I'M BACK!

HELLOOOOOOOOOO, it feels as though it has been forever since I blogged, and what a few weeks it has been.  My last post I had a sick little poppet and of course it was inevitable I was going to end up with it-and that I did, and of course if would be when hubbie was away.  I can honestly say it is only now after 3 weeks that I feel back to my old self-I know I am not alone, I think half of Australia has had the dreaded flu-and I mean the flu not a cold!!!!!  I will be the first one in line next year for the flu shot as I don't ever want to feel like that again. 
Anyway I discovered a few things while I was not well and here they are;

• I am definitely in a cooking rut - after watching the cooking shows on TV I realised I am very predictable with my meals, you know the red meat Monday, fish Tuesday, soup Wednesday - I can always remember growing up how predictable our menu was (sorry mum).  I am not sure how I have ended up like this-I could blame it on the girls multiple allergies (chicken in particular) but I think it just comes down to lack of planning.  Look out google mince meat recipe here I come!!
• I need to make more of an effort with the girls hair of a morning.  This hit home when p2 came home from school with a beautiful inside out braid that her beautiful teacher had done-I know she would not have wanted me to feel like.  I did ask P2 if she carried on a treat when Mrs J did her hair, like she does for me - of course we all know the answer to that question.
• Shawn the Sheep on ABC for kids is really funny!  I have never really watched it before, it is very clever
• NEVER EVER make an online purchase when you are not well-very bad choice.  I thought I would get on board the neon trend with a pair of multi coloured high tops - someone please humour me and tell me you have done the same as I did.  I originally wanted the gold ones which I blogged about here.  When I had a look at the neon pair I noticed they were sold out in every size except mine as opposed to the gold ones which had multiple stock-my rationale the neons must be awesome as they were nearly sold out-I must get those before they all go-yep and that was the big mistake.

I also had given some thought as to the direction I would like to take with this blog-I would love some feedback on your thoughts and what you would love to see on here.  Here is what I have planned;

• My personal guide as to how I Op Shop
• Labels to look out for when Op Shopping
• A focus on a particular Op Shop each week
• My fabulous finds

Of course there will be other posts on all sorts of things.  Please let me know your thoughts.

Some of you observant little people may have noticed my new blog header-Katrina from the block did a brilliant little tutorial showing how to use PicMonkey, you can find it here. I have challenged myself to learn one new thing each week in this blogging journey!

Have a lovely Tuesday!

Mel xx

Sickness, Shopping & Squeezing


Hello my lovely followers.  Firstly I would just like to say a HUGE thankyou to those who have been encouraging me with your lovely comments-I love getting feedback, good, bad or otherwise.

Well just when I had planned to pick up the blogging game, illness hits.  Poor little P1 came down sick at school on Tuesday with a nasty virus and has had the rest of the week off school.  This has however forced me to STOP, which has been a good thing.  Here is how I have spent my quiet week mostly at home.

Wednesday we did venture out to do a chemist run, fortunately I was only in the driveway when I ended up looking like this

I really do need to find a suitable home in my bag for my teabags.

This short trip didn't end too well with P1 vomitting in daddys car (mine was in for a service), shame that!!!!

Thursday I had both P's at home as the kinder week had finished.  I had a window of 4 hours while the nurofen was still  in her system so we decided to head out to Northgate to Target to get some presents for some upcoming birthdays.  While we were there I ducked in to Coles to check out the Mix range of clothing-must say I was pleasantly surprised - I did purchase a cream shirt and will do an outfit post on it next week.  You can check out Mix here, unfortunately the shirt I bought has sold out online so you are unable to view it!

Today was a quiet one again.  We headed up to pick up my free range eggs I order every Friday from the Church Op Shop.  While in Bellerive we popped in to the Salvos and I picked up these vintage cross stitch ballerina's for P1's bedroom-I had fun this afternoon styling up the top of her desk - yep I will be lucky if it lasts until the morning!!

I was checking out facebook this afternoon when I came across this post, I had never thought about freezing lemon juice or zest, turns out our new place has a massive lemon tree so with my fruit basket full I decided to freeze away.  This is another citrus idea I fell in love with also but lets just say after numerous attempts I had to admit defeat.

I have also been trying to do Sarah Wilson's I Quit Sugar Program (find it here).  I must admit this is attempt 3.  I am not doing it for any other reason than to break my sugar addiction and to see if I do feel better without the sweet stuff.  Sarah recommends using Natvia (100% natural sweetener) initially while weaning off the sugar.  I gave it a go this afternoon with some natural Greek yoghurt and it was divine-would be even better with some blueberries/raspberries and almonds added.  I did also omit the sugar from these donna hay muffins and added some natvia instead - the kids loved them!

