Monday 29 April 2013

April Favourites



I recently discovered a new blog, the Lip Balm Wrangler. As a fellow lip balm addict it's great to find a blog that is all about lip balm. It's not going to be great for my credit card though!
Healthy Care Super Body Oil - This is one of the oils I'm using to try and prevent stretch marks and stop any itching. I've been using this is the mornings as it's not oily and it absorbs quickly so I can get dressed straight away. It also doesn't leave marks on my clothing.

Neutrogena Naturals range - I was sent three of the new Neturogena Naturals products to try out and I'm really loving all of them. It's great to see a large brand bringing out products that are free of nasties. I'll be doing a review of all three products soon.

Models Prefer All-In-One BB Cream - I know I've mentioned this before but it's so good that I had to mention it again. Out of all the BB's I've tried, this one comes closest to the Asian BB's. 

Red Earth Expert Touch Silky Hydrating Concealer - I was so excited when I found out that Red Earth are back. They were one of my favourite brands when I was a teenager and the new range does not disappoint. I have quite a few of their products which I'll be reviewing soon, however I just had to mention the concealer. It is now one of my three favourite concealers. It's equally as good as my holy grail Bobbi Brown Corrector and Models Prefer Professional Anti-Wrinkle Concealer.

Firebird Almond Milk Perfume Oil - I can't stand perfumes or strong fragrances whilst I'm pregnant and I prefer to use natural products and oils during my pregnancy, so I pulled out some of my perfume oils. Almond Milk has quickly become a favourite, I don't know why I left it sitting neglected for so long. Unfortunately it's being discontinued so I'm going to have to buy several of them whilst it's still available.

Nivea Essential Care lip balm - This is another product that I've had sitting around for ages and not paid much attention to. It's never excited me because it doesn't have a fragrance or flavour and I'm all about flavoured lip balms. When we moved it was the only lip balm I could find (how is that possible?), so I started using it and to my great surprise it's amazing! It's so creamy and hydrating, perfect for winter. I can see this becoming one of my holy grail balms.

Red Earth Lip Nectar - As I mentioned above, all the Red Earth products I got are amazing, I can't wait to try more from the range. Their lip balm is just gorgeous. It smells good and gives a gorgeous wash of long lasting hydration and colour. I'm planning on getting the clear version in my next order.

Models Prefer Pressed Powder - I always struggle with face powders. You'd think it'd be an easy product to find however I rarely find one that I like. I picked this one up when I couldn't find my favourite Dior powder and was very pleasantly surprised at how great it is. It gives good but natural looking coverage so is perfect over tinted moisturiser or BB. On lazy days I'll apply it over moisturiser, with a kabuki brush and it has enough coverage to even out any redness and dark patches.
If you look very closely you can see pan!

Friday 26 April 2013

FFS Friday - An Epically Epic Whinge

I'm back! I've been offline for nearly two weeks now, so prepare for an epic whinge. I commend any of you who actually make it to the end of this one, it's going to be very long.

If you are a regular reader of my blog you will know that we moved towns two weeks ago. That in itself is a huge FFS.

Of course no move goes to plan and ours was no exception. FFS.

Prior to us moving Tigers car broke down. It appeared that there was something wrong with the radiator. FFS.

A friend had been using it and as the vehicle wasn't drivable he left it at someone's house. Whilst it was there all four tires got slashed. FFS.

Naturally Tiger can't have normal tyres on his car, he has 19 inch, $450 each tyres. FFS.

So not only were we arranging the move, we were organising to get his car and tyres fixed. FFS.

We somehow managed to make it to moving time. Tiger got home on Tuesday night so we spent Wednesday packing. Thursday he decided that we needed a new bed and tv before we moved. FFS.

So instead of packing on Thursday we spent hours running around looking for a new bed and tv. FFS.

Friday morning I was out of there. The truck was scheduled to arrive that afternoon and there is no way I wanted to be home when the moving started. Plus, I had to be at the estate agency at 12pm to pick up the keys to our new place. Not sure if that's a FFS or not. 

I got to the estate agency, signed the lease whilst Chai tore the office apart and then went to the house. I had bought all our cold and frozen food with me as there is a fridge already in the house. I couldn't get the fridge working. FFS.

Feeling like a fool I had to call the estate agency and find out how to turn the fridge on. FFS.

A few hours later Dad turned up with a few of our things on the back of the trailer. He was supposed to bring all the kitchen stuff so that I could unpack it, and any of Chai's things that he could fit. Instead he bought the dining table, chairs and one lounge suite. FFS.

They hadn't bothered to put a tarp over the furniture and it had rained the whole way down, so my lovely wooden table, chairs and leather lounge suite were soaked. FFS.

They also hadn't bothered to pad anything so my dining table and chairs got damaged. FFS.

That afternoon I went to my brother and sister in law's house and did nothing for the first time in weeks. Not FFS.

Meanwhile, at our old house Tiger and my brother were packing up the truck. When they'd finished for the evening they discovered that the truck battery had gone flat. FFS.

It's a new work vehicle of my brother's and it comes with roadside assistance so he called them to come out and charge the battery. They told him it would cost a minimum of $650 for them to come out. FFS.

There was hell to pay at my brother's work on Monday. Especially since they bought the truck from a company that he hadn't wanted to use. Bet that won't happen again. Not FFS.

They managed to get a friend to come over and charge the battery, for free. Not FFS.

