Friday 30 October 2020

FFS Friday - Hosing around

Hello beautiful people. It's Friday! We survived another week. And what a week it's been.

Mrs B, I have a Tiger story for you. 

Honestly, I just don't understand how stupid he can be sometimes. He's highly intelligent and yet so impractical at times.

Last Sunday he was digging a hole in the garden as we got some new plants. There's this patch of really thick stalky type stuff (no idea what it's called). It's ugly and I have been trying to kill it for years but it won't die. 

So, Tiger is trying to dig through it then he gets the brilliant idea of using an axe and cutting through it. (This is a much better idea than what I wanted to do. I wanted to set it alight, however it's right at our bedroom window, so that's a really bad idea).

To his great surprise, guess what he also cut?

The reticulation.

Of course.

Funny thing was that he was surprised there was a reticulation hose in the garden. Really?!

Why is this a surprise? He knows the garden is reticulated, where else did he think the hose would be? I don't understand why this was a surprise to him.

He was genuinely surprised, he really didn't expect the reticulation hose to be there. Maybe he just didn't think?

Only minutes earlier we'd been adjusting the reticulation outlets right next to the hole he was digging, but clearly that wasn't enough to make him register that there would be reticulation where he was using the axe.

Even better, he hacked through the reticulation on both sides and didn't know he'd done it until he saw the hose in the bin. FFS.

I just don't understand how his brain works. Gardens are reticulated, so taking to them with an axe is usually going to result in the reticulation getting cut. It's a logical conclusion.

I'd planned to turn the retic back on this week, but now it has to wait until this weekend when he's fixed the damage he did. I'm going to get him to chop out the rest of that horrible grass stuff before he fixes the reticulation, because he'll probably ruin more of it whilst he's there.

Have a great weekend beautiful people. 

Tuesday 27 October 2020

October favourites


It's been a long time since I did a favourites post. I have a few new to me products that I've been loving, so it's time to tell you all about them.

The Ere Perez Morings all-beauty creme was gifted to me and I'm so glad it was because it's beautiful and I'll never be without it again. I've been using it as both a moisturiser and on days when my skin is really dry I'm using it as a primer.

Stila's Magnum XXX Mascara is amazing. If it came in brown it'd be the perfect mascara. My lashes look so long and thick when I wear this, it's like I'm wearing falsies. I haven't tried wearing it to the gym, but on non gym days it lasts all day and doesn't smudge or give me panda eyes.

The Invisibobble Sprunchie has been my go to hair tie lately. I like the regular invisibobble however I find it gets tangled in my hair, so this is the perfect solution. Plus, the leopard print is cute. 

There's no way I would have purchased the Nikkia Joy Cosmetics Velvet Finishing Powder, it's just not the sort of product that I'd buy as it's aimed at oily skinned people, which I am not. Thankfully, it was sent to me and we've been in love ever since. This is another product that I'll never be without again, it makes my skin look flawless. 

One of my favourite purchases of this year is my OrbitKey. It's such a brilliant idea and I couldn't love it more. I'm ordering one for Tiger and one for my bff. 

Instead of taking up a pile of space in my bag, my keys are now compact enough that I can put them in one of the small side pockets which gives me a lot more room in my bag. Plus, I don't have to worry about them scratching my phone or breaking the lining of my bag.

What have you been loving lately?

Sunday 25 October 2020

Thoughts of the week

 1. Who else is in spring cleaning mode? I'm having a big clean up, it feels so good. Lots of things have been going into the bin and to the Salvo's.

 

2. I've turned into a three coffee a day person and I'm not mad about it.

 

3. So far none of the christmas gift sets have tempted me. I'm very pleased about this.

 

4. The Nikkia Joy setting powder is amazing and you all need it.

 

5. You also all need an Orbitkey.

 

Saturday 24 October 2020

Saturday Stories - What will you put up with?

In life people will treat you the way that you allow them to. 

They'll walk all over you if you let them. 

