la dolce vita

I am buried in over my head with a million safari tabs open (in fact my macbook crashed the other night because I had 72 open at once) researching my Italian sojourn.  I have an excel, word and paper diary itinerary going all at once.  I am at the pointy end with just over 2 months to go.  I am too scared to look at my credit card.

This has by far been the hardest trip to plan as it involves the consideration of interests, tolerance and comfort of a 3 year old.  I am a massive fan of art and history and I couldn't imagine anything to be less interesting to a 3 year old.  Italy seems like a lovely place to take children and even Caffe Florian has a children's menu so it may work out okay.

I am the type of person who sets the alarm for 6am and needs to see every corner of every place and I can't help but schedule every panini shop and hidden Gelateria I can find.

I am not a hotel person when it comes to sight seeing holidays but I have had to ensure the toddler is comfortable and has her own space and comforts.

I camped out on Wednesday night to get tickets for Da Vinci's The Last Supper as they were released for my date.  I can't wait to take in Florence from a rooftop bar and enter Venice in a water taxi.

I am also trying to decide on only 6 outfits for a 3 week trip.  Gulp.  I don't want to be dragging luggage on and off trains and would like to leave some room in my luggage for a trip to Space (the Prada outlet).

On my packing list so far are:

a large Le Pliage.. a no brainer really.  Is very light, fully zips (unlike my LV Neverfull) and can fit essentials for carry on as well as day trip necessities like a change of clothes for aforementioned toddler, water bottle, snacks and my SLR.  

Muji packing cubes.  Cheap and a lifesaver since I've begun travelling with a small person.  I use 4.  One of my clothes, one for my shoes and same for her.  That way I can unpack my suitcase and not unpack the cubes but still know where everything is.  And how easy is it then to pack?  Place 4 cubes plus toiletries into the suitcase and you're off.  

I discovered Bared shoes this past summer.  They are designed by a podiatrist so are actually "good" for your feet.  They absorb shock on the soles of the feet, support the heel and support your arches while not looking like daggy pharmacy sandals.  Win!  

Bassike jersey harem pants.  These are the most comfortable pants in the world, especially for plane travel and I swear you can dress them up and get away with wearing them as part of a smart outfit  

Don't judge an old mutton like me but I am SOOO in love with this romper.  Will be making it's debut at Villa d'Este.  I might run into George Clooney.... :P

Beach review

Banana, berries, coconut water, chia seeds.  REPEAT.

Burleigh Heads beach

Noosa beach

Zimmermann 'Lucia' embroidered playsuit, now on SALEEEE

Spinning on the balcony until she's dizzy 

I love that the new year break coincides with summer.  After the manic lead up it's nice to spend time with family, reflect on the year that was (for me it was a significant year in my career, that I've worked so hard towards).  2016 will demand even more of it.  It's lovely to regroup by the ocean, swim, hike, write lots of lists (including recipes and meal plans for the inevitable and dreaded return to work and reality), reassess my goals and development areas and soak in every second with my baby girl.

I'm hoping to do just a little bit more in 2016

• be a little bit more active.
• plan and in return eat better.
• visit some new places.
• learn and study. READ.
• I am also doing a major home refurbishment and declutter this year.  Replacing linen and some furniture.  I've been inspired after reading the KonMari decluttering book and have signed up to the Apartment Therapy January Cure project which I will begin when I get back home.  When all the corporate day job and parenting is done and Friday night arrives I collapse in a heap.  As KonMari says, the less stuff you have, the less you have to put away.  True!
• keep on top of my emails/unsubscribe from some MORE mailing lists.
• wake up a little earlier to tackle the menial tasks. I'm exhausted by nights end and things are often left to hang over my head and cause me to wake up at 3am in a panic
• be a bit more patient.  Holidaying in a small place when living in a big place shows me just how rushed I always am.  
• put away the phone, yeah!
• let go of the guilt that I am not enough.  Enough of a parent, friend, colleague, cook.  Nobody can be all things to all people.
• be present in the moment a little bit more.

Wishing you all a year filled with kindness, adventure and happy memories. 

