Beckybean Christmas Sale!

Ho! ho! ho! Merry Christmas everybody!

Yes that's right... wait for it... it's SALE TIME AT BECKYBEAN!

To celebrate all that is wonderful and merry (and ok... a little stressful for many of us!!!) at this time of year, we're having a 10% off sale in the shop up until 24 December 09'. So not only do you not have to battle the crowds at your local Westfield, you get something that's a one-of-a-kind, handmade with love item. Simply order online, we'll wrap it up and 'make it look pretty' and can post to anywhere in Australia for free!!

We've also hugely discounted some of our existing Beckybean stock, becausw frankly, we're sick of looking at it and want the space back in our sewing rooms so we can go and make some more in the new year! So the 10% off also includes sale items as well. All you have to do is take it through the checkout, pay for it, and we'll jump on Paypal straight away and refund the 10%

Too easy, easy peesy :)

Now if only Jett would have wanted a handbag or pochette out of the shop, instead of me having to pull a tummy muscle trying to carry his new bike and Thomas Tank track, while pushing a pram, back to the car... would have been WAY easier!!! Ah the joy :pOk shameless plug over, I promise. I guess I should get back to my browsing on Etsy for more Christmas pressies while Jett's asleep. Have a lovely week everybody :)

BIDM wrap :)

Last Saturday was the December BrisStyle Indie Designers Market - and what a day! Sure it was hot, but there were yummy cupcakes, good coffee, and lots of water to go around. Not to mention all the awesome wares on offer! After a few days of R&R to get over the excitement of it, I thought I better post some pics. I'd brought along a fan to help cope with the hot day but luckily found I didn't need it - it was put to much better use blowing some air into the portacot of Bel and Em's gorgeous little boys behind me - if second babies are this easygoing them I'm not so worried about welcoming our next one. I can't believe you barely heard a peep out the little guys and they were there all day - little marketers already!! There's no way Jett would ever have been this easy as a 5 month old!!!

Anyway, I think this was the least stressed Bec and I have been going into this market, and by making a few things easier for ourselves like simplifying our tagging, less props etc, we managed to get the stall set up early and still have time to eat breaky and check out everybody elses stalls - yay!

Here's a few pics of how we looked at the start of the day :)


And luckily for us, we managed to sell a few bags early on, so Bec and I got to tag team while we went about the market buying up Christmas presents for the family! Hooray! Here's a few of some of the very lovely things I picked up for my nieces and nephews. These items are for my pink-loving niece - a hairclip holder and clips from EmBelISH, skirt by the Seamstress and the Daughters, and cute cupcake and polka dot belt by Hip Brown.
For my mum, a 'just because' present by Hot Toffee - Nicole makes the best earings!!
A pair of aeroplane PJs for my nephew who's Jett's age, by Katie from Miss Kitty Boo Boo.
For my other niece - who is not a pink-loving little girl!! Pretty skirt by Christine at Little Diva, a beautiful necklace by Amanda from Twinkle Star Art, and some hairclips by Chicuff :)
And one of the presents I got for my five year old nephew - who wouldn't want to be a superhero for a day? This cool outfit was by Chicuff as well.
I have no pictures to put up but Jett didn't go without - I've purchased him and the little man still in my belly some lovely plane wall prints with their names on them from Twinkle Star Art too. I can't wait to see them! Amanda does such lovely kids illustrations :)

OK, I think that's the market wrap up for me - so many good things to buy, never enough time or money to get it all!!

So new stock has now been uploaded to the Beckybean shop - but I'll do another post about that one at another time :) Have a lovely weekend everybody if I don't do it before then. xxx

Sneak peak of some new Beckybean bags :)

Today I finished all my machine sewing for this Saturday's BrisStyle Indie Designer's Market - woo hoo!

After spending the last hour and a half sewing on lots of Dad's wooden buttons, my bed has never looked so good... so before I trot off to dream of fabric, buttons, Scotchgard, and thread, I thought I'd leave you with a sneak peak of some of the Beckybean bags that will be on offer :) This was the line up of a few bags waiting their turn for a light Scotchgard!