As I get older I find that I'm becoming more and more intolerant. I've never had much of a tolerance for poor treatment, however as I grow older I have a lot less patience. If someone isn't going to treat me the way I want to be treated I'm out of there. 

When I was younger I'd stick up for myself, I'd make sure that they knew the way they were behaving wasn't acceptable. I don't bother with that anymore, I just walk away. I can't even be bothered explaining myself, I just walk.  

Of course, there are times when it's not possible to just walk.

My first full time job when I was 16 I had an awful manager. He was a creep who was always trying to touch me and look up my skirt. I worked in a shoe store and we had to climb up a ladder to reach the shoes on the higher shelves, every time I was on the ladder he'd find a reason to come and talk to me.

You know how I dealt with him? Twice my foot accidentally slipped and I accidentally kicked him in the face.

That solved the ladder problem. 

As for him putting his arms around me, whenever he did that I'd elbow him. Didn't take long for him to get the message. 

I had another job where the boss was harassing me. It went on for quite a long period of time and there were days when I didn't want to go to work. I knew that if I said anything it'd ruin my career so I waited. I built up a portfolio of evidence to prove what was going on then the team and I (many of whom he was also harassing) made things unpleasant at work so he got another job.

The other job was temporary and he was intending to come back in three months. When he left I presented my file of evidence to the deputy manager. 

Sleaze bag wasn't allowed to come back and I got his job. Winning.

There are many ways to deal with awful people, it doesn't always have to be confrontational. 

People can be assholes. It's them, not you. Don't allow an awful person to dent your confidence or make you feel inferior. 

 

Friday 23 October 2020

FFS Friday

You know when you become a parent and you suddenly find that you have to carry around a whole pile of stuff?

Gone are the days when you can carry a small handbag, you either carry a handbag and nappy bag or you have a large bag that fits everything.

After a while the kids get older but you still have to carry a largeish bag because kids need stuff. Toddlers need baby wipes, water, toys and a snack. Older kids need baby wipes, bandaids etc.

For the last few years I've felt like my handbag is weighing me down. Every time I've tried to downsize it hasn't worked, I've left something out and then needed it the next day.  I've just had to resign myself to being weighed down by my bag. There's probably some sort of metaphor in that too, life certainly has been weighing me down.

Finally, I've reached the stage where I can downsize. The boys can carry their own water, they can survive without snacks and anything else I can leave in the car. 

I've downsized my handbag, my purse and all the stuff that I used to cart around. I dowloaded Stocard and put all my rewards cards on so I don't need to carry them with me.

It feels so good. My shoulder isn't sore and I feel lighter, physically and mentally.  

If you follow me on Instagram you might have seen me complaining about St George Bank. If not, read on.

We've been working hard at paying off debt and it's been going really well. A few weeks ago we made our final payment on our St George credit card. After we made the payment we had to wait a few days for the payment to process before we could cancel the card. 

A week after the final payment Tiger rang up to cancel the card and was told that it has an outstanding balance over $7000!

Turns out someone had gone shopping with our card and St George hadn't thought that was unusual. Here's what I don't understand. We haven't used the card since March and we only used it for infrequent, large purchases.

How did St George think 57 transactions on Afterpay over an 8 day period was okay? In one day there were 22 transactions. I have no idea why their fraud department didn't figure out something was wrong! Talk about incompetent. 

As if that wasn't bad enough, instead of cancelling the account St George just cancelled that card, opened another account and arranged a new card to come out to us! Tiger had to call them twice to have the account closed.

Now they owe us money because we paid back more than we owed, but we can't get that until the next billing period shows the card in credit, even though the account is cancelled. How does that even make sense?

They've been so painful and difficult to deal with, we'll never bank with them again.

Other banks have suspended our accounts over once unusual transaction and called us to make sure it was us, yet St George let 57 transactions go through without taking any action.

Afterpay were no better. We emailed them to check if there was an account created in our name. We gave them all the details of the fraudulent transactions, they sent us a link to check our account transactions. Not sure how we're supposed to do that without an Afterpay account. FFS.

