Wednesday 30 July 2014

Thoughts of the month

1. I really don't know how Natalie and Jessica manage to post their thoughts every week, I just don't have that many thoughts. Actually that's not true, I have plenty of thoughts but they aren't ones that people would want to read about.

2. Mayver's Dark Chocolate Super Spread is amazing. 

3. It really irks me that everyone seems to think fifo workers are rich. It's not true. Sure, they are usually on a great wage, but consider this. When they don't work, they don't get paid. All the time off they have is unpaid. For those people who do the awful 4 and 1 swings, they're on great money because they only have 1 week off. People like Tiger who have an equal time swing, it's not so great money. Working away Tiger gets the equivalent to what he would get if he was working a 40 hour week locally. Considering that when he works locally he doesa minimum of 56 hours a week and usually 68 hours if not more, it's really not a high wage. 

4. Woolworths have excellent customer service. I've dealt with them by email and over the phone this month and on both occasions they were excellent. It'd be great if more companies were like that. 

5. WTF is wrong with people? That football player who got sacked cause he wee'd in his mouth. Really? WTF would you want to taste urine? And what's even worse is that it's obviously a thing because it has a name, bubbling. Seriously? What on earth is wrong with people?

6. And speaking of WTF is wrong with people, how about that woman who went on a rant on the train in Sydney and racially abused the people who offered her a seat? You abuse people for being nice to you? Really? That's disgusting. 

7. I've started playing Clash of Clans, it's so much fun. 

8. I just bought this puffer jacket. 

9. I also got some lovely jeans from Jeanswest but I have an issue with them. They are size 6. I am not a size 6, nor do I wish to be. I am a size 10. Talk about taking vanity sizing to the extreme, it's ridiculous. I know that the size is stupid but seeing it messes with my head. I've been a size 6 before, it's not pretty. Size 6 means illness and crohn's, so seeing that number on my jeans displeases me greatly. Think I'll remove the tag so I don't have to look at it.  

10. So Ian Thorpe has come out. Not a surprise. It really, really pisses me off though. Not because he's gay, but because he had to come out. Call me crazy but I've never understood coming out. People don't come out as heterosexual so why should homosexual people come out? It's no-one else's business what sexual orientation someone is. I hope that one day a persons sexuality is their own business and there is no such thing as coming out. 

 

Friday 25 July 2014

FFS Friday - Epic whinge

This is an epic whinge today, so be prepared. 

Last Friday was one of those days. FFS.

Actually, every day is one of those days lately. FFS.

Chai has been driving me crazy. FFS.

I frequently marvel at the fact that there are any adults in this world. If every three year old acts like mine has been, it's a major miracle any child makes it to their fourth birthday. FFS.

Luckily for me my Mum has been here for most of the week. Not FFS.

If she hadn't been I have no idea how I would have coped. FFS.

Chai is demanding, whinging, throwing tantrums, yelling at me, being nasty to his brother and just being a nightmare. FFS.

He starts from the second he wakes up. FFS.

I am not a morning person. FFS.

For the first time ever I am not enjoying being a parent. FFS.

I'm over it. FFS.

I can totally understand how mothers just walk out the front door and don't come back. FFS.

I hate that I feel like that. FFS.

I know it's a temporary stage Chai is going through but I am totally over it. FFS.


Then in the midst of the tantrums he has moments of gorgeousness. Yesterday he went up to a lady with a little baby and told her "That's a beautiful little baby you have there". Every morning he greets his brother saying "Good morning my precious soo oots" (for some reason he has nicknamed Eljay soo oots). Not FFS.

It's these moments that I'm clinging to at the moment, remembering that my precious little soul is transforming, this is just a stage and my beautiful boy is still in there somewhere. Remembering that at 5am is not my strong point. FFS.

