A Collection of Thoughts

Pinspiration {14}

I keep seeing that sweet recipe on my boards for raspberries - so simple - fresh berries stuffed with a variety of different chocolate chips . I must make some.  Then that divine flower centre piece caught my eye and the two are just a perfect match.

Berry flowery sweetness. LOVE :)

 

  

Berries found here - first pinned by Carrie Original here

Flowers found here  first pinned by Tha- original here

You can see my other pinspirations here  or on pinterest here

Confessions of A Concealaholic

I've been meaning to share this new little find with you for sometime but this morning while I was getting dressed I finally remembered to take the pictures.

A few disclaimers

1.  This is not an ad I'm just sharing as I know most of my  readers are in the same age bracket as me and umm maybe your faces look a little like mine - needing augmentation :) or not.

2.  I'm no model ( roflol I know you needed to be reminded ) try not to be too scared by the before

3. I'm no make up expert consultant - I'm a whack it on hope for the best run out the door type girl. I wish I was very talented in that area but I'm not.

So what's my new secret ?   A few weekends back in Mebourne Mel and I were in Myers where we stumbled on the  Benefit Cosmetic bar. I had read about their product and the packaging was so so cute so we stopped for a closer look. 

To be honest I wasn't  nterested in buying anything. I sort of thought that this range was too young and trendy to be suitable for me ( nearing 40)  and it wasn't available in Queensland.

How wrong was I!

The lovely Benefit girl worked her magic and I was so impressed ( unlike me! ) I bought two products on the spot.

 

The trick then is always being able to get it looking the same when you do it. But  seriously it's so easy. Just goes on there are no tricks.  Then I found out there is a Benefit counter on the coast - at Robina in Myers :)

My skin has been givng me grief due to pure neglect - very red lately and spotty so last weekend when I had a myers voucher and time on a Saturday (it is only open Tues to Sat ) I headed down there to see what else I could add. The ladies were super busy so all I managed was to ask about the concealaholic kit which I nabbed and then came home to read up on.

 

I was scared by all the little bits as I'm a FAST make up girl- no time but they promised me I would love it so  I gave it a go.

One week later and I'm such a huge fan.

Here is the proof. - No photo shopping  (hand on my heart ) hurt me not to I swear - taken in my mirror this morning  before and after you can  click for bigger.

I know be nice if I smiled and umm and if I used eye make up and blush or did my hair but you get the idea!

So the after is just the confessions of a concealaholic kit with the some kind of gorgeous foundation and girl meets pearl illuminator. I used some lip gloss too. That's it.

Love it so much. I'm wanting to get their new mascara

and also one of their little tints which you can use as a blush or lip gloss. So they are next on my list oh and this  - smokin eyes

 

Myers stock Benefit products - the girls are super helpful and they call you gorgeous - which is really lovely -  even if it's not true.

 

Getting In the Picture

Janelle and Tammy have been regularly scolding me about making sure that I take pictures of me. I become more conscious of it each year after the Day in the Life project where I always take a picture of myself each day. But realistically with iphoneology there is no excuse-  I have a camera with me all the time and all I need to do is click away until i find one i can bear LOL You know how it is. Also I think back to the photos that I love - the very very scare ones of my grandma when she was younger - often kind of blurry with things cut off and random bits in the background- very iphoneology like I think.

So today I was determined to put myself in the picture and I hope to do it regularly.

 

 1. At the hairdressers - a long overdue colour and cut. I need to share my hairdresser story  I go to a little place in Helensvale and it's so so reasonably priced  $14 if I just want a trim. The last two times they have used a new colour process which takes a little longer it's like 40 minutes for developing and costs a smidgin more but lasts for ages and does a wonderful job of covering the grey. The best I have ever had as I am actually quite grey.  So all up was $49.50 today and I got a goodly way through Sing you Home - which I' m loving - by Jodi Picoult.

2.  Tals needed an "Englishman" costume for guides next week -so we decided a suit taken in would be the way to go- we found the perfect one at one of our favourite op shops for $9 for the two pieces - jacket and pants

3.  It's turned quite cool as the day went on -we were out and about wandering between stores- these are my bargain boots I bought at Target quite a few weeks back they are lasting well.

