tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-47250634840095094802024-02-08T01:08:02.270+11:00A Day In The LifeI guess something interesting is supposed to go here...Jaydehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06330670763048889006noreply@blogger.comBlogger133125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4725063484009509480.post-37149167578661398492018-01-05T15:53:00.000+11:002018-01-05T16:17:41.120+11:00The Newest Of Years<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Hmmm, </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">What a year it's been! Now is when I'm meant to be thinking about my new years resolutions right? That's totally something people do, but does anyone actually stick with their resolutions? </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">I think for myself, I'd like to set reasonable goals that I actually feel I can achieve, things that are important to me, not crazy weight loss or giving up addictions (hello, coffee!) and silly things like that. More like, I want to be a more positive person. There is so much negativity in the world and in our lives, I want to be the person who smiles at strangers and gives people compliments. I want to be the positive change!</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Other things I would like to achieve are just little things such as remembering to make my bed in the morning. There is something about coming home to a made bed that makes me feel good. Like even with all of the chaos going on in the world, I can come home to an <i>almost</i> decent house. The same goes for doing the dishes. If I can just remember to do the dishes every night before bed, they won't stack up on the bench and annoy me. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">I am also aiming to be more in control of my eating habits. I currently follow the keto lifestyle (also known as banting or LCHF- Low Carb High Fat) and I love it. I sleep better, I have more energy and I have lost weight. The problem is, it's very easy to give in to crappy food and bad influences. I'm blaming no one but myself because only I can decide what to eat and fuel my body with. So part of my goals for 2018 is to eat healthier and be in control of my food choices. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">As they say, it's the little things in life. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">I feel like, with all of the changes I've been through this year, moving house, receiving help for my mental health, my diet change and changes in my relationships, I want to make 2018 the year for me. I want to focus on being a better person for myself and my son. I figure if I can do that, everything else will fall into place. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">What are things you want to change or make your goals?</span></span></div>
Jaydehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06330670763048889006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4725063484009509480.post-25588995873466303202016-02-18T09:09:00.000+11:002016-02-18T09:09:24.876+11:00Sewing: Full Circle Skirt<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I've always wanted a beautiful full circle skirt, but have never been able to find one in the shops that I just love. I've noticed that a lot of them are either elastic waist band, or attached to a top and made into a dress. So, I decided to try my hand at making my own.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">For this project you'll need:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Fabric</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Matching thread</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Sewing Machine with needle</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Measuring tape</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Pen or pencil</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Fabric scissors</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Zipper</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Sewing pins</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Firstly, you'll need to know your measurements so you know how much fabric to buy. I actually did mine a little backwards, I bought my fabric cheap, then decided I wanted to make a skirt. Thankfully I had just enough!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Anyway, I used <a href="http://byhandlondon.com/pages/circle-skirt-app" target="_blank">By Hand London</a>'s calculator to work out how much material I would need, how to cut it, and how big to make the waist etc. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Using my waist measurement, 110cm, and asking for a midi length skirt, this is the maths I ended up with:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/W8vjgEAfbVKtToBuqfLcHMe2axKRODr9VRUaEExjw4QDrlIRhCqc3_Jd71DGhqZdc1nxWWoS6pTU53MrMIgZz2nhZQI9sCcDKNX2g1A7nojeE7LZqPBCOwgZVh-nwKxxrJF9yBdWH8t1pc_wzGqrjXd7yaRW_T64vvcLNJR8fJFVjR4cDgVcrByQ_Un3Vx5xz9GYusGsS9WTdSdANnE2cXgX-7H1oFn9n3F2zl_L68K3ZOxhvGwxPFMFEtYF-YWcj-oL_rg1hF3zuv1bwZhH90cxEr4Hgf9uQu2DLPafJmclnE6JqBp07hX-y8tMub_KHouj_-z_fXqkOUBfNvEooyo_n0zZ5HEBE5-jPcC1iuIjxJTgaLZh3e-6ECCG5NwxLImVpXiXOaB3EXJr9hc1xN2Z0OmLZh_Mvmly1kC9WMluTrwEwtgjORvPvJSf3RGDy9eZ13Nv8n8T3M_eGpxHqFHQJSnrfCBHUWIHufWiVHMBKk7ztNb1rzjA04H3XXmNcBlpDBq86eMw4dj6W1b5s5BS7DfmSGPEqUqVSkGC2vIEHewACA6RzIgBkqjtwKF5Bv2y2g=w376-h667-no" /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Now for me, because my radius doesn't fit onto standard material, I couldn't do one piece of material, I had to cut out 2 semi circles and stick them together. To make things easier, and to ensure I had even pieces once I cut them out, I folded my fabric in half, right sides together, and drew my quarter circle in the corner, like this;</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN_yu2T8RR9cJ93jatjEBebPRVBVHuEOTB0oqR-wAuZVRmgaCIEGrhY_0nmcLD-33qOoXArWP3LpLxARBzbWQZnglxTajjndR-02M334AqEZYeLUOqHWg305lKF-BJM8FokwU5p0yvNag/s1600/Drawing+circle+for+skirt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="328" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN_yu2T8RR9cJ93jatjEBebPRVBVHuEOTB0oqR-wAuZVRmgaCIEGrhY_0nmcLD-33qOoXArWP3LpLxARBzbWQZnglxTajjndR-02M334AqEZYeLUOqHWg305lKF-BJM8FokwU5p0yvNag/s640/Drawing+circle+for+skirt.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Make sure you wash, dry and iron your fabric first! Doing this ensures it is preshrunk (saves finding this out after you've made the garment, and it not fitting), and ironing it makes sure that your fabric is nice and flat, reducing it being misshapen and ruining your garment. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I didn't bother with making a pattern for this, I drew straight onto the fabric and worked it out as I went. </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I used a 1.5cm seam allowance for all of my edges. A flexible measuring tape worked well for me, but use what you have.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><img height="359" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/mTw-GIKr0pVwjzYJGeOeCG9Bss3HcIlfZuetX8BDRKn6VHqU6wr1rbH2OqMeJHXW0owJj2-CQBAyNLVdMpB0ALV2eNOSmFzAd4kERzFN4dCnmdCXrkergARzRkA7BNaYS5OuiZDBDXZ6dP4zn4iqFNNvC76s7waBB7GtZnq2XeIX951bGb679aSMjEkCahRW4zrqCUd0Ew-TG1noEv5NVF67IVLQev3v7BYFMazY9ncUI8YgttM2v4viWE2Ofwq4u1oVLX2ebVx_xn2QMZE20hwT9gxGj8a3eWXFgTP3IOYh2fwh1IMqnp7DZcoQnyxchV5VA3NhixXpqy4iscXzd3L9RsLrTDYdiYpZxQ5YIBGfSZuxQOA9jUCB-eXbr9k-cxG64JGLD88fXfHEpdZbp2-0xmty67VP53AbPN-w4DAuR-WFilFvilCZybyqP9ik_FAfbQ1Bhtr9orG3ghUmEYH_pqULxC9nm1a5Mwjm6FdmNgAKgajMEMew3qjED5RRf1zNrDSWOvJZ7JndW6xRzZGfXPWX3kOPQh1R7PY8M1mjoGUBAW9VR2kdpu8btbfBHLKgow=w1186-h667-no" width="640" /></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I then pinned my folded fabric together, so the two layers I was cutting stayed together, then cut out the quarter circle from each piece of material. This gave me two semi circles that I could sew together.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><img height="359" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/b28RqqTPAOb-JsxgoJRnA3wtWwmFhnQy9umbQRu3Jw-oj3zQ6swEsIEPs6sRQwvDkhmyiC0TGDu_oKtq08p3gdLviQmDIJTdaFj4sEUxtUTYGFHAI0IwfaBQkMRj7ibNRk_mAFi07NWH3jePbp4Tl__n5ZNImTCF3NQgzmP1hDl7Je5xP-b88FmCmRbXcUdnwdeble9E1pBXZuQFFF-68Vg9QVYSqhTUXV4bYUxnKQne5F4xnEJGTJNHAwvmw4k1lAv6g4okABvpCqCx5OUKBTN6uNRRmuDm5IbLG7r6OBONqLbr4DUGnbbzdz2TXWWFEiEziefznv9sTXN9V4152AxPcuFBo4TqzbKczVPtRLEGl3nDFJsTtyUw-zumQwasAs0qmCTTSXltf9gSLw7_wAEBsDMWnu2uRbdKVApYX_Mni2afLN6pDJwzLsSjcAdVvYM7dj-D_wEWAnS7QbrNLoJp-THD0AQb96-2WEq7rOPHwfpaoG0R2zJpIlZhcBOfRjBi8pSWXjW05Ga7mVQAqDW7DTPNs7Sne1B5T77fgswYBq-i27trdbGum_tberJ9KYOyLA=w1186-h667-no" width="640" /></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">As I mentioned earlier, I don't generally like elastic waistbands for me, as I find they bunch up and hide the little bit of waist I have, so I prefer to have a fitted one. As my waist is 110cm, my strip of fabric would need to be that long, plus seam allowance (1.5cm either side, so 3cm total) and as wide as I wanted. I was a little limited in the width, because I had to use whatever fabric I had left. It ended up being about 6cm wide. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Fold over your waistband (longways) right sides together and iron flat. Then pin everything in place and get ready to sew. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Following the guide lines on your machine, sew all the way around like this, making sure to leave a gap so we can turn the waistband in the right way.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinHEscp9ha7Uwa0y6YFr5PMxBohBNFRI3KMletSISiGSZkcVnKFF6eMRzOxWgGNcthEwwOFfR2njmmsnbiG1oBVLnJH2CytUhe9tMQQydY-GVLsQh5hgdE-1oZOMGWHqYyEkd4Eqq8iXA/s1600/Waistband.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="146" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinHEscp9ha7Uwa0y6YFr5PMxBohBNFRI3KMletSISiGSZkcVnKFF6eMRzOxWgGNcthEwwOFfR2njmmsnbiG1oBVLnJH2CytUhe9tMQQydY-GVLsQh5hgdE-1oZOMGWHqYyEkd4Eqq8iXA/s640/Waistband.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-_zFnhr3ozoB25w0A8-qRKXaYfnl1LBTYQq3b-TcCEr4_RDeJAHBSwyCdbH_lf1aVgTtQzW1lM_robSEI-SAVNB6ft_HpZzByEa9dXqqMyP-xzXFARgDtja5iqNJySVfo8kv4MoF2ZPOnLlE7QrJQ8xSVPylmA59vqU3PtYbdFBSclhTW5hziqMJN1thKWhgNpGrHJ2EjSsCZLt7DxRKZ0TW85myYU8Oq6c7zfYGaaFpGmXttqStFJE_DkbAxkv9KtOSXFJdVrXZLX4_X05lFiUVaTxBtZ01kPs9cAq2LsmJkNwb0vmOODIRIG9hRGKhoUPYaW6xICv9AGVdu0ukjY1EfMSN2Skp7ZnKcvslPq9kp2flZuHEajzNpIYqkz6B4u3qOBHhCWJzfipqTx2omtf1N7MlAE2GjugSjhKs9LBgosj1WQ568DgZgHv9tk3VRNoe-USAVhaKQsZ0pTL3sE7tzuqE2NoaZLbkJXKeNA2LgDt8Smo8xpe0L8qFNQ6VyYwyOtK_EkIrs-jeuhcSd0qKBXcpbUkI6LE4edSvTSJrPp5aShi-JJJo_I_MnnvSqob5TA=w1186-h667-no" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="359" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-_zFnhr3ozoB25w0A8-qRKXaYfnl1LBTYQq3b-TcCEr4_RDeJAHBSwyCdbH_lf1aVgTtQzW1lM_robSEI-SAVNB6ft_HpZzByEa9dXqqMyP-xzXFARgDtja5iqNJySVfo8kv4MoF2ZPOnLlE7QrJQ8xSVPylmA59vqU3PtYbdFBSclhTW5hziqMJN1thKWhgNpGrHJ2EjSsCZLt7DxRKZ0TW85myYU8Oq6c7zfYGaaFpGmXttqStFJE_DkbAxkv9KtOSXFJdVrXZLX4_X05lFiUVaTxBtZ01kPs9cAq2LsmJkNwb0vmOODIRIG9hRGKhoUPYaW6xICv9AGVdu0ukjY1EfMSN2Skp7ZnKcvslPq9kp2flZuHEajzNpIYqkz6B4u3qOBHhCWJzfipqTx2omtf1N7MlAE2GjugSjhKs9LBgosj1WQ568DgZgHv9tk3VRNoe-USAVhaKQsZ0pTL3sE7tzuqE2NoaZLbkJXKeNA2LgDt8Smo8xpe0L8qFNQ6VyYwyOtK_EkIrs-jeuhcSd0qKBXcpbUkI6LE4edSvTSJrPp5aShi-JJJo_I_MnnvSqob5TA=w1186-h667-no" width="640" /></a><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Once all sewn together, snip the corners off (as per the diagram below, I've marked it in red. Just make sure not to cut too close to your sewn line)</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">, and turn inside out. Use a pencil or chop stick or something similar to turn your corners out really well. Once all done, back to the ironing board! Iron that baby flat and beautiful. Where you haven't sewn (the gap where you turned it inside out), make sure the raw (unfinished) edges are turned in, and iron flat. Ta Da! Waistband is done. Onto the skirt!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxGe7HC8ttaA1KLdY1u4FB5Nm3xFFFKgANJtCMrPf1WQm6X0mbTpC5ZHemYkmaPLulxrrshN8he3H-NdVLoKjNZ_QMwtpSlo0aVdcfLUV2tbiao6IxapJgY4JMr8ZQVhhUGxlnCPUJfdw/s1600/snipped+corners.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxGe7HC8ttaA1KLdY1u4FB5Nm3xFFFKgANJtCMrPf1WQm6X0mbTpC5ZHemYkmaPLulxrrshN8he3H-NdVLoKjNZ_QMwtpSlo0aVdcfLUV2tbiao6IxapJgY4JMr8ZQVhhUGxlnCPUJfdw/s1600/snipped+corners.jpg" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Firstly we need to sew our two semi circles together, to form our skirt. The easiest way to do this is to place the two pieces right sides together, pin the edges (where you're going to sew) together, and wiz it through the machine. Make sure you're securing the ends of the sewn lines by going back and forth over it (sew in a straight line forward, flick your reverse switch, sew a few stitches backwards, then forwards and continue on like normal). Onto the pleats!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFYJmRXUIZajXoL3cTP5m9o7CKWe3QyCTd9fNLbImfXjFYn0WStozP8vyNpGZB0kkO2GRKjE_PYOG9TTwwaz9AbfEHPGgURib3fWI0Mift0LL5CsUNl0Rj0k-q9y4oxA1A9E9OqpQRCMM/s1600/8a8eb56fdc8ea7074d963436dbd29924.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFYJmRXUIZajXoL3cTP5m9o7CKWe3QyCTd9fNLbImfXjFYn0WStozP8vyNpGZB0kkO2GRKjE_PYOG9TTwwaz9AbfEHPGgURib3fWI0Mift0LL5CsUNl0Rj0k-q9y4oxA1A9E9OqpQRCMM/s400/8a8eb56fdc8ea7074d963436dbd29924.jpg" width="216" /></a><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Right, now this part will be hard to explain for me, because I made it up as I went! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><-- Here is a quick explanation of the types of pleats, I used box pleats. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">My pleats were 10cm in width, so I marked out every 10cm around my waistband, and followed <a href="https://youtu.be/cNXJ_BIsb1E" target="_blank">these</a> instructions! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">If you're not interested in doing pleats and would rather have an elastic waistband, you can't! Mwhahahah, no but seriously, your waistband would be completely different. I'll make a note down the bottom for you though.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Now it took me a few goes to get my pleats right, so make sure you are moving your marks correctly, and pinning securely in place. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">There is nothing worse that sewing it together and realising something was off, then having to unpick everything. #sewingtruth</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Here are my finished pleats, I've tacked them together using a simple straight stitch. As you can see, I have left a gap in between each pleat. This is because I made my pleats so wide. But you do whatever you like.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/A8ZDsawLMEE0nsHITb0FJO-CRUrMmDFq6-R9j0vbivCra1QXHcAuCJPDrwnPG52bsgmsLiIKnpCAHWOUak_VdssEigypZx02HoHRXdawwLNxbuqC-XYwNBWeQHflUlbcuHsN5QDHANJATaoDulke-BC7tC8I6aVMk2rPxrMsYV-_mTvZgCKnyh9QQ51dyPPYnYYd7U0MTVvhxaVmqbNhSJBn38jbmTlSnP78lleMV5BXXWRUvRZYoSdfZ9qFD_NkkLpng7dBESHONqhSu6FLdPHSWrg9a9Qm54UZYm1buQFQXLBMS_1davvMmxI1TWjQ6QyKeeYJNabPgfaFfAweWTbLq4QM8XThmVrNiaed-IpIvYOpPvpFdV_Z7mZas0dL0eWZQyV9laSVnjMilR0ELjYjKfCZskTq66UitG0MNLP1b1Nejd90bEcYHrYlHv8q5P73wvIAn3Lofod1RAKHShJFHjtJbWRP9DqRWUgADtE9ACTdUdYczDwdpcldxkbAswWp-NLfZt0BVB3eh1TzkPldXC8FGWlO3Df7r0bWy7ktpXhozoBIX74JNUOQx7-KyBnBVg=w376-h667-no" /></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Now the not so fun part, ironing the pleats. This nearly killed me! It was so tedious and annoying, but well worth the effort. The final result was much better than I expected.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><img height="359" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/Los2YmkVzNkJ4pMqq6LZXZ-JqBl6XSuxcmsyLS7PFrfzJOTbJ0cKsd_vTP4YD419yNEJjkH1zkNdallUZfNQTxl587qnV_0ZA4syRiy31bQhFIoR4s5TYuosWKVouFB6ovHgQywXWn-K6k6OeJBsFFAFA3PelqeiRpW8ay5h2PqZrKz52gAGxlj8t6r7u1opgauHZR8IE_-UaJWZiPF69HTxtB2I48eRxnNGhW41GgDia4hjGFBN52vsWTNEDyT5zHYRkN9lOnt8aVUa_Sl4SYTB7D4DnptZqInFp7EMTiGjV780U4LmoaMEaRwXZT3GnokAxITihJURPT22EumkCattJAQcejUQ_vD8e-bxiBNKqFradyEo19TWBtGZ2bUGsHvBKRW78J9P9B1z_wodHu-F3akV7YpYDo8f8ijO2C0Asb_WrNDbM_xuTiM-XCIMDGCWmz3coIlk5b8oOQ625eV5ngXLHmiQIQbwqkyQmTjCuCQxpXIDd5KF-jnHbXkk4NWYLX5HHVQPIOWjyCAUwuZbz3OANm_T4mTvqr5JHvCGCoN59zEMLbA82IIpmmKlJ6KmSg=w1186-h667-no" width="640" /></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Onto adding the waistband! Pin one end of your waist band into place at the back seam, so the ends match up. Then pin the waistband in place all the way around your skirt. The waistband should end up being the same length as your skirt now, because of the pleating. Once it's all pinned, sew into place. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/LDa3V7zv7CBZXJngHW1c0xDT2IZ3kiotFLQi0map4Q92BFT-0D2DLosku4SqiGCv3Z4D856m4S9vfiw6PeS6pHFxirZI2S3O4fPY4KHjXoSa7Qa8vsjyTT4_7AtPCgdB-cqtTQm0PZ7fR64cznTX6krwURabq9DE2tysi85JL-hFa8hsY-AN_3PiLJ8MpE76e3zfnBrH2RZb9V-9t9vJNXURZC62HZ3HUyO7dPQVwI2ICElPJ0p2uOc-UNFoQ6LBdRDcU5K0cKzYLrAfNIgHKfNqW1KDifr8UbowxtjaiGDavB9bFAYpgk4kq0ZSmJuiUIGVYqt6u8gu3dgPvC7vdy323u3P5ytxUEA1kj1H2IzmeoGwZf11UIDIomzDUS6igA-t3XELZ_1JaSNy1kR21IkVVW9LcM0Gf5LzdH61Xp-CCr0eeNfz0eJBWV3NYDZTjORwJXVMIsLb48ZrYj_vxh2CPMolBzELV8fjih8YoRnccsgLQgI1r3aQpxZBGlK_FyZqWccLrZL-gYzPscD-yk3fbjaQKW_KORMFEQJzxF1H6OzsQXSrWwENkzhPMG23tiRbeg=w376-h667-no" /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Woo, waistband it done! Now for the zipper. Okay, so there are two main types of zip that we could use for this project: standard zip, or invisible zip. The standard zipper will be seen, as the teeth sit outside of the garment. The invisible zipper is sewn into the side seam, and so the seam closes over and the zip can't be seen! This is the one I did. Now I am sure I do zippers wrong, so instead of trying to teach you my way, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vA8l0xPa1wg" target="_blank">here's</a> a tutorial! (Ps, I love So Sew Easy!) Okay, all done? Let's move on...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">All that is left to do is the hem! Fold over the bottom raw edge of the skirt (fold it in so wrong sides are touching), press with your iron and pin into place. If you like you can fold it over again so the raw edges are hidden. Once you have pressed and pinned the whole hem, sew a straight stitch and even distance from the edge to secure! I generally do my hems at 1.5cm in, but you do whatever you like the look of.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">A final press and we're all good to go!</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTDts1YsV5kdfRo5fgzprHuvvgD7q8DHKNMSEi_yxbEqvYI90g-GluemDxFDonf_tKAmPa-qpmNPKVG0Bm5Fs8heC-KHdVGVLyGrnOh1itX3FVyTY-obpfOzgDY28OuhcSH3zrxxrT9WY/s1600/20160205_201512.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTDts1YsV5kdfRo5fgzprHuvvgD7q8DHKNMSEi_yxbEqvYI90g-GluemDxFDonf_tKAmPa-qpmNPKVG0Bm5Fs8heC-KHdVGVLyGrnOh1itX3FVyTY-obpfOzgDY28OuhcSH3zrxxrT9WY/s640/20160205_201512.jpeg" width="480" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So, it fits me like a glove, has a wonderful twirl to it, and I pretty much just love it! I'll be making a structured tank top to go with it, in the same fabric.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Next up on the project list is a pencil skirt sloper and resulting skirt. Alex and I went to Spotlight and found some amazing fabric, cannot wait to show you what it looks like!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Much Love,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">J xx</span></div>
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Jaydehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06330670763048889006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4725063484009509480.post-82528733663775758782015-11-22T18:46:00.002+11:002015-11-22T18:46:52.509+11:00So You Sew...<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Being a mum I've realised that my money needs to spread further than ever before. With bills, food, nappies and the like, clothes are not on the top of my agenda. Yes, I op shop shop when I can, but I can't always make it out of the house on time. Which lead me to my newest venture, learning to sew.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">There are so many tutorials online for different sewing projects, from basic circle skirts, to more complex options such as jackets and cargo pants. I started with the easiest thing I could think of, leggings. On one of my op shopping adventures, I found some black and white knit material, and thought it would be perfect to practice with.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I set about looking online for a simple tutorial, then just followed the steps. Pretty simple really. I'm not the best at reading patterns, so I tend to make my own. If you already have a pattern for leggings, feel free to follow that instead.</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT_u9igJjfPCOuAgVAIyjV9bnwK25pqIs-DaVjP0RTnjbw5kv_gySGcjVSPt9IBF0iV0BLmbJmih9_-oGtmX7VuVZfhfOb6upuS-NAIaxmE0tOOtX0U5qZgEuvvhKPOVuQjklaYuHDhiY/w376-h667-no/" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT_u9igJjfPCOuAgVAIyjV9bnwK25pqIs-DaVjP0RTnjbw5kv_gySGcjVSPt9IBF0iV0BLmbJmih9_-oGtmX7VuVZfhfOb6upuS-NAIaxmE0tOOtX0U5qZgEuvvhKPOVuQjklaYuHDhiY/w376-h667-no/" width="224" /></a><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">1) Find a pair of leggings in the size you want to make. Mine are a 00, but tight fitting, if you want them to be looser around the leg, just add a bit of extra space in your pattern. Fold them in half. Trace around them on some paper. Add a 1.5cm edge - this will be for hemming and sewing the bits together. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">2) Pin your awesome new pattern to your material, then cut out. When pinning, try not to bunch the fabric, this can cause your pattern to be uneven. Because my material has horizontal stripes, I cut out one piece, matched the stripes, then cut out the other one. I wanted to make sure the stripes were all aligned.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">3)Fold up the edges of the legs and press with an iron (heated according to fabric type). Sew up the bottom hems on both separate legs. Doing it now saves us having to do it later when everything is sewn together. When sewing with a machine, make sure you go back and forth a couple of times over the start and the end of the stitching. This means it will be less likely to undo.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">4) Lay the pieces out flat, right sides together (patterned side for me). We're going to sew the front and back crotch pieces together. I forgot to take a photo, so here is my super crappy paint version. Sew all the way from the top to the bottom, remembering to sew 1.5cm in from the edge (this was our seam allowance in our pattern).</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMV6ewYn4fEWcTyjc77c9oJ2eDyrnh9vIprVZ4qfDS_T67gpiDVc7TcmUVPGAe1zjP7wNqD7KwFUE0rjaRmcQGP7iSEBpAzdRWM7URkrhEtJOxvTl392KmhXFTSqXSQHT2Hz0_IHd9VQk/s1600/Sewing+pants+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="355" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMV6ewYn4fEWcTyjc77c9oJ2eDyrnh9vIprVZ4qfDS_T67gpiDVc7TcmUVPGAe1zjP7wNqD7KwFUE0rjaRmcQGP7iSEBpAzdRWM7URkrhEtJOxvTl392KmhXFTSqXSQHT2Hz0_IHd9VQk/s640/Sewing+pants+1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkrzNB6CpEaIBP-8xkkOdy_-F5AoLagFPDbIb5tMXI8VTOW702xFkhuv7mKmjHex1kFF4tv6uWrvK0qgyRzYUAY9vX2GsHA546T4BbJAFw8AbpY_uTCU6mf_ho4Kn3_80h7H4h_0l3-Xw/s1600/20151012_171123+A.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkrzNB6CpEaIBP-8xkkOdy_-F5AoLagFPDbIb5tMXI8VTOW702xFkhuv7mKmjHex1kFF4tv6uWrvK0qgyRzYUAY9vX2GsHA546T4BbJAFw8AbpY_uTCU6mf_ho4Kn3_80h7H4h_0l3-Xw/s400/20151012_171123+A.jpg" width="222" /></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">4) Now open the pieces out so the crotch seam is in the middle, like here <--</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We're now going to sew up from the bottom of one leg, up, then back down the other leg.<br /><br />Once you reach the top of the crotch, where the pieces are already sewn together, stop. Make sure your needle is down (in the fabric), then turn the leggings, so you can sew down the other leg.<br /><br />Try to keep your lines straight, as this will be the shape of the legs.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDP9ihS-GFOL950F8kfdOXsExpQJpNqx2Yi09UnL4PeoHfjyowXB6vsoLtDmoXGVeicSOEdD8H_y-UOXASLzoMgoiCj8InDPoYc3U7-HHOz1zl-EhnShSesPubL37xUQ__V_ke1aGjybw/w376-h667-no/" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDP9ihS-GFOL950F8kfdOXsExpQJpNqx2Yi09UnL4PeoHfjyowXB6vsoLtDmoXGVeicSOEdD8H_y-UOXASLzoMgoiCj8InDPoYc3U7-HHOz1zl-EhnShSesPubL37xUQ__V_ke1aGjybw/w376-h667-no/" width="224" /></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">5) Time to create our waistband! If you have a baby to measure, then go ahead and measure their waist. Keep the elastic long for the moment, but mark on it where you need to sew it together.<br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">6) Fold down the waistband, leaving enough room to thread the elastic through, and press. Now sew along the raw edge (make sure you are still leaving enough room to thread your elastic), but ensure to leave a gap so you can actually fit it through!<br /><br />7) Grab your elastic and thread it through. It might help to attach a safety pin to the end to make it easier to grab. Just be careful not to stab yourself like I did!<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />8) Once your elastic is through, trim it to size and sew it together (at the spot you marked).<br />It's best to sew it like this:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">9) Now you just need to sew the gap closed, making sure you don't sew over the elastic. All done!<br /><br />These are so easy to make. Yes, baby leggings can be cheap to buy, but some times you just want something a little different. So why not have a go! Theo clearly enjoys his... </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Love, </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Mumma T xx</span><br />
