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Give Ability Day

May 25, 2011 By corrie 8 Comments

Westfield Style Session with Donny

May 23, 2011 By corrie 16 Comments

Sponsored by Nuffnang

Westfield are quickly becoming my favourite sponsor. I mean life is tough when you have to head to Westfield without the kids for a day of shopping! I knew all that practice over the years would come in handy. Remember the giveaway for a Style session at Westfield and $500 to spend? Well Amy was the lucky winner and we just had her special day at Westfield Eastgardens. Amy and I organised to meet up early for some coffee and toast and did a spot of shopping and a lot of chatting before meeting up with Donny.

You might remember that Donny is one of Westfield’s stylists and is based at Eastgardens and Parramatta. The pressure was on me to look good. Had I been listening at my own style session? Three outfits later and I was dressed comfortably but stylishly. But today was all about Amy! Donny got to know Amy over a coffee and determined her body shape, current look and went over the essentials she needed for her wardrobe and body shape. This is important stuff.

Once you’ve been shopping with Donny you suddenly have a whole new world of shopping open up to you. You become a focused shopper quickly looking through racks in a store determining what will suit you and avoiding what won’t suit you. First stop for us was Target. Donny revealed that he had recently had a style session with a client who purchased her entire wardrobe basics from Target. And for under $500. So you heard it here ladies.

Next up, my new favourite store, Diana Ferrari. Let me tell you if you haven’t been in there yet, well ladies this store has your name written all over it. I may or may not have gone back after Amy’s session to buy my 4th Diana Ferrari dress in a few months. I could have bought a lot more. Donny believes that wrap dresses should be an essential part of every woman’s wardrobe and they really work wonders for every body shape. He shows you how to dress up and dress down an outfit so you won’t just buy a dress for special occassions but know how to work it for the school run, meeting friends for coffee and something a bit more fancy.

Hello hot mumma. And please do we not agree that Amy has pretty spectacular curves and hot legs. I really hope Amy starts wearing more dresses because let me tell you she was channeling her inner goddess in these dresses. Smokin’. I also ‘suggested’ to Amy that her husband better take her out for a night out with these dresses in her wardrobe. Notice how the colours suit her, show off her assets and fit like a glove. Amy admitted she would never have walked in to the store if she was out shopping as it looked too expensive but she was surprised at the prices and there were so many things to suit her in there all following Donny’s principles.

I loved this dress and bought it for myself with a cute little black cropped jacket for a wedding coming up.

The great thing about a Westfield stylist is that they are accessible, you just ring up and book a session and they work to your budget but best of all to your shape. Many a time I have left a change room swearing to give up chocolate or sugar for the rest of my life because I couldn’t find something to fit. But Donny doesn’t operate like that. He finds the clothes to fit and flatter your body. No dieting required. In fact a lot of us are buying clothes too big for us because we think they are comfortable but we could go down a size and show off our best bits.

I think the best thing about having a one on one session Donny or a Westfield stylist is that they are there to help you. They know their stuff and are out to make you look fabulous. And they can achieve your look on your budget. I love that Donny starts with a basic wardrobe list that involves using what you already have and building on those basics.

I know Amy enjoyed herself and has the tools now to dress for her body shape and lifestyle. And best of all the confidence to know what looks good on her. Amy learnt to go into new stores and the colours and styles that will suit her body. Here we are accessorising! Donny is a big believer in shopping anywhere including budget jewellery stores to complete the look.

A huger than huge thank you to Westfield and Donny for this great opportunity. I’m hoping Westfield will offer this opportunity for spring (nudge, nugde, wink , wink) to another one of my readers because we had so much fun and this really does change your life! Retro daddy wants a daddy makeover where we nominate a husband for style session with Donny. What do you think? Spring makeover for a mummy? Daddy makeover? You tell me and I’ll tell Westfield!

Filed Under: donny galella, makeover, westfield

cat’s big adventure

May 22, 2011 By corrie 15 Comments

Mishka, the latest addition to our family, is an indoors cat. But when I woke up this morning she wasn’t following me downstairs and I spent a good half hour searching the house and outside for her. I couldn’t figure out how she would have escaped and did the whole shake the cat biscuit box/ tap her bowl with a fork/make kissy kissy noises/shine a light behind the clothes dryer and calling out her name.

I drove to school slowly looking everywhere for the cat. When I came home ready to search for her retro daddy said I found the cat, I said where, he said don’t freak out – on the roof. Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat. So I went out the back and there she was….on the roof with a very scared meow going on. I kept talking to her and walked over to a higher part of the backyard and in a couple of minutes she had come down via the awning, fence and into the pool area and back to us. Phew. And that was one cat’s big adventure.

