Just needs salt

See you on the flipside fellow bloggers :)

2010-04-09T13:41:00.014+10:00

What a crazy month March was! There was the BrisStyle market in the beginning (there's some pics below of some lovely stalls on the day), and of course the big birthday bash for Jettster who turned two at the end of March. Above was 'the cake'. The real 'toot toot' cake he had been pointing out since he found my Women's Weekly birthday cookbook in February. It was one of those 'great from far' cakes. Don't look too closely at the smeared icing sugar, or the fact that taking a big cake like that to a park (mum nearly wore it a few times as I rounded corners!), in Brisbane - still reaching tops of 30 degrees, was no mean feat. Melting icing sugar meant wheels were not always staying where they were supposed to. But he loved it. So I'm happy. Last year Kym had to 'save me' with my pirate ship cake, so I was pleased to avert such disasters this time around.
Somewhere in the middle of it all I've been decluttering and trying (??) to organise myself for the arrival of the next little one coming out...ahem... Monday. eek. I'm sorry did I say 'eek'? I meant, holy crappola!!!!

I really need to get off the internet and finish cleaning/packing/writing Kym's do's and don't lists for Jett/organising movies to watch in the middle of the night, etc etc etc! Oh and of course trying to find time in the day to 'relax and sleep' before the meanings of these words become all but a distant memory for the next few years again :p
So, farewell, fellow bloggers, it will probably be a while... See you on the flipside!

Me!

RERead

Toot toot!

2010-03-04T13:14:00.016+10:00

"Toot toot". That's what Jett calls the red bus bag - except it's not a train, it's a bus. But hey, he's not quite two so I think I'll cut the little man some slack :p Perhaps after market I'll have to buy some train fabric and make him his own little 'man bag'.

I've had lots of fun making these new shoulder bags for the Beckybean stall, which will be at the BrisStyle Indie Designers Market on Saturday March 6 in Hamilton, Brisbane (that's right, two days away!).

Having found my inspiration from collectable vintage tea towels and of course some lovely prints from Ink & Spindle and Pippijoe, combined with reclaimed textiles and organic hemp canvas, I must say I'll be a little sad to see them go... But of course looking forward to seeing them find new homes :)

If instead you're feeling a little bit retro, check out Bec's blog to see some more pics of the other cool shoulder bags that will be at our stall this Saturday.

Oh and how cool is this Poladroid progam Bec got me onto?? I could spend quite some time playing with this, but alas I really should be packing up the bags and getting them ready for market :)

Eek, two weeks until BIDM!

2010-02-20T21:49:00.009+10:00

Boy have I been queen of procrastination this year... 'I really should be sorting through Jett's clothes getting ready for the next boy', 'I really should be restocking the new bathroom vanity now that it's finished with all of our things that were carted down to the spare bathroom downstairs during the reno', and most recently 'I really should starting sewing for the next BrisStyle Indie Designers Market in two weeks'. That's right, two weeks. And I've done squat. Not a thing. Nudda. I feel like I'm uni again and leaving everything to last minute!

But what have I been doing instead? Between spending time trying to get Jett to keep his daysleep and then getting him to sleep at night, then tidying the house of toys and the odd bout of cleaning that I feel I really have to do every now and then, I just want to sleep. Like all the time. Except I can't - I have a toddler and a bladder that doesn't understand :p

So in a bid to get motivated I headed off to some op shops hoping to feel inspired by fabric, tea towels, tableclothes, anything! (oh yeah that's right, I procrastinated that trip for two weeks too!) And I think it worked - after a trip last Wednesday to four op shops carrying Jett around to each one and trying to explain that he can only pick 'one' toy to take home with him, I was feeling deflated as none had anything a bit special. But as I was leaving and trying to explain to Jett that he needs to hold my hand when there's so many cars about, some bright coloured tea towels caught my eye in an antique shop. Hurrah, hope at last. So in we went, amid nervous glances from the lady in the shop who didn't seem entirely comfortable with my toddler (with said chosen dinosaur figurine in hand) accompanying me. And it was a good score - so many vintage tea towels to choose from! I finally felt motivated and spent the next day cutting and pinning and getting ready to pull my finger out. Here's a sneak peek of some bags/tea towels that are still either waiting for buttons, waiting to be put together with linings and straps, or just waiting to become 'something'. The above pic is a bit hard to tell as the lighting wasn't great, but I'm a bit excited about the red London bus bag (top left) - I think it's going to be very cool and I don't think I'll be disappointed if it doesn't sell as I wouldn't mind keeping this one for me...:p Bec's been a little more organised than me and you can check out some of the very cool little coin purses coming at you in two weeks from Beckybean here!!

OK it's so past my bedtime so until we meet again :)

Rude people

2010-02-12T14:30:00.005+10:00

Rudeness is the weak man's imitation of strength - Eric Hoffer

I was having a chat this morning about seemingly 'normal' people who turn into utter twats the moment they are being 'served' by waitstaff. Having dealt with my fair share of said people, it is of little wonder that this industry is no longer for me.

A would-be-invited guest of another customer (who was also fairly intoxicated) yesterday went past a waiter and asked them to 'get them a f$%king drink'. When is that cool to speak to people like that? When asked to leave, the friend that invited them started yelling that they were 'their guest' to come into the restaurant if they said they can come in, and then turned to my husband who was dealing with the guest being asked to leave and said 'you, go cook'. Really, is that a smart thing to say to someone preparing your food??? Although I know that would NEVER happen there, I wouldn't be so sure about saying something like that at other venues around town...

Don't get me wrong - I've had my fair share of rude obnoxious waiters too. So tell me, why do people think it's OK to treat other human beings with such rudeness?

Love to hear your thoughts or any stories of your experiences :)

Beckybean Christmas Sale!

2009-12-14T12:42:00.010+10:00

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 :)

2009-12-11T09:10:00.014+10:00

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 :)

2009-12-02T22:10:00.005+10:00

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

2009-12-01T22:18:00.008+10:00

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?

2009-11-22T08:17:00.014+10:00

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'

2009-11-04T11:31:00.006+10:00

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!

2009-11-02T06:15:00.006+10:00

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

2009-10-27T13:56:00.002+10:00

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...

2009-10-26T13:50:00.003+10:00

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

2009-09-02T12:38:00.009+10:00

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!

2009-08-24T17:32:00.006+10:00

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!!!

2009-08-09T21:41:00.010+10:00

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!

2009-08-05T23:01:00.008+10:00

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 :)

2009-07-09T08:52:00.005+10:00

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!

2009-07-07T14:23:00.003+10:00

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

2009-06-24T23:34:00.017+10:00

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 :)

Eye Spy...A morning ritual

2009-06-03T12:58:00.002+10:00

OK I'm well late with this one, but here I go anyway :p

Co-sleeping with our little man means my morning's pretty much start the same everyday... generally it involves having him climb onto my head to let me know he's up! Occasionally I get a kick to the head but these aren't as common as they used to be (thank goodness!). Lately he's started clapping his hands when we wake up which is very cute. Either way he wakes us, I still cherish this time as I know there will come a day when he's not going to be caught dead cuddling with his mum in the morning anymore. And I will be sad. And possibly even miss those kicks to the head... :p For right now, even amongst the strewn DVDs and opened cupboards with contents emptied on the floor, life is bliss and I wouldn't want it any other way :)

Thanks to 3 Red Buttons for choosing this week's theme and of course to Cindy for hosting.

Everybody needs a Colin

2009-05-29T14:50:00.003+10:00

Dad does and always has done so much for all us kids. Fixing up cars for us, houses, any kind of repairs, you name it - he's probably done it for us. I feel very lucky to have a Dad like ours.

Even last week when the storms wreaked havoc in SEQ and my downstairs area was flooding a bit - Dad was out in the rain with Kym digging a trench to stop a repeat happening that night. When Matt and Sarah needed a house renovation for three more rooms before the arrival of my third nephew, he did it with my uncle in only two weeks. When Bec and Matt needed another air conditioner installed for the kids or a cubby house, he did it. Yep, Dad's pretty handy!