Idiots.


 

Tuesday 20 October 2020

Nikkia Joy Cosmetics Velvet Finishing Powder and Pro Perfecting Sponge

 

Sometimes being a blogger has it's benefits as it means I'm introduced to products that I wouldn't have bought. Nikkia Joy products fit that category.

There's no way I would have purchased the Nikkia Joy Velvet Finishing Powder as it's main purpose is to control shine. Being dry skinned, shine is not something I have to deal with. I also don't usually purchase products that are created or endorsed by influencers.

Having said that, I'm so very glad I was sent these products, they are truly beautiful. 

The Velvet Finishing Powder is easily the best new product I've tried this year. It was love at first application and I don't go a day without wearing it.

What Velvet Finishing Powder so amazing? I'll tell you. It;

  • Sets my make-up and makes a noticeable difference to the lasting powder of my foundation
  • Blurs my fine lines and pores
  • Sets my concealer and prevents it creasing
  • Feels soothing and hydrating on my skin
  • Is super fine and feels amazing. 

I apply with either a powder brush or the Pro Perfecting Sponge. Both work equally well. I usually use a brush when I'm in a hurry and just want a light layer and the sponge when I have a little more time and need a more precise application. 

I wish I'd been able to capture the beauty of the Pro Perfecting Sponge in my photos. You can't tell but the colour is pink with a black sheen, it's super pretty. 

There are so many make-up sponges available now and they really vary in quality. This is one of the best I've tried and is the only sponge I've used since it arrived. 

I like that it has a super pointy, flat edge because it means I can easily get product on the sides of my nose and under my eyes. I've been using the sponge damp to apply my concealer and it's made such a huge difference. I get better coverage and a lot less creasing. 

When you wet the sponge it swells up to three times it's size. Surprisingly it doesn't take long to dry out and shrink back to size, which is great because it means there's less chance of it getting mouldy inside. 

 I've use the sponge to apply both cream and powder products and haven't had any issues. The products don't absorb into the sponge much, so I can use it to apply my cream products and then powders without any problems.  

This also means that cleaning is quick and easy. I usually wash mine every couple of days.

You can purchase the Velvet Finishing Powder  for $55 for a 20 gram pot and the Pro Perfecting Sponge for $20. 

Both products can be purchased from the Nikkia Joy Cosmetics website.

Sunday 18 October 2020

Thoughts of the week

1. I was just looking at my blog stats. One of the main pages that refers people to my site is a porn site. WTF?

 2. It's been a while since I shared any pearls of wisdom from MIL. Here's one of her latest: "I have a friend who desperately wanted a baby but she couldn't fall pregnant because she'd seen too much animal cruelty."

Hmmmm, okay then.

3. I really want to learn to sew so that I can make my own clothes. I have a vague recollection of how to sew but it's been years since I gave it a go. I just want some nice, simple skirts and dresses. I'm sure I could make them for a lot cheaper than I can buy them.

4. Who's watching The Bachelorette? I've semi watched (watched whilst doing other things) a few episodes but I'm not that interested. I think I'm over the whole Bachelor/Bachelorette thing.

5. This week it was announced that Bradley Edwards isn't appealing his guilty sentence. I hope he's going to tell them where the body of Sarah Spiers is.  



 

Saturday 17 October 2020

Saturday Stories - Heavy

Have you ever thought about the things in life that weigh us down? Things that make us feel stuck and heavy.

It can be all sorts of things, both physical, mental and emotional. Life is really draining sometimes.

What do you do when you feel like that? Do you talk to people? Do you write, exercise, shop or something else?

I write. For me writing is cathartic. I write it down then forget about it. Once I've written about it it's gone. Often I'll write about something in an FFS Friday post and by the time the post is published I've erased the event from my mind. 

Some people find venting helps, but when does venting go too far? Tiger likes to vent but it gets to the point where I'm over hearing about it. Sometimes you just have to suck it up and move forward. Other things just aren't worth even getting upset over. 