I also really want to enjoy him as much as I can because I know that the time I have with him is precious. It's these years I'll look back on and miss. It won't be long until he's busy with school and friends and I won't be the centre of his world anymore. It's then that I'll yearn for these days and I'll be annoyed that I wasn't more patient and understanding. 

I've found myself getting really, really frustrated with him. FFS.

And I've had moments of acting like a child myself. FFS.

Wednesday after he'd had a huge fit over me not giving him a custard bar (purely because I had no idea what he was talking about), I yelled at him that we don't have a custard bar, slammed the door of the car (we were on our way out) got into the drivers seat and when he started carrying on again I told him I didn't want to hear a word out of him. FFS.

Mother of the year nomination coming up soon. FFS.

If you are wondering why I'm a little late with my post this morning, last night was another fun one. FFS.

Chai had a sleep during the day which meant that he stayed up later, that wasn't a problem. I put Eljay to bed and he woke up an hour later screaming. It took me two and a half hours to get him back to sleep. FFS.

Then I had to put Chai to sleep. FFS.

I finally walked out of the bedroom at 9.25pm. FFS.

I hadn't had tea, the house was a mess, the dishes weren't done and Tiger was waiting for me to call him. FFS.

I took a sip of my very cold tea and was about to go to the fridge to get some tea, when I heard Eljay crying. FFS.

This was quickly followed by Chai running into the kitchen. FFS.

By 10.30pm they were both still awake so I gave up on having tea and went to bed. FFS.

Eljay barely slept all night. FFS.

No idea why. FFS.

Panadol didn't help, he's not teething, he's not sick, he just didn't sleep. FFS.





I had planned on writing this post once the boys were asleep but clearly that didn't happen. FFS.

I'd been planning an early night too, that didn't happen either. FFS.

The house is a total mess and I'm exhausted, so we are going out today. It's the only solution! 

Have a beautiful weekend everyone. 

If you've managed to get through my epic whinge, congratulations. If you'd like to read more whinges, head over to Sarah's blog

Friday 18 July 2014

FFS Friday - Ghost tales

Clearly I've done something to upset my body. FFS.

It really doesn't like me at the moment. FFS.

Sunday I woke in the middle of the night (technically it was Monday morning), feeling like I was going to be sick. FFS.

I woke up Monday morning with gastro. Again. FFS.

It was the day before Tiger was due to fly out. FFS.

I was sick all day so spent the whole day in my pj's. FFS/Not FFS.

Bizarrely the next day I woke up feeling fine. Not FFS. 

That was my stomach lulling me into a false sense of security because I've felt sick for the rest of the week. FFS.

Whilst Tiger has been home we've been having lovely sleep ins. We've been waking up at 6.30 or later, it's been wonderful. Not FFS.

As soon as he left we went back to waking up at 4.30am. FFS.

As if that wasn't bad enough, the morning after he left both the boys woke up sick. FML. FFS.

I think there is a ghost living in my car. FFS.

Wednesday morning we were going out. My garage remote is broken and I can't put it on my keyring so I had it in the glovebox. I used it to open the garage door and dropped it down the side of my seat. FFS.

It disappeared. FFS.

Cause the ghost took it. FFS.

I got out of the car, searched under the seat and it wasn't there. FFS.

I moved the seat forward and took the matt out, it still wasn't there. FFS.

I moved the seat backwards and checked from the front, still wasn't there. FFS.

Knowing that it couldn't possibly have disappeared, I checked down the side of the seat. It wasn't there. FFS.

We were due at a friend's house so I got the spare remote, closed the garage and decided to have one final look. Clearly the ghost took pity on me because as soon as I checked it was sitting in the middle of the floor. FFS.

Nice work ghost. FFS.

There concludes my weekly whinge. Please tell me all about your FFS worthy moments in the comments so I can feel slightly less crazy (but let's face it, we all know I'm crazy).

If you'd like to read more whinges, head over to Sarah's blog.

