My favourite is their Batch Dyeing service which has breathed new life into various black bottoms of mine from stains, bleach and fading from being worn with so much love….now no longer a reason to pass onto the gods.

Check them out online at Cullachange.com.au or pop in and say Hi 216 Devonshire St, Surry Hills, the team are all so lovely. They are open from 10am-4pm Monday – Friday and Saturday 10-1pm.

Given every time I attempt to paint my nails myself, it ends up looking like I’ve been finger painting and without the luxury of now being able to pop off for a mani or pedi whenever suits me I have discovered a saviour. Seriously, one coat of this nail polish takes your nails from looking like mum/housewife/cleaner to I’m a new mum who’s got it all together. Ok slight exaggeration, who ever has it together as a new mum, but it will have you feeling more confident about how your nails look and not wanting to walk around worried about who’s looking at your hands….and before you sinics out there ask, no I am not endorsed by or have any affiliation with anyone from Cutux, it’s just a product, I’ve found, that works for me, so thought I’d be ever so kind and share it with you. If we all shared one good thing a day, surely that would make life a little easier? You can pick it up pretty much anywhere – Coles, Pricelines, your local chemist. Seriously, you will thank me! And it is only $6, even I can afford that not working.

The French Pink is my favourite, looks like I’ve had a French Manicure….if only.

Jellystone Designs have designed an adult and child-friendly range of jewellery for mums to wear that baby can be free to suck on. They are made from non toxic, lead  and BPA free silicone that’s soft on teeth and gums. Not only do they scream style and savvy mumma, your little one will love them and even better you can continue to wear them for years to come.

The organic bangle (featured below) is only $15.

The Fiesta Bangle $18 comes in Tangerine, Scarlet Red, Watermelon, Purple, Licorice, Blue illusi, Snow White and Citrus.

The chunky pebble bangle $17 comes in purple, snow, grey, black and red.

So you too could be sipping your late’s as stylishly as the woman below…..clearly her kids must be in day care for the day looking that good .

Diamond rings, in silicon and wit 16 bright bold colours to choose from! What more could I ask for? So, I did some research on where I could get my hands on a few of these little gems (without having to head to Milan, Italy) and came across Paradises Facet 58 Jewellers at Pacific Fair in Qld – given I was going to be on the coast the week before christmas, perfecto!

Whilst on the coast, I had the pleasure of meeting Kym Paradise – Director, Designer and Diamond extraordinaire of Paradise’s Facet 58 Jewellers to inspect these “must haves”.

These rings are definitely  “designed to satisfy a public who loves to dare in everyday occasion always maintaining an inborn elegance”

Now to decision time, what colours to purchase??? At only $99 for a 0.02 carrot, I softly suggested to my husband that should he not know what to get me for Christmas, I had ah an idea.

Long and short of it, there were 4 colours, I simply couldn’t live without, so thank you to my beautiful husband, son and parents for spoiling me this Christmas. They come in 3 sizes, S, M and L. S for slim fingers, M for average size fingers and L for bigger hands. Don’t be scared to purchase online or over the phone if you can’t locate one close to home. Give Kym or anyone from her team a call at Paradise’s Facet 58 Jewellers – trust me, they are an essential accessory to every woman’s jewellery collection.

Exploring the world as a new mum has meant entering the whole world of baby and with that comes fashion and accessories. Having consulted to a pram accessories company for the past couple of years, I wasn’t totally foreign to everything but being in the thick of it, certainly is an eye opener.

So, in the coming weeks expect the unexpected….

Yes this is Jackson, our gorgeous little man when he was 2 days old in Oct - seems like an eternity ago already!

x

Custom built with choice of your very own colours check out http://www.jellybean bikes.com.au – I know what will be on the top of my christmas list this year !

Photo courtesy of Anne Geddes (copyright)

It was quite a shock when we found out, I must admit. Although I hadn’t been feeling well for a few weeks, it just never occurred to me that I could be pregnant. For personal reasons, my husband and I were told we would not be able to conceive naturally, so we were due to start IVF in the coming months…but now I have a little miracle growing inside me, a real miracle. WOW indeed!  So much to try and get our heads around!

Most obviously (to me)…my body was changing and whilst I haven’t given up the gym (yes I am still walking daily and doing some weight training twice a week), the changes my body was experiencing were not the type of changes that can be fixed with a week of protein shakes and /or detoxing! My wardrobe, my wardrobe that I just love and have been investing in for years…just wasn’t fitting as it use to. Some of my favourite pieces…they just were not doing up??? But I didn’t look pregnant??

I have dressed hundreds of women over the years, some early stages of pregnancy, some post and as much as I thought I understood what they were saying, there is nothing quite like the experience first hand! As if my boobs were not already large enough (for my liking), no no they decided they needed to be bigger (albeit to my husbands delight).

I am now 14 weeks and starting to get a grip on things…reality is starting to set in and I am starting to feel excited. I took to my wardrobe with a bottle of Ginger Ale and space bag and said ‘see you soon’ to a few of my favourite things that I wasn’t going to need to for a while. No need to tease myself with the skinny clothes that had no chance of making it onto my body over the next months.

Lucky for me having previously stocked up during the oversized trend earlier this year, I was pretty well equipped. But interestingly enough I had never really noticed how there really is a market for some more fashionable maternity wear. Just because us women might be feeling down right dreadful, it doesn’t mean we don’t want to look good in order to help us try and feel good does it??? And I must admit, it is incredibly hard to muster up the energy some days, in between being sick to try and piece together an outfit, something which use to be such an easy task!

So over the coming months, I’m looking quite forward to bringing a few of my favourite things that I find that can help us women still look good whilst dealing with our ever changing bodies!