Saturday morning, due to us having a new king sized bed I had to go out and buy new bed linen. I should have done it in Perth but ran out of time. Buying bed linen in the country means my only option was Target or Spotlight. FFS.

Happily, Target had a sale on. Not FFS.

Unfortunately nearly all the king sized products were out of stock. FFS.

I managed to find us one quilt, one quilt cover and one sheet set. All Egyptian cotton and surprisingly great quality. Not FFS.

Even better, everything was 40 or 50% off. Bonus!

As I was struggling to the cash register with Chai screaming in the trolley and trying to throw everything out, me holding onto the doona with one hand whilst trying to steer the trolley, my phone rang. FFS.

It was Tiger telling me that the bank had taken out a mortgage payment when they weren't supposed to so we had no money in our account. FFS.

There I was in the middle of Target with a screaming child, over $300 worth of linen in my trolley that I had to buy so that we would have a bed to sleep on that night and no way to pay for it. FFS.

Tiger suggested I transfer money from our savings account into our regular account but I had no way of doing that. FFS.

Thankfully I am a woman of independent wealth (I WISH!!!!) so used the money in my personal savings account to pay for everything. FFS/Not FFS.

That afternoon I headed back to our new home to discover that the garage door wasn't working. Naturally the estate agency wasn't available until Monday. FFS.

The truck arrived that afternoon, we got everything unloaded, the beds set up so that we had somewhere to sleep, the bathroom stuff out and then went to have a shower. It was then we discovered that the hot water wasn't working. FFS.

And we couldn't get hold of the estate agency till Monday. FFS.

The water took five minutes to get warm and then only stayed warm for about 40 seconds. FFS.

Just what we needed after moving and unpacking. FFS.

Despite the best efforts of the boys, most of our furniture arrived unscathed. Naturally the only things that were damaged were the items that I most value. FFS

My dining room table and chairs and my tall boy. FFS.

I'll be able to disguise the damage to my table and chairs but the tall boy can't be fixed. The damage is right at the front and as it's got some sort of veneer on it I can't repaint. FFS.

I bought that bedroom suite for my 30th. In a way it's kind of fitting as I'm saying goodbye to my 30's in a few months. 

A few weeks ago my Pop died. He was 102. The family had previously decided to wait till things settled down and then have a wake. Not FFS.

After he died they changed their minds. The wake was held on the Saturday that we moved, so I couldn't go. FFS.

Of all things to miss, my Pop's wake was the last thing I wanted to miss. FFS.

It was my change to pay my respects to a man who lived an amazing life, plus there were so many of my family and childhood friends there, some of whom I haven't seen for over 15 years. Everyone was there other than me. FFS.

I did contemplate going, but after driving down south on the Friday, driving up and back, with Chai and being 5 1/2 months pregnant, on the Saturday was more than I could deal with. FFS.

After we moved in it quickly became apparent that the house required some Chai proofing. The sneaky little munchkin is into everything at the moment. FFS.

We headed to Bunnings on Sunday to get some more child locks. I'd gotten some on the Saturday morning but we needed more. Saturday they'd had a whole rack of the locks we needed, Sunday they had none. FFS.

We made the mistake of asking at the information desk if they had any more of the locks. Half an hour later they'd established that although their computer system said they had 11 packs, they couldn't find them. FFS.

Later that day we discovered that the dishwasher didn't work properly. FFS.

It wasn't washing the dishes and the dishwasher tablet wasn't even dissolving. FFS.

I was starting to worry that the house was going to fall down around us. Thankfully the dishwasher just needed to be cleaned. Not FFS.

First thing Monday morning we called the estate agency to have the garage door and hot water system fixed. I'm sure she was secretly thinking that we'd broken them both. FFS.

A guy arrived to fix the garage door on Monday morning, it took five minutes. FFS.

Turns out the garage door would have been malfunctioning since the owners were living in the house and they just didn't bother getting it fixed. FFS.

The plumber didn't arrive to fix the hot water system until Tuesday. Typical. FFS.

Again, it only took about ten minutes. The problem was due to the water saving shower heads that had been installed when the house was built. According to the plumber there would have been issues right from the start. FFS.

Another thing the owner should have fixed when they were living here!! FFS.

I don't understand why the previous tenant didn't say anything about either of these issues. FFS.

Due to the design of this house and the door handles used there are several things that we can't lock Chai out of. Unfortunately those things are our walk in wardrobe, the pantry, the kitchen drawers and every room in the house. FFS.

Thanks to his current obsession with bumpfts (aka knives), I now store all my knives in the cupboard above the microwave. FFS.
  Monday Tiger had to go back up to Perth to sort out his car repairs and let cleaners into our old house. FFS.

The poor guy was exhausted and the last thing he needed was to drive up and back, but he had no choice. There were also a few things that he still had to collect from the house. FFS.

Tuesday the purchaser did his final inspection of the house prior to settlement. We weren't envisioning any issues as we'd kept the house in good condition, most of it had been repainted and we'd had cleaners in. That evening we got a phone call from the estate agent telling us that one light wasn't working, the oven door was falling off, the holes in the wall where the tv's had been mounted needed to be painted over and they couldn't get the hot water system working. FFS.

Tiger nearly exploded. FFS.

I really didn't blame him! We were both exhausted, the oven had been fine a few days ago, the gas had been switched off so of course the hot water wasn't working and the other things seemed so petty. FFS.

