a boot-skootingly fun week

I am not starting this post with yikes. I just read my last couple of posts and they both started 'yikes'. And it's not even like it's a cool or trendy word. But I have completed another style dare. Andrea at Fox in Flats put the challenge out there to wear boots for a week. And I knew that this was a challenge I could do without even trying. You didn't even have to wear a different pair of boots everyday. You just had to wear them differently.

But what's the fun in doing a challenge without the challenge. I had a look in my wardrobe and yes! I had enough boots to wear a different pair everyday. But that still wasn't enough of a challenge. I'd had a look on the Fox in Flats Pinterest Boot Pinboard. This got me thinking about all the boot outfits that I've pinned in my Clothes I Love Pinboard. Could I do a week of wearing boot outfits inspired by Pinterest?

(where possible I have given credit and linked to the original image. Please let me know if I have made a mistake and mis-credited)

Day 1
I was packing orders at work on day 1 and I had the bubble wrap going everywhere. Every time I stood up and accidentally trod on the bubble wrap I was secretly loving it.

Inspiration on the left from Les Composantes This blog is in French, so I have no idea what the words say, but the pictures are beautiful. On the right is my version.

Day 2
I remembered an outfit that I had pinned a while ago. Looking at the inspiration and my version it is clear that my memory of the outfit was a little different. But that didn't matter. I felt comfy and stylish and received some really nice compliments on Instagram when I posted my proof photo.

The inspiration...

Untitled by mommychic featuring a mandarin shirt

My interpretation...

Clearly I remembered this outfit differently (ie the original was ballet flats NOT boots!)

Day 3

For ANZAC Day I chose a very loose interpretation of this outfit from totokaelo.com, but, well, fashion isn't meant to be prescriptive, it's all about taking a look and making it your own. Or at least thats my story and I'm sticking to it!

I liked the snuggly feel of this outfit and the grey top with black leggings and boots. I had already done both my brown boots on day one and two, so I had to substitute black boots instead. If there had been any chance of rain, my wellies would have got the guernsey they have been desperately waiting for.

We were up early for the dawn service, where my sister and I congratulated ourselves on putting together such stylish outfits at such a ridiculous hour of the morning. After refuelling with coffee I continued the ANZAC theme by making ANZAC cookies. (And yes, sugar free ones. I subbed natvia for sugar and brown rice malt syrup for golden syrup)

I then popped my ugh boots on, plonked myself on the sofa and spent the rest of the day in front of the fire watching the top 100 ANZAC Day BBQ songs and embracing my inner bogan.

Day 4

My photographer was getting bored of taking my photo, so I tried pointing out that it had to be of the boots, and things got a bit silly after that. You can see the inspiration for day 4's outfit at rosa.p. the essence was a print dress with a plain cardy, tights, and black boots. And a nice excuse to wear one of my favourite outfits.

Day 5

I broke my own rule on day 5, but I did have a good reason. Firstly, I repeated an already worn boot in the morning. But, I was in a massive hurry to get to school on time to work in the uniform shop (aren't I good!!) Secondly, and sadly I then had a funeral to go to. I rushed home to change out of my jeans and put on something a little nicer. I didn't really have time to worry about pinterest inspiration. I didn't even have time to wash my hair, so the scarf stayed in. Wearing these boots made me think of a comment someone made (maybe on the Fox in Flats blog) about square toe early 2000's boots. And here I am still wearing them. I think they're okay still?

Day 6

Again I had been hoping for a wellie boot weather for Saturday morning soccer. But as it turned out the girl didn't play anyway. I really took inspiration from the colour and pattern of this outfit. Then I took a deep breath and pulled my cowboy boots out from the back of the cupboard. Then felt quietly horrified as I realised that I bought them in Canada nearly 20 years ago. [that can't be possible, I still thought I was in my mid twenties!!] One of my lovely instagram friends made me feel much better by suggesting I call them vintage. 

JCrew Jeans by lakenokomis featuring silk shirts

My 'Vintage' cowboy boots all the way from Edmonton, Canada

Day 7

For a quick trip to the shops I took inspiration from the image on the left from black-and-silver.tumblr.com I had been planning on wearing my elasticised work boots, but they are not RM's, just cheap boys Kmart ones and they just weren't doing it for me. I had gotten to the last day of the dare and it looked like I'd have to do a double up. My sub-conscious must have been on fashion over drive, because I remembered these boots, tucked up on the top of the wardrobe. If day 6's boots were vintage then these are positively antique (well not quite) But I did buy them in 1989 when I was on exchange in Chile. And have held onto them for all these years. 