Nighty night :)

BrisStyle is Comin' to Town

How quickly the weeks are flying!! Only three and a half more weeks until Christmas :)

If you're like me than you have barely started your Christmas shopping and panic is slowly setting in about how much time you have left to get everything you need. Have no fear, fellow bloggers, you are bound to find something for your little ones (or for yourself :p - I know I will!) at the BrisStyle Indie Designers Market this coming Saturday 5th December - St Augustines Church Hall and Grounds at Racecourse Road, Hamilton.

Here's a little sample to whet your appetite of some of the lovely wares that will be on offer.

(felt and fabric necklaces from littlechrissy)


(Twinkle Star Art gift cards in packs of 5)

(Offerings from Selvedge House)

(labradorite ear candy from rocknwrap)

Of course, Beckybean will also be there with bells on (boom boom) :) I won't write too much about what we have been working on, as you can read about here, on Bec's blog. I'll just leave you with one pic of our new range of shoulder bags which are incorporating the humble tea towel :) Why waste such beautiful linens on something as boring as drying dishes???

Anyway, we hope to see you at the market this Saturday!

A chef, who'd want to be one?

As I lay in bed at 3.45am last night I had actually written this blog post in my head. However that was 5 hours ago and things in the middle of the night when sleep deprived from continually getting up to settle Jett, always seem much worse. It was a rant. I was pissed. I'm getting over it already though.

Kym's back at work and is doing CRAZY hours. Not crazy like before, but CRAZY CRAZY. Like 7 or 8am until 3am. WTF? There have been a few articles lately in various publications like the Sunday Mail, Courier-Mail, GT, and Brisbane Times, all raving about the architecture, the food, the produce. Yay... However my 'yay' as I lay there last night worrying if he's crashed his car on the way home due to sleeplessness, switching between worry and anger over something that sometimes in my opinion (and much to Kym's horror) is 'only food', had definitely fizzled.

These are lovely parts of cheffing - the stuff that's not always so glamourous, and the stuff that isn't usually portrayed clearly on shows like Masterchef. Like seriously, who in their right mind would want to become a chef? Work anywhere from 60-95 hours, getting paid for maybe 38 of them, in a super stressful, and in Summer time, usually 40+ degree kitchen? Waiting on suppliers who are supposed to bring your food in the morning, and decide to send it in one hour before service time instead. Not me.

And you need a thick skin - having worked in hospitality as a waitress before I've seen chefs pushing around apprentices, throwing plates at them (of course Kym would never do this), another one used to be really hard on one particular apprentice only to turn around and tell people when he wasn't there that he was the 'best apprentice I've ever had and don't want to him leave'!

Neither Jett or my unborn, or for that matter any niece or nephew, is allowed to become a chef. They can learn how to cook, maybe work in hospitality to earn some cash while on their way to something else, but that's as far as it goes. I still think it's important to know how to cook, and to learn about foods, what they are, what they do for us. I certainly don't want him to be like one checkout I had the other day at the supermarket who asked me 'what is this', and I looked up thinking it must have been a 'fancy' vegetable I had purchased - no, it was the common 'zucchini'. Perhaps I should have confused her and said it was a 'courgette'??? he he

It's insane. Only a very select few will ever become great - I know that's harsh, but it's true. Those small percentages are the ones whose hard work pays off. Luckily we're in the latter, but that still doesn't excuse you from working six days a week and only seeing your family on Sunday's (which by that time you are a walking zombie anyway!). Aagh! So needless to say you need to have passion - as Kym told one 'would-be-apprentice' the other day - you can teach speed and knifeskills, but you can't teach passion and that's why I'm giving you a go.

OK I think I'm over it. I know there are a lot of thankless jobs out there, and I have friends and family together who have husbands who also have great jobs which still take them interstate or overseas on a regular basis, and that's hard too. I'm just ranting about the one I live with.