Filed Under: everything else

totally sick weekend

May 22, 2011 By corrie 27 Comments

Yep my weekend was totally sick! As in the children throwing up sick not totally cool sick. Elodie decided to throw up just after I had put her in the car at lunch time yesterday. All over her new cardigan. On it’s first outing. Boo hoo. Quick change and I packed a towel for her and spare pair of clothes but little did I realise Finn’s asthma would play up on him and he would have a huge asthma attack and throw up everywhere. At the shops. All over himself. That towel came in handy but unfortunately Elodie’s change of clothes wasn’t going to help us. It was a long walk back to the car!

he zonked out for one long nap this afternoon!

Finn just got worse and worse and we’d get ready to take him to hospital and he’d fall asleep and stop coughing. At 1am things went downhill quickly so we rushed him to hospital where they first put him in the resus room (oh didn’t that freak me out when retro daddy texted me!) but then decided it was croup and moved him to the paed emergency ward. I think it’s a rite of passage for all parents – you never see an emergency room until you have children of your own and then you get to know it. Finn is our hospital boy. We know the drill well but it’s the worst we’ve ever seen him. He was home by 4ish and as expected has gotten worse before better but fingers crossed we see an improvement tomorrow.

We were rostered on for church today so imagine how chipper retro daddy was with 2 hours sleep to read and host morning tea. I ended up making ‘cake a la betty crocker’ but we survived. I decided to keep the 3 littlies outside all of mass in the sunshine and they were happy enough and didn’t bother anyone. Tired, sick and cranky at church is not a good look. Later on some nice ladies cuddled elodie while I helped serve morning tea. Lucky she’s so cute and cuddly.

And so after a very light lunch (in case it came up again) everyone except mummy fell asleep on the couch. I wasn’t going to waste that time sleeping myself. So decided against baking a cake and felt a sudden urge to go and plug in the sewing machine. That poor machine of mine hadn’t been touched in ages and I really did have to plug it in at the wall and get reacquainted.

I decided it had to be a quick and satisfying project like little tissue holders. And it was a great excuse to cut into my new Denyse Schmidt fabric. So cute. Love this little project and churned out 10 in under an hour. These make the best little present. I like to put cute ones in presents for keira’s little friends and give them to family and friends when you need something little to say thank you!

So it hasn’t been a particularly relaxing weekend and I’ve spared you the details on how much laundry has been done. Let’s hope it’s a quiet week. We need it!

Filed Under: fabric, sewing

Elodie’s baby cardigan

May 21, 2011 By corrie 36 Comments

Well before you all stop reading my blog because there is never any craft here – here it is! Trust me when I say I miss my craft as much as you miss seeing it. And as I took these photos today I realised I need to switch off the computer more often and get crafting. But may I present to you – the first knitted garment of the season.

Just to refresh your memory this is the easy baby cardigan from More Last Minute Knitted Gifts. You can find it on ravelry here. Truly a beautiful knitting book and a geat price at the moment for a lovely hardcover book. I knit this in Bendigo’s 12 ply Rustic but sadly the colour is no longer available. Retro daddy doesn’t know this yet but we are heading to Echuca in July for a family wedding and I feel a trip to the Bendigo back room is on the cards.

This is a simple cardigan. Knit all in one piece with moss stitch bands but you could use garter stitch if you’re a real beginner. Normally I wouldn’t block my all in one knits for babies but this one really needed some blocking particularly on the front bands where the increasing had been done. Now this is the largest size with an extra 2 inches knit front and back for length. We might need to wear it every day to get lots of wear from it this winter.

I just love it when you just finish a little knit and pop it on your adorable model. I could honestly just keep having babies just to have beautiful models for my craft. But there is something wrong with the equation because the more children you have the less time you have to craft but the more time you spend buying craft supplies. Or maybe it’s just that they accummulate. Or maybe I just buy too much. Who knows.

And three cheers for Elodie who is one sick puppy and had just come home from her 4th trip to the GP’s in 3 weeks and had been sick with a fever the night before. By the end of the mini shoot she was over it. Fair enough, little princess.

To complete Elodie’s look (will you listen to me? I’ve obviously been spending too much time with Donny) she is also wearing a Gap onesie, Country Road linen pants and hair clip from Townmouse.

