Mumming in Heels

Captain Ig's Pirate Party

Sun, 10 Jun 2012 13:04:55 +1000

I’m not blogging again, really I’m not. But it was Iggy’s 6th birthday party yesterday so I want to post some pics for his dad and my aunty Sue and anyone else not on Instagram who might want to see them (and also for my Pintrest of course) . This was our first at-home birthday party and I have to say I got way more cheap thrills out of the prep than the real thing. Jeez, two hours is a long time when you’re surrounded by 20 five and six year olds and can’t numb yourself with wine.

Here are the pics:

Iggy needed a dress rehearsal when his costume arrived (Disney via eBay) to prove I could draw a moustache.

Milo’s costume was also Disney, but in keeping with his personality he went for the goth version.

My brother is a graphic designer (luketcullen@hotmail.com if you need anything done - he’s also single and v handsome and lovely fyi) and he whipped up some signage for us.

Cupcake decorating was a hit with the kids. This is the table before the carnage.

I don’t think the cake boss has much to worry about.

The giant flag was an eBay find and will be going back on there pronto (it’s like hiring, but with more choice), the skeleton was from itsallaboutkidsgifts.com.au, the chest was filled with all my old jewellery. The girl guests thought it was treasure to be looted and they all had to have their lolly bags checked on the way out… Oops. My bad.

Little flags were found on eBay. How awesome are cocktail franks?

Sword picks from itsallaboutkidsgifts.com.au.

I cut the sandwiches using a cookie cutter bought on eBay. While I was making them, Milo walked out and said ‘eww, white bread?!’. Pat on the back me.

I knew I wanted to do this for ages but forgot to save any bottles from any of the house parties/BBQs we’ve been to lately. As a result I was up at 6am pouring a few six packs down the sink. I can think of a few of my male family members who will find that unforgivable. The kids looked pretty funny swilling grape juice from them though.

Because Ig is the Don Juan of KX, he had more girls than boys at his party. I had to find some girls tattoos for the tattoo parlour from eBay and the moustache pencil had to moonlight as a Jack Sparrow eyeliner too.

I found the plastic beer steins on eBay and we made ice cream sodas to give that frothy effect.

Their completely unprompted, 20-year-old-dudes-at-the-pub poses scare me a little here. But my new nephew Uriah is adorbs.

Iggy in character.

We played Throw The Cannonball (with water balloons), Walk The Plank (with shaving foam), had a Treasure Hunt for gold coins (bought in bulk from lollyworld.com.au) in lieu of lolly bags and went old school with Pin The Treasure on the Map. Every single one of them cheated.

My sister Lara made the cake. I forgot the candles.

Exhausted.

I can’t believe I remembered my Tumblr password after so long but I’ve had so many...

Sun, 27 May 2012 11:54:56 +1000

I can’t believe I remembered my Tumblr password after so long but I’ve had so many questions (and amazing kind words, thank you!) about various bits of our wedding since Paula Joye so beautifully ran our pictures on her site that I thought I should probably give credit to the people I hadn’t mentioned properly (and all in the one place. (This is not a return to blogging though… I’m much too lazy for that.

Photos: Alana Landsberry - alanalandsberry.com

Invites/stationery: Carly Townsend - carlytownsend.com

Hair and make-up: Natalia Sprem - 2c.com.au

Garlands in the photo booth - bulkpartysupplies.com (they don’t ship to Australia but I used bongous.com to get them here)

Catering: Adam Dundas-Taylor - dundastaylor.com.au

Florist: Shady Fig - shadyfig.com.au

Videographer: Nick May - nickmay.com.au

xxx

Hi Justine, I am trying to find in on-line copy of your M.I.C.K.Y right up in the Autumn Shop4Kids. I had the magazine but can’t seem to find it anywhere. If there is an on-line copy can you please send me the link... Thanks Cassie

Mon, 21 May 2012 10:52:38 +1000

Hi Cassie,

If you email a request for the pdf of the story to crowe@acpmagazines.com.au, she can get it to you.

Thanks,

This ad for UK store John Lewis got this ‘elf on...

