Rock Out With Your....

One final vlog for the year.



Yes indeed I got my Glow on. Does that count as a GlowJob?

Happy New Year Guys!

Fuck Resolutions

2011 has passed. It has been a tough year for me personally, but just another part of the roller coaster that is life.
2012 is on our doorstep and it smells fresh. A chance for a clean slate?
I'm not one to make resolutions. As soon as I label a resolution it's stamped with FAIL.
This year in an attempt to give myself some direction that isn't doomed from the start I am setting myself some goals. Bloggy goals. Twelve just to match in with 2012, or perhaps one for each month?

Here are my bloggy goals for 2012. It features boobs, booze and dancing shoes. In no particular order;

A long bloggy conversation with Brenda, Grace and Maria. These ladies have so much advice, and knowledge on the business side of blogging I don't think I could ever stop learning from them.

Go shopping with Nikki from Styling You. I don't need to explain this one do I?

Have shots and cocktails with GGMH and Kellie from GBU. Kellie is our honorary Westie from the dirty dirty South baby! Errr this one might take a while though.

Spoon with Glowless. She'd be great to spoon with, and I know you'd be jealous of how close I'd be to that hair. Actually in all seriousness I'd love to sit with Glow and pick up on all her make up tips and tricks. She'd be fabulously fun to learn from.

Get a tattoo with Lori from RRSAHM. She has found a really hot tattooist apparently, and I don't mind a bit of a perve with my permanent decoration.

I want to shake shake shake my booty with Jess, Gemma, Kristyn and Nathalie. Those ladies would be fabulous dancers. Time to practice my robot.

To wine and dine Madam Bipolar aka Sawhole. Have you not met her yet? She is the bee's knee's.

Preform a craniotomy on Emma from What's in Emma's Brain? to finally find out what exactly IS in Emma's brain.

Have a big O with Mrs Woog. She'd be perfect to get my O on with. Vodka O that is. Wait, did you think I meant the other kind?

Enjoy a long delicious lunch with Stacey from Veggie Mama and Zoey from GoodGoogs. I think these two ladies could introduce me to some new food habits, and we all know I love my food.

I want to chill with Eden for a day. She is so fucking zen man, and she has perspective you cannot teach. She makes me feel less like a freak.

Have Kristin from Wanderlust  flash me her Victoria's Secret. She's got a great set of boobs you know.


What are your goals for 2012? Maybe you can be a part of mine?

These are not ALL of my goals, there are so many more of you I want to meet, but it's hard to fit it all into 12 goals.

New Year, New Products Thanks To Maybelline

Playing around with makeup looks and idea's is something I have a lot of fun with.
I really love colour and incorporating it into my look. Anything a little different, unusual, creative has me wanting to recreate.
Make up is an art form in itself you know.

So I was stoked when the week before Christmas this box from Maybelline showed up on my doorstep.

Did someone say make up?

It was packed full with lots of new products from Maybelline due out in stores in January 2012.

There are two new mascaras to keep an eye out for. The Lots Of Lashes Mascara, which works really well in getting the smallest of lashes, and the Volum' Express One By One Mascara, which is a great volumising mascara.
There are also two new liquid eyeliners, the Lasting Drama Gel Eyeliner, which is a gel formula applied with a brush I am just LOVING playing around with, and the EyeStudio Master Precise Eye Liner, which is a calligraphy inspired pen that has an intense colour but glides on smoothly.

They have released two new colours in their Mini Colorama Collection, Fruit Juice and Tart. I am an avid collector of these nail polishes at just $5.95 each they're affordable, and the smaller bottle means that I can have more colour options for less space, and lets face it how many large nail polish bottles have you actually finished before it got all gluggy?

Do you have dark circles? Me too. Mine is a mix of bad genetics and lack of sleep. Due to the bad genetics part it means I've been trying concealers and well, anything that will help since I was a teenager. Maybelline NY Instant Age Rewind Eye Eraser Concealer is made just to treat the delicate eye area. I was skeptical, but once I opened this up I haven't stopped popping it on. Even if it's the only thing I put on. They say with continual use that the appearance of dark circles, under eye puffiness and fine lines will be reduced because it is packed with a cocktail of greatness for your face. I will have to get back to you on that one. What I do know is it does help to lighten the area and it isn't as heavy as some concealers.

I've written before about how I am a gloss girl all the way. Lipstick scares me. Maybe it's because my mum used to buy the most hideous colours, I just preferred a  light tint a gloss provided. Oh and the shine. I am all about the shine. Maybelline have combined that with Colour Sensational The Shine Lip Colour, and TEN new shades. Yes that's one to go with every outfit! The colour isn't thick and gritty like many of the lipsticks I've tried, it's a light tint with a glossy sheen.
They didn't stop there though, and with nude lips being hot, Hot, HOT at the moment they have also released 5 new nude shades for their Colour Sensational Lip Colour range, and to compliment all these fabulous new lipsticks they have released a new SuperStay Lip Liner range with 7 shades.

I have been forced out of my fear of lipstick closet and so far, I am impressed!
You will get a chance to see some of these products in action on my blog over the next few weeks, but who wants to play along at home?