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Jaydehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06330670763048889006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4725063484009509480.post-46117297779456554302015-11-10T23:40:00.003+11:002015-11-11T00:00:57.031+11:00Theodore Maxwell, The Story So Far<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I won't lie, I'll probably have to rewrite this post dozens of times, I will probably cry a lot while writing it, and I will probably have to stop to feed Theo, so this may take a while. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I feel like the only place I could start is the very beginning, when Justin and I made the decision to start a family. Now, I'll probably share a few too many gory or graphic details, so if this might offend you, please move along. My aim is not to upset anyone, but for me to share my story, and help myself grieve. You've probably read grieve and thought to yourself 'Oh no, but I thought the baby was okay?', he is, but I'm grieving for the loss of the birth I wanted. You'll see what I mean by the end of this.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">So, it was mid September 2014 when Justin and I deciding we were ready to start trying for a baby, to make ourselves a family. I had had an Implanon for about 6 years, so the first step was to have that removed. The only side effect I had from my Implanon was that I hadn't had a menstrual cycle since I had the first one put in, 6 years ago. When I was waiting to have it removed, the doctor was warning me of all of the possible effects, and how long it might take us to conceive. Now and behold, 28 days later I started my cycle, and after 5 days it was over. Shortly after that I fell pregnant. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjThYpptg5VPWxe9PW6RdQpxYfrrD3WMT-aygtcixBVnjH4krt2vY28gmKLdZK3sgy6-Cy2CT6crEV1cLM26AAzPGaSNcJb82mj1jf-MREPsmhS7SJNdtMzWocN8YOrV1fbnCym2_S_q0Q/w376-h667-no/" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"></span></a><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Funny thing, we Australians say 'fell pregnant', like we fell down a step. Strange. Anyway I digress.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjThYpptg5VPWxe9PW6RdQpxYfrrD3WMT-aygtcixBVnjH4krt2vY28gmKLdZK3sgy6-Cy2CT6crEV1cLM26AAzPGaSNcJb82mj1jf-MREPsmhS7SJNdtMzWocN8YOrV1fbnCym2_S_q0Q/w376-h667-no/" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjThYpptg5VPWxe9PW6RdQpxYfrrD3WMT-aygtcixBVnjH4krt2vY28gmKLdZK3sgy6-Cy2CT6crEV1cLM26AAzPGaSNcJb82mj1jf-MREPsmhS7SJNdtMzWocN8YOrV1fbnCym2_S_q0Q/w376-h667-no/" width="224" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I remember driving home from work on a Monday night thinking to myself, something wasn't right. I was expecting to start my period over a week ago, and still nothing. I can't possibly be pregnant already...can I? I stopped in at the local Safeway to buy a pregnancy test (actually, I bought 3, just to be sure) and carried on my way home. Cloe was still living with us then, so I said hi as I walked to our room. She was cooking herself dinner before going off for a workout. Odd the things we remember.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I sat down on the toilet and pee'd on the stick. The wait was agonizing. It felt like hours, but in reality was only minutes. I sat and stared at that stick until I saw the lines appear. I had to read and reread the instructions on the box to make sure I wasn't imagining things. I started crying straight away. I was pregnant. I was going to have a little baby. We were going to be a family. Justin was at work, and the only thing I could think to do was send him a text. Heartless I know, but I couldn't form verbal words, so written ones were the best I could manage. I took a photo of the test, and sent it to him at work.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">After washing my hands and collapsing on the bed, I did the only thing I could think to do, I called Alex. Besides Justin, Alex was the only other person I wanted to talk to about it. I remember just blurting it out to her, like 'Hey how's it going, I'm pregnant'. Alex told me she'd be right over, and that she was. She took me down to my local doctors to have a blood test and pee test done to confirm everything. Then she waited with me at the pathologist while I had my blood taken, and drove me home again.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">We sat on my outside couch, both of us in shock and disbelief. I was carrying a tiny life in my belly. We laughed about what Justin and I would be like as parents, and Alex made me feel so calm and at ease, in what was a shocking and exciting time. I feel that without her there, I probably would have lost my cool. So Alex, thank you for being the best friend I could ask for.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Three days later I returned to the doctors to collect my results. Yes, congratulations Miss Taulien, you're going to have a baby. He handed me a piece of paper and sent me on my way. I had no idea what to do next, so took to the internet to look for a hospital. I wanted to birth at the Angliss, which meant filling out forms for Eastern Health. Little did I know, filling out the forms online meant that a computer decided which hospital I would be booked into. Box Hill was where it sent me, as it classed me as 'high risk'. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Now, I'm sure most of you reading this know of Box Hill and think it's great, well, I did not have a positive experience there, so to me it's not. Which means when I write about the hospital, it may not always have a positive spin on things. This doesn't mean it's not a great place to have your baby. It just wasn't for me.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">So after a few appointments at my local GP, it was time for our first ultrasound. We would finally see the baby growing in my belly. Justin and I waited anxiously for my name to be called. The tech called us in, introduced herself and her student and got on their way. The tech was lovely and explained everything for us. I'm sure I was annoying with all of the questions I was asking. What's that? Why are you measuring this? What view is that? You get my drift. But I wanted to know everything I possibly could. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><img height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6ctebTpQBqybP6d74uUjGLxTTnUdxQvQ0dhrS9KjMgOTs0fpqFgQkuHN0y2BK4CvHeIuZbDE8lcrikci9I252TwX1sPYwAZo01WNJiWcgdNG4pH9JJ1dZOogFEQ42AtVfqp44h0hCCV8/w1186-h667-no/" width="640" /></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">She wasn't able to take all of the measurements, so we were booked in for a follow up appointment the next week, in hopes that Pudge had grown some and it would be easier to take all of the measurements. That was fine with me, it meant seeing my tiny baby bean twice! He didn't disappoint, after wiggling like mad, he settled down and the measurements were taken. We didn't know he was a he at the time, and I was sure it was a girl. I so badly wanted a girl. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><img height="359" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw5A1ByZENQn8erj0jEP9alPnPP3diewRz6tDVhKbSP1Jjpol6-3qMKgFC_SmCv3-QCksMko8xOnf3Kp9RHWku6P3-dQHN44mjt8F69nbMhAkKJ8VzQrkwKkLkBdG9FuFpQo77wu9usOA/w1186-h667-no/" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="640" /></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">The start of my soon to be huge baby belly. Justin was already in love with our baby.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The next few weeks flew by. Christmas came and went, Cloe moved out, I told my boss I was expecting, I started taking belly progress shots. You know, the normal life things were happening. My belly was slowly growing. At first I didn't want to take any photos, and actually I made every effort to avoid being in photos full stop, or if I was in them, I took them from shoulder height so nothing could be seen. But then I realised, even though I don't like how my body looks, my child might one day like to see their life progress, just like I love looking back at old photos of my parents when my mum was pregnant with me.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I started at 15 weeks I think. That's when I first started to notice a change in how I looked. Thankfully I had been very lucky and suffered from no morning sickness, no food cravings or aversions, but that mean that the start of my belly was the only thing that made me feel pregnant. I used to lie in bed and cry because it didn't feel real. I had no proof. Except for all of the test results and scans... </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Anyway, here are a few of my progress shots. Most of you would never have seen these before. Enjoy. L-R: 15w, 16w & 19w.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><img height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtlvMM8MxYKGbLY3IPq2sEYTYSCqlqqpjenc-dJJCtkM1lOLLrm3q0mRFaFZU_hXVfClsEg-oNcmRodbub0j9yzgGZOda-Fv8bjOE0SWw8d6HZVrJKcYSwwiJhLNa2wgOr3WjqqHzisWA/w376-h667-no/" width="179" /> <img height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMXDYk0wpUm5sKaNmYa6gddIHgdY5zdts5HNgbRxLCZVjS8vIoH_x3Pksd5Q0Ek4RvZNOabwEjTOFEUP2MPtofuf375yQyJQ6fnrka2vmKFplz7l4LdVDcOMwv7cTWG98HcTjhphCzD2k/w376-h667-no/" width="179" /> <img height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilHTYceBTPv8LVPfdEEjELMc1gIU27IjzuattJqRV0oYX6T2rfMxk2q_Vx_JZNpaW4M0bL6237sO4O6X9vD8mRVF44PmAuwuFMTCWSDIlx_e2FfWH-BEDgE1p5abgb4QgbuhsJda4YhYA/w376-h667-no/" width="179" /> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Around 28 weeks I was diagnosed with Gestational Diabetes. I was devastated. How dare my body fail me, I had been doing everything right. I was eating healthy, I was exercising, I was drinking lots of water, and trying to have 8hrs of sleep a night. Why did this have to happen to me? Well it did, and it sucked. I was put on insulin, and had to return for follow up visits to the hospital for 'education'. I hated that hospital with a burning passion. I could never find street parking, so had to park in the basement level, which charges an arm and a leg. So every time they wanted me to come in for something trivial, it just made me hate them even more.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">At 33 weeks I was told by one of the doctors I would be induced. The way he said it was like I had no choice in the matter, my body would never work right, and they had to force my baby out of me. I was explained what would happen, and why and was told it would be when I was 38 weeks, give a day either side. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><img height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg60JGhVyZ2I7z4RBrpnI2tXUz8uGDFJJN7872J8UC1X_SJQZiEPIkUMpp-Omp2t6GtZI4ilBa7_WiIuqKnTXWfhWUF1UC0B54TjI767mWMFtYs1nbFopISD-D1_IVQgZUj0AHMLeLvouU/w376-h667-no/" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="359" /></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">My very last belly shot</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Well, I had an appointment at 37 weeks, and was asked if I had thought about induction. Are you kidding me people? I was told I had to, and now you're telling me I have a choice? I have already organised everything around this. But because the previous doc hadn't made any notes, or booked me in, nothing had been organised, and according to the hospital records, I wasn't going to be induced. Thankfully there was a locum doctor working in the ward, and could squeeze me in for a check up, and to book me in for my induction. I cannot for the life of me remember her name, but I will forever be grateful to her. Justin couldn't be at that appointment with me, and having them tell me that nothing had been organised, ripped me apart. I had planned everything, I had mentally prepared myself for this to happen. So I was booked in for Monday 3rd August.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">That last week dragged like nobody's business. I was already on maternity leave from work, so all I could do was sit around and twiddle my thumbs. The Sunday came and that night, lying in bed, I cried. I was so scared for what was going to happen to me the next night. I was so close to having my baby, and I both was and wasn't ready for it. We had made the decision that Justin would work the Monday night, because it was very unlikely that I would go into labour that day. So we had organised for Sarah to come and pick me up from home and take me to the hospital, and Justin would come see me the next day.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I was freaking out the whole car ride to the hospital, thankfully Sarah realised and kept me sidetracked. We were running early, so stopped to buy a coffee from a 7-11 along the way. Which turned out to be 10 mins away, but it was perfectly fine. It was exactly what I needed. We arrived at the hospital, and after a short wait, we were shown the room I would be staying in for the night. A shared room. I was gutted. This was such a special night for me, I didn't want to share it with strangers! Thankfully, the girl opposite me was discharged a short while later.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbZZpx5Mj831ZA8x421OjdnX9m5b9jDAeadCeaHjqG1tQb7vhksWnoabJP6dYC9Cki4rxsP5gOOXoCyPSNQxTJjZYGac-PsAtzYNS4CzfRYpETBvZNBj9nG2Ze_tjEEhZkMhekzbEjmpk/w376-h667-no/" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbZZpx5Mj831ZA8x421OjdnX9m5b9jDAeadCeaHjqG1tQb7vhksWnoabJP6dYC9Cki4rxsP5gOOXoCyPSNQxTJjZYGac-PsAtzYNS4CzfRYpETBvZNBj9nG2Ze_tjEEhZkMhekzbEjmpk/w376-h667-no/" width="359" /></span></a><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Sharie was the nurse who admitted me that Monday night. I liked her, she was brash and to the point, but made us both smile as well. Sarah hung around for a few hours keeping me company. We coloured and chatted. Made small talk about everything and nothing. She made me laugh when I didn't think I had a funny bone left in my body. At about 6pm, I had the first lot of gel applied to my cervix. I was still completely closed, and Sharie didn't think I would start during the night. She left and so did Sarah, I was back to being by myself. I tried to distract myself by reading a book. Nothing kept me interested for very long.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The night shift nurse Talitha arrived, and she was a breath of fresh air. She was bubbly and made me feel instantly at ease. She would check up on me periodically during the night, and at about midnight, or just passed, I had the second lot of gel applied by the resident. Then I was hooked up on monitors, and told to get some rest. Fat chance of that happening! I was so uncomfortable, and because I was being monitored, I couldn't move otherwise the machines went haywire. It was a long night filled with check ups and 10 minute naps here and there. The morning came, and my nurse was now Sarah, a lovely demure lady. She told me to have a shower and freshen up, then it was onto the birthing ward.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Justin still hadn't arrived, mum was no where near to being at the hospital, and dad was at the station somewhere. I was calm, excited, and terrified all at once. My room was big and open, but no birthing bath which was disappointing, but the hospital wagers that induced mothers have to be monitored, and monitors can't go in the water. So I sat on the bed and started reading my book, trying to keep my mind occupied. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Sharie was back as the lead nurse on my birth, and damn was it nice to have a familiar face. I had a doctor come in and break my waters. Now if you've never had it done, I 10 out of 10 do not recommend. If you imagine a really tightly pulled rubber band, being twung, inside you. But worse. It actually made me dry retch. The doctor tried again and again, but I had no fluids release. She was sure my waters had broken previously, but lady, trust me, they hadn't. Never mind what I think, she left and came back 10 minutes later to try again. Tell you what though, she's lucky I didn't slap her one. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Anyway, once they had broken my waters, I was left to my own devices for about half an hour, to see if my labor would come on naturally. Unfortunately little Theo was a bit too comfortable in there, and wouldn't budge. This meant being chemically induced. I was hooked up to a drip containing Pitocin, which is the artificial version of Oxytocin, the hormone that starts labor. I went back to reading my book while the drugs started pumping into my body.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I don't remember who arrived first, but just remember everyone being there all of a sudden. This is where things get a little blurry. I know what happened, but I forget in which order. I'll try my best, so bear with me.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I remember sitting on the bed, and I kept having to readjust how I was sitting because my back kept getting sore. Because I had no idea what contractions felt like I presumed it was just my sciatica playing up. The nurses walked in a few times and saw me fidgeting, when finally one of them asked if I was okay. Told her my back was just a bit sore, but not to worry it was normal. She asked me if the pain came and went, and what it felt like. I said it felt like pressure, and yes it was coming and going. She had a little smirk on her face and said 'You're having contractions'.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Holy crap I'm having contractions. This was it. Everything was starting. I think this is when Justin and Sarah arrived. I was given the gas to help with the pain, but it did nothing. I just ended up vomiting from it. Though it could have also been the fact I can't keep things in my mouth (like lollipops) and you need to keep the gas tube in your mouth and breathe in and out through it. Either way it didn't take long until the desire to push started to take over.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The midwives and doctor came in to check on me, and it was decided I wasn't dilated enough, and therefore couldn't push. But how do you not push when that's all your body wants to do. Every fibre of my being wanted to push. No, needed to push. Why you have an epidural of course! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">An epidural works to reduce the feeling of pushing, it works for some, and not for others. Everyone is different. The only trouble was, I was already in full blown contractions when they had to administer mine. Which meant sitting incredibly still, and having to arch my back a certain way, to enable the guy (JK his name was) to find the right spot in my spine to stick the giant needle. All while going through body thrashing contractions.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Sarah and Justin had to stand in front of my and hold me still. I just remember crying telling him to hurry up because it was getting worse. I felt the stab of the needle, then nothing. The feeling of pushing had gone, and I finally felt calm. I think that's when mum arrived. Dad arrived shortly after, carrying a Subway bag. He had been looking at the shops while waiting for me to tell him it was okay to come to the hospital. I was lying on the bed on my right side, calm as a daisy, chatting away to everyone like it was nothing. Labor shlabor.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">That didn't last long though. I soon started feeling the need to push again. They'd told me that when I feel the contraction coming, to push the little button connected to the epi, and it would help dull the pain. I was pressing the button but nothing was happening. I didn't actually realise I was pressing it until mum asked me if I felt alright. She was sitting next to me and we were just talking about nonsense. Sarah had left, Justin and Dad were wandering the hospital. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Mum said to me, 'You're having contractions aren't you?', Yeah mum, of course I am. But apparently I shouldn't have been able to feel them. Mum started timing them, and told the midwife. She said that she would check on me in another 45 mins. A few minutes later, as my contractions continued, she returned. Mum urged her to check me now, as my contractions were 30 seconds long and 2 minutes apart. She agreed and checked my cervix. She looked up at me and said 'You can have your baby now!". I nodded and asked if this meant I could push, she said yes, and I screamed. You see, we couldn't afford the birthing classes they offered, so I had no idea how to push or what to do, </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The midwives who were looking after me were some of the most amazing people I will ever meet. They taught me how to breathe, and push while I was having a baby. At first I was pushing with every contraction, but then I was going to fast, and they were worried that Theo would suffer distress, so I was told only to push on every second contraction. Mum grabbed Justin so he could be in the room with me, and swapped, opting to sit in the waiting room with my dad.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Our doctor was Amy, and she was amazing. Every time I pushed, it was 2 steps forward, and one step back. Pudge just wouldn't budge. He became stuck in my birth canal and we needed to use interventions and fast. First Amy tried the forceps, she could fit the first one in and around the side of his head, but not the second one. She tried 3 times before apologising and changing to the vacuum. I would push and she would suction. I could hear the other doctor talk about prepping the OR in 2 minutes, if I couldn't get his head out. Hearing that gave me all the energy I needed. I was determined not to have a cesarean. It took what felt like ages, but eventually Theo's head was birthed, and there was no more talk of an emergency c-section.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">His cord was wrapped around his neck twice, then once around his arm. As he came down my canal, the cord tightened and became a noose. It was cut immediately, but the trouble didn't stop there. Now his shoulders were stuck. All I felt was burning pain. I can't think of another way to describe it. Once his shoulders were out, they dropped him onto my tummy, but immediately took him away from me. Theo was born with no heart beat and not breathing. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">A Code Blue was called, and the response team ran into the room. Theodore was moved over to the special bed they have set up for babies who need help. I remember looking at Justin who was on my left side, smiling and crying, then looking over to the right, and seeing my little lifeless baby. They were doing compressions on his tiny chest, trying to get his heart rate up. He was intubated from 1 minute of life, and the compressions lasted for 11 minutes. - I didn't know this until I read it in our discharge papers over a week later. - Of course I started freaking out, which I think the midwives noticed, as one of them stood in my line of sight, and explained that Theodore needed a bit of extra help. She didn't tell me why, or what could happen. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Amy tried to get me to concentrate on the tasks at hand. I still had yet to birth the placenta, plus as I had suffered a grade 3 tear, and been given an episiotomy, so I required stitches. I had to lie there, unable to move, not being told what was wrong with my son, while everyone ran around like mad men around me. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Justin kept me sane, talking to me about how much of an amazing job I had done, and how proud he was of me. I birthed the placenta no problem, then it was time for the stitches. As Amy was starting, she said to me to tell her if I feel any pinching. I could feel every damn stitch. I told her I could feel the pinching, so she administered more local and kept sewing. I could still feel everything, so more local, and back to sewing. After this, even though I could still feel everything, I kept my mouth shut, in hopes it would be over quicker. Afterwards I highfived Amy, telling her she had done a great job. Apparently high fiving your doctor whilst she's covered in blood and afterbirth, is not a normal thing. But hey.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Justin left to room to go and see Theodore, and I was left alone for the first time in what felt like weeks. I had been so calm during everything, it suddenly hit me. I had just given birth to a baby boy, and he might not survive. I could do nothing but cry. Giant wailing sobs. Annabel walked in and found me a sobbing mess. She managed to calm me down, and even get me to laugh. She explained what had happened to Theo, and what would be happening now. We were waiting for the NETs team to transport Theo to a NUCI for specialised care, they were just trying to find a hospital with a bed.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><img height="320" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pn8YvmFB4EbQyOddogYetZAHfaAxpJZd__wAEtuB7MKyukCXh28JMF0NJ4_OKBB7aBn26sQoEd8HyvE1Eaz8U7jpSWaOThNKKgBTfVxBBHh68lx8EUCDfHulBlZoSeKYCJoQ5Z5Eq_Y4Vphnt-HhGtUul1o7HA9JIM5OU6rRcwS5I9HN_dmlWFk3AUGP0uIq2Iv7nu_dDHrb9a2RXBIzA56PC8CkUryUx0NQyLFLeH-U9N7zR3nFXP2ooD2K-l6a9dyeofLdYwjHdkcS6veQ0dJJ2kHuQDuP8ozHbWfeF9uF7YNvRVEWNkMOTk7yxyOQFaRiRpL7tuvMsZ2lTf-TVF7Sp2F5HQZ3divoP8TmDD0adRV4rVHNlcOKkeX4F1u2HEybWPWXwwQVZukXmXCHHtKC7Qmy_im4u89av8PpoY8c4s8MRgP5SObIFB_ktOdb0aLuOtE1IR2FvEY5Ms3SL1nvM8hzfph9wzpKNumU4qPATFH1tgDATC4JhjMdrfRa-gfF8hauQam96iqdkM5fLveJpXjtKuv2PEn23aeOZ9To=w376-h667-no" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="179" /></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Already sleeping hahaha</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Eating dinner just chilling.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The hospital staff bought me dinner, and mum, dad and Justin came back into the room. We chatted about things, like the fact that the chair was comfortable, and you could probably sleep in it (which Justin later did). We talked about the food, dad tried to steal some of my lasagna, but I smacked him with my fork. It was like nothing had happened. Everything was normal again. I was still waiting to find out if I was allowed to get out of bed and go see my son, but everything was relatively normal.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">A short while later, the midwife came in to tell me the NETS team was there and they were going to be taking him to The Royal Childrens. She wanted to know if I would like to see him. After arguing with me about if I could walk or not (because of the epidural - which had worn off hours earlier) she finally brought in a wheelchair, and wheeled me to the special care nursery to see Theo. He was this purple splodge of a baby. Covered in wires and vernix. He was so swollen his little eyes were squished shut, and he looked like.. well, see for yourself.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The lead staff from NETS came over and explained that they were going to take him to The Childrens, and that I could meet them there if I was being discharged. She suggested that someone go with him, I immediately told Justin to go, and that I would be fine, and would make my way there somehow. They loaded Theo into the humidicrib, strapped everything down and wheeled him away. I have never felt such a gut wrenching sorrow before. He had been alive for over 5 hours, and I had yet to be closer than 4 feet away. I hadn't been able to touch him or hold him yet, and they were already taking my baby away from me. I knew it was the best decision I could make, but it broke my heart to see my little man like that.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Justin left with the NETS team, dad drove mum home, and I was all alone. Annabel came in to help me have a shower, which if you've never done while connected to a drip, and with a catheter inserted, is not particularly grceful. Afer my shower I felt like a whole new person. A no longer pregnant person with rips and tears to wazoo, but still. I settled into my new room (with a double bed!) and started working on Theodores birth certificate paperwork. I wandered the halls just to be able to walk. I called and text my family to let them know I was okay, anything to try and not lose my mind. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Justin called near midnight to tell me Theo was doing well, all things considered, and they had him cooled and being monitored. Unfortunately though there was no bed for Justin to stay in, no couches for him to sit on, and wouldn't let him stay the night, so he had to leave. He was going to go home, but the thought of us spending another night apart when wwe didn't need to killed me, so I told him to come back to Box Hill to be with me. He arrived about an hour later after his amazing friend Matt picked him up and drove him over. The night nurse told me I needed to get some rest, and be able to pee on my own, before I could leave the next day, so I started drinking as much water as I could handle.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">We finally fell asleep after talking and crying for hours, when suddenly it was morning and the day shift nurse came to wake me up. I was checked over, and given the all clear to leave, I just needed to see the physio to talk about after care, then we could go. Justins parents had driven to pick us up, and would take us to see Theo. Once discharged I practically ran to the car and was anxious to get to The Childrens to see Theo.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">We arrived in the middle of morning hand over. We walked in with my bags and sat in the corner, patiently waiting. I did nothing but stare at my baby the whole while they were talking, so much so, that I didn't realise they had finished speaking. The lead doctor on that day sat down with us and explain Theodore's condition. He has suffered a HIE (Hypoxic-Ischemic-Encephalopathy) which<span style="background-color: white;"> </span><span style="background-color: white;">is characterized by clinical and laboratory evidence of acute or subacute brain injury due to asphyxia. Essentially he's suffered an short episode of lack of oxygen, and may have brain damage as a result. We wouldn't know the severity of the episode until an MRI was done the next week.</span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><img height="359" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT_mK0_krOo3mgj63dIMMVElQJAG6Lkd3xldiCMTKp7mniqKsqMjWAIKjLZcsKFL5Gz3-y05kfkVgFC5sCsKlwRWRCVkqtqKaA6XVpaLRHqlJ99SLhYFZxqYd9RR1iJWV_K9MVMwT0tvs/w1186-h667-no/" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="640" /></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Theodore's first day at The Royal Childrens Hospital. He has a breathing tube, heart rate monitor, nasal gastric tube, brain monitors, PIC line, cannula, umbiline, a rectal thermometer, and an O2 stats machine hooked up.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">As The Royal Childrens (RCH) doesn't have an obstetrics department, and Box Hill had classed me as self discharged, the midwife at RCH was hesitant to allow me to stay in their Post-Nantal Mothers Unit (PMU), because they wouldn't be able to care for me. This meant I wouldn't be able to stay at the hospital and be with my son. Thankfully I have brilliant bargaining skills, and the midwife Elizabeth was an amazing lady, she found me a room to stay in for 6 nights. So I could be on call when I needed to express and feed Theo (He was on nil orally, so they would only feed him through his nasal gastric), and I could walk upstairs and see him whenever I wanted to.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">We settled in to our room, and went back up to sit by Theo's bedside. I stared at him, for hours on end. Because he was being cooled, we couldn't pick him up, we could only touch him. I will never forget the first time I held him little hand, for as long as I damn well live. Just knowing that he was receiving the best care possible, and knowing that I could be there for him the whole time, really helped me keep my cool. </span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDu7YLBoULzW5pgrKsFTqEAWNSR-U0hzA2JOw1tOMTTywx49q_Wsp-LaV0nhwLyNiemAmVon-BhnBf0WXnPt8u5m7A2GyjGWtV7XMkedC3inhlE6YTWgx_71RVvhNzAh8xd9dGWL0hq9k/w1186-h667-no/" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="224" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDu7YLBoULzW5pgrKsFTqEAWNSR-U0hzA2JOw1tOMTTywx49q_Wsp-LaV0nhwLyNiemAmVon-BhnBf0WXnPt8u5m7A2GyjGWtV7XMkedC3inhlE6YTWgx_71RVvhNzAh8xd9dGWL0hq9k/w1186-h667-no/" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">Day two he had his breathing tube removed. The doctors and nurse were so impressed with how he was doing. He still hadn't known any signs of seizure, and was thriving. </span><span style="background-color: white;">Justin would read to him, just as he had done while I was pregnant. The nurses kept asking what we were going to name him, because we hadn't decided on a name yet. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">As he improved, the staff removed more of the lines and monitors from him. They removed his umbi line, and his PIC line, so now he had a free hand. We were helping change his nappy and attend to his care. We would wipe his lips with Vaseline to help keep them moist and we would clean his eyes with saline soaked cotton balls. He was now able to have breastmilk via his feeding tube, and was opening his eyes and looking around. It was so amazing to think that this tiny baby, who in reality was actually twice as large as some of the other babies there, was finally starting to come alive.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><img height="359" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgusj9vKMDzkXJ6KxxnQnsocsHPTXBw0Xp3IysNlontu2OC6M6509auDOKrHkUvSRJLtvR-ir-nIbKOfHKUsiAfG-TYCx0a6hGl0wW1nhmOOp5wIOXLaQ3Nkcw0Vo_xyxAAwy3eyM_H2zQ/w1186-h667-no/" width="640" /></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The days went past until finally they had scheduled to start the rewarming process. This meant the bed he was lying on would be warmed up by half a degree every 2 hours until it, and Theo, were back to normal body temp. The whole process takes about 12 hours. Once warmed we were finally able to hold him. I had been looking forward to this day every since I found out I was pregnant. It was everything I had hoped for. Pure magic. It was as if my heart exploded with all of the love it had been holding onto since he was born. I couldn't talk, all I could do was cry. Then it was Justin's turn. His whole face lit up with joy, like his life was complete now. Those moments are some that I will never forget.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The next day the doctors ordered an MRI for little Pudge, to check for any damage to the brain, caused by the HIE. He was moved out of the main NICU section, to another part there, because he had improved so much, they decided he didn't need such intense care. We were still helping with all of his care, which was lovely. We helped him with his first bath, turns out he loves the water! </span><br />
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<img height="359" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNlZjpiK7ijewVoQ_korQlir4WecuSaeJAi83HF9Oj3nivlmjsXNsVh_Jboj-ThnBRzKoNr8CifZFgGpoP0_YFNlH3F2JNF6NbhCgrezzujAlQ5hvwEYl7CRKhEfN7t6hCtcxkvyh_GLE/w1186-h667-no/" width="640" /><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The day after that (Monday) we had the scheduled MRI. Bubs needed to be incredibly still and calm for them to get all of the images they needed. I fed him just before he went in, and they dosed him with sucrose to make him dopey. Thankfully all went to plan, and all of the images were taken successfully. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">On the Tuesday, the doctors cleared him for discharged stating that the results from the MRI were clear, and there was no sign of any damage. Theo had a hearing test done, which he passed. Then it was homeward bound, or would have been. They had offered for me to go home from there, or go back to Box Hill for a couple of days. Now, having been in an NICU where your baby is constantly monitored, to going home by yourself is a daunting option, so I requested to go back to Box Hill for a bit of further education. All I wanted to do was practice breastfeeding, and give him a bath by myself. Big Mistake.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB-m3Voh1R5SbvD5kh1oB49xaQqwyFOD4PsVmOr6GchdVI4qwj7cj2gZBXYZlBEXOdTBrhOaRtzpRVds44WF5hcTwVkpIqCMvT727iG3SOrzbxADPCXiljufEd2OLTDwEVdbvfmV0bjzc/w376-h667-no/" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB-m3Voh1R5SbvD5kh1oB49xaQqwyFOD4PsVmOr6GchdVI4qwj7cj2gZBXYZlBEXOdTBrhOaRtzpRVds44WF5hcTwVkpIqCMvT727iG3SOrzbxADPCXiljufEd2OLTDwEVdbvfmV0bjzc/w376-h667-no/" width="224" /></a><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Apparently Box Hill was only expecting my baby, and not me. So when I arrived (with my mum who had been visiting at RCH) they had no room for me, and told me I should go home, and they would keep Theo there. Fat chance lady. Either I stay or we both go. After hours of them apparently trying to find me a room when they said there were none, they magically found an empty room. Now I had been lead to believe that I would have Theo in the room with me, and just have the help there if I needed it. No, according to them Theo would stay out in the nursery and I would be woken when he needed feeding. This is not what I wanted at all. how would I know when my baby was hungry? How would I learn to wake up to his noises and pick him up to feed him? </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The midwife on staff that night was a retched woman. She told me numerous times that I was holding Theo the wrong way, and that I should be good at this by now. I text Justin in the middle of the night I was so mad. How dare she! She was meant to be there to help me, not hinder me! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The next morning at rounds, the doctors advised that we could go home in a few days, and they were very happy with Theodore's progress. A few days? No, we would be going home today. I told them that all I wanted to learn how to do was bathe Theo, then we wanted to go home. They were confused but understood and told me they would work it out. A couple of hours later I had a knock on my door, the doctors had organised it so we could go home today. The midwife taught me how to bathe Pudge (a terrible way, by the way), then after a short hysterical panic about lost keys, we were finally one our way home.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">So even though it wasn't a great experience, the hospital didn't read my birth plan, my son was in the NICU all that jazz, I couldn't imagine life any other way. I now have a beautiful 3 month old son, who loves smiling at people and rolling over. My life is pretty awesome.</span><br />
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<img height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbryIsJiWFjtRu4PajExrD9a9ebCJIlRvrRcgFBfdx3MuRg1r8LUb3I508CzdPjyjG7KpsZpzFeCF698VRWxceq0TN-_Rsw_ev-zYTHszKlH1e8lK65rFJlR7phLvw-lKrFGAr6m_papQ/s667-no/" width="200" /> <img height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcBON1fPJIRrfBTseDL7f_u6X55izvwXTK2E3ofKLZGzOUsoQN4UMVI_g-skM3ZjxNXyZ-yfzm6XAsHJpAWblqS3rGTVz30xEE9-h8zENKmIp41t1F-CjpioK49GeZ6cQZ_ahLanjBkhM/s667-no/" width="200" /> <img height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWlV0VwG3aTz3QhTfJOw09RQ2Z3uuSonJot1ovi2LyDEBryqwsedcGULQzOikQK6sfCrTKf95jTVyOOFpm1wgR9tIVwqfaI8h_47l-ZUgqkNAd3nI90my5iiOdBBO6ftMVPk12KyqdIA0/s667-no/" width="200" /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Thanks for reading my massive ramble. It was really cathartic to write it all down, and now I have it written somewhere to go back to, when I'm old and suffering memory loss. Or, tomorrow, when I'm over tired and forget what day it is.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Welcome to motherhood Jayde.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Love xx</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Mumma T</span><br />
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Jaydehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06330670763048889006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4725063484009509480.post-59077904511481351992015-11-08T17:39:00.002+11:002015-11-08T17:39:55.370+11:00Hey, I'm Still Alive!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Hello out there!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Yes, believe it or not, I am still alive and kicking over here. A few things have changed since my last post.. I had a baby! Not going to lie, he's pretty damn cute. His name is Theodore and he's a goober. He's just over 3 months old now, and I love him to bits. Becoming a mum was by far the best decision I have ever made. We have ever made I mean, cause ya know, making a baby generally takes two people. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img height="359" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJpRuA7leXbmUDynPb7WNVX4MbH6H9Y2uzV1aVNJGQ9ZDlNoPTxZTW7nz8MbC-TJLFtiqj2624erKDrIbjMyoPPeRMmoCdBb8aUkHQsItWpVUppXNTMzA-hDCxfukIdoFPBcxHOmiv9SM/w1186-h667-no/" width="640" /></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">What else... Well, Justin and I are moving out of our house. It's far too expensive and we'd rather be paying off our own mortgage than someone else's. We'll be moving into Justin's parents house, which should be interesting. They've been very generous in accepting us, and we can't thank them enough. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Ummm, Those are the major things in my life that have changed, so now you're all caught up. Oh, I'm also learning to sew, so that's kind of cool. I think my lovely little blog will probably be changing around a little now that I'm a mum. I'm going to try posting some tutorials on sewing, some recipes on food for both adults and kids (cause they eat food too!), maybe some fashion posts, and most likely some random nonsense as we go along!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Thanks to everyone who has stuck by me and still checks in every now and then. Hopefully I'll be able to keep it up to date a bit better now that Justin has a new laptop. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Next up, the story of Theo's birth! Cause what's better to read than how a baby comes into the world. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Lots of love, </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Mumma T </span></div>
Jaydehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06330670763048889006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4725063484009509480.post-9023748399429742882015-05-20T14:39:00.000+10:002015-05-20T14:39:37.668+10:00Op Shop Adventures - Bentleigh<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Centre Road, Bentleigh, where all the op shopping action is. This past Saturday we went adventuring to 5 op shops, 2 of which were in Centre Road (there are actually several along the same strip, but I've been to a couple of them before). The day was shaping up to be beautiful, weather wise, I just felt like everything was going to turn out awesomely.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So first up was...</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Sacred Heat Mission</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span itemprop="address" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/PostalAddress" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; line-height: 20px;"><span itemprop="streetAddress" style="box-sizing: border-box;">271 Centre Road Bentleigh</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 20px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We were greeted first by baskets and suitcases waiting at the front door, all in wonderful condition, some filled with toys and others with linen for sale. </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 20px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Upon walking in the door there are so many things to look at, from books, to costumes, to linen and jewellery. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Books for miles! Everything was so well organised, no rummaging through books, it was nice and easy to have a look at all the book spines and work out what we wanted. Justin ended up with a couple of books from here, no idea what they were, but he was happy!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img height="400" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-H-i21c8_g-8/VVbEC1Waz8I/AAAAAAAAXgk/725m_zQMY_E/w352-h625-no/IMG_20150516_125841.jpg" width="225" /> <img height="400" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-hRGjRpg0zNY/VVbEMAgwcsI/AAAAAAAAXdY/Q5c_OVwe0tg/w352-h625-no/IMG_20150516_130824.jpg" width="225" /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In the centre of the store they have a couple of large storage racks full of glassware and crockery. I bought 4 large drinking glasses, and 2 nice little spotty mugs for work, at $1 each for the glasses, and $2 for the mugs. The glasses were a hit, so I think I might head back next weekend and buy a couple more.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img height="400" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-X6nO5__AtFs/VVbEGFXglkI/AAAAAAAAXco/V3bXRlnPfoQ/w352-h625-no/IMG_20150516_130016.jpg" width="225" /> <img height="400" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-gjxx6zwoa14/VVbE0RO2JvI/AAAAAAAAXgY/XCjaA1a3C50/w352-h625-no/IMG_20150516_130948.jpg" width="225" /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I just loved how the store recycled everything to decorate the store, or organise and store their products. Above left is the way they organise ladies intimates, and on the right is the change rooms, which look like giant glass doors, covered by coffee bags! All in all, we left with 2 mugs, 4 glasses, 2 winter scarves, new shoes for Justin, a couple of books and a checkered jacket too. Everything was really well priced, and the staff were wonderful!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We left with smiles on our faces, and hope in our hearts! Off to Vinnies!</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span itemprop="address" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/PostalAddress" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 20px;"><span itemprop="streetAddress" style="box-sizing: border-box;">394 Centre Road, Bentleigh VIC 3204</span></span><br style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 20px;" /><span class="glyphicon glyphicon-phone-alt" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; line-height: 1; position: relative; top: 1px;"></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span itemprop="telephone" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 20px;">(03) 9557 1002</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">The store display that can be seen from the street was full of goodies when we went, but I completely forgot to take a photo, so here is the front table instead! A bit jumbled, but still full of fun things to look at. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The store was reasonably busy which was nice to see, and it looked like there was a new volunteer working that day who was still learning the ropes. We wandered a little, having a look at all of the clothes on display, which were plentiful, but we didn't find much for us. I did however find an amazingly soft grey woollen scarf, so I had to have that (one can never have too many scarves).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The store had a great stock of winter coats, both natural and man made fibres at great prices ($8?!?!?) and fashion handbags of all sizes and styles. The handbags were a little hard to look through just because of how they were stored, but if you <i>really </i> wanted to, you could work it out.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As is tradition at most Vinnies stores, they also had the 'Vintage' rack for $20 a pop. Some interesting designs I must say, none of them appealing to me though. They also had some great shoes for sale, sadly, none of them to fit my flippers. I was surprised however at their rather large selection of larger sizes. Look at all that gloriness! (That's a word, right?)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">When we were paying for our goods, the lady at the register was so lovely! She was training, so it took her an extra minute or two to work everything out, but we chatted while she worked, and her boss was teaching her at the same time. It was so nice to see older people working and learning new things! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Granted we didn't find much here, it was still a lovely store to visit.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We didn't find all of the op shops on Centre road, so will be heading out again in a couple of weeks to find the rest.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Love,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">J xx</span></div>