It turns out that being a chronic hoarder is a good thing. It means I can go thrifting in my own house and discover old treasures full of history for free. How about you? Do you hold onto old clothes or do you get rid of things as soon as the fashion moment passes? And are you loving the cooler weather to be wearing boots again?

photo-a-day April

Yikes! What just happened to April?! How is it already May? I feel like April was made of sand and it has disappeared through my fingers. So grab a cuppa (or something a little stronger) and let me present my April as seen through the filter of Chantelle from Fat Mum Slim's photo a day challenge...

day 1: your reflection | day 2: colour | day 3: mail

I was pretty excited to do this challenge on our overseas holiday. It actually turned out to be harder than I expected. Mainly because I am very strict on myself that the photo must be taken on the day of the challenge. And sometimes I was just so busy enjoying what we were doing that I would forget to look for the moment that would match the word!

We arrived in Paris and were super excited to find ourselves staying in a gorgeous spacious apartment. I was taking photos to capture its loveliness when I caught my reflection in the window. And then proceeded to lean half way out the window to try and capture this shot!

I we all fell in love with Paris. Miss M convinced me to buy flowers for our apartment from this gorgeous colourful flower stand. I loved the way that cafes and shops bustled for space with pedestrians creating a beautiful lively atmosphere.

If you did not receive one of these gorgeous postcards, you are not alone. We spent ages choosing and buying them, then never got round to writing and posting. My mum was the only lucky recipient of a card. The only other card that was written was handed over on our return!

day 4: someone who makes you happy

I loved having so much time with my family the actual choice for day four's photo is mr g and miss m dancing around the courtyard of the Louvre (I just included the other two pics because I thought they looked good together and help show how happy we were in Paris)

day 5: tiny | day 6: lunch | day 7: shadow

We went to Disneyland on day 5 and there is nothing tiny about Disneyland, everything is larger than life. I was grasping at straws when I chose tiny green man for day 5. 

I was really starting to drop the photo a day ball towards the end of our holiday. This was our last day in Paris, and we rushed to get the train back to London, and then to Windsor for our last night in England. I forgot to take a photo of the Cornish Pasty I ate for lunch. Luckily the girl had saved half her 

sausage roll for later. 

Our flight home was not until 10:30pm, so we went to Legoland for a last hurrah. It was cold and 

cloudy and overcast. It was also Easter Saturday so absolutely packed! This lego urn in the Lost City of Atlantis ride was the best shadow I could come up with.

day 8: inside your wallet | day 9: younger you | day 10: cold

On the plane on the way home I emptied out what was left in my wallet for UNICEF.

Finally we were back home. And rolling back the years, here I am with my sister in 1978, checking out the flooding on our farm after Sunday School.

My brain was still feeling fried on day 10, so for cold, all I could think of was the fire as a solution to cold.

day 11: where you had breakfast

I made crepes for breakfast to try and recapture the feeling of Paris. Then I looked outside the kitchen window and remembered (just like Dorothy) there is no place like home.

day 12: stairs | day 13: something you found

Visitors to Intrinsic are welcomed by our fabulous pink staircase (and a little pre-visit exercise!)

I dropped my shiny new iPhone in the carpark twice. I now have a cover for it and need to get the screen fixed. Luckily it still works.

day 14: how you feel today | day 15: sunset

I spent the afternoon on day 14 sitting watching soccer at the beautiful St Peter's College chatting to my sister-in-law. I wish our husbands still played for the same club, so that we could do this more often. Mr G now plays on the other side of the city and I never go watch any more. I felt happy and nostalgic and content. But then sad and anxious because Mr G's team lost!

We never see much of a sunrise or sunset from our house, too many trees in the way. But the sunset really didn't matter, as I finally caught up with my family again.

day 16: flower | day 17: something you don't like | day 18: hair

Beautiful flowers from Mr G.

I don't like turning right with out a turning arrow. I also don't like focussing on stuff I don't like.

Braided miss m's hair. Perfect timing.

day 19: orange (part a&b) | day 20: something you drew

I took two photos for orange and chose the leaves, because we'd just done flower a couple of days ago. But I really love both.

Oh my! Trying to chose what to use for something I drew. Talk about performance anxiety. I really haven't done anything new for such along time, everything felt so dated. It was not a work day otherwise I would have chosen one of the new cards. (I am particularly proud of then!) I was going to photograph one of the calendar pages, when I remembered the mugs. I love that I can have my morning cup of tea in a mug I illustrated. Clever me!!

day 21: bottle | day 22: the last thing you bought | day 23: vegetable

Cooking curry for dinner and drinking wine (not from the bottle!). Very nice way to spend a Saturday evening. 