For one lucky The Mummy Autobiography reader you will have the chance to win yourself a pack of these Maybelline products!

The Maybelline Pack includes; 1xVolum' Express OneByOne Mascara in Blackest Black, 1xInstant Age Rewind Eye Eraser Concealer in Medium, 1xColour Sensational The Lip Shine Colour in Luminous Cocoa, 3xColour Sensational Lip Colour in Barely Brown, Rum Riche and Mochachino, 3xSuperStay Lip Liner in Bordeaux, Cappuccino and Brown.

To win all you need to do is leave me a comment telling me if you have ever been too afraid of a make up product, only to use it and find out that you love it? What was it?

This is a game of skill, so whoever entertains me with the best answer, be it funny, clever, or thought provoking, will be chosen as the winner. I may need to have my BFF help me with this one.

Please do not forget to leave a valid email address I can contact you on, otherwise your entry will NOT be valid (You can fill it out in the form below or pop it on the end of your comment).

Good Luck!

I was sent these products my Maybelline with no expectation to write about them or to host a giveaway. I decided to put aside some of the products I was sent with the intent of a giveaway for my readers. Written opinion is that of my own findings.



a Rafflecopter giveaway


Terms and Conditions
The Mummy Autobiography Maybelline competition will be judged on skill. The total prize value is $144.85. The competition opens Tuesday December 27, 2011 at 11am EDST and closes on Tuesday, January 10, 2012 at 6am EDST. One entry per person. Entries will be judged on creativity and originality. Australian entries only, sorry. The winner will be notified via email and name published on the blog. Entries remain the property of The Mummy Autobiography and may be republished. The Maybelline Pack includes; 1xVolum' Express OneByOne Mascara in Blackest Black, 1xInstant Age Rewind Eye Eraser Concealor in Medium, 1xColour Sensational The Lip Shine Colour in Luminous Cocoa, 3xColour Sensational Lip Colour in Barely Brown, Rum Riche and Mochachino, 3xSuperStay Lip Liner in Bordeaux, Cappuccino and Brown.

School Holiday Survival Tips. The Fourth Edition.

This is the fourth edition in the School Holiday Survival Tips series.


When it comes time for school holidays I feel it's important that my child still has situations provided to him to learn.

I'm not big on "schooling" my kids, but I am aware that there is a lot that schools do not offer.

This 8 part series is all about using the school holidays to give your child priceless yet inexpensive experiences to either enhance their learning at school, or to open them up to a completely new skill.

To follow on from what I've previously talked about nature walks, animal safari's, and where we live another great idea is Space.

Image credit.

There is so much you can do, and learning about space is something that is rarely continued at home.

I always start this by asking the kids "What planet do we live on?"
It's easy to explain that while we live in Australia, all the continents are a part of Earth and planets are like balls, but really really massive balls.

I extend that by talking about the Sun and the Moon, and how the mood is a smaller ball and circles around us, and the Sun is an even bigger ball and we circle around it.
The best way I explain this is with blown up balloons of different sizes. I tie string on the ends and we get to take turns at what we are.

Towards the end of the holidays I will extend this further with Bluey and talk about the other planets. Again with the balloons to show size, and colour.
The fun part is we can paint them up using pictures of the planets. It doesn't have to be perfect and the kids always love this part.

Image credit.

When it's warmer Bluey and I have been known to lay outside at night and watch the stars, trying to play dot to dot and make pictures, or we comment on the moons size or shape.

I find while it isn't a super important thing to teach them, it is nice to see that recognition about day and night, and the stars and so on. It's also just another thing you mention, and leave it and then one day you see them explaining it to someone else and you think "Wow, they really took that in?"

It also enhanced their imagination, they may want to talk about aliens or space journey's and that's all ok. When faced with questions like "Are there other people in different planets?" I find it's best to answer with a question about what they think. This gets them to think and make a decision for themselves, so that they are able to draw up their own conclusions.

Do you talk to your kids about space? Have you ever gone on a space journey? Or played dot to dot with the stars?

Stop! Present time.

Wishing you and yours a safe and happy Christmas.

Caught With Your Pants Down.

We complement our children from birth. It’s a great concern to many of us to ensure they have a good self-worth and that their self-esteem is a solid structure. A child can never feel too good about themselves, right?
This is the story of how it all went horribly wrong.

My kids must have inherited the nudist gene. Since Bluey started toilet training he has been one to find clothes restrictive.
He never fought putting clothes on when we went out, but as soon as we got home he stripped off and was one with nature. It never bothered me because it reduced my laundry size enormously.

As school approached I pondered how he would adjust as being naked was never an issue in his life at home, but he took to the wearing of clothing just as he did to not wearing it and we had no problems.
Bluey was constantly praised on his good manners and kind nature towards all others.

Until October.

Image credit.

It started with his class teacher approaching me and telling me that there had been “an incident” and Bluey had “exposed himself in the toilets to other students, where he was actually shaking his penis at them” I stifled a giggle and ensured her that I would be talking to him about this. She smiled and told me that the staff had all had a good laugh and it was nothing too serious. She told me that having a talk to him would be perfect and she had already had words with him.