So if one more person asks how's the restaurant going I might explode with a few expletives of my own - giving my lovely husband a run for his money in the language department :p

The times are a changin'

The last few weeks seem to have been filled with lots of changes. With the restaurants set to open in a few weeks, Kym left this morning excited and perhaps a little apprehensive, as he will now be in the kitchen full time, steering a team of I think about 30 or more chefs. I'm thinking I can't write too much about it, in case I upset the PR company... :p (not that they would know I have a blog...he he) But there will be essentially three new ventures opening up - a newly refitted and expanded Urbane (with Sub Urbane underneath to cater for private dining/functions), The Euro and The Laneway. You can read about it here if you're interested.

The past 5 or 6 months have gone fast - although he was always doing things and going places for the restaurant, or working a few shifts here and there to help people out, Jett and I had him mostly at home each night. And usually cooking - yippee! I'm actually ready for him to go back (he he), not because I want him back working 60-90 hour weeks, but because he was getting restless at home and to be honest, I can get back into my little routine with Jett before the next one comes along.

I think Jett is going to take some time to adjust as he's been pretty spoiled having both of us here all the time - you can't exactly explain to a 19 month old what's going on :)

But he too is getting bigger and I'm now really seeing changes in him - he loves playing with his cousins and is super keen to be one of the 'big kids'. He weened himself completely two weeks ago. Which whilst I'm super happy we both lasted this long, it does mean my 'baby' is not really a baby anymore. I know it's silly as I know things aren't really any different and the feeds were so little that they really were only for comfort, but this *tiny* part of me feels less 'needed'. Weird hey? But on the positive side, my breasts get a break for six months before I have to do all this again!!! It's almost like, "hooray, I can have a few drinks - oh that's right, I'm pregnant, no I can't. Maybe in about two more years..." hmmBut I was taken back this week when he woke from his nearly three hour nap and I carried him to the couch for a cuddle and he went back to sleep. Excuse the no makeup in this photo :) It had been so long since he slept on me like this that I just sat back and enjoyed the next half hour - after all in a little over five months he won't be my baby, he'll be a big brother. Exciting and scary changes ahead!!!

I'll leave you with a pic of one of the other changes I'm going to be missing out on more now - Kym's cooking for me. I had been nagging for a couple of months now that I was craving a crab and gruyere souffle, and on Sunday he finally made me one. And it was awesome. The salad of radish, pink lady, and cos was delightful but still not a patch on the souffle. Oh I'm going to miss this!

Eye Spy...shoes!

Oh the shoes of my former life. We had fun. We ate out a lot, we went dancing. You were sometimes carried home when my feet had given up and it hurt too much to walk you up hill to our city apartment. We could still have fun? If only there was a place for us to go that was practical (that takes pregnant chicks and 19 month olds!). But alas, those days for us are few and far between.

Since becoming a stay-at-home-mum I've enjoyed always being able to wear comfy shoes as a day-to-day thing. No need for work heels - woo hoo!

I think I have two favourites that are just rotated between Summer and Winter (I'm pretty boring, always the same brands even when I buy new ones!) - birk's and tiger's. Both are super comfy which earns two thumbs up from me.

Not to say that I don't ever wear heels - but even they are now comfy - my Think! shoes. These are great, you don't feel like there's any heel there and I love the style of them.
So it's not goodbye my lovely strawberries and cream shoes - it's just until we meet again at the next appropriate function (where I won't be standing for long and have access to the car).

All this writing and reading of shoes has given me itchy feet (boom boom) to go and buy some newbies. I'm thinking a new pair of Summer flats are in order - perhaps some more Think! ones or maybe some Naots. If anyone has any suggestions I'd love to hear them.

Thanks to Anastasia for picking such a lovely theme - head on over to Cindy's blog for shoe fashion.

Eye Spy... something cuddly

Well surprise surprise, but my something 'cuddly' has to be Jett. (sure I might sometimes alternate the word 'cuddly' for 'clingy' but that's another story :p)

He's been in an awesome mood the past few weeks and is giving everybody (well as long as your mum, dad, grandma, grandad, aunty bec, uncle matt, aunty ann, lee or kate...) lots of hugs and kisses. That's when he's not making dinosaur 'roars' at them :p But if he's giving them out, I'll take a cuddle anytime.

