loving : children of the tribe bags

i'm on the hunt for a new handbag and the process of finding just one perfect candidate (i was hoping for at least a two option situation) is proving more difficult than first thought. welcome, handbag, you've now been placed into the category where 'it's time for a new pair of sunnies' resides; a place where an item needs to be delegated time, patience and constant attention, which then normally results in an extremely happy owner once desired style is found (mainly because it's taken so damn long to find).

 

sigh.

 

but i am loving the new statement bag from children of the tribe that i've come across in my bag travels. i loved their sleepover and swimming bags, and now the goodness bag is just so much more versatile.

 

perhaps an 'in-between-handbags' candidate? hmm...

loving : saltwater sandals

loving the new mash-up saltwater sandals in tan and turquoise, exclusive to lady pinwheel. if you're quick, you can save 10% on a pair aswell as go into the draw to win a free pair!



loving : the birdhouse print

pants or tank. i can't decide which i like the most. i just know that i am loving this silk birdhouse print from milk from a thistle's spring/summer collection.

threads on thursday

are you doing the instagram thing? if you are, would you like to join in with us on a thursday to share your wardrobe style? ...or your kids style, or your nans style, or even a sneaky stranger shot style {you get where i'm going with this?!}. the bestie and i thought we'd try and drop some more fun into the instagram thing and start a hashtag : #threadsonthursday.

it's not about designer clothes and showing off. it's about giving yourself a little push into your wardrobe and mixing some outfit combo's you might not have pulled off before. it's about $15 kmart mint jeans. it's about those new shoes you just couldn't resist. it's about sharing style idea's. it's about having some fun. it's about getting creative with your camera. it's about replicating your pinterest boards into your real life. for me, it's about neon and blazers right now {because i am an obsessed neon freak, but you already knew that if you follow my pinterest boards}.

in around-about way, this started from 4 years of wardrobe neglect. i am certain i am not the only mum out there who has been obsessed with dressing their little people in gorgeous, adorable, too cool for school ensembles. it brings me so much pride to have my little people looking their cutest. i love my kids, i love fashion. it fits together. but i lost "me" along the way. somehow. i had style in my 20's, for years i was all about the denim with heels and a tee. along with many new years resolutions this year, one of them was to re-build my fashion style and add some new clothing pieces to my wardrobe. and now, i'm seeing my old style peeking through at me from my wardrobe and you know what, it feels awesome to want to get up and push my wardrobe limits each morning.

we'd love you to join in and play along too, you don't need to be asked to hashtag your image, just chuck the hashtag on and mingle with some instagrammers like yourself, who have "stuff" in common. if you're a private user, you can still play too - only your followers will see your image in the hashtag gallery, anyone who doesn't follow you won't see your image. and of course, all public profile images are there to be seen by anyone {this is the mingling part i was talking about}.

i'm on instagram as @becwatts - i'll see you tomorrow!



stepping out

i remember when i was pregnant with my second child, loads of mum's told me that it's much easier second time round. mmm... that hasn't been the case for me. so not the case. the last 12 months has been a long road, adjusting to the multi tasking of two beautiful children and a household, myself and a small business. i am one super organised person, and it has even caught me off guard and disorganised. it takes me approximately 2-3 weeks now to respond to a text. and only today, almost 12 months after my second baby came along, do i feel like i've caught up on the washing. the washing. one small child has thrown the washing regime waaaaaaaaay off track. but today i've caught up. i'm not even going to go there with the gardens (ha-hum, weeds)...!

my bestie goes out for a coffee every day. sometimes twice. truth be told, sometimes she even goes three times, depending on her day! it might only be a takeaway, or she may sit in. but this is her thing, the thing she likes to do for her. and sure, she no longer has a baby in her arms, her babies are walking and talking, more independant. and right now, for maybe quite possibly the first time yet, i miss my own independance. i miss me, i miss real coffee, i miss "having the time".

so i decided that one day a week i would go exploring this beautiful city i live in. get myself out of the house for an hour, away from the nursery and the routine, away from the chores and abc 4 kids, and into the fresh air. to go and find a place i have yet to visit. somewhere new, somewhere different, somewhere hidden. somewhere that might brew coffee, so i can skip my usual nescafe that day, and sit with my little people, sipping on awesome espresso, people watching and exploring. meeting and greeting.

so i started doing this a few weeks ago and thought i would blog about the places i have visited, and share my finds with you. i've got three to catch up on, stayed tuned...

lusting : billy shoulder bag

this jerome dreyfuss bag makes my peche heart sing. it's price tag however, does not.

happy weekend to you all!