We got an electrician to fix the light for us and then on Thursday we all headed up to Perth to get the house sorted out. It worked out okay because Tiger had to pick his car up (I won't even bother complaining about how much that stupid thing cost us, let's just say it was a lot!) FFS.


Tiger went to the house whilst I did some shopping with Chai. We'd discovered that we can't buy the brand of milk he uses here, so I bought as much of it as I could find. I'm hoping I can find it locally cause I don't want to have to make a trip to Perth every time he runs out of milk. FFS.

When we got to the shopping centre I was busting for the loo so headed straight for the toilet. Normally when I'm on the toilet Chai wants to sit on my lap but not this time. FFS.

This time he wanted to put his hands in the child toilet, flush my toilet, put his hands down the back of my toilet, turn on the tap in the basin and splash water everywhere, empty the contents of the bin onto the floor and dance around in the rubbish and then as a grand finale, open the door and run out. FFS.

As he was trying to unlock the door, I made a mad grab at him. In the process I got wee all over my skirt. FFS.

No worries, I was at a shopping centre so could just buy another skirt. No, not that easy. FFS.

I checked Target and Kmart and neither of them had maternity skirts or even any stretchy waist skirts. FFS.

They had pants but I was way too hot to wear pants. The only other option was bright pink shorts but I'd rather walk around in wee soaked clothes than wear bright pink shorts. So that's what I did. FFS.

I went to the house to meet Tiger, walked around the empty house and noticed that the cleaners had done a really crappy job of cleaning. In fact it didn't look like they'd cleaned anything! FFS.

By that point I really didn't care. FFS.

The oven door was fine, it just hadn't been closed properly. FFS.

We had lunch, packed Chai into the car then he and I headed for home. Tiger stayed at the house to finish the painting. He'd finished up and was leaving the house when he spilled half a tin of paint all over the floor. FFS.

Thankfully it only went on the tiles so was relatively easy to clean up. FFS.

That night when we got home Chai spewed all over our doona, down the side of our brand new bed and onto the carpet. FFS.

Normally that wouldn't be a problem as I have several doona's and lots of linen, for a queen sized bed. I only had 1 doona, 1 set of sheets and 1 quilt cover for a king sized bed. FFS.

So into town we trecked. Our only option was Spotlight, were we managed to find a pretty decent doona cover. Not FFS.

Thankfully the doona I'd bought was a double layered one so I just removed the spew layer and we were good to go. Not FFS.

Friday was spent unpacking and sorting out the house. We had extra work to do thanks to Tigers parents coming to stay for the weekend. I kid you not. FFS.

They arrived Friday afternoon and didn't leave until Sunday. FFS.

I was so not in a place where I could cope with them and their crap. The last thing I needed was two more people to cook and clean for. FFS.

As usual they were extremely annoying, however I did my best to avoid them so spent lots of time unpacking the bedroom and making sure I wasn't in the same room as them. FFS.

At one point MIL asked me if some friends from Perth had seen our new place, to which I replied "No, of course they haven't, we've only just moved in, we are still unpacking and we don't want people here!" No doubt that went straight over her head. FFS.

Normally when they visit the PILs bring all sorts of toys for Chai. We have asked MIL over and over again not to bring anything as we couldn't fit any more at our old house however she ignored us and constantly bought him things. FFS.

Now that we finally have the room to fit lots of new toys for Chai, she bought one little toy. FFS.

Sunday lunchtime after we'd finally got rid of the PIL's Mum called and wanted to visit. FFS.

I told her that we'd had the PILs here all weekend, were still unpacking and were exhausted so it'd be better if she visited the next weekend. So she decided to visit my brother first and then visit us. FFS.

When it rains it pours. FFS.

A week prior to the move I'd arrange all the utilities including phone line and internet. Clever me. 

I got a call from Westnet telling me that Telstra weren't sure the line at the house had been installed correctly so they needed to check it prior to my phone and internet being connected. FFS.

The earliest they could come around was the Tuesday after we moved in. FFS.

The guy came out and the line was fine. Two days later our home phone was connected. I mistakenly assumed that the internet would be connected at the same time. It wasn't. FFS.

A week without internet I can handle, but not much longer. I called Westnet who told me it'd probably be another week! FFS.

How is a blogger supposed to survive without the internet for two weeks? FFS.

As if that wasn't bad enough my phone decided to pack it in. FFS.

Monday morning we headed to the Telstra shop to have my phone sent for repairs (it's still under warranty). I was there for about 45 minutes. FFS.

They gave me a loan phone to use whilst mine is being fixed. Not FFS.

It was the biggest piece of crap I've ever used. Considering how long I've been using mobile phones that shows how bad it was! I couldn't even answer a phone call with it. FFS.

Tuesday morning Tiger went to the Telstra shop and bought me a prepaid phone to use for the next few weeks until I get my phone back. They had put all my contacts onto the loan phone instead of the sim card and they said that I just had to put the sim card into the new phone then take the loan phone back and they would transfer my contacts over. That afternoon I took the phone in, waited in line for 10 minutes only to be told that there were no contacts on my sim or on the loan phone. FFS.

So all my contacts were gone. FFS.

I asked if they could get the contacts off my original sim card and put them onto the new one but apparently they didn't have the right machine. Funnily enough they'd used that machine to transfer my contacts the day before. FFS.

