Not just for losers

I understand that many bloggers like to keep their blogs as their 'happy place'. They feel that the good memories are the ones worth recording and their blogs reflect that. I get it, sort of.

But in a lot of ways, I can get a big slap of 'happy place' from women's magazines, where newborns are all 'angels' and celebpretties wax lyrical about their tiny thighs and enormous meals. The same women's magazines that made me feel like a fat loser all through teenagedom and an even fatter loser after that.

A loser because I didn't have a boyfriend. A loser because I didn't have straight hair. A loser because I couldn't afford designer clothes, a personal trainer, a salon wax, frosted tips or, during the early nineties, Hammer pants. A loser because... well, I was me.

Easy solution: I stopped buying those stupid mags in my late twenties and never really looked back. Oh, okay, I swapped my addiction to women's mags for my addiction to house porn, but you've gotta start somewhere right? See, now I'm just a loser because of my house. It's not really about me any more.

Intellectually I'm aware that those house porn mags 'fake it' (loving the connotations attached to that sentence!). Intellectually I know that they back the truck up full of the latest and greatest and practically shove the featured family out of the way to create their 'styled casual' home for them. But emotionally, I'm attached to that idea of 'the perfect family home' that looks like that all the time. Emotionally I believe that there are families out there that live with all-white furnishings that stay white; that their children's toys are only made of wooden and recycled tyres. Families that exist in colour-coordinated clothes that don't clash with their smearless red Smeg fridge and matching crumbless toaster.

So, intellectually, we get it; emotionally we just plain want it. Marketing geeks (of which I am one) call it 'aspirational marketing' and, I'm telling you, they go out of their way to make you feel like what you've got right now isn't good enough. There's great stuff in the world and you're not it.

Fortunately my new 'happy place' is the land of the smoodgy, smudgy, smidgy world of beautiful blogs that are real and honest and true. The happy and the WTFHT*? As much as I love a styled 'occasion', I love even more the flaws, the mishaps, the madness and the muddy mess of life. I often wonder why I visit the over-styled blogs when I've got my house porn to keep me feeling sufficiently loserish (there is a book out there called 'The Perfectly Imperfect Home' - I kid you not! Get a life!). I just don't need the blog world to turn on me as well. So, keep letting it all hang out there, bloggers of the world. I embrace you and the wind you threw your caution to.

Do you let it all hang out? Or do you hang back a little? 

Is your blog your happy place?

* What The Fuck Happened There?


[Image by schorlemädchen]

Black and yellow and... map

I'm back wearing my interior-design cap (as we do from time to time, no?). I showed you my inspiration for the girls' new upstairs bedroom a little while ago.

Here's what I'm thinking for my boy. I find boys much harder to decorate - both home and body...

A giant wallpaper map on one wall...

... with blackboard walls everywhere else (will the chalk dust drive me nuts?) with white trim. Of course I plan to artistically write inspiring messages every other day in my spare time.

With hits of yellow for some sunshine. I'm thinking of painting the bed bright yellow and along with a pillow slip or two, that will do the trick.

No, I'm not planning to put a hot babe in his room, but see how great yellow looks with black and white. Just ask the bees!

Yes, I can recreate this on the blackboard...

I think it will be a room that takes him through the rest of this childhood and into his teens, when no doubt the wall map and bed will also be painted black and that will be the last we see of him!

Do you think boys are harder to decorate for? 

What sort of theme would you recommend?

[All image credits can be found here]

Aqua and red and pink

The Tsunamis are all moving bedrooms in a month or so (whenever we get around to putting lockable doors upstairs). They are moving upstairs and we are coming downstairs. The girls will share a room together (just as my sister and I did all our young lives) and Maxi-T will be just across the hall. Downstairs will be us and a new playroom slash study (yippee!)

I am having such fun planning how things might look (MORE aqua and red and pink on my pinterest board), but I am curiously in no hurry to make the move. It means The Badoo comes out of a cot and into a big bed... a move that has never gone down well at our place. Our children just love spending time with us too much and unless we cage them in, they are up and down like yo-yos.

Cappers' fave colour is blue and The Badoo's is pink. Just awful together - I can't think of a worse combination except maybe for green and yellow (sorry Australia). So I figured I'd make Cappers' blue more of an aqua, add my favourite red/ white and highlight the lot with a bit of Badoo pink.