I find it impossible to recount all the times he's gone above and beyond, but have a few that are impossible to forget - my Mini breaking down in Melbourne at 5.30am and him leaving home straight away to make the 4 hr drive to come and bring me another one, or the time I crashed my car (in Queensland!) and he drove up from Victoria with another... It sometimes seems I cannot make any home decision even now without first consulting my Dad - this probably should annoy Kym more than it does, but it doesn't - he knows his limitations most of the time in this area! I joke with Dad about it and he says he's happy to do it as long as Kym cooks him lunch!!

Why am I talking so much about my Dad at the moment you may ask? Well he's done it again. He's helping Bec and I once more. This time he's helping us at the Beckybean shop.

Dad has so many tools in his shed and after talking about it with Bec and I he got to work and experimented with making some buttons for us. I love how each seems unique and special when I know that Dad has carved out each one and put the drop of linseed on with his very own hands. Even some of the wood he's used is red gum from the Nyah Forest in Victoria where we all grew up. Very special indeed. And check them out!
How totally awesome are they? They just go perfectly with our coffee bags and market totes! I've included a few pics of the latest ones that just got uploaded to the shop.This little tote was sold on Friday to the lovely Teneale from Wicked Child Designs - she currently has a blog giveaway on that ends midnight tonight so you better hurry up and check it out to enter!!

I was telling one of my best friends, Jodie, about how Dad was making these buttons for us, just after I'd finished telling her he'd fixed our flooding problem. "Everybody needs a Colin" she'd said to me. Yes, I think she's right :)

Thanks Dad!

Eye Spy...something green!

2009-05-19T19:46:00.005+10:00

The rains they are a comin'!

After a little spell of dryness in BrisVegas we've been blessed by the rain gods and I must say I'm loving it. I love going to sleep listening to the sound of the rain on the roof. And I think Jett sleeps a little better with the white noise - double yay! After days of bad sleeping I'm pinning my hopes on tonight being a little better...

As a result of the rain everything is becoming 'green' again. Kym was out in the garden all weekend mowing, whipper-snipping, and trimming our very pretty but very prickly Bougainvillea. Just in time! So this is my green pic looking out the front of our house.
I did also have to throw in this 'green' pic too. It's not the best photo as it was taken today with my phone. Jett is currently obsessed with balloons. I'm not much of a fan myself (hate the anticipation of the pop) but we still have a few floating (boom boom) around the house from his birthday, plus he seems to come home with one every time we get back from the markets... so this is Jett playing with his new favourite toy. How easy pleased he is :p I'm not sure we have a playpen full of toys when he's happier with this!

Thanks Trashalou for picking this weeks theme! Head on over to Cindy's blog to play along.

From the catwalk to the pages of a magazine...

2009-05-16T21:13:00.011+10:00

OK, so this possibly isn't as glamorous as my title makes out to be, but it's probably as glamorous as things might get for me :PThe Stitches & Craft Show has been and gone in BrisVegas and Bec and I got our first glimpse of some Beckybean bags on the runway for the Wardrobe Refashion Fashion Show. Sure I'm a few weeks late with this post (it was nearly 3 weeks ago...). And being the consummate business professionals that we are (not!), we forgot our cameras to capture this moment in time... thank goodness for iphones! Actually I think we were too excited to get shopping that we didn't even think of it...oops. These pics aren't great as the phone has no zoom (grrr...) but you get the general idea. I can tell you, I'm sure I looked a right twat taking pictures of our bags with a camera phone :D People probably thought I was a relative or something of some of the models! But it was pretty cool to see some of them teamed up with some fabulous fashions.I umm'ed and aagh'ed about putting in these next pics...but I'm going to do it!
So this month's issue of Vogue Entertaining and Travel is out and Kym and I are in it (from our trip to Hamilton Island for the Vogue Produce Awards I mentioned previously), along with a few other chefs and partners.

I was really really REALLY hoping they night airbrush me but no such luck. And it was a side on pic - aagh! That's Kym and I in the bottom righthand side of the page. Very paranoid about this angle of me since having Jett - I miss having definition between my face and my neck... Bec tried to make me feel better by saying she thinks it is the light and thinks Kym has a shadow there too but I think she may just be being the nice big sister and trying to make me feel better! I also think I have a mis-conception in my head of how I think I look and how I actually look and don't realise this until I see it on paper...hmm.

Anyhoo, it's out, so if you want to learn how to make Kym's 'Holy Luna Goat's Cheese with Danish Pastry, Fruit and Cumquat Puree', check it out :) Actually it was originally for a croissant dough I think, but they deemed the recipe a little 'tricky' for us mere house novices, so it was simplified!

Photo taken from the Vogue E&T June/July 2009 issue

Photo taken from the Vogue E&T June/July 2009 issue - this was Kym's dish!

Now I must finish writing my tales of high fashion and magazine spreads (he he he) and get back to my oh so glamorous life of unstacking the dishwasher, putting away Jett's toys, sweeping the floor and putting away the clean clothes. Sigh :(

Warm fuzzies anyone?

2009-05-12T11:43:00.011+10:00

Pic of my flowers from mother's day

I was feeling a little jealous and perhaps slightly jaded (boom boom!) yesterday as we drove Kym out to the airport so he could go to Sydney for the night to attend the Vogue E&T Good Produce Awards (he was a state judge). He was going to get a full day looking around some of Sydney's best restaurants, check out some of the bars, attend the awards, then get a FULL NIGHT'S sleep with no little man to wake him up... (see where the jealous part really kicks in?)
I was cheered up though when the postie arrived when I got back from our drive and had this little guy waiting for me. He is one of the many cool things Hayley from RERead sells in her Etsy store. And I won him! Yay! Thanks Hayley!

Hayley, another BrisStyle talent, awesomely (is that a word???) gives away a little item each week on her totally cool blog so it's worth checking it out (if not for the freebie but for the always amusing and often crazy things she writes about!). It's definitely one of my favourite blogs to read :) And for all the hopeless romantics out there, read this post and help bring two lovers together by supporting Hayley's shop!!

I should say I was also cheered to speak to Kym this morning and hear that he still woke a few times through the night (partly out of habit and partly because he would wake to noises and think they could have been Jett!). I'm ashamed to say that did make me feel a little better to know he didn't sleep awesomely :P
Another BrisStylin' girl, Eliza from Elven Hair is also hosting a giveaway on her blog - go check it out! She is also currently having a sale on some items in her Elven Hair Etsy shop to raise funds for her furbaby's (thanks Helen, I stole this one from you!) veterinary operation which happened yesterday. I hear the operation went well and wish Gem a speedy recovery.

OK, only two more hours until I get to go and pick Kym up from the airport - I should probably make a token 'tidy up' effort and get off this machine that I sometimes feel consumes my day. Perhaps I need to go find an Internet Addiction Anonymous rehab centre? I wonder if one even exists... if it doesn't already I suspect there will be a need for one in the not too distant future...:P

I'll finish with a few pics of my mother's day with our extended family. Perfect day. Beautiful flowers and a massage voucher, followed by an awesome sunny day in the park, breakfast BBQ with sparkling wine, bike ride, yummy morning tea, afternoon nap, another bike ride, lamb roast with one of cellar red wines from NZ, massage and then early to bed :D Couldn't ask for anymore than that! Hope all you other mother's had a great day too.

Eye Spy...what I am reading now

2009-05-09T20:38:00.004+10:00

I feel the theme this week is very apt for me... the Beckybean sweatshop had been working pretty hard the last few weeks and we'd both been feeling a little worn so decided to put the brakes on a little - not too much, but just enough to get motivated again. This has given me some time to do something else I like to do in my spare time. Read. Escape.

I borrowed this book off Bec months ago and it's taken me some time to get into it as I was only ever getting enough time to read a page or so before I'd fall asleep. So last night and again tonight I'm curling up on the couch, with a cup of tea, TV off, and reading more of Raymond Feist's 'classic fantasy, the Magician'.

I love escapism in my books. After having Jett I was needing some easy reads to get my brain back into gear and was really into the Diana Wynne Jones books and the Artemis Foul series by Eoin Colfer (who doens't love a bit of teen fiction???). But after reading Tom Robbins' Fierce Invalids Home From Hot Climates (which with my post-baby brain took me a bit to get into but then totally loved it) I'm getting back into some adult fiction again and loving it!

Thanks so much to A Glass Half Full for picking such a great theme. Can't wait to see what everyone else is reading (perhaps I'm the only nerdy science fiction lover???). Head on over to Bugandpop to play along.

