snuggling up in bed at night… ugg boots… scarves… tights… boots… gloves… lots of layers… hot showers…

and the absolute bestest thing!  covering up bad hair day’s with a beannie :)

love love love!

in celebration of winter, a little photshoot.  it was cold and it was windy, but loads of fun!!!

what do you love [or hate] about winter?

Minime Laura leather boot

Quince Sacha blue denim dress

Sudo firewire leggings – eclipse floral

gloves and scarf we have had for a few years now – cant remember where they are from.

photography NFE Design

i haven’t made it in a while but i decided to fire up the oven and roast some veges to make one of our favorite dips… and the upside to that, maybe the oven will heat the house a little while it is on!!

we eat this roast vegetable dip quite often as a snack or for lunch. with some fresh raw veges to dip in it or spread on corn cruskits is absolutely divine (and gluten free)…  probably similar to some of the ones that you get pre-packaged in the supermarket, but when it is this easy to make, who would want the artificially flavoured and full of preservatives version??

now before i start with the recipe, remember i don’t do lists.  i guess and i measure in handfuls not cups :)  it is pretty foolproof through, as long as you have a good piece of pumpkin it will be full of flavour…

roast approx 1kg of pumpkin and 4-5 carrots till nice and browned and cooked through.  don’t be afraid of blasting the heat at the end, the crunchy edges add flavour!

set aside and let it cool slightly.

in a food processor combine approx 1 cup full of nuts (macadamias are my preference, but cashews could also be good) and 5-6 shallots roughly chopped.

process slightly and then add all of the roast veges.

thin it out a little with rice milk, or olive oil, just a few tablespoons to begin with (i use the milk, and you can of course us normal milk if you have no dairy issues)

add salt to taste.

the key is to not process it too much, it is much better chunky!  and better eaten while still warm!

oh and don’t skip the shallots, they add the flavour and texture.  tried that before because we didn’t have any and regretted it.

you can also experiment with adding other veges if you like.  maybe some sweet potato, or adding a roast zucchini will give you the moist-ness so you don’t need to use the milk.

i took a few pics for you with my phone.  i contemplated dragging out the big camera, but really it looks like chunky baby food.  a better camera isn’t going to maker it look any more attractive.  but it tastes AMAZING.

enjoy!!!

this is her passion and she has so kindly written us a [5 minutes of passion] speech to share this passion with us.  want to hear more?  here you go…

I’m forgetful. If you tell me something and I don’t write it down, I forget it.

There are some things I don’t care to remember. There are other things I never want to forget.

I want to remember my daughter’s babyhood. I want to remember the way she held her little finger out at me and told me to wait. I want to remember her running into my arms and crashing her little naked body into mine after her bath.

These are things I don’t want to forget – they are some of the best moments of my life.

So I write to my daughter. We also take lots of pictures together.

I write to my daughter about everything that’s going on in my mind. My favourite things about her, how I love her, how I feel about her, what she taught me, what my dreams are for her….I want her to feel valued and empowered when she read my letters. I want her to know that she is loved, cherished and that she matters.

Isn’t that the core desire of all human beings? To know that we matter and we are loved?

So I created a business that does just this. I help mothers just like you create tangible expressions of your love by combining photography with your written word. These legacies of your love are for your children to know how much you love them and for you to remember the best moments of your life.

If you want to tell your children how much you love them, use this free Letter Writing Guide to write letters your children will cherish for a lifetime.

Amy and her gorgeous daughter…

and a few random facts from Amy’s email that i cant resist sharing….

When I found out I was pregnant, I had to go on stress leave for a week. Oh yes, I was scared!

The cartoon character I think I am most like is Belle from Beauty and the Beast because sometimes, I’m odd =)

Flowers make me smile, any type is fine!

i must say i love this blog post so SO much and i am so excited to share! because i feel so similarly…  and i always forget stuff…  i am loving these new directions i am following with this blog, writing and sharing and recording memories…  so incredibly excited to share our journey with you all! and to share in Amy’s passion!  i encourage you all to follow the link and check out Amy’s letter writing guide… and i would LOVE for some of you lovely mama’s out there to write a letter to your child or children and send it to me to feature on the blog… only if you want to of course (and can be anon if you like!) the main idea is to do it for yourself and your child…  if nobody but you ever reads it then that is perfectly fine!!

if you do want to share then please message me using the submissions or contact link to the left…  and both Amy and i will share one of our letters each very soon!!

enjoy your writing my friends…

so perfectly depicting of the little being that visited my studio.

so much personality.

so much hope.

so much excitement for many more days to come, of his lucky parents staring at this face and watching it grow…

friends, please meet Santino…

photography NFE Design

you are what you eat.

we have all heard that before, right?

i love learning, and learning about how to be healthier, how to live a my life in a cleaner, more simple, more nutritious way is such a buzz.  and if you feel better as a result then double bonus!!!

