WTFF: Winter Roses

Hello my lovely people out there in interweb land!  Remember me??  Your (not so) trusty blog friend?  I've had a little blogging vacation for one reason or another but you can stop frantically checking your inboxes and refreshing your browsers because I'm back.

And I'm back with a frock.  How apt.  This is a wee bit of a cheat, this dress.  It is a dress.  I did wear it on a What the Frock Friday.  In fact I wore it on two.  So it's last week's frock and this week's frock.  Wearing the same outfit twice??  *gasp*.  I can live with it this time as I wore it in two different cities.  And Oamaru (not a city, in case your lower South Island of New Zealand geography is a little sketchy.  But a lovely town none the less).  So those of you who saw me in it last Friday in Wellington get to relive the experience, and those who saw me in it this Friday in Dunedin will be reading Frock Friday as normal.  Only Phil, Edie and I have seen the frock twice in a week and I'm sure they barely noticed or cared.  But I just had to get that confession off my chest.  It's just as well really as I was hoping to increase my frock wardrobe while in Wellington, but didn't buy a single one for me, only two for Edie (one bought by Nana).  I can't help but feel this is a developing trend.  Dresses for her are so much cheaper.  I hope I don't have to slowly descend from What the Frock Fridays to Jeans & t-shirt Tuesdays to Trackie Thursdays.  I don't really see myself ever being that unselfish actually, so you (and I) should be fine.

This is another old Voon frock and I felt it fitting that I wear it while in Wellington.  Unfortunately we didn't take the camera to get photos of the frock in Wellington and I didn't really get the chance to write about it either.  So it was fitting, and then it was just sensible to wear it again so I could get some snaps and write about it.  The fabric of the dress is interesting.  I've always loved the burnished gold of the leaves with the deep red of the roses, it's like lovely old lady's furniture.  A big inner-sprung couch.  That kind of thing.  And the material itself has a furnituresque (good word huh?) quality to it; it's more like curtain or upholstery fabric than dress material.  In fact the reverse is bright gold. I wish it was able to be see more somehow without me having to do a flasher number.  As a result, it's quite firm by which I mean, it doesn't have much drape.  This makes it a bit odd to wear as it doesn't "pull in" to you as you might expect.  It feels almost like it could be a coat or a robe instead of a dress.  But I love the pattern so much and it speaks so much of winter warmth that I have adjusted to this odd feeling.  The wrap around style of the dress allows you to give it some shape and an advantage of the stiffness of the material is that it hides all your lumps and bumps (the undesirable ones).

In keeping with gold and roses I wore ceramic gold earrings given to me by my sister (I thought I'd worn them before so I didn't take any pics), and a necklace given to me by Aja and Bianca for my 30th birthday.  I wear it a lot as the colours make it a chameleon - it works with a lot of different outfits, and I find the length suits the neckline of a lot of my clothes.  I love the little tree and the quirky charms that hang off it.  It's a bit different which suits me just fine.

Yesterday Edie wore a new dress from Nana.  Mum found this on sale and knew I was running low on frocks for Edie (the situation has been well and truly addressed in the last few weeks) so snaffled it up.  I'm pretty sure it cost the princely sum of $15.  It's a knit so gives a bit of extra warmth while the sun still tries to find its way down to the bottom of the world.  The denim colour looks cute on Edie and I think the little flower on the lapel is a nice detail.  The cardi was knitted for Edie by our older neighbour.  It's lovely and so is she.  Unfortunately, Edie is yet to appreciate this fact and she is the one person who Edie reacts violently against.  I have no idea why as she is so kind.  It's quite embarrassing having your child scream and recoil in horror when someone approaches them.
Edie's tights have a wee daisy on the bum which is very cute but I didn't feel right making my child bend over on cue to take photos of her bottom so you don't see it here.  The shoes are hand me downs from her big cousin, Hamish.  Boys clothing on girls is so much more socially acceptable than the other way round which is sad, but Edie is on the right side of the equation.  The necklace is mine.  Selected and styled by Edie.
Edie is obsessed with steps ("sep") and going up and down them.  Fortunately for her, and unfortunately for her parents, we live down a whole raft of them so that's why our photos are taken in this spot.  I thought it might mean she would pose nicely.  Clearly this was a foolish assumption as she was far more intent on scaling the stairs than posing for photos.  Photos with Child Fail #83.

