a little girls 4th birthday

It was this gorgeous little girl's 4th birthday party on the weekend.

A very special little girl that I love to bits.  I've been part of her life since she was only minutes old.

This is the daughter of my best friend Marisa. 

This is the little girl that only a few weeks ago had open heart surgery.

She continues to astound me with her progress.  At only 4 years old she is bold, courageous, strong, independent, assertive, quietly confident, gorgeous, fun and full of life.

Quite simply a heart melter.

The girls had a great time at the craft table.

Miss Barbie was there to entertain the girls making bracelets, face painting, singing, dancing and playing games.  Cuteness overload, I'm so used to boisterous boy parties!

Miss 4 was persistent that Alec HAD to have his face painted by Miss Barbie and it HAD to be a scarecrow!  I think Miss Barbie is very talented and that I have a wonderful boy who obliged in a 4 year old's request.

Marisa asked me to make the cupcakes for the birthday party. 

Of course, I clapped my hands with glee, pink + cupcakes = a happy baker!

At the end of party celebrations and all the cute little girls had gone home Marisa and I enjoyed a glass or two of bubbles.  She surprised me with a bunch of flowers to say thanks for lending a hand.  I'd do it any day.

Happy birthday little Princess. xxoo

baked chicken cacciatore

Another weekend done and dusted.

A weekend of not so good eating had me craving something wholesome, hearty and earthy.  The earthy bit had Mr 14 in stitches of laughter, but anyway!

The August edition  of Master Chef Magazine has some very simple recipes.  Which is great, as I felt like cooking but nothing difficult.

Thumbing through the pages I came across Baked Chicken Cacciatore.  Sold!  This is what I was going to make on a chilly Sunday Gold Coast evening.

Baked Chicken Cacciatore

Serves:  4

Preparation Time:  20 minutes

Cooking:  35 minutes

Ingredients

2 x 400g cans Ardmona Rich & Thick Chopped Tomatoes with Basil & Garlic

110g pitted kalamata olives

1/2 cup finely chopped flat-leaf parsley

2 small red onions cut into wedges

8 chantenay (small carrots)

2 small desiree potatoes, each cut into 6 wedges

80ml olive oil

4 x 180g chicken breasts

1 lemon, zest peeled into strips

Crusty baguette (optional), to serve

 

Method

 

1.  Preheat oven to 180C fan-forced.  Place tomatoes, olives and half the parsley in a large oven proof dish, and stir to combine.  Evenly place the onions, carrots and potatoes on top of tomato mixture, then drizzle with 2tbs oil.  Season with salt and pepper.  Bake for 20 minutes.

 

2.  Meanwhile, heat remaining 2tbs oil in a frying pan over high heat.  Cook chicken for 2 minutes each side or until golden.  Place chicken on top of vegetables in dish, then bake for a further 12 minutes or until chicken is cooked through and vegetables are tender.  Remove from oven and stand for 5 minutes.

 

3.  Dived among plates, then scatter over remaining parsley and the lemon zest.  Serve with a crusty baguette, if using.

 

fresh out of the oven

 

I made a couple of small changes to the dish:

 

I used plain tinned tomatoes as I had fresh basil I wanted to use, chopped up finely with the fresh flat-leaf parsley.

 

Omitted the olives, but won't to that again as one family member who shall remain nameless was suitably un-impressed!

 

Recipe stated to use the lemon zest as a garnish, but I topped the chicken with the zest when I baked it in the oven.

 

Next time I would lightly saute the onions before putting in the oven as it takes away that raw onion taste, the onions weren't as soft as what I would have liked.

 

I served the cacciatore with a small crusty bread roll and a dollop of creamy mashed potatoe.

 

Easy and delicious!  Did you get your cooking groove on over the weekend?

sunday session/feeding the soul {a time in life}

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Believe me that when life starts anew, when everything around you has fallen apart, life is simple, relaxed, full of love and hope.

I'm blessed to have had people standing by my side, standing for me when I couldn't, those people will NEVER be forgotten.

Trust me life is good, sometimes you just can't see it. 

And that's OK.  Because the day will come when you will smile again.

angry at people & their ignorance

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Today I want to talk about depression/stress/anxiety and some people's ignorance and lack of empathy toward people that suffer one or all of these conditions.