As the prepaid phone I'd got was a Samsung the guy told me that I'd be able to restore all my contacts to the phone. Not FFS.

I got home, plugged my phone into the computer and it wasn't recognised by the Samsung program that I needed to use. FFS.

Samsung Kies is the worse mobile phone program I've ever used, even worse than the Nokia one. It's so unreliable and rarely works properly. FFS.

After much swearing and cursing the stupid program finally decided to work and I managed to load all my contacts onto the phone. Not FFS.

I then decided it'd be a good idea to back up that phone, but lo and behold, the stupid Kies program won't recognise my phone again. FFS.

This also means that I lost all my FFS Friday notes so had to try to remember everything and write it all down, so as not to deprive you all of your Friday amusement ;)

Since we got here I've had all sorts of lovely packages arrive, however I still haven't found my camera so I have beautiful products sitting unused waiting for me to photograph them before I can use them. That's a beauty bloggers definition of torture. FFS.

Our internet finally got connected late Wednesday evening. It was a wonderful moment. Not FFS.

Of course I couldn't get my phone to connect to the net. FFS.

Took me an hour to finally get it to work. FFS. 

Can't wait till I get my phone back!

I was unable to get our Fetch TV working, no matter what I did it wouldn't work, so Thursday morning I called Westnet. I was on the phone for 1 hour, 13 minutes and 14 seconds. FFS.

Seeing that I was on the phone so not easily able to stop him, Chai went into destruction mode. He started throwing all his toys as hard as he could onto the ground until I made him go outside. FFS.

When I let him back inside he decided to throw his toys as hard as he could at the wall. FFS.

The rampage continued until I threatened to shut him in his room. How I am going to cope with two is beyond my comprehension. FFS.

As unbelievable as it may seem, I still haven't covered everything, however I'll save the rest of my whining for next week's FFS Friday post. 

Have a beautiful weekend everyone. Remember to head over to Sarah's blog to see what everyone else has been whinging about. 


Dear Baby G

Friday 19 April 2013

FFS Friday - Only one thing to say

Today's FFS Friday post is going to be very brief. Not because I don't have plenty to complain about but because.....

I HAVE NO INTERNET!!!!! FFS!!!!!

I won't have internet for another week! FFS.

How am I supposed to survive under these conditions? FFS.

IT'S INHUMANE!

As if that's not bad enough, the in-laws are coming down this weekend. FFS.

They'll be here this afternoon which means that instead of unpacking I'll be setting up a bedroom for them. FFS.

Monday 15 April 2013

Why Do I Wear Make-Up Tag

I saw this on Rachel's blog and really enjoyed reading it so here it is. If any of you do this tag, please let me know so I can read it. 
 
1. When did you begin loving make up?
When I was in primary school. My mum has always taken care of herself and I loved watching her get ready to go out. Watching Mum put her make-up on always fascinated me and I couldn't wait to start wearing make-up myself.


2. How do you feel without make up?
Fine. I am not one of those people who can't leave the house without make-up, I can and I do. I regularly have make-up free days. 



3. What do you like about make up?
I like that it makes me feel pretty but mainly I like that it's 'me' time. It gives me a few minutes each day to spend on myself, doing something that is solely for me. I also like that it makes me look awake when I've had no sleep!


4. List three ‘Holy Grail’ items.
Only three? Okay.
Chantecaille Camellia Lip Chic - This is one of my favourite lipsticks. It's the perfect MLBB shade. The formula is amazing, it feels like a lip balm not a lipstick and is very hydrating. I'll never be without this in my collection.

Ardell Clear Brow Gel - Boring but necessary. I use this every day, couldn't be without it. 

Rimmel ScandalEyes Eyeliner in Taupe - For pale skinned gals like me this is the perfect bottom lash eyeliner. It defines my eyes without looking harsh or unnatural. I'm so glad that I've finally found a great taupe eyeliner. 

I'm going to add a fourth product to this list only because the brow gel is such a boring one.
Bobbi Brown Corrector - This is a desert island product for me. It's amazing. If I was in a hurry and could only use one product before I left the house, it would be my BB Corrector. It conceals my horrible dark circles with one layer and it doesn't sink into fine lines. Magic.

Friday 12 April 2013

FFS Friday - The Crazy Edition

Last Friday I had a total meltdown. FFS.

It's around this time in pregnancy that I get extremely hormonal. Not normally being an overly emotional person, I don't particularly enjoy crying at the drop of a hat. FFS.

I mentioned last week about all the information the bank wanted regarding my financial position before they would do the settlement. Fun. FFS.

I got everything together and went into the bank to ask a few questions and lodge the paperwork. I go to a specific branch because the guy there is brilliant. He wasn't there only his not so brilliant colleague was. FFS.

She took one look at the forms, told me she'd never seen one of those forms, wasn't aware of the bank sending that form out and didn't know why they would send it out. FFS.

She told me she couldn't help me and I wouldn't be able to get help at a branch as they don't deal with things like that, it's only one specialised department who deal with those matters. FFS.

At that I nearly started crying. I was trying to hold it together so that the whole shopping centre didn't see me in tears. FFS.

She then proceeded to read through the letter and try to explain it all to me. FFS.

I'd already read and understood the letter so didn't need her to explain anything, so I quickly thanked her for her help and got the hell out of there. FFS.

