Possitive Things

No it's not a misspelling. 
11 weeks is far too long for a school term. We're all tired. 
I can't wait till we are done d, de, do done. Yaaass!
Looking back at 11 weeks of shenanigans...

Mainly involving my beloved weekly Goldsmith classes! Look at this cushion cut, blue spinel I got to play with!! 

I really want to make a rainbow eternity band with these princess cut sapphires. 

I made this little thing.

And now I am setting this aquamarine in a ring!

💎

What should I make next? The possibilities are endless. 

Now on to more of my #amalspam
I ask you, is there anyone on earth that can wear yellow like Mrs Clooney?

She is just gorgeous. But then being 6 foot tall also has it's blessings. You can wear almost anything.
Like this lady and I...

I have been binge watching so much Call the Midwife I now have a genuine eye twitch. But I have found my favourite character since the Dowager Duchess of Grantham...

Sister Monica-Joan has me in stitches...

Bless.

I've been doing a bit of royal reading. If I were the Royals I would have exposed her rather than save face. Wallis was simply horrid and vindictive. 

I struggle to see that she had any redeeming features besides her enormous jewel collection. Except for the fact the Duke spent all of the Dutchy of Cornwall and subsequent Civil List income on it...hmm.

And then we got a whole week of cold weather in Brisbane, affectionately known as Brinter. It was a great chance to wear boots and tights. I must admit by midday I was thoroughly overheating and wished I hadn't got overexcited.

Less frivolously, I find that the most wonderful insights come from the places we least expect. And so I give you something my little Miss H drew on a tissue. I found it in her room and it's titled "Possitive Things".

The "enclood peoples" is just beautiful and it really reflects the heart of this kind, kind child. I wish adults thought the same way.

Looking forward to the holidays! More #travelwithkids

xo

Summer daze

It's hot. Damn hot. So hot that my hands are melting to the keyboard as I type this.

Sydney got to a whopping 47 Degrees this week and they still decided to play the Sydney International (tennis). At what point do they decide to cancel I wonder!? At least they don't have the humidity like us.

Mooloolaba

We have been at the beach or pool every day. School holidays will be over before we know it and L & H are pumped to be going into Grades 2 and 4 respectively. I only just ordered my school booklist - Gawd I really hope it arrives in time.

I got some divine little things like this from G. He had a little help from my little H who told him what I wanted. Well played and trained kiddo...

Then there is also this spy series... Can't. Stop. Reading. Them. The kids might be literally tearing the house apart but I'm ok, I've got Gabriel Allon to dream read about. I've read all the Ian Flemming 007 Bond books and needed another series. Love a good spy novel! Has anyone else read them or got a suggestion for my next book series? 

I've been eating my body weight in juicy mangos, watching the Crown, reading books and trying to stay sane and cool with 2 kids on school holidays. Were aren't doing too bad so far! Except that miss L decided she also likes mangoes... Le sigh, now I have to share.

We've been to a different beach, waterhole or pool each day.
Mission Beach, Murray Falls, Alligators Nest, Pumicestone Passage, Bribie Island beach, Mooloolaba, Surfers Paradise, our local pool and it's giant waterslide and visiting everyone that we know who has pool, even the slightly warm ones. Thanks guys!

 Surfers Paradise

 Bribie Island beach

 South Mission Beach overlooking Dunk and Bedarra Islands

Murray Falls, Tully 

Ok you get the picture? Our new togs are going to disintegrate from being wet the whole Summer or ruined by sand - take your pick. What are your favourite water spots?

Just a snarky aside...I'm secretly still smarting over missing out on seeing the Queen at Ascot races when we were in England. Hampton Court was wonderful that day...but...

In a similar tone, has anyone finished the Crown, Season 2? I'm sad Claire Foy won't be doing Season 3. I just loved it. I just LOVE Matt Smith as Philip... Just so well done. 5 stars of course! It makes me wonder about Charles and Camilla. Poor Charles, the only way he gets to be king is if his mother dies. It must be hard for every heir.