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Jaydehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06330670763048889006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4725063484009509480.post-22961972865645901272015-05-05T13:19:00.000+10:002015-05-05T13:19:55.209+10:00WTM: Yarra Valley Dairy<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Sundays just scream country adventure to me, and my favourite country place is the Yarra Valley. Just far enough away from everything, yet close enough as well. It's about a 45 minute drive from my house, and just over an hour from Melbourne CBD. There are so many amazing wineries out here, as well as cafes, small boutiques and little nooks and crannies to explore.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">One of my favourite places to visit is <a href="http://www.yvd.com.au/" target="_blank">Yarra Valley Dairy</a>. For no other reason than I love cheese. I mean, I really love cheese. If you love cheese, you really need to make the trip out here. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img height="359" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9pFXfX7OaA0utqhBtkI4pYcg0lEGcb_Jt__8LWmCRuv3yEzDCyPlOWs7lSwca6HSKV-JbVVnbcOKY1IeL4trCMwilnZ7Sab5TmD86B7eIP8n2nlkq5yvfXzrgyYO79FyoKUbZ-7bW_dc/w809-h455-no/IMG_20150503_152334.jpg" width="640" /></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Yarra Valley Dairy has both the cheese factory, which uses fresh cows and goats milk from neighbouring farms to make their delicious artisan cheeses, as well as their store front, where you could spend hours looking at all of the wonders on offer, tasting cheeses and wines, and sitting down to enjoy a ploughman's platter.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The staff are delightful and full of knowledge, rattling off information about all of the cheeses. For any tastings, you'll try about 6 different cheeses, including my favourite Juno (with juniper berries). Keep in mind though, the tastings are free for groups of less than 8, for groups of 8 or more, it's a $3 per person charge. Well worth it either way. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Other things on offer around the store include things like: homewares, chocolate, sauces, jams, wine and bread. Most things are sourced from the local region, and they're high quality and delicious. Speaking of wine, they also have wine tastings on offer, with plenty of bottles to chose from.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbjvhc5xww1rW_LJcINBmlnCoRXxlnykgnYQyPrPz8B9xzZTYRNhXkeNhwRD1uq9c8qUvvjzRsEi3-rFSI3_i99NEggQfgZu3-MY2RlCP1xLGNLosgPGZkrmQURbsvNkb8-Qnp3ssNR2I/w278-h494-no/IMG_20150503_152513.jpg" width="225" /> <img height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7yUtRUzdh6kh95A70x_uuiwUlJj-Pm3EjsH0ghdUppe5RxLUinZba2hW-pXQUJJQgpQQJvkTRNShOC8X7x9OOGyQaoZD9KDCeKV8m1HRqRviTyD0S7-JbR13AgzGySBe375uVnNx12Wc/w278-h494-no/IMG_20150503_152635.jpg" width="225" /> <img height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmDtFMWnbWyLtQMEzuc_37eVo0AuihGeK984uGblv6ibMpg3xFtsUO3X4QaWrVCenkVhG0Y1HDWQ5-QtcZ2Hv-y1k7B4hrVV45YEuS7m-314qLE7JDQXoV3dyXu1qnGridWoFl_TnQZBc/w278-h494-no/IMG_20150503_154127.jpg" width="225" /></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We tried all of the cheese (even though we already knew and loved them) because who says no to free cheese from Yarra Valley Dairy? Had a bit of a wander and a look at all of the homewares, they have a new range of crockery including some amazing looking tea cups, as well as a few linen items like tea towels and aprons.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img height="359" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDGQ3eJJJJPObHGmTHsCO0VPnh8NutpEl0KFCXLLZxM49FM2850zPXb-x7evgB7PAd5LdA5ghGa4yqNlZbXgKKlwtlawA4NMw328irdIeLBu-2LqsFP38dJpsMSOXQ2_yZYtXg8hX39CQ/w809-h455-no/IMG_20150503_152520.jpg" width="640" /></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In the end though, we were there for the cheese, and the cheese is what we wanted. Between the 2 of us, we could have bought one of everything. We showed restraint though, and left with a Persian Fetta, House Cow, and a couple of Junos (because there just isn't enough for the two of us to share. Normal people yes, Alex and I, no.)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img height="359" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiunLDy9R0Vgq-LJf-NnHHuJGb4ZHp5QdxMdnBnRV7vOOmzgXOZAsPJuX2CscsSM1rKuGm0smLeelgdrwfO89t_o6-sha3MKN_b5JD8WLaE0fsm6pw1nABNrxNkoRB26wfXPND415CP7TU/w809-h455-no/IMG_20150503_154136.jpg" width="640" /></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Oh, almost forgot! They also have pates and pies and other yummy treats!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img height="359" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgttKgNimtcGfzNkiy751Uzc37JuqBn-smGJoeBvfku0dKsY8ne5hCe4Bsz6OcsrxopFpWfSzynMq0kD8XqBfD4P6AG2Ve3bx5MapEbe951ARgT1IKMbFVE9_ajeaegWD6-2m7NkBwPgY8/w809-h455-no/IMG_20150503_154141.jpg" width="640" /></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Clearly we were excited about cheese! If you are going up to visit on a weekend, be prepared to find a full store, as it's quite popular. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img height="358" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-z4QyIb1H86w/VUW7E45EUkI/AAAAAAAAXHI/7LCS8eNLGl4/w809-h455-no/IMG_20150503_154418.jpg" width="640" /></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">You can find them here:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Yarra Valley Dairy</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">70-80 McMeikans Road, Yerling</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">9739 1222</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Lots of love!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">J (and Alex I guess)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">xx</span><br />
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Jaydehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06330670763048889006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4725063484009509480.post-19116480383576944552015-05-04T13:17:00.001+10:002015-05-04T14:38:53.302+10:00WTM: Yarra Valley Chocolaterie & Ice Creamery<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Sunday was an amazingly beautiful day, and we just couldn't waste it being at home inside, so Alex and I thought it would be fitting to head out to the Yarra Valley and explore some of their most popular attractions. We went off to the <a href="http://www.yvci.com.au/" target="_blank">Yarra Valley Chocolaterie & Ice Creamery</a> first to buy some of our favourite treats.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img height="359" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-gjw3zXeuYTU/VUWxpCA8iVI/AAAAAAAAXBA/_Mm6y428YTU/w1204-h677-no/IMG_20150503_142125.jpg" width="640" /></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As you can see, it was a lovely day, so there were people everywhere. It's nice here, because the kids can play on the grass and run wild, while the parents can sit and relax with a picnic.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img height="359" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJzPVe76gceTKHGgXNE8p7ZaZ1odornKUqIpl5mYWt_kw8lFwWV9MrT1PMwUcxscoDP75a9S-DSuNcNJoH469kFqjAHHEUpvX5yJrIMqqH1_hdhdN07-kToA1hRUOc1OUk_RJfUFWp4a0/w1204-h677-no/IMG_20150503_142314.jpg" width="640" /></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Of course, even though Alex isn't a tourist (not by the classic definition, she lives 10 minutes down the road), I had to make her take an awkward tourist photo. I think she did pretty well!</span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img height="359" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-OGZ2a7boA88/VUWxzdiuZpI/AAAAAAAAXBk/ZXbuOdrzgl8/w1204-h677-no/IMG_20150503_142418.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="640" /></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Because nothing says dorky tourist like an awkward photo with a giant fake chocolate bar.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">If you've never been before, be prepared to be shocked. There is literally walls and shelves filled with chocolate, and 3 giant bowls of chocolate drops for you to try (we may have taken a couple more spoon fulls then they would have liked...). At the moment it's the Rocky Road Festival, which is running 1-31st May, and in celebration of this, they have 31 flavours of this Aussie classic in blocks, bars, truffles, ice creams and hot chocolates. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6_TiZno2DRbhScKSnGLNFH38WOMuN6s_aBU-rpjBfVG_XNYpaknAZFD2lgMGgi2jNdnQ1F8dZ5DiPwIAp4yfookneNQp_F1iZDErpoWm_t93cxfZ-znrjBY3TC37OXZe7ZPahHTCEfZ4/w278-h494-no/IMG_20150503_144958.jpg" width="225" /> <img height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgycGuMjltaOF8kN5nuB7mv1vu_VPDZ2g5RvQOTNWzizpGAG6swxvlNkOO35nyQP2xfL_CiXO-BB2WXpMpciAzUvlTmiX5VExpKGJoc0zjbtAQod9TQ3dL6XEfSBpYf8_RLQnVsUFhDVvU/w278-h494-no/IMG_20150503_142901.jpg" width="225" /> <img height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIzqT1rFZEDxrnBeMbGsTG-6DUaTgr9RAY9uHfmwkIRdBR8m4pxDPVzcWnDzgCcZPP8oOtwSXVtOnw-c3eWkS9ANgSKl3v-9hOq1jiLpo2IeOyQCei19r6afTcgGnkrAe8-Y5zGbEa_PM/w278-h494-no/IMG_20150503_142722.jpg" width="225" /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">They also have a truffle bar, where you can pick and choose your own truffle mix, in a box of 12 or 24. There are so many flavours it was so hard to decide! Some of my favourites were Peanut Butter, Marble Mint & Hazlenut Crunch.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img height="359" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih89ek-MHJWkpo6xxUEtCJiIy2we4m1ocS73HvXIEorjGrdf33wC9-6K1vViSXicenBTnwIzJgXcNz53H4ldo3RmKL-dcNeVnjw5TWIC_D_T5QK5HxsjrlC6inK25C6rXotJYxInP-Dp8/w809-h455-no/IMG_20150503_142915.jpg" width="640" /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">There is a cafe in store so you can purchase your goodies and sit down to enjoy them, as well as other delicious treats like the Smokin' Salmon, Zen Duck and B.L.A.T. On a hot day, we recommend trying out the ice cream (free tastings!) which are house made decadent delights.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The store has free entry, and it open every day except Christmas day, from 9am-5pm. You can find them here:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">35 Old Healsville Road (Cnr Melba Highway)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Yarra Glen, VIC</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">9730 2777</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Love J xx</span></div>
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Jaydehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06330670763048889006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4725063484009509480.post-17809195814714381922015-04-24T15:00:00.000+10:002015-04-24T15:01:54.847+10:00Market vs Supermarket - Cheap Meats<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I've spoken before about striving to live on a budget. Now normally, I can get away with grocery shopping up to about once a month, and just buying fresh fruit and vegies every couple of weeks. I've been trying to find a cheaper way to buy my meat, rather than from the supermarket, and I have trouble getting to the butcher due to my availability.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So recently I came across Tasman Meats, probably not a new thing to some of you, but cheaper for me than where I normally buy my meat. Here's a bit of a run down about <a href="http://www.tasmanretail.com.au/" target="_blank">Tasman Meats</a>:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">"<span style="background-color: white; color: #06254b; line-height: 28.5714302062988px;">Tasman Market Fresh Meats is a large format butcher with over thirty years experience in providing a personalised shopping experience to Victorians. We have 16 stores conveniently located across metropolitan Melbourne, Geelong, Shepparton and Traralgon.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #06254b; line-height: 28.5714302062988px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">As a company, we pride ourselves on the freshness, <strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">quality</strong>, <strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">range</strong> and <strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">value</strong> for money that our products provide. Our meat is 100% Australian grown and is mainly sourced from the lush pastures of Victoria. All meat is delivered fresh daily to our stores where it is prepared and packed on site.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #06254b; line-height: 28.5714302062988px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">We carry a full range of quality yearling beef, choice cuts of lamb, a full range of pork, chicken and other poultry lines as well as game and veal. We also sell bulk meat including full cryovac pieces.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #06254b; line-height: 28.5714302062988px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">If you are planning a function or a barbecue be sure to visit any one of our stores, where we will be able to assist you with your requirements. We can make product recommendations as well as cater for special orders.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #06254b; line-height: 28.5714302062988px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">All of our stores offer complimentary services such as marinating, slicing, cutting and trimming to your requirements.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Tasman Market Fresh Meats carries a wide selection of complementary grocery, frozen and deli products and a range of Italian products that we have exclusively imported."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I thought, while I'm out I'll do some price checking, so see if it really was worth it. During my grocery shops I go to Aldi, Coles and Safeway, depending on who has what on Special and where I am at the time. Here is my price comparison:</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Product<o:p></o:p></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Tasman Meats<o:p></o:p></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Aldi<o:p></o:p></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Coles<o:p></o:p></b></span></span></div>
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<td style="border-left: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 12.55pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 111.9pt;" valign="top" width="187"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Safeway</b><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Diced Lamb<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.55pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 111.9pt;" valign="top" width="187"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: red;">$18.99 per kilo</span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.55pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 111.9pt;" valign="top" width="187"><div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left: 21.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">-<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 10pt;">- -<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.55pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 111.9pt;" valign="top" width="187"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">$20.00 per kilo<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.55pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 111.9pt;" valign="top" width="187"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">$21.99 per kilo<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Chicken Thigh Fillets<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.55pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 111.9pt;" valign="top" width="187"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">$11.99 per kilo<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.55pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 111.9pt;" valign="top" width="187"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: red;">$8.99 per kilo</span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.55pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 111.9pt;" valign="top" width="187"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">$13.00 per kilo<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.55pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 111.9pt;" valign="top" width="187"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">$14.00 per kilo<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 12.55pt; mso-yfti-irow: 3;">
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 12.55pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 111.9pt;" valign="top" width="187"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Pork Mince<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.55pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 111.9pt;" valign="top" width="187"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: red;">$7.99 per kilo</span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.55pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 111.9pt;" valign="top" width="187"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">$9.98 per kilo<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.55pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 111.9pt;" valign="top" width="187"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">$11.00 per kilo<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.55pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 111.9pt;" valign="top" width="187"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">$10.99 per kilo<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 12.55pt; mso-yfti-irow: 4;">
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 12.55pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 111.9pt;" valign="top" width="187"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Regular Beef Mince<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.55pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 111.9pt;" valign="top" width="187"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: red;">$3.99 per kilo</span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.55pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 111.9pt;" valign="top" width="187"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">$5.99 per kilo<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.55pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 111.9pt;" valign="top" width="187"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">$7.00 per kilo<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.55pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 111.9pt;" valign="top" width="187"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">$7.56 per kilo<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 12.55pt; mso-yfti-irow: 5; mso-yfti-lastrow: yes;">
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 12.55pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 111.9pt;" valign="top" width="187"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Chicken Breast Fillets<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.55pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 111.9pt;" valign="top" width="187"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: red;">$8.99 per kilo</span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.55pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 111.9pt;" valign="top" width="187"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">$8.99 per kilo<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.55pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 111.9pt;" valign="top" width="187"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">$14.00 per kilo<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.55pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 111.9pt;" valign="top" width="187"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">$14.00 per kilo<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So clearly I couldn't find diced lamb at Aldi, I'm not even sure if they stock it. All of the prices are based on my location in the South East Suburbs of Melbourne. I've highlighted the cheapest price in red to make it easier to read. I've tried to work out why at Tasman meats the chicken thigh fillets are more expensive, I think it's because I only bought a pack of six. If I had seen & bought the pack of 12, it would have been a little cheaper. Not as good as Aldi, but you win some you lose some.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Now, I know you're all wondering what the quality is like, well, let me tell you, Tasman trumps the competition! I actually watched them cut up the meat and package it there, then put it out on display. The mince meat has no preservatives, so they last 24 hrs and need to be either cooked or frozen for later use. The chicken products are plump and fresh, with a natural chicken smell (nothing gross here!), and the red meat is all beautiful red meat colours, even out from under the lights.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">If you guys know of somewhere cheaper that has great quality meat, let me know, I'm always on the hunt for bargains!</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Much love,</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">J xx</span></div>
</div>
Jaydehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06330670763048889006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4725063484009509480.post-58979848945655340742015-04-20T17:30:00.000+10:002015-04-20T17:30:17.319+10:00Op Shop Adventures - Mountain Gate<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Just down the road from my house is a small shopping area, with a Coles, Safeway (It's not Woolworths damn it!) and a few random shops. Mixed in is a Villa Maria op shop, and across the road is a large Salvos. Unfortunately the Villa store was closed, but we headed over to the Salvos to see what we could find.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.salvosstores.com.au/" target="_blank">Salvos Mountain Gate</a></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 18px; max-width: 100%; overflow: hidden; text-align: left; text-overflow: ellipsis; vertical-align: top;">
<span jsl="$x 8;" jstid="508"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Mountain Gate Shopping Centre</span></span><span jsl="$x 8;" jstid="510"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">3 Mountain Gate Drive</span></span><span jsl="$x 8;" jstid="512"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Mountain Gate</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 18px; max-width: 100%; overflow: hidden; text-align: left; text-overflow: ellipsis; vertical-align: top;">
<span jsl="$x 8;" jstid="512"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">9756 0495</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img height="179" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-lzTVcOpCTSw/VSiios7l0HI/AAAAAAAAWXM/iPBXhPx4RhI/w788-h443-no/IMG_20150411_135402.jpg" width="320" /> <img height="179" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-2K7Q_Q7AFqg/VSiitlYGsVI/AAAAAAAAWXk/RdixLCidbBs/w788-h443-no/IMG_20150411_135447.jpg" width="320" /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">There is plenty of parking out the front, and there are a few other large 'factory' stores in the same lot. Now, I know sometimes it can be confusing to find, but if you're ever in the area, look out for the Carpet store on the corner, and turn in there. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The store is larger than it looks from the outside, and they have everything from clothes, to mattresses, and pretty much everything in between, even a piano!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<img height="359" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-0RFLGT_RSMI/VSiiqT-MqQI/AAAAAAAAWXY/scs4Pq-TP5A/w788-h443-no/IMG_20150411_135427.jpg" width="640" /></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The selection of clothes is really good, and they've categorised everything just like you'd expect. It's easy to search for specific things you want, because of how it's set out, but the lighting isn't the best, so it can be hard to see colours and stains etc. on the clothes. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-IUgmHUPanY4/VSiivzyi3AI/AAAAAAAAWXw/i3p8oTB8x58/w281-h499-no/IMG_20150411_135534.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-IUgmHUPanY4/VSiivzyi3AI/AAAAAAAAWXw/i3p8oTB8x58/w281-h499-no/IMG_20150411_135534.jpg" /></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">They have a massive selection of books to chose from and even have a couple of chairs so you can sit and read. This would be awesome, except for the older male staff member who routinely patrols the store and tells off people when he thinks are misbehaving. Kids, adults, he'll tell off anyone. But don't let that put you off, the rest of the staff there are amazing. Smiles and jokes all round!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">There is a small yet formidable selection of CD's to look through, as well as a few records and DVD's.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Everything is sorted out into categories like adult fiction and kids books, so again, it makes things easy to find (I'm beginning to see a pattern here...).</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
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<br />
<br />
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<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The only thing I couldn't really find were many kids toys, I mean there were a few soft toys, and a small basket of medium sized toys (water pistols, dolls etc), but nothing that really catches your eye. I think it would be amazing if they had a section for the kids to actually play with some of the toys, I know for me when I go shopping with my friends kids, they want to take home the toys they play with. It just makes good business sense! </span><br />
<br />
<img height="179" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-Mcol3ACZYQE/VSii26pmG3I/AAAAAAAAWYU/6EFwkSkS2Ho/w788-h443-no/IMG_20150411_140418.jpg" width="320" /> <img height="179" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-o7H2kACy9Us/VSii5R4Pi3I/AAAAAAAAWYg/7glR4FXWoko/w788-h443-no/IMG_20150411_140516.jpg" width="320" /><br />
<br />
<img height="179" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-75Ervh2pqNo/VSii8fYDpEI/AAAAAAAAWYs/ATTedwr5TcM/w788-h443-no/IMG_20150411_140536.jpg" width="320" /> <img height="179" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-u-R5QV01bgQ/VSii-wieWdI/AAAAAAAAWY4/zhESIUu13KE/w788-h443-no/IMG_20150411_140550.jpg" width="320" /><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">They had an awesome selection of glassware, which was really neatly displayed on a wall. From sets of glasses, or one off water jugs, to vases and bowls, the options were endless. You can't really see it from the front of the store, as it's currently hidden behind a wall of wooden furniture, but all the better for me I say!</span><br />
<br />
<img height="360" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-pxZl29YoXKY/VSijDqpT58I/AAAAAAAAWZQ/IkpcFAhUa0c/w1118-h629-no/IMG_20150411_140729.jpg" width="640" /><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Speaking of the wall of furniture, facing the glassware were buffets and dressers filled with kitchen goods. They had quite a few items of 'vintage' Tupperware (I say vintage because these are ones I remember my Oma having at our old holiday house in Philip Island), and some great bread boxes. They also had some kitchen gadgets, like scales, graters and the such.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<img height="360" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-CZxw9BPFcB8/VSijBQXb9fI/AAAAAAAAWZE/p4sIK0Jvd1E/w1118-h629-no/IMG_20150411_140640.jpg" width="640" /><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I was actually pretty impressed with this store. Considering it's size, and ignoring the cranky old man, I couldn't find anything wrong with it. I mean obviously every store has it's downfalls, this one being the lighting, all in all it was a pretty great find. Yes, the prices were stock standard Salvos prices, but I think the pricing for the larger items was actually pretty decent. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I'll most certainly be coming back when I head over to the Villa store. Hopefully next time I can walk away with arms full of goodies!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Love</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">J xx</span></div>
Jaydehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06330670763048889006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4725063484009509480.post-49418072157106505312015-04-20T15:19:00.001+10:002015-04-20T15:19:25.675+10:00Op Shop Adventures - Malvern & Ashburton<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A couple of weeks ago we went out shopping with my sister in law Vanessa, to some of her favourite op shops. Now, Malvern and Ashburton are normally not on my radar, so I don't bother to go out there. But, considering I wasn't driving, I couldn't complain. We made it to the Salvos in Ashburton, and Vinnies and The Ashburton Oppy in Ashburton. We also went to another Salvos more local to my house, but I'll talk about that separately.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So, firstly was the Salvo's in Malvern:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">57 Glenferrie Road, Malvern</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">9576 0642</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<img height="179" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-a8OZzXmJRq4/VSh5mLt8OdI/AAAAAAAAWOU/hFRChc7RV2U/w1204-h677-no/IMG_20150411_112648.jpg" width="320" /> <img height="179" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-xHINkLdU9fI/VSh5nlhwirI/AAAAAAAAWOg/SqnivHMC_CI/w1204-h677-no/IMG_20150411_112722.jpg" width="320" /><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<img height="179" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-M8oEEnFQ3QI/VSiSf8C8eTI/AAAAAAAAWP0/uR3bbESgTzw/w1204-h677-no/IMG_20150411_113105.jpg" width="320" /> <img height="179" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-EF6kq_7QY1Q/VSieSegvVYI/AAAAAAAAWRI/m7MlG2yYaaM/w1204-h677-no/IMG_20150411_113822.jpg" width="320" /><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The store is easy to find, and brightly lit. They were playing some nice music in the background, and the store was full of people.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<img height="400" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-7aIxcqnXtJE/VSieQSMi7dI/AAAAAAAAWa8/m4nFDAwdUCA/w381-h677-no/IMG_20150411_113815.jpg" width="225" /> <img height="400" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-nqeTyw6er88/VSiSpSEU_PI/AAAAAAAAWQo/30B-j_4xGlI/w381-h677-no/IMG_20150411_113702.jpg" width="225" /> <img height="400" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-fjCXXcsZvIU/VSin3q7JxYI/AAAAAAAAWak/DRHBQWygims/w381-h677-no/IMG_20150411_112954.jpg" width="225" /><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Now, like a lot of SALVO's I've been to recently I found the prices to be a little high. But I guess given that Malvern is a high end area I really should have expected it. I still had a look around just in case there was something super special I just 'had to have'. There wasn't, but I did enjoy looking at all of the amazing things. They had beautiful crockery and a spotty tea set I was tempted to take home, if only I had more room! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I did however find a nice scarf that came home with me, beautiful silk with green and purple butterflies on it. It cost me nearly $7, but I do have a strange love for scarves, so I was okay with it. Now that we had our little purchases, it was off to Ashburton to find out what goodies they had!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.ashburtonsupport.org.au/page5/page12/" target="_blank">The Ashy Op Shop</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">285B High Street (corner of Welfare Parade)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Ashburton</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">9885 5923</span><br />
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<img height="400" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-rvl02iPoGuE/VSih7WY1puI/AAAAAAAAWSg/hI5eseFFiQE/w381-h677-no/IMG_20150411_123020.jpg" width="225" /> <img height="400" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-MfDgoGRgMAU/VSih_oL49tI/AAAAAAAAWTE/AY2cIH2oCgY/w381-h677-no/IMG_20150411_123111.jpg" width="225" /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Where to start? Firstly, there is an outside and an inside store. Sounds strange I know, but essentially the outside is for furniture and larger items, and the actual store is for clothes, crockery, bric-a-brac etc. Of course we went rummaging through the furniture first, not looking for anything in particular, but had fun looking anyway. The wooden furniture is all under cover, and the plastic things, like kids toy trikes and baby baths (yes, there were 3 of them) were all out next to the fence, which has no cover. At first I thought it was a little odd, but it makes sense really, considering how much stuff they actually had there, compared to the room.</span><br />
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<img height="359" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-jK04DDEPI14/VSiiTlze1aI/AAAAAAAAWVs/Zs3UUT8Umcc/w1204-h677-no/IMG_20150411_125200.jpg" width="640" /><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Next was into the store! They had a few displays out the front full of random things, and inside the store was no different. Mind you, walking into the store was like stepping back at time, I mean really, look at that carpet! I was amazed at how the small store was so full of beautiful things, and how well organised it was.</span><br />
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<img height="400" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-PhdIPzmKKmo/VSiiBBJnQrI/AAAAAAAAWTQ/39LeT9P4sDM/w381-h677-no/IMG_20150411_123719.jpg" width="225" /> <img height="400" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-9zj9q--bs4I/VSiiGxxSlqI/AAAAAAAAWUA/FqiWdBWQywY/w381-h677-no/IMG_20150411_123908.jpg" width="225" /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Yes it was a little cluttered, but really you can't expect much more. They had collections of handbags, records, books, crockery, vintage and retro clothes, random electronics, and my favourite, buttons!</span><br />
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<img height="359" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-NDm71NguvGA/VSiiQcAWvQI/AAAAAAAAWVU/aikLvD1zuB0/w1204-h677-no/IMG_20150411_124545.jpg" width="640" /><br />
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<img height="400" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-7qywUVKply4/VSiiNSDDmnI/AAAAAAAAWU8/goK40dwcupE/w381-h677-no/IMG_20150411_124312.jpg" width="225" /> <img height="400" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-1Uoh6mCGixw/VSiiJhQY1VI/AAAAAAAAWUY/K-0hBp_p_Pc/w381-h677-no/IMG_20150411_124028.jpg" width="225" /> </div>
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<img height="359" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-EHNddWXzcpI/VSiiD3V1bcI/AAAAAAAAWTo/Q4iJRIe_GLA/w1204-h677-no/IMG_20150411_123752.jpg" width="640" /><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The staff there were so lovely, and they had no problem with us rifling through things, or me taking photos. I wish I had more energy to stay and keep looking, I feel like there were so many hidden treasures!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We went across the road to the Ashbuton Vinnies afterwards...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Vinnies</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">252 High Street</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Ashburton</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">9885 2952</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We we greeted with a wonderous display of goodies outside the store, which was fun to rifle through, had a great selection of scarves and bakeware. Sadly the rest of the store was lacking much for me, I'm sure others would love it's collection of crockery though! </span><br />
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<img height="359" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-CnDWBPQ7QEg/VSiiWWspt1I/AAAAAAAAWWE/eAcwQ5C4_us/w1204-h677-no/IMG_20150411_125430.jpg" width="640" /><br />
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<img height="180" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-Gpk5Uu637hc/VSiiZKAhpeI/AAAAAAAAWWc/VwxAhngoOYc/w1015-h571-no/IMG_20150411_125505.jpg" width="320" /> <img height="180" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-9UrS5iUQGGk/VSiiapXS9xI/AAAAAAAAWWo/_892lFA_ltM/w1015-h571-no/IMG_20150411_125542.jpg" width="320" /><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I will say though, they had a great selection of plus sized clothing, none of it my style, but still I was impressed such a small store had enough stock to have a plus size section! There were plenty of clothes to sort through, but not a whole lot else. After Vinnies, we were planning to go home, but ended up stopping off at another Salvos near my house (Mountain Gate), but I'll post that separately.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Love,</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">J xx</span><br />
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Jaydehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06330670763048889006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4725063484009509480.post-42434437690738162282015-04-08T16:21:00.002+10:002015-04-08T16:24:26.246+10:00Op Shop Adventures - Ringwood<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I've realised I live in such a rich op shop area, there is at least one in almost every suburb around us. I thought it might be nice to go adventuring and give reviews on them. This past Saturday we went into Ringwood to explore the local oppies, and here is what we found:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.savers.com.au/" target="_blank">Savers</a> Ringwood</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">79-83 Maroondah Hwy, Ringwood, VIC, 3134</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">03 9870 1600</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Mon-Wed, 9am-7pm</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Thur-Fri, 9am - 9pm</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Sat, 9am - 6pm</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Sun, 10am - 6pm</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Firstly, as soon as you walk in the store it's clothes, clothes as far as the eye can see. The store is a split level, so all of the adult clothes and shoes are on the main floor, then kids clothes, books, manchester and pretty much everything else, is on the lower floor.</span><br />
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<img height="360" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-Pu7ju0EJeZY/VR80guQxVHI/AAAAAAAAWD0/71GvH67dsZk/w1118-h629-no/IMG_20150404_104048.jpg" width="640" /><br />
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<img height="360" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-tEfqEZxeIg4/VR80iomjXSI/AAAAAAAAWEA/a1OYhc3kHkg/w1118-h629-no/IMG_20150404_104121.jpg" width="640" /><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The store is well lit, and very well organised, which makes it a pleasure to shop there. The staff were all very helpful when we asked questions about the stock, and even had a joke with me when I questioned the final cost (a total of $50 when I thought it would be more like $100). The change rooms are roomy, clean and well lit.</span><br />
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<img height="400" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-htfqFJAVEug/VR82t7O-bHI/AAAAAAAAWEs/kHZ5ZbejG_M/w408-h725-no/IMG_20150404_110713.jpg" width="225" /> <img height="400" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-LStQbTv6Ojw/VR825e4-OmI/AAAAAAAAWE4/gCiPZ4cmyX0/w408-h725-no/IMG_20150404_110746.jpg" width="225" /> </div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I think because they're such a large store, with so much stock, they can make their prices a little cheaper. For example, kids clothes ranging from 99cents to $5 each, depending on the item. Womens tops all for $4 or under. Records for $2 each, and even less for the smaller ones. </span><br />
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<img height="360" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-_3440UMXzVk/VR83EFy3WHI/AAAAAAAAWFE/-kFBkR3YIjg/w1118-h629-no/IMG_20150404_110904.jpg" width="640" /><br />
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<img height="360" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-ezseuAQDWOM/VR80mwkGQFI/AAAAAAAAWEY/-RCfUvJ6O0Y/w1118-h629-no/IMG_20150404_105807.jpg" width="640" /><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The stock we looked at all seemed to be in pretty good condition, and the prices were easy to see (the tags for clothes were in obvious places, price stickers for books on the back cover etc).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">All in all, I loved going to Savers. We came away with a bag of clothes and a book, for $50, which I thought was amazing. The only thing I missed was seeing a Plus Size section, but I guess you can't win 'em all!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Next was onto Salvos, which is essentially right next door.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.salvosstores.com.au/shop.html" target="_blank">Salvos</a> Ringwood</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">71 Maroondah Hwy, Ringwood</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Mon-Fri, 9:00 - 5:30pm</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Sat, 9:00 - 5:30pm</span><br />
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<a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-WKEs1p_0RuE/VR83wFAW-vI/AAAAAAAAWF0/8aIPrsdWfhA/w408-h725-no/IMG_20150404_114230.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-WKEs1p_0RuE/VR83wFAW-vI/AAAAAAAAWF0/8aIPrsdWfhA/w408-h725-no/IMG_20150404_114230.jpg" width="225" /></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Look, I'm not going to lie, we walked into the store, went around once and walked out. The store was dark & musty, the staff were grimacing and I found everything to be over priced.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">That being said, we did see an amazing pair of hand painted shoes, which were pretty rad. Not my size, but still, pretty cool.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The store was set out nicely, with fashion displays in the window, and everything very neat and organised. It was easy to tell in which area things belonged, but I think that was also because the store is in such a small space.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Maybe if I'm feeling more forgiving next time, I might take a second look.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Pit stop to pee and rehydrate, then off to Vinnies accross the road.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.vinnies.org.au/" target="_blank">Vinnies</a> Ringwood</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">2/82 Maroondah Hwy, Ringwood</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Mon-Sat, 9:00- 5:00pm</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Sun, 10:00 - 5:00pm</span><br />
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<img height="360" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-o068u_Qvsl4/VR9CHXLxHCI/AAAAAAAAWGI/Q3jvosqrDsc/w1118-h629-no/IMG_20150404_123530.jpg" width="640" /><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Upon entering the doors, we were greeted with happy staff, a lovely looking store, and a beautiful display. There was music playing in the background, and many colour coordinated treasures to look at.</span><br />
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<img height="360" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-CGB7ra2FJYc/VR9CT4PymGI/AAAAAAAAWGU/lWYyY4KxbLU/w1118-h629-no/IMG_20150404_123606.jpg" width="640" /><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We walked around for a bit, and ended up buying more kids clothes for Izzy, my girlfriends daughter, as well as six tea towels and I think a couple of other random things. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I was so impressed with the layout and organisation of the store, especially the bedding section. Everything was in their own pigeon holes, in bags, all separated by size. It was a sight to behold. In front of the manchester, there was some wooden furniture, such as dining tables and chairs, a buffet, and a wardrobe. The tables were presented nicely, without having piles of stuff on top.</span><br />
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<img height="360" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-uDn7i2Q3fLk/VR9DZJzLOBI/AAAAAAAAWIA/66ehXKlhRIo/w645-h363-no/IMG_20150404_124608.jpg" width="640" /><br />