BrisStyle @ Stitches & Craft, BrisStyle Giveaway and new Beckybean bags uploaded!

2009-05-01T15:57:00.010+10:00

Saucy Apron by Made by Miffy

I've been a little busy this week so have had to skip this week's Eye Spy theme of 'A Work in Progress' by Melissa from Hugo and Elsa... I will try and be organised on Sunday for the next theme I promise!!!

I'm a couple of days late (surprise surprise!) but if you're in the Brissie area go and say hi to some of the lovely and very talented ladies from BrisStyle at the Stitches and Craft show (look out for them wearing a BrisStyle badge). By doing so you can also pick yourself up a 10% discount voucher to use at participating BrisStyle stores - how awesome is that? Who doesn't love a bargain??? You can read about the participating stores and also who will be at the show here.

Scooter Girls by Ruby2GoGo

Finally, BrisStyle is having another double giveaway! Oh if only I could enter... the super talented Katie from Kitty Boo Boo and the lovely Benita from Bettsy Kingston (I know I've said it before but if only Jett were a little girl so he could acceptably wear the 'P is for Punk and Miet' ruffle pants!) are the featured members this month so get your entry in for your chance to win :D

‘Galaxy’ Boo Boo Booties by Kitty Boo Boo

Girls' Hungry Caterpillar ruffle pants by Bettsy Kingston

Finally, the next upload of the 'Crema Range' coffee bags are in the shop. All of these ones have been lined with a gorgeous hemp/cotten blended fabric and the insides feel divine. I really need to make one for me with this hemp...(you know what they say, leaky pipes at the plumbers house!). Head on over to check them out and tell us what you think!OK, housekeeping done!!! Now, I'm off to do a spot of sewing while Jett's in bed and before I stop running on adrenaline and the tiredness kicks in...:P Happy weekend everybody!

Someone better push play!

2009-04-23T17:35:00.012+10:00

Well Bec and I have so many thank you's to say of late to people that someone may need to start playing that music they play during the Oscar speeches to hurry people up... I'm not saying any more than Bec has said already, but feel it's important for me to say it too.

Firstly I wanted to say a big thanks to all the wonderful people who voted for Beckybean and also the other Brisstyle girls who were nominated for the Etsy best Eco friendly-finds - we managed to come in 10th spo t and Bec and I are super proud, chuffed and excited to have done so well. So thank you! This little softie came it at number 6 - how cute is it???

One of a Kind - Sunshine Hoot Owls - Radiant Raye by Buttercupbloom

Next in line for a thank you is Cam from Curly Pops shop and blog who was recently a guest blogger on the Cuteable website. She chose to feature one of our bags from the Crema Range which was very cool. Yay! I currently have my eye on this lovely bag that I'm adding to my Mother's Day wishlist for Kym...

Handbag - Beautiful Butterflies by Curly Pops

Julia from Studio Home Creative also featured two of our coffee bags on her blog - thanks!!! Studio Home Creative is a little portal into what and who is new, old, exciting, creative and worth a mention downunder. Check it out :D

Thank you Therese from Little Mary Moo blog and shop (also a Brisstyle member like myself) for featuring another of our bags from the Crema Range on her blog. Therese makes some very cute bags and purses in her own shop and I confess to owning three myself. Looking forward to the next Brisstyle Market in July to re-stock!

Words to Knit With Purse by Little Mary Moo's Place

Rebecca from the lovely Edward and Lily blog and shop (and another Brisstyle girl!) also featured one of our Crema Range bags on her blog - thank you!! I urge everyone to check out her gorgeous purses, softies and homeware goods in her Made It shop.

Chic Boots Zipper Pouch by Rebecca from Edward and Lily

Finally a big thank you to Anastasia from Anastasia Drawing and Dreaming blog, and Percival Road Designs, for featuring my Creme Brulee Pochette on her lovely blog! I'm yet to own any of Anastasia's beautiful handmade paper goods but I'm adding them to my wishlist too :D

Sweet Greeting Collage Card - Smell the Roses by Anastasia of Percival Road Designs

Hmm.... I think that may be it. Oh and I'd like to thank Jett and Kym and my family for making it all possible - he he he. Hang on, if this is an Oscar's speech I should probably thank god and say 'God Bless America' too... just kidding :P

On a different note, I don't particpiate in Watcha Wearing Wednesday and yesterday I discovered why I don't! I went out for a walk yesterday so I could get Jett to sleep in the Ergo. I was walking for a little while along the street when I discovered this.

What a very 'I need to get some more sleep' mum thing to do. I've gone out before with baby-sick/sticky fingers stains on my top, or been shopping only to realise I hadn't fastened my breastfeeding bra properly and it was fallng down, but this was a new one - two different shoes! Bec made me feel better when she told me she once went to work with two completely different styles of shoes on! He he he, sorry Bec, I hope that wasn't one of those things I wasn't meant to mention to EVERYBODY! Anyway, next stop, Woolies in my trackies I think :P

Phew, how far did you get through this LONG post before you were wishing someone started playing the wind up music earlier? I'm sorry, but I didn't want to miss anybody!

Eye Spy...a magical elixir

2009-04-22T09:00:00.003+10:00

This has been the week for magical elixir's in this house. I've had a cold now for more than a week and I've had my share of magical potions in the form of nasal sprays, steam rooms, raw green beans, panadol, echinacea and vitamin C lozenges... It seems if you say you are still breastfeeding you walk away from the pharmacy with paracetamol - woo hoo! Or go crazy with some nurofen!!! That always does NOTHING to stop your nose running or coughing when you have a cold... :( Tempting to take my obstetrician's advice when he said 'just don't tell the doctor you are pregnant or breastfeeding when you have a cold as they way are too cautious, and the pharamacist is even worst. Call my office and I'm sure we'll say it's OK to take'. It was certainly tempting...

But I think last night and today was when the 'special big guns' potions were administered - Bec made a really yummy chicken and spelt pasta vegetable broth - didn't that soothe the soul? It was excellent. And then this morning Kym got Jett up and let me sleep in for an extra hour, and then made me some freshly stewed figs, strawberries and raspberries with porridge. Double yay! I can feel myself getting better already.

Soon I will be back to my daily maintenance program of fruit smoothies, earl grey tea and lots and lots of chocolate!

Thanks to Amy for picking this cool theme and of course to Cindy for hosting - head on over to her site to play along.

Cast your vote for Etsy's best eco-friendly finds!

2009-04-14T22:03:00.004+10:00

It's time to cast your vote for your favourite environmentally friendly item on Etsy - and we're a bit chuffed to say that one of the Beckybean bags has made it to the top 60 nominations!!! Yay!!! OK, we're more than just chuffed - we're super dooper excited :D

We're also in some pretty good company too - five other BrisStylettes made the top nominations too - congratulations Ruby2GoGo, REread, ArtDecadence, Epherelli and Pedrosprout! We're so proud to be part of such an inspiring group of people.

So if you haven't cast your vote, head on over and check out the fabulous Etsy Eco-friendly finds.

Eye Spy...a surprise!

2009-04-13T20:07:00.004+10:00

I had been worried about this post as I didn't think I had any surprises this week - and couldn't think of any lately. But alas, Jett to the rescue!!!

Last night I discovered Jett has FINALLY got his first tooth. Yay! Given he's just turned one, I was beginning to get worried they were never coming... I mean, how long can you blame restless nights, not eating sometimes and bad moods on teeth? But ah, not to worry anymore.

Last Thursday was definitely one of the worst nights we'd had in nearly 6 months (I didn't get to sleep until 3am!) so I'm pleased we have something to show for it. I've been trying for the past two days to get a proper look at it but he just won't play ball - this is about as much as he lets me see. You can't see it, but trust me it's there :D

Thanks to Miss Muggins for choosing this week's exciting theme, and as always to Cindy for hosting.

The crazy and wonderful week that was

2009-04-08T13:49:00.011+10:00

I mentioned in my last post that I would give an update of Jett's first birthday and our trip to Hamilton Island... so here we go.

There was a bit of madness in our household in the days leading up to the party on Sunday the 30th - lots of cleaning, trips to the lolly shop, trips to Big W for party supplies, trips to Dan Murphey's for booze, trips to the market for food, etc etc etc! All of this for a little man who was turning one and really wouldn't have much of a clue what all the fuss was about anyway :P But we did it. And it was fun. And I'm glad we have a whole another year until the next one!

