Lately

1 First ponytail. Ever.

2 Some of my extended family were visiting Newcastle, so we had a family catch up at my sister's house

3 My bff & I went to see Miley, it was ah-mazing! It was a shame my phone had no battery & I couldn't take any of my own pics though ( source )

4 As part of my sister's annual birthday week we made Greek inspired mezze for her birthday dinner

5 Romy grew some serious curls this month & picked up a bunch of cool stuff from The Wiggles

We kept ourselves quite busy this month, it's a little bit of a shame that I didn't take many pictures from our daily adventures though. I must remember to pack my camera more for November (yikes, that is only a couple of days away!!).

Present Suggestions For Coffee Fiends

In the last year or so I've made a conscious effort to buy better presents for family & friends for birthdays & other special occasions. I wouldn't go as far as to say that I bought horribly bad presents before, but I noticed a bad present buying habit of mine that affected my choices - plan early, act late. So I would find myself with a few days to sort it out, and more often than not would end up wrapping the most convenient option. After I came to this realisation, I decided it had to end because I love buying presents for other people, I love the whole planning aspect of it and pondering what my presentee will like for their special day. 

Just before Christmas last year I came across a Christmas present buying method one blogger had adopted for their shopping last year - theming their presents. Genius right?! Now, when I say 'theme', don't think Disney Princesses on Ice kinda theme, more like, oh you like the markets? cool! I'll gift you a bunch of cool shit from the markets type theme. And incase you find yourself stuck for gifting ideas, I thought I'd make it into a blog post to help you out! First up..

1   2   3   4   5

Do you have a coffee fiend friend? Sure you do! I've selected a couple of neat suggestions for varying types of caffeine junkies, & factoring in varying types of present buying budgets. While it isn't always the best approach to have in mind while present shopping, the above suggestions are things I would like to receive, as a coffee fiend myself.  

For a simple birthday gift, or low key office Chris Cringle a coffee mug is always a safe bet. And if your presentee & yourself have an 'in joke' together, you can personalise the mug with that. My sister received a coffee mug as a 'handing in her thesis' present from a work colleague that had a Marnie quote from GIRLS on it, I think that is a killer gift - practical and personal. Should you find yourself with a little extra money in your present budget because your mug of choice was on sale, you could easily chuck in a packet of chocolate coated coffee beans for something extra. But if you find yourself on a really tight budget, why not make a batch of homemade biscotti up for your presentee! 

If your presentee already has a coffee making device like a percolator or French press, but will buy their coffee in ready ground bags, take their morning coffee to the next level with an inexpensive coffee grinder. I have this particular grinder and use it at home to grind my coffee beans every morning. If you know what type of beans your presentee likes, pair the grinder up with a small bag to get them started. My top pick from this suggestion list would be an espresso machine. And if you like coffee too then everybody wins! It may seem like an outrageous present, but you could always get others to pitch in too for a group effort. This particular machine is definitely affordable, & makes a pretty tasty cup of jo. I bought one last year, & have saved myself a lot of money from not buying multiple takeaway coffees during the week.

Toddler Life / Tantrums

This little yoghurt faced warrior is having a melt down, in fact for the past three or so weeks she has been having a melt down. I know they tell you all about the terrible twos and tantrums, but they didn't tell you it would be this difficult - and Romy isn't even two yet! I know that she is just trying to sort her feelings out and is trying to communicate with us, and I know how frustrating it can be at times when I am poorly trying to explain something and it isn't getting across, so I understand. But it's the high pitched squeals that hold that same piercing note for what seems like great lengths of time that get me. I thought those unsettled newborn cries broke my parental ear drums in, but they were just warming me up for what was to come. My friend Elle was telling me a few months back how she had been reading something somewhere about toddler behaviour and how this time in a person's life is generally the most violent you will ever be, & I remember really listening and tucking that tid-bit away. But it has only now really resonated with me as Romy has grown into that boisterous toddler that uses her entire body to communicate.  