How do you rate Meghan Markle's sartorial debut as a princess in waiting? I've decided, she's 'safe'. But that doesn't explain what happened with Kate on Christmas Day. Dear DoC, what the flipping heck is going on here? #myeyesmyeyes

My tiara club will need to reconvene as soon as possible to discuss the crime that this coat poses to Her Majesty's subjects. I am just too confused right now. I need time and space.

I missed the second season of Victoria on BBC First. So peevish. Was it as good as the first?

Back to issues of equal importance, my sister and I made this enormous Pavlova. Isn't it luscious and a very Australian thing to do for Christmas. Sugar, egg and cream OVERLOAD!

I think I am inspired to grow roses after visiting a garden recently and I saw THIS thing of beauty.

I haven't put any filter at all on that. My fellow tiara club member & dear friend Faux Fuschia has been explaining how to grow them properly, and I just might! Inspired! Now all I need is Gypsum... is that how it's spelled FF?

I also ate A LOT of red meat and more BBQ sausages with garden salad than I care to remember. G ate more prawns on Christmas day at the buffet than I thought was humanly possible.

Seriously, if I keep this up I won't be fitting into any of my clothes except my maternity nighties or those sequinned Camilla thingies. The gym will have to wait until school goes back.

But then again, I will aways fit my handbags and shoes and maybe a tiara - ha!  

xo

#travelwithkids

Recently as you may know, I sold my business. Working in Hospitality I learned a few things...like how rare it is to spend quality time with your family.

I finally have got the family back into something of a normal routine. My littlest one is in Grade 1 which is possibly the cutest grade. I have enjoyed doing tuckshop, maths rotations, going to assembly, reading, sewing and generally being much more present and "in the now".

 "Red" themed disco and how she gave out KitKats - NB very popular move

We booked a very last minute trip around the world for 6 weeks for most of term 4! And just like that...off we went with very little planning except for flights and accommodation. We didn't even plan the middle week or so. We'd just see what happened. Time to wing it!

I did a double major in history at university, so I guess I was too busy reading up on the new places we would visit. Plus we'd been to some of the places before, 12 years ago without kids and quite a few less wrinkles/grey hair.

Colosseum, Rome

Traveling around the world for that long with small children seems daunting. But to my surprise, not only did we manage, we thrived!

We saw everything at the usual Nordic glacial pace of small children of course.  Poor little H needed to be carried in London and New York... they are Just. So. Big! We calculated G's pedometer to be about 18K steps...which is more like 36K for her little legs. Poor thing.

Kensington Palace Gardens, London

One main activity each day, lots of rest and time spent in the cities' iconic parks. Who knew squirrels were the key to keeping a child happy during a holiday in the Northern Hemisphere? And chasing falling autumn leaves. We spent A LOT of time in parks blowing off steam.

We booked a last minute holiday, mid holiday. A farm-stay just outside Newmarket! Just what we all needed to break up the travels in big cities.  I highly recommend Rosalie Farm on AirBnB! We were reinvigorated for the 2nd part of our trip. Pop and Richard were great hosts!

Rosalie Farm, Newmarket    

But the best thing to come out of our holiday, apart from the obvious amazing places and experiences we had as a family, was the improved confidence of the children, our appreciation for our family. Seeing them openly discussing their appreciation for the things we DO have and relishing in our happy life. Shaking things up for them was exciting and seeing a slow increase in confidence as a result, was so rewarding. It was little things at first like general self awareness in a large city, to ordering their own meals or getting their own food at a buffet (supervised from the table of course so there were no stray fingers!). Then it became much bigger things like more affection and laughs within whole family. Not to mention the girls making new friends who didn't speak English!


I am guilty of over parenting. I wanted to try to give them some "off leash" time and to learn to just let them be. Grow independently with me in the background as scaffolding if they need it. Amazingly they only fought a handful of times, if that. But they were so engaged and happy to be with their little family doing new things, I don't think it crossed their minds much.

Our trip highlights were...

Santorini
It was just like the postcards, but better. Our view from our lunch table just so happened to be over the famous 3 blue domes. We all agreed it was the best view we've ever seen.