Now it's OK if you don't understand, but it's certainly NOT OK to judge or make flippant comments.

Depression has been part of my life for the past two years.  Prior to that I had PND when my son was born and two other less severe bouts when my Grandparents passed away.

The very WORST thing you can say is "it's not that bad", "just pick yourself up".  Trust me you can't just pick yourself up and in that moment in your darkest hour it IS that bad.  When you make comments such as these it dismisses the very real medical condition that we are trying to find our way out of.

I think it's hard for people who have never suffered depression to "get it".  I know, I've been on the other side before I had PND.

I was going to write about this topic in time but on Monday a fellow blogger Danielle from Five Little Reasons wrote this post.  Now 99% of the comments were in support of where she is at, but what I was floored with was the 1% of negative comments.  I was so angry.  They could just be 'troll' comments but unfortunately I think it is indicative of how some people feel.

Let me give you a small insight into my current depression.

Two years ago I was in a very dark place, so much so that admission to hospital was discussed. Self harm was of concern to my GP. Looking back I'm fairly certain I wouldn't have done anything but the overwhelming feeling that the world didn't need me and that I was a failure consumed me.  I couldn't shake it.

I didn't laugh, I felt alone (even though I wasn't), I was scared, I couldn't sleep and I very rarely left the house.  In fact the thought of leaving the house terrified me.  My Psychologist told me I was near bordering on agoraphobia.

And I cried, ALL THE TIME.

Only a select few know the ENTIRE reasons for my depression.  The depression isn't a sensitive topic it's the causes that spiralled me into darkness that are personally sensitive.  And it's probably not something that I will talk about here, it's still to raw.

For me I needed support from two different types of people, those who understood my depression and those, who just by being there buoyed me with their friendship and love.

This along with my GP, medication and Psychologist made ALL the difference.

But I would have never have made it where I am today with negative comments (I did that quite well myself thank you!).  It would have only exacerbated the mental anguish I was already in.

It can be a long process to 'feel normal' and I'm proud of where I am today.

So can I ask you to be mindful before you speak about someone and their depression, you don't know their life experiences.  Negative comments can be potentially harmful and really are quite pointless and useless.

As they saying goes "don't have anything nice to say, then don't say anything at all".

uber celebrations {a baby boy's christening}

A family member asked me to bake cupcakes for her son's upcoming Christening.

Not a problem as you know I LOVE my baking.

Then I thought, no I can't just bake them and plonk them on a table, I need to style a cake table!

Given she loves vintage and the colour scheme was blue and chocolate brown I knew exactly how I was going to design the table.

Here is how I did it:

• as the event was outside I didn't have a choice in where to place the table but I think it works well with the garden behind the table
• I simply used a painted canvas as the backdrop behind the cake
• the two vintage suitcases are my Grandfather's which I borrowed from my Father
• I also borrowed from my Father the two wooden boxes which he made himself
• the old books are again my Father's (way to go Dad!)
• the two wooden toys are my son's
• recycled glass bottles
• the little ikea jars make another appearance on top of the wooden box, filled with maltesers and milk bottles
• vanilla cup cakes with blue icing and fondant discs
• the little teddy was a gift from me to baby Leo
• bunting flags on top of the cake I made myself

I was really happy with the final result. 

You just need a little bit of imagination, use what you have on hand (or borrow) and you too can make cupcakes and cakes look magical and release your inner party stylist!

Want your party featured here on the blog?  Click HERE for the details on featured submissions.

So do you like what I put together?!

saturday night cooking

Saturday night I had grand plans of cooking and taking photos with my DSLR.

Well we did cook, and I did take pics with my iPhone whilst cooking BUT with a few wines under our belts and being so hungry I totally couldn't be bothered forgot to take a nicely styled photo!

Anyway cooking is meant to fun, and fun is what we had!

We made:

Home made gnocchi with a tomato and fresh basil sauce, and I just had to make a burnt butter sage sauce, DIVINE!

Dessert, chocolate mousse with vanilla and voc pears.

So here are my Instagram pics, but I think I will have to make the dishes again, take much better photos and share the recipes!

and to go with the meal..................

Did you whip up something delish in the kitchen over the weekend, perhaps with a glass of vino in hand?!

sunday sessions/feeding the soul {look at the stars}

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One of the best lessons I've learnt in the last couple of years, that there is good in every tough situation.