Wed, 30 Nov 2011 12:36:52 +1100

This ad for UK store John Lewis got this ‘elf on steroids’ (as my partner calls me) all welled up. One of my boys is like this. The other… notsomuch.

I said to Milo “Santa can understand anything to do with kids so when you write to him...

Sun, 27 Nov 2011 16:18:05 +1100

I said to Milo “Santa can understand anything to do with kids so when you write to him don’t worry about checking the spelling with me, just go nuts. He’ll work it out.” This goes against his grain, he’s a perfectionist and not really a winging-it kinda guy. But he gave it a go. This is the totally awesome result:

Subbed version:

Hello Santa, how are you today?

Please can you give me an old hero factory box for Christmas, and a bike, and the book Diary of a Wimpy Kid, and I don’t know what else.

Good luck, Santa. Bye.

PS And I forgot the Fire Dragon from Lego Ninjago. Bye.

Poppers in the morning sun. Retro.

Sun, 27 Nov 2011 10:35:42 +1100

Poppers in the morning sun. Retro.

So I’ve pretty much done nothing lately but make these Christmas videos (from the dancing...

Wed, 23 Nov 2011 22:41:52 +1100

So I’ve pretty much done nothing lately but make these Christmas videos (from the dancing elves people) for everyone I know. I’m easily amused.

sendables.jibjab.com/holidays

And Santa’s Portable North Pole is up again, better than ever. I made Milo a ‘nice list’ video but put Iggy in the naughty category because that kid is driving me crazy. I hope he doesn’t get too scarred by it.

portablenorthpole.tv

Love the festive season.

Organising a wedding in four months at a venue where you have to BYO everything from the napkins to...

Thu, 17 Nov 2011 16:28:00 +1100

Organising a wedding in four months at a venue where you have to BYO everything from the napkins to the waiters and the toilets is also know colloquially as ‘biting off more than one can chew’. As a result, anyone who even vaguely knows me has been given a craft task for our wedding. Here’s Ig hand dying paper doilies. I have no idea what we’ll use them for, but it made for a fun wedding crafternoon (or five).

I lived in London for four years back in, oh, the early 1800s, and I’d been back a few times...

Thu, 10 Nov 2011 16:00:05 +1100

I lived in London for four years back in, oh, the early 1800s, and I’d been back a few times since I moved home but not for about five years. I was pretty excited to head there on a work trip to LFW last month for a few days.

But this time I had a real ‘you know you’re old’ moment when instead of checking into my hotel and bailing straight for Topshop, or even Selfridges or Liberty, all I wanted to do was go to Graham & Greene, a homewares store in Ladbroke Grove whose stuff I’ve always lusted after in Brit house mags, and who - so annoyingly - don’t ship to Australia.

I wasn’t disappointed: it was all of my housey dreams come true. Except I realised once there that of course I still couldn’t bring much home. But it was totes inspiring and at least I got some good (cheap!) gypsy cushions to mix it up on a bit on the sofa.

Along with the holy trinity mentioned above - Topshop, Selfridges and especially Liberty (my happy place) - I remembered why London actually kills NY when it comes to shopping. And Sydney? Ptth. We’re just the Aldi of the shopping world.

Iggy hung out in the office the other day. When he left he said ‘I don’t like how all...

Wed, 09 Nov 2011 16:00:05 +1100

Iggy hung out in the office the other day. When he left he said ‘I don’t like how all those girls always laugh at me.” I said “They just think you’re really cute and cool.”

He rolled his eyes and muttered “They don’t know anything about my life.”

So R Patz.

Let this give hope to remarrying single mums everywhere…

Tue, 08 Nov 2011 16:03:06 +1100

Let this give hope to remarrying single mums everywhere…

Giant Chewy Nutella Cookies

Mon, 07 Nov 2011 16:02:05 +1100

I found the basis of this recipe online years ago and have had it on a sticky note on my laptop ever since. Sometimes I use a lot more nutella. The dough is kind of dry but still we manage to eat most of it raw.

Ingredients:

2 cups plus 2 tablespoons of plain flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon bicarb soda
1/2 cup butter, melted and cooled until warm
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup nutella
1 large egg
1 egg yolk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup chopped macadamias or hazelnuts

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 160 degrees. Line a baking sheet without sides with baking paper.