So there you are peeps, What the Frock Friday on it's return.  More to come soon on lessons learnt while travelling with a child.  It's scintillating stuff I tell you...

WTFF: Going for Gold

I apologise for my slightly misleading title of today's frocky post.  I am not wearing a gold dress.  It has a wee bit of gold in it.  And I'm in the historical gold mine area of New Zealand.  But that's about it.  I am, however, completely obsessed with the Olympics and will probably go into post-Olympic withdrawl when it ends this weekend.  I really did want to pick a dress that was "Olympic" themed and it just goes to show how desperate I was to meet this end that I tried to make this dress my Olympic tribute.  Would you like to hear my tenuous reasoning for this being an Olympic homage?  Of course you would!  So... New Zealand's traditional team colours are black and silver.  This dress is black(ish.  More like charcoal actually but tomaytoes/tomahtoes) with silver through it.  It also has gold because... well I don't really have to explain the relevance of gold to the Olympics do I?  Perhaps I could make it some lame metaphor for New Zealand winning some gold medals.  Yeah, that sounds awesome.  I also wore a nice piece of New Zealand jewellery to continue the patriotic fervour.  My earrings are the closest I could get to Olympic rings.  They're not rings, they're ringlets but let's not get technical.  I think if Grasping at Straws were an Olympic sport then I would be in with a shot at a medal.

Clothes swaps.  If you've never done one, it's worth a go.  The good old adage, "your trash is someone else's treasure" never had a better platform.  This dress/tunic belonged to my friend Helen and it found a new home with me after Helen and I organised a clothes swap at work one afternoon.  I have worn it a lot although hardly at all since Edie was born (breastfeeding again.  Sorry to bang on about it).  It's just a bit different in both the sense that there's not much around like it, and it's unlike things I normally have in my wardrobe.  I like the middle panel on it which actually acts like a big pocket.  Not that I would put anything in it as it might make me look like I had a massive apron of fat or worse.  The silver and the gold means it's versatile in terms of accessories although I've never tried to add a splash of colour so maybe I should try that the next time I wear it.

We've seen the cardi before with this frock but it's returned to it's home, Queenstown.  I like how the dark dress underneath allows the pattern of knit to show when worn with the tunic.

The boots I bought a few years ago (they look a little worse for wear) and I love that they remind me of Puss in Boots.  I think I had a book with that story in as a child in which Puss wore boots similar to these with the fold over top.  The gumboot fear of flat boots was first overcome with these boots, so they hold a special place in my heart.

Phil bought me this necklace a few years ago.  It's a Boh Runga piece of jewellery and like all of the pieces from that range, has a feathered theme.  I like both the weight and delicacy of the wing pendant and it's the only long pendant I own.  I don't seem to wear necklaces that much any more but this is one I do go back to.  The earring my mum bought for me years ago, I think possibly because they reminded her of my curly hair (it used to be long so lots of ringlets).  They're not quite silver or gold which I like as it means they can be worn either way.

Phil, Edie & I have come to Queenstown this weekend for a winter weekend and so gloves and hats are compulsory items.  My beret and fingerless gloves were bought for me by Mum (I'm worried Mum is going to start picking up on how often I write those words and tone down the gift-giving) and come from Forever New.  We don't have a Forever New in Dunedin which I am both sad and glad about.  Sad because they have really cool stuff at chain store prices, and glad because they have really cool stuff at chain store prices.  And I don't have money to spend even at chain store prices.  The same day you last saw me wear the cardi, I also wore the coat.  Love it like a child.  Ok, not quite as much as I love Edie but it's possibly super-ceding the cat in my affections...