You like?

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For crafty inspiration, I'm linking this up with Our Creative Space today... click on the link to see what those amazing clever clogs are up to this week! x

[Image credits can all be found here]

Sales time my Wardrobe Shop

The ever-stylish Nikki at Styling You did a great vlog on Friday where she mentioned 'shopping your wardrobe'. As a person who rotates the same six garments at the front of a seemingly packed full wardrobe, heading into my own stash before I hit the shops seems like a great concept. I think it could definitely work at my place except...

My wardrobe looks like a shop at 'sales time'. You know, when the shop has 'Everything Reduced By 50% BUY NOW NOW NOW' signs on the window and inside everything is strewn everywhere and all the colours are clashing like a giant exploding firecracker and you think 'there is absolutely nothing I like in this store' (although, hell, at 50% off you darn well find something, right?)

It got me thinking that if I did a big wardrobe clear out and then hung and folded everything all colour-co-ordinated by outfit like they do in the stores when it's not sales time, I might actually want to shop my wardrobe. I could even have items stacked the way they should be stacked in the shops - with the big sizes at the front, decreasing down to the smaller sizes. Because, yes, I have all those sizes - my weight is too unstable to risk not having 'back ups'!

So, I could do all that and no doubt find loads of really lovely outfits to wear in my Wardrobe Shop that cost me absolutely nothing...

Or do they?

Just thinking about this a bit more. What would be the cost to my sanity having to maintain my Wardrobe Shop? I worked Saturday mornings at Rockmans circa 1989, I know how much folding and hanging and refolding and rehanging and folding is involved in clothes-shop keeping. Even the memory of my time at Rockmans is crushing me with boredom. And that's not even including the washing and ironing of said clothes. As a naturally messy person, the amount of work and stress involved would be phenomenal. I would have to give up my day job so I could work in my Wardrobe Shop full time. Eek.

It's true, I lust after many a thing for my home. But a walk-in wardrobe with all those open shelves is absolutely not one of them. And while I can certainly take Nikki's excellent advice about auditing the piles I have, I think I'll stick with the sales.

How's your wardrobe situation?

Can you ever find anything to wear?

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And speaking of wardrobes... have you entered my giveaway yet?

[Image found via Pinterest]

Too-close encounters

How are you with mice? Cockroaches? Rats? Louse? Ants? Moths? Fleas? Ticks? Snakes? Spiders?

I ask because in the three plus years we've lived where we live, I've encountered every single one of these pests in my house. Lots and lots of wildlife and that's not even counting the cockatoos, bandicoots, possums and echidnas who are threatening to reclaim our yard for the bush.

I'm a total wimp when it comes to too-close-for-my-liking encounters. I see so much as a cockroach and I can tell you my shrieking gives those pesky cockatoos a run for their money.

But nothing, nothing compares to a funnel-web running over your daughter's hand.

Who knows what a funnel-web was doing hanging around above ground in Winter? But there it was, next to the front verandah, sunning itself on a rock like a black melanoma. Cappers was the one who saw it. She thought it was "one of Maxi's toy spiders" and bent down to pick it up. You talk and you talk and you talk to your children about not touching anything, not sticking fingers in holes or anywhere they can't see them, leaving things well alone. All forgotten in a moment.

The funnel-web leapt into action, stumbled across her hand menacingly before falling unceremoniously off the rock where it lay stunned on the ground below. Clearly this was a funnel-web still mostly in hibernation, drowsy and ineffectual. But, who knew?

We captured it in a jar and even now as I look at it I shudder. Pitch black, ugly, killer. A moment in time that nearly changed time completely.

 Do you live in the bush or visit it often?

Have you had a close encounter with Australia's deadly wildlife?

[Image by Ryoko Yagi]

The third drawer down is on the up

Remember when I shamelessly revealed my crazy third drawer down? Well... look at it now. Yes, that's it in the pic above. Can you believe it? I am officially crowning myself (as one does) the Queen of Clutterbusting. I'm very sorry reigning Queen of Clutterbusting, wherever you are (probably working for the actual Queen or something), but I'm taking over the coveted title.

See those little cuppy things and the bigger tray things? They all snap together and you can make any combo that fits. I bought the lot for less than $20 at Howards Storage World.

Embarrassingly, the whole job took me under an hour.