Not sure why my husband thinks I am a messy cook!!!

So there it is the week that was!  Have a fabulous weekend.
Mel xx

Latest Loves & Mini Facebook Sale

I thought I would share with you my latest loves!

You can find these awesome sneakers here

This is how I would love to wear them when the weather warms up (minus the white jeans!)

You all know my love for Sass & Bide, their latest offering Sing Brother Sing does not disappoint at all!

The earrings would have to be my fav.  I wonder how many comments I would get though telling me my earrings don't match!

I have decided to do a mini facebook sale tomorrow night.  I have a few womens pieces (Country Road, Jac & Jack, Firetrap) and a few childrens pieces also (Fred Bare, Country Road, Jack & Milly).  To be fair to all it will be first in best dressed! 

See you all tomorrow
Mel xx

The Weekend That Was - What I Wore, Ate & Did!

Hope you all had a fabulous weekend!  I kicked off my weekend on Friday night with a small surprise dinner for a dear friend.  Her husband had arranged for a chef to come in to their home and cater for dinner for a small group of her closest friends.  To say the least the food was AMAZING and honestly I think there were approximately 142 courses - well maybe 6 or 7 not including appetisers!



Just one of the 142 courses!

Beautiful Bday girl with her equally beautiful cake from here - this is where my I Quit Sugar Campaign went dramatically down hill!

Remember I blogged about my fabulous Sass & Bide Op Shop Find, well here they are - sorry photo quality a little poor

My absolute favourite part of these jeans is the hook and eye at the back - fully functioning so you could change it up by leaving some partially undone!  In case you are wondering the top underneath is from Maurie & Eve and the jacket is another Op Shop Find - it is by great Sydney label Minty Meets Munts it has definitely had $15 worth of wear already.  The shoes are from Betts - becuase the jeans are a bit rock chic I decided to go with a ladylike heel - I love the whole juxtaposition concept!

Well here is a contrast:

This is how I spent most of Sunday - yep I think I got the WORST job ever!  We have bought another property as an investment and it is in need of some TLC - I don't even want to think of all the other walls there is to do.  Please if anyone has some tips on quick, effective wallpaper removal please share.

No need to do an outfit post on this one I think.

BTW I haven't forgotten about my Jewellery challenge, I will be back on to that one this week.  In addition I am also doing http://theinteriorsaddict.com/interiors-photo-month-on-instagram-wanna-play-heres-how.  As you know I now have come of age and got a smart phone - so I am going to dip my toes in Instagram - I will share my photos with you as I go!

Have a fabulous Tuesday!

Mel xx





My Sass & Bide Op Shop Find

Hi all, apologies again for it being a little quiet on the blog front this week!  I thought I would do a quick post tonight on my fabulous op shop find yesterday.  I timed my visit to Vinnies perfectly yesterday-they have a Designer rack that only comes out when they have sufficient stock to fill it - this could mean it is months in between.  I knew yesterday that that delightful rack had not been out long when I spied in my size, Sass & Bide The New Grace jeans-unfortunately it is hard to find an image as they were from the SS2009 range - I intend on wearing them tomorrow night so I will be sure to post a pic!  And did I mention the cost - yes $20 and so worth every one of those 20!!!
When I find such pieces as these I often think who would donate these in the first place - my friend came up with a great story for these - the boyfriend was cleaning out his ex's clothes - and I am so glad he did.

For those of you who love S & B as much as I do take a peek below at Heidi Middletons house - AMAZING!

http://talesofendearment.com/a-colorful-history/?fb_comment_id=fbc_10150932274874116_22510255_10150973674059116#f1c6847d53662c

See you all soon - I promise to pick up the blogging game next week!

Mel xx

PS I hope you are all seated - I FINALLY have come of age and got a smart phone (with much guidance from my husband).  Look out Twitter, Instagram I will be all over you-just need to learn how!!!!!!

Girls Roadie Weekend

As some of you already know, yesterday was my dear sisters 40th birthday and her bestie started planning for this milestone months ago.  I can honestly say it was one of the best weekends I have ever had and not because of all the bells and whistles but because of the simplest and best things in life - WONDERFUL FRIENDS!  As it was mentioned many times over the weekend (interspersed with ample sledging) it does not matter where you are or what you are doing, but who you are with.  I thought I would share the weekend that was with you all!! 