101 uses for your jellystone necklace

number 4 : try clipping it around the shopping trolley handle. guaranteed at least 10-15 minutes of non squirming out of the big girl seat during the shopping, and is sure to please those teething gums.

i may not be able to come up with 101 uses, but i can definately give you a handful of handy idea's that our jellystone designs necklaces can provide for you! and seriously, for cost of $16, these silicone pendants are worth every cent! give it a try for yourself.

bella b wear. on sale.

shop the sale. dress the bump. bella b wear. a label you can wear while pregnant. a label you can wear if you're not. on sale.

iphone italk : country road

i may need to put a shoppers warning on this post, so be warned retail junkies! the country road iphone app has thought of some great app features. apart from viewing the newest collections with extreme ease, you can enter in your card/member number and receive notifictaions of your benefits, like your spend and save offers, and you can also see your year to date spendage. you can use the store locator to find your nearest store, with opening hours, maps and contact details.

a very cool app that's worth the free download. just search country road.

wearing : the belted scarf

have you tried belting your scarf? it's such an easy and effective fashion trend that can just pop that every day outfit and give it a bit of jous. there are endless options on how to belt a scarf, from silky leight weight scarves in the summer, to thick lucious woolen ones in winter. you can wear it basic and long like i have here, you can loop it once or twice around the neck to bring the height up and give you more neck coverage, skinny belts, thick belts, you get the drift!

i particulary find this look useful while i'm a breast feeding mumma. here i wear the lilly b nursing tank in white, so i have instant access to my feeding aparatus. i actually unclip my belt and my scarf is wide enough to cover my baby and discreetly feed her. i drape my scarf around my neck for this reason, and also because this gives me an elongated look {aka - makes me look taller when really i'm not}.

it still looks great from the back, the belt doesn't look too out of place. i'm digging this look. do you wear it? will you try it this year? i wear :

top : yummy mummies & mini me

scarf : one red hen

belt : op shop

necklace : yummy mummies & mini me

jeans : country road

loving : binny pinky & pocket tshirt dress

and if you're a leopard lover, have a squiz at the curlewis street maxi. leopard print at it's gorgeousness!

{ http://www.shopbinny.com/shop/index.php }

cheap eats : mocha cookies

every 3 or 4 weeks i miss a shop and try and 'get by' on what we have in the cupboards. not only to save a couple of pennies, but also to use up those stray meal base packets hanging around at the back of the shelf, and to even try and get creative with what ingredients we do have. look, i'll be honest with you, it normally ends in a phone call to nan asking what i can make with such and such. but if i'm not calling nan, i normally dig out the cheap eats recipe book {women's weekly}.

this recipe is from that book. be warned, it's not the healthiest of foods and probably not something you would pack in your child's lunch box. but if you're a coffee and biscuit lover, you'll probably love it!

150g butter, softened
3/4 cup {165g} firmly packed brown sugar
1 egg yolk
2 teaspoons instant coffee granules
1 tablespoon hot water
1 1/2 cups {225g} plain flour
1 tablespoon cocoa powder
20 dark chocolate melts

{1} preheat oven to 180/160c fan-forced. grease and line two oven trays with baking paper.

{2} beat butter, sugar, egg yolk and combined coffee and water in small bowl with electric mixer until smooth. transfer mixture to large bowl; stir in sifted flour and cocoa, in two batches. knead dough on floured surface until smooth.

{3} roll level tablespoons of mixture into balls; place 5cm apart on trays, flatten slightly. press 1 chocolate melt into centre of each cookie; bake about 12 minutes. cool cookies on trays.

next time i will use milk chocolate instead of dark chocolate melts, the dark was too much for me. and my oven isn't the best, so my cookies were in there for about 20 minutes.

do you have a favourite 'cheap' meal you like to cook? or a recipe book you use often? does anyone use the 4 ingredients book? i see there is a kids version of that out now too.

loving : native shoes

a shoe addiction? who me? who us? we're loving the natives right now. so comfy. so the summer connies!

the mini me wears : pink jefferson natives from http://www.littlepinwheel.com.au
the yummy mummy wears : grey jefferson natives from http://www.ladypinwheel.com.au

loving : zoya matte velvet dovima nail polish

loving : peter alexander family onesies

i can't help it. i love them! i love them for my daughter, i love them for me and i love them for my partner {who is absolutely refusing to even try the mens one on for me! i think he's scared i'll snap a quick phone pic of him in it!}.

either way, this is what i'm loving this week!