I was stooged by the local kids and bought three walnuts for $1.00. I just liked their entrepreneurial initiative!

I discovered (from someone else on Instagram) that if you store spring onions on the bench in a jar of water, you can snip them and the will keep on growing. I tested this out and sure enough it works. It is May 1 today and my spring onions are still going!

day 24: something you're grateful for | day 25: looking down | day 26: black+white

I watched 'Marley and Me' on the weekend for the first time. I cried and cried and the pup had to be day 24's choice. He's not really a puppy anymore and I can't imagine our house without him.

We went to the dawn service for ANZAC day then I got excited and made anzac biscuits when we got home. I then plonked myself down in front of the fire for the rest of the day.

Another rushed panic shot for black+white

day 27: somewhere you went | day 28: 1pm | day 29: circle

Day 27 was a Friday, so naturally I was at my sister's house. Looking glamourous as always!

I was waiting to pick the girl up at 1pm after a lovely coffee at Mary Martins. Then I realised that pick up time was actually 1:15. Which explains why I was the only parent waiting at 1:00!

Sunday afternoon called for a little glass of something to settle my nerves as I tried to bake and play mousetrap at the same time!

day 30: something that makes you sad

Imagining flames leaping up the valley and destroying everything makes me sad.

But there is no point in dwelling on sad. There are too many good things in life to enjoy and celebrate. Like finishing another month of photo a day challenges and being another month closer to my goal of taking a photo everyday for a year. Or having a fabulous holiday. And saving for the next one. Or having a fabulous birthday and sharing it with gorgeous people. Or just being alive with beautiful friends and family to love and be loved by.

What are you celebrating?

partying my arms off to battle the post-holiday blues

Yikes! I really am getting quite behind, Andrea over at Fox in Flats has already issued a new style dare and I haven't even shared the proof from the last one!! I was on holidays (in Paris, one of the fashion capitals of the world as my daughter precociously informed me) when I saw that Andrea had raised the gauntlet yet again, daring us to break out of our sartorial comfort zones and add some excitement to our arms with an arm party dare. My first thought was 'I am so doing this one, how cool are my proof of dare photos going to be when I am in Paris', but on the second day I realised that I only had enough bling for one day. *sad face* So I bought a new bracelet! *happy face* But I then couldn't justify blowing what was left of our spending money on bracelets, so I sadly backed out.

We arrived home and it was time to go back to work all foggy headed and jet-lagged, and I thought to myself, what better way to delay the post-holiday blues than by having an arm party for a week?! Who cares if I was doing it a week late. I didn't care, Fox in Flats even says on her blog that you can do a dare whenever you like, what's important is that you do it for seven days. And here is my proof...

Day 1: Black, silver and neutrals, to ease myself back to the real world.

Day 2: My fun Paris purchase.

Day 3: I don't work Fridays, so Thursday nights are my Fridays and it was time to toast the start of my weekend. Not quite sure what I was complaining about when I was coming back to a three day week.

Day 4: Having a silvery arm birthday party. Thank you for the beautiful flowers Mr G. (I did not want a present after going way over budget on our holiday!)

Day 5: A red arm party to sit in the sun and watch the soccer with my lovely sister in law. I wish our husbands still played for the same club, so we could do this more often.

Day 6: It started as a simple arm party, but then my sister rocked up and suddenly things were looking a little more exciting with some extra green bracelets. And my head was a little foggy the next morning after a glass of bubbles (or two or three) too many. But it had been nearly a month since we had last seen each other, so there was lots to celebrate!

Day 7: Back to work on Monday and it was a bronzed arm party for the final day. I thought the colours looked too lovely with our beautiful mug packaging to not include a gratuitous Intrinsic product shot!

Whew! What a week after all the partying I needed to lie down with an ice pack and two panadol!!
But seriously, this one was both easy and fun. Although at times slightly annoying, I don't actually like having stuff on my wrists when I am working, it rattles on the table and bugs me. Quite often I take my bracelets and watch off when I get to work and put them back on at home time! But for the arm party dare I just dealt with it.

I did make an new discovery, that a couple of my necklaces are the right length to wrap around my wrist. I love finding things that can do double duty!