I spoke to him that afternoon. The usual of how we don’t do that blah blah blah. He understood. I know he understood. The rest of the week was a breeze.

Until the next week when he did it again.

And again. I couldn’t even tell you how many times in 8 weeks I was pulled aside and spoken to about Bluey exposing himself. It got to the point where I was outraged that having talked with Bluey about how it’s not on yet he continued to whip it out.

I talked to the Assistant Principal about strategies, and she confirmed that to just keep talking to him about how it’s not on and eventually it will sink in. Only it didn’t. It kept bloody happening. Every other day I had someone approaching me about his flashing. I was tired. I was hurt. Where had I gone wrong? What was I doing wrong?

In a last attempt I spoke to his teacher, again. She said it had been keeping her up at night too. That Bluey was such a wonderful and kind student, still was, he had never hurt another child or been nasty to another, and while it never happened in the classroom he kept on flashing. She felt it had gotten to the point of an attention seeking thing. He was doing it for a reaction, and he was getting one from his peers. Laughter.
It all clicked for me and my mind was rushing ahead as she spoke her next words. The best thing to do right now would be to simply ignore the behaviour. If after a week it was still happening we could talk other strategies.

I was happy with this.

The next day the principal called me in for a meeting regarding the flashing.
I was armed with an open mind but ready to be my child’s advocate.
The first words out of his mouth were “Now you know what has been happening, and if it were a student in a higher grade I would have automatically suspended them the first incident.”
Excuse me? My kid is 5 fucking years old. He is not being perverted or lurid, he is pulling his pants down for a laugh and you want to suspend him? He’s FIVE, he doesn’t understand suspension! He hasn’t even hurt anyone! My blood was boiling, as I swallowed those heated words.

The assistant principal stepped in here, and I cannot thank her enough, he said “I think what we need to remember is that Bluey is only 5 years old and this type of behaviour is typical for a 5 year old.”
I asked if there had been any complaints from parents. No there hadn’t been.
The principal felt that then Bluey needed a behaviour card and possibly an aide to shadow him in the playground. I couldn’t believe my ears! One of Bluey’s best friends has a sibling at that school with a diagnosed learning disability and they are refusing an aide to help that child because “it’s not feasible” yet it seems my child who likes to show his pecker for attention is in higher need?

I was willing to work with the school on what they felt best, but this was ridiculous!

I asked what THEY were doing to stop the behaviour happening, I asked what they felt I could do to help the situation, both with no answers. I also found out that the principal hadn’t spoken to the class teacher so had no idea what we had strategized the day before, which was very unprofessional in my opinion. He should have spoken to the class teacher to at least get an idea if there were any issues in the classroom as well.

I wasn’t happy. I wouldn’t accept such drastic measures of discipline which wouldn’t stop the problem. The same kids encouraging Bluey to flash. That this wouldn’t scare him into doing the right thing if he was still getting attention for it.

There were two weeks of the term left. The teacher and I stuck to our plan of dropping the whole thing and ignoring it. Those two weeks were BLISS. He tried once and she sighed “Oh aren’t you over it already?” and his little friend stayed in his pants from then onwards.

Holidays couldn't have came fast enough, just so I didn't have to worry with the tension of school pick up and who would approach me today.

Have you ever had an issue at school blown up to be more than it is? Has your child ever flashed anyone? Any advice for me?

And They Lived Happily Ever After

I love a good fairytale. A nice happy ending. The kind of love that makes your chest swell and ache with happiness.
But I don't believe in it.

Soul mates. Bullshit. They'd be a person who gets you, fits into who you are and there are no arguments. Where the fuck is my soul mate then?

Aren't fights, disagreements, differences a part of the packaged deal?

Is there such thing as someone who is always honest with you, and yet always makes you feel amazing?

Can you even have both?

Storybook romance, is it possible? Or are my expectations too high? Image credit.

Yet I see constantly around me, people falling in love or talking about how great their love is.

Is it just because they're wearing rose coloured glasses?

Are they trying to fool me?

Is there some competition I didn't get the memo on where we are supposed to try and compete with everyone else, even if it means out right lying?

Does never fighting mean that you will even be happy?

Or does it mean that there is no fire, no passion?

I don't understand love.

Frankly, it's an emotion I don't like.

It clouds my thoughts and judgement. It reaches inside of me and hurts me.

It's not comfortable, and it doesn't make me feel secure.

So why do I want it?

Why do I crave to love, and to be loved?
To have someone look at me and that I know it's "just right" and it will be in 80 years, 100 years, and another 50 lifetimes?

And so they lived happily ever after.

...Or some shit like that.

The Post That Never Was

Image credit.

Today I had plans for a Christmas outfit post.
I spent hours working on getting together festive, fashionable, yet suited to the environment outfits.
There were party frocks with sparkles of green and red.
There were stylish but comfortable outfits for the family lunches, including shoes that you can actually chase your kids around in.

Those photo's are still sitting on my hard drive.
Despite trying all morning to write up the post just the way I had envisioned, it didn't happen.
The words I wanted slipped off the tip of my tongue and I realised that what I would wear probably isn't what everyone else would wear. What I saw as generic and would suit everyone with minor changes to accessories could just be my crazy and wild ideas.

