A DINNER FIRING

I have a few quiet minutes while Ayana is happily playing by herself in the lounge so thought I would share some photos from a little tradition we have going on. Through out the year Elena fires up her wood kiln which means she spends a whole day and good part of the evening throwing wood into the fire every few minutes to get it up to temperature.  On those evenings we go and out to grab takeaway burgers, and huddle around the blazing kiln to keep her company.  It's usually raining and the dogs are hanging around our feet desperate for any drop of aioli that might fall, but I still look forward to these nights with great anticipation!

HAPPY EASTER

I've always love Christmas, Easter and other peoples birthdays, but wow having a kid to make it magical for just takes things to a whole new level!  I always remember it being the most mysterious and magical experience when I was young and that's definitely what I want to recreate for my kids. This year Ayana has really been old enough to part take (incredible to think that this was her third Easter already!).  She painted little rabbits that Nic cut out for her, we blew out half a dozen eggs and spent a morning painting them and she stood her own against all her ADULT aunts and uncles in the Easter egg hunt.  We're not religious in any way and being that we're coming into Autumn here we can't really celebrate the Spring equinox so I was a little unsure of how to explain Easter to her.  In the end though I realised that just like with Christmas, for us it's a celebration of family, good food and acknowledging the change in season.  When Ayana is older we'll explain other peoples beliefs and reasons for celebrating these holidays but for now we'll just let her get swept up in the magic and excitement of the day.  Next year we get to celebrate with two little kiddo's (!!) and eeeeee I can't wait!
I hope you all had a beautiful day too. xx

NOTE TO SELF

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I'm not normally one for notes like this, but I thought this was really beautiful!  Sometimes (especially as a parent I think) you do spend a lot of time making sure your kids are eating good food while you quickly scoff down a piece of toast and whatever they've left on their plates.  You send them outside for some fresh and vitamin D so that you can do a quick clean up inside.  You stress about whether they're getting enough sleep, while the bags under your own eyes get darker.  You're always conscious to fill them with praise and encouragement while beating yourself up about the silliest things!  Parent or not, this is a really great reminder to be kind to yourself. I think I'm going to hang this on my bathroom mirror :). x

SALTY SEA DOGS AND DESIGNER HANDBAGS

Sometimes on a Monday morning when the house is a mess and there's promise of sunny weather, you just have head out in search of adventure.  By mid morning we were bouncing along the motorway on the bus to the Auckland port in search of fishy sea air.  In my mind I like to imagine it the way it might have once been, salty sea dogs with peg legs and glinting earrings, the pungent odor of fish guts being fought over by greedy gulls, drunken sailors tripping out of illegal whiskey bars and fish mongers yelling their best price.  Instead you're met by this very odd combination of luxury apartments, gleaming yachts owned by Russian billionaires and huge restaurants that transform into meat markets (basically imagine Jersey Shore), jumbled in with rust bucket fishing boats, plastic containers of freshly caught sea life gasping for breath and the odd real weather worn sailor looking disheveled and a little out of place in this surreal surrounding.  Regardless of this, I love walking down the pier and watching the scenes unravel. Squeals of delight and gasps of 'look mama, a boat', 'look mama, a bird', 'look mama, strange lady' coming from Ayana's mouth in a constant flow as she sprinted along the harbour confirmed that she was a fan too! And so we ambled along the water for a couple of hours battling the wind (so much for sunshine) and taking it all in until the grumble in our bellies got the better of us.  We found a dingy ramen house, slurped our way through a big bowl of delicious noodles while the broth dripped down our chins and before we knew it, it was time to run to our bus and get home for a very late nap.
Now I'm sitting here typing and my house is still a mess, but for the morning we had it's totally worth the fact that I now have to scrub the toilet shortly before dinner.
xx

MAMA STYLE ICON/ COURTNEY ADAMO

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Courtney Adamo of Babyccino is a modern day superwoman I'm sure of it!  With four young children, and a thriving business (that she runs with two other mama friends) she still manages to pull off an incredible style.  It's comfortable, low maintenance and at the same so well put together. I love her warm jumpers, beautifully cut dresses and most of all those ankle boots!  This is definitely one for my inspiration book.

You can read more about her beauty uniform here.

And her website Babyccino here.