There were party bags to be made for the kids who were coming (making sure each had girl or boy stickers and weren't filled entirely of lollies!), pass the parcel to be organised - not to mention the look of EXTREME disappointment from my nephew when he unwrapped a lollypop instead of a chocolate frog - only for it to happen again when he unwrapped for the second time! Very funny for us adults, but not funny for a gorgeous little boy who doesn't really like eating any lollies except chocolate. He was probably the only one being the eldest who really got into pass the parcel so he was even more frustrated!! Sorry Mr Lee... I promise next year I will be more organised and write down what's been wrapped in each layer :P

I tried to make the cake the day before. Tried. I was organised. I had everything. I baked the cake during the day and was going to decorate it when Jett went to bed. It was all going to plan. The butter icing was too morish and the time came to cut the cake down the middle and assemble it into a Pirate Ship. It looked cool - I was in the middle of icing it when Kym's mother pointed out I had two bow's - shit, I cut both ends to a point! Crap crap crap! I tried to stick them back on at one end but to no avail. I'm beginning to panic and could see myself heading to Cold Rock in the morning for an ice-cream cake... I was trying to make it 'stick back on' with loads of icing but it wasn't working. All I kept thinking was oh shit, I still have to make the mini-quiche's and crumb the chicken and it was already 10pm - when will I sleep??? I sent Kym a message saying I had ruined it (OK the message I sent may have said I did something else to it starting with 'F') and he called to let me know if he couldn't fix it he was on cake duty in the morning - he assured me that he's turned around cakes from start to finish in less time. So I felt better. I popped it in the fridge (some great advice from Marilyn as I think the more I tried to fix it the worse it got) and forgot about it. And true to his word, Kym started on it in the morning and it was 'fixable' - it took a little while but I think it turned out pretty well - what you think??? It certainly passed the 'happy to pick at it kid test' on the day...We made Jett's favourite foods - mini quiche's, sausage rolls (OK... these were Mrs Quick's but I did take them out of the packet and bake them in the oven!), Jatz bikkies with hommus, different olives, southern-style crumbed chicken, organic free-range lamb chops (which were yummy - thanks Kym!), and so many other tasty morsels brought from fabulous family members.

So anyway, the party was a success and although it was busy busy with nearly 20 adults and about 8 kids running about, it was fun. And somehow Jett seemed to understand it was all about him!

The day after his birthday we flew out to Hamilton Island and had a fab time. The weather was better than perfect and Jett did really well being babysat by a complete stranger two nights in a row (in fact he did way better than me who spent most of the time worrying about him!). The photoshoot for Vogue E&T ended up starting two hours late and we had to leave a bit before the end to relieve their Editor who was the designated babysitter while the shoot was on - poor thing, she probably thought it would be for less than an hour and it ended up being over two...! So it will be in the next issue apparently if you want a squizz at us attending a mock cocktail party :P (hmm, in case it's a crap photo of me or we don't make the cut maybe I should say nothing...)

They put us on the top floor at the Reef View and we were thinking it was fabulous until we went to Qualia that night for the dinner and saw what we missed out on - the rooms they were in weren't $1300 a night - they were about $2500...No Champagne on arrival or bottle of Champagne in our room like the others got :( Oh well, the 'kid-friendly place' we were at was still awesome - check out the view from our balcony!
So the real fun started once Kym was no longer required to work and we could explore the island in our golf buggy, eat terribly crap and overpriced food (at least the view was amazing!), drink cocktails in the pool and enjoy that long romantic walk on the beach (sure... I had a little boy strapped to me asleep but it was still pure bliss).

But I'm back to reality and getting back into the swing of things. I even got to sew another bag yesterday which felt good. It had been at least two weeks and I was missing it. Oh and those coffee bags are now in the shop too if you haven't seen them or read about them on Bec's blog.

OK, I am starting to feel a little more up-to-date now!

Eye Spy... a new development

2009-04-04T21:28:00.003+10:00

Walking hanging on with only one hand... ta da!

What a super (and somewhat appropriate) theme for my return from the Whitsunday's back to blogland. So many new developments happening in our household...Almost walking, improved language skills (OK, I'm counting the 'UH OH' he has recently started saying), the lie on your back tantrum...

Jett also had his first birthday party last weekend which apart from my panic-stations with his pirateship cake (I had a moment last Saturday where I thought it best I stop and put it in the fridge to harden and get Kym to help when he was home from work), was a raging success - even if my attempt at pass the parcel proved a little long (with too many items wrapped up for short attention spans!)...

I still can't believe he's already one. Where did the time go??? He isn't walking yet, but these last few days have really seen him gain confidence and even attempt the 'one handed walk'. Very proud mother I am :D And how awesome is the ladybug he's holding onto in the picture? Thanks Bec! One of the many new toys Jett got for his birthday...

But now it's late and I'm too tired to go into details of the party and our recent mini-break - that's for another post. Tonight it's all about new developments :P

Thanks to Christina for picking such a great theme and head on over to Cindy's blog to play along.

Alright stop... pyjama time!

2009-03-26T15:50:00.006+10:00

Come on little kiddies, on my lap, guess who's back with a brand new rap...

OK really, this post isn't about Eminem's 'Just lose it' song...

Needing a quick spell of all that is hessian in my house at the moment (well perhaps the floors needing it more than me given it goes EVERYWHERE and I really should be cleaning the house for a first birthday party on Sunday...) I decided to bite the bullet and make Jett some jammy pants. I first mentioned I was planning on making Jett some from some cool oppy material I brought a couple of months ago. And for those of you who can sew you're probably thinking 'It's not hard, why procrastinate?', but I thought they would be. I was wrong! Boy how quick and satisfying are they to whip up??? I never knew...
So here's the first item of clothing I've ever made (OK... that worked out!). As you can see, they've passed the wearability test with Jett.
It's made me motivated enough to even try French seams on the second pair I made out of an old pillowcase Bec found for me in an op shop.
I've been saving my 'best' material for the next pair, until I was feeling more confident. This is some of the lovely material I brought from Melanie at Kimono Reincarnate - how cute is it? It's all cut up so I just need to start sewing.
I'll just have to work up the courage to try and applique something on a little top so they each have matching tops...

Eye Spy... something beautiful in my backyard (OK... and a few more goodies again!)

2009-03-24T15:35:00.010+10:00

I don't really have anything 'beautiful' in my backyard. As I've mentioned before we're not really gardening folk here in this household. My mum is a brilliant gardener and we've had many a plant have a visit to Grandma's house for a little TLC and come back to my house looking radiant... only to have them need another visit a couple of months later. I'm not sure what I do to them??? This is about as beautiful as it gets. One of the few hardy plants that flowers. But our backyard is fairly low maintenance... as you can see. However in front of this great tree is soon to be Mr Jett's new swingset he's receiving for his first birthday next week from his Nanna. But shh, it's a surprise!
If you'd like to play along with Eye Spy visit Cindy's blog and thank you to beyond pink and blue for picking this week's theme.

What's sure to be the first of many, Jett had a lovely pressie come in the mail today from the lovely Jen. How cute is it? He's already made himself at home in this house.And I even received a little package myself in the mail. I've mentioned before how much I love Hayley from RE Read's aesthetic and well... I couldn't resist this little purse for myself. How cute is it??? Love the little owl button sewn in. Hayley was even kind enough to include this awesome 'She breathed' button as an extra gift! Yay! Thanks so much! I love it! As they say on The Castle, 'It's going straight to the pool room' (well in my case, perhaps just the spot for my favourite buttons in the sewing room, but you get my drift!).

Eye Spy...my favourite colour and other goodies!

2009-03-17T11:20:00.010+10:00

My usual favourite colour is green - I don't mind which. Olive, khaki, tree frog, bottle, lime, and all the rest that live on the green spectrum. This affinity started as early as I can remember, perhaps because my name is Jade... who knows. I'm sure I was (and also still am) a big pink and red fan too...

However this week my favourite colour is 'Misty Blue'. Yes, it sure does sound like a porn name, but it's not. It's the colour name of my new Townie Electra bike. And I just love love LOVE it! With Jett's first birthday approaching in two weeks (where did the last twelve months go???) we decided to get him a Wee Ride. So of course in order for the whole family to go riding (Kym does have two bikes but they are way too big for me) I needed a newbie. So happy birthday Jett, mummy got a new bike!! Hooray!!