It started with us all (6 girls in total) meeting at my sisters at 10 - and yes I had the job of packing the bag!  Thanks Kate for reminding me we were limited to time - I was busy trying to coordinate a couple of outfits - which I clearly failed at, more about that later!!!  Packing the underwear was a challenge-I was set up big time and I think I shut down at that point when I opened the top drawer - I can still see one of the girls rolling on the bed in fits of laughter.
Bag packed we headed for the soccer ground where my sister was watching her son play soccer.  I knew Lis didn't have any idea about the planned weekend, and this was confirmed with her reaction when her bestie just sidled up next to her - WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE!!!  When she realised we were all there and dressed appropriately for a lovely afternoon - she said something that only everyone would expect to come out of my mouth, "I WANT TO GO HOME AND GET CHANGED" really though Lis that polarfleece was fine LOL
We hit the road and Lis just went with it - polarfleece and all. 

Party Bus - and no I am not making a fashion statement with the lopsided hat!

 Yep this is the reaction when she saw us!

As all Hobart people know, no trip to Launceston is complete without the halfway stop at Zeps in Campbell Town.

We arrived in Launceston mid afternoon and we were able to check in to our extremely busy hotel as soon as we arrived.  Our first view of the hotel was the Mortgagee For Sale Sign-but hey lets not judge a book by its cover.  Here is us checking in for our doctors appointment, um sorry our nights stay!

and as we suspected - computer is just for looks

I can honestly say though, I would stay here again - this place has so much character, it really was like staying in someones lounge room, and as I said before it really does not matter where you are but who you are with!  Also if we had of stayed in a flash Penthouse as originally planned we would have missed out on all the laughs at this old beauties expense!

This is where we discovered my epic fail at packing Lis bag - I think I lost my focus after I opened the underwear drawer. 

Quick stop at the Mart - and let it be known I can do a quick shop - 7 mins to be precise - mission accomplished!  Unfortunately the polarfleece didn't quite cut it for our next stop!

This was our ladylike part of the day - High Tea at the Grand Chancellor, gee it was good - and yes shock horror I had a champa's!

The highlight of the weekend for me was Saturday night - we  stayed in and watched Bridesmaids, ate, drank, ate, ate and ate some more all snuggled up in our retro apartment - I can honestly say I have never laughed so much-the sledging was brilliant!

Sunday morning we were booked in for breakfast at the Casino, flowers and balloons waiting for Lis on the table from her gorgeous bestie.  But really Kate did you need to have that much pepper on your scrambled eggs?

Yes it was these simple things that had us in fits of laughter.

We headed home late morning - this is where Lis got a little emotional - all our families were at her house for lunch/afternoon tea to celebrate this beautiful girls actual birthday.

My dear sister you deserved every minute of this wonderful weekend, I am so blessed to have you as my sister and to the other 4 girls, I treasure your friendship very much,  now who's birthday is next????

Hope you all had as great a weekend as I did.

Mel xx

What I Wore and Day 8 Jewellery Challenge

Well I am proud to say that over half of todays outfit is from the op shops.  I will start with the jeans which were actually bought for my husband. As part of his job he had a day planned up at Russell Falls stripping fish-very messy job to which he didn't want to wear his own clothes.  I stumbled across these Mavi's at Lifeline in the City and he managed to pour himself into them for the day - fortunately after a good wash they smell like new so I decided to do my own version of a ripped boyfriend jean.  The rips aren't that prominant at the moment but I know over time and with me playing with them I will get the desired effect.  In my opinion the boyfriend jean really needs to be worn with a heel, introducing my Ash boots which I love to bits - you can find them here, and did I mention they are so so comfy!
The jacket is from Sportsgirl which I picked up at the op shop last year still with the $140.00 price tag attached-it did have a few buttons missing so my dear mum took them all off and replaced them with simple black ones-I love the structure of this jacket and the military style.  Under the jacket I just wore my trusty Country Road singlet and Dotti long sleeve top-I could have actually done with more layers today, it was freezing!

Day 8 Jewellery Challenge

Today I wore my new gold slim choker (as above) I received as a gift - I think I love it even more than the silver one I have, you can find them here. 





I can tick quite a few off my jewellery list today after this effort, they are as follows:

• watch - kmart $19, it is nice and loose which I love and being a combo of both gold and silver I can wear it with all my jewellery
• closest to the watch is a diva bangle which has tiny elephants around it
• the link bracelet is a cheapie from the op shop
• next is another 30th bday present - solid gold I will wear this one forever - it layers so well
• last is a Lucy Folk Taco friendship bracelet - the gold taco shell really makes this - you can find her pieces here

How you can help me
When talking with some friends today we were discussing possible blog content, I was thinking of dedicating some posts to my strategy for op shopping and also where I shop exactly - as these are probably the most asked questions I get.  Also in the future I was thinking I could do a My Edit - pieces that I find and love and put them up for sale-I would also show how I would style them, I WOULD LOVE TO KNOW WHAT YOU ALL THINK - and if there is anything you would like me to write a post about please let me know!

Mel XX

PS Thank you so much beautiful Alinta for my pics today.