I'm freeeeeeeeeeeeee!!

Of course, I am not blind to the fact that there is a lot of room on top of all those marvellous cuppy and tray thingies so PLENTY of space for throwing things in with a nonchalance that would immediately strip me of my Queen of Clutterbusting title. So, don't worry, that third drawer down will be back to utter chaos in no time. I'll give it... oh, a week.

But let me gloat for that week, okay? I'm freeeeeeeeeeeeeEEEEEEEEEEEeeeeee!!

How do you go with the clutter busting? Can you live in chaos or does it send you bonkers?

Easy money

Like the cobbler's wife that has no shoes, I have no budget. My hub is a banker and a qualified financial planner, but no, we have no budget.

I've realised that aside from occasionally going a bit mad buying stuff for the house that we probably don't need, we are fairly careful with our money. I know that we buy whatever we want at the grocery store and that as a family we have never gone without (see point 'My husband is a banker' above), but still I think we are careful. We don't carry any debt (except our Obligatory Overwhelming Aussie Mortgage (OOAM)).

There are lots of little things we do without thinking that probably make the difference.

We don't drink a lot. Our 'alcohol' budget is generally minimal to non-existent during an average week.

We buy fruit and vegetables and meat fresh every other day. I know this flies in the face of the 'buy in bulk' mentality, but little and often means we always use what we purchase.

I have a bad back, but I still get my massages at the Nature Care Clinic which I discovered twenty years ago when I was a penniless student with a bad back. $38 for an hour long remedial massage. Happy with that.

In the same way, I wait for a Jump On It hair special to come up before getting my hair done. I haven't paid full price for a cut since I was ripped off by a salon who tried to charge me $200 for a haircut because it by a 'Senior Stylist' when I didn't even realise I was getting the infamous 'Senior Stylist' (and nor, it would seem, did my hair).

With the Tsunamis we have 'buying days' and 'no-buying days'. This renders pester-power a non-entity at our place. I tell them before we go that it's a no-buying day' and while there used to be whiny 'oh Mums', these days they just accept that a no-buying day is exactly that.

I've found myself having my own 'no-buying days' and try from time to time to not buy anything that's not food-related for a month or so. I generally do this if we need to get back on track and save a bit extra.

We religiously save money into a completely separate account (it's even with a separate bank). The money goes out when our pay comes in and we don't even look at it.

Yeah, well, I know these tips are pretty pathetic compared to people who are actually thrifty.  Those amazing meal-planning, hole-mending, co-opting, re-purposing geniuses. That's why I wrote this post... can you tell me what tips you have to help us all stay on track?

[Image by Elvira'sDADA]

Ms Nosybella: Help me out a little...?

Dear knowledgeable ones

I have questions. There are all these niggling little questions at the back of my mind and I feel my new-year life might be easier if I could find the answer to them. I figure that the readers of Maxabella loves... are a diverse and interesting bunch, so why not put my questions out there and see what comes back! So, if you know, please, you know, let me know...

How can I fix a sewing machine that sews a normal stitch on the 'right' side, but a jangly, jumbled mess on the 'other' side? It started happening when I mucked around with tension and some other stuff and I freaked out and left it and it's been about five months now. That's how freaked out I was.

Is there any way I can deter the cockatoos that roost in the gumtrees out the front of our house? The noise is a given but they also poo all over my front path - WELCOME to our home.

Why are our strawberries rotting on the branch before they ripen? I was so proud that we grew an actual strawberry and now... not so much.

How can I prevent outdoor cushions / soft furnishings from going mouldy? They are under cover, but I guess they get wet sometimes. I am too lazy to bring them in every day (there are just so many) and even if I wasn't I would have nowhere to put them.

How can I clean the outside of my windows that are reeeeeally high up, double-hung sash with panels and have fly screens on them? It's been three years now and I think it's time...

Is there any way to reinforce the toes on boy's shoes? It's amazing how quickly they scrape through them!

So, if you could help me out with any answers to the above questions, I would be... amazed!

'Til next time

[Image by Florencia Delboy]

Maxabellaland: A reality check

This one's for Nicole over at Bubby Makes Three who has come up with the brilliant idea of exposing those house porn mags for pitching an impossible dream. People don't / can't live like that in real life. To prove it, we are revealing our real-life homes in all their messy, cluttered, what-the-hell-is-this-thing-and-where-can-I-stash-it glory.