Filed Under: bendigo woollen mills, knitting, last minute knitted gifts

hexagon giveaway

May 20, 2011 By corrie 315 Comments

Ok, it is official. I am turning out to the be the worst giver-away-er in the world. This morning I drew the winner of Sherbet Pips who is Lucky -1 and I think we can agree she is a lucky one! Oh and I finally got around to emailing february’s winner and Fat Quarterly about those winners. Yes, it’s official. I am crap at drawing winners! And if you’re waiting for an email from me then I’m pretty crap at that too. Sorry. When I say I need a PA I’m not kidding.

Anyway, now that I’ve emailed those winners I can announce a new giveaway for May. Remember I’m doing one giveaway a month this year. And I like this one……….especially as I have a real soft spot for hexagons. And with winter here it’s the perfect time to snuggle up on the couch and do hexagons! And if you don’t live here then it might be the perfect weather to sit in the sun and do some hexagons in warmer weather. But wherever you live, I’m sure you can find a good use for this prize.

one of my hexagon flowers- you have to do the work yourself, of course!

So here we have three Moda charm square packs and 2 packs of hexagon papers! Anyone can enter, just leave a comment, you can live in timbuktoo but you’ve got to be in it to win it.

Filed Under: charm squares, giveaway, giveaways, hexagons, moda

simple chocolate cake

May 19, 2011 By corrie 13 Comments

Now I realise there have been a lot of posts about food lately. I think it’s the cold weather and comfort eating. But I do promise there is a crafty blog post coming tomorrow. I promise because one very cute knitted cardigan is being blocked as I write.

But back to the cake. If you’re a little light on ingredients but have a real hankering for some baking then old fashioned recipes just hit the spot. I love how they use the basics and nothing fancy. You can rustle something up using what you have in your pantry. And so I wanted to make a chocolate cake but had no chocolate in the house (I know, the injustice!) So I pulled out my CWA cookbook and took a chance with Chocolate Cake (delicious) – yes that is the name of the recipe. You could also call it budget buster/nothing in my pantry/ feed a large family chocolate cake. Because it makes one huge sheet cake and only uses 100g butter for the whole cake. It’s still super moist and a lovely light cake thanks to a combination of eggs, water and milk. See what I mean, nothing fancy here.

Chocolate Cake (Delicious) from CWA cookbook

100g butter

1 1/4 cups caster sugar

3 eggs

2 cups SR flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1/2 cup cocoa

1/2 cup hot water

1/2 cup milk

Cream butter and sugar. I use my kitchenaid for all of my baking! Sift in flour, baking soda and salt and fold into mixture. In a separate bowl combine sifted cocoa and hot water. Stir in milk and then add this mixture to your cake batter (I know this step seemed a bit crazy to me because I always add flour last but go with it). Gently combine and make sure there are no pockets of cake mix or flour. Then pour into lined large baking dish/cake tin. Now the recipe calls for 20 minutes in a 220 degrees celcius oven but my oven gets too hot so I did 25 minutes in 200 degrees or until a knife comes out clean. Cool on tray then ice with a chocolate frosting or whatever you like. It’s a very simple cake and not a strong chocolate taste so a nice chocolate or mocha icing will give you more flavour.

I didn’t ice mine but will make this for church as we are rostered on for morning tea this week. I’m thinking Pioneer Woman’s mocha frosting would be amazing or a butter cream frosting with choc chips scattered over the top so it looks like choc chip icecream. I love that I thought of that combination AFTER we’d eaten half the cake. And you know how they say you should never work with animals – yep they were right! I turned my back and cat got to the cake.

trust me this slice went in the bin and plate in the dishwasher!

But thankfully when she isn’t licking cake or climbing on the table she does pose for a nice photo.

Anyway, give this one a go. The kids loved it and I think it’s a good one to have up your sleeve. It will never replace my chocolate brownie or a rich chocolate cake but is a good everyday recipe.

Filed Under: baking, chocolate, cooking, recipe

our favourite stir fry

May 18, 2011 By corrie 8 Comments

When I feel like I haven’t been eating enough vegetables then I know it’s time for a big stir fry. Packing in as many vegies as possible. This is our absolute favourite stir fry. I put the rice in the rice cooker while I get all my ingredients out. I know you are going to love this one! It’s also a great one if you’re not sure how to cook tofu.

I am so not a food stylist!!!!!!!

Sunflower/vegetable oil
1 brown onion

1 head broccoli

3 carrots

3 zucchini

1 bunch baby bok choy

2x200g packs of Soyco Malaysian Satay Tofu (you can use 400g of any firm tofu but this is the best!)