Tuesday 15 July 2014

June favourites

Since we are nearly half way through July I thought it high time I got my June favourites posted.
1Skin Solution Coconut Plum soy candle - I was in love with this candle before I even burned it, as you can see from the photo. It smells gorgeous. I had the candle in my walk in wardrobe and the whole wardrobe smelled great. Since I took the photo I've been burning the candle and it smells just as beautiful. 

Clarins HydraQuench Intensive Serum Bi-Phase - My skin is super dry this winter, so in addition to the oils and heavy moisturisers I'm using, I've added the Bi-Phase serum into my routine and it's really helping. It gives me the extra hit of moisture that my skin so desperately needs at the moment.

Arbonne Coral Reef lipstick - I love the look of coral lipstick, but it doesn't love me, it makes me look awful. When this showed up on my doorstep I assumed it'd be another coral that I can't wear, but it's not! It has a touch of pink that makes it wearable for people like me who can't wear warm colours. The lipstick is a beautiful formula, hydrating and long lasting. I can see myself buying more of these soon, they're lovely.

Luk Beautifood Lemon and Mint - This is a really unique, lovely lip balm. It gives a very light tint of colour, smells and tastes amazing. It's clear that I need the whole range as all the flavours sound beautiful. 
Chapstick All Things Sweet Lip Kit - Two words.....CAKE BATTER!

Dermalogica Skinperfect Primer - It doesn't seem possible but I've been using this little sample tube every day for a month now and it's still not empty. I only need to tiniest amount to cover my whole face. If I didn't have several other primers to use up I'd be buying this as it's a beautiful product. It has a very slight tint that brightens up my face and it blurs my pores and fine lines so my skin looks flawless. I like to use this over the top of BB in place of a finishing powder.

Lancome Gloss in Love 312 Blink Pink - In an effort to finish some makeup for the beauty diet (which has totally stalled at the moment), I've been using my Gloss in Love every day. Unlike the Rouge in Love lipstick (which I really didn't like), Gloss in Love is gorgeous. It's thick, hydrating and long lasting. The colour I have looks like a beautiful pink in the tube but on my pigmented lips it's a clear gloss, which is fine with me.

Haus of Gloi Sweet Rose lip balm - They don't make this flavour at the moment (all their lip balms are seasonal releases), however they do make other flavours and they are definitely worth trying. The balms are creamy, super hydrating, smell and taste great. Haus of Gloi can truly do no wrong. 


Carmex - I know I talk about Carmex all the time, but it truly is awesome. They have a limited edition tin out at the moment which is really cute.

Friday 11 July 2014

FFS Friday - It's official, I'm crazy

Yesterday we nearly lost both our children. FFS.

I was convinced they'd been abducted. FFS.

For the first time ever, we left the boys with a non family member whilst we went out. It was lovely being out on our own. Not FFS.

It quickly became apparent that we really shouldn't be left unsupervised. I had cake for lunch then we went shopping and spent lots of money. It was great fun. Not FFS.

When we'd had enough of being alone and wanted our babies back, we went to pick them up and our friends house had disappeared. WTF? FFS.

We drove up and down the street twice but the house wasn't there. FFS.

Around this time it became very clear to me that there had been an elaborate plot to steal both our babies and they'd managed to vapourise the house and abscond with our precious treasures. FFS.

I started to panic. FFS.

I got out my phone and double checked we were in the right street and we were. FFS.

Now what? We were in the right street but the house wasn't there. FFS.

Where the hell had it gone? FFS.

I panicked more. FFS.

I was totally convinced that they'd somehow moved the house and stolen our babies. FFS.

You think I'm joking. I'm not joking. FFS.

This is how my crazy mind works, I truly thought the house had disappeared along with our babies. FFS.

Cause that sort of thing happens all the time. FFS. 

It's hard being me. FFS.

In desperation (the desperation was all me, Tiger was perfectly calm) we retraced our steps and approached the street as if we were coming from our house. Lo and behold, we found the street and the house was still there. Not FFS.