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<img height="360" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-GnfCbKKEzsg/VR9C_Qbs47I/AAAAAAAAWHQ/KP1Zkebk11M/w645-h363-no/IMG_20150404_123854.jpg" width="640" /><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">There was plenty of crockery, including, my favourite, tea cups! We have our own little collection at home. I'll share it here one day, if I ever remember haha. Anyway, they had a lot of matching cups and saucers, and even some sets. They weren't the cheapest I've ever seen, but it may be because of the label? Not knowing much about fancy tea sets, I couldn't tell you for sure.</span><br />
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<img height="360" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-6fNitq7QiyM/VR9Dj3aj9AI/AAAAAAAAWIM/ryRqaVBdQDw/w645-h363-no/IMG_20150404_124733.jpg" width="640" /><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I was pretty happy with the store, they don't always have the best prices, but it's a nice store to be in, has a good vibe if you know what I mean. It was easy to navigate around and had a fair amount of stock to sort through.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Right, now we've been out and explored Ringwood, we'll be going around to more of my local suburbs to see what their op shops have to offer.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">If you have any suggestions of where we should go, comment down below (I'm a poet and didn't even know it!).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I'd like to also head out to different sales and markets to see what's on offer, so even if it's out of my comfort zone, like wedding or baby expos, let me know anyway, if I have time I'll head over and see what's what!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Much love,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Jayde xx</span><br />
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Jaydehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06330670763048889006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4725063484009509480.post-12672816200278003372015-04-01T13:14:00.000+11:002015-04-01T13:14:11.054+11:00Recycle, Reuse, Reduce<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As a kid I was always taught the three R's; Recycle, Reuse, Reduce. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The aim was to reduce the amount of landfill, by recycling and reusing our things. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">With so many items in today's world designed to be 'one use' or 'disposable', not a lot of people think about the consequences of our actions. We're creating a disposable life, when it really isn't.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Our landfills are overflowing with items that could be salvaged and brought back to life. We could be re-purposing our belongings, we should be reversing the damage created by years of living a lazy lifestyle. I know not everyone will think it's something important, but I personally believe it really is. I feel like my kids and my kids kids will have to suffer because of our actions today. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I try to make my mark by buying second hand. Sometimes it's exciting to buy something new, but it's not something I often do. I love rummaging through thrift bins and op shop displays. I love adventuring out to the local transfer station (the tip) and looking at all of their goodies.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I did that such thing on Sunday when I had a bit of time to kill. My local tip is the Knox Transfer Station & Recycling Facility, (which you can have a look at <a href="http://knoxtransferstation.com.au/" target="_blank">here</a>) is open 7 days a week, and offers a selection of building materials, clothes, books, trinkets and electrical goods (untagged) as well as hundreds of other things. Entry is free if you're going to the shop, and the staff are always lovely.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img height="360" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-QfhJtVUoTGw/VRd-m83b5QI/AAAAAAAAV5E/z-OMbk4-WkE/w1118-h629-no/IMG_20150329_140826.jpg" width="640" /></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img height="360" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-QqLEBl1ra5E/VRd_HOzaCkI/AAAAAAAAV6M/CM6UqHFD7uc/w1118-h629-no/IMG_20150329_141034.jpg" width="640" /></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img height="360" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-5Yc-wt4gLCg/VRd_LajmqaI/AAAAAAAAV6Y/8eTYYYMB4ow/w1118-h629-no/IMG_20150329_141054.jpg" width="640" /></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img height="360" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-DHcSqmqT7go/VRd_ba2HC0I/AAAAAAAAV68/UneusA1U37c/w1118-h629-no/IMG_20150329_141210.jpg" width="640" /></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img height="400" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-Vq1Opryz3Yg/VRd_kKdaY-I/AAAAAAAAV7U/kSgteNRZXD4/w408-h725-no/IMG_20150329_141310.jpg" width="225" /> <img height="400" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-OxT4pBHhxXA/VRd_VZZFdBI/AAAAAAAAV6w/n2joXO0osFg/w408-h725-no/IMG_20150329_141126.jpg" width="225" /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I also went and had a look at my local 'recycling shop'. Now I say that, and not 'op shop' as I think the Hunter Gatherer at Knox isn't an op shop. It's too stylised, it's too much about making a profit, and not about helping the local community. Now I might be wrong, and that's fine, I'm entitled to my opinion. Don't get the wrong idea though, you can still find some great little bargains there.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img height="320" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-OYSTPhC7qD0/VReAZUcZ8xI/AAAAAAAAV9Y/uxJsLDIl-rE/w408-h725-no/IMG_20150329_144034.jpg" width="180" /> <img height="320" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-XlbjEy_m3Fg/VReArU9xiGI/AAAAAAAAV-I/PcQ74_U9uBA/w408-h725-no/IMG_20150329_150324.jpg" width="180" /> <img height="320" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-16BOazSxyLQ/VReAlhjqUOI/AAAAAAAAV98/vYavNoBALT8/w408-h725-no/IMG_20150329_145017.jpg" width="180" /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I find that sometimes these higher end stores have more brand name items, but that can also come with a brand name price. Generally the quality of the stock is better, and if you are an avid op shopper, you might just know where to look.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Now, I didn't get a chance to head over to any of my other favourite op shops on Sunday, but I wanted to mention them here, because I feel like everyone needs a bargain sometimes, and op shops are <i>generally</i> the best places for them:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Harrison Community Service Op Shop - Scoresby</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">4 Darryl Street, Scoresby, 9753 2203</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> - Great for photo frames, kitchen trinkets, linen, records, and shoes</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Salvos Rowville</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">3/5 Fulham Road, Rowville</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">9753 2575</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> - Great for womens clothes, books, furniture and jewellery</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Salvos Dandenong</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">1/111-115 Lonsdale Street, Dandenong</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">9792 2575</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> - Great for clothes (mens and womens), fashion accessories, trinkets, kitchenware</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Mustard Tree</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">3/28 John Street, Lilydale</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">9735 3500</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> - Great for baby clothes, adults clothes, books, kitchen knick knacks, scarves, records.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">*Bonus round - There's a cafe on site that sells great coffee and foccacias.</span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Vinnies Oakleigh</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">20 Crewe Road, Hughesdale</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">9568 1034</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> - Great for furniture, homewares, plus size fashion and mattresses</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">If you want more information on any of these op shops, or want to look for one local to you, head on over to <a href="http://www.opshop.org/">www.opshop.org</a> You can search by suburb or postcode, you can read peoples reviews and you can find more contact details.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I hope reading this post has made you think about buying second hand, it really is a good idea, both for saving money, and saving our world, a little bit at a time.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Much love</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Jayde xx</span></div>
Jaydehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06330670763048889006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4725063484009509480.post-69989169612565533322015-03-16T13:42:00.000+11:002015-03-16T13:42:10.632+11:00Rainbow Cake, Bitches!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As a 26 year old <i>adult</i> you'd think I'd be mature, responsible, and sensible. You know, all those things we associate with actual adults.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Well, I'm not really. I mean, I can be, and I'm sure if you ask my family and friends, they'll tell you I'm one of the most mature people my age. But really, I like fat rhinos (you may call them unicorns), sleeping in half the morning, and glitter.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So this past Friday night, we had a few people over to celebrate my boyfriend Justins birthday, and I was tasked with making the cake. Now, I love baking, but when it comes to deciding what to bake, I'm a mess! I always opt for cookies, because they're pretty much my signature baked good. Either that or cupcakes.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Even though I was stuck at work until nearly half 5, and</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> was running behind, I thought that for once, I would go out of my comfort zone and try something different.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Rainbow cake.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Yup, a cake, made from rainbows. Might I add, rainbows are elusive creatures, and can be very hard to catch. Here is my final result! </span><br />
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<img height="359" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQnK9fLm9M4ncCT44Jytj25kILwA3VjSdDFnFaDptP3mJpdEzHTEfLCus_7Oug0LtN3I16FjnKbfRboblK_XFTbCN_0A4AOnqMVzrvLrvKnO11Kd_3FjSflmwjUWo3_S4xoBWODN0AQoo/w1204-h677-no/" width="640" /></div>
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<span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Getting this beautiful, arty cake of perfection was no easy feat, so I felt it necessary to share my </span><strike style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">pain</strike><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> triumph with all of you. </span></span></div>
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<span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Enjoy.</span></span></div>
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<img height="359" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1owjl3b95P4k1XDmIeKRGcO-C3F3q-jyJJHC3OtLOpT24W2zZAk3KQ7Ch9zf4F2ZFZkKgRWYxyYRueiP3JhzlmiuOaHz4VwoCeQiVpTVdzMKqKbemoIUOzrNFW6W0NQJFSi5APAetv-k/w1204-h677-no/IMG_20150313_184039.jpg" width="640" /></div>
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<span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">There was so much cake mix, it nearly overflowed my mixing bowl! I hadn't realised that cooking two cakes at the same time, would make so much batter! I mean I probably should have, but I didn't. So shoot me.</span></span></div>
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<img height="359" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZAPBaAswIvkoHW9wf1vTEjaBQTd2Urb3EOJAFwQ9wz9gz5FuqdH5yOoGnqOms2qBpKDRJn3K0Vuum7XCIxO0iWhFTOAMhp6HhGUR4ZZmTrQmu3_6z-ba7Eo0sJlKmdIFbMpQ4uFOdHag/w1204-h677-no/IMG_20150313_185609.jpg" width="640" /></div>
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<span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Once I had batter ready, I portioned it out into 5 bowls, to colour the 5 colours of my rainbow. Note to self, wear gloves when handling food dye. Even double glove it, you can never be too careful.</span></span></div>
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<img height="359" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2yLvABwUR9_BAfnoqp8t3RZhyphenhyphenrgHgbbj-eT8j7gcpCYFmrM8_juUz8nUzb6kvXXXpInDxDPoR-76yZ7ZcjxIaCsi-3jg6UrHXKlAcL6oKDSIKqcqCnVP7jQpw_mkHWvHvfe90zZYElBk/w1204-h677-no/IMG_20150313_191836.jpg" width="640" /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Now came the sorting of the rainbow candy. I bought family sized share bags of<a href="https://m-ms.com.au/" target="_blank"> M&M's</a> and<a href="http://www.nestle.com.au/brands/smarties" target="_blank"> Smarties</a>, and got to work. Being a little, shall we call it, pedantic, I thought it best to separate all of the colours, not just the ones I needed. </span></div>
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<span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This is my 'Why the hell did I do this?' face.</span></span></div>
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<img height="359" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYSUtd1v1pHzTT3l03mCKz52A_faC4U9kyooXFtkwp6eEO7Vfif0C4sgtCx5qUFmMcrCGCoOjOlcRAYhiFOOzHRj4QSMySbDF2-OV_PoZu7m_SNYk_vqbSZh1ZYOmdH7GFS-E6pR-mCwc/w1204-h677-no/IMG_20150313_191943.jpg" width="640" /></div>
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<span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">But never mind, I'm not one to give up. Even though I wanted to. My arms were cramping, my legs ached from standing in the same spot, I was seeing coloured dots everywhere I looked. But I made it through, I separated all of those damn coloured chocolate pieces of hell.</span></span></div>
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<img height="359" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQMAavnSflH3Fgruguj_-QGKTo6f94ZtVtDVdKfYZKzJ1gXU7QhWVlNDX-J-MFEUzcW9n9umU4PtWnSZsEqz1ppHUTutjrwumlsmxfdcsEjPGj0e_YskSoVVE6mgwYT2wAQbP-cOs9x-c/w1204-h677-no/IMG_20150313_192258.jpg" width="640" /></div>
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<img height="359" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqH22WwMfU0QkpvUPhL_bdYwmgX2Rub5kBKnDHz4R8LLOijTzSwCHXXdrETeLftgNHeWkLN8A7DF53ozg2SLc_DYMbEReTXqGqM-aHj9XFRfGk1KN4NOXgcH-yw8YWQOu6CGFAqXjXUT8/w1204-h677-no/IMG_20150313_191254.jpg" width="640" /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Now that is a vision of beauty. Say otherwise, I dare you.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Anyway, while I had been <strike>dying</strike> sorting, I had the cakes in the oven baking away nicely. The recipe stated I needed to have two tins the same size. Do you think I have 2 of any of my baking things the same size? No. Oh well, odd sized tins it was! </span></div>
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<img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAUP_9aohoeCd0JxUZ5qvxWzgSXjAlAKAxG39ClK8iF2dQq88tlLBQrmzuLLc75hqpSGalfj6IwhdzxVMJQXIQGQQaYCd67NKxVd272tuOz93Cv6ErBdx-8dDswPmStrYgyBU6JxhNmPs/w381-h677-no/IMG_20150313_201422.jpg" /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Pretty impressive huh!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So while they were cooling, I thought it best to start on the butter cream icing. I've decided to rename butter cream icing, to sugary death icing. Seriously, to cover my cakes, I needed 500gm of butter, and 6 cups of icing sugar. 6 CUPS. Are you kidding me? </span></div>
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<img height="359" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht9LG479Ni5-wwp9mW4kegWiNlfj6r1TTCMvu4yfDeS4ho0ohatI_D0xXJTpkG19RrWZS2xmw-N5CoNlw40xcOpdpdOz36Q6DEjhZokkLYrAsL2HWpdZiGGiBEz__42EPt5bSuvGOp2K0/w1204-h677-no/IMG_20150313_201431.jpg" width="640" /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I could not believe how much 6 cups was. I mean, of course I <i>knew</i> but I didn't really <i>know. </i>If you know what I mean. I spent the next half an hour adding the sugar to the butter and making sure it had all mixed through, while I cleaned the kitchen and prepped for the guests. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Come 8:30pm, everyone but Justin had arrived and we were all mingling and enjoying ourselves. Until I realised I still hadn't wrapped Justins present or iced the cake. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A quick dash to the spare room to grab some wrapping paper, and I had his presents wrapped in record time. Not as neat as usual, but I was on a time limit, Justin was going to be home any minute!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Just as I had hidden his gift, in he walked, happy as Larry, and none the wiser. Except now he would see his super-awesome-ultra-fantastic-I'm-the-best-girlfriend-ever cake before it was iced. I couldn't have that happen, so I hid around the corner of the kitchen and fixed it up as quick as I could. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Then, ta da!</span></div>
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<img height="359" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSUZFBTaGiLMwUh4euMw6HlpJnKOxSU66RIm2lSaxIfIsh_-_asWWpO0egVyze8Ol9f0k3MFHIjATwxcpCLiblekyIJBhCZpi89bWKAXHS-Z_FiVxB2zKtsouJ1qfeXLpM1zp64sXOhDI/w1204-h677-no/IMG_20150313_225213.jpg" width="640" /></div>
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<span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">But I couldn't sigh a sigh of relief just let, had to make sure the inside cake rainbow-ness had worked! After lighting some candles and signing the usual happy birthday, it was cake cutting time!</span></span></div>
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<img height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCwbOYklU-oW8hFSQUQV9Vl7iTOmtv62PtUgmjNPklaPS0mD96m1nT7iJB7ylH3xQCMEYvs_zsfBMlv3-d_DG976ywxGmLtIBNpp9ZHyPyesuSJYQAO2t5Cl-w_yQTSC1lvx_FZFeoni8/s677-no/IMG_20150313_232502.jpg" width="400" /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Well would you look at that, it worked.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">*looks dreamily at delicious and perfect rainbow cake*</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And yes, I know there are more than 5 colours in the rainbow, but you try making this and tell me how easy it is with 12 colours. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I was pretty impressed with my cake, hence sharing it here with all of you.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Much love & rainbow cake crumbs,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">J xx</span></div>
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Jaydehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06330670763048889006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4725063484009509480.post-18021341549051506672015-03-11T11:23:00.001+11:002015-03-11T11:34:43.245+11:00Car Boot Sale Saturday<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Have you ever realised just <i>how much</i> crap you actually own? I mean really, who needs things like DVDs when we download everything (legally of course), or clothes that don't fit and will never fit, shoes you've never worn but bought because they were on sale?</span><br />
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<a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-6L9t1MeNPbs/VPpaxfWR05I/AAAAAAAAVUo/9z_JSDyWwx8/w408-h725-no/20150307_053121.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-6L9t1MeNPbs/VPpaxfWR05I/AAAAAAAAVUo/9z_JSDyWwx8/w408-h725-no/20150307_053121.jpg" style="text-align: left;" width="223" /></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Not us, that's who! Over the past month, we've been cleaning and sorting out all of our 'things' to see what we don't use, and what would be better off with someone else. Our lounge room became a bit of a stock room, but Saturday we finally packed everything in our cars, and went off to the local car boot sale.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Now, if you know me, you'll know I can be freakishly organised. Well, this was one of those situations. I had printed out price signs and had them laminated, made everyone name tags, and had everything ready to go, to make set up easier on Saturday morning.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I had written lists on what things I wanted to sell, and what categories I thought they would go in. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I had even written a timeline for the month beforehand, so I knew when things needed to be done by.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We were up bright and early that morning. Actually, everyone but Justin was up early, his royal sleepyhead went back to sleep after my morning wake up call. But anyway, I picked up Annie before the sun was even up, and we were back at my house having breakfast at before 6:30am. After breakfast, we finished packing the cars, and were on our way to the local <a href="http://salvos.org.au/" target="_blank">Salvation Army</a> church to set up for our first ever car boot sale.</span><br />
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<a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-LwfwBykLQpE/VPpa3J-nxiI/AAAAAAAAVUw/m575V7_YVTw/w408-h725-no/IMG_20150307_072259.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-LwfwBykLQpE/VPpa3J-nxiI/AAAAAAAAVUw/m575V7_YVTw/w408-h725-no/IMG_20150307_072259.jpg" width="225" /></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Annie and I went in my car, and we arrived at about 7:15am, to start setting up. Our only issue? Justin and Georgia had the tables. But never dispair, we unpacked anyway, and started organising how and where everything would go.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A short time later Justin arrived with a table, and we were able to start setting up our media section. DVDs, CDs, videos, boardgames and a few random electronic gadgets.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The actual sale started at 8am, but that didn't stop pesky people hassling us to buy things we hadn't even set up set. People were rummaging through bags and looking in boxes that weren't open, and expected us to have all the answers to their annoying questions. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">If you are ever one of these people. Don't do it. It just makes the seller hate you even more. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Well, it did for me. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Georgia arrived a little while later in her big black van, and after unloading and setting up, we were ready to go! We had hired two spots, which totalled 3 car parks, so we had plenty of room to spread out, and make everything easy to access. Mind you, it took us a little while to get into the swing of things,working out where this goes, should this be on the table, comparing different positions of the tables and goods. But, after we worked it out, everything went like clockwork.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Organised chaos!</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We probably looked like lost lambs to the regular sellers there!</span><br />