Here's my kitchen which has a permanent morning-after-the-night-before feel to it. Note the carefully prepared 'old beige towel' back drop through the 'picture' window...

Note the absence of freshly baked goods in the cake stand (which is permanently out as it has no home to speak of). The rotting bananas, long past 'fresh banana bread' stage. The three pack of dummies to feed the two year old's unbreakable pack-a-day habit. The broken-down, rusty old dishwasher and resulting piles of dishes in the dish rack (miraculously washed).  The bottles of plonk resting enticingly on the ancient stove top. Numerous containers permanently housed on the dividing-half-wall that screens persnickety dinner guests from the nastiness of preparing said dinner, but still allows the host to join in the chit chat. Oh yes, the kitchen.

Now, meet my Third Drawer Down, where the real me lurks like a festering wound.  Hold your breath, we're diving in...

You will not be surprised to learn that it doesn't actually close properly.

Moving on from the hungover kitchen, down the hall is Capper's bedroom, an oasis for the creative spirit.

Capper's bedroom previously featured in a Maxabella post, but it was the other end of the room that was cunningly displayed. Editing is a beautiful thing, isn't it Home Beautiful?

Here's a close-up of that sweet, little girl desk...

And one of the 'why did I think free-access to art in the bedroom was a great idea' carpet...

... and her sagging art string which was also a great idea at the time but, unlike in the magazines, she refuses to hang just 5 themed pictures tidily in a row.

See the Doll's House and Princess Palace there? They're not faring much better...

Police are investigating the possibility of a homicidal maniac on the loose in Maxabellaland. He's already claimed two victims in the Princess Palace and it is feared that next door he has brutally stabbed Doll's House Mum to death...

... no wait, scrap that. This is a clear case of Death By Ironing After Drinking Large Pot of Tea.

Oh boy did I enjoy that anti-over-styled life moment... So, ah, what's it like at your place?

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I rewound this post at the Fibro on 1.4.2011

Clearly I can't get enough humiliation.

Clutter bygod begone

I don't like clutter. Ignore the fact that I seem to have developed a rampant bird ornament collection. I don't like clutter.

Contrary to appearances (frizzy, bit rough around the edges), I'm a very organised individual (super smooth, no edges). Having too much mess around me just makes me feel a bit psycho. Order = peace. Order = easy. Order = good.

That said, I can't stand a 'minimalist' approach to life either. I like lived in, I like things around me that make me feel happy. I'm a little bit messy and a tad suspicious of those that aren't.  And I'm nowhere near as neat as I'd like to be.

But in Maxabellaland everything has a container to return home to at night. I can't wax lyrical enough about good storage space and good storage containers. Not that you need to fill every available storage surface. My favourite place in my house is an empty drawer. A drawer. Empty. Makes me feel at peace with the world every time I look at it.*

You see, I try very hard not to buy clutter in the first place, but it's difficult to keep it totally at bay and allow the tsunamis to have a life at the same time. You know what I'm talking about: the stuff. So many artworks you could paper your house both inside and out. Lots and lots and lots of little bits that are supposed to go with other little bits but have been orphaned. A zoo of stuffed animals that you're pretty sure are breeding like they're all rabbits. You just know you will be picking up that same stuffed pink fluffy bear and green giraffe with the smug smile on its face** when you're child is doing their final exams.

Every now and then*** I have a total clear-out. I get rid of all the bits and the pieces and the stuff and the nonsense. I put it either back in its rightful place or in the bin if its past its useful date or in the bag for children who will love it more than you do by packing it away after they've played with it instead of leaving it in the middle of the hallway for your mother to trip over when she comes in the door with five bags of groceries in each hand.

 I love my clear outs. That wonderful sensation you get when everything is in its spot, where everything just works. Lasts about five minutes at my place (and god knows I've never successfully found a solution to the 'third drawer down' problem or the 'random basket of stuff on the bench' problem) but I live (and plan!) in hope.



* I know this makes me borderline weird, but you have no idea how relaxing an empty drawer can be.
** I hate that giraffe.
*** Ok, practically weekly but I'm not, like, obsessive or anything.

[Image from Run with Scissors - a really fab blog of a gal who judging by this pic is presumably living the life I so desire.]

