Tuesday Snapshot- Stitches & Chocolate

So this is my Tuesday. An absolutely massive box of exquisite Laurent Meric's Cacao chocolates and a stunning summer dress for the Tinker made by... yours truly!

Sometimes I need to stop and pinch myself when I think about how lucky I am to have such lovely friends. For the past four days my good friend and sewing guru Theoreticgal has been my house guest. She came to Sydney laden with gifts for the Tinker and all manner of awesome sewing gadgets for me as well as a pattern and some fabric to make the little dress above.

She did a lot of hand holding to get me to make the dress and it turned out brilliantly. I will do another post showing you more detail and telling you how we put it all together. Theoreticgal is quite the house guest. Not only did she have to endure my crazy Griffon Bruxellois dogs as room mates but she had to eat my food.

Last night courtesy of a gorgeous mutual friend with connections to Australia's number 1 restaurant, I made dinner with a kilo of the most amazing ocean trout. I thought I'd whip up a yummy fish pie with Monday being my meat free day as per our new diet. Anyway I made a complete mess of the meal and it ended up being a plate of gruel.

For my most generous and most gourmet friend I served up a plate of gruel. It was a disaster, a funny one in retrospect but a disaster none the less. What went wrong? I have no idea. It tasted fine but the consistency was a nightmare. Lately all of my cooking pursuits have ended in tears. I think it is a sign. So from today forward I am on a cooking strike bar the food I make for my Tinker. Luckily I have my box of amazing award winning chocolates to sustain me for a few days until I hire a full time chef or perhaps invest in a truckload of 2 minute noodles.

Wisdom & Fashion

“A wise old owl sat on an oak; The more he saw the less he spoke; The less he spoke the more he heard; Why aren't we like that wise old bird?”


I am definitely not an owl. I am more like a woodpecker, banging on all day not really saying much but making a lot of annoying, repetitive noise. For someone who so admires wise folk it is a shame I don't strive to be more owl-like. I speak before I think and I disappoint myself a lot with my overly talkative nature.


Really I think I should try a lot harder to be more wise. Now that I have a child I often think about the example I am setting for her. So many things I'd like to change about myself, one of them being my big mouth!


Anyway on the topic of owls I thought I might take the opportunity to show you all the work of a very wise lady. Wynona is terribly modest and oh so talented. She has a childrenswear label with her sister Anna, it is called Ivy Designs. A beautiful Aussie handmade-with-love brand that is close to my heart. Their much anticipated winter range has just been released and it did not disappoint. My very favourite is the Owl Pinny pictured below:

Image taken from here: http://www.ivydesigns.bigcartel.com/product/owl-pinny


Oh how I love owls, they are so beautiful and perfect for this little frock. The fabric is ever so pretty and so stylish without being an adults dress in a tiny size. I am very particular about the way I dress my daughter, I am of the belief that children should enjoy their childhood in gorgeous playful clothes. I see no room for children to dress like adults, in clothing designed to makes waistlines look smaller and chests bigger.

I know these days kids are being forced to grow up so quickly. The sexualisation of children worries me greatly, little things like babies in bikinis and mini skirts might be harmless fun to some but to me symbolises a step away from what a childhood should be all about- nice, clean fun! You can get about in skanky attire to your hearts content as an adult why not wear the superman cape to the shops with rain boots and a cute sunhat now? I love pretty childrens clothes but I have no time for sexy or tweenie.

I really think it is a shame to miss out on your only real chance to be playful and innocent. Why start wearing midriff tops and hot pants with lip gloss and trashy shoes when you are 6? You have your whole lives to do that. I'm not into awful dowdy clothes, I love fashion and I love stylish little outfits, I just like them to be fit for children.

What are your thoughts?

It's friday night now and I think I might sit back and read a few magazines I treated myself with this week. Have a lovely weekend everyone. I'm off to a funny store called The Foam Booth to collect my foam order tomorrow. Yes I have some crafting in store, I will definitely post photos when and if I achieve anything of note, I promise!

The Von

For as long as I can remember, I have suffered from a very serious and socially debilitating disease. Chronic Foot in Mouth Syndrome. I say it is a syndrome more so than a disease because there are a number of different features that define it, one of them is no matter how hard I try I always say the wrong thing. Most of my friends have been dining out on my shocking faux pas for years and I'm sure for many more to come because as far as I can see, there is no hope of a cure.

I was reminded the other day of a very funny one, it happened a few months ago at a to la-di-da corporate dinner where I was supposed to play the perfect corporate wife. You know the type that smiles, nods, laughs at lame jokes and says the occasional upbeat chipper comment about something harmless and lighthearted? Never the cynic and absolutely never the grump. The corporate wife has no worries and only thinks pretty, happy and friendly thoughts. I always set out to be this person, not because I feel I should but more as a challenge for myself.

I like to test myself to see if I can actually sit through one of these poxy dinners without saying one inappropriate thing. Anyway at this particular dinner a certain famous Australian actress was in attendance. One who seems to poo-poo commercialism except when it comes to a certain Japanese cosmetics brand. Anyway that's a whole other story. The night started out quite well apart from my awkward bathroom encounter with the above mentioned actress. You know those moments where, being under 5'5 you often walk straight into people's chests? Anyway I have those a lot. She was coming out and I was going in. Then we had that awkward encounter where one goes to the left but so does the other then the right then the lest and you end up looking like pair of pins in the bowling alley...

Ok so I was introduced to the wife of one of my husband's business acquaintances. We got chatting about surnames I can't remember why. She was saying she had a friend who changed his surname to his wife's first name. I thought that was interesting but asked why he didn't choose to take her surname, it was Bottom. Fair enough. Then I said my best friend and her husband both changed their surnames when they married, they chose a name that had special meaning to them. I said I'd probably choose something super toff, something with a von involved like last year's youngest billionaire Albert von Thurn und Taxis.

You all know how this story ends don't you? Madame with the perfect blonde quiff smiles pitifully at the poor washed up housewife wearing her mother's unironed sack of a dress (yes I really did wear one of my mum's dresses. Let's not even go there ok. Baby weight is hard to lose and nothing of mine would fit!) and she chuckles condescendingly, "oh my sister's married name is Von ...." something or other. Of course she is. Excellent.

Honestly you just can't take me anywhere!

Oh and for the single ladies, here is Albert, 25 and worth $2.0 bill. You'd think he could afford a nicer shirt.

image credit bittenandbound.com