I came home and was sitting on my bed filling out the forms and trying to decide what to do when Tiger rang up. Instead of being helpful and supportive he started carrying on about what I needed to do and telling me if I couldn't handle it he'd get on the next plane home. FFS.

It was at this point I totally lost it and told him that I knew what I needed to do and what I needed from him was love and support not for him to make me feel worse. FFS.

He lifted his game after that. FFS.

I was wondering how I was going to get all the information to the bank considering my printer/scanner/fax machine had crapped itself, so contemplating going out to buy a new printer. FFS.

I managed to pull myself together, rang the bank to see if I could email them the information, only to be told that they no longer needed it as they had spoken to Tiger two weeks ago! FFS.

By that time I was in such a state I didn't know whether to laugh or cry, so I did both simultaneously. FFS.

Thank goodness my Mum was here so she took Chai out and gave me some time to calm down. Not FFS.

Once Mum had taken Chai out, I did the only sensible thing, made myself a hot chocolate and did some online shopping. Totally broke my P100P when I was nearly finished, but I don't care. FFS/Not FFS.

Further discussion with Tiger revealed that the bank had told him they only sent the forms out to him so he had no idea the forms sent to me where the same thing. FFS.

Why they would send the same forms out to both of us is beyond me. 

Tuesday afternoon Tiger came home. Not FFS.

Within a few minutes of us being home I was counting down until he went away again. FFS.

He walked into the house and started carrying on about the hole in the back lawn. Again. FFS.

He continued on about it Wednesday morning. He was trying to tell me that due to the hole in the lawn the sale of the house would fall through. FFS.

The house is already sold and home sales do not fall through just because of a small hole in the back lawn! FFS.

He even lectured me about supervising Chai properly! FFS.

I told him that I'd like to see him looking after Chai and packing up a whole house on his own! FFS.

That afternoon Tiger decided to get his parents to come and stay for the evening. FFS.

I just couldn't deal with them so went to the bedroom as soon as they arrived and stayed there. Not FFS.

MIL was doing her usual emotional blackmail trick and saying how much she'll miss us when we move. We will only be an hour and a half further south than we are now! FFS.

That evening Tiger was putting Chai to bed when I hear MIL loudly whispering his name at Chai's bedroom door. FFS.

I told her to never interrupt when Chai was being put to bed. Turns out she wanted the tv on. I kid you not. FFS.

Even worse, it looks like they will be coming down with us when we move, to 'help out'. FFS.

I've told Tiger that they will just make more work for me but he can't see it. FFS.

Considering FIL doesn't even put his dirty dishes in the kitchen and MIL drives me crazy, I don't see how they are going to help. FFS.

It also means that instead of just looking after the three of us I'll have to arrange food and somewhere to sleep for them too. FFS.

I cannot wait until this move is over and done with. If you don't hear from me next week it's because they've driven me crazy and I'm in a mental hospital!


Dear Baby G

Thursday 11 April 2013

Moving Back

Tomorrow we are moving back to my home town. I haven't lived there for fifteen years and have mixed feeling about going back. I want to move and it was a mutual decision. I'm sick of living in the city, I'm sick of the person that I am here and I'm sick of the financial strain that living in the city puts on us.

I don't want Chai to grow up a city child, I want him to grow up in the country, surrounded by nature and by his family. I also want to not have to struggle for money whilst he is growing up. I want him to have a backyard, room to ride his bike and a pet.

Despite all this, part of me feels like I'm taking a step backwards even though I know that's not what I'm doing. I have so much history there. I spent my formative years there. L. iving in the city it's rare that I see someone I know and those people I do see have only known me for a few years. In my home town I see people I've known since I was 7. There's history. They know a lot about me and I about them. 

I am not the person I was 15 years ago and no doubt they aren't the person they were when we knew each other and yet when I see these people I remember them as they were and that is who they are to me. I'm sure they feel the same when they see me. When we were there a few weeks ago I saw my ex's wife (at least I assume she's still his wife). I see her and remember the girl in her early 20's who was jealous of our previous relationship so stalked and abused me for a year until I threaten to put a restraining order on her. 

See what I mean? I'm sure she isn't like that anymore, she's in her 30's, a mother and I imagine that she's grown up a lot. But to me she's still the nasty, jealous girl who stalked and abused me until I got sick of it. But it's all history and that's what I have to remind myself. Things change, people change. 

I'm not sure how I'll react when I see people that I used to know years ago. Do I be friendly or do I pretend not to recognise them? I really have no idea what I'm going to do, I think I'll take it on a case by case basis.

Wish me luck!

Monday 8 April 2013

Dr Organic Pomegranate Deodorant

 
I have always had sensitive pits but with this pregnancy they have gotten ultra sensitive and even the deodorants that I usually wear are irritating me. Because of this I've been on the hunt for a natural deodorant that actually works. I've tried natural deodorants in the past and either found them totally ineffective or irritating. 

I purchased three deodorants from the health shop. The first one I tried burned as soon as I put it on so that was out. The second and third ones were great. I'll be reviewing the third deodorant soon. I'm not going to mention the brand of deodorant that burned on contact because I'm sure it's my sensitive pits and not the deodorant. I passed it onto a friend who hasn't had any problems with it at all, which proves my theory. 

Another thing that's helped my sensitive pits is getting them waxed. Instead of shaving them every day I get them waxed every fortnight. I only had to let the hair grow for three days before getting them waxed and so much less hair has grown back. It's now been a week since my last wax and I don't have any regrowth at all.