As one of my favourite books says, "don't stress the small stuff (it's all small stuff)"

You know what's been weighing me down lately? My handbag. It just feels so full and heavy and I feel like it stops me doing things. Sounds crazy, but I feel so much better since I downsized my purse, keys and handbag, I feel lighter. 

 

Friday 16 October 2020

FFS Friday - Simple

Hi beautiful people. It's Friday!

At the moment there's a bit fuss here in Western Australia about the prices of fruit and veggies going up because there aren't any backpackers here to help with the harvest and do the fruit and veggie picking.

Farmers use backpackers because they can pay them low wages and offer conditions which the backpackers accept but most others wouldn't. 

I think there's an easy solution, but the farmers won't like it. Pay people decent money and make the conditions and hours favourable so that people can do the job.

It seems obvious to me. School mums and stay at home mums would be perfect. I'm sure there are plenty of parents like me who'd love to work but can't because of their child care commitments.

So hire a nanny and make the working hours 9am to 2pm. Mums can either bring their kids with them or come to work after they've dropped the kids at school.

Easy. The produce would be picked, they'd have plenty of willing workers and everyone would be happy.

It seems to me like a lot of industries could do the same thing. After I had Chai I would have loved to go back to work but I wasn't willing to have Chai in day care all day. If my work had on site child care I would have gone back to work. Instead I had two years maternity leave and then took a voluntary redundancy.

Even now I'd love to work but it's just not possible. So many other parents are in the same situation as I am. So many employers are complaining that they can't get staff. 

Instead of expecting the employee to conform to the employers requirements, why don't the employers create an environment that allows people to work whilst also caring for their children?

Mums are great employees. They're brilliant at time management, they get things done quickly and efficiently, they can do at least three things at one, they don't have time to waste sitting around doing nothing, they're used to mess and chaos, they just want to get their work done and go home.

Instead of valuing parenthood we victimise it. We make stay at home mothers feel inferior, we criticise them when they prioritise their children and we don't value them at all. 

The mums who go to work are criticised for not putting their families first. Either way women can't win. 

Even in a tough job market there are plenty of jobs that businesses struggle to fill, so why not change things up a bit so that it's easier for people to work?

One day society will realise how amazing and valuable women are and the world will be a better place.

I'm trying to raise my boys to respect and value women. I want them to know that women are kick ass, amazing beings who are capable of anything, but I also want them to treat women with gentleness and respect. 

I have no idea if I'm getting it right but I'm trying my best, hopefully I'm successful.

Tuesday 13 October 2020

Arbonne Super Calm and Inner Calm

For the last few months I've been trialling the Arbonne Super Calm range. 

It's a gorgeous range of products consisting of a cleansing milk, serum, moisturiser and my favourite product an inner calm powder.

I was always sceptical about supplements that claim to help stress, however in the past six months I've discovered that some of them really do work. 

I use the Inner Calm powder whenever I'm having a rough day and it really does help calm me down.  

Supercalm Vegan Cleansing Milk

I use the cleansing milk as my first cleanse. It's gentle on my skin, doesn't irritate my eyes and easily removes all my make-up, including mascara. 

I have to be careful what I use on my eyes, I find that a lot of cleansers sting or irritate my eyes, so I'm always happy when a cleanser is safe for my eyes. I love that it comes in a pump bottle. 

A 90ml bottle costs $47. 


Supercalm Skin Relief Serum

This serum has been my dry skin saviour over the last month. It's light, quickly absorbed and heaven for dry skin. After a week of use my dry flaky patches were gone and my skin was back to it's happy self. It usually takes me a few weeks to rescue my skin from it's ultra dry stage so I was thrilled that it only took a week.

You can purchase a 30ml bottle for $74. 


Supercalm Soothing Hydrator

I like to use this when my skin is looking red and irritated. It's hydrating but light at the same time (how do they do that?). Normally I use it over the top of the Skin Relife Serum, they work really well together. This also works well as a primer, it plays well under both foundation and BB cream.