Edie had a cute Frugi dress on today but the coat was the feature of the day as we travelled closer to the snow.  The coat comes from Miracle and is a New Zealand made number from a company called Lone Moose.  They use recycled and reclaimed materials as well as new fabrics to make their very cool creations.  I had a hard time choosing between this colour for the coat, or a gorgeous peacock/teal colour.  Perhaps we'll have teal next time.  I love the pixie hood and the cute lining which can actually be worn on the outside as the domes are double sided.  She's wearing a little neckerchief because it looks cute, like a wee polka dot cow wrangler, but also because she is dribbling like a fox at the moment and she's not normally a dribbly kid at all.  Perhaps the next lot of teeth are on their way.  Whatever the reason, Edie gets to rock Aunty Natalie's bandana so it has its upsides.  Also worth noting are the cute purple See Kai Run boots that match the glasses of course.

Right, back to enjoying my Olympics on a fuzzy old TV in a good old Kiwi bach.  All I need is a cup of Bell tea and I'll be a lovely blast from the past cliche.

WTFF: Otago Sunshine

It was another beautiful day in Dunedin.  That statement could be dripping with sarcasm, but actually it's not.  We have been having the most incredible run of weather.  There's been the odd rainy day, but mostly, it's been frosts and sunshine.  Now I've put you all to sleep with talk of the weather, let's move on to more interesting topics: my frock.  It was a celebration of Otago and the lovely winter weather.  For those of you who aren't so au fait with Otago, gold and blue are the colours sported by the rugby team so have by proxy become the region's colours.  I didn't apply to the Rugby Union for a fan fashion frock, however, I bought the dress off ASOS.  I very much doubt a British clothing store intended to make a dress to support a New Zealand provincial rugby team so it's pure coincidence but on a lovely day like today, it was very intentional on my part.

The dress (now covered in pumpkin and cream cheese thanks to Edie's food art finger painting, Mumma as canvas) was bought in a sale several months ago.  When you buy things in a sale you must always, always ask yourself the question, "Why is this on sale?".  You will find the answer is often, "Because there is something wrong with it", in which case, you don't want it either.  Here are some hints: read reviews - people will give feedback on a garment that they didn't like; look at the shape - could it be tricky to fit?; look at the material - is it poor quality/wrong for the garment/fugly?.  Here are some reasons why you could be getting a bargain: the price point - was it ridiculously expensive for what it was, but on sale it's fine; it's a definite style - one that not many people choose to rock, but you do; it requires a bit of thought - you can see what you need to do with it but others might have missed the trick.
With this dress, I think it was the colours.  The combination of the gold and blue works, but maybe it's not easy to imagine how to accessorise.  Also they're not very 'in' colours (in combination) at present so the dress looks different from things you see around in the stores at the moment.  That could be bad and good.  I decided it was good.
From a practical point of view, the dress is a wool blend so has a bit of warmth in it (always handy in the deep South).  And from an impractical point of view, it's a pain in the arse to breastfeed in.  It requires lifting the whole skirt up.  Just as well I have few inhibitions in that sense.
Because of the knit fabric, it's really comfy to wear and the shape is flattering and comfortable too - no gut-sucking required.    I like the shape of the skirt with it's slight fullness which complements the waistline and length nicely.  And because of where I live, the colours are great.