Out of the two brands I purchased Dr Organic Pomegranate is my least favourite. It works but needs to be reapplied at lunchtime. I'd say it'd be fine for winter, but in summer it definitely needs to be reapplied. 

I found this deodorant to be very gentle, it didn't sting or irritate at all and the pomegranate scent is very pleasant. As it has a creamy consistency it takes longer to dry than the usual deodorants do, but I did notice that it barely leaves any white marks on my clothes.

I paid $12.95 AUD for a 50 ml bottle from Healthy Life health shop. 

Ingredients: aloe barbadensis leaf juice, aqua, zinc ricinoleate, triethyl citrate, lauryl glucoside, polyceryl-2 dipohydroxystearate, glycerin, cetearyl alcohol, glyceryl, caprylate, sodiumbicarbonate, polyglyceryl-3 stearate, sodium stearoyl lacylate, isocetyl palmitate, purica granatum extract, cetaria islandica extract, glycymetinic acid, aroma, rosmarius officianalis oil, tocopherol, hellianthus annus seed oil, chondrus crispus extract, xanthan gum, sodium phylate, sodium benzoate, potasium sorbate, citric acid, citronellol, limonene, geraniol, hexyl cinnamal, linalool.

I'm no ingredient expert but to me it doesn't look like this is an organic deodorant.

Happily, this is suitable for vegetarians and vegans.

Friday 5 April 2013

FFS Friday - The Power of Three

It's Friday! And a short week too. Funny how short weeks often seem longer than normal weeks, I reckon it's because you spend time trying to catch up on everything you didn't get done on the extra day off you had. 
 
Saturday I had to go to the supermarket. I didn't consider that it might be busy with last minute easter shoppers. Big mistake. FFS.

I only needed one thing so didn't bother writing it down. When I got to the supermarket I couldn't remember what I needed. FFS.

I wandered around the aisles trying to remember what I needed but I couldn't remember. FFS.

It still cost me $30. FFS.

When I got home I remembered that it was milk I needed so went to the shop across the road and got it. FFS.

Could have saved myself $30 if I'd done that in the first place. FFS.

Whilst we were at the shopping centre I let Chai have a play in the playground there. He was very tired so running all over the place. I was walking around the outside, pushing the trolley trying to keep him in view. I heard him crying so was pushing the trolley around to find him when a stupid woman let him out of the playground! FFS.

She didn't know who's child he was or where I was, so why she let a crying child out of the playground was beyond me. Stupid woman. FFS.

I saw him leave the playground and run in the opposite direction to me so I had to ditch the shopping trolley and run to get him, all the while swearing at the stupid woman under my breath. FFS. 

I was so tempted to have a go at her, if Chai hadn't been so upset and needing to go home I would have let her have it, instead I just consoled myself by calling her a stupid bitch as I walked past. FFS.

This is one that I forgot from last week. My husband is one of those stupid people who doesn't know when to shut his mouth. He gets himself in trouble and then just keeps on digging and digging. FFS.

Last week we were sitting in bed first thing in the morning and had the following conversation:
Tiger: We should get some breath spray for in the mornings. 
Me: Good idea, I'll get some from Priceline today. 
Tiger: Your breath is really bad in the mornings.
Me: Okay babe, I'll get the breath spray today. 
Tiger: It's just with this baby, you aren't usually so bad but since you've been pregnant it's been terrible.
Me: Okay, I heard you, I'll get the breath spray today. 
Tiger: It's so bad, this morning you were breathing on me and it woke me up. 
Me: Okay, I get the message, stop carrying on about it. 
Tiger: There's no need to get like that, your breath has been really bad with this pregnancy.
Me: I heard you so just shut up. 
Tiger: But it is, it's really bad.
Me: Stop talking now!
Tiger: But I'm just being honest, would you rather I wasn't honest?
Me: Yes. Considering I said nothing to you about my breath I would rather you just kept your mouth shut. 
Tiger (In a huff now, which is pretty rich considering he was the one carrying on at me): Fine, well next time I won't say anything.
Me: Good.

Monday was one of those days. It started with Chai vomiting all over the carpet at 6.30am. FFS.

I sat him on the bed with a towel on his lap whilst I cleaned up. He removed the towel and vomited all over himself and the bed. FFS.

I stripped him to his nappy, cleaned him up and turned the tv on for him to watch whilst I cleaned up. Just as I was nearly finished he comes running into the room, naked and saying "oohhhhhh", which is what he says when he's made a mess. FFS.

He takes my hand and leads me into the lounge room to show me that he's done a poo on the carpet. FFS.

Our rug is dark brown with a small cream stripe around the edge. Naturally he poo'd on the cream part. FFS.

And walked in it. FFS.

By 7am I had cleaned up Chai twice, cleaned all the poo and spew out of the carpet and washed our bedding. I knew it was going to be one of those days. FFS.

Days like that the only solution is to put on lots of make-up and get out of the house, so that's what we did. We went to the park and Chai had a great time. Not FFS.

When we got home I was making Chai's lunch whilst he played. He had an old spice shaker that he's been playing with for weeks. He finally managed to get the top off it and spill spices all over the carpet. FFS.

I cleaned it up, gave him lunch and put him to bed. It took me half an hour to get him to sleep. FFS.

I was really tired so had some lunch, went to the toilet and lay down for a nap. Five minutes later Chai woke up. FFS.