Mixing mamahood and work: a reply

Yesterday Kahli from little. lovely guest posted her 'Top 5 tips for working mums" over at Fat Mum Slim's. I started to write a comment in reply and then realised that my comment was growing and growing and, really, I should just write my own post and link on back.

So, what made my comment grow and grow?

Well, I had issues. As much as I appreciated where Kahli was coming from (and indeed, on investigation of her site, she seems more than a little lovely herself), I felt that many of her "top five tips" missed the mark for over-stretched, over-committed, over-it mummas. Here are Kahli's tips and my thoughts in reply:


1. Get organised. I’ve found the most important key to success has been organisation. The more organised I am, the less stressed I feel. Plan your weekly meals in advance, order groceries online and always organise as much as you can the night before to avoid a mad rush out the door.

100% agree with you, Kahli so, ah... moving right along.


2. Leave guilt behind. Guilt is often a working mother’s nosy neighbour, popping in when you’re busy, tired or simply feeling low. Try to leave guilt at the door. More often than not, it’s a sign you’re trying to be the best mother you can be and that’s all you – or anyone else – can ask for.

Seriously? A neighbour? Guilt is more like my permanent lodger, popping in all day, every day. I can't leave it at the door because it lives inside me. If I'm going to be a happy mumma and worker, I need to embrace the guilt and make it work hard for its keep. So if I'm feeling guilty about a particular thing, I don't ignore it, I investigate it and try to find ways to change things enough to keep guilt a happy camper.



3. Define work and play. If you’ve found yourself rocking a baby with one arm and responding to emails with another, try separating the two. When you’re working, work and when you’re mothering, mother. Otherwise you may feel you don’t either well. This might mean getting up early or working after your babies are in bed, but you’ll probably find you’re far more productive (and happier) when you do.

This one doesn't come up much for me as I mainly work away from home and when I do work from home my children are in their regular daytime places (school, preschool, with grandparents, daycare). BUT... in general I think the boundaries of 'work time is work time' and 'home time is home time' end up creating more stress than they hope to prevent. Of course they are going to blur - it's not work/life balance, it's just life. Mine changed for the better when I got a BlackBerry that meant that I can do after hours work where ever I am, if that's what I choose to do.

My advice to mums who do work from home and are stressed to the max is to question whether you really can be committed to two full-time jobs that require your attention at the same time. Look for loving childcare alternatives to help you make it work. Or ensure your work knows that you will be working from the hours of 7pm until 1am or whatever works for you. Otherwise, you're really not doing either your babies or your work a favour and it's not fair on anyone. Especially your little ones because if you're anything like me you really like the work you do and can get totally absorbed in it such that a little voice saying "Mummy can I" becomes like nails down a blackboard and it takes everything you've got not to snap bile at your little needy dearheart for interrupting your fun... Yes, I believe in the maxim "you can have it all, just not all at the same time."

As for getting up early to fit yet more stuff into your already over-burdened day, you must be joking, right?



4. Cherish your time off. We all know quality isn’t married to quantity so make your evenings and weekends sacred. Happy memories aren’t based on a catalogue of hours spent together, but rather what you did in the hours you had. The emails, washing and housework can wait.

Unfortunately, the emails, washing and housework really can't wait. If they wait they have a tendency to interbreed and create a giant overflowing inboxing, clothes wrecking, filthy mess loving beast who sucks the very life out of every household it encounters.

I don't know about Kahli, but there is no way I can just down tools and have a sacred evening or weekend as a family knowing that the beast is hungrily eating my house. So my advice here is to get the lot done as quickly as possible (cut any reasonable corner and speed a little - there are no traffic cops here) and then get out of the house for family time so that those little urchins of ours don't start feeding the monster again the second you've finished.


5. Be kind to yourself. Juggling work and the responsibilities of a family can be tough, so be kind to yourself. Take an extra long bath or buy a new magazine. And remember, it really doesn’t matter if your floors aren’t clean enough to serve dinner off. That’s what tables are for.

Be kind to yourself. Let the kids skip a bath or buy a new babysitter. And always remember that this is your actual life, not some weird dream you've found yourself in. So have a laugh whenever you can (laughing at the people with young children who are still trying to keep their floors clean would be a good place to start). That's what life is for.

Did you find Kahli's tips useful? Do you have other tips that might be helpful for over-burdened mothers?
 