The hat.  Don't ya love it??  Phil bought it for me years ago.  It was one of those "Just Because I Love You" gifts that people give each other when they're in love and they don't have kids and boring things sucking up their disposable income.  I'm not a complete cynic.  We do still buy these kind gifts for each other but these days it's more likely to be a trim latte and a cream bun than a beautiful wool hat.  And this is fine as I love me a good cream bun (catch the name of the blog by any chance?).  I can't remember where Phil got the hat but he was so proud of his gift-buying skills when he presented it to me.  He knew I'd love it: I love hats.  My Mum has always had this thing about her not having the right head/face/anything to wear a hat.  Every time she tries one on for fun, she pulls this 'hat face' (Phil and my sister will know the exact face I'm talking about) which makes her instantly look like she's escaped from the funny farm and then reiterates that she can't wear hats.  Perhaps because of this, Natalie and I love the things.  I have a modest collection of hats that I don't wear half as often as I should.  And the sad thing is, I've never worn this hat before today.  I know, I'm a bad wife.  Basically, I have this image in my head of the way in which this hat should be worn, and I have never had the outfit or the occasion to live up to my ideal.  It's not a dressing up hat in the sense that you would wear it to a wedding or to the races.  And yet it's not a snow day, cold outside, wear it on duty in the school playground kinda hat either.  It has its own special place with a black wool suit and 1920's shoes to match its almost-cloche style.  But today I lowered my lofty visions of suited beauty and wore it with my Otago Sunshine dress.  And I liked it.  I know the black ribbon with the blue dress is less than ideal (in my matchy matchy world) but I figured with my black shoes, it ties in top and toe.  I shall try and find more excuses to wear my beautiful hat gifted with love.

The Oompa Loompa tights have made a reappearance this week, as have the noisy shoes.  I am rolling with the tights but I'm still sure I'll look back in 5 years and shake my head at my fashion-victim choice.  And I didn't wear any jewellery this week as I thought the hat and tights were enough accessory for one outfit.  Don't want to get to greedy now.

This week my little Edie Maeve is wearing a repeat frock.  Gasp!  Hey, if it's good enough for Kate Middleton, it's just acceptable for my baby.  And it's a tricksy repeat: it's the reverse side of the corduroy smock I made her.  I chose this sea green cord to tone in with the same Paris pants but I like running with the blue hues instead.  The knitted nappy cover was given to Edie by Aunty Natalie and I love it with the dress.  The t-shirt is a hand-me-down and the tights and hair clip are from Pumpkin Patch.  Her cute See Kai Run Smaller boots (bought to match her purple glasses frames) feature again.  I made another little "flower" to pin to the dress, this time in blue.  A vision in blues and purples.  The pics where she is not charging headlong toward the camera were taken because Edie-hypnotherapy was playing on the TV and it's not what you might think.  I might write a wee post about what keeps her happy because it's bloody hilarious.

A little blue and sunshine from Otago to brighten your day!

And some dancing in the dark to finish.  This is me forcing my husband to take photos when there is almost no natural light left.  But what light there is, is really pretty.

Cool Shit Monday: Kiddy Kool

Not all of you have kids so I have avoided putting too many child-related items into CSM.  Just the odd sprinkle here and there.  But the reality is, I do have a kid and so I can't help but find cool shit that is kiddy-centric.  So today I am indulging the mummy shopaholic in me and showing you some Kiddy Kool.  If you don't have a kid, you could just peruse the items, appreciate their cuteness, then purge them from your memory as useless trinkets.  Or perhaps you could use some of this on pets or sprogs of people you know.  If you do have sprogs, prepare to get your wallets ready and your 'awww' faces prepped.

Lou Clifton is a Dunedin lass who has been designing and making children's shoes for several years under the banner, Lou's Shoes.  She has always made totally fantastic shoes but she recently took a break from her children's line to go to Australia and develop her shoemaking skills.  She went and worked with a variety of bespoke shoemakers and came home to Dunedin with an adult shoe range in her sights.  I'm not sure if she's released the big people shoes yet, but she has released a new line of kiddies shoes and they are to. die. for.  If the adults shoes are anywhere near as cool as her baby shoes, I'll be looking at some serious shoe-debt.  In the mean time, I am just trying to decide what shoes need to make it into Edie's wardrobe.