ETHICAL FASHION/ BHALO

I first came across this awesome label when we were in Melbourne last year (where it seems that everything is leaning towards fair trade/ ethical/ eco).  I was immediately drawn to their bright colours, playful patterns and unusual cuts.  But what I love the most about Bhalo is that all their fabrics have been woven, dyed and embroidered by people of a rural Bangladesh community.  They not only pay workers a fair wage and help to improve the lives of those they employ, but also give you the opportunity to see where and how your clothes are made. In a world where we are so disconnected from everything we buy and consume, I really find this to be a breath of fresh air!  One of their dresses is going to make the perfect addition to next years summer wardrobe.
You can find their online store here.

LATELY

I feel like I've barely taken photos this summer (well probably still a lot compared to your average person but not many for me).  Still, if I had been furiously photographing they would probably all look the same, beach, beach baby, swimming, beach.  We may not have managed any of the road trips or camping excursions that we had planned, but Ayana has a delicious dark tan, unruly blonde hair and that general slightly tired but beaming look that I think all children should have by the end of summer!
 We're making the most of these final warm days, but there is evidence of autumn in the colder mornings now and for the first time I'm actually welcoming them.
xx

TIME OUT

"One piece of advice I wish someone told me in the beginning was to ask for help! When I first became a mom, it was really important to me to be with them 24/7. I'm glad that I was there so much when they were babies, but at some point I started to go a little batty.  It's really important to nurture yourself as an individual and not forget who you were before you had kids."
Hannah Henderson - The Glow

Last night, after a long and much needed skype date with my best friend (who lives on the other side of the planet) I broke down in a sobbing heap.  She was telling me how her mother looks after her daughter twice a week and her family often help out too, and all the while I was pushing back a lump in my throat. It struck me how exhausted I was, how desperate I was for some 'me' time.  On occasion I do get a couple of hours to myself when Nic has a day off, but then I find myself aimlessly wandering around town and not knowing what to do.  In the end I come home feeling more unfullfilled (and broke) than ever.  Poor me, poor poor me I whimper and sob to myself rather pathetically. Clearly I've been throwing more pity parties than I realised, because last night Nic (after a hug and a pat on the back) told me quite sternly that it was up to me to figure out what I wanted and together we'd make it happen.  Well that pretty much shut me right up and at 5am this morning I was wide awake  with my mind whirring.

After a chat to other friends I discovered that there is nothing unique about my situation.  It seems that as mothers we're torn no matter which direction we turn in.  Full time working mothers feel guilt about not spending enough time with their children, part time working mothers struggle to re-adjust between work and childcare during the week, and full time stay at home mothers often (lets be honest) teeter on the brink of sanity and are desperate for adult conversation by the end of a long week.  As a mother/ parent you pour so much of yourself into your children that it's easy to lose your sense of self.  It has taken me until now to realise the importance of nurturing your own needs as well.  Being an all sacrificing martyr really doesn't seem to do anybody in the family much good. If you're constantly stressed and agitated then it rubs off on everybody else (or that's certainly the way it is with us) and that's no way to live.

In the future I dream of opening my own shop, writing part time and somehow still being home for my kids when they finish school.  In the mean time though I'm really going to try throw myself into some projects and use this blog as my creative outlet.  To escape to a cafe for a couple of hours, enjoy a piece of cake and work on this blog as though it were a small extention of myself sounds like good medicine to me. Oh and let's throw a weekly yoga session in there for good measure too.  We'll see how things go.

xx

RAW CHOCOLATE AND DATE BALLS

I hadn't actually planned to write about these delicious little treats but if you're a dark chocolate lover then you probably need to try them.  I don't have a major sweet tooth and I'm generally pretty good at keeping my sugar intake to a minimum (with the exception of my weekly doughnut after doing the grocery shop) so I was looking for something healthy to get me through that afternoon lull. I found these chocolate and date balls over at Petite Kitchen (a New Zealand food blog seriously worth checking out) and they really hit the spot.  They're only sweetened with dates and have a ton of raw cacao powder in them for a serious chocolate kick.  I should warn you that Ayana managed to polish off half the mixture before we even rolled them into balls and proceeded to run around like a lunatic hyped up on cacao for the next hour.  So if you're making these with your kids (which is awesome because they really enjoy rolling them and dipping them in coconut) you have been warned!
I can't claim this recipe to be my own, so you can find it here.
Let me know what you think. x