4. My fab sideboard find - I blogged about it earlier - and there I am in the shadow

5. As we were heading to Lifeline I noticed an Endeavour store I had never seen before - Oh MY goodness it's so fabulous ) I took lots of photos and will share the details and location later. My most favourite op store on the Gold Coast.

6. Heading home - tired and ready for an afternoon nap! I pulled an all nighter last night and went to bed at 5.00am this morning- I had a unit of work to get sorted for school and needed to get it happening. It took all night. I'll share the details round that later in the week too for any Education Queensland readers -I'm using the new Ed studio and oh my goodness so fantastic. Possibilities are endless.

and there you have it - getting in the picture.

What about you ?? I'd love to see you get in the picture. If you do - post a link here - or if you don't have a blog send me a piccy and I'll share it for you :)

 

 

 

 

Before - Side Board

In our op shop tripping today to find some costumes for the girls for guides we pulled up to the Salvos at Nerang and found this sideboard. I literally held my breath while I waited for Richard to stop the car - I couldn't see any sold sign on it and I couldn't see the price either. I ran over and couldn't believe my luck - $10!!!! and no sold sign.

I said ohh It's ours- quick go speak to the ladies.

Richards  like - what the? I thought we were looking for costumes.

Bless my two though they were quick to chime in 

Sof said Dadda you never know what lucky find you will have

Tals said  - you just have to go with a happy heart and you will get awesome.

and I'm but it's so beautiful and its $10!

 and so it was and now it's all mine.

The lovely ladies were all gushing over it - They said it had only just arrived and they were worried what they would do with it if it wasn't sold today as the truck doesn't come until Monday and they had no room. They think its from the 1960s It's solid wood and needs a lovely sanding back and a new stain . The back left hand leg is wiggly woggly and will need to be fixed as well. Other than that so good :)

I excitedly rang my DIY know everything friend and begged his help next weekend for my very first lesson in fixing up. I'm imagining a trip to Bunnings and the chance to play with power tools.

SO SO SO looking forward to it. Don't you just love the retro handles??  The drawers are the perfect size. Some shallow and some deep.  Ideal for crafty goodies.

40 hour famine

 My girls decided some time back that they wanted to do the 40 hour famine - we read up and at their age they are supposed to do just 8 hours. We talked about that and they decided that they wanted to give 24 ago.

 We were happy to support them with that.

 So last night at 6 they had their last dinner and we are less than an hour off breaking their fast now.

I'm so proud of them - I imagined there would be lots of complaining through the day as we are a big foodie family - and much of what we do involves preparing food and sharing food. But there has been nothing. Not a peep.

 

At about 12 o'clock today when we were out and about I felt they needed something so we stopped for some juice and barley sugars - they were hard to find  must be lots of Gold Coast kids eating barley sugars I think!

 

Sofia yesterday at school made a pact with some friends to also stop speaking from lunch time - so I can just imagine what their class was like that afternoon! LOL - she kept it up until this morning when she just couldn't not tell me stuff she said. Too funny so we worked out she did 14 hours of no speaking too .

I'm guessing 40 hour famine will become part of our family tradtions now.

 Did your house participate ? I know for most it doesn't end until tomorrow night so if you are still going good luck!

 

Top Apps for Kids

I stumbled across this lovely blog in my interweb searching .

I am always on the look out for fun things for the girls to do on my ipad for trips in the car and while I'm not a huge fan of just games we do have some. This is an awesome blog for reviewing apps and I loved that they had quite a few for me to check out that suited the girls age ( 8 ) as many of the apps for ipads in particular are aimed at the  younger ones.

Bookworm - available here

LOVE this -we are all playing it -  Tals and I are great at it - and Daddy is a bit dodgy!

 

 Animal Creator -available here

The girls love this one - you mix animals up to make new ones and colour and add to backgrounds

 Motion Maths -available here

This is mostly about fractions- it makes it really fun-the girls like it and play it but their review was they think boys would really like it - LOL that could also be my non mathematic loving girls though :(- Mind you its all about relevance they can double and half a recipe in the blink of an eye - including all the tricky fraction cup measurements.