“With access to better information people invariably
make better choices for their health…”  FOOD MATTERS

the lovely Jen from Nourish your Soul who we introduced you to a month or so ago here has arranged for a wonderful evening of socialising, learning, and trying new things…  check out the details below, and hopefully will see lots of you Newcastle people there!!

Film Night Showing – FOOD MATTERS – A MUST SEE FILM!!!

Learn about what makes up a balanced diet, what to avoid and how to get heal your own body!

Tickets are only $10 including a light dinner made with locally grown produce.

Book tickets here

Watch the trailer from the video here

Times:-
5-7pm Twilight Farmers Markets – local and organic produce
7pm Dinner is served
7.30pm Film begins

Please share this event with your friends, its going to be an amazing night!!!

it is a gorgeous dress!!! i think it was just a cheap one from Target – but I certainly got my money’s worth!!!  these pics from Jan 2010…

recently i had to convince her that it was time for the dress to retire, so imagine our excitement when we spotted this gorgeous dress below at the Juliet’s closet Launch party a few weeks ago…  it is blue [her favorite colour] it is flowery and girly and she loves it!!!

so excited that we found a suitable replacement… the old party dress can now be passed on to another lucky little girl!!  or, maybe we will keep it, i’m not sure i could bear to let it go…

if you want to check it out her new dress – you can purchase the dress here from Juliet’s Closet.  the boots, tights and purple undershirt are also available on the Juliet’s Closet website now…

and, some pics of Liana wearing it, when we were out to lunch for my birthday last week :)

1. flowers…. ohhh we love flowers… when i win the lotto, [note i said when not if] the first thing i will be doing is hiring Rach from Sapphire Designs to fill my house with fresh flowers every week.  unfortunately they will have to be ones that don’t smell, but i can deal with that!
2. awesome eyelashes… enough said!
3. talented friends… Rach from Sapphire Designs on flowers and Josie from Tranzformations on hair and makeup…
4. gorgeous models/ clients who let me try out their crazy ideas on them… see more of Jess here
5. beautiful hair… and that reminds me – must.book.hairdresser.appt.pronto
6. grainy black and white photos…

photo shoot from earlier this year:

Photography [indulge] by nfe design

anyways, reading the billy and august blog a few weeks back and the lovely Belinda mentioned a series of books that she had recently read and loved.  i could vaguely recall hearing about them before but didn’t really know any details so i just added them to the list. i made sure to order the whole series since she had said that once you read the first you simply must read the second immediately and then the third…

well, they arrived the other day…

50 shades of Grey.  books one two and three.

i’m pretty much speechless.  i read book one and although i was tempted to read through the night and into the next day i did finally fall asleep.  then i got distracted because it was my birthday and i had no choice but to be sociable.  so i didn’t read it as quick as some claim to have.  but as quick as i could… i think i might wait and share my thoughts when i get to the end of the 3rd book.  but just wanted to say – go buy them!  do it. do it now!  they will make you cringe, they are very confronting, and who knows what else is to come since i haven’t yet finished but just like everything else – if this many people are talking about something then it’s nice to actually know what they are referring to…

amazon (also on kindle if you prefer)

book depository (they have free shipping to AU)

or anywhere else you can find them :) you might get lucky and find them at your local book store and not have to wait…

turns out (and i haven’t had time to read much since i am still trying to devote every spare second to reading the books) that there is a LOT of controversy about these books… websites and facebook pages and what seems like thousands of news articles and forums posts about the books…

if you buy them, enjoy… and let me know what you think… if you aren’t speechless like i am, that is!

Style Me Gorgeous is all about print and web base design for small to medium businesses including logos, business cards, ads etc.  but wait!  there’s more!  Sarah also offers print and party décor.  yep, if you’re putting on a party then you need to talk to Sarah about everything from invites to decorations.  Sarah is one amazingly talented and creative lady and i just had to share her and her awesome business with the rest of you.  i met this lovely lady a few years ago when i photographed her handsome son’s 1^st birthday party.  the detail and thought that went into Max’s party just blew me away and I knew right then that Sarah was onto something special.  since that time i’ve had her create custom designs for many of my parties and get togethers, always with AMAZING results!  i wanted to take the opportunity to talk to Sarah more about her business and the success she has had over the time she has spent growing and nurturing her “Style Me Gorgeous” brand and asked her to share a little about herself, her business and her advice.