Turns out the street was a Loop, which we would have realised if we'd bothered to read the street name properly. FFS.

Funnily enough, the house and our boys were exactly where we'd left them, happy and unharmed. Not FFS.

I'm still not entirely convinced there isn't someone plotting to steal them. FFS.

That concludes this weeks FFS Friday post. I have other things that can wait till next week, I'm still recovering from the shock of nearly losing my precious babies. 

Also, further proof that I'm totally crazy, I still can't find the FFS Friday link on Sarah's blog, so if you want to read more whinges, click here

Wednesday 9 July 2014

The Lip Product Addict Tag


It's no secret that I'm a lip product addict so I was really excited when Sophie tagged me to do the Lip Product Addict Tag (clearly it doesn't take a lot to get me excited these days). 

1. Favourite balm/treatment?
What a terrible question to ask a lip balm addict. I cannot possibly pick just one. Carmex is a firm favourite as is 1 Skin Solution and Born to Balm. Then there's Dior Creme de Rose and By Terry. The Sukin lip treatment is one of the best I've ever tried and Lanolips is another staple. Subtle Energies lip balm is an all time favourite, if only for it's gorgeous rose scent. Speaking of rose scents, Perfect Potion make a beautiful rose scented balm. I could go on (and on and on and on) but I'll stop.


2. Best eye catching red? 
Nars Dragon Girl. I have two other favourite red lipsticks but they are both discontinued so there's no point mentioning them.  

3. Best luxury and best drugstore?  
My all time favourite lipstick is Chantecaille Camellia Lip Chic. If I could only wear one lipstick for the rest of my life this would be it. It feels like a balm and is a beautiful colour.
Drugstore has to be the Australis Mineral Inject lipsticks, they are amazing. They are easily as good if not better than a lot of high end lipsticks. There is a great range of colours, they are super cheap, hydrating, and they smell great.   


4. Best MAC lipstick? 
Syrup. It's the only lipstick that I've used up more than once, I think I'm onto my fourth or fifth tube now. For me Syrup is a mlbb shade that always gets me compliments. 

5. The most disappointing? 
Lancome Rouge in Love. These lipsticks get so much hype but I don't understand why. I had two and gave them both away. On me they don't last longer than an hour and they were just totally underwhelming. 

6. Liner - Yes or no?
Yes. Previously I would have said no, but now that I'm getting older there are times when I need the extra definition that a lip liner provides.  

7. The best gloss?  
CO Bigelow Mentha Lip Tints. I absolutely love these. I'd love them even more if they were available in Australia. 


8. Something extra!  
If you are looking for a great way to store your lipsticks, get one of these boxes from Bunnings. I think it's a fishing tackle box but it's perfect for storing lipsticks and can hold a surprisingly large number of them. Even better, it cost less than $10. I got the idea from this post of Lillit's. When hubby bought the box home for me I didn't think it would hold many of my lipsticks but to my great surprise it holds most of them. Having them all neatly sorted and easy to access makes life so much easier. Now if only I could get around to wearing them regularly.

If any of you want to do this post, consider yourself tagged. If you do (or have already done) the tag, please post the link in the comments below so I can have a read and add more products to my never ending wishlist.  

Tuesday 8 July 2014

June Empties

My empties this month are so pitiful that I nearly didn't do a post. But since I'm all about finishing things, how could I not do a post?

That's it. Can you believe it? Only four products! I have no idea what happened in June, clearly I wasn't using things! 

Keratinology Detoxifying Shampoo - I got this in a sample box. It's nice but not amazing. I can't say anything bad about it, nor can I say anything great about it. I wouldn't buy it purely because it's just meh.

The Body Shop Strawberry Shower Gel - The boys gave me this as part of my mothers day present and I really enjoyed using it. It smells beautiful and isn't drying, however it's not a product that I'd buy for myself due to the price.