Slice it -available here

I love this one - it's really quite challenging and the girls do too

and just for fun - Cake Doodle available here

Hands down the favourite - and Sofs review on it - I can't believe it was so cheap you can make sooo many cakes and decorate them so nicely LOL

So they are our new favourites we are giving a whirl but do check out the blog for others that may suit your children's ages.

If you have any great kids apps I'd love to know- especially ones that will suit my girls

 

What's for Dinner?- Quick Quiche

Welcome to this week edition of What's for dinner?.

This is my go to oh my goodness what can I make and have on the table in half an hour meal.

 

Quick Quiche

 

 Ingedients

•  diced bacon - 250 gm
•  1 cup grated cheese
•  1 diced onion
•  spray oil
•  6 eggs
•  1/4 cup of milk
•  Salt and pepper

Spray a quiche dish with spray oil

Throw in a couple of handfuls of diced bacon, diced onion, and 1 cup of cheese.

Spread eevnly over the base.

In a bowl beat together  6 eggs and 1/3 cup of milk.

Pour over the quiche base.

Season with salt and peppr

Bake for about 20 minutes

Cook your veges or make a salad.

 Dinner is done :)

Lenka

On Sunday I put the call out on twitter for recommendations for some new music to listen to.  Can I just remind you that I'm definitely not up to speed on music at all.

I like what I like and that's about all I can do to explain it.

Michelle suggested I give Lenka a try - Lenka never heard of her ? LOL Me neither.

 So I searched for her in Itunes and found this song first

 The Show - its so catchy and boppy and well happy :-)

 The music clip is fun too.

SO I listened to a few more snippets of her other songs and then bought her album.

Can anyone explain though why the same album is only $7.99 in the US Itunes in comparison to  $9.99 in the Aus Itunes???

I've listened to it all the way through about ten times already.

 She has a lovely website with pretty photos and all her details and gossip.

Australian living in the states apparently:)

and she has a new fan !

Are you a Lenka fan? If so let me know what else you like to listen to - we might have the same taste in music :)

 

 

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Katie owns a store filled with kawaii zakka! Based in Taipei. The Heyday Shop is a collection of fabric, sewing notions, packaging supplies and handmade goodness, reflecting her lifelong love for all things cute and inspired by the simple but functional designs of her Japanese neighbors. Beautiful hand made goodies are her speciality.

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Little St Kilda

I am a sucker for a good coffee shop- or should I say coffee fullstop ? So when I read about a litte cafe opened in Palm Beach that was filled with vintage kitsch and op shop goodies I knew I had to head on down.

It's totally fab - not as wonderful as Madame Tojos mind you but really quaint.

 Artificial grass - tiny space and filled with lots of oddities. Some not to my liking as I'm a bit of matching girl but it definitely has lots of appeal. 

The staff were lovely and inviting and there were racks of vintage clothes to look through - and buy if you wanted.

It was afternoon tea time so I opted for a treat.

Just $4 for  great big mug of coffee -great quality and $4.50 for a huge chuck of passion fruit cheesecake- homemade of course and very very good . So big I couldn't eat it all. The little red moped parked out the front is reminiscent of  Masterchef headquarters I thought.  menus printed on T shirts hang in the kitchen. The place was crowded and we almost didn't get a seat. Other reviews I have read say that they do dinners and bands and cocktails in jam jars - In a lie beyond children I think I would definitely what to try those things.

In the meantime I'll settle foe coffee and a treat or maybe even pop back for breakkie.

I was chatting to an elderly couple who I found out were brother and sister  and they wanted to know what I thought and why I was taking photos LOL I told them about Madame Tojos at Chirn Park and they told me about another cafe called  Commune which is near Burleigh SS which they said has similar appeal. That's next on my list to try!

Locals check it out - Palm Beach  7th Avenue  opposite  subway next to the little art gallery.

PS Photos taken on my iphone using  Picture Show and edited with Pugly Pixels latest  blog frames :)