You see, I'm not very good at putting together an outfit.
I'm slowly learning, and trying, but I still have a long way to go.
I still stick to my basics. My fall backs.

Instead I leave you with the post that never was and a burning question,
What are you wearing on Christmas Day?

School Holiday Survival Tips. The Third Edition.

This is the third edition in the School Holiday Survival Tips series.


When it comes time for school holidays I feel it's important that my child still has situations provided to him to learn.

I'm not big on "schooling" my kids, but I am aware that there is a lot that schools do not offer.

This 8 part series is all about using the school holidays to give your child priceless yet inexpensive experiences to either enhance their learning at school, or to open them up to a completely new skill.

To follow on from what I've previously talked about nature walks, and animal safari's another great idea is Where We Live.

Image credit.

Basically it's a geography thing.
I start introducing this by talking about our country. I have this massive laminated map I got from the Sydney Sunday Telegraph when I was pregnant with Greenie. One side is the world, the other is a close up of Australia showing the states and capital cities and some towns.
To start we just kept it on that side and talked about where we lived in Australia, pointed out the other states and capital cities. We also have a puzzle of Australia that I found the kids love, and helps to make the different states stand out a little clearer.

We got a globe that Christmas for Bluey which he loved. I decided that was the time to point out that Australia was only one small part of the world. I spent the next 6 months pointing out the continents, that was it. On both the globe and map.
Sometimes we would hear on the news, or someone talking about other countries and if the kids brought it up I would tell them to get out the map and we would find it together.
 
I use this as a slow tapering platform to introduce other cultures and lifestyles. Something I feel developing and understanding for extremely important, especially in our hugely multicultural country. We will talk about things such as the language they speak, the currency they use, look at pictures of what it's like there, their beliefs or any cultural holidays celebrated, what animals can be found there, what their environment is like, and my favourite part is we will cook and eat food from that country.
 
Now, I know that geography is taught in school, but what is stopping us bringing this into our homes? My children are extremely excited to learn about other cultures as a result of this, and they can both speak little bits of several other languages. Yes, even Greenie at two and a half. (It's only a tiny bit though).

This adds on to being aware of their own environment and their place in the world.
It's also something really easy to start small with and build up more and more by then asking the capitals of each country and so on. I don't expect my kids to know it all within a matter of a few weeks though.

These holidays I will work on identifying Australia on the world map with Greenie, and if he understands we will start to introduce the states. This will mean revision for Bluey, but with Bluey I plan to work on continents and the oceans, something he has learnt but will need to revise. If towards the end of the holidays he is confident in identifying them we will start to talk about some main countries.
This week I will be choosing a couple of countries we will find on the map and I will be pulling up some pictures and information about how they celebrate Christmas.

The important part with extending your child's knowledge in this way is not to expect them to remember. Basically you're upping your knowledge a little, and just waffling on to them. Providing a stimulated time together, and sometimes they get it and sometimes they don't. That's ok.
I often find myself talking to the kids thinking "Are they even listening, there is no way they're able to understand this." And then one day I hear them talking about it.

Does your child know where we live? Do you talk about other countries and cultures?

 
 

Hey Look! I'm not wearing any pants!

I've had this post in the making for a couple of weeks now.
Thoughts swirling through my head, and a draft being steadily worked on.
I had a light bulb moment that co-incited with being linked to an old post I hadn't seen before by another blogger a couple of days later while this was being formulated.

I was going to hold off. I hate that copy cat thing. Instead I just went with it...

(Yes, I'm really not wearing any pants)


And I will be ok.
I have to be.

Confessions of a Twitaholic

I wrote this blog post last week and had it scheduled for today, but then because great minds think alike a much funnier post was written yesterday by the lovely Emma over on Whats In Emmas Brain?
I was going to scrap this post, but I decided not to, because people are always writing shit at the same time, and I can't be fucked working out what to post instead.

Please do go and check out Emma's post though because if you're not already following her blog you are living half a bloggy life.

From my experience online you are either a Facebook person, or a Twitter person.
I fall strongly into the latter category, but I know many bloggers who prefer to stick to Facebook.
Twitter is fast growing though, and many bloggers and brands are catching on to it's power.
Here I am going to tell you why you should give twitter another go, and help you out by explaining all the basics for you #YouDumbShit
.....Just kidding!

I picked up a twitter account when they were fresh off the press, and dumped it a month later. It is confusing, and can be boring, but it comes down to who you follow I think.
Get yourself a mixture of celebrities, comedians (a must!), bloggers and friends. The idea is to have a mixture of people who interest you and give you a constant stream.

 Here are my reasons you should give Twitter another go:
- You need to think of it like Facebook statuses, only shorter. It's not just about writing what you had for breakfast, it's about throwing a thought, or moment out there. There is no pressure to reply to each tweet a person throws out, just as there is no pressure to reply. Oh and there's none of that liking shit.