He'd only been asleep for an hour so I thought I'd be able to settle him quickly and then have a nap. Wrong. He refused to go back to sleep. FFS.

By this stage I was getting rather cranky and it was only 2pm. FFS.

The days are very long when you are solo parenting. FFS.

That afternoon Chai asked for some grapes. I gave them to him and he proceeded to bite them once then throw them all around the room. FFS.

We managed to make it through the rest of the day unscathed until it came to dinner time. Chai is learning to feed himself which is a very messy process. His favourite food at the moment is rice. FFS.

I'm sure more rice ended up on his chair and the floor than it did in his belly. It took me five minutes to vacuum it all up. If you haven't tried it, vacuuming up rice is very messy as it sticks to everything. FFS.

That night I asked Chai were he wanted to sleep and he said that he wanted to sleep in my bed. When Tiger is away Chai usually sleeps in my room, we both sleep better, him because he likes sleeping in our bed and me because I know that he's safe next to me. After half an hour of him mucking around and not going to sleep I put him in his cot and he was asleep within three minutes. FFS.

Tuesday was shaping up to be another rough day. Chai woke up at 5.26am and was really whingey. FFS.

I rang up Mum to ask when she could come up so that I could pack the house. She suggested that I visit her for the day. FFS.

I patiently explained to her that I can't go visiting anyone as I have a whole house to pack up, by myself, in the next week. FFS.

A while ago I mentioned being a Bunnings widow in one of my posts. A few days later I got an email from the Bunnings marketing department asking me to put a link to Bunnings in my post as it would be helpful to my reads to be able to see the "great range of products offered by Bunnings". If they'd actually read my post they would have realised that it had nothing to do with me saying Bunnings was wonderful! FFS.

Yesterday was one of those days where anything that could go wrong did go wrong. FFS.

All Wednesday night I could hear a rouge clock ticking really loudly. Since we don't have any analogue clocks in the house I wondered where it had come from, but didn't bother getting up to investigate. Thursday morning I discovered that it was in fact our Fetch TV box. FFS.

I switched it off and switched it back on again so that Chai could watch his shows and I could have a few minutes of quiet to do the dishes and prepare breakfast. An hour later Fetch TV still wasn't working. FFS.

Turns out that the box is broken and we won't get another one until the end of next week at the earliest. FFS.

No worries, I have Chai's shows on DVD, so I wasn't too worried. Not FFS.

Later that day I need to photocopy, scan and fax something. It was then I discovered that our printer is broken. FFS.

Naturally there  had to be a third thing go wrong. FFS.

I got a letter from the bank wanting all sorts of financial information prior to settlement. FFS.

I had just finished packing up all our paperwork. FFS.

So I had to unpack all the paperwork and I couldn't find the documents I needed. FFS.

Couldn't get hold of our accountant either. FFS.

Mild panic ensued. FFS.

I finally found the documents, they had fallen down the back of the filing cabinet. FFS.

And I got hold of the accountant too. Not FFS.

Now, instead of spending this morning packing I'll be spending it at the bank trying to sort things out. FFS.

This move is going to be the end of me! FFS.

If you have survived reading my epic whinge and are in the mood for some more whinges, head over to Sarah's blog and see what everyone else has to complain about this week.



Dear Baby G

Wednesday 3 April 2013

Pregnancy Update

I'm now halfway through my pregnancy. We've had the anatomy scan and everything looked good. We also found out the sex of the baby but are keeping it a secret (trying to, however Tiger can't keep a secret to save his life). 

I'm disappointed that we know, I didn't want to find out and I feel let down now that we do know. I feel like it takes away the excitement of trying to guess the sex of the baby and that amazing moment when the baby comes out and you get to find out if it's a boy or a girl.

This baby loves laying on my bladder. Chai never did that. It's a lot quieter than Chai was, he used to move and kick all the time, this baby moves a bit but nowhere near as often as Chai did. I wonder if that means it's going to be a quieter child. This bub tends to move more at night time whereas Chai was very quiet at night. 

Compared to my pregnancy with Chai I am a lot smaller. With Chai I was starving hungry all the time, this time my appetite hasn't increased much at all. That's a good thing because I don't want to put on 30kgs like I did with Chai. I've put on about 6 or 7kgs so far and I'm hoping that I will keep my weight gain around 15kgs.


Thoughts of the month

Natalie, Jessica and Kimberley all do thoughts of the week posts, which I love to read, however I don't have that many thoughts so I'll be doing thoughts of the month.

1. Oval lip balms tubes are much more convenient than round ones. They fit easily in a back pocket and don't roll away when you put them down.

2. Am I the only one who worries their way through their whole pregnancy? I am not usually a worrier however pregnancy turns me into a big ball of worry. It's not fun.

3. I am really looking forward to getting a life once I've set our house up. Tiger and I have only been out on our own three times since Chai was born. I've been out on my own about four times. Once I've set the house up and we are settled in we are going to take turns with my brother and sister in law babysitting so when the boys are home we can both have two dates. I'm also planning on doing things with my girl friends when Tiger is home.

4. This month I purchased two pairs of ballet flats. The ones I was wearing were extremely worn out but we hadn't had any spare cash for me to buy new ones. Now that we will soon be mortgage free we have some spare money so I got new shoes. Both pairs were on sale. One of the pairs is show above. They are so comfortable I felt like I have slippers on when I'm wearing them. The two pairs that I threw out were purchased in 2007, so they did pretty well.