I think these Pierrot ones will be on the shopping list

Another lovely Dunedin lady showing her talents is Rachel Owen.  After Rachel had her son, she asked her mother to teach her all her crafty secrets.  She passed over quilting, decided knitting wasn't for her, but crochet was just her cup of tea and away she went.  Once she'd crocheted entire wardrobes of clothes for her own child, she decided it was probably time to share the love and started to sell her creations.  And so Kid Lidz was born.  Edie was lucky enough to be given one such creation for her first birthday - an owl hat - and we get so many comments about it.  And you no-kiddy people are in luck.  She makes them in big people sizes too...

Edie jazzed to have an owl on her head.

Well this is turning into a Dunedin love-fest as I'm now about to rave on about Helen Riley-Duddin who is the brains behind Tinch Design.  She designs restickable wallscapes for kidlets (and big people too).  Now this idea is not new.  When I went to decorate Edie's room before she arrived, I found a bizillion cute wall stickies I could have put on her wall.  In the end, I chose two different designs that were not Helen's work.  They're cute.  I like them.  But Helen's are cool so I was stoked when Harriet gave us one after Edie was born. What makes them different?  She uses upcycled textiles (mainly wallpaper and fabric) to make them so they just look... funky.  Helen describes them as "half way between play and art" and the lady knows what she is talking about.  Plus on a practical note, they are restickable.  Really.  Not like those stickers that stuck ok at first but after you moved them, seemed to attract fluff from your carpet, your cat, and the back of the refrigerator, and have started to peel off the wall.  But if you were still worried about the fluff, you can get magnetic backing instead.  You'd happily have them on the walls of your house, unlike massive Dora or Spiderman decals that I would begrudgingly accept if Edie really wanted them and they would certainly not appear in any non-kiddy-zone room.  They have become my new 'go to gift'.

Edie's wallscape.  Edie points to it and says, "hooo! hooo!"

And just to prove this isn't all about Dunedin, here is one of my favourite online kiddy stores - Frugi.  There is so much to love about this stuff.  It's organic, it's ethical, it's made with cloth nappy bums in mind (they're fat and therefore can be tricky to fit into normal trousers in case you were wondering), and it's totally cute.  The people are awesome too, which helps.  They have such a cool wee community going (they call it Planet Frugi) and they truly seem to 'get it' - they are in touch with their customers who they treat more like friends than dollar signs, and they truly love their product.  They do ship to New Zealand (postage is usually around 12 pound) so there's no stopping you.  Or at least there's no stopping me as Phil can attest to.  But Edie clearly needs cute stuff to match her own cuteness.

So there you have it peeps - some of the kiddy stuff I've been fixating on.  The list is long however so I may need to slip the odd bit of kiddy kool into other posts but I'm sure you'll forgive me.  After all, we'd all like a wolf t-shirt and white leather pom pom boots at heart.

PS.  You can get the Tinch designs and Kid Lidz at Miracle (of this post) but I wrote about them because I think they're truly cool, not to be a cheer leader for that business.  It is, however, no coincidence that Miracle stocks cool shit.

WTFF: Cityscape

Today Edie and I went to a surprise Yum Char.  Yum Char of any kind is excellent but yum char of the  surprise variety is uber excellent.  It was a wee party for one of my mummy friends who is leaving us to return home to the States.  I really wish she wasn't going but I'll take dumplings as a small consolation.

The dress I wore today has absolutely nothing to do with yum char, or my friend, but I mentioned the story because I was a little nervous about wearing this dress to yum char.  No, I wasn't silly enough to wear a white frock to a place where there were likely to be slurpy things flying, it's just that I really can't breastfeed in this dress without pretty much taking it off.  And it's not a dress where you wear things underneath it to make it seemly when you do get undressed.  As mentioned in this post, tights are not pants, after all.  I have very low levels of prudishness.  By which I mean if I wanted to get undressed in public as it suits me, I would.  However, sitting in a restaurant in my tights is probably a bridge too far even for me.  I don't feed Edie that often any more but it was lunch, right across sleep time and knew she might be scratchy.  There's nothing like a bit of boob to ease scratchiness, I'm sure you'll all agree.  So by wearing this dress, I was depriving myself of a vital tool in Kiddy Management. I'm happy to say that Edie managed admirably so I didn't have to expose the restaurant to my mustard-covered midriff and I got to wear the dress I love.  It's exciting to be able to do this as tunic dresses are pretty much a dead wardrobe item when you're breastfeeding and I do love this dress so much.