Sarah’s a perfectionist. she’s sensitive and she claims she’s a worrier but she has such confidence in person that you honestly would never know.  dream vacation… well that stretches between two extremes.  new york in the winter or somewhere tropical, or maybe both in the one trip.  now that sounds like perfection to me.  Sarah was born in England and lived there until she was 10 year of age.  she’s hopeless at sport, loves the smell of tinsel, in another life would love to be Channing Tatum’s leading lady and her ultimate day would include blue skies,  hot sun, the beach, a boat and friends and family.

so now that you know a little about the personal side of Sarah, lets delve into the business side and find out how Style Me Gorgeous came about and how the business works.

so what motivated Sarah to start her business?

“I studied Graphic Design at university and have been a freelance designer ever since. After the birth of my children Jack and Max, I naturally became more interested in design for all things baby / mummy related and began to specialise in this area finding a huge demand for it as many other mums like myself were wanting to work from home and were starting small businesses that required my services.

When Max was born I was inspired by a few party blogs to design an invitation and matching decor to create a dessert table for his Naming Day. This became my first printable party decor set, the Baby Elephant theme, it was received so well I decided to design more party printables and haven’t look back ever since!”

now when Sarah says the baby elephant theme was received well, she’s being just a little understated and coy.  Seriously… google “style me gorgeous baby elephant theme” and you come across blog posts and forum posts and pictures and reviews from hundreds of people who have used and fallen in love with this popular Style Me Gorgeous theme.  it’s clear that right from the beginning Sarah was onto something big!

the name “Style Me Gorgeous” is perfect for Sarah and her business but how did it come about?

“When I began specialising in graphic design for baby/kids/mum related industries I of course found myself designing a lot of ‘cute’ and gorgeous’ stuff, I was creating a gorgeous and stylish image for small businesses so the name ‘Style Me Gorgeous’ seemed to be perfect.”

what does Sarah love most about her business?

 “I love that I can work from home and be my own boss!”

oh i hear you on that one sister!!!!

now with such a gorgeous range of products and services Sarah must have a favourite right?  we were interested to know exactly what that was?

“The printable party decor packages are fantastic. Personalised to suit your event, they allow you to be creative and style a gorgeous and coordinated looking party for an affordable price.”

ok so we all know it’s easy to come up with an idea or service but it’s not always easy to put that plan into action, get a business running and do it with success like Sarah has.  so we asked Sarah from some tips for people starting their own business.

“Great customer service is key, always be as accommodating and helpful as you can, remembering that word of mouth is a powerful tool. If you are doing a great job and your customers are happy they will tell others, which will help your business grow. Work on building up a loyal customer base, and also join networking groups – these are great to help promote your business and to give you support and advice.”

and the thing all us working business owning mothers struggle with… what about juggling your own business with small children?

“I probably have enough stories to write a book on juggling small children and a home business, but I am yet to find the answer on how to create a happy balance between the two. Everyday if different, some flow nicely from start to end and I get plenty of work done and have happy kids. Other days I feel Im chasing my tail and accomplish nothing.

It is extremely hard to close the doors to the office and ‘switch-off’ from work when you are always there, it takes a great deal of discipline which I am lacking.

I do find that getting out of the house and having a coffee with friends does wonders!

Oh, I just started Pilates and really love it, I think it is going to be one of my tools to help me relax and handle the juggling act better ;-)”

it can’t be denied that Sarah is one very sensible, wise and smart business woman.  she’s taken an idea and grown it into something wonderful.  it doesn’t stop there though.  Sarah has huge plans to expand the party printables range to cater for not only children’s parties but also weddings, engagements, teenagers and adults birthdays.  what a fantastic idea and an awesome goal to aim for. i have no doubt that pretty soon there will be brides all over Australia using style me gorgeous to style their weddings.  Sarah is open to all theme requests and also can offer you some great advice if you find yourself with a party to plan but no clue on styling.

now, i have a very exciting sneak peek of two new designs that Sarah is about to release.  so happy to be able to share these with you all!!!

dinosour and masquerade…

if you want to see or know more about style me gorgeous then visit the website at http://www.stylemegorgeous.com.au

 contact Sarah at info@stylemegorgeous.com.au

and to keep up to date with all the latest news make sure you like the style me gorgeous facebook page at www.facebook.com/stylemegorgeousdesign

meanwhile, a few peeks of past designs…

Max’s first birthday featured in Little One Baby magazine

the invitation from Liana’s circus themed party last year… you can see all the party pics here

and the adorable elephant theme which can be found here