And boy those stars sure are beautiful.

voice breaking reins in a new era

I remember the day, the hour, the minute my son was born.  Any Mother would.

That was 14 years ago.

14 years ago my boy entered the world silently followed by a squeaky little cry.  He didn't cry too much in hospital but boy did he cry once we got home!  But that's a story for another day.

This week has brought new changes.  His voice is beginning to break.  Sometimes ever so subtly, other times a clear distinct difference.

I'm proud of the young man he is becoming.  Seriously I couldn't be more chuffed.

But I'm sad.  Alec is my only child so he is my first and last for everything.  Every milestone and achievement is bitter sweet.

I savour every change, good or bad, but I'd happily pass on the angry teenage hormones.  They are seriously NOT cool, and so unlike my boy.

So mother's of teenagers what else lays in wait for me?!  Spill the beans.  I can handle it, I think...........

uber celebrations {black & white sweets table}

It's too long since I've talked party talk, let's rectify this injustice!

A little while ago my girlfriend was having a get together, she did all the savoury nibbles so I said let me do the sweets.

When I create a sweets table simplicity is the key.  I'm not a fan of food overload and the table laden with huge amounts of lollies.

Less is more.  Really it is, trust me!

Having said less is more, there were more than three cupcakes!

I made a white chocolate mud cake.  Most people enjoy mud cake, and as it's rich and dense it goes quite a long way, eliminating the need for too many other sweets.

The little lollie jars on the right hand side are the spice jars from Ikea.  Versatile little things!

Personalised chocolate bars, so easy to make to co-ordinate with your colour theme.

Mini meringues, store bought from Woolworths.  Not everything has to be home-made!

And to round off the table, vanilla cupcakes, they never go out of style.

In the coming weeks I will talk about the different elements in designing and styling a sweets table.  Let your creativity and imagination run wild, your friends and family will love it!

Don't forget if you want to show off a recent party that you've put together, I'd love to share it on the Blog.  Click HERE for more information on featured submissions.

my world, my boy

Today I hold my gorgeous boy, Alec, that much tighter.

This morning I woke to the very sad news that a little boy's journey that I'd been following , lost his battle with terminal brain cancer early this morning.

He was 6.  Only diagnosed 13 weeks ago.

My heart is heavy for them,  His name is Talin, and his Mum Cassandra journalled on Face Book here.

She was so open and honest you felt you were there with them.

I simply could not image a world without my son.  He's the light, love and joy in my world.

Hold your children tighter because you simply don't know what tomorrow may bring.

Love ya Baby G xxoo

back to the mundane

Monday morning.

Happy doing my mundane duties, washing clothes and cleaning the house after a peaceful relaxing weekend.

Happy that just five days after my best friend's daughter had open heart surgery to repair a large hole in heart, she is home.

This time last week I was nervously waiting to hear how she went.

Elisa did fabulously well, I expected no less to be perfectly honest.  Doctor's and nurses were equally amazed with her progress and recovery.  Her parent's exhausted.  But nothing a champagne couldn't help on Saturday night!

She's a trooper with an old soul, this one.  You can't help but fall in love with her happy, loving and determined spirit.  She embodies the beautiful nature of her namesake, her Nonna.  Whom I'm more than sure lent a helping hand from Heaven.

So today as I go about my jobs, it's with happiness in my heart and I delight in the fact that I can enjoy these seemingly mundane tasks.

sunday sessions/feeding the soul {life & tears}



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It's taken me my whole life to learn this. 

I wish it was something I learnt when I was younger.  But it's probably life lessons that brings you to a place where you know exactly who is worth your tears and who's not.

After many lessons I'd like to think that I'm in that place.

my blog roll has moved

Just a little bit of blog housekeeping and tidying up.  Can't help it it's the Virgo in me!

Anyhoo I have moved my blog roll from my Blog over to my Pinterest page.

All my favourite blog reads looking as pretty as a picture all in one spot!

Click HERE for my Pinterest page.  Hope you'll join me over there, it's my rest and relaxation when the house is quite and peaceful, which is late at night!

So are you a night owl and/or a neat freak like me?!

the real you

Are you showing people the real you? 

Or are you projecting an image of how you want people to perceive you?



As I get older (and hopefully wiser!) I'm becoming more apt in picking up on people's "fakeness".