Thanks to Bek for picking this weeks Eye Spy theme - head on over to Cindy's blog for more cuddles with Eye Spy.

Baby steps...

After some serious time off, I'm coming around to the idea of a spot or sewing and perhaps a little blogging. I'm not sure if it was a little burn out, the fact that Kym had been around so much more through the restaurant renos, or the fact that I needed some 'computer timeout' for a little while. Or perhaps the crappy morning sickness I was feeling for a while there... but I'm now 15 weeks and feel like I'm starting to feel motivated! More energy, more time, and ready to start thinking about 'gettin back on the horse so the expression goes.

So this is a small post. Just testing it out. See if it still fits. I'm definitely thinking about it, so for a big procrastinator like me, means I'm half-way there!

So sorry for being a slack ass and not reading all the lovely blogs that used to fill so much of my time - I'll try and be better I promise!!!

Eye Spy & lovely little things

This week's eye spy theme is 'something soothing' and after months of not playing as I've been flat chat (OK and maybe a little lazy too...) I thought I better participate! So currently for me, this is my 'something soothing'. I have been feeling a little 'off' lately and this has worked a treat :) Also hoping my acupuncture in 2 hours will also help - yay! Can't wait for that - plus the hour or so of kid-free time is just an added bonus.

Actually Kym went off bike riding last Sunday morning at Mt Tambo with the words 'I'll be home around 12pm' - so when it got to 2.15pm and he wasn't back and wasn't answering his phone I got worried and called Bec. Luckily Matt had the number of one of the guys who was with them and called for me and passed on the message to 'call your wife ASAP'. Apparently Matt misunderestimated my anger at only an 8.2 on the scale instead of the 10 I was feeling! I went from worried to angry pretty quickly! So after a few terse words he was on his way home - only to get lost and have it take him an hour and a half instead of 40 minutes. He got home at 4pm. I have every intention of being pretty pissed however when he walked in with a few scrapes up his arms, a couple on either side of his face, cut knees, and he couldn't bend his left fingers properly, I found that rather 'soothing' too. *insert evil laugh here* Karma bit him on the arse for making me worry unnecessarily and he fell off his bike - twice. I was even more 'soothed' when I watched the pain on his face as he showered and had to wet all the scrapes... he he. I know, I seem mean, but honestly, every week he comes off and hurts himself and/or breaks something on his bike that needs to be fixed. I think he sometimes forgets he's the primary income earner here!! But he knew better than to expect any sympathy from me and could see the funny side a little :p I wanted to video tape his pain while he showered but he drew the line there!

Anyhoo, back on track, I also had the pleasure of buying myself some very lovely goodies while the EEK sale was on. Check out my lovely brooch I purchased from the talented Rebecca from Edward & Lily - I got this one in olive green and it's just awesome. I also purchased this lovely pendant from Em at Up in Annies Room - I just love it. I just have to keep it away from Jett as he has a tendancy to try and pull it off my neck...Finally, after babysitting my niece for a weekend, Bec brought me this tulip brooch I'd had my eye on from the lovely Chris at Little Chrissy. Cool hey? So I'm feeling rather accesorised again :) Hope some of you managed to snag some goodies during the EEK sale too!! Would love to see them.

xxx

Congratulations Miss Cindy!

Well part one of the Beckybean double giveaway has been drawn using a random number generator (number two it was) and the lovely Cindy from Bugandpop is the winner! Congratulations :) Even though it's going to be making the journey down to chilly Melbourne, I'll be sure to tell it to take a coat (unlike the air-con it's been needing up here in Sunny Brisbane the last few days!) and I'm sure it will be happy in the new home of one of my favourite bloggers. Yay!

Cindy if you want to flick an email to blog@beckybean.com with your address details I'll wrap it up and it will be on its way.