This is the third style dare I've taken part in and what is interesting is how it has changed my thinking. I am still looking at adding an extra couple of bracelets when I get dressed. And months after the black out dare, I still find myself looking to the simplicity of the black in my wardrobe. AND as much as I complained about the sparkle dare, I actually bought a sequinned racer back singlet when we were in London, which I have thrashed. So it seems like, in the fashion world at least, seven days is long enough to form a new habit. I wonder what other areas of life that could work in??

Any ideas... have you formed any new habits lately? And are you going to have a go at Fox in Flats latest boot dare?

go me... I kept the photo-a-day dream alive for another month

I am now so far behind with my Fat Mum Slim photo a day posts that it seemed overwhelming (and potentially boring) to try and give each pic the star treatment. So I thought I'd just do the wrap up of March and leave it at that.

My last entry was March day 14, or day 74 of 365, which was clouds. So from the pink car to my black and white face are all new to the blog. Day 20 was my first day of taking the challenge on our overseas adventure. I had thought that it would be way better than it actually was doing the photo a day challenge overseas. It was fun, but so often I was thinking 'if only today's challenge was yesterday or tomorrow'. I suspect that I am also a little weary after all the planning that went into our holiday, then the holiday itself and now recovering and trying to adjust and catch up with normal life.

But I am still doing April. So I must actually really like it! Hopefully I'll share the April photos soon. Hope you are having a fabulous weekend xx

hello again! it's been awhile

So much has happened since my last post. It is hard to know where to start. Well, obviously I started with choosing some of my favourite snaps. This took a really long time and was really hard. I brought home 1500 photos, so to choose 12 images to epitomise our awesome holiday was really quite the achievement!

For now I just want to say we are back and we had a brilliant time. Totally worth all the saving and planning and taking the girl out of school. I'm planning to post more about the trip later, focussing on the individual places we stayed. And a post on our accommodation. We stayed in some really great places, a massive thank you to trip advisor for providing such a great service.

My highlights were:

1. The fabulous Spring weather, that made sightseeing so lovely
2. The simple pleasure of flying a kite on the beach in Cornwall
3. The Manchester United pre-match dinner package
4. Our Paris apartment and location
5. So much history

While we were away I also had a couple of bloggy highlights, that had me feeling a little like a 15 year old again. I have no good segue from holiday highlights to this story, but I just really want to share both. And, well, it's my blog, so I can do what I like!!

So, I was on the way to the airport about to embark on our super exciting adventure, when I received a text from my sister telling me that I my blog had just been posted on Facebook by Fox in Flats! Eeeek!! Lets just say that I felt like the cool girl at school had just asked me to sit next to her! But that's not all it actually gets better. Andrea from Fox in Flats has put together a list of her top 50 style dare bloggers and.... I'm on it!!! Sooo excited to be amongst such fabulous company. And really am having that 15 year old 'the cool girl likes me feeling'.

If that wasn't enough excitement for one jet-setting girl to cope with, I opened Instagram on holidays (not the exciting part of the story) and in my news feed Chantelle from Fat Mum Slim was following me! Just to add a bit of background for the non-Instagram users amongst you, Chantelle creates the photo-a-day challenges and her Instagram feed is full of comments from randoms calling out "follow me", "give me a shout out",  "Fat Mum Slim you're so awesome blah blah blah". So to be one of the people she has chosen to follow definitely made me feel like a geeky 15 year old who had been spoken to by the cool girl!

Isn't that weird that I am getting close to 40 and I think I have got my act together and I'm all cool and stuff, but without scratching too deeply it turns out that I am still just as insecure and dorky as I was in high school! Have you had a moment when you realised that you haven't changed much in spite of the passage of time, or are you really quite different from your teenage self? 

my week as a disco ball

Andrea at Fox in Flats has done it again... she dared her readers to sparkle from morning to night for seven days straight and like a crazy lady I agreed. Then I realised that I only actually own one top with sequins and only two tops that really sparkly. With an overseas holiday coming up soon (tomorrow!!) there was no chance I could justify buying anything. So I went through my jewellery and then my shoes and phew, it looked like I could do a week of it. So here I am sparkling my little heart out...

It was only day 1 and already I felt like a cheater, the closest I could get to sparkling on my Sunday morning run followed by a cheeky coffee at the most lovely Taylor Blend with my sister was to add an necklace and earrings. It did turn out to be comment worthy. Both my daughter and sister wanted to know what the deal was with the running decorations!

For day 2 I wore a top with silver sparkly thread. I normally only wear this out at night. I had to wear a singlet underneath, it felt a bit too cleavagey for work. But I wasn't so comfortable with the way it looked. I did get a compliment at work though. So thats a win!