- I get a solid amount of my readers coming over from twitter. It's acceptable to throw links to your blog up a few times a day there, so you can try to catch a different group of people at different times of the day. Just don't go spamming your link every hour.
- It is an easy and fast way to connect with your readers and other bloggers. There are so many facts and snippets you can throw out there, and you're getting to know someone on a day to day level, while your "Tweeps" get to know you.
- This also means it's a great way to get feedback on your blog posts, and build conversation. The best part about this is it sometimes leads to more blog idea's, and you can quickly become an expert on something confusing, like twitter itself.
- Also a fantastic place to build a relationship with brands and be kept up with the latest of what they're up to, chat to them, and get yourself on THEIR radar.
- I don't have to watch the news anymore. Twitter covers all of that for me usually breaking the news before it's on TV. Not sure what to wear for the day, a tweet from bed and you will have someone telling you if it's actually going to be a summer's day or if we're still stuck in this funky December, but it looks like August crap.

lets cover some basic terminology:


Twitter Handle - username/alias/account that a person goes by. For example mine is @MissPink_TMA

@ - You put this in front of a twitter handle to notify them that you are talking to/about them. They will then get notified, and may just tweet you back.
Tweeting - the status or update that you post
RT - Stands for Retweet, which is tweeting what someone has said/shared. You can also quote what they have said and add your two cents before or after. Again, building conversation.
Tweeps - Your Twitter people, or Twitter Friends. Tweeps are way cooler than FB-peeps.
# - Hash tagging. you pop your little hash tag in front of a word or phrase to highlight it. Sometimes these trend, but basically it's like throwing an afterthought in, or allowing people to follow a stream of what you are talking about, like #DPCON12.
Trending - A specific user, hash tag, or phrase that is currently popular on twitter. It can be a news story, a celebrity, or you know just #EdenandEminem

Ways to make twitter easier for you:

-Keep your Twitter handle similar to your blog name if you are going to use it for your blog so we know who the heck you are! Otherwise be clear about who you are by filling out your bio and adding a link to your blog. Actually do this anyway, it's just fucking easier.

-I don't read blogs from my phone, so if an interesting link pops up I favourite that tweet. Then when I get home I can just go to my favourites on the twitter page and check out all the links for the day. Simple, and that way I don't miss anything. I just unfavourite it once I've opened the link. This way I don't have to scroll back through hundreds of tweets looking for something I vaguely remember from 7am.

-Download Tweetdeck. Really, it's easier to have that in the background where you can quickly check the tweets as they pop up, whilst you're reading my blog blogs and reply if you like without having to navigate away from the page you're on. It's exactly like MSN messenger.
Plus you can follow certain hash tags and have that stream to the side of your main stream. Makes it easy to keep updated with events. Tweetdeck also automatically shortens your URLs so you can write more with that link. You can link up multiple twitter accounts, your Facebook account, Facebook page, myspace (but there's no one there), linkedin and foursquare if you have all of that and aren't left feeling as confused as I am writing that sentence!

-Add a button to your blog, let people know where to find you! After all we can't come if you don't send us the address!


My confession? I'm addicted. I tweet too often and sometimes too much detail. You're not supposed to do the detail thing, but I'm not one for rules anyway.
I'm also on there far too much. Sleep? Nah, I'm busy on twitter.

Simplifying the Brow

Having fabulous makeup skills are all well and good, but there are some things that would be really helpful to have going for you first.
I've talked about skincare before, now I'm talking about framing. Yep, just like you'd spend time searching for the perfect frame for your favourite picture, it's important to put the right frame on your face, and your faces natural frame are your eyebrows.

Image credit.

In my personal opinion eyebrows can make or break an entire look.
Now, here is where I reccommend you call in a professional. Let those brows go wild for 4-6 weeks and head on down to a trusted beautician and ask her to "shape" your eyebrows.
A good beautician will identify your natural arc, will talk to you about desired thickness, and will work with those to create a natural look.
Then you will have your shape, and you just have to tweeze the stray hairs as they grow in.

It took me many years, and lots of getting it wrong with my eyebrows that I wish someone would have told me how to tweeze them. I was a serial over-plucker, and just had the shape completely wrong.

Eyebrows made simple thanks to Lauren Conrad.

You will need tweezers, a brow comb, and possibly small scissors. I like to use hairdresser scissors, I have seen people use nail scissors and small sewing scissors, kitchen scissors tend to be too big for this job...and I assure you, know matter how overgrown your monobrow is, hedge clippers WILL be too big.

First step is to grab your brow comb and brush your brows into place by brushing in an upwards and outwards motion.
Then grab your scissors and clip along the top natural edge of your brows. The idea is not to cut the hair at the root, but to trim the length of the longer hairs helping to keep your brows looking tidier.
Tweeze along the top edge of your brows. We are NOT shaping here, just tidying up any strays. Remember the best way to frame your face is to work with the natural shape you already have.
Tweeze under the arc, again following your natural curve. This is where you would thin out your brows if desired, but remember no one likes the over tweezed look.

A good way for checking how to create a natural looking line to your brows is to use the end of your brow comb.
Start by holding the end of the brush just next to your nostril and up so that it crosses the inner corner of your eye. That is where your brow should start.
Next slide the end of the brush so that it runs across the pupil of your eye when looking straight ahead, and it will point to where your arch should be.
Finally pivot the brush across to the outer corner of your eye and that is where your brow should end.