You know the ones, they always have something better than you, talk about holidays and designer clothes, their children came first in this that or the other.  They appear to have money to spare and regularly gloat about this fact.  Just so we know their life is perfect.

My tolerance level for these type of people is pretty much zero.

In fact I feel sorry for them, that they value themselves so poorly to show us someone who they aren't.  What you have as material possessions or how much you have in the bank is of very little relevance to me. 

I want to know the REAL YOU.

We have acquaintances who are exactly these type of people.  Every item is referred to by brand name first, and EVERYTHING they own in a brand.  Which is fine, I don't begrudged what you spend your money on.  What I take offence to is the FAKENESS, and the attitude that they are BETTER THAN ME.

Guess what?  They're not.

My friends are made up of people who have money to spare and those that don't.  And we all get on amazingly because we show the REAL version of ourselves.  We have things in common, we laugh and cry together, but most importantly we have fun.

Isn't this what life is about?  To enjoy yourself with people you love and care for rather than putting up a shield around you, so people can't get in?

That's not living.

Show me the real you and we'll get along swimmingly.

annual baseball weekend

Every year in the month of July we make our annual pilgrimage down to Lismore NSW.  We brave the cold and watch our son play baseball for the Gold Coast in the Timberjacks Tournament.

It's a weekend we have loved since our boy was old enough to enter the tournament.  A time to chill and relax as a family plus enjoy time with great friends.

Three days of very early games.  6.30am starts for the boys in the batting cages.

Sun, rain, wind, fog and freezing conditions.  But what a FUN weekend!

I was lazy and didn't bring out the big gun camera, stuck to the iPhone, nice and simple.

DAY ONE = two games & two wins

DAY TWO = two games & two wins; putting them at the top of their pool plus dinner with friends at the local!

DAY THREE = two games, one win one loss; first game playing for finals spot, they lost this game, second game playing for third which they won.

Oh and gum boots are essential footwear down on the fields!

Alec had an exceptional tournament, great hits and fabulous outs on second base. Not just a proud Mumma saying this but the coaching team as well.

Way to go young man, you always make me smile.

the mundane

What a Monday morning.  Slept in and then had to deal with one surly teenager who didn't want to go to school today.  Good bye school holidays, hello term 3.

As I sit here tapping away on my laptop my best friend and her Hubby are pacing the room at Mater Children's Hospital waiting for their three year old daughter to head into open heart surgery at midday.

Surgery has been postponed by four hours, she was due to operated on at 8am.  A newborn with heart complications needed emergency surgery so her slot was pushed back.  I'm sad for the parent's of the newborn and anxious for Marisa as I know waiting out the delay is going to be tough.

I just got off the phone to her, I can feel the fear in her voice.  I was able to speak to Elisa, my Princess as I call her.  She's good, but nervous, you can sense it.  With the dummy in her mouth I was still able to work out what she was saying to me.

After our weekend away for my son's baseball tournament I'm home washing mountains of clothes and cursing that I have to go the shops as I've run out of bleach and napisan.  Essential items when you are trying to remove Lismore red clay from white baseball pants.  Seems a little mundane while Marisa is waiting for her daughter's heart to be repaired.

I'm feeling really lost today.  Wishing I could be up in Brisbane with them.

I must be nervous.  I started picking at the shellac on my nails and pulled it off.  Not a good idea ladies!

So I will continue to chip away at my Monday mundane list (and purchase some chocolate when I go the shops, another essential item, this time for stress!) and continue to pray for one very special little girl.

Keep her in your thoughts today.  xxoo

if only it were real

Last night I had a magical dream.



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Oh if only the above were true.

I lost my Grandma, Kathleen, about 12 years ago.  Can't believe it's been that long, feels like just yesterday.  And in that time I've dreamt of her only three times.  Last night was the third.

She's around me all the time.  I feel her, I smell her, I sense her.  But I'm not sure why I don't dream about her.  When I do they are very vivid and very real.

When she passed away I thought my world was going to stop.  That I'd never be the same again.

Grandma's death was the first time I had lost a loved one.  I was so very lucky I had all my Grandparents and that my son had four wonderful Great Grandparents.  For that I consider myself blessed.