After much searching I was beginning to think I'd just settle on any old bike because none really grabbed me. Until I met Misty Blue at New Farm Bikes. And I fell in love. Sure, it was more than I wanted to spend on a bike, but then I rationalised that I am going to have this for a long time so I should get one I really love. And Kym being Kym told me to get it if it was what I wanted...He's a bigger shopper and spender than I am! So we took it out along the river on Sunday and it was as fun and comfortable and cruisey as it looks. Perfect! Kym even brought me a basket to go with it - how ace is it???

So I felt like we were the three bears of the biking world. Me on my girly mama bike, Jett on his Wee Ride, and Kym on his very expensive and 'manly' downhill bike - which looked extremely funny with a kid seat on it! It was a perfect way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

On other news, BrisStyle had it's first birthday on Sunday in the Roma Street Parklands and it was a fabulous day filled with crafty goodness, perfect weather, and even more fabulous and inspirational people. Check out the latest post on the site for details here. It's always great to meet new people and also put faces to the blogs and etsy stores I've been looking at and reading for a little while now. The day also consisted of a lucky dip - and look at my fab score from Little Diva crafts!! Some of you might remember back in a previous post I said I wanted to make myself a new apron, well now there's no need! And the pin cushion I'd been using was dead boring - plain grey and something I'd got out of a watch case many years ago... I'm too embarrassed to even put an old pic of it up. So as you can see, I could not have picked out a better present - thank you Christine!
Well I've been speaking of presents for Jett (well me really I suppose!) and presents I've received, so here are two little ones I brought for me as well. I just love getting mail! I brought some cool little buttons from Hayley at RE Read which arrived yesterday - the are so brilliant - she makes them out of old children's books. And today my beautiful fabrics from the lovely Melanie at Kimono Reincarnate. How gorgeous is the packaging? Melanie even wrapped them in an extra piece of beautiful fabric - thank you!!!Now that I have these I really should get off the computer and start making something for 'Me' I think before Jetstar wakes up :P

Yes I like Pina Colada's

2009-03-11T22:20:00.006+10:00

Kym is currently one of the Queensland judges for the Vogue Entertaining and Travel Produce Awards. On Friday he received a call that they are organising the photoshoot for the issue and they wanted him to go up to Hamilton Island for two nights. Now in six years together Kym and I have probably only spent two or three nights apart at best - none since Jett was born. But I thought I should be the 'understanding wife' (not usually my forte) and say 'of course you can go, I'll be fine'. I was a little green eyed but figured if it was me I'd be seeing him later :P

Then we got an email yesterday saying while they couldn't pay for my flight I was most welcome to join them and would be included in the accommodation. In fact, they would like partners in the shoot if possible. Hip hip horray!!! I was so super excited. In fact, I was so excited that I called Kym as soon as I saw this email, even though it was the middle of service to say Jett and I were coming... I thought perhaps my intention of being understanding brought me some good karma.

So I looked up where we were staying and then got even more excited. This hotel costs around $1400 per night!! Check out the rooms... oh how the other half live!
(photo from the Qualia website)
However my high highs went to low lows when we received an email today to say that the resort has a 'strict no children' policy. Boo hoo. I didn't even consider these places existed... I thought we were out. I was gutted... But then they seem to be organising us somewhere else to stay now so I'm hoping we're still going. Tough call by Kym though - once in a lifetime hotel resort that we can never afford... or spend the night in a lesser hotel but have Jett and I with him. I'm so lucky with his choice. If the choice was mine however... just kidding! Sort of... :P

Besides, it still looks like it will be pretty nice!
(photo from Reef View Hotel website)

Yay, Pina Colada's and long walks on the beach for me :D

New upload to Beckybean

2009-03-10T12:16:00.005+10:00

Today Bec and I uploaded more reversible handbags to our Beckybean shop - I've included a few pics here if you want a squizz!

I'm a bit excited now about our next project - Kym spoke to Merlo coffee (a local coffee roaster here in Brisbane) and has arranged for us to get our hands on some of the coffee bags that the green bags get delivered in. Yay! So we're currently in the prototype stage but watch this space (and also the Beckybean shop!) to see some new creations. They have pretty cool prints on some of them so I think (and hope!) they'll be popular :P

Eye Spy...something that makes me laugh

2009-03-07T18:06:00.015+10:00

What a great theme this week by Anja at Drobtinice!

I know I'm a day early but thought it was perfect timing after being shown a very funny video on You Tube by my brother-in-law. It's a little crude but is pretty damn funny, and it really gets stuck in your head - it's called 'Jizz in my Pants'. Yes you read that right - I just wrote 'jizz' on my blog... :P Have I sunk to new levels??? Great Pet Shop Boys influence/piss take.

There are two others that were pretty funny sketches/songs from Saturday Night Live - the links are here and here. The titles sound a lot more offensive than they actually are - all they are are song clips with Matt Damon and Ben Affleck in them doing a skit. The cast they got to do the Ben Affleck one is pretty impressive - Brad Pitt, Cameron Diaz, Robin Williams, Macy Gray, Huey Lewis, Good Charlote, etc etc. If you are offended by the 'F' word than perhaps these videos are better left unclicked, but that's about as bad as they get. Don't worry, I would never EVER put anything that was actually pornographic on my blog, let alone encourage people to click it!!

So last night and today, these made me laugh! I think I may have just 'outed' myself with my sense of humour and I hope you don't think any less of me!!! At my last work, I think I may have been the person who 'would go there' when noone else would... But I'm all out for someone taking the piss a little - I am married to a chef after all so it does take a bit to actually offend me!

One of my favourite movies is Zoolander and it will always make me laugh - still! This is only one of the many scenes I love in this movie!

And of course the boys from the Might Boosh - always gets me laughing.

I'll finish with a video from my favourite TV show, Scrubs. This show always makes me laugh!

Gotta love You Tube :D

Head on over to Cindy's site to play along.

Eye Spy...something that makes me happy

2009-03-03T10:12:00.005+10:00

Well lots of things lately have made me happy, but I think one of the best this week was getting a long overdue cut and colour. A good friend of mine works for a well-known hair product company but is often interstate working so I feel bad asking her to do my hair when she finally gets some free time, so I tend to go about 3 months or more between goes :P (Not great when you have short fine hair...!)

So she was back last week and was happy to do it in the studio on Sunday. Yay! Three hours kid-free time to relax and chat without interuptions - double yay! She always does such a brilliant job and makes me feel 'stylish' again :P

It also has the added benefit that it doesn't cost very much at all with mates rates and she often sends me packing with new hair styling products to boot, usually costing more than I gave her to do it anyway. Yay again! Here's the latest two products she gave after I said I thought I was pretty right for shampoos, volumisers etc!

So this week, Miss Kate made me happy :)

Thanks to Iris and Lily for choosing this weeks theme, and head on over to Cindy's site to play along.

A cup of tea and a bit of a catch up

2009-02-26T11:33:00.011+10:00

Ah, it's been well worth the wait! I feel I have been overdue for a sit down and relax with a cup of tea while I reflect... things have been a little hectic here and I keep feeling like I've got 50,000 things to do and no time to do them in... The fact that Jett is enjoying making me earn my stay-at-home-mothering job by taking anywhere up to an hour to go to sleep (2 day sleeps and a nighttime one means this can be up to 3 hours!!) isn't helping. But then I only need to look at him and the frustration melts (well, actually, truth be told, it melted after having a light beer and glass of wine at mum's!), but hey sometimes it melts without the use of alcohol :P

I've had a few things I've been meaning to blog about but then time has slipped and they are no longer as current. But here's my lovely post-Valentines Day breakfast that Kym made for me on the Sunday because he worked on the Saturday. Hmm.. it was pretty good. Scrambled eggs and avocado on Sol bread, all washed down with a superb bottle of Champagne. (Ignore the 'lick it' on the bottle that was written by Urbane's kitchen team, sometimes it's best not to question!) I think I've become a bit of a Champagne snob of late and now that I can only have a glass or two at a time I've decided it needs to be the good stuff. Life's too short to drink cheap wine, that's what I say :D

Then there was the great meal we had at our house Sunday week ago with my extended family when Kym brought home some yummy snapper fillets stuffed with crab mousse left over from work (**I assume the boys from Urbane don't read my blog! he he he -just kidding, it was needing to be chucked if not eaten) and he wok-tossed some wombok, yams and shallots with fish sauce and ginger, served with rice. Jett was just mad for it! We're proud the little man has taste :P Excuse the pic too - I was planning on taking the photo before I started eating it but couldn't help myself!