{note : the above designs are in store but they don't seem to be online}

i'm a winner : n is for nanette

i had to share these two adorable headbands i won through n is for nanette's facebook page. i'm not clever enough to photograph them on my own head, so out came the bribes and miss moo became my little model. her bribe was the blue and pink headband, although she really wanted them both, i just couldn't give up the rose vintage headband. it is absolutely stunning and went straight into mummy's bathroom, out of reach of little hands.

i'm so happy with my suprise win, the work put into these headbands is impeccable. nanette is currently doing another giveaway on her page, where you send her a picture of your favourite dress and the winner gets a customised headband to match their dress. off i go to check my wardrobe...

smell me yummy

do you have a signature scent, or do you like to have several scents? i used to have 2 or 3 bottles of perfumes going at the one time; one for work, one for weekends and one for going out. these days, i don't go to work as such and i rarely 'go out', and that disposable income i used to have, no longer seems to exist! so i've been a one bottle mummy for a while now.

i have just finished my bottle of fendi palazzo, and oh my i loved it. but i'm the type who likes to move on and try something different. the image above represents my 4 favourite smells; fendi palazzo, jean paul gaultier classique, chanel coco madamoiselle and calvin klein euphoria. i am considering going back to either euphoria or coco madamoiselle, as it's been a while since i've had them. i remember the days when in my lunch break i would pop into myers and try a new perfume on each arm, let them sit, then decide if they were me or not. nowadays, i don't really get to the malls that often, not when most of my shopping is done online.

i saw over on good mum hunting a few suggestions, and i had lots of lovely suggestions on our facebook page too - like gucci guilty, chloe love, marc jacobs daisy - all of which i made a special little trip to the myer perfume counter and tried on, but just wasn't totally grabbed by any, if you know what i mean? i did try jil sanders jil, it was ok, again though, didn't grab me.

what do you currently wear? what would you suggest i try next?

loving : milk from a thistle forest maxi

style file : lilly b

colourful maxi's; that's what i'm seeing and loving this spring/summer in maternity fashion. recognised for their gorgeous maxi dresses, the lilly b label will have you looking and feeling fabulous while pregnant, in any of their delightful designs. the calypso dress as shown above has to be one of my favourites. i am a colour person, i love how wearing a colour can lift your mood for the day, no matter how hormonal it may start out as!

the calypso is a super maxi, meaning it is extra long in length. however, it would be no problem to slice a little from the hemline if you feel it is too long for your height. us shorties will no doubt need to slice some off, but for the taller, this dress will indeed cover your ankles. available in sizes small, medium, large and extra large, this maxi is really quite generous, so if you're on the smaller size of your sizing, then definately go down a size. priced at $199.95, you can see the calypso dress here.

my next favourite is the flora multi tiered maxi in aqua. this dress was extremely popular last year and was featured throughout every pregnancy magazine and worn by some of our aussie celebrities. it was remanufactured so many times to keep up with the demand, but this season see's the popular colourway in aqua, as shown, phasing out. which is such a shame as the colours used are so sweet and soft. the only sizes available now are a small and large. this dress is also $199.95 and is a standard sizing, so stick to your regular size for this maxi.

and one more of my fave's is the drawstring print maxi. this dress is featured in the latest copy of cosmo pregnancy and although this image above looks fab, it doesn't do it enough justice. this dress is divine! it is made from polyester and spandex, so it has a bit of a shimmery look to it {perfect for a wedding or special occassion} and is also quite long in length. available in sizes small, medium and large and is again $199.95. you can find this dress here.

note that all of the dresses i have picked out are bra-wearable. i have a lot of customers who prefer to wear a normal bra wherever possible, so these dresses all have awesome boob coverage! any of the maxi's on the site are generally over $150, so this gives you free postage with your purchase.

congratulations to all of our readers who are expecting, we hope you're enjoying it xx

hot spot :: gov's espresso

last week we met up with local super star, keeley from savvy mama. we tried out the newest hot spot on the gold coast, gov's espresso, for a cuppa and a chat, little ones in tow. i always love hanging with keeley, not only is she all over what's happening around town, but she is an absolute crack up, always making me laugh.

gov's is a big ol' house that's been converted into a meeting spot that oozes in vintage style. you can relax inside with a game of chess or sit and read your current novel. sit in the rustic courtyard at the front by the fountain. book the studio room for a baby shower or the private room for your business meeting. or how about organising your next mother's group in the back sunroom or yard! we sat out in the backyard in the morning sun so miss addi and miss summer could draw on the big chalk boards or play in the cool boat in the sand pit (even though they preffered to play grown ups and sit with us and sip babycinos). my favourite was the old bed frame in the yard to lounge on (the vintage day bed, love it). there are also lots of collectables available for purchase in the front collectables room.

with loads more additions being added, including a new big chalk board along the back fence and story time for the kids aged 2-5 on mondays, gov's is a great place to meet with friends, no matter what the occassion. they are open every day from 7am - 3pm and are located in mermaid beach at 2457 gold coast highway. i recommend!