2. Mix flour, salt and bicarb together in a medium sized bowl. Set aside.

3. With electric mixer, mix butter and sugars until thoroughly blended. Mix in Nutella, egg, yolk and vanilla extract. Add dry ingredients; mix until just combined. Stir in nuts.

4. Form 1/4 cup dough into ball. Holding ball using fingertips of both hands, pull into two equal halves. Rotate halves 90 degrees and with jagged surfaces exposed, join halves together at their base, again forming a single cookie, being careful not to smooth dough’s uneven surface. Place formed dough onto sheet, about nine balls per sheet. (Smaller cookie sheets can be used but fewer cookies can be baked at one time and the time may need to be adjusted).

5. Bake until cookies are light golden brown and outer edges start to harden, yet centers are still soft and puffy, 13 to 15 minutes. Cool cookies on sheets. Store in an airtight container.

Speaking of Nutella, here is Iggy at our favourite LA breakfast place, The Griddle Cafe, with the next thing I want to try recreating at home: Nutella french toast. Maybe we’ll skip the whipped cream on top for DIY.

Can you tell I’m on a diet? The only thing I think about these days is food…

Three other phenomenal things to eat in Disneyland: 1. Half Baked Cookie Dessert from the Big...

Sun, 06 Nov 2011 16:00:06 +1100

Three other phenomenal things to eat in Disneyland:

1. Half Baked Cookie Dessert from the Big Thunder Ranch BBQ. Four of us didn’t even come close to finishing this thing. I’m going to try to make it with my chewy nutella cookie recipe next week.

2. The classic frozen banana. I make these for the kids at home all the time, but they’re not the same as Disney’s. Does anyone know how they keep the banana inside so soft? Mine go frozen solid.

3. Cream Cheese Pretzel. Apparently you can’t get them like this anywhere else in the world. That kills me a bit on the inside.

When I’m in the States I love this website called Dishtip. Basically you put in what you feel...

Sat, 05 Nov 2011 16:02:06 +1100

When I’m in the States I love this website called Dishtip. Basically you put in what you feel like eating and where you are, and it tells you the exact dishes nearby - not just the restaurants - that are the most raved about online. It’s like Yelp but more specific and I haven’t had a bum steer from either Dishtip or Yelp yet.

We tried it in Disneyland recently thinking nothing would come up because all food there has to be crap, right? But all signs pointed to the Disneyland Corn Dogs at the end of Main Street. Even food critics rave about this thing.

We were hesitant. I mean, dagwood dogs are revolting right? Deep friend mystery meat in batter is no-one’s friend. (Even if we do get one every year at the Easter Show because it’s ‘funny’ and ‘tradition’.) But we gave in. ERROR. Disney Corn Dogs are really, really good. It’s not batter, it’s like a crispy-on-the-outside-fluffy-on-the-inside corn bread coating. Slightly sweet. Bizarrely delicious. It’s still mystery meat, but hey, you can’t have everything. I wanted one every day and, let me tell you, what goes on in LA doesn’t stay in LA. It comes right back with you as excess body baggage. Totally worth it though.

When people ask me where they should go for their skin, I pretty much only ever recommend The Clinic...

Fri, 04 Nov 2011 16:00:06 +1100

When people ask me where they should go for their skin, I pretty much only ever recommend The Clinic in Bondi Junction. We just worked out that I’ve been going there for ten years in January and I trust Kaye and Lisa implicitly, even when they’re putting me through pain in the name of beauty (for years they would tell me in interviews that laser hair removal felt like ‘an elastic band snapping against the skin’ which I would faithfully print in whatever mag I was beauty editor for at the time, and then they actually did it to me and I realised it was lies, all LIES. Ouch).

They have me on a program for my wedding. It involves a new kind of microdermbrasion (which I had last week and was unreal) and something called a Dermaroller, which I’ll update you on next week. And maybe a Mini-Fraxel at the end, which terrifies me but apparently shouldn’t.