A 50 gram pot costs $65.

I have to mention that I can't use these products when my skin is going through it's horrible super sensitive hayfever allergy phase. 

It's worth noting that when my skin is like this I can only use two specific LRP and Avene moisturisers, everything else irritates.

The problem is my skin not the product.

Innercalm is my super hero product. It contains Ashwagandha which helps with stress and Saffron Stigmas which supports a balanced mood. The flavour is a lovely peach green tea. I mix it into either hot or cold water and it makes a pleasant, relaxing drink.

30 serves cost $80, which is fairly standard for stress relief products.

 

Note: These products were provided to me for review.

Sunday 11 October 2020

Thoughts of the week

 1. We've now entered the strange and confusing period where Australia has several different time zones and no-one knows what's going on. In WA we're 3 hours behind most of the other states. I think we're 2 and a half hours behind South Australia but I really don't know. 


2. Who shopped the Sephora sale? I wanted to but I didn't. It's not a bargain if you don't need it. 


3. Yesterday I was out in public for the whole day. I'm exhausted. 


4. Despite calling specialists twice a week for the last five weeks I have still not managed to get a paed or psychiatrist appointment for Chai. 


5. I hope you are all coping okay in these strange times.

Saturday 10 October 2020

Saturday Stories - No More Thank You

Today's tip is something I realised years ago, however I've seen other people doing it too so thought I'd post about it. 

When I first started seeing Tiger, if he helped out around my house I'd thank him.

That continued on when we were living together. After a while I realised that by thanking him it was giving the impression that doing housework was my job and he was doing me a favour by cleaning up after himself.

What's with society and women thinking it's our job to keep the house tidy? Do the men not live there too? Even when the woman is a stay at home mum, the responsibility for keeping the house tidy belongs to both people, not just the female.

Now, I don't thank Tiger for doing housework. I expect it of him and don't even comment if he's done something. He's never thanked me for doing housework so why should I thank him? It's the same thing isn't it?

Ladies, it's not your responsibility to do all the housework. Everyone who lives in the house is responsible for keeping it clean and tidy. Don't thank people for keeping their home tidy.

Friday 9 October 2020

FFS Friday - Rambling

Hello Friday you beautiful thing. How we've missed you. 

Blogger have changed their user interface and it's awful. Why do they fix things that aren't broken? It was working fine before, so instead of leaving it they decided to make it worse. Good job Blogger. Everything looks strange, so if my posts have funny formatting you know why. 

Tiger is working six days a week at the moment, it's not fun. Even so, it's much better than FIFO because he's home every night. I'm not sure he thinks it's better than FIFO though. When he worked away he got more rest, he didn't have to come home and be part of the family. Ah well. It's only a few weeks until he'll be back to working five days a week, that's much more manageable.

Whilst we're loving having Tiger home, I've noticed that weekends are exhausting now. When he was FIFO we had two weeks to do things, now we have two days a week. This means that those two days are usually spent out of the house and with people. I don't like it at all. I have only a limited amount of tolerance for people and the public then I need quiet time at home. Two full days of people and being out is way too much for me. 

Chai and Tiger thrive on being around people, Eljay and I don't. Maybe we'll let Tiger and Chai go out whilst Eljay and I stay home, that'd be a good plan. Eljay and I love lazing around the house, we just sit quietly together enjoying the silence.

We've had a lot of time with our extended family recently and it's been lovely. Family don't exhaust me. I love that the boys are growing up close to their cousins, it's something that's really important to me. I want them to have strong family connections so they have a good support network for life. 

I don't have much to whinge about today. What's with that? Clearly I haven't been paying proper attention as there's always something to complain about.

Oh, Mrs B, you'll be pleased to know that Tiger has taken over shower cleaning duties. Finally!