1Tbsp kecap manis ( I say Tbsp but mean splash)

few generous splashes of soy sauce

dash of cooking wine

optional sweet chilli sauce

Wash and chop all vegetables. Heat Tbsp of oil in wok and add onion. Cook 2 minutes or so then add in carrots and sauces. Cook for 2 minutes. Add zucchini and broccoli and cook minute or so. Add tofu and cook another minute or so. Lastly add bok choy and stir through and cook for a further minute or so. Add a dash more soy sauce and optional sweet chilli sauce and serve on rice.

Filed Under: cooking, dinners, recipe, vegetarian

Westfield Give Ability Day

May 16, 2011 By corrie 4 Comments

Sponsored by Nuffnang

I don’t need a lot of encouragement to head out to my local shopping centre. Want me to visit my nearest Westfield on a Saturday? Not a problem. I love to shop. I also love charity and on Saturday 21st May, Westfield centres all over Australia are holding their first ‘Give Ability’ day. Staff and volunteers will be collecting donations for their local charity partner as we all have the ability to give a donation, even if it’s a small one. And rest assured that 100% of donations go to the charity.

I didn’t know this but every Westfield in Australia supports a local children’s disability service provider in their community. They have been raising money for these charity partners since 2008 and that money is used for equipment, respite care, early intervention and education. And apparently 1 in 14 children in Australia have a disability. I believe that statistic as several lovely mummies spring to mind who have special needs children and the extra challenges that brings. And I know there is never enough funding for the work these organisations do, so I think this is a great initiative of Westfield .

My nearest Westfield is the very lovely Chatswood centre (I know it well!) and their charity partner is The Shepherd Centre which teaches deaf and hearing impaired little people to speak and listen. I think this is an amazing centre as they help babies and preschoolers so that they can attend mainstream school. And 90% of their students do, which is just amazing. Don’t make me cry. I have a real soft spot for children who have extra challenges to face in this world.

And so I’ll be going along on Saturday 21st May with my cash to donate and with raffles and a few special activities on the day. There will be something for everyone. I’m pretty sure you’d know where your nearest Westfield is but just go here to find out more and I might see you there. And as you read this I am at Westfield with the winner of my style session! Two Westfield shopping trips in a week – it’s a tough life!

Filed Under: shopping, westfield

my freezer, my friend

May 15, 2011 By corrie 15 Comments

Once upon a time I loved nothing more than spending a weekend in my kitchen. But four children later there isn’t a lot of time for long sessions in the kitchen. But the reality is that I need to spend more time in the kitchen to save time during my busy week by having meals on hand. So yesterday afternoon while retro daddy drove grandma betty home – I got cracking and made perogen. I would describe them as little puff pastry parcels of bolagnese baked in the oven. The little ones would tell you they are meat pies. And Finn ate over 12 of them.

They were a huge success and one batch makes about 80 which means I have 2 containers full in my freezer. It did take a while to make them up (did I say there were 80?) but the little ones devoured them. In a flash. And I’m a poet and I didn’t know it as these are my ‘frozen perogen’. Another success from this book. I honestly think this is the best cookbook I’ve bought! I really do want to make everything from it.

And earlier in the week I made PW’s Oatmeal Crispies for morning tea. I looooooove this recipe as it makes 2 huge rolls of cookie dough so I tend to bake one and freeze one. These never last long. I leave out the pecans to keep them nut free for school but oh boy they are absolutely delicious with pecans. As in eat 5 in a row delicious. So today is my crazy day with school pick up, race to gymnastics, entertain the twins for an hour in a small confined space with a baby on my lap when they’d rather be jumping around doing gymnastics, race home to everyone wanting dinner on the table as soon as we get in the door. Normally I would go to quilting but retro daddy has warned me he’ll be working in the office very late (i.e. after midnight) so having dinner and snacks sorted today is a dream.

Filed Under: baking, cooking, monday morning cooking club, pioneer woman

apricot cake

May 15, 2011 By corrie 10 Comments

I love trying new recipes but I always get a bit nervous it won’t turn out. But I do know that once you’ve made something once you’ll make it again. And again. And I do have a habit of making my favourites too often. Retro daddy prefers a bit of variety. On Friday I made Apricot cake, yes from that book, and it was such a big cake it was perfect for the weekend, for family who dropped in and for grandma betty who stayed with us.