Nutrimetics Nutri-Rich Shower Oil - Of all the shower oils I've tried, this is my favourite. It has a beautiful apricot scent, it's hydrating without being super oily and it's lovely to use. I'll definitely buy this again.

The Body Shop Strawberry Body Polish - This was another part of my mothers day gift and I absolutely loved the smell. As I'm a fan of sugar/salt scrubs I didn't find this scrubby enough for me, but it was still lovely to use. 

Monday 7 July 2014

Little Bird paw paw ointment

 
It's a little known secret that I am a paw paw balm connoisseur. I've been using paw paw balm since I was a child and I've tried every paw paw balm that I've ever come across. I love paw paw balm because of it's many uses, it's a multi use product that can do everything other than sing and dance. 


Another little known fact is that a lot of paw paw balms contain very little paw paw which always strikes me as quite funny. Little Bird paw paw balm is one of the balms that contains a lot of paw paw, it's the third ingredient.

Out of all the paw paw balms I've used, this is one of the best. I say that for several reasons:
  • It's cheap. You can buy Little Bird paw paw ointment for $5.50 at Coles.
  • It has a slant tipped applicator which makes it super easy to use.
  • It smells and tastes amazing. 
  • It's super moisturising.
  • It's organic. This means it's safe to use on the whole family. 
  • There are three different flavours, Original, Pink Grapefruit and Tangerine. They all taste and smell so lovely that I can't decide which is my favourite.

How cute is the Little Bird logo!

Ingredients:
Note: These balms were provided for review.

Friday 4 July 2014

FFS Friday - Toxic

Hello and happy Friday to you all!

I know you've missed my poo and spew stories so I have one for you this week.

Saturday started out innocently enough, actually it started out really well because we went into town and met up with Su. We had a lovely morning with no indication of what was to come. Not FFS.

That afternoon things went downhill fast. I suddenly started feeling sick. FFS.

I hadn't eaten anything off but I felt like I was going to be sick. FFS.

I lay down on the couch and fell asleep for a while. Thankfully the kids didn't kill themselves whilst I was asleep. Not FFS.

When I woke up I had gastro. FFS.

Ever had gastro when you have kids to look after? It's not fun. FFS.

Chai stood at the bathroom door watching me spew or poo, dry retching and telling me it was gross, whilst Eljay tried to pull himself up onto the toilet so he could see what was going on. Good times. FFS.

Thankfully I was only spewing and pooing for Saturday afternoon, but I felt sick for a few days. The poor boys didn't get bathed for two days, but at least they were fed. FFS.

Of course this had to happen whilst Tiger was away. FFS.

To my great displeasure Chai can now open the child proof lock on our fridge. FFS.

We put it there to keep him out of the fridge. FFS.

He's now in the fridge constantly. FFS.

Monday was One Of Those Days. FFS.

It started out well, we slept in until 6am which was great, the kids were happy playing so I got some housework done and everything was wonderful. I was feeling a bit better so decided that after two days of being housebound we'd get out of the house and the kids could burn some energy at the park. Not FFS.

I got us all ready, got into the car and Eljay started screaming. Really screaming. FFS.

Halfway to the park he was screaming so much that I turned around and decided we'd go to a park closer to home. FFS.

Then Chai decided he'd start screaming too, at which point I decided we were going home. FFS.

I drove home with both of them screaming. Chai was alternatively yelling and screaming and Eljay was just screaming. FFS.

I don't know why I bother sometimes. FFS.

That afternoon, once Eljay had had a sleep we headed out again. The morning had been lovely and clear, the afternoon was windy and overcast. FFS.

Thankfully it didn't rain whilst we were out so the kids had a great time at the park. Not FFS.

Chai has now decided that he doesn't like it when Eljay makes any noise. FFS.

Eljay makes noise constantly. FFS.

Every time Eljay makes a noise Chai yells at him. FFS.

Every single time. FFS.