Mum and Bec both made desserts so were well stuffed afterward but it was totally worth it. Mum made a delicious bread and butter pudding and Bec a fancy take on a crumble, made with yummy nuts and seeds in the crumble, and peach and raspberry's as the filling. I feel hungry again just writing about it... As Bec's was still in the oven when this pic was taken I only have one of mum's.

Then there's been lots of pochette making which was lots of fun for the Beckybean shop and myself. But I'm about to get into the reversibles again so I'm about to go in and pick some fabrics once I get off the computer... all in good time though. I want to savour this cup of tea.

Oh and the biscuits I made last Thursday for a friend coming over for a visit... They are chocolatey, oatey, LSA (ey), and absolutely delicious. We are always modifying ingredients and they still always turn out crackers. I had every intention of making them a week earlier and sending the recipe in for the Handmade Help Cookbook but it didn't happen and by the time I had this photo they were full on biscuits! So I opted for my minestrone recipe soup so I guess I'll wait and see if I made the cut :P (pardon the pun, he he he).

Other than that, there's been a bit of 'park life' with my mum and the kids, trips to Gymboree, cafes with Bec and the kids, quick visits down to SA to see all the in-laws, lots of op shop browsing, swims at my aunty and uncles and parents places, swimming lessons with Jett and Kate, and of course a bit of swimming action at Southbank last Sunday (possible with the rest of South-East QLD!), where we still managed to run into a few sets of friends we hadn't seen for a while. I love how Brisbane really has the small-town feel sometimes :D

Oh and before I forget, the lovely Bel and Em from EmBelish have nominated me for Proximidade Award. Bel and Em are fellow BrisStylers who have a great blog and sell some gorgeous little items in their Etsy shop, like hairclips, softies, brooches and many other fabulous things - go check them out! Thank-you Bel and Em, I am really stoked you thought of me for this award.

Proximidade is described as follows:

This blog invests and believes in PROXIMITY - nearness in space, time and relationships. These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in prizes for self-aggrandizement! Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers!

Now it where I list eight other people to pass it onto. Like Bec, I can't choose (I am a Librian afterall so I'm going with that excuse!) and don't want to double up on anyone that may have already received it. Check out my 'lovely blogs' on the side here and see if there's any you aren't familiar with and have a read. You never know what you might find out :D

So it's been good to reflect on my busy couple of weeks, and to remember just how good I have it sometimes. I know I wouldn't want anything any other way!

I think I just like saying the name, Pochette!

2009-02-25T17:08:00.008+10:00

Bec and I have finally finished our first little collection of pochettes (the French term for envelope clutch) for the Beckybean store. We're in the process of uploading them now and a couple more should be added in the next day or so. These are a new item for the store so we'd love to hear your feedback on what you think :P

I'm pleased there were a couple of 'test' ones I have claimed for my own 'research' purposes :D

Here's a few to have a squizz at anyway from the store.

And these are two of the pochettes for me!

Eye Spy...Love

2009-02-23T09:22:00.005+10:00

The thing I cherish most in my life is my family. My parents, siblings, cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents, nieces, nephews, in-laws. These are the 'loves' I have known my entire life (or a new additions that have enriched it) and wouldn't be the person I am today without them. Then there's the person I met and have grown to love, and yet still love more each day - Kym. Then there's the 'instant love' - the love we felt for Jett the minute we found out I was pregnant and is a love that will never waiver the entire time I breathe. It's such an indescribable and amazing feeling to be able to love someone unconditionally with whom you have just met.

Sure there's things in this life I say I love but I guess are really just 'great' - great food, great wine, great books, great movies. Not my true loves. Of course I love my friends too and they are super important to me, but whilst sometimes they can come and go, the people that always remain is family. And to these 'family' members (you know who you are) who are here in a heatbeat when I call and am having a bad day - a massive thank you!

Thanks to Cindy for hosting and picking this weeks theme - we all need a reminder sometimes of what truly makes us happy!

Vintage sewing patterns for sale!

2009-02-18T15:16:00.009+10:00

My sister has been busy sorting through all her old patterns she has acquired over the years, and has been uploading them to the Beckybean Etsy shop to support THE HANDMADE HELP BUSHFIRE APPEAL . These funds are currently providing direct assistance to survivors and wildlife affected by the fire storms in Victoria Australia through the RED CROSS and WILDLIFE VICTORIA. All of the monies raised from the sales of the patterns is being donated, so now's the time if you're feeling it's time to make a new dress, or an outfit for your little one/s. They are up there pretty cheap (US$4 and free postage within Australia!) and go for way more on sites like ebay etc. So get sewing and support a well-worthy cause :D

Eye Spy... my secret (food) shame

2009-02-15T13:56:00.005+10:00

This week I was lucky enough to be asked by Cindy to choose this weeks theme. However when I actually thought about mine I realised I probably have too many... until recently, I did like to indulge in the occasional small cheeseburger meal, or chips and gravy from KFC... in fact Kym was quoted in the Courier-Mail a couple of months ago saying something similar with a chiko roll when asked what chefs liked to eat but hate to admit it. But I'm trying to be better. We're trying to be better. We're trying to be healthier. I'm not eating as much crap as I once did. Well I wasn't until last Friday when my sister and I did our weekly shopping at Coles (to help raise money for the 2009 Bushfire Appeal) I couldn't walk past the chocolate isle and not purchase a block of this... Now it's no secret to anybody just how much I love chocolate, but I've normally been buying Green & Blacks Maya in an attempt to not scoff. (There may have been a time only a few short months ago when I was eating 3 blocks a week). However I resisted and purchased this block of milk chocolate. Which was gone in its entirity by 10pm (I didn't even get home from the supermarket until 5pm...). What was worse though was I tried to put the wrapper in the bin (above pic) before Kym could see I ate a whole block in a day... which he saw the next morning and still enjoyed giving me shit for being such a little piggy :P So I guess I was a little embarrassed which is why this week it's my secret shame.

Head on over to Bugandpop to play along.

Donations for Handmade Help

2009-02-10T13:15:00.009+10:00

It's still difficult to fathom the extent of the destruction currently happening in Victoria right now and how the lives of so many people will be affected forever. In response to these horrific bushfires, the proceeds from the sales of two of our bags 'Eco Market Tote - Jaffa' and 'Clip-Clap reversible handbag' will be donated to the Handmade Help Fund to help bushfire survivors. EDITED: This has now SOLDEDITED: This has now SOLD
As mentioned in a previous post, this market tote was made by me and was recently listed on the front page of Etsy, and the reversible was made by Bec and recently featured on the Cuteable website. The Handmade Help site has been set up by Cindy at Bugandpop and will keep tabs on all the auctions and sales for the fund.

There are so many wonderful people doing their bit to help. I strongly recommend a visit to some of these great sites to see how you can get involved.
Handmade Help
Meet me at Mikes for Handmade Help explained
OzBushFireAppeal's shop

Eye Spy... something delicious!

2009-02-09T18:10:00.004+10:00

What to choose, what to choose! What a great theme selected by Handmaiden. I decided I had to run with a range of icecreams in our freezer by my favourite icecream makers and personal good friends of ours, Grant and Mel at Lick!. They really do make the most amazing and creamy icecream - none of that rubbish that's made with milk and whipped to air to taste like nothing - nosirre! It's made with REAL cream and boy can you taste the difference! (never mind the calories, that's what the gym's for right?) I'm quite lucky that Kym often brings me home new ones to try. These ones are (back left to right) White Sambuca icecream and Orange & Passionfruit sorbet, and the ones at the front are Raspberry & Irish Cream icecream, Egg Custard icecream and Red Bull sorbet. Admittedly going from being pregnant to now breastfeeding has meant I've never really sampled the Red Bull one which Grant made especially for Kym and the kitchen team.

The lovely Cindy at Bugandpop has asked me to select next week's theme and hopefully it's not too close to this weeks... because I'm also a lover of food. So I'm going to run with

Eye Spy... my secret (food) shame!