It started with me spending the morning on the set of Rachel Zoe filming live for QVC.com at their pop up store near the Rockefeller Centre as part of Mercedes Benz NY Fashion Week. My goodness has she gotten skinny, a little too skinny if you asked me, but then again we all tend to loose weight when we have ridiculous schedules and I hate to think what hers is like. I took loads of pictures and will do a separate blog on Behind the Scenes of RZ – it was pretty cool.

Next stop, 5^th Ave. I cannot remember the last time when I actually didn’t have to be anywhere at any particular time to meet anyone, do anything, my time was my own and it was a feeling of total freedom and god how I loved it!

Then back to 5^th Ave it was…H&M was the first store calling me in to play and play I did. Picked up this gorgeous little pleated dress $54.95 and shoes $24.95 BARGAIN and god they are good! I have had so many comments on them since I got back.

From there I ambled ever so slowly enjoying every moment of the most spectacular NY day, with not a cloud in site, soaking up the architecture and environment and NY city life.

As I kept meandering through the city streets (with a pounding head that not even Panadol was relieving) I passed the Empire State building, came across the most amazing second hand Vintage Store – Cheap Jack – completely insane. Old dresses from movie sets and other mismatched pre loved bits and pieces, but was a little unwell to bring myself to try anything on.

5^th Ave then took me to Broadway….

which took me to Madison Sq

where I ‘copped a squat’ under the tree on a perfect patch of green green grass and took my shoes off and rubbed the grass between my toes – and did my interpretation of Richard Gere in pretty woman (ok so I’m in NY and LA but who cares).

Hello style.com pop up style van

(also for Fashion Week) opposite Madison Sq where they were showcasing brands in a different light – very cool indeed, how I would love one of those vans, vans that money can not buy, not to mention the amazing product inside – oh wish list is getting very loooooooong.

Next stop Union Square and a $3 tub of freshly cut Mango, my taste buds were in heaven as these women made peeling Mango’s look so easy and these were BIG Mango’s!

Broadway, Bloomingdales…….all the way back to Soho where I fell into a Spa to give my little feet some love with a Mani / Pedi and… hello, whilst your nails are drying they sit you on these special chairs (the ones you face forward in and your knees lean on padded support) and give you a massage – um hello Aussie Nail Spa’s, nice little added touch of pampering, could do with replicating in Aus! Absolute Heaven.

And then, I found myself having a quiet night in after the previous night’s debauchery. Room service, a hot shower, NCIS and some sleep so I am prepped and ready for my Sex In the City Tour tomorrow. God how life is good, so good.

I’ll leave you with one of my favourite pics from the day…sums it up really.

x

Well even though I have been home for over a week now, it still feels like yesterday I was as free as a bird strolling the streets of NY, that previously I had longed to be a part of. Scenes from Sex and the City, NCIS, CSI, Ghostbusters, Sleepless in Seatle, An affair to remember all coming to life right in front of my very eyes. Ahhhhhh, is this heaven? Well better late than never, here is Day 1 of my time in the city that never sleeps.

So, DAY 1 – I am officially in love with this city. Finally a city that sleeps as little as I do (although I am definitely feeling the need for some sleep tonight) after the flights to get here!

The city is truly amazing and being a NY virgin, I was wondering whether it would live up to it’s reputation. It did – BIGTIME!

The chorus of Alicia Keys and Jay-Z’s Empire State of Mind really does sum it up  

”In New York, Concrete jungle where dreams are made of, There’s nothing you can’t do, Now you’re in New York, these streets will make you feel brand new, the lights will inspire you, lets here it for New York, New York, New York”. Yep let’s hear it for NY – I feel brand new and as inspired as ever!

Some would say a rather large co-incidence it was NY fashion week, others less believing – well let’s ignore you. I was very lucky to catch up with some familiar faces and pull in some favours to get to experience a couple of NY Fashion Shows and head backstage to the set of Rachel Zoe filming for QVC at their Pop up store near the Rockerfella Centre. (Will upload pics to facebook shortly). Always fun to do something out of the ordinary.

Now sadly as some of you might say with all the wonders of Fifth Ave and Maddison Ave (don’t worry I did get there) but my first stop was Zara. It had to be. It has been over a year since I shopped up a storm in HK (even though I did pop in to Zara at The Grove in LA),  I was gagging to see what copy runway pieces NY had to offer. Don’t get me wrong whilst I don’t condone designers ripping other designers off, let’s face the reality there is a lot of “inspiration” that designers get from each other and whilst I would love to have a $3000 Stella McCartney Cashmere jacket in my wardrobe, it would leave little room for much else, so I decided I’d settle for a picture of that jacket.

Zara, I must admit, didn’t really have much that I hadn’t already seen during out fall (aka Winter) in Aus, seriously (hence my previous blog on how good I think Aussie designers are!) So, next stop….Legoland, you just have to go. So much lego, every piece you could have ever wanted! Present for hubby. Tick.

The rest of the afternoon, believe it or not was not spent shopping, but wandering, getting my bearings and just lapping up the scenery – mentally planning where to shop later in the week. The weather was magnificent, NY was making me feel brand new.

Whilst I’d love to say I went out and partied, actually hang on we did. As tired as we were, I think we got our tenth wind by then so we grabbed some Italian Tapas from across the road of the hotel in Soho, enjoyed several bottles of prosesso (just for you Steph) and then somehow back at the hotel bar, we moved onto vodka and then manhattans. I can’t recall who it was that decided about midnight that everyone should have manhattan’s, let’s just say I think the older I get, the more painful hangovers are!!