My mum bought me this dress for my birthday a couple of years ago.  She bought it when she was staying with my sister in the Lakes District at a shop that sells many cool things (or so they tell me, I've not been there) and they were a wee bit nervous about buying it as it's quite different.  But I love it.  I love the crazy, fantastical print, I love the colours, I love the sleeves, I love the neckline... there's a lotta love here people.  I think my favourite thing, if I had to pick something, would be the hedgehogs floating away with balloons.  If that's not a whacky sentence, I don't know what is.  The dress is made from wool so it's perfect for Dunedin's cooler climes.  I put a long-sleeved merino underneath today that's pretty old and funny but it has lace cuffs so I think it ties in with the little splash of lace around the yoke of the neck.

Tights.  I bought some, hooray!  I normally wear this dress with black tights and I think I actually prefer it that way, but you have to try something new sometimes, don't you?  My thought process was that the mustard tights would pick out the bits of yellow in the buildings along the bottom of the dress.  When Phil saw the tights he said I had Oompa Loompa legs (no offence) and I can't help but be reminded of a costume I wore as a tacker that was the Ugly Duckling - a feathery tutu with orange tights and bird feet.  But I'm sure they're actually cool.  Right??

I bought these shoes on one of those online sale sites.  I've never heard of the brand, I'm sure they're made from the tears of small Sri-Lankan children that have been mixed with petrochemicals, but they look pretty.  Swell.  They're plastic so at least they're recyclable.  I have a love-hate relationship with the idea of plastic shoes.  Here's a quick run down.
Love:
- recyclable
- remind me of jellies from when I was 5
- waterproof
- shiny and a bit odd

Hate:
- don't breathe (although these ones do have little breathy holes at the side.  This however effects the waterproof thing)
- remind me of jellies from when I was 5
- don't mold to your feet like leather does

And because I bought these shoes online, they came with an extra surprise that I did not anticipate over the internet.  They are noisy.  I sound like I have a maraca on either foot.  Again, love/hate.  Love: party, fun, make an entrance; Hate: noisy, slightly embarrassing, no sneaking in anywhere (bad when you're a late person like me), no catching birds.
Overall though, I'm happy I bought them.  They're cute and they didn't cost much.

Mum bought me these earrings (man my Mum buys me a lot of stuff.  Love you mummy!) a few years ago, again for a birthday.  Super useful earrings as they go with so many things due to the array of hues.  Edie likes them too of course, but so far I've managed to get by with my earlobes still intact.

Hope you love my Cityscape frock, it's one of my favs so break it to me gently if you think it's hideous.

Today Edie wore a dress I made her.  That's right, I sewed it.  This is momentous for me because it represents a completed craft project and it was me who completed it, not my Mum (read this if you're not sure what I'm on about).  It was a Butterick pattern and I figured the cord would be useful in the cooler months and the rough and tumble lifestyle of a 1yr old.  The material for the wee bloomers is obviously cotton and I just thought it was so cute with all the Parisian things on it.  Her onesie is a Pumpkin Patch number.  The flower and the shoes are the same ones Edie wore in this WTFF.

And so another Friday passes in Frockdom.  Mad props to all my ladies who wore frocks today.  You are all foxy bitches xo

PS.  This was written on Friday (hence the tense used) but I didn't get photos until today.  The bonus for me in this is that was a frock for Friday and also Sunday.  Double wear.

WTFF: Patriotic Pretty

It's taken me the better part of a week to get this post to you but I couldn't let it slide.  I'm committed to the frock and I am gathering a loyal following of fellow frockers who I need to pay tribute to.  So late or not, here's Friday's frock.