[Image]

Cubby houses I would like to move into

As children, MultipleMum and I spent days and days playing house in our father's shed.  I was always called Hannah, my very favourite name of all time when I was 9... I'm sure that one day my daughters will thank their lucky stars that I didn't have them at 9!

These fond memories were sparked by the darling cubby above belonging to Finn and Asha over at Leonie's place, Raglan Guld. Resting in a peaceful part of the garden, snazzed up with teal doors, so charming and unique. I would move in tomorrow if they would have me...

If the above is my ideal nest, this one is the McMansion next door. It's at Cutest Little Things and it is the Taj Mahal of cubbies... click on the link and have a wander around this amazing space. It's nicer and bigger than my house.

 Ohdeedoh features this one which is author Clare Crespo's daughter Ruby's playhouse. It's magic, isn't it? The sunflower garden just makes it extra special.

By Greg Hatton, featured on Designer in Disguise. Bit ho hum on the outside, but look at that stylin' styling inside. I want that desk for my new house over at Leonie's!

And just imagine if you had an inspired and talented mum like Judith Needham who could weave you a magical cubby from fresh willow? I mean, really, imagine that!

We've converted part of the garage into a cubby of sorts for our kids. It's not particularly inspirational, however, and now I feel inspired to do something about it!

 Do you have fond memories of a childhood cubby? Do your children have one?

This Saturday I'm grateful for... verandahs

Here in Maxabellaland, Saturday is traditionally a sport, shop, sort the clothes, sweep the floors, strangle the Tsunamis (insert other 's' words here - no pun intended) kinda day. But on Maxabella loves... I thought it would be grounding to make Saturday my 'grateful' day.

This Saturday I'm grateful for...

1. The view from my verandah. I'm sitting here right now and above is the view from my laptop (don't you wish I was a better photographer!!). It's impossible to sit on my front verandah and not feel like life is good. (Of course, all I can really see is that the car still has the spare tyre on the back wheel after a month... but still... life is still good.)

2. Green tea. I'm 2 months sober off the diet cokes now and it's all thanks to green tea. I'm very pleased to have broken a 20 year habit so smoothly. Special thanks goes out to green tea with mint; you are comfort in a cup.

3. Comments. I swear I'm not sucking up. But there is something about reading an extension to my blog post that just makes my whole day. Food for thought and food for the soul. I love 'em and I'm grateful for them every single time.

So, what's making you smile today?

Things I learned this week including that everything has its place

I've had a great week. I'm not even sure why. Sitting on my front verandah having a laugh with a couple of friends on Wednesday morning was near perfect. Happy children exploring the rocks to the side of our house, happy mums enjoying a cuppa, happy chocolate chip cookies munching themselves (seemingly!), happy weather smiling at it all.  Yes, that's why I had such a great week.

Plus, I learned / was reminded of a fair bit of really important stuff. Mostly about the human character.

1. For all my talk last week of rarely wearing makeup, I frocked up for an awards dinner on Friday night and it was great fun (the frocking up, not the actual dinner, that was Dullsville). I learned that dressing up and looking your best is just as much fun as I remembered. Still wouldn't want to have to do it everyday, but everything has its place.

2. There's a fantastic search cheat sheet for Google out there. It really helps to refine your search terms and find what you need more quickly

3. The grass really isn't greener on the other side of the fence. I knew this, of course, but my Working Mother Guilt post really brought it home to me. And it reminded me that when I first went back to working life after having my first baby I felt guilty because I didn't feel guilty... is there no end!? The only solution is to stop focusing on the negative and start loving the beautiful positives. And always be grateful, grateful, grateful.

4. Sometimes what you're looking for is right in front of you all along. Gifts of Serendipity posted up favourite poem of mine from long ago, Max Ehrmann's Desiderata and I was reminded to slow down, reflect and appreciate.

5. Typedrawing is just about the most fascinating thing I've found in weeks. You create pictures with words. If you love typography - as I do - you will love this to pieces.*

6. Fabric bags are my new must have. Look what Piou Piou is up to ... such a fantastic way to store kids' stuff (or any stuff for that matter!)