"Rest is not idleness, and to lay sometimes on the grass under the tree on a summer's day, listening to the murmur of water, or watching the clouds float across the sky is by no means a waste of time" ~ John Lubbocks

Travelling my way

I know that the "this is how you should pack your suitcase" blog posts and articles can get under peoples skins but I secretly love reading them.  Vogue magazines traditionally publish the most envy inducing snippets, favourite destinations and must pack essentials of the jet set crowd and I devour those articles every single time.  I have a fair bit of travel experience, including with baby and toddler so here go my thoughts-

1. Anywhere warm and beachy is my go to.   Noosa!  The weather is balmy and the water SO warm.  
2. I love to wear white on holidays.  All the pieces match and white looks awesome with a bit of a tan (mostly fake for me these days).  I am a devout fan of Ecotan.  
3. I obsessively pack everything separately.  I'm a sucker for anything travel sized and I have several small bags for make up, hair products, skincare etc which makes it easier to pack and unpack both at home and away.
4. Muji is my best friend.  I use this tote for toiletries and hair products and I own a gazillion of these squeeze tubes that I pour moisturiser, shampoo etc etc into and keep topped up and ready to go.  They're easy to label with a marker.  As soon as I return from a trip and begin to unpack I refill everything so it's ready to go for next time.  I also refill zip lock bags with cotton tips and pads and headache tables as they are always so easy to forget to pack and a pain to have to go and buy at the destination.  Who needs a pack of 50 cotton pads when you just want 5? Mesh zip cases are also great for the small bits and pieces - lip balms, pens, coins and so on as the contents are visible.  They have saved me digging through the bottom of an endless pit that is a large tote bag on many occasions.  
5. The key to travel with a toddler is novelty.  On many occasions the flight cards and the meal tray will keep them busy for hours but some new stickers, small toys and favourite books never go astray.  We currently love the Apples to Pears Farm in a Tin.  
6. When travelling with a baby or a toddler always pack an outfit change for the both of you.  Chances of them spewing are higher when you don't have a spare outfit... 
7. Take those exercise clothes and use them!  I love to do some stair runs early in the morning to get the blood flowing and there will never be as many leisure hours at home as there is on holidays.  

On holiday

Playing in the sand 

1.2km of stairs at 5am. 

Colour

The best spot to enjoy hot lemon water at 5am

Chambray love.  Wearing it every day.

Stirring mum a drink

Sunrise from QT hotel

Grocer & Grind 

I don't think I realised how tired and burnt out I was until the stress of going on holiday was over. Repeated illness and running on empty. Not enough sleep. Not enough hours in the day. I was pulling myself together and faking it with good shoes and make up. That's just what you do. We all live in the same world. Attached to our phones and emails and petrified of people's reactions if we cannot be reached right then and there. Going on holidays stressed me out. Being away and having to pack to go away didn't seem worth it. I made a giant list of toddler necessities I needed to pack and another list of "maybe I also need this stuff just in case" which left room for about 3 outfits for me to wear for 3 weeks. And it's damn awesome to open up a suitcase and not have to make a choice about what to wear that day. I was up before 5 most days. I ran up countless stairs. I enjoyed sunshine and amazing food. I loved the early morning rising and early night routine. I even managed a siesta or two (or six).  There's a reason why we go on holiday.  I've already booked my next one.

Hello new bikini!

I am on an absolute shopping ban at the moment.  Cutting back work also means cutting back everything else in life.  It's kind of liberating and freeing.  I got rid of 80% of my wardrobe earlier this year.  I had been doing it wrong in recent years.  I was constantly buying bits and pieces and not really enjoying them.  My favourite things that I was always going back to were now 7-8 years old and they needed to go.  As did the more recently acquired pieces that I didn't love and thus couldn't make work.  It was the classic girls case of opening an overflowing wardrobe and having nothing to wear.  

I guess the ban isn't so much for financial purposes, but rather to evaluate what I need.  What's missing, what needs replacing.  Just making the right choices.  I honestly dream of being that who has a bunch of pieces that make up 20 outfits.  The end.

I am already mentally packing for my trip.  I've got 2.5 weeks annual leave and lots and lots of beach time planned.  And I'm determined to pack the best holiday wardrobe that ever existed.  HA!

I added this gorgeous Etro bikini to the fold for a grand total of $38 thanks to the amazing Net-a-Porter further reductions section.  

And I came across this little surprise that I absolutely love - a very well priced summer beauty essentials box that they're doing.  Fantastic products in travel size.  What more could you want for holidays?  There's cleaner, bath oil and make up essentials, all that I plan to take (except BB cream perhaps)? 

"every summer has a story"

Happy Australia Day!  I am so thankful to live in this country and grateful that today is a public holiday.  I was not ready to face work today - I'm tired and battling a cold.  Not the best combination.  Copious amounts of water are my friend this morning.

This weekend always seems to signal the end of summer for me, even though in Melbourne the warmest days are still ahead.  The parties seem to die down and everyone has already headed back to work.  The shops begin to bring out sweaters and leather.  WAAAAAY too soon.  

I was lucky to escape to the beach for a while this summer.  Ari loves the ocean just as much as I do.  I have had so many crazy thoughts running my head that I really needed a get away.  It came just at the right time and was calming in every way.  The baby forced the pace to slow down.  Throw in some naps and an 8pm bed time for all of us.  It was perfect.