He's still being a grumpy old man. This is not at all acceptable and I'm not going to allow it. Friday he was grumpy from the time he walked in the door so I told him off. I'm not going to live with a grumpy old man. If he wants to be like that he can go do it somewhere else.

Okay, that's all I've got today, I'll come up with something better next week.


Tuesday 6 October 2020

Sol de Janeiro


My Sol de Janeiro collection has grown!

I've now added the Cheirosa 62 fragrance to my collection. I've wanted it for a while but didn't have a spare $125 to spend on perfume. Now there's a smaller size available for $42.

I don't buy perfume very often as I already have enough, but when I do I prefer to buy smaller sizes because they don't take as long to get through. The largest size I'll buy is 30mls, any larger just takes too long to finish.

Whilst I love all my Sol de Janeiro products, they really are overpriced. If it wasn't for the amazing scent there's no way I'd buy them. 

The Bum Bum cream is great, but there are so many other products that work just as well for a lot less. The same goes for the lip balm. It's lovely and very hydrating, but Burt's Bees works just as well.

If you're a fan of foody fragrances then you'll love Sol de Janeiro, if you aren't, save your money.

 

Sunday 4 October 2020

Thoughts of the week

1. Christmas gift sets will be coming out soon and I'm here for it.

2. Despite it being spring, we're still in the midst of winter weather and I love it.

3. I've decided to downsize my purse so loaded all my rewards cards onto Stocard. My purse is so much lighter now! Also, it's crazy how many cards I was carrying around.

4. Shelby is getting a haircut this week. At the moment she looks like an ewok.

5. Mecca Beauty Loop Boxes are out now.

Saturday 3 October 2020

Saturday Stories - Sorry

Have you ever realised how often women say sorry?
We apologise all the time, even when we're not in the wrong. 
How often do men say sorry?
Not that often.
So why should we be sorry when they aren't? 

Take notice of how often you apologise. At least half of the time I bet you're apologising for something that's not your fault. 

I've stopped doing that. I'm not sorry for existing. I'm not sorry when someone walks in front of me. I'm not sorry if someone gets in my way. I'm not even sorry when I get in someone else's way. 

I'm worthy, I'm important, I don't need to apologise for holding space. Neither do you. 



Friday 2 October 2020

FFS Friday - Idiot of the week

Hello beautiful people.
I hope you are all well and happy.

I spend plenty of time telling you about the silly things that Tiger and the boys have done, well this time it's my turn.

You might remember that we recently had to change our phones over. When I get a new phone I usually leave the plastic screen protector on for a while but this time I decided to take the screen protector off straight away.

The phones have gorilla glass so I figured it'd be pretty difficult to scratch, plus I'm always careful with my phone.

Last week I noticed that there was a large scratch on the screen. Closer inspection showed that there were a lot of large scratches all over the screen.

I was pissed. It's a brand new phone, I'm always super careful with it and the screen was scratched to buggery. I probably shouldn't use that saying should I? Okay, I won't say that, the phone was scratched all over. That's better.

Anyhow, I was super annoyed, decided that the phone was clearly faulty to scratch so easily and was wondering how I was going to claim it under warranty. I knew it'd be an uphill battle so I was gearing myself up for the fight.

The last month has been pretty stressful, so whilst I was gathering the energy to fight with the phone company I decided to get a screen protector to stop the phone getting even more scratched.

Harvey Norman do custom cut screen protectors that are guaranteed for the life of the phone, self repairing and equally as strong as gorilla glass.
I handed my phone over and told them how annoyed I was at how easily the screen scratched.

The technician took my phone, looked at the screen and said "oh, you've still got the screen protector on".
I told him I took the screen protector off when I got the phone, so he showed me the edge of the screen protector. Those fuckers put two plastic protectors on!

Hah. I was pretty pleased when I discovered that I hadn't actually scratched my screen, but seriously, what an idiot! Once he pointed it out I could clearly see the edge of the screen protector. Hahaha. Lucky I didn't try to make a warranty claim, that would have been funny.

Pretty sure I win idiot of the week with that one.