G seeing the Queen! And she eyed him and smiled.
Don't. Even. Ask.
Yes I cried that it wasn't me...bittersweet really. At least he got photos

Yes, yes, I can see you! A rare smile reserved for when she's around horses (and my G obviously!) xo

She's such a gorgeous lady. My hero. 

Westminster Abbey - the girls and I were invited by a priest to sit in the choir seats reserved for the Australian High Commissioner. Not even our Prime Minister has sat there! We have such good travel luck.

Seeing Woody Allen making his new film in Central Park in New York.

The Tower of London, the jewels and my personal tour by a Beefeater - a fellow Ricardian, like me.
Everyone had left the Tower that afternoon because of the sand storm stirred up by a hurricane traveling from the Sahara desert headed towards Ireland. Who would have thought??? Note the colour of the sky and Henry VIII's hilarious armour. No jewel photos of course (rules), but I did see the Koh-i-noor diamond and some of the Cullinans - stunning.

And last but definitely not least. THIS! So much love - just the 4 of us.

We grew as a family. We laughed and played. It makes us more appreciative of our little life together and that it makes us stronger as individuals.

Now we are home, let's hope that we can continue to enjoy this by keeping it simple.

xo

Keep it Simple, Stupid

First posts are kind of a weird phenomenon. Where to start? 

I'm going to keep it simple, stupid! The KISS principle... a US Navy principle from the 20's which I am going to attempt to extend to my life. Food, style, raising kids... 
Why? well maybe simplicity is the key to happiness!? 

At the Deli, I saw what could happen with overcomplicated menus, dishes that only one chef can replicate. To put it bluntly, it was horribly stressful.

Don't get me wrong, I love a good confit duck as much as the next girl... after all it was one of my signature dishes! I'm not going to go all Pete Evans but maybe, just maybe more simple foods in my busy life will have benefits beyond nutrition?

Being of Lebanese decent, food has always been such a huge part of my life. It can evoke so many memories of our journey through life. And I don't think my food journey has ended just because I sold my restaurant.

To find my own personal happiness, I am trying hard to consciously not overthink the things that I can't change or don't matter in the big picture . We are all full - our cup is full! Work, kids, finance, school expectations, general stress.

So recently I took a step back and started the process to sell my business, breathe more, smile a bit more, stress a little less. It was a conscious decision made by my husband and I - we decided some things needed to change or GO! 

I definitely say NO to so many more things. Unashamedly scale back? Hopefully I will be able to make better decisions because I'm not living on adrenaline. More on those chemicals in future posts!

Portrait of Me by Miss 6 (wearing a tiara of course!)

I love a bit of frivolous fun though. And that applies to areas that I WILL NOT BE KISS'ing!

These include fashion indulgences and my love of tiaras (no I am not 6 years old), foodie experiences, and a bit of royal news. They are my fix. 

I DO LOVE royal jewellery! Anyone who knows me knows how much I love the gemstones, the history and various ways they are worn over the centuries. I have a portrait of HM QEII in my business wearing the Girls of Great Britain and Ireland, I have books on the history of tiaras and the Queen's jewel collection and I love anything shiny really. 
Queen Mary was a tiara design goddess. Converting so many ugly pieces or gifts into real works of art over the course of a quite a few decades, to leave her Granddaughter the most amazing collection imaginable. For all the good it did her, as QEII probably designed some of my most disliked ones (Burmese Ruby and Brazilian Aquamarine "postage stamp" for example). But Queen Mary on the other hand...

Case in point...two tiaras worn at the same time. Possibly three...that's real majesty right there! Work of art.

My other love is fashion and how you can combine the basics with high end. I love wearing a pair of $20 H&M jeans and combining with a Chanel bag worn across-body and a pair of comfortable thongs or shiny sneakers. It's comfy! 

Personally, I don't need every item to be designer, that's half the fun - the fun of combining Miss Shop with Missoni. For me, I like buying the classic staples and then I can change out the rest with quick fashion for 1/20 the price and keep your look updated. I'm not a fashionista but do love a fun wardrobe! I'm not sure what direction that part of my blog will take but feel free to laugh at my awkward photos. 

But at all times, remember - it's frivolous, it's fun and no one is forcing you to read my blog, so keep it nice in the comments thanks :-)