You can then tidy your eyebrows up by brushing them into place and apply your brow makeup, if you use some.

Has this helped to simplify how to shape your brows? Do you see a beautician to shape your brows and upkeep yourself between visits? Maybe you hand over your brows exclusively for a beautician to do?

School Holiday Survival Tips. The Second Edition.

This is the second edition in the School Holiday Survival Tips series.

When it comes time for school holidays I feel it's important that my child still has situations provided to him to learn.

I'm not big on "schooling" my kids, but I am aware that there is a lot that schools do not offer.

This 8 part series is all about using the school holidays to give your child priceless yet inexpensive experiences to either enhance their learning at school, or to open them up to a completely new skill.


To follow on from last week when I talked about nature walks, another great idea is to do Animal Safari's.

Image credit.

Costume is optional.

Having boys my kids really love to look for bugs. I'm not a bug expert, nor am I any type of animal expert, but you'd be surprised at how many kids may have no idea what a worm is or a snail!
It's different seeing them in the flesh!
Where you can't see them in the flesh, you can encourage an "Animal Hunt" in other ways.
Sometimes we will go to the local dollar shop and I will ask the kids to find "An animal that lives in the Savannah" in the postcards section. They get to pick one out each and we buy them, come home, and do a collage where we talk about that animal.
Sometimes we take a trip to the library and flick through books.

Best situation we get to make a trip to the Zoo.

We talk about the environment that animal may live in, and bring up other animals. We talk about the food it eats, and things that it does, as well as describing it.
This is another great way that you can get a younger child involved by saying "What colour is it?" Or "How does it feel/look?" Talking about what it eats, and then asking an older child if that means it's a herbivore, carnivore or omnivore. Asking if an older child knows any other types of animals that may belong to the same "family" i.e. reptiles, big cats, primates etc.

I think the thing with our children is that we don't realise just how much they comprehend, and that which they do not understand they won't without the situation to provide it.
Encourage them to guess the answer, nothing will change if they get it wrong, but they may get it right.
I find more and more my children's imaginations are overtaking my actual knowledge, and when I cannot answer a question it's a great way to introduce Bluey to google.

Let's face it, as much as I want to fight it, he needs to learn how to use a computer, and get his google-fu happening. I'd rather introduce him at home, with me, how to use it correctly, than some mate from school searching "Big titties" for shits and giggles.

I love that I can include endangered species and talk about why they are endangered (most due to habitat loss), and then move on to extinct animals explaining that because we didn't do this or that all of that species died and so we don't have them anymore.
Just another way to help them be aware of the world and how their actions, no matter how small, do have affect.

What I love about this one is you don't have to leave the house for it. You can also wing it pretty well.
If you have the Discovery Channel you could pop that on, let them watch an episode about whichever animal and then use that as a starting point to talk about what they learnt and divulge further into that animal.

It's really up to you.
And really, who wants to talk about dogs or cats or bloody birds for the hundredth time that day? Not me.

The Perfect Christmas Gift for the Australian Road Rider in your house.

This post is sponsored by Nuffnang.

When Mr Black and I first met there was one hobby I was made aware of from the start.
Motorbikes.
So much that Bluey had a motorbike of his own before he was even born.
Greenie has one of his own too.
It didn't even cross his mind that we have nowhere for the kids to actually go riding.
Or the fact that Bluey is scared of the thing.

So when Mr Black saw me waving a copy of Australian Road Rider in his direction, he was more than happy to take it off my hands, and he spent the evening in the shed reading, leaving me to trawl blogs in peace and quiet.

Mr Black is quite allergic to reading, from books, to magazines, to the TV guide and maps. Especially maps. So I took this as a good sign.
I don't speak motorbike, so I have to hand this one over to Mr Black.


Reading through Australian Road Riders, there were a lot of interesting articles. The magazine focuses mainly on advertising for different road bikes, bike riding gear and parts. It also has a variety of factual stories and rider specialist information.
I really enjoyed reading an article which compared two similar motorbikes. Something that would initially have me purchasing Motorbike Magazines, so that I can see what the professionals are saying about the bikes I'm eyeing off.


I liked the cleanness of the photography in a country road setting so that the scenery wasn’t so busy that it took your attention away from the motorbikes, and also that they showed the details such as the gauges.


The article covered a lot of the basic information you would want to know before purchasing a motorbike, such as handling, power, set up and comfort.
Overall I found the magazine to be very informative.


I particularly liked the pricing guide that was in the magazine too as it provided me with a broad idea of the type of models and specifications I would get for what kind of price range.

I don’t need to ask, but I think that Mr Black may just be asking for an Australian Road Rider Subscription this year for Christmas. This is fine by me! We have actually been looking into magazine subscriptions this year for gifts for those people who are hard to shop for. Bonus is they’re the gift that keeps on giving year round!


Be eligible to win one of 10 fabulous Hawaiian holiday packages valued at over $12,000 each with Magshop’s Christmas competition. Simply subscribe, renew or treat family and friends to any of the 35 participating titles including The Australian Women’s Weekly, Top Gear Australia, Australian House & Garden, Shop Til You Drop, UFC, Money, and many more.