I have absolutely no claim to any American heritage or anything to do with America.  The best I can say is that I've been there a couple of times and I have a couple of good friends who are American or live in the States.  Oh, and I LOVE Disneyland.  Actually the happiest place on earth.  But I am always up for a good party and you've got to celebrate when the chance is offered.  The chance was offered this week with Independence Day, so my frock this week says, "Hooray for America and Independence".  Just because it's fun and I can.  And you can say all the bad stuff you like about America, but they sure know how to do a good party.

I tried to further the party spirit by hosting an afternoon tea for my Mummy group.  I decided to be the Frock Police and insist that my guests wear a frock.  My ladies really came to the party.  In every sense.      It was a frock success - we all looked gaw-jus and there were more than a few remarks made about how comfy a dress actually is.  See, frocks aren't just impractical fluff.

My ladies rockin' their frocks.  Floral was the order of the day!

My Nana bought me this dress not long after I became pregnant.  I don't know if she really intended it as a maternity dress, I don't think she did, and it's just as well as I don't think I wore it once when I was pregnant.  It's so voluminous, it just made me look like the main attraction inside the big top.  But now that I'm not knocked up, I really like the fullness of it.  It's quite sheer so I have to wear a slip with it.  I mostly wear this dress with something to draw it in at the waist, but when I really feel like indulging my Peter Pan complex, I wear it without.  I don't know if the photos capture it, but there is a silver stripe that runs through it which is rather lovely.  Also it has buttons down the bodice so I can breastfeed in it without having to undress myself (something I have actually done in order to wear some of my other dresses).  And it has pockets - SOLD.

Today I wore it with a cardi I bought in Balmain in Sydney.  It's a summery cardi really: it's cotton, it has 3/4 sleeves... but it's about the only blue thing I own that could be used for my Independence Day theme.  And it's such a happy blue (if there can be such a thing) that I couldn't resist.

The 'belt' is a hair ribbon.  The hair ribbon used to be on a present.  So it's a bit of wrapping really but I loved the stripes so I kept it.  Again, it fit nicely with my theme.  I only wished it was it a little wider so it made more of an impact.

The shoes were a last minute buy from Overland on the day of my brother's wedding.  I had an outfit all planned of course but I wasn't really happy with the shoes.  I bought these and changed the rest of the outfit to match.  I love the ruffle detail on the toe and the wedge heel.  You might think that the wedge makes these shoes comfy, but it doesn't.  It's a commonly held myth that heel height and width is the crux when it comes to comfy shoes but it's all about physics - weight distribution, angles... these don't tick the physics box but they do look lovely.

The earrings and the ring were also a wedding number, this time my sister's.  I was her only bridesmaid so was given free reign on outfit choice, just make it some sort of red.  I wore a beautiful top and skirt combo and these were the accessories.  I do love a good bit of red.  It suits me well as long as I don't have a face full of zits to match.  Too much information?  Sorry.  We (Mum and I) got this jewellery at Flying Saucer which used to be at Shore City Mall in Takapuna and Auckland Airport but I have a feeling they've closed.  Sad as they used to have interesting things.

Slap a hint of red lippy on there, and there you have it, America the brave!  Alternatively, it's now close enough to Bastille Day that I could say Vive la France instead.  You choose.

On Friday Edie wore a gorgeous little corduroy smock from Boden that she has worn a lot and I just love it.  Aunty Natalie helped me pick this one as there was so much cuteness to choose from, I was overwhelmed.  I love that it has so many colours in it so it's easy to accessorise.  I'm not sure which nation sports all those colours though so she's not in on the patriotic theme.  On Friday Edie wore the dress with a organic cotton onesie from Frugi, Marks & Spencer tights, and her See Kai Run Smaller boots that were bought from Miracle to match her glasses of course!

Favourite job: 'loading' the dishwasher

Added bonus: icing from the beater.

And this is what happens when mummies leave their babies for 1 minute to pose for a photo.  Baby chaos!