7. An unexpected, thoughtful gift 'just because' is a wonderful thing indeed.

8. I learned that we really are just born either sunny-side up or down. Imagine a junior burger trying to figure out the motivations for a friend suddenly wanting to play with someone else. Some kids just shrug their shoulders and say 'he's got better toys' (this was Maxi-Taxi's response), other kids worry all day that there is 'something wrong with me' (this was his bestie's response). Are your kids sunny-side up or down?

9. You've got to have band-aids in your first aid kit. They are the world's great placebo treatment. If you run out, buy some more immediately lest you be caught short with a stubbed toe belonging to a child not your own requiring said placebo... and 'what do you mean you don't have a band-aid' ringing in your ears.

10. LOML is quite possibly the kindest, most supportive and handsomemost man in the world.**

How about you? Did you learn anything new this week?

* Thanks to the lovely Kellie at 74 Lime Lane for this and the Google cheat sheet tip!

** Of course I'm cheating here: of course I didn't really just learn that this week. I learned it about a half hour after I met him all those years ago...



Are you flogging? I'm flogging at Lori's... Oh, and while we're on the subject of linkys, don't forget to link up to the August Chronicles. I wanna see your fridge!

Things I learned this week including that I need to own Country

Happy Friyay to you! Friday is my favourite day of the week. Yes, I still have to go to work (although I get to work Fridays from home every fortnight... heeeello clean floors!), but the anticipation of two whole days of whatever we like is enough to make me happy. Like any journey, sometimes the anticipation of the weekend is more exciting than the actual weekend, because in my daydreams there are no whingers, whiners, tantrumers or 'mum can I?'s. Just good old fashioned promise.

And speaking of anticipation... here's my wrap up of the week that was...

1. I need to own Jasper Conran’s new book Country . It just looks like a beautiful record of a country I love. The images are divine (see the one above), it's beautifully written, it's big.


2. There’s a villa in Northern Umbria called Villa Capanne and I really, really want to go there. I just know I would be very happy there.


3. MultipleMum taught me that, not surprisingly, there’s a site dedicated to Mary watching. I'd forgotten how super-stylish and proper Mary was until zooming through this site.


4. If you promise something and you don't do the promise, you break the love (so true, Maxi-Taxi!)


5. One of the best ‘treats’ for little people is plain potato chips. They have potato, salt and oil. That’s it.


6. How to reupholster a recliner in a step-by-step fashion that I think even I can follow. This is important because we have the world’s ugliest beige recliner that was LOML’s grandfather’s. Getting it professionally reupholstered would be a bit ridiculous as the chair is older than myself, but it’s just so comfy! Wish me luck.


7. My new favourite ‘activities for kidlettes’ site is Kiddley and I'm also very impressed with Planning with Kids.


8. Natalie Bassingthwaighte has called her first-born Harper Rain. Ho hum. I find this ‘unique names’ approach is all a bit samey-samey, really. Bit irritating, actually.


9. After a 40 year pattern of women waiting to give birth until after 30 (a pattern I contributed to), Australian women are beginning to have their babies in their 20s again. I think this is great news.


10. From Polkadotbug*, a step-by-step tutorial on how to make a reversible dress for little girls. How handy is this? You're out and about, they spill, you turn the dress over, they're good to go!

Did you learn anything special this week?

PS - You know you want a flogging... go on now... head on over to Lori's for FYBF.
PPS - Today I'm also linking up with New Friend Friday at Trendy Treehouse!


* Looks like an old blog as there are no updates this year... but the tutorial rocks so I'm sad she's closed up shop!

Loving Cocoon Couture

You may or may not have noticed that I've got a bit of a children's bedroom fetish. I just love the beautiful things they produce for children these days and I never restrict myself to just the kids' rooms with this stuff. I'd be happy to have it all over the house.

 I've always wanted to buy this gorgeous Cocoon Couture shelf stand, but every time I'm about to hit 'buy' I ask myself "what exactly do you do with a shelf stand?" I mean, really. I get that it's ornamental, but still... shelf stand. Eighty-nine bucks of stand it on the shelf. You know.

Regardless, Cocoon Culture deserves a spot on Maxabella loves... simply because I love it. And they have other gorgeous lust-haves too.

Fab name, fab stuff.

PS - Stand by... tomorrow is the launch of The July Chronicles: What's on your fridge? Get ready to join in the fun by taking a few happy snaps of what's on your fridge right now. If you don't have a magnetic fridge, share your noticeboard!