Thanks to everyone for entering and leaving your fabulous comments. Keep your eye on Bec's blog - The Small Stuff - for details on the other winner of this tote - should be up soon I'd say.

xxx

Beckybean double giveaway!!!

Woops! I was supposed to have this post up this afternoon! Sorry to anyone who ducked over earlier... we were mad cleaning here but then left to go and have some yummy tapas over at Bec and Matt's for dinner. Completely forgot about this post until now (not that it is any less important, but honestly there was some yummy food - duck fat potatotes, sashimi, rare beef, lentils, pissaladiere...). And of course a very good red! Sure, there was a broad cross of cultures at the table in the food stakes (or should I write 'steaks' and say 'boom boom') and while some may not think it was all overly cohesive it was all awesome and we loved it :p A little bit of everything :)

OK enough about what's going in my tummy and back to what slings across our shoulders, uses eco fabrics, and of course looks totally awesome! And what's more, is free for you! How's that for a segue?

Bec and I are celebrating the launch of a new retail outlet in West End (Brisbane, Australia) that will be stocking our Eco Market Totes. As mentioned in my previous post, the very lovely Michelle (of Pedrosprout fame!) has opened her very own shop call Nook, which has awesome wares and lots of handmade goodness - many things are eco too!

So we're having a double Beckybean giveaway! To win the Eco Market Tote pictured above, simply leave a comment here, and then pop over to Bec's blog for a chance to win another Eco Market Tote there too! This tote is made from recycled fabrics, with a reclaimed men's tie, and two handmade wooden buttons (one on the front and one on the strap) that have been made by our Dad from recycled offcuts. There is a handy pocket on the inside too.

OK I think that's it. Time to enjoy my full tummy, sleepy head from red wine and hit the hay I think :) Enjoy the week!

I will be drawing the winner on Monday 24th August.

Oh and I before I forget - The Brisbane Etsy Street Team (BrisStyle) is holding an EEE sale to celebrate our local Exhibition or Ekka as it's known to the locals (Fair). The sale runs from the 6-15 August.
During the sale all Beckybean items will be reduced by 10% with free postage in Australia! All items in the store are still listed at the normal price but we'll either revise the invoice once it's taken to the checkout, or refund the 10% with Paypal once purchased. Too easy :) Head on over to this post on the BrisStyle site to see who else is participating.

Cheers
Jade xxx

Oh the slackness in blogland...but I've been busy, I promise!

Photo from Michelle at Nook

How how terrible I have been in blogland... please forgive me for my absence over the past month :p I promise to try and stay abreast of everything from now on!!!

So since the BrisStyle market, we've had a few fabulous opportunities present themselves - first one being the lovely Michelle (AKA Pedrosprout) who is opening an awesome little shop in West End called Nook. Michelle will be stocking some of the Beckybean market totes - yay! The store should be opening any day now so head on over to the shop's blog to keep updated on its progress. I know I for one can't wait for it to open so I can do a spot of shopping (shh.. don't tell Kym!). Stay tuned for the opening too as to coincide with it Bec and I will be hosting a little giveaway!!! (really have to get our butts into gear and get it organised pronto hey Bec? :p)