It was easy to make, very economical making a huge rectangle of a cake and most importantly – delicious. Very buttery, just how I like it. Now one of my lovely facebook readers said to coat your apricots in flour and they won’t sink too much. Ahhhh that just might do the trick. I could rename my cake ‘find the apricot’ cake. I think a generous dusting of icing sugar would pretty this cake up but I wanted to photograph it so I could get stuck in and share it with the twinnies.

Next time I’ll have the icing sugar on hand and maybe just maybe a little dollop of cream. Just for a little treat. I also think this would be perfect with a big scoop of icecream for a family dessert.

Filed Under: baking, cooking, monday morning cooking club, recipe

lokshen kugel

May 12, 2011 By corrie 10 Comments

I can honestly say, hand on heart, I had never heard of Lokshen Kugel until I bought this book. If you’re like me then it is a traditional jewish dish that is best described as bread and butter pudding with noodles. This is definitely one for the family and little people. In fact my twinnies had 3 slices…………EACH. I was a little nervous as I had absolutely no idea what it was supposed to look like and so for your benefit am sharing the before and after pics.

I think I had too much pasta in mine so next time will try less pasta and more fruit just to tweak it but I’ll definitely make it again because it’s such a good dish for large families and big eaters.

And I don’t need to tell you that men don’t make the best listeners. So when I gave retro daddy a slice I said, ‘it’s like bread and butter pudding but made with pasta’. And he tasted it while I was doing dishes and I came to see how he liked it and he said ‘it tastes like bread and butter pudding with pasta’.I say ‘Yes honey, that’s just what I told you!’ to which he replied ‘Oh’

And of course you need a photo of a slice for morning tea on a freezing cold day as you sit next to the fire writing your blog posts. And because it is such a popular jewish dish there are loads of recipes on the net. Mine came from my new BFF this book but you can find recipes here, here and here. And now I’m off to go and make some PW oat cookies for snackies.

Filed Under: baking, cooking, monday morning cooking club, recipe

de-stressing

May 11, 2011 By corrie 24 Comments

When your list of things to do is bigger than you are. When the twins have screamed and pulled at your jeans and stretched your cardigan out of shape at school pick up for a good 15 minutes. When it takes one hour to get 4 little people to sleep. When you burn half a tray of cookies while you were feeding the baby.

When it’s 10.34pm and you are still washing and drying clothes. When you didn’t get time to eat lunch that day. When you haven’t showered in 48 hours (and counting). When your husband is interstate for half the week.

Well, there is nothing left to do but forget about the ‘stuff’ for a night and get your craft on. For me it was hexagons with Real Housewives catfights, oops I mean reunion specials, on in the background. Flower tally so far – 14 big ones and 4 little ones.

And it must have made a difference because today I’ve got vegetable curry in the slow cooker, made my first ever lokshen kugel and about to do some cleaning. I think it’s another night of hexagons tonight for me.

Filed Under: craft, hexagons

Monday Morning Cooking Club

May 10, 2011 By corrie 15 Comments

Retro daddy bought me a book today, he just doesn’t know it yet. I wanted this book from the moment I read about it in the SMH. It was the saddest time in my life and my mum was just clinging on to what would be her last day with us. I had taken a break from being in her room to go to the visitors lounge and flicked through the paper. I ripped out the article and knew I had to have the book – I knew I would love it.

A collection of well loved (and tested) recipes collected by a group of Sydney jewish women and the stories that went with the recipes. They would meet on a monday and test out the recipes. Yum. It was just the right time for me to read that article. All that talk of mothers and grandmothers passing down recipes in the family. I also love that all profits from the sale of the books go to two Australian charities. Now that isn’t something you see very often. It warmed me to this group of ladies even more.

I waited till it hit my local bookstore (Berkelouw at Balgowlah) and today went in and it came home with me. The more I flicked through the book the more I realised I wanted to make everything in the book. EVERYTHING. Even the peri peri chicken livers (for retro daddy).

The book is so beautifully written, photographed and presented. The recipes are mouthwatering. How about souffle pancakes, custard chiffon cake, pickled brisket, peach marscapone and raspberry trifle, perogen and betty’s fish pie. And that is the tip of the iceberg. You can see what they are up to and what people are making on their facebook page too.

Now the hardest decision…..what to make first? Well done Monday Morning Cooking Club ladies, this is one of the most beautiful cookbooks I’ve seen. Tonight I’m taking it up to bed to snuggle up and read the stories and recipes and make a list of what to make first!

Filed Under: baking, books, cooking, monday morning cooking club

Westfield Give Ability Day

May 9, 2011 By corrie Leave a Comment

Filed Under: westfield