A very early morning swim - Sportsgirl panama hat, Seafolly beach bag

Ari pondering life 

Chicken tacos. So simple and so good.

Rounding off 2013 with a mojito

Perfection on a plate. Flourless chocolate cake.

Massimo;s Gelateria - I always have the same thing when I try out a new icecreamery - hazelnut and tiramisu.

Literally the only things I used - a cheap kaftan, Kindle touch, Zimmermann bikini, Kiehl creme de corps, Kiehl midnight recovery oil, Nivea spray sunscreen, Korres fig body wash and ASAP eye cream and SPF moisturizer.  So liberating. 

Beach life

Nothing better than the grin on the face of a child when they're in the ocean. 

Beach bound

How was everyone's day? Christmas Day was frantic yet low key for us. I had mastered the art of travelling with a baby yet throwing a husband into the mix seemed to have throw the day into disarray. There were too many things to cart around and a baby who was waken from her nap. Thankfully the airport was relatively quiet and I had a delicious lunch to look forward to at the end of it. 

We are off to the beach tomorrow. I'm hanging for a swim. Or lots and lots of swims to be honest. It's the small things. 

Burleigh Heads Monday

It's been summer in QLD since the middle of winter. Although always warm in these parts it's been unseasonably warm. Not that my cold bones complain. Ari had her first ever ocean swim and I literally took 4 giant beach bags of "just in case" supplies with me. One must always overpack when doing any activity with a baby.

Dipping toes in crystal clear water.

Ari wears a Cotton On Kids top and plays with Sophie.

Almost summer?

Today was such a wonderful mid winter day that almost felt like spring.  Which made me long for summer.

Now I want THIS top in EVERY single colour! The cobalt and nude are making their way to me now.. Ooops.

Spring cleaning on a hot autumn day

It has easily been one of the most bitter sweet weeks of my life and thank goodness it's a long weekend because I'm just not ready for a real Monday. I finished at work on Friday. The few weeks leading up to this week involved working way past midnight, feeling anxious and unsure. I have spent years getting to where I was only to close my laptop, turn off my blackberry and walk away. Blood, sweat, tears. High highs and low, low, lows. In a way its kind of sad that our jobs become such a huge part of who we are. We spend so many hours and so much of our energy on what we DO that is starts to blur who we ARE.

I don't think the reality has hit me yet.

And of course all these crazy work hours have resulted in a neglected house. It's amazing just how much cleaning a superficially clean house needs.

I decided to tackle the kitchen today, washing and polishing all the utensils and stuffing the dish washer full with canisters and storage containers. The glass splash back also enjoyed the much needed polish.

The weather has been unbearably hot. And I say that as the person who would kill for an endless summer. Lucky the beach is a stone throw away and I went for a quick swim for a bit of relief today.

Cheat paella for dinner went down a treat.

"The summer night is like a perfection of thought" ~ Wallace Stevens

Maybe it's just me, but does summer seem to pass way too fast; while during winter, I count the slow, cold seconds.  This summer has been immensely enjoyable and the fact that we had some real and proper hot weather may have had something to do with it.  I've continued to purge my life of unnecessary STUFF (yes a common theme in my life over the past 12 months) and have made do with what I've got.  Sure I come across plenty of stuff I love, plenty of stuff I want, but when I think about it for a moment it quickly dawns on me that I don't really NEED it.  I have replaced these thoughts in my mind with great tea, iced coffee, summer fruits and going for a swim at the beach when distraction strikes. 

I had a rare day off on Sunday, where I cancelled all my commitments and appointments and went with the flow.  Sleeping in is a skill that I unfortunately greatly lack, so after forcing myself to stay in bed until 9am, I made a small stack of crispy cremes, filled with orange mascarpone and topped with berries and bananas. So easy and so yummy.  Recipe was posted here.

Following breakfast, I went for a swim at the beach.  I'm not sure I love many things more than floating around in the ocean weightlessly, relaxing on a towel in the shade afterwards and talking to my husband without any distractions from our numerous electronic devices which connect us to the world endlessly.  They are all at home!

 

Since receiving my iPad last month as a very generous gift (thanks daddy) I've tried to move onto reading my favourite publications electronically.  I'm fine with getting my daily news hit via the numerous news outlet apps that I have already acquired, but it may take me a while to enjoy magazines without the smell of fresh print laying on my coffee table.

  

I rounded off my Sunday with a trip to the cinema to see Anna Karenina.  I walked in with zero expectations and walked out having really enjoyed it.  It held it's ground thanks to the amazing costumes and wonderful casting.  I recommend it highly, whether you've read the book or not.