The second is we're hoping to stock some of the bags from the Crema Range in a couple of Merlo Coffee's outlets (who we so generously get most of our coffee sack from - Mel really is the best!) - we should find out soon exactly what the go is, but fingers crossed!!! Bec and I have been templating some new bag styles for the range and I must say, they're pretty cool. We've also found some beautiful hemp/cotton fabrics that we'll be using in some of the linings - it is just awesome. I liked one of the samples so much I've decided I really needed to keep it for myself (you know, for research purposes and all...). I needed a new bag anyway... This one is a newbie and is really BIG. For the gal who wants to take everything with them... actually I think it would work as a nappy bag!This bag is one I made for one of my best friend's Jodie who lives in Melbourne - it was her birthday (shh...it wasn't a major one like 30 or anything... he he). I'm so happy she really likes it. I've had a few excited calls from her with people asking where they can get one - even one chic from Bvulgari who was asking who's it by and when can she get one :) She even had one friend admiring it the other day and when she looked at the tag said 'I have a Beckybean bag' - apparently her brother had bought it for her for her birthday this year. Way too small of a world isn't it? This is Jode's modelling her bag at home.
This bag is one I made for one of my best friend's Jodie who lives in Melbourne - it was her birthday (shh...it wasn't a major one like 30 or anything... he he). I'm so happy she really likes it. I've had a few excited calls from her with people asking where they can get one - even one chic from Bvulgari who was asking who's it by and when can she get one :) She even had one friend admiring it the other day and when she looked at the tag said 'I have a Beckybean bag' - apparently her brother had bought it for her for her birthday this year. Way too small of a world isn't it? This is Jode's modelling her bag at home.

OK that's enough for now. Here's a few pics of some of our latest pochette's in the shop too - they really feel lovely too. Beautiful linen tea towels in their former lives they were :)

You asked for it :)

OK after my last post I've had the lovely Miss Mimoo and Mrs Fudge request the recipe for that Fish Pie. It's dead simple but really was very tasty. My guess is they key ingredient like most of Kym's cooking is 'salt'... he he

Oh and taste as you go! Don't try and adjust the seasoning at the end. Some people like more salt or less dill and so on - make it to suit your taste buds. And we found it makes a fair bit - maybe about 6 big serves.

Here were go...

Ingredients

- 2 fillets of fresh fish, chopped into pieces (we used king snapper, but any white fish will do as long as you put it in at the end so it doesn't break up)
- 1/4 large fennel, finely chopped
- 1 leek (white only), finely chopped
- 1 carrot, finely chopped
- 2 celery sticks, finely chopped
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 6 or so mushrooms, sliced
- 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 500 ml fish or chicken stock (we had our own homemade chicken stock and found this worked well and I preferred that it wasn't as 'fishy')
- 1/4 lemon, zest only
- 1 small bunch of dill and parsley, finely chopped
- Shortcrust pastry - enough to make a top and bottom. (we needed about 3 sheets)
- Approx 100ml Pastis (French digestive drink which has an aniseedy flavour, Ricard is a good one, but Pernod would do for a cheaper alternative). Now I'm told this is 'essential' to the recipe by Kym too!

Method

-Line a large pie dish (I use our big lasagna one!) with the pastry (make sure you cover the sides) and blind bake for 10 minutes or so. You can do this first or as you're cooking the mixture if you can multi-task :)
- Saute in a large onion and garlic lightly in a fair bit of vegetable oil and approx 1-2 tbsp butter until clear.
- Add the Pastis and let it cook off a little.
- Add carrot, then celery and then fennel, sweating these for about 5-10 minutes.
- Then add the leak and mushrooms.
- Add your stock and season with salt and pepper. Bring back to the boil and then reduce heat to a simmer.
- Add the zest and additional water if needed. Taste and add more Pastis if necessary.
- While the mixture is simmering away, make a white roux. Basically this is just butter melted in a pan, add some flour or cornflour and keep stirring. It will go into a ball and you just keep stirring it over the heat. Then take a little of the liquid from the simmering mixture and add it to the roux, continuously stirring so there's no lumps. Add the roux slowly to the pie mix to thicken. Taste it and adjust the seasoning if necessary.

Apparently a brown roux is when you keep it on heat and the mix darkens, and a white roux is when it's just mixed together and removed from heat.

- Add the parsley and dill - enough to suit your taste preferences. Keep tasting!
- Add the fish pieces and stir in. Try not to break up the fish too much, so stir carefully!
- Add the pie mixture into the dish, add pastry as a lid and bake in a moderate oven. We found about 20-25 minutes did the trick - just until the pastry is cooked on top.

Well good luck :) Unfortunately I forgot to take pictures of it before we ate it all... hence the best I could do was our Pastis bottle :p

If you've got any questions just ask away! Love to hear your feedback too if you give it a go.