They’ve also got me using this new cult cream, Dermaquest Stem Cell 3D Complex. No, it’s not made from umbilical cords. I’ve never really known Kaye and Lisa to be excited about anything topical before (I’m sure they have been, they just haven’t recommended anything to me like they did this) which made me feel like it must work before I even used it. Anyway, it’s an all-you-need moisturiser using big doses of all the most effective ingredients around, created by one of the chemists who creates skincare products for big beauty companies all over the world, and it may just be my favourite moisturiser I’ve ever tried (and that’s a lot). Plus, it smells a bit like cake, which is really a nice treat while I’m on the bridal diet.

www.dermaquestinc.com/products/masters/stem-cell-3d-complex.html-0

www.theclinic.net.au

I just discovered Shaun T, my lover, has a kids workout!...

Thu, 03 Nov 2011 16:00:05 +1100

I just discovered Shaun T, my lover, has a kids workout! I’m so ~~Torrentzing~~ finding and purchasing this for the boys. Cute.

Anyone who knows me knows that I’m not really into...

Wed, 02 Nov 2011 16:00:05 +1100

Anyone who knows me knows that I’m not really into physical exertion. As in, I often wish my hallway at home had a travelator in it. All five metres of it. I actually used to be pretty good at pilates but then I had the boys and discovered Lifestyle You and when I tried to go back recently there were literally little old ladies in the class using more springs than me. It was off-putting.

In concept, I’m a big fan of workout DVDs for mums because they can be squeezed in around nap time or whenever you get a weird, inconvenient burst of energy and free time (mine are usually around 5am). The problem is that most of them are too easy, unless we’re talking about Tracy Anderson’s Dance Cardio routine which you need to be the love child of Jason Grant and Madonna to be able to to do.

Not so with Shaun T’s Hip Hop Abs though, which is actually fun enough to get me off my arse every now and again. I’m totally unco so I’m sure it’s not pretty to watch, but I just close the blinds and try not to be embarrassed in front of myself when I trip over my own feet.

The only annoying thing about it is that I feel guilty every second I’m tilt, tuck, tightening (the basis of Hip Hop Abs), as Shaun T is so lovely and kind and sweet with all his encouraging words and compliments… and I stole his whole collection off the internet. But I don’t think the infomercials he sells from - yeah, infomercials, clearly this is a highly professional recommendation - air in Australia. Maybe. Also, from the music I’m pretty sure they’re kind of old. Regardless, now that I love Shaun T I feel bad that I deprived him of his rightful income so if you want to try it I totally encourage you to pay good money. I promise you will enjoy. And maybe even break a sweat.

Hi Justine, you have a great sense of style. I saw you wearing some gorgeous wood heel sandals yesterday, just wondering whoy they were by and what are some of your other stylish picks for office attire. Keep up the good work, love SHOP x

Wed, 02 Nov 2011 12:21:25 +1100

They were the Elizabeth and James Clair shoe in nude and black and they are the most light and comfy heel I’ve ever owned.

Workwear in this office is easy because one day you can wear denim shorts and a t-shirt and the next day you can wear sequins (like I am now in honour of Kardashian Day). That’s probably not very helpful is it? The shoes will help (good price too!). x

Hi Justine. I am striving to one day take your role and becoming the editor of Shop Til You Drop and I am not sure where to start and what is the best way to get into the very competitive industry. I am planning on studying Journalism at university but is this really the right direction to take or am I better off getting an internship at a magazine and taking it from there? Dedicated reader x

Wed, 02 Nov 2011 12:14:08 +1100

When are you coming to take my job? I’m totally up for a take-over. Say, 4pm?

Re internship or uni, you need to do both. If a job comes up where you’re interning, you may want to defer uni or try to do it part time, but no harm in learning a little in the meantime. Don’t worry - we’ll surgically remove all the unnecessary knowledge once you get a job.

Found in the SHOP 4 Kids cupboard yesterday: a mini-sized rip-off of the Proenza PS1 in the exact...

Sun, 28 Aug 2011 16:01:05 +1000

Found in the SHOP 4 Kids cupboard yesterday: a mini-sized rip-off of the Proenza PS1 in the exact same colour as mine. If I had a daughter we could be bag buddies!

Rank.