If her plate gets caught under the tray of the highchair, that warrants a tantrum. And if she stays in the highchair one second too long that also warrants a tantrum. Brushing her teeth & hair  = tantrum. Sitting in the pram = tantrum. Anything that doesn't involve The Wiggles, the park or food = tantrum. Her outbursts in the highchair are (if I have to choose!) preferable because she doesn't tend to hurt herself while having them, whereas if she was walking around and got upset she will instantly be on the ground rolling around and on the occasion hitting and kicking anything in reach. The more I try to calm her down and resolve the situation, the worse it becomes so I  approach the situation by letting her get it all out of her system and being her calming spot to cool down. And that works for us (at least for now).   

Currently

Reading: 'The Neighborhood'  by S.K Epperson. I came across this author when I was first loading my kindle up with light reading a couple of months back and snapped up her free kindle novel 'Green Lake', which was one of the easiest books to digest in a couple of sittings, & 'the neighborhood' is much the same. If you read Goosebumps as a kind, then you will definitely love this ladies novels that are in a similar vein for an older audience only the monsters in her novels are your neighbours.

Watching:  Veep. Oh, you too?! Awesome! How good is it!!!! My sister was raving on about it for a good couple of weeks before I actually gave it a go, and boy oh boy am I glad I did! It took me a couple of episodes to get into the groove of the shows pace and humour, the jokes are short sharp bullets of sass one after the other. By the time you have finished laughing at one quip, there has already been four more. I cannot recommend this show enough! Gary is my favourite, he has the BEST awkward faces and I love how utterly clueless he can be at times. And his bag! Go watch it!

Listening to: Taylor Swift's 'Red' album to wait out the 1989 anticipation. I normally can either take or leave her music but after coming around to her latest single 'shake it off' I have a renewed respect for how light hearted her music is, and I like being distracted by her love woes on my drive to work on the weekends. 

Loving:  This spring weather. The first week of spring was a sad & miserable joke that luckily has made a turn around. These past few weeks have been wonderful, I love this time of year where you hardly notice the weather and you aren't hot or cold. And I especially love spring now that day light savings has started and our afternoons aren't spent rushing around to fit in an afternoon walk before the sun goes down. If Luke isn't working a split he usually finishes around 4.30pm, giving us heaps of extra day light to go for an afternoon walk before the sun sets at 7pm.

Working On:  Making Romy's room a sweet space that she can play in. At the moment her bedroom is purely a sleeping haven, and a place for bits and pieces and bags of clothes she has grown out of. So bit by bit we've been de-cluttering and transforming it into what it should be - a simple toddler bedroom. 

Eating : Quinoa. During the colder months Luke & I tend to shy away from making quinoa dishes, but now that spring has sprung we're filling our plates with quinoa fattoush once again! I even tried my hand at making quinoa fritters last week and they were delicious!

Looking Forward To : My friends wedding, seeing my extended family on their Newcastle visit & a night in the city with my bff to see Miley.

Saturday Style / Table Centers

[ source ]

Once upon a time I foolishly thought that table centrepieces weren't that overly important to create alovely space. But in the last year or so I've realised just how essential a finished table top is to create a cohesive vibe between life & decor. Each space is unique and in some cases the one size fits all won't work, so work with your space & find ways to complement it. And if all else fails a nice scented candle in a sturdy jar will also do the trick!

1   2   3   4   5   6

Three Things A Day

( source ) 

Last year when the adjustment period had passed for being a full time stay at home mum, I implemented my 'do three things a day' goal to stay motivated. Beforehand, there were days where I wouldn't really achieve anything productive and that would bring on the guilts. When you're factoring in a baby or teething toddler, some days it really is impossible to cross even the most basic jobs off of your to-do list, so I spread it out over the week and aim to get one big & two small tasks completed each day. And while it is only three things you're aiming for each day, some days those three things end up being a small victory. Now that I have been more accepting of not always having the opportunity to get things done when I would like to, I am now able to just roll with whenever I can get it done. 