Living the dream baby!

Chocolate & Raspberry tart made a few weeks back - so so rich but so so good!

For years I've had people say to me 'you're so lucky being married to a chef!'. What, being married to someone who works 70-90 hours a week and is too tired on his days off to cook? Spending 5 or more nights by yourself every week. Really, you want that?

Eating out all the time rather than staying in and cooking. I guess that part wasn't too bad. Or having your own personal food critic??? Just kidding. Kym wouldn't dare criticize my food or anyone else's in my family (not if he knows what's good for him!!!). No of course not, but that statement used to bug me a little. I also seemed to be married to one of the few chefs who DOESNT like cooking fabbo meals on his days off. Lucky me :( So many friends who were also with chefs used to talk about the meals they'd cook up on their days off. Lucky them! I've always said Kym seems to enjoy 'creating' new menus and food ideas than he did actually cooking them. The 'ideas ' man so to speak!

No, it's not all bad. There's been trips to Hamilton Island, Melbourne, Sydney, dinners, and lots of other perks. Free food, free alcohol. 'Special treatment' at other restaurants. And I've gotten used to my own little routine and watching my favourite TV shows and never having to share the remote!!!

Where am I going with this? Well since having Jett things started to change. I was too busy feeding Jett to worry about cooking meals so on his days off Kym started doing our cooking. Yay! But things have really changed since the restaurant closed for reno's. Now we really are getting gourmet meals for dinner. And I'm itching for someone to tell me how lucky I am being married to a chef as now I can honestly say 'yes it's great I know!!!'.

Last night was snapper pie (this was devine, if anyone wants the recipe let me know!), the night before was stir fried flathead fillets with ginger, garlic and greens, and well the night before was take out at Bec's place, but you get my drift. I'm not sure how Jett and I will cope when he goes back to work at the end of the year. Jett's already being very spoiled with his meals - I mean, how many babies have tried and liked truffles before they are 18 months old?

Anyway, this was just a little self indulgent post to say 'yay for me!' and achknowledge how lucky I am. People so often focus on the negative aspects of their life and I don't want to be one of those people :)

Thanks for reading :).

To market, to market

Things have felt very busy lately and I'm only now starting to feel on top of things again. We've had a busy few weeks that I thought I'd recap for those interested (and for those who aren't, this may be a little boring!)... I can't believe it's been over three weeks since I last posted - what a slacker!I just received a comment from the lovely and talented Rebecca from Edward and Lily to say I have been nominated for the One Lovely Blog Award. Given how slack I've been lately I feel embarassed to receive this - but thanks Rebecca! I'll try to post more often! The rules of the Award are:

1. Accept the award, post it on your blog together with the name of the person who has granted the award, and his or her blog link.
2. Pass the award to 15 other blogs that you’ve newly discovered.
3. Remember to contact the bloggers to let them know they have been chosen for this award.

Now I don't think I could narrow it down to only pick my favourite 15 bloggers so I'm not going to... Can I please just urge you to check out some of the lovely blog links in my blog rolls. Perhaps you might find yourself another favourite :)

Urbane closed down nearly three weeks ago (hmm... maybe this is also why things have been different - new routine perhaps?) and we've been enjoying having Kym here - particularly at nights! He's doing lots of work for the restaurant still during the day but I'm getting more help with Jett which is cool for me. And nighttime company! Although we have become 'Storage world' for the restaurant (which initially I wasn't keen on!), they have left all its alcohol here... and some pretty cool equipment too. Dinner party anyone?? Just kidding. Sort of... he he he. We're also keeping some of the shelving apparently as its no longer needed, so I'm envisioning a new sewing area with better material storing space which is exciting.

Last week we also had a wonderful five days back in Melbourne for Restaurant 09' (like a trade show for hospitality). Although a little chilly compared to the Sunshine State, the sun shone and I had moments of wondering why I left there 10 years ago... luckily it was overcast and dreary the day we left so that helped remind me!! Although Restaurant 09 was fairly crap compared to the one we'd been to in Sydney last time, our time away was fabulous.