I would love to see what other people LOVE to eat but are not so proud of. It could be a sneaky cheeseburger, a piece of 11 secret herbs and spices, chips and gravy, or just your secret chocolate stash! I look forward to reading everybody's secret indulgences :D

Eye Spy... a small object

2009-02-05T15:28:00.006+10:00

This is one of Jett's many dummy's that now surround our house. It's about as small as things get around here (or try to be anyway!). Before Jett was born I was convinced he was not going to have a dummy - I wasn't going to give him one. When he was born I didn't even have one as a 'just in case'. I can't pinpoint my issue with it. I didn't think it was wrong for others to have them. I just didn't want Jett to 'need it'.

And then he hated the car... actually he's still not a big fan (how many 10 month old's do you know have their own DVD player since they were 4 months old???). But it and the dummy together seemed to ease the non-stop crying in the car. Phew, I thought I was bound to only go within a 10 minute radius from home. He really did just love being able to suck all the time (and it was not a feasible option to let him be permanently attached to my breast 24/7). Then it seemed to help put to him to sleep when rocking. Then I said he would only have it when he was going to sleep. Then it seemed to help him not need to feed every 2 hours at nighttime. Then he would hurt himself and it helped calm him down, or stopped him crying when he was getting tired.

Now I have just succumbed to the fact that he has a dummy and he really does LOVE it. He gets excited for it. He no longer has it at the times that 'I dictate it's OK'. And now that he's at the 'I must put everything I see in my mouth stage', it certainly helps reduce the amount of foreign objects that pass his lips. Oh and when we're out in public or eating at a restaurant, it often helps with the excessive yelling or crying.

So I guess I have learned my lesson - at the end of the day you can't control everything as a parent. They have their own personalities and there's only so much you can do. Oh, and I guess never say never right?

Thank you to the Crafty Librarian for selecting this weeks theme and head on over to Cindy's site to play along.

Update on the 'bet'

2009-02-01T11:38:00.004+10:00

Back in December I wrote about a bet that was happening in Kym's kitchen about the apprentice needing to lose 12kg in 12 weeks. Well he now has only one month to go and he has lost 3kg... he lost 6kg but then went and put on 3kg over Christmas. Poor bugger!

What I now find found funny about this is that he is now on the Cabbage Soup Diet (as opposed to the Tony Ferguson he was on before). I looked up this diet here and was pleased to see they make mention of the fact that this diet "is sometimes referred to as the "Mayo Clinic Diet", and the "Sacred Heart Hospital Diet". Interestingly, this diet has nothing to do with either the Mayo Clinic, nor any Sacred Heart Hospital we know about". Wow, so they have confirmed this diet has nothing to do with name of the hospital on one of my favourite shows, Scrubs. Hilarious. Obviously they don't watch the show or get the joke of why someone would call this diet that in the first place... I found this article as well about how bad this diet is. It's certainly up there with the Lemon Detox Diet my parents tried last year... but that's another story for another time. Needless to say it was a time when my sister and I had to be the parents as they were acting like children... (sorry mum if you're reading this but it's true, you didn't use your better judgement there!).

So anyway, I still wish Blake luck. He may get there... However he did go and call his boss a 'pussy' about how slow he rides his mountain bike, so when Blake wasn't looking he dropped 500gm of butter into his carefully portioned cabbage soup and blitzed it so he wouldn't know. Maybe there's a lesson in this for all of us - don't give people a hard time who can easily mess with the food you consume :D

Gotta love fresh fruit and veges

2009-01-29T17:20:00.003+10:00

I just love my local fruit and veg shop. It's run by a little Italian family and they are always so lovely. When I was pregnant the older man who owns it used to carry my fruit and veg out to the car, and now when I go there with Jett he moves my basket around the store if I look like I'm struggling to carry it and a wriggling little boy who no longer wants to be carried but still cannot walk, and then out to my car afterward.

I find it so satisfying carrying my groceries home in a big cardboard box rather than plastic bags - I'm taken back to my childhood when I look at those boxes (growing up in country Victorian meant we earned our pocket money in school holidays picking fruit and veg). Ah the memories :) Funny how you gloss over it when you get older. At the time it meant you were covered in dirt, smelt of something gross like rotten onions, grapes or garlic, had to dodge spiders, and watch out for brown snakes. Yet, they're still good memories!

So I'm off to make minestrone soup. I know - it's the middle of Summer and my southern counterparts are sweltering in 40 degree heat, but it seems my extended family and I might be fighting a cold so I want to stock up the immune system and deliver it round to the family members who want some tomorrow. Besides if I keep the air-con on I can imagine it's cold out rather than muggy... it is rainy after all :P

And we're open for business!

2009-01-28T12:29:00.007+10:00

Yay! Beckybean is now open for business in 2009. It's probably a bit shameless to be plugging the store on my blog but I'm super excited as three of my bags are now up on our site. And it appears one of my bags was picked by Etsy Admin to be featured on the front page, so it's had loads of views. Double yay! I'm so new to all of this that I'm still a bit excited about the whole process and probably don't have a grasp on the proper blogging and Etsy store etiquette yet (so sorry!)... It just feels good to be creating and sewing these lovely little bags.

Each bag will be named by its maker - Bec tends to name her bags after characters or general references from Enid Blyton books (her favourite childhood author), while all of mine will be 'foody' names (my other passion in life!).

This year we're going to try (?) and upload our bags in small 'collections'. This week is market totes and hopefully by the beginning of next week we'll have a little collection of reversibles up. So stay tuned for more bag goodness :P

Eye Spy... something beginning with 'J'

2009-01-28T12:14:00.005+10:00

I'm beginning to think my Eye-Spy Sunday is really my Eye-Spy Wednesday. I keep being super busy on the weekends that it seems to take until today to do my post.

So I seem to live in a house of 'J's - me (Jade), our boy Jett and my husband's middle name is John. But trying to find a pic I want to put up proved quite difficult...
But here it is - Jett having a sleep yesterday. I love the way he curls up with his legs and looks so small in our big king size bed. Always gives me the warm fuzzys to see him looking so peaceful.

My other something beginning with 'J' is joy - the feeling I had when my lovely husband gave me this beautiful orchid this morning for our 3rd wedding anniversary. I just love it. Pre-Jett we often would buy orchids for home, and it was the flower of choice on our wedding day, so I'm well-happy he gave me something so thoughtful and simple. He's a keeper :)

Thanks Lauren for picking this weeks theme, and head over to Cindy's site to play along.

A new year and a birthday party to boot

2009-01-21T22:36:00.020+10:00

I can't believe it's already mid-January. Happy new year everybody! Yes, again I'm 3 weeks late and this isn't my first post for the new year but I finally feel I'm catching up with everything, including blogland. I'm super excited about 2009 - this year I'll be helping my lovely sister with her Beckybean shop which should be great fun! I've made two market totes in the last week for my mum and aunty and am keen to whip one up for myself, before we really need to start stocking the shop.

As some of my readers may have read on Bec's blog, her birthday was last weekend, so we had a little family party. Bec decided on an 'Asian' food theme for the day, which I was very happy with. As with all of our get togethers the food was sensational and in abundance. Dishes included san choi bao, steamed dim sims, fresh snapper spring rolls (certainly a massive highlight for me!), cupcakes and I 'volunteered' Kym to make his spicy beef and rare beef salad he picked up from his time at Green Papaya a few years ago.

Unfortunately I didn't think to get the camera out fast enough and missed my chance to snap some of the dishes - as you can see by the above pic, the rare beef salad was a hit as there wasn't much left! The spicy beef proved to be a bit 'spicy' for most, but we all persisted as the flavour was just so damn good. One of the perks of being married to a chef is we get treated to some superb dishes every now and then :D

But I really cannot go on enough about just how tasty everything was though. The clean flavours of everything meant it was possible to eat quite a lot (yay!) and not feel disgusting afterwards (even bigger yay!). Matt even made Bec a yummy chocolate birthday cake - the first time he's done this since they've been together some 10 plus years! Matt's food is always great but desserts are not normally his 'thing'. Nor does he want them to be... What an act of love! I'm sure Bec going on each year that he has never made one for her had nothing to do with it at all :P

As you can see by the pics, the cupcakes certainly got Lee's and Kate's approval. And what birthday party would be complete without a bounce on the trampoline???