Today I started to rearrange Romy's bedroom, cleaned the bathroom & I vacuum sealed my unworn clothes. We're currently going through that period in our home where we're finally getting around to replacing & rearranging things in our house post-move. We moved into this rental about six months ago, & because we were unorganised for the move we unpacked things for the sake of unpacking them quickly and gave little thought to how we really wanted things to be. So that is where we're at right now, room by room slowly de-cluttering drawer by drawer to obtain a better organised living space.

Toddler Meals // Little Lunch

I mentioned in the first Toddler Meals post I shared in August that Romy's nap time is smack bam in the middle of the day and she doesn't wake up until around 3.30pm, but  lately with this bout of teething I've been getting four hour naps out of her. So by the time sleeping beauty wakes up, it's actually not too far off dinner time. So we started giving her a 'little lunch' around 11-11.30 am, and a lighter 'lunch' after her nap. So basically she eats two small lunches & sleeps for 3+ hours - she really is living the toddler dream!

We're always up for trying different methods to try & achieve success at meal times, & currently the two-part lunch method is working best for us. Before we implemented the 'little lunch' - which is different from a snack - we were finding that after a long nap & a late lunch come dinner time Romy just wasn't overly hungry, and it was making us all frustrated. I really didn't want to accept that we had a fussy eater, because I think that you can get a little too deep into the 'fussy eater' hole and it ends up giving the 'fussy eater' power to pick and choose & ultimately they won't try anything new. So before we gave into that idea, we tried a different method & it was that simple. Now (most) evenings Romy will eat her dinner, which has taken a lot of stress out of the evenings. 

I know this looks like a lot of food to be 'little lunch' but it is actually only a small amount. On this little lunch plate is one slice of cheese cut into super small pieces, grated apple, a couple of strawberries cut into smaller pieces and a small slice of toasted homemade banana, blueberry & orange bread. 

And as you can see, the grated apple was not a hit. Romy cannot get her head around apple, every time she tries it she pulls this shocked look as though she is thinking, "what the heck have you given me!". Every. Time. So I tried a different approach and grated the apple to serve and she still wasn't sold on it. You win some you lose some right?

The Perfect Mug

1     2     3     4     5     6 

Most coffee mugs last about a year or so in my house, we have a coffee mug chipping curse in our kitchen cupboards I'm beginning to think. Most recently my favourite lemongrass coloured mug that I picked up for a raging price of $2 at a  home wares clearance sale last year acquired a chip rendering it basically useless now. I see a chip and I know what happens next. And because it is my favourite coffee mug I have to replace it with something that is a little bit cuter, and something that Luke won't silently claim. The Ron Swanson mug above would be perfect, but Luke & I both share a love of RS so I can just see what would happen there. So I'll have to keep that one in mind for next Father's Day & use it during the day when Luke isn't home! I am loving the jade disolve mug currently at Freedom, it has that set of mugs at a holiday beach house feel to it, and even though I'm not into the beach, I really like it.  

Hello, October!

1   2   3   4   5 

Isn't this year just passing by so quickly?! Especially the last two months, we have been moving at a fast pace here that I didn't even realise the first of October had already been & gone until yesterday. This month is going to be wonderful because our good friends Renee & Simon are getting married! Renee has been sharing her wedding planning over coffees with me for months now, and she has some pretty neat ideas underway that I can't wait to see it all put together in just a couple of short weeks! Also, a handful of my extended family will be visiting Newcastle for a wedding & during their stay we'll be having a little get together at my sisters new house. And then I'll be going to see Miley with my bff in the city. And at some point we'll be squeezing a visit in to go meet our friend's new baby boy that was just this second born.

And just lastly, a couple of things from last month; 15 Ways To Be A Good Human Today, The Girl With Three Boobs, 33 Reasons Why Mighty Ducks Is The Best Movie Trilogy Of All Time, Stay Away From Microwaves, and this great Homemade Body Scrub.