I can't remember it's exact name... but this was my dish from Cutler & Co it had mixed wild mushrooms, burrata (handmade bocconcini), bread pastry square, freshly shaved truffles, and truffled polenta - yummo!

We ate. And ate. And ate some more. To the point when it was almost (I say ALMOST!) unenjoyable to eat anymore. Eating around Jett's daytime sleeps meant late lunches around 2pm but still early dinners at 6pm before bed... so it felt like all we did was eat for hours. We went to (excuse spelling mistakes!) Lau's Family Kitchen in Acland Street St Kilda (ex Flowerdrum), Giusseppi Ronaldo & Sons in SouthBank, Ginger Boy in the city, Cutler and Co on Gertrude Street Fitzroy, along with pastries from Laurent and yummy dumplings in the city, just to name a few. And they were all pretty damn good.
Lucky for me there were lots of sales on and we got to do some damage to our credit cards. Yay! I will apologise now to anyone trying to walk around Melbourne Central on Friday and Saturday last week and kept being ran into by a 15 month old little man carrying his own shopping bag and going in every which way direction!!! I tell you, when he's been couped up all day either because we're in restaurants, or crossing roads, or on public transport, trying to contain him while he stretched his legs was an effort :p
A few weeks ago now Sophie Formica and the Great South East team from Channel 7 undertook some filming on BrisStyle featuring some key committee members. As Bec is one of the founders of the ever expanding group, and they decided they like the 'sisters who sew' angle, they decided to pay a visit to Bec's house and film us talking about our bags, our philosophy, materials and Dad's buttons!! Luckily for me Bec was the main speaker as they wanted to mainly talk about BrisStyle :) I'm not really one for public speaking... So anyway, if you live in the Great South East be watching this Sunday 28th June at 5.30pm on Channel 7. Bec and I have our fingers crossed we don't sound like utter twats! Bec had a cold at the time and is particularly stressing about how her voice will sound! I'm sure it will be fine Bec :p The above pic is how we set up the stock for the show.

If you watch the show and like what you see (how's that for a segue?), come along to the second BrisStyle Indie Designer's market on Saturday 4th July from 9am-2pm at St Augustine's Church Hall on Racecourse Road, Hamilton. Go check out the BrisStyle blog to find out more details. I probably haven't been as busy as I should have be in the lead up to this market, but my little holiday's are over and I'm doing some last minute sewing now. And loving it. We'll even have a few large and small pochettes that are 'new' to the Beckybean shop so come see. We're just so excited! Not just to showcase our bags, but to check out the other talented BrisStylette's and do a spot of shopping ourselves. Hopefully we sell a few bags so I have more spending money!!!

Here's a list of who'll be there:

Made by Maisie
edward and lilly
RE-read Design
little chrissy
Sharlzndollz
Flight Industries
Prettyhead Designs
Epheriell
PretaPawte
Raspberry Pink
SM Boutique
Shelley Berelli
Designs of the Heart
My Girl
Creative Arty Facts
Little Diva
Beckybean
Hot Fudge
Why Not Street
Blossom Child
Rellesh
Elvin Hair
Create and be Happy
Shazzabeth Creations
Hot Toffee
Denim Days
Up in Annie's Room
Scampsville
Kitty Boo Boo
Jellygnite
Little Jellygnite
Mimoo
The Seamstress and The Daughters
Ruby Red
Ruby 2 Go Go
Strat Designs
Bubbachenille
Lemon Ink
Jetta's Nest
Vintage Cherubs
MJ Mosaics
Ogekko
Willows Heirlooms
Vintage Visions
Wicked Child Designs
Red Seed Studio
Bellabijoux

Thanks to those of you who hung in there and got to the bottom of the post. Pretty poor PR person aren't I? Hopefully people didn't read using the inverted pyramid where I should have put the most important info (our market and tv) at the top and my waffle about my holidays at the bottom. Woops. I'm so out of practice. OK, over and out :)