Take What You Need Just Leave Me Alone

Image credit.

Sometimes I feel like a personal reservoir.
Everyone lines up to take a drink, to bathe in what I have to offer.
Day after day.
Again and again.

As you'd expect, my supply lowers. It's not much of a problem at first. There is still plenty there and I am happy to give what I can.

Steadily it keeps dropping, but I can't say no now can I?
My desire to help others where ever I can, because who says they don't need it more?

Slowly each drop comes with wincing pain from me.
I am all too aware of my own problems, and my strength and patience in dealing with them is lowered.
It's more than lowered. It's non existent.

I am dry, and yet you still keep asking for more.
People keep lining up.
They want more.
I don't know how, but I keep giving it.

Ignorance is a welcome friend.
My problems pile up.
A heavy weight on my shoulders.
Crushing my chest, so that I cannot breathe.
Where are you when I need you?
How can you take from someone struggling and not offer something in return?

Do not take more from someone that you are not willing to give yourself.
Apply it to your life.
Live it.
Because I hope you never feel the crushing weight of the world whilst more is drawn from you.

So you want to work with brands?

So it's been a week since I was lucky enough to attend Nudivertisy hosted by 4 intelligent and fabulously stylish women, Lorraine and Larissa from Naked Communications, Eden from Edenland, and Mrs Woog from Woogsworld and I've spent the last week pondering all manners of things from "How can I establish a good working relationship with a brand?" to "Which direction do I want my blog to go?" and even "What is the meaning of life a media kit?"

I don't have all the answers yet but here are some things that I learnt.

A "media kit" isn't a very fitting term for bloggers. A "position statement" is actually more appropriate. Does this mean there will be a bit of confusion as terminology changes?

Establishing a trusting and positive relationship in the blogging community is just as important, if not more, as having that good relationship with a brand. Take time to network with your fellow bloggers, read their posts, comment and build on your relationships. You are relying on this to help you sell that product.

Your blog is your brand. You need to protect it like you would your babies. This means choosing carefully what brands are the best fit for you and your blog, understanding what gets your readers talking, and it means taking the time to ESTABLISH your blog. Starting a blog up and then bombarding people with sponsored content and reviews won't keep people around long term. We want to know YOU first.

Pitch your blog in 15 words or less. Sit, work on it, scream with frustration, work on it some more, slam furniture and stomp your foot, and then work on it until you lose your mind but get that description under 15 words!

Before approaching brands you need to work out who you are and what your blog is about. Be professional and be transparent. Also take the time to get to know a brand, and do not make the first point of contact a pitch.

Be smart. This means not clicking that send button without doing a spell check and/or a proof read. I know that I will actually dismiss some excellent blog posts that contain really bad spelling, I am sure that brands are thinking along the same lines as I am. Use your spellcheck!
Do not sit next to Hair Romance when you're having a fluffy hair day. Actually do sit next to her and while you're there get her to do something fabulous with your puff.

A cute baby's meow cry is still enough to make me ovulate on the spot. Oh will I ever be rid of this baby fever?

I am completely in love with the Naked Communications office, and actually didn't want to leave. It's easy to see why. Yes that really is their office. You should see their wicked Willy Wonka type hallway.

I wonder if they have pants off Fridays?

How YOU can create the beach babe look AT HOME.



Image credit.

With summer upon us the beach babe look is something many of us cannot achieve whether it be due to fair skin or avoidance of the sun's rays.

In the past you may have had to rock a Nicole Kidman look, but fake tanners aren't what they used to be.

Need help navigating what is what though?

Say no more, I've had myself and my minions onto it.

ModelCo Jet Set Self Tanning Glove 32ml $8.95. This is a little mitt you place on your hand and you rub over your body. It basically feels like rubbing a baby wipe all over. I left this on overnight before washing off, but it's probably safe to leave on without washing because the colour is lighter than the other tanner's I've used. I found this the hardest to apply evenly as you really do have no idea if you have covered everywhere. I thought I had and the tan came up quite patchy in area's that it really shouldn't have.

Le Tan Original Self Tanning Cream 150ml $13.99. Applied like you would a moisturiser, only with more care to cover more evenly. This cream takes several hours to show up, so is best left on overnight. I woke up with a couple of patches that I applied more of the cream to and within a couple of hours it had evened out.

St Tropez Self Tanning Bronzing Mousse 120ml $39.95. It comes out of a pump action bottle and the texture is exactly like mousse you would use for your hair. There is a brown tinge to the mousse, and it works as a gradual tanner, going on really light but darkening over time. There is no need to wash this one off to stop the tanner darkening.

Le Tan Jet Dry 100g $13.99. This is the most similar to the spray tan you would get from the salon. Best applied by a mate, unless you're only doing your legs. It's also messy as you are spraying the colour directly onto yourself so I recommend you go outside, or to a place you can easily clean.
The colour is instant, but like a salon tan it will darken over time. It does seem to take longer than a salon tanner so I'd recommend leaving it overnight, or for 6 hours or more before washing off.
This was probably my favourite of all the products I've tried.