5. It irritates me greatly when I read/hear people complaining that FIFO workers are ruining towns. Really? Well let me tell you something. I would love to live where Tiger works and have him come home every night, but that option wasn't offered to him and the cost of living where he works is so expensive that we couldn't afford to live there anyhow. So instead of complaining about how FIFO workers are ruining communities how about doing something to make living in those towns affordable so that families can move there. 

6. Whilst packing up the home we've lived in for the last 6 years isn't much fun, throwing stuff out is a lot of fun.

7. Being mortgage free for a little while is going to be wonderful. 

8. Dido has a new CD out. It sounds just like her other albums. This is a good thing.  

9. I've been really enjoying stewed plums and nectarines with greek yoghurt lately. I eat it for desert most days. Chai loves it too.

10. Years ago I did a meditation course called Transforming DNA Memory in Theta and Delta. I've been think of writing about it. Would anyone be interested?

Monday 1 April 2013

March Favourites



Nivea Caramel Cream Lip Butter - This is a new release and I'm in love with it. It's always exciting when new lip products are released, even better when they are caramel scented as foody scents are so difficult to find. As you would expect from a lip butter, this is super hydrating, creamy and lovely to use. You can read my full review here.

Subtle Energies Pure Indian Rose Hydrosol - Even though it's March, it's still been really hot here in Perth. I keep my face spray in the fridge for a refreshing burst when I need it. This one is a favourite because it smells like roses and that's always a winner for me.

MAC Syrup lipstick - I've repurchased this at least three times, it's one of my favourite lipsticks. It's been sitting neglected in my collection for a while now, but I pulled it out again this month and remembered why I love it so much. Syrup is the perfect MLBB shade, it brightens up my face and looks very natural.

Make-up Artist Michael Brown - He does amazing work and is so friendly. Even though he works with celebrities he's down to earth and if you ask him a question on Face Book, Twitter or Instagram he gets back to you (usually within 1/2 an hour too)! I wish he'd start a blog.

Australian Bushflower Essences Body Love moisturiser - This smells amazing. I've been using it as a night cream and it's lovely. Once I've finished P100P I'd like to try more of the range as it's made by a naturopath and it all sounds lovely.


Audra James Reflux Blend -  I have yet to meet an Audra product that I don't love. She custom makes everything and it's all amazing. The latest Audra product I'm in love with is the special reflux blend that she made up for me. I only suffer from reflux when I'm pregnant, thankfully, but it's an awful feeling. I had no idea that aromatherapy could help reflux, but when I mentioned reflux to Audra she said she could make me a blend, and it works! I just rub a little bit on my upper chest and within five minutes my reflux is gone. Amazing.

Glasshouse Tahaa Candle - Vanilla caramel. What more is there to say?

Maternity Clothes - I pulled my maternity clothes out of storage this week and suddenly have a whole wardrobe of clothes to wear again. Some of them are too big as I'm much smaller this pregnancy, but it's so nice to have choice again. I've been wearing the same two skirts for over a month now so am loving being able to choose from several different things.

Manicare Glass Nail File - If you haven't tried a glass nail file, get one now, it'll change your life. As long as you don't drop it, it will last for years (I've had mine for about five years) and it's very gentle on your nails.

Models Prefer All-In-One BB Cream - This is as close to Asian BB creams as it gets. It gives good coverage and makes my skin look flawless. I don't even need to use powder over the top as the coverage is enough to cover up my redness and even out my skintone.

Clinique Even Better Eyes - I haven't been using this for long enough to say if it is helping my dark circles, however so far I really like it. It has a wide, metal applicator that feels soothing to apply, it doesn't irritate the sensitive skin around my eyes and it's hydrating enough to keep my hayfeverish eyes from being dry.

Lush Ro's Argan Body Conditioner - I haven't been wearing much perfume lately and use this in place of perfume as it smells amazing. I wish they made it in perfume form. I'm seriously considering sending it to Audra and getting her to make me a perfume version.

Blistex Intensive Repair - When we were down south a few weeks ago I had sore, cracked lips and didn't have my Carmex with me. I went to Priceline to buy some but they didn't have any (the horror!) so I bought the Blistex version instead. I'm really impressed. It's a lovely, hydrating balm that makes my lips feel very soft. I've been using it as a night balm and my lips haven't cracked at all. 

1 Skin Solution Tinted Lip Butters in Guava Lemonade and Coconut Plum - Recently I was lamenting the fact that I don't own any plum coloured lip balms and then I happily rediscovered my Coconut Plum lip balm. It's the perfect wine colour and the smell is heavenly. 
I've also been using my Guava Lemonade lip balm a lot, the colour is so pretty. 

YSL Shiny Lip Plumper - This doesn't have a shade name on it but as you can see it's a plum colour. I'm not sure if they still make these, if they don't it's a shame cause they are gorgeous glosses. I don't get a plumping effect but I find it to be very hydrating and it smells like mint.

Tangle Teezer - This is the best brush I've ever used. I've spoken about it before but just had to mention in again. You can read my full review here.

WotNot Travel Wipes - My favourite wipes now come in a travel size. But this isn't just any travel case, it's a special one. The case is made of hard plastic and it has a mirror on the back, awesome. It could easily be re purposed to house other fragile items you didn't want damaged whilst you were travelling.