of it being ridiculously cold and wet in Sydney, when it should be blaringly, glaringly hot, Tiny has been having tantrums because she wants to see the snow. Not just one isolated tantrum either, it's been a series of tantrums on seperate days. The first day she put her gumboots on and we all got into the car and drove to the supermarket. Then she asked where we were going when we got back into the car. "Home." "No we're not! We're going to the snow!"

Way to let a toddler down. I had to educate her on the fact that snow was unlikely - however, who knows with this weather, but heck, I'll keep her posted.

Following days Tiny has requested to go to the snow. And has stood outside with gumboots on waiting to see the snow. Alas it's just rain and jacaranda flowers. Prince sang 'Purple Rain', perhaps he could record 'Purple Snow'? Anything's possible with this weather. Right?

image is from the ever awesome Kiddley - I think Tiny, the Doctor and I might make our own little Christmassy snowglobes!

Here Is Where I Turn Into A Complete Lego Nerd

I decided this morning to do a recce before I took the Doctor to the toy sale after pre-school.

He kept reminding me that he wanted an 'early pick-up'. Roger that.

Tiny and I battled through the hoardes of toy-hungry parents, wielded our pram, and pushed through to Lego-topia. Phew. It took a while of navigating through trolleys (FULL TROLLEYS!) laden with toys, but we succeeded.

It was then that I averted a very near and real disaster. There were only 3 of Police (7743 - I should have those tattooed on my body, I've heard them so often) the Doctor wanted. So I bought one thinking, hey I'll bring him with his zip-lock bag of money this afternoon, and if it's not here - et voila - I have back up plan Mama 101.

I picked him up at 2:25pm as per his request, we toodled off to Target and lo and behold no Lego Police 7743.

So we drove home, fanging it to get home to find the box hidden in my wardrobe (no doubt, where all good parents hide things).

The Doctor and I spent the afternoon building Lego together while Tiny lay on the couch in her 'birdy nest' because she was tired.

The long and the short of it is that I have been declared 'a really good Lego builder'. And damn it, I love it too.

PS - I can't find my camera cord. If anyone knows the whereabouts, please email me. I'd like that.

Unfinished:: Hey, Hat's Incredible!

Inspired by one of my very favourite fashionistas Anna Piaggi, I found an image of her in a daring, jaunty hat, and drew on it for my own millinery creation.

It's unfinished, only a few things to do here and there, and finalise with some trim (a big dashing feather? a fat contrasting Petersham ribbon? oh the options are endless). It's one of the two hats I started - I'll show you the second (which needs a lot more work) once I find the battery charger. Promise.

The brim is assymetrical and as you can see the block I used had a very definite design feature (the dip) which really makes the hat what it is. It's made from a beautiful fur felt, which is, as I've been taught, much easier to work with than a wool felt. The results of which were demonstrated in our workshop, the wool felt doesn't block as smoothly, it really is inferior. Sorry sheep.

These photos are subtitled: HeymycameraisabouttorunoutofbatteriesandIdon'tknowwherethechargeris.

Hats Incredible (Get it?)

Have I ever mentioned I really love hats? Chapeaus of the world unite. I love you! I doff my cap to you.

I have a small, and yet, ever growing collection of hats. Over the next few weeks I will share them because they are cute and they deserve it.

I've not yet mentioned that in a few weeks I am doing a short millinery course. I am tres excited! I've been collecting inspiration. Here are some of my beloved. Coco. Anna Piaggi. 'nuff said.