Once he's sick of yelling he cries. FFS.

Not a real cry, it's a loud, yelling type of cry. FFS.

It's driving me nucking futs. FFS.

I'm going to buy some noise cancelling headphones so I don't have to listen to it. FFS.

Thursday morning we called the PIL's to see if they were going to visit and they said they weren't coming until next week. Not FFS.

Lunchtime they called and said they were on their way down. FFS.

Thanks for the warning. FFS.

That afternoon Tiger got gastro. FFS.

The PIL's were already halfway through their trip down. FFS.

Last time FIL had gastro he ended up in hospital with heart problems. FFS.

As is it wasn't bad enough that Tiger has gastro, we both now have colds. FFS.

Clearly our house it toxic, I may have to burn it down. Failing that, I'll just disinfect the whole house. FFS.

There concludes my weekly whinge. If you've had any FFS worthy moments, please tell me all about them so that I can laugh at with you. 

If you'd like to read more whinges, head over to Sarah's blog.



Wednesday 2 July 2014

Dear Eljay

My precious baby. Today you are 11 months old! The time has gone by so quickly. Already you are starting to look less like a baby and more like a little boy. You are a very relaxed, curious and happy boy. You love exploring the house and will often go missing. I usually find you in the spare room pulling all the washing off the clothes airer, it's your favourite past time. Or if someone has left the toilet door open you'll be demolishing a roll of toilet tissue.

You've been standing and balancing a lot the last few days and you love using your pusher, you are so pleased with yourself and scream with delight. If we don't acknowledge your cleverness when you're pushing your walker around you'll yell at us until we look at you, then you'll toddle off with lots of delighted screams. 

You can wave, clap your hands and say Dadda, Mumma, Nanna, nana (banana) and Ta.

We've been using the pram a bit lately and you love it. You are quite happy sitting there watching the world go by. You still love the carrier but you are equally as happy in the pram, I think you like that you can move around a bit more in the pram.

At the moment you still have two sleeps a day. You're not sleeping through the night yet, I think that's mainly because you don't have your own room so we disturb you. We'll be moving you into the nursery soon. 

You have five teeth and the sixth one isn't far away. Even when you're teething you're still happy little bub. Eating is one of your favourite things to do, you are such a great eater. I've yet to find a food that you don't like, so far you've loved everything we've given you. When you really like something it's so cute, you'll go mmmm, mmmmm, mmmm with each mouthful. 

My beautiful son, I'm so blessed to have you in my life. You are the sun in my days and my reason for living.

Tuesday 1 July 2014

Benefit They're Real Push Up Liner

 I'm always skeptical when there is a lot of hype about a new beauty product. Some products get so hyped up that I expect something amazing and I'm usually disappointed. Not this time though. All the hype about Benefit's They're Real Push-Up Liner are right, it's amazing. In fact, I'd go so far as to say it's the best eyeliner I've ever used.
What makes it so good? It's a gel liner in pen form! The tip of the pen is soft rubber, which means it's gentle and super easy to use. I'm not great at applying gel eyeliner but with They're Real Push-Up Liner I have no problems, I can easily create the perfect winged eye on the first go. Usually it takes me ages to get a winged eyeliner looking right but with They're Real I get it right first go every time.
To use all you do is click the base of the pen a few times until the gel comes out, rest the tip of the pen on the base of the eyelashes and then draw it along the eyelid. Easy.  
Once the liner has set it stays put and does not budge, even if I rub my eyes. It sets so well that I have trouble removing it, my usual oil cleanser doesn't get it all off and nor does micellar water, so I have to use a waterproof eye makeup remover and then the oil cleanser. Even then there is often some left on my eyelid.
The only issue I have with this liner is that it only comes in black. I really, really hope they release it in other colours soon.

Benefit They're Real Push-Up Liner costs $35 and can be purchased from Benefit Counters.

Note: This product was provided for review.