Dove Body Summerglow 250ml $7.49. Applied just like you would a moisturiser. This will only create a very subtle colour. You won't look "tanned" but it will help to take the edge out of your paleness. It's a great starter for those who are scared of the fake tan, but I also found that as soon as you showered you lost the colour, whereas with a fake tan it sticks around for a week or so.







Depending on what you are after there are a range of different brands and types of applicators for fake tan now, and very rarely do they give off that orange look.
For a first time home tan I'd say to pick up the cream or the spray, as they were the easiest to apply in my opinion, but don't be afraid to branch out and try new products to find out what works best for you.
If you're only after something really light, and are feeling very wary definitely try the Summerglow.

Is there a product you're loving that I've missed? Let me know about it!
Any of these products that you're going to try?

School Holiday Survival Tips. The First Edition.

School holidays bring a mixture of good and bad.

I personally love having Bluey home for the 2 weeks. Yes even when we have those sort of days where I'm thinking maybe I was high as a kite to be happily waving buh-bye to school.

When it comes time for school holidays I feel it's important that my child still has situations provided to him to learn.
I'm not big on "schooling" my kids, but I am aware that there is a lot that schools do not offer.

Leading up to the school holidays I make a list. I'm a list maker. I write down some ideas for activities or certain area's Bluey may need to work on. Then I make sure I have everything I need. I do try to work with what we already have around the house though.

It's just that, a piece of paper with idea's scrawled on it over the space of a week. That's it.
I don't "plan out" our holidays, and set X, Y and Z to do on this day, and P, Q and R for that.
It's just there for reference. We can't go out and do exciting (and sometimes costly) things every day in the holidays, and frankly kids need time at home too, just as much as we do.

I remember as a child complaining to my parents that I was "booorreeeed" quite often. Willing them to come up with some fun idea. I also notice that my child's behaviour drops when they are bored too, this way I can feel good that I am stimulating their minds, as well as helping to give them an outlet for their energy, both mental and physical.

This 8 part series is all about using the school holidays to give your child priceless yet inexpensive experiences to either enhance their learning at school, or to open them up to a completely new skill.

This week I am going to talk about Nature Walks.

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With the warmer weather makes these a perfect outlet either first thing in the morning, or in the evening on those really hot days. Some days we will take two walks depending on energy levels. Sometimes we will take a walk to the park, other times we will find a local reserve to discover, and sometimes we just walk the streets pointing out other houses, or smelling the flowers they have growing in their gardens.

I use nature walks to talk about our environment, sometimes it will be to talk about how we breathe in oxygen and out carbon monoxide and how tree's are important because they breathe in our carbon monoxide and they turn it back into oxygen for us to breathe, so if we didn't have them, then we would run out of air.
Bluey understands how clouds are formed and why we have them, i.e. precipitation and evaporation.
We talk about everything we can see, or hear, or smell, we smile and say hello to passersby, and eventually we end up somewhere where I can let the kids run for 5 or 10 minutes before coming back home.
This isn't just for school aged children, and we make sure to include Greenie in our talks. With Greenie we will discuss what colours we can see, or shapes, we might count all the different purple plants we pass or ask him to identify the numbers on mailboxes.
Nature walks are one of those good things that you can include everyone in, even yourself! I use it as a way to get a little exercise and some sun onto my skin, because lets face it, the sun is a natural pick me up!

Image credit.

Along the way we like to collect lots of fascinating objects. Thinks like rocks, or fancy bark, flowers, leaves, one time we found a discarded birds nest. I am very strict in us only collecting things that have fallen onto the ground though. We are not to pick anything from a plant, which is a part of teaching my kids to be aware of the world around them and how it is important not to take anything we cannot put back in some way.
We take all these home and put them in a special box for later.

The best part is that it's getting the kids out of the house. If I plan myself really well I do all the housework first and then I come back to a clean house, children that are happy to have a nap or sit quietly and read a book to themselves, and I get to have a rest too!

So next time the kids are driving you absolute bonkers, get them to put on some good walking shoes and a hat and take a half hour walk. Sometimes we will take the scooters or bikes, other times I will walk at a brisk pace and tell them to run. Just get them out of the house before you all go mad!

The Season; As Said By A Five Year Old.

Image from here

Bluey has already set to letting us know what he wants for Christmas. He's talked with us about things he would like all year, but there has been one thing that has been a consistent on his wish list for a couple of years. Previously our yard space wouldn't allow for it, but this year we've made the new places yard work to include it. The Trampoline.
He's asked to write on my blog a bit. The last one was us talking and me typing. This time he declared that he could do it all himself, so I gave him the laptop and went to tweeze my eyebrows, and told him not to come and ask me how to spell stuff, because "you told me you can do it yourself".
This is what he wrote:


Christmas is about sparkly lights and tincele, getting to see all my family, singing caroles and eating christmas cake. In december i get to hang my stocking up and help set the christmas tree up. 
I would like for christmas a trampaline with balls so i can bounce on it. I have been a good listener this year, i've been kind to other's and i've stopped pulling my pants down at school.
So please may i have this gift so i can share it with my brother?

Love

*Cough* Just interjecting a huge proud mummy moment, because I haven't edited his part in any way at all. You just don't realise they're growing up until they do stuff like this.