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<a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-bwjW7Brp4_M/VPphduCCpwI/AAAAAAAAVSs/kFEUrSA5-zM/w408-h725-no/IMG_20150307_105012.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-bwjW7Brp4_M/VPphduCCpwI/AAAAAAAAVSs/kFEUrSA5-zM/w408-h725-no/IMG_20150307_105012.jpg" width="360" /></a> <span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Georgia had mountains of kids things to sell, and did really well with her tables, organising them and making them look appealing and easy to work out how much each item was. In fact, she made a killing selling her kids toys, she has one whole table dedicated to toys, and deemed the entire table was $1 per item. Soon after setting it up, her table was half empty!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Having the larger toys set up on the blanket was also a great idea, because they were at the kids level, and easy for them to touch and play with. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Also, have you ever noticed how bright and colourful kids toys are? I guess not having kids myself, I've never really noticed. But damn, it was like a rainbow exploded!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We didn't have a spot in mind for the kids clothes, so we mixed them together with the books. Not really the best move, but we didn't really know how else to do it at the time.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We did pretty well selling a lot of our DVD's and CD's, and even some of our board games went too, which I was sort of surprised about. We had a few electronic things with this table as well, like a record player, fondue machine, and popcorn machine. Justin sold the record player, admittedly for a lot less than I would have liked, but I guess at least that is money that we wouldn't have had other wise.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px; padding-top: 4px; text-align: center;">The start of our media table.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We hall had a bit of a wander around the sale and even bought a few things for ourselves as well. I found some ace books to add to my collection, Georgia found some books and toys for her daughter, and Annie bought a cute little toy pram and cot for her daughter. Here is the rest of the sale:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">By the end of the morning (the sale was 8-12) we were all pooped, but really enjoyed the day. It was so much fun meeting all of the locals, and learning more about selling, as well as the actual selling. In total, Justin and I made just over $150, which is pretty good, and we're booked in to do another stall over Easter. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So if you're in the area, pop down and say hi, you might even find a bargain or two!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Much love,</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">J xx</span></div>
Jaydehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06330670763048889006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4725063484009509480.post-8585717566935504282015-02-17T16:03:00.000+11:002015-02-17T16:03:36.180+11:0050 Shades Of Grey - My Review<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Okay, so most of you by now will have heard the hype about the newly released 50 Shades Of Grey movie, and if you haven't, where have you been? It grossed $81.7 million in the first 3 days of release and topped last years romantic comedy 'Valentines Day'. I went on Saturday, which just happened to be Valentines day, with one of my best girl friends Annie, and we were pleasantly surprised.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">50 Shades of Grey is the movie adaptation of the book by the same name, written by E.L. James. It follows English Lit student Anastasia Steele, who crosses paths with dark and mysterious CEO Christian Grey, and their often turbulent yet passionate 'love' story.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Now look, I could be all prim and proper about this and use fancy shmancy words, but in reality, the book is mummy porn, and the movie is pretty much the same. Not to say I didn't like it, because I did. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">You'll find many scathing reviews out there, from people of all walks of life saying things like:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; letter-spacing: 0.100000001490116px; line-height: 30px;">• "The blame begins with James' artless, witless source material, which began its literary life as a work of </span><em style="background: 0px 50% rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; letter-spacing: 0.100000001490116px; line-height: 30px; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Twilight</em><span style="background-color: white; letter-spacing: 0.100000001490116px; line-height: 30px;"> fan fiction. That explains the story's Northwest setting, Seattle, and the maddening way its adult characters behave like dopey teenagers. Grey, a vaguely defined "businessman," is an unconvincing mix of Regency aristocrat and high-school hunk, while Anastasia is another Bella Swan (</span><em style="background: 0px 50% rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; letter-spacing: 0.100000001490116px; line-height: 30px; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Twilight</em><span style="background-color: white; letter-spacing: 0.100000001490116px; line-height: 30px;">), though with even bigger daddy issues." – </span><b style="background: 0px 50% rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; letter-spacing: 0.100000001490116px; line-height: 30px; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Rafer Guzmán, <em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: 0px 50%; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border-image-outset: initial; border-image-repeat: initial; border-image-slice: initial; border-image-source: initial; border-image-width: initial; border: 0px; color: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; letter-spacing: inherit; line-height: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;"><a class="tracklink3" href="http://www.newsday.com/entertainment/movies/fifty-shades-of-grey-review-highly-unsatisfying-1.9924557" sl-processed="1" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: 0px 50%; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border-image-outset: initial; border-image-repeat: initial; border-image-slice: initial; border-image-source: initial; border-image-width: initial; border: 0px; color: #067ab4; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; letter-spacing: inherit; line-height: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Newsday</a></em></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; letter-spacing: 0.100000001490116px; line-height: 30px;">• </span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 21.8400001525879px;">A 1.5 star movie review of “Fifty Shades of Grey”: The adaptation of the erotic best-seller by E.L. James at least has a better-than-expected performance from Dakota Johnson." - <a href="http://seattletimes.com/html/movies/2025683423_fiftyshadesgreyxml.html" target="_blank"><b>Moira Macdonald,</b> Seattle Times</a></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">To me, they're a little harsh, but each to their own. It's been said that the movie depicts abuse, both physical and mental, misogyny, and a false representation of the BDSM community. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Seriously?!?!?! It's fiction! If people didn't buy the book, it wouldn't be popular. If people didn't talk about the book, it wouldn't be popular. If people didn't post about it on social media, it wouldn't be popular. It was only a matter of time until a movie was made, because the book gained such popularity. Really, you can blame the author for writing things you don't agree with (and writing them terribly), or you can blame society for enjoying <i>fiction. </i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And again, the majority of the people who are claiming the book and the movie depict these terrible things, haven't even read the book, and generally refuse to see the movie. I have. I've read all 3 books, and now seen the movie. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Throughout the whole series, Christian, who is a controlling, obsessive and sometimes stalkery Dominant cares so passionately for Anna, the sometimes dippy naive college student. But he always states very clearly that she can leave whenever she wants, they'll stop whenever she wants, he gives her clear safe words to use after he explains what it is he enjoys sexually. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">If anything Anna is the one who pushes Christian without his consent. She's constantly asking him why he doesn't like being touched, why he won't let her in etc etc. He answers her, but apparently our little Anna just isn't satisfied with his answers. Rude. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Either way, you can like it or lump it really.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Anyway now that I've had my little rant, onto my actual review of the movie.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I'll be honest, I wouldn't pay to see if again, but that's because I'm a cheap skate (it costs me $20 as an adult movie goer) and would rather sit in the comfort of my own home and watch it (I have issues with my lower back and struggle to sit for long periods of time).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It starts of almost exactly like the book, showing us Anna going into Christians building, and walking into his office. Or should I say, not so gracefully falling into his office. Anna is dressed like a dowdy middle aged mother, it just makes me uncomfortable. Moving on... They sit down and the barrage of awkward questions begins. Anna, played by Dakota Johnson, stumbles, this time gracefully over questions like 'Are you gay?' with ease and Christian, (Jamie Dornan) responds effortlessly. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I was hoping to see some sort of chemistry here, but so far none I can see. C'mon, it'll happen soon! Mind you, I'm kind of enjoying the look of Jamie, didn't think he would suit the role, but he seems to pull it off.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As the movie goes on, the tension, both sexual and just plain confusing is evident. Dakota and Jamie seem to fall into a groove and I'm now actually enjoying the movie. Waiting oh so patiently for the sex scenes, mind you.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Dakota still kind of annoys me, but I can see her feeling out the role, and almost enjoying being Anna. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Some of the lines in the film adaptation, are just as awkward as the book, and literally had me squirming in my seat. 'Laters baby'? Really? What grown man who owns and runs his own empire actually says that? A line from Anna 'Are we going to make love now?', no, no we're not. You sound too young to even know what that means. But I guess, if it hadn't been put in the script, die hard fans would have been up in arms. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The rest of the characters in the movie are very much sidelined, as the story follows Christian and Anna. There are a few awkward moments, or scenes that don't match to the book, but it's an adaptation, not an exact film copy. The staging and sets on the movie are stunning, and pretty much exactly as I had imagined them, when I was reading the book. I will say though, the boathouse is wrong. All wrong!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I loved the soundtrack, and will be <i>acquiring </i>it when I can. Beyonce's haunting rendition of her hit song Crazy In Love is just sublime, and I felt as though the music fit almost perfectly to the mood of the scenes, and the overall movie. Other contributing artists include The Rolling Stones, Frank Sinatra, Annie Lennox and The Weeknd. There was one slightly off putting music selection, but it obviously wasn't overly special, because I can't remember it. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Now onto the juicy part you've all skipped to, the sex scenes. Really, I should be calling them 'sexy scenes'. If you can feel the sexual tension between Johnson and Dornan, then you might find yourself a little hot under the collar, but really, you don't see much. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I myself am a little lost as to why people are saying this movie is just soft core porn. The only traditionally sexual area of a woman's body you'll actually see, is a little bit of bush, and breasts. You catch a glimpse of Dornans soft behind, but otherwise, it's all implied sexual intercourse. </span><br />
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<img height="263" src="https://pmchollywoodlife.files.wordpress.com/2015/01/fifty-shades-of-grey-anna-christian-sexy-bed-trailer-video-ftr.jpg?w=600&h=247&crop=1" width="640" /><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I will say though, one of my major annoyances with the film is that the entire book and 90% of the series is written from Annas perspective. It's all about how she feels, and Anna is in control (to an extent). During the sex scenes in the book, Anna describes in great, yet awkward detail, her orgasms. How she sees fireworks, and feels everything from the tips of her toes, to the top of her head, more than she ever imagined she could. Anna talks about her 'inner goddess', and how empowered she feels knowing how she makes Christian feel. We see/read Christian from Anna's point of view (POV), and we get a feel of how she sees him, and how his presence makes her feel.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Do you think we see any of that in the film? Nope. The sexy scenes are shot from Christians point of view, as it is done in Hollywood it would seem. I was hoping that for once, we would be able to view things from a womans POV, to feel her pleasure. But no, the producer and director appear to have been afraid of breaking with tradition. </span><br />
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<img src="http://cdn2-b.examiner.com/sites/default/files/styles/image_content_width/hash/5d/30/5d3039dd9dacb50ab704ccdfe63ecf16.jpg?itok=Zx4BSmJe" /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Now, if you've ever wondered what it would be like to be a part of the BDSM community, then don't watch the movie. It's all wrong. Yeah there is use of bondage depicted in the film, but the feel and culture of the BDSM community is completely different. Feel free to get your kicks out of it just the same. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">All in all, I actually enjoyed this movie a lot more than I ever expected to. Granted I did go in with really low expectations. I'll give it a 3.5 out of 5.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Have a different opinion? Let me know in the comments below.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Love,</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">J xx</span></div>
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Jaydehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06330670763048889006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4725063484009509480.post-35628033947043550872015-02-16T13:02:00.002+11:002015-02-16T13:02:24.178+11:00Hot Little Lady Date<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Saturday 14th February, Valentines Day. Singles dread it, women in couples love it, men in couple despise it. For me, it's just a Saturday. If I happen to be gifted with an 'I Love You' card, then that's awesome, if not, a simple kiss from my boyfriend is fine.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This year, we planned a nice lunch together and did a little bit of shopping in the hills (We live almost at the foot of the Dandenongs. If you haven't been, please do yourself a favour, and make a day of it). </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">However, Justin had to work at 6pm, so I made plans with one of my best girlfriends Annie, to go out on a hot lady date. I'll admit, I probably went a little overboard, but Annie is special, and I hardly get to see her, so I wanted to make it count!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I organised a red rose corsage, and bought her a card (it was awesome), and a couple of blocks of her favourite chocolate, picked her up and off we went! </span><br />
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<a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-rsS7S4yZGSo/VN7ikeAINWI/AAAAAAAAURU/UOQU22iQndw/w408-h725-no/IMG_20150214_164901.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-rsS7S4yZGSo/VN7ikeAINWI/AAAAAAAAURU/UOQU22iQndw/w408-h725-no/IMG_20150214_164901.jpg" width="180" /></a><a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-_fg0NIYgkhM/VN7iylxd6CI/AAAAAAAAUQk/BA8vi5_c6Fs/w1118-h629-no/IMG_20150214_164951.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-_fg0NIYgkhM/VN7iylxd6CI/AAAAAAAAUQk/BA8vi5_c6Fs/w1118-h629-no/IMG_20150214_164951.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I had booked our dinner reservation for 6:15pm, and we arrived a little early, so we went to Timezone and took some hilarious photobooth photos.</span><br />
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<img height="320" src="https://fbcdn-sphotos-a-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xpf1/v/t1.0-9/p350x350/10987575_10152594053252703_3712060316676066688_n.jpg?oh=7c7659e344945e0cb5b3052434badfce&oe=55482B63&__gda__=1431289205_e7edaaa4d628fc5bba7c1875499e54dc" width="235" /> <img height="320" src="https://fbcdn-sphotos-c-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xpf1/v/t1.0-9/11000436_10152594053247703_7040239417395703838_n.jpg?oh=feccb27b0d062c759a5392529d60ded7&oe=55597727&__gda__=1431421016_f4328bbfc0e2f88e97b48a51eb79eb72" width="235" /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">They're great, right? </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We had dinner at Hogs Breath, and sat and chatted for what felt like hours, until it was movie time. We mosey'd over to Village Cinemas, found our seats, and sat down ready for 50 Shade Of Grey. I know what you're thinking, but it was better than I expected!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">All in all, it was an awesome night out, with an amazing friend. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Annie, I love you, Be My Valentine?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">(P.S. I love you in a friend kinda way, let's not ruin the mood and make things all weird, like my drunk aunty does at family affairs.)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Love,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">J xx</span></div>
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Jaydehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06330670763048889006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4725063484009509480.post-24606592926198116292015-02-11T14:38:00.002+11:002015-02-11T14:38:40.544+11:00Friends In Need<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We all know that moving house can be a tortuous affair, but it can be made slightly more tolerable with helping hands. Sunday, we were the helping hands!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Good friends of ours Ben and Leah, we finally moving from their tiny run down house in Springvale, to a beautiful new family friendly home in FTG. They had already packed so many things in to boxes, their house was almost unrecognisable! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Ben's mum and two brothers came to help out, as did our friends Tom, Rach, Shaun, Sam & Jack, so between all of us, we managed to pack almost everything into the van and the cars. With some amazing Tetris skills from yours truly, we only had to do two trips. Granted we left a couple of things behind, but still, I was pretty impressed!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">By the end of the day we were all pooped, and celebrated with some fish and chips! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I can't wait till Justin and I move house. What, you guys didn't know we wanted to move? Awkward... Anyway, we want a smaller house, as there is only the two of us there now, and our house is just too big. I don't want to leave, but we need a fresh start.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We've already started cleaning out the spare rooms, and packing things into boxes, so hopefully when it comes time for us to move, it will be as easy and smooth and Ben and Leah's transition!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I actually remembered to take a few happy snaps on the day, and with Bens permission, here they are!</span><br />
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<img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgw9b06CZFPOeo9oJeW3V83kneQyiy8dkPEwXKKDGsyfrK46YB7czRiKlgMjjaa53OM0odDCY1-qpwVfyJS8hWZmA_gcvoSq6-kwv-9PNZ2MS6eHlTuZCh5JwhoVGRGgY9o6m1uEbdnBsw/w258-h458-no/IMG_20150208_132525.jpg" /> <img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSgVuljXJWkTEZWEpNqBUheX0dtbtvaVtpr143qTp3JZhOEaHPcaLigSPpAbMQ3JkqOAjPO2k-KspB3Ha7xqIE8qxbXiNmb3mCQcbMFoDBrAq2NOtEzLaQHCzlyqz-R4Pz8VsU99oB0pY/w258-h458-no/IMG_20150208_132414.jpg" /></div>
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<img height="359" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKoOUcDYwp7wd8kCdY9NpEYDCzko_vvcYGao7D55ri_91C34SBRttAUf6RCNDkmwg36f2Ckz9KD2YpngG-SmuvIklm6WevLLYptyaiHVwnuIVsfdxsUHhrL3Gkpc6Ht3Hbm2Si-dX_6do/w788-h443-no/IMG_20150208_101940.jpg" width="640" /></div>
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<img src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-rInpNG6qlVk/VNb2ryKbANI/AAAAAAAAULA/pHRZ6wqTScA/w258-h458-no/IMG_20150208_101957.jpg" /> <img src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-Ogl-_jfNlWc/VNb3A9FpKLI/AAAAAAAAULE/hz7yDp5Bulg/w258-h458-no/IMG_20150208_102932.jpg" /></div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img height="359" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYBwouqYhinFhEstAkBGlobUh-RSdeen8yhk-5NaNJUQODR4zBszOnsKRkiWUGqouzyBW9k4tIuPzwz_2ajnyHD3qPEVd61xURbAalztSqq-T8uu8Jx38K0DwWM4IX7HyY3ZjX11IAdNw/w788-h443-no/IMG_20150208_104634.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="640" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">How many people does it take to pack a mattress into a van? 5, it took 5 of them!</td></tr>
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<img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-9-41XNev2CQT9my8MGA3kv4j4irRaGGyQwcXthte4jafiPifMN8Up4uRpFP-Q0y6bFeohsaQTJNfuckxEXLsFJAXwnCwBqW5EweKdM6y7Stn-LLxo03xFPSV70OCPJeVYrvQu8p-tMA/w258-h458-no/IMG_20150208_114551.jpg" /> <img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBdYXT-7nNlEihq8ZIsOpoGf1yAOxvBx2BBBiTcMCydk5OKqtwC2JdNUkmG0ySiO9EIYKiqmOIscm8TsPH-Y52ekTFgUOQ__MRL26LnIcffWXPew6Foh86b5bNKoDsYyx3U8m4zS8wINY/w258-h458-no/IMG_20150208_132310.jpg" /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I'm so happy they finally have a house they can call home!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Fingers crossed we find something nice too!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Jayde xx</span></div>
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Jaydehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06330670763048889006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4725063484009509480.post-52300579917470678372015-02-11T13:18:00.000+11:002015-02-11T13:18:39.031+11:00Not So Lazy Saturday<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Hello my lovelies!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I've been quite busy the last few weeks, and finally have a chance to share things with you guys!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So anyway, last Saturday I had a great day out, and it all started out in a car park in Glen Waverley... At a Car Boot Sale!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I saw the massive yellow banner in front of the Salvation Army church on my travels the night before, and thought to myself, this could be a bit of fun. I woke up nice and early, 8am for your info, which on a Saturday morning is early, and off I went. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The place was already packed when I arrived, so I had to park down the road and walk up to the actual sale. There were people everywhere! Mums, dads, kids, dogs, it was amazing to see how many people could fit into that small carpark. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The stalls were selling all sorts of things, such as:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> - baby clothes</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> - ladies clothes</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> - kids toys</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> - potted plants</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> - electronic goods</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> - books and comics</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> - knick knacks</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">They had a sausage sizzle (of course), and everyone there was so nice!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I can home with a small haul of things, and only spent $40, which I was pretty impressed with. I bought, 12 Mr Men books, 20 Little Golden Books, a couple of random kids books, I also bought 8 Spiderman comics for Justin, and a few things for my friend Georgia's daughter including an awesome Fairy book in mint condition (for $1!!!), a super cute denim overalls dress, a super cute pink adjustable hat, and a bag full of kids hair accessories.</span><br />