I was already feeling stuck and it was only day 3! I added a brooch to my head scarf and popped on my sparkly sandals and was super happy. I suspect that my hair flopped over the brooch, because I didn't get any comments on it, or it just looked crap!

 Out came the big guns on day 4, I bought these earrings about a year ago, and I have only worn them once or twice and only at night. They were just cheapys and I always felt that they looked a bit cheap in daylight! I was definitely not comfortable. But they were certainly showstoppers and everyone at work commented on them. (I'm still not sure that they will get another daylight guernsey)

I wore my only actual sequinned top on day 5. I love this t-shirt, I love the illustration. And the sequins are really quite subtle. I was well within my comfort zone and very happy.

You can't actually tell from this pic, but my top for day 6 has gold thread running through it. I love this top and I added some extra sparkle on my ears and neck, just because I wanted to! This top was also perfect for Fat Mum Slim's March photo a day challenge theme of green. 

I have to admit to being relieved to reach the end of this challenge, for day 7 I was repeating day 3's sandals with some arm sparkles and my favourite love heart necklace. But compared to my daughter I had nothing! 

What I learnt from my week as a human disco ball:

1. I should have thought first before I agreed to this dare
2. But sometimes its fun to be impulsive and let everything sort it's self out.
3. If I could fit into children's size 10 clothes I would have smashed this challenge!

Do you ever jump in with out thinking? What happens when you do? 

PS I'm off on holidays tomorrow, if I can I'll try and post while I'm away, otherwise I'll see you back after Easter xx

happy 10th anniversary to us

It's been ten years since we stood atop Mount Lofty on our wedding day. It doesn't feel like that much time has passed. It was such a beautiful day.

four more sleeps

I am so excited! We are heading off to England and France on Tuesday. I need to get stuck in to the laundry tomorrow so that I can then get stuck into packing.
I'm hoping that I'll be able to keep you updated with some snippets from our journey, if I can just work out how to post from my phone or iPad. If you are reading this post then it worked!
I'm about to press send, so fingers crossed!

day 68-74 (or march photo-a-day day 8-14)

Day 74 - clouds (March day 14) 

I am starting to get very excited. We are about to head off on our first overseas holiday since our honeymoon. My husband has been living in Australia for 40 years, but still does not have an Australian passport, so today I was off to immigration to get his new re-entry visa. At the moment I was fully committed to the task, I heard thunder, and the skies opened and I was completely soaked! Of course it is Mr G's fault. I came out of the immigration office and the rain had stopped and I even saw this little bit of blue sky peeking through the clouds. 

Day 73 - sign (March day 13) 

I love the way Splash Adelaide have decorated Chesser St. I wish that it could stay as a pedestrian street forever. I especially love the tree growing out of the VW.

Day 72 - fork (March day 12) 

Not super-excited about day 12's theme. I can't even think of a story to make up about this one! 

Day 71 - someone I spoke to (March day 11) 

I love it when we get lots of time with my stepson. The fact that he has not made too many appearances in my photo-a-day pics is probably a good indication of how little time he spends hanging out at home. The condition of me using his photo was him choosing which shot I use. He chose the top one, but I really like the bottom one.  

Day 70 - loud (March day 10) 

Normally I sit and drink coffee while my daughter does her Saturday classes. But in a burst of enthusiasm I went for a run instead. I always like a change of scenery and checking out all the different houses and gardens. Normally I run with my sister or my neighbour, and chat non-stop. But I love the change of cranking up the tunes on my jogging playlist and marvelling at my musical mastery. 

Day 69 - red (March day 9) 

Day 9 was a pupil free day, I love Friday pupil free days. I don't normally work on Fridays, so when there is no school on a Friday it is such a massive win! No morning shouting, no making lunch and no rushing. This Friday was particularly good. Miss M had a friend sleep over and the two girls just get along so well. They put in a request for doing craft, so I got the craft supplies out and they let their imaginations loose. And I saw an opportunity for day 9's red theme. A little later I was trying to finish making the plans for our holiday and my computer was having a little moment. To pass the time I took some extra red photos.

Day 68 - window (March day 8) 

I was back in Chesser St again on day 8 and on my may to get my morning coffee. I looked up and thought old windows plus new windows. The sun reflection is luck not good judgement, but I do really like the way it looks!

Hopefully I can work out how to post from my iPad, so I can keep updating you on our trip, I'm still going to keep taking the photo-a-day pics while we are away, so if I can't work it out there may just be an epic post when we get home!

Hope you have been having a fabulous week!