The day she passed we were on holidays on the Sunshine Coast.  The mobile rang very late at night, the time when you know it's not good news.  Grandma had had a heart attack.  She was just about to start renal dialysis, something she didn't want to endure.  My Dad made it to Canberra in time to say goodbye to his Mother.  My sister and I were booked on the next flight after him.

Our Mum greeted us at the airport.  I knew immediately when I looked into her eyes we were too late.  Grief took hold immediately.  I was stunned, numb and sobbing.  I vomitted.  I didn't expect my body to react in the way that it did.

Last night she hugged me, albeit in a dream.  She held me tightly like she always did.  I snuggled my head into her hair and breathed in her gorgeous perfume.  My hand in her soft warm hand.  I felt safe and loved.  She smiled and whispered in my ear that she loves me and that I will be ok.

I believe her.

magnolia bakery vanilla cupcakes

One my most lovely readers Kelly (waving hello! how could I not love her? She's Italian, a teacher and a lover of a pretty tablescape!) recently asked me had I ever baked a Magnolioa cupcake.

No I hadn't so the challenge was on.

For those not in the know Magnolia Bakery is a famed cup cakery in New York.  My neice was lucky enough to be there last month with her boyfriend.  They texted my pics.  It was cruel.  She wanted to bring me back an apron but they had sold out.  Not happy.

Anyway back to the cupcakes.  I gave them a whirl and they are DIVINE.  Here's the recipe:

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups self-rising flour
• 1 1/4 cups plain flour
• 227 grams unsalted butter, softened
• 2 cups sugar
• 4 large eggs, at room temperature
• 1 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C.

Line 2 (1/2 cup-12 capacity) muffin tins with cupcake papers.

In a small bowl, combine the flours. Set aside.

In a large bowl, on the medium speed of an electric mixer, cream the butter until smooth. Add the sugar gradually and beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the dry ingredients in 3 parts, alternating with the milk and vanilla. With each addition, beat until the ingredients are incorporated but do not over beat. Using a rubber spatula, scrape down the batter in the bowl to make sure the ingredients are well blended.

Carefully spoon the batter into the cupcake liners, filling them about 3/4 full. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted into the center of the cupcake comes out clean.

Cool the cupcakes in tins for 15 minutes. Remove from the tins and cool completely on a wire rack before icing.

Enjoy! xx

inspiration & idol - cate bolt

Cate Bolt, mother, humanatrian and blogger.

Someone who I aspire to be like, and who's blog posts I get excited about when they hit my inbox.

I cry, I laugh, I get angry when I read them.  But the world is a better place because of people like Cate, much better.

Foundation 18, Indonesia was established by Cate in 2010.  There they run a group home for 12 girls along with education outreach programmes.  Their five year goal is have every child in Ringdikit Bali, where the group home is located, fully immunised and attending school at least to senior high school level.

Some of the very things we take for granted in our country.

Not many know that a LONG held passion and dream of both my Husband and I is to establish an Orphange in an underdeveloped country.  What Cate and her family have achieved is nothing short of an inspiration to me.

Another of our dreams is international adoption.  We wanted to adopt before it become 'popular' and way before our son was born 14 years ago.  I'm both an advoate of ensuring all last efforts are made to keep a child within their own county and family, but it's not possible, the process needs to more accessible and less time consuming to Australians.

The orphanage may be out of our reach but I can support Cate's.

Foundation 18 is funded by Cate and her family along with generous donations.  Just $5.00 will buy rice for a family for a week, which can make the difference between a child having to beg on the streets or not.

A lot of my fav bloggers have contributed to an eBook called Things They Didn't Tell You, heartfelt stories about parenting.  It costs just $4.99 and all proceeds go to Foundation 18. Remember $5.00 can feed rice to a family for one week.

In her own words:
"This, what we just did here – this is not just life changing, this is future generation changing. This is what I’ve been living for."

Let us, as people, be part of that future generation change.

sunday sessions/feeding the soul {happiness}

Although this week I've been sick with a cold that turned into sinus (thankful it didn't got to my chest) I've felt happiness.

It's been a mighty long time since I've felt its presence.

Happy with who I am, happy in my little family, happy with home.

I don't know what has caused the shift but I sense it may have something to do with accepting what I can and can't change and letting negativity go.  It has no place in my life.

I'm living every minute with love, grace and gratitude.  Are you?

*I was unable to find the original source for the picture, if it's yours please let me know so I can give due credit.