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<img height="400" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-izhDBxqcHao/VNVNkMMYQHI/AAAAAAAAUDY/FnoUXpyqIDk/w408-h725-no/IMG_20150207_102521.jpg" width="225" /> <img height="400" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-rFWy1dYHpqI/VNVNIPqpYnI/AAAAAAAAUDA/Wi9fqUiqzbo/w408-h725-no/IMG_20150207_102257.jpg" width="225" /></div>
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<img height="360" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-0EB2vmAyqzo/VNVM-xQehNI/AAAAAAAAUC0/bjjdGutCkKA/w1118-h629-no/IMG_20150207_102249.jpg" width="640" /><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">They hold the sales once a month in the warmer months of the year, and I was thinking of holding my own stall. We have so many 'things' at home that we just don't need or use, and someone else may love them more than we do. It only costs $10 for the stall, so even if I only break even, at least I will have less useless things at home!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I'm hoping I can drag a couple of friends down with me, and make a day out of it. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">What sort of things would you guys buy at a car boot sale? Do you have any tips for me? </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Leave them in a comment down below!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Much love,</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Jayde xx</span><br />
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Jaydehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06330670763048889006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4725063484009509480.post-66730648652392630102015-01-23T16:57:00.003+11:002015-01-23T16:57:42.412+11:00January Harvest<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Drum roll please....</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUEpmo_qu7Ge17I_dbvcDPZg6L5APzClT4-nyAkAGDBZJ-dk8YNY7BEfe_E7_ks8WSRbQ25jrrIGuZVl4BJr10c9F1P0dr-bs7eujZuB-B_0lcACHMQXAobgMu07s8zhEdcoGId5svMak/w718-h404-no/IMG_20150121_213923.jpg" width="640" /></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Here is the first harvest off my little potted garden! I picked 3 beautiful, crispy, fresh snow peas.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Not much, I know, but considering I only have a small selection of plants, and the cabbage moths/caterpillars are decimating everything, I'm pretty happy with it. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We've had some wild weather over the past month, which has burnt my salad box, and the wind had destroyed one of my trellis panels (which my loving boyfriend fixed for me), as well as being hot and muggy, but barely raining. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">My tomatoes seem to be going pretty well, not flowering yet, but they will! My climbing beans are starting to flower, so they'll be producing soon too. Can't wait for my strawberries and capsicums to flower and fruit!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It's all happening over at my house, just slower than I would like.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Much love</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">J xx</span></div>
Jaydehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06330670763048889006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4725063484009509480.post-17011770843811921292015-01-16T13:00:00.001+11:002015-01-16T13:00:59.616+11:00The Creativity Club<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I'll be honest, I love craft. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Not art, painting or drawing (because I'm rubbish at it), but cutting & pasting, making things out of clay, cooking, baking, sewing, making hats & jewellery, gardening & being all around crafty.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Sometimes I have such mental blanks I just lose all interest in doing anything remotely crafty, so my spare room (let's be truthful, it's an entire room devoted to craft) stays untouched and unloved.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Every now and then I have bursts of creativity, and come up with things like: </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Flower Crown</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img height="400" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-t7yvocu8kLo/VBj9Uzp8y2I/AAAAAAAAOnw/FeZi-qk8eP0/w387-h516-no/20140917_132204.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="300" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Frosted Windows</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Home Made Jam</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPIrbYd5upS7wta62tG5nl1mrYO45fjEf0_2vWV-evm0sFRaPokVIYaWjkVOazExBiGqqf7G8qLE2dxhDbWCn7rtYKTVoP-d_MZZwQFymBjuKLoCxjUjVDR3R5WTM8A6LzDfX3g-VIPxw/w888-h500-no/IMG_20141118_185717.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="400" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Outdoor Mood Lighting</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So when I stumbled upon <a href="http://www.elsiemarley.com/" target="_blank">elsie marley</a> one day, and she was talking about some kind of 2 word challenge, I thought to myself, what a great little idea! My words were shark + garland. I'll admit, my submission wasn't all that flash hot, but it was an interesting idea. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Now Elsie has created The Creativity Club in an effort to help all of us push ourselves out of our comfort zones, and get creative.</span></div>
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<img alt="the creativity club: fuck it, let's make art" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/proxy/AVvXsEgRewwXN9QSvZ1Xnn6E9ojFYrSAajR4-aaJ6j84mN1rBsttCeQt3rHXMJRvJWmq21rWB5rNcb2xwaDknhiH7GS30hWDIwuefHLS_za0znXBYXKmhyrcJzae6MUPWeJX3AJwpolXTjNiQMFdhw4eK9zdB6SxIDzSiutniiJGbyop8h3RRu4ZUAuFVoeKPSb7=s0-d-e1-ft" /><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So keep your eyes peeled for new and exciting crafty things! We are sent a challenge the 3rd Monday of each month, and we have a week to complete it. You can see everyone's submissions on Instagram (and sometimes Facebook and Twitter) using the hashtag #thecreativityclub</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Wish me luck!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Lots of love,</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">J xx</span></div>
Jaydehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06330670763048889006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4725063484009509480.post-26823910254538217032014-12-08T13:18:00.000+11:002014-12-08T13:18:50.930+11:00Jadex Adventures: Christmas Gifts<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Woah, guys, I've missed you! It's been so long since I've had a minute to myself, and actually had a chance to write anything down. But, fear not, I'm hear to fill you all in!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This weekend, Alex and I went adventuring, looking for Christmas presents. Now, I'm sure you all know by now, we love making hand made gifts, and this year will be no different. We wanted something that would either be tasty or useful, be quick and easy to make, and be able to be wrapped nicely (presentation counts here people!).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Sadly, I can't share the actual presents with you till after Christmas, cause, well, spoilers, duh. But I can share our shopping adventures! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Our first stop was <a href="http://www.spcardmonafactorysales.com.au/" target="_blank">Food Factory Sales</a> in Bayswater. They actually have another store in Shepparton, but that's waaaaaay to far away for my liking. The Bayswater store is pretty new, so isn't listed on their website yet.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6QMN1sImy3d7XrWwAfrj0B3Y3ysg4H3LJTrfTJRx8-p9W-U9vFgwXMHymbM0AqqTovjRVWKags6vr-YpPECeScjb1CGiq53SaGNwJhX1i1jQlE2ko3h0iVDvQbqCULjCMRZc4pZI7mz0/s1600/SAM_0998.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6QMN1sImy3d7XrWwAfrj0B3Y3ysg4H3LJTrfTJRx8-p9W-U9vFgwXMHymbM0AqqTovjRVWKags6vr-YpPECeScjb1CGiq53SaGNwJhX1i1jQlE2ko3h0iVDvQbqCULjCMRZc4pZI7mz0/s1600/SAM_0998.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So, in we went, full of excitement... I was mainly there to have a look at the jars, as I like to make and can my own pasta sauce and salsa. I also want to start making my own jams and chutneys, so this seemed the perfect place to look for canning goodies. They did not disappoint!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRdhrgPEuyB7c6k64_8W_VFibTmMYiNSgirnVK2mr8X1DiauQ1GE36rzqww5baQ0SHRT5TtFecjQn8mHKiUQIprO7jmUqZ06jIVJRBz4d9GsWXwcMAk_DPI3XcnGk7lIslGtJglaWvo3k/s1600/SAM_1001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRdhrgPEuyB7c6k64_8W_VFibTmMYiNSgirnVK2mr8X1DiauQ1GE36rzqww5baQ0SHRT5TtFecjQn8mHKiUQIprO7jmUqZ06jIVJRBz4d9GsWXwcMAk_DPI3XcnGk7lIslGtJglaWvo3k/s1600/SAM_1001.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuneexNEOkEnEpH6XY3kNVi3eKE4uc62MpU9s-PkGk4cnvWb6GJR-VItVlYgOFkSWnRQDzXQSWP03Y75HhGrQR4mOP53qUJ3u86N9u4Ho9sIe7aeUyDMq8foB7nwaoJrVA26nY9aTx9Fs/s1600/SAM_1002.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuneexNEOkEnEpH6XY3kNVi3eKE4uc62MpU9s-PkGk4cnvWb6GJR-VItVlYgOFkSWnRQDzXQSWP03Y75HhGrQR4mOP53qUJ3u86N9u4Ho9sIe7aeUyDMq8foB7nwaoJrVA26nY9aTx9Fs/s1600/SAM_1002.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Clearly I was excited to buy ALL THE JARS. Not even kidding, I came home with probably 40 jars in different sizes. Not sure what I'm going to do with them all yet, but I will work it out!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhizcBsCJdv2Gl-h65hsRgl_K3nl1wEsmo-6KtTvBTE_X98pXDYH__vYqREBuNbNhPTi70phg4d35y5OAO45DeAOMN9OXSc4h2721KpLNURmQWaCdq72vMdryAz3p2Aji_fcho_bgwIZRA/s1600/SAM_1004.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhizcBsCJdv2Gl-h65hsRgl_K3nl1wEsmo-6KtTvBTE_X98pXDYH__vYqREBuNbNhPTi70phg4d35y5OAO45DeAOMN9OXSc4h2721KpLNURmQWaCdq72vMdryAz3p2Aji_fcho_bgwIZRA/s1600/SAM_1004.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Alex was excited by the flavour, 'Sasquatch Coconut Ice', what the hell does a sasquatch taste like, and why are you mixing it with coconut?!?!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We had a lot of run walking around looking at all of the different things. They have a lot of canned goods, pasta, jars of sauces, spices, cleaning products, and obviously jars. We went home with a small collection of things, which I was impressed with. I spent $99 in total! Granted it wasn't stuff I would normally buy, but because it was in bulk, I can store it at home, and not have to worry for a while about having to go out and buy it.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZHMtoE3MPmwUWDODRMvKRrl0ZvWU9-17I6dj2o03k9PVg7xM-vE54yH9leEKYNj9xdcx-jdnyvLYqmtLkuOHVlnXajyYyMarS252QGHfdYoTInERig5fbQkjuYYEyGoqd7TrHZtLJ0ls/s1600/SAM_1006.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZHMtoE3MPmwUWDODRMvKRrl0ZvWU9-17I6dj2o03k9PVg7xM-vE54yH9leEKYNj9xdcx-jdnyvLYqmtLkuOHVlnXajyYyMarS252QGHfdYoTInERig5fbQkjuYYEyGoqd7TrHZtLJ0ls/s1600/SAM_1006.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Next on our agenda was <a href="http://bushyparkwholesale.com.au/" target="_blank">Bushy Park</a>. We were looking for good priced fresh fruit and veg, and we were not disappointed! </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2Ny0KHmObKr-crVEJomnfKwUlXGhyOFmQDkNjydsiMvK_sGpAVvGJ_QpKKnmoJHs8DkZjZfIm6wrCqIIdDJUFVQIT18_4UMxqgVzWhc_MMDC2sHa3VmuKep7T1QlBlt_kJMeMI2efCFM/s1600/SAM_1009.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2Ny0KHmObKr-crVEJomnfKwUlXGhyOFmQDkNjydsiMvK_sGpAVvGJ_QpKKnmoJHs8DkZjZfIm6wrCqIIdDJUFVQIT18_4UMxqgVzWhc_MMDC2sHa3VmuKep7T1QlBlt_kJMeMI2efCFM/s1600/SAM_1009.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Alex was very excited by the nuts... and spaghetti quash, what ever that is!</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmXaI5KddY43xPkj4iA20lWBxeARSxP5JmkrYA-qJisNB1BanNPxIsGrPf0gYFO-SjjCZ1ubjkzR_k-siOQNFBKlCRYr3ZP4c7jAyK2F9sWUoHJXcgYDAejXrhZNQP2nBL3DGaFV8OYx4/s1600/SAM_1010.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmXaI5KddY43xPkj4iA20lWBxeARSxP5JmkrYA-qJisNB1BanNPxIsGrPf0gYFO-SjjCZ1ubjkzR_k-siOQNFBKlCRYr3ZP4c7jAyK2F9sWUoHJXcgYDAejXrhZNQP2nBL3DGaFV8OYx4/s1600/SAM_1010.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">After Bushy's, we popped part Alex's mums house so I could steal some eggs, then it was off to my house to start experimenting!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Now, as I mentioned above, I can't show you any photos, or tell you anything about our present idea, but keep your eyes peeled after Christmas for more information.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">For now my sweets, have a great day!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Love</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">J xx</span></div>
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Jaydehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06330670763048889006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4725063484009509480.post-83620283051480873612014-11-06T13:04:00.001+11:002014-11-06T13:08:33.838+11:00Blood, Guts, Gore & LARP<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">If you're squeamish or afraid of zombies, look away now! Seriously, go and Google some pictures of cute unicorns or kitties or something.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Okay, you've had your chance. This post is going to be pretty picture heavy. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Brace yourself!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I was recently involved in a photoshoot, to remake instructions for<a href="http://www.deadtimestories.com.au/" target="_blank"> Deadtime Stories: A Zombie LARP</a>. I had so much fun, and learnt so much, I just had to share it with everyone!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">What is LARP you ask? Why it's Live Action Role Play of course! Essentially, you get to dress up in character (or as a class) and complete a mission, depending on which game you're playing. You can play with 5-50 people, anywhere, and (almost) anytime. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Now, Deadtime Stories is a zombie LARP, so you have survivors (still humans) and zombies (dead!). The zombies have different stages (wandering, dead, or active) and I had the honour of being a zombie. <a href="https://www.facebook.com/KongasKreations" target="_blank">Kon</a>, who organised the day, was kind enough to supply us with costumes as well.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFuOl82xSFRS8P4a9iJ1ysWrjJimm-2g39HrMJfn7amUqWaApbWYfHLmdKfU0Qf0E5c087SCRpm3S9SjS0fj1RGHHVjZt5So5wY2xnBuNXfTC36oSPpxRYxAfT36U3lwkgvNBpj-FPOuo/s1600/Fotor1106110117.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFuOl82xSFRS8P4a9iJ1ysWrjJimm-2g39HrMJfn7amUqWaApbWYfHLmdKfU0Qf0E5c087SCRpm3S9SjS0fj1RGHHVjZt5So5wY2xnBuNXfTC36oSPpxRYxAfT36U3lwkgvNBpj-FPOuo/s1600/Fotor1106110117.jpg" height="137" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Unfortunately a couple of the MUA (Make Up Artists) pulled out, but thankfully we had the wonderful Zoe on hand and ready to make us all over! Because we were short on time and helping hands, I ended up being 'The Blood Girl'. Not even kidding, they nicknamed me because I kept doing everyones blood. By doing, I mean artfully covering them in fake blood. Because, ya know, I'm an artist.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaJg4F2ZbFv5ZmxxzREHX25BeOzCNGKN-008nbcCcJmWNZ9dqb77-_xDMOOLv0p6A5TnadJwA0Xxrrsj0d7wERkmtshEWl8Q-_yQ-tRpdTtRSBFJrXenIP6D7T4xmYgUdeBJjyT13gp8Q/s1600/056a0479+(1).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaJg4F2ZbFv5ZmxxzREHX25BeOzCNGKN-008nbcCcJmWNZ9dqb77-_xDMOOLv0p6A5TnadJwA0Xxrrsj0d7wERkmtshEWl8Q-_yQ-tRpdTtRSBFJrXenIP6D7T4xmYgUdeBJjyT13gp8Q/s1600/056a0479+(1).jpg" height="148" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Now, the other players in Deadtime Stories are survivors. There are a few classes of survivors including: Soldiers, Medics, Clerics and general population. Obviously soldiers are the best at weapons, Medics heal people, Clerics use the power of their faith against zombies and the public have survived on sheer dumb luck. Survivors primarily use Nerf guns, but can also make their own weapons (foam ones of course).</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9iG_fXbkTKNM2WaXFPpDgtk4NzKTpmoMSmabKgm722WJomv2Sf2ntuOt5Osm3ATrj8uKJF3OBPSM6ho4fTvU8fV2ZEUHPt-b6s2_5Zq2dmV3Eo2Cp_CHjsAQqritBpn956rRnM0OeJJE/s1600/056a0851.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9iG_fXbkTKNM2WaXFPpDgtk4NzKTpmoMSmabKgm722WJomv2Sf2ntuOt5Osm3ATrj8uKJF3OBPSM6ho4fTvU8fV2ZEUHPt-b6s2_5Zq2dmV3Eo2Cp_CHjsAQqritBpn956rRnM0OeJJE/s1600/056a0851.jpg" height="106" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It was so much fun playing dress ups and getting all bloody (without the pain!). All in all it was a great day. I learnt so much about using latex and special FX makeup, as well as how to clean up fake blood!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I'm thinking actually playing the game, now that I have a basic knowledge of the rules, could be a lot of fun...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Love</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">J xx</span></div>
Jaydehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06330670763048889006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4725063484009509480.post-82279974616832393682014-11-05T16:36:00.001+11:002014-11-05T16:36:08.935+11:00Healthy Home Made - Roasted Capsicum Dip<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This is such an easy recipe and takes little to no time to make. You can buy most of the ingredients preprepared which cuts down on the time.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">If you want to start from scratch, then keep reading, if not, skip to the bottom. But be warned, you're going to miss out on the good bits...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">You'll need:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">3 fresh medium sized red capsicums</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">2 cloves of fresh garlic (not peeled)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">oil spray</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">salt & pepper</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">1 cup finely grated parmesan cheese</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">1-1 1/2 cups pine nuts</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">1 red chilli</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Start off by preheating the oven to 180°c for 10 mins. Then grab your capsicums, core & deseed them, then cut into halves or thirds. Lightly oil the pieces, put them and the garlic on an oven tray, and bake for 30 minutes.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">While they're baking, we need to lightly dry toast the pine nuts. In a non-stick pan, with no oil, throw in the pine nuts, and toast over a medium flame. You'll see them change to a light golden colour. Make sure not to burn them though. Set aside to cool.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Grate the parmesan, and put in a bowl, ready to go.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">When the capsicums and garlic are done, squeeze the garlic out and carefully chop them and set aside to cool. Make sure everything is cool to touch before putting them in the food processor. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Then, put everything in the bowl of the food processor, and blitz until you reach the consistency you like. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Now, you may find that you use all the pine nuts, or not a lot, work the recipe to your tastes.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3H8UfVIIaV9w_qJb13GX8y4vmJpVwtPnlQMMyztwwsZ41_6jm0_J245JvuEAiwKOGXkF0kNREJNjKnQZqs5tzIUrf_y_Uy3yUdtjGnLr2iNN7GLvSBBhLoZi9vF8WQCrRJOC9OypBzLQ/w262-h465-no/IMG_20141104_120713.jpg" /> <img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS5eVyKCc0nVdb7ctDyWoUpGUbdok9Be8R-mVUSBYRhHMfFm5MvxOwmaSrtPbaut1mfls2EltNWO84eUoULUWprCLvpeYiCJbEyMK66EEQ6812OP05pKrr0ZXBBVKlGti1OX_ATGnx3o8/w262-h465-no/IMG_20141104_120822.jpg" /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">You can serve it straight away, or chill it till firm.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Let me know how yours turns out!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Love,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">J xx</span></div>
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Jaydehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06330670763048889006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4725063484009509480.post-70945975973612420282014-11-05T12:52:00.002+11:002014-11-05T12:52:28.143+11:00Healthy Home Made - Roasted Beetroot Dip<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Recently I wrote a post for my HHM - Raw Beetroot Dip, and now I'm sharing my roasted beetroot dip recipe. All you need is a little time and patience... oh and a food processor. I originally sourced the recipe from <a href="http://www.taste.com.au/kitchen/recipes/roasted+beetroot+dip,14131" target="_blank">here</a>, but adapted it slightly for my tastes.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">850g Fresh beetroot, peeled and cut into chunks</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">spray oil</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">salt and pepper</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">1/2 cup of Greek yoghurt</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">2 cloves of garlic</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Splash of lemon juice</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">1) Lightly oil the beetroot, and bake at 180°c for 30 minutes, allow to cool. The beets should be soft, but firm. When you feel it, you'll know what I mean.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">2) Blitz the now cooled beetroot, as well as the garlic and seasoning, until you reach the desired consistency. I like mine a little chunky.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">3) Transfer the mix to a bowl, and fold in the yoghurt.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">That's it. Roasting the beetroot brings out a slightly sweeter, deeper rich flavour, which I've found many people prefer. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I made this yesterday to take to a Melbourne Cup BBQ, and it was a hit! I also took some home made falafel and roasted capsicum dip (which I'll post about soon). </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Beetroot is such a versatile vegie, and I still have a couple left, so look out for more beetroot recipes!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Love</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">J xx</span></div>
Jaydehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06330670763048889006noreply@blogger.com0