This last pic is one of my favourites from the day - it's of Bec holding one of her new presents from my aunty - how gorgeous is this pink tea cup?

Hmm...writing this post about food has got my tummy rumbling - off to the fridge for some chocolate I think :D

Eye Spy... a taste of Summer

2009-01-20T12:49:00.007+10:00

Most definitely my favourite time of year! Kicking off with the 'crazy Christmas' season, the 'wind down and relax' of January, and then the 'back into the groove' February where we savour the last dregs of Summer. Well maybe that's not entirely true - we do live in Queensland and the season does last a little longer here but hey, it's not 'technically' Summer is it?

So what reminds me of Summer? Definitely most things water. Swimming with my niece and nephew (and now Jett) in my parents and aunty and uncle's pools. Cranking up our outdoor spa and relaxing after a busy day with Kym (and now Jett...). Kym and I talking about how we really should go to the beach given it's only an hour away... As you can see by my pic above, we finally made the trek down last week. And of course, RID for all the lovely mozzie's and midges that frequent this part of town.

A close second is Summer food and drinks. Christmas parties, birthday parties, mangoes, peaches, grapes, fruit smoothies for breakfast, chilled Champagne, iced tea, green papaya salad, fish, cold beer... I could go on but I won't.

Lastly, but no less enjoyable for me, are the '5pm thunderstorms' of the wet season - well, what we still have of a wet season because of global warming :( Those stinking hot and humid days followed by a massive downpour are always so welcomed, provided you're not one of the unlucky ones driving... This pic is of a golf-sized piece of ice that landed at the back of Kym's work at the start of Summer.

Thanks so much to Anastasia for picking this weeks theme, I really enjoyed it! Check out our host Cindy's site to play along.

Eye-Spy : Something Id like to try in 2009

2009-01-13T17:13:00.007+10:00

Wow, there are so many things I'm wanting to try this year. Where to start, where to start...

- I want to learn how to make PJs for Jett (actually I'd like to know how to follow a simple clothes pattern for that matter).
I have this great fabric I found at an op shop that is still in it's original packaging. It was a single sheet set and I plan on using this. My last attempt at a clothes pattern was nearly 15 years ago in textiles at school and it was for a skirt made from some horrible synthetic material that I really thought I would wear (shudder to think what it would have look like had it worked)... but the waist was so big it wouldn't even hold up. I have my fingers crossed that my next attempt will be more successful!

- Make an apron for me - my sister has some lovely homemade ones that I'm always envious of when I go over and we cook, so I'm determined to try my hand at one. Being married to a chef and waitressing many years ago, means all of my aprons are the super practical - black with a pocket at the front, or plain white that come nearly to floor.

Oh hang on, we do have one that was given to us - it has a print of 'the only gay in the village' (David) from Little Britain... Not really one I want to parade around in when we have people over for a meal. It's certainly up there with the aprons that have boobs on the front... So a new 'girly' apron for me would be grand!

- Learn how to paint some simple kids pictures on the blank canvases I brought nearly two years that lie around the house begging to be used... (I have mentioned previously I'm a big procrastinator right?)

- Oh and I think one that I continuously have to tell myself to do - try to learn how to be more patient :P

I'm sure there are many other things which right now I cannot think of. Write a cook book of 'homestyle' foods we know from our generation before the recipes are lost in our minds, figure out what's going to make me enough money so I can keep being a fulltime stay-at-home mum (I think this is where sewing with Bec will come into it), learn another language - something other than the few Italian words I know - 'Mi chiamo Jade' and 'Dario non e sempre in ritardo'... (Bec I'm guessing you should get this last joke??). Ah, so many things and not enough time to do them in :P

Thank you to Red Chocolate for picking this great theme, and of course to Cindy for hosting.

Merry (belated) Christmas and Happy New Year!

2008-12-28T10:34:00.003+10:00

Merry Christmas to everybody! Sure... I'm about 4 days late... but I think I've had a pretty good excuse. I'm currently relaxing at my brother's house in the Clare Valley (SA), with my parents, aunty and uncle, nieces and nephews. We're drinking plenty of good wine and now eating lots and lots of Christmas leftovers! It's been Jett's first Christmas and although he's had a snotty nose (much colder here at night than home!) and doesn't quite grasp the concept yet, he's had lots of fun getting plenty of attention from his relatives, and playing with his cousins toys (and trust me, there are loads of them!).

I haven't really been able to access the internet much and probably won't until we get home on the 5th Jan. So I just wanted to say Happy New Year to everybody and look forward to reading what everybody's been up to over the festive season :)

Yay, a new bag for me!

2008-12-18T15:55:00.011+10:00

I decided two days ago to make myself a bag before heading off to Adelaide on Monday, and I just finished it today! Perhaps Jett had to watch a little more Baby Einstein than he normally would (not that I think he minded!), and sure, he may have been a little attention deprived - but hey, I have a new bag! YAY for me! I used left over fabric from our dining room chair seat covers for the outer and strap, a vintage linen tablecloth for the lining and on the strap, and a salvaged fabric sample from Reverse Garbage for the cuff.

I actually started two at once as I couldn't decide which fabric I was going to like better - the other should be finished tomorrow/tonight so I'll upload a new pic once completed. Amazing how much you can get done when you're procrastinating cleaning the house and packing... :P

I also finished this bag last week for my mother-in-law for Christmas. It's probably photographed a little brighter than it actually is because of the flash... I love the blue wool on the outer and strap, and have teamed it with a vintage sheet for the lining, and used an upholstery sample on the cuff. I hope she likes it! I almost feel like handing it over and saying 'if you don't like it I'm happy to keep it and make you another'.

Is it normal to get so attached to the things you make, even when you make purposefully for someone else???

Eye Spy... a burst of colour

2008-12-16T12:05:00.004+10:00

Eye Spy a lone blue flower in my garden. Nestled amongst a patch of little yellow flowers and many many weeds (again... I don't have a green thumb to know the correct names of these flowers!), this little flower caught my eye when wandering around our garden with Jett this morning. Since having Jett there are so many bursts of colour throughout our house (toys, swings, playpens etc!) that I needed to get outside to notice my rare burst of colour.

Thanks to Flossy-P for choosing this weeks theme, and also to Cindy for hosting the Eye Spy. Head on over to Bugandpop to join in.

So many things to love, to want, to buy...

2008-12-14T08:04:00.021+10:00

Yesterday was the BrisStyle market and I have to say it seemed to be a raging success! I was helping out my sister at the Beckybean store and she sold more than half her stock - woo hoo! She's closed her Etsy shop until the 26th of January but somehow I think she's going to have a bit of sewing to do in the new year... I might have to help out I think - I'm feeling very motivated!

It was very inspiring to see so many great crafters, designers and artists in the one place. I'm generally not a market kind of girl (unless it's a food market...) but I have to say I loved it! Kym had Jett for the morning and didn't bring him in until the afternoon, so it was also lovely to have some 'kid-free' time. Of course after only five hours I was starting to miss him so it was very nice when Kym turned up :P I also needed to promptly show Kym to a few of my favourite stalls for my Christmas present so I'm looking forward to seeing what he chose - I think it may be a bracelet from StratDesigns - yay!

My lovely sister also got me this lovely necklace from Raspberry Pink which is very cool, and this awesome little bib by Jellygnite with cowboys on it for Jett. I managed to pick up Jett this gorgeous little tee by Tees2Knees and I couldn't resist the little zipped purses by Little Mary Moo (I couldn't decide which I wanted most so I got all three...)
and also this tiny purse mirror by Hot Toffee. Oh and a brooch from REread Design (I couldn't take a pic of it as I think it's somewhere in Kym's bag and he's off riding with my brother-in-law). I think that's everything!

I had moments yesterday where I wished my gorgeous little boy was a gorgeous little girl... so many beautiful dresses by Hot Fudge and gorgeous ruffle pants by Bettsy Kingston... I would have brought some for two nieces but Bec had already beat me to it - maybe our next baby (not any time soon!) will be a girl and I can go nuts then :P

I helped Bec with five bags to sell at the markets, and while three sold, I was very happy that my favourite one didn't, so I get to keep it. Yay!

After all those purchases I still managed to forget to buy something! I really wanted to get a print for Jett's room by Twinkle Star Art - I'm going to need to go online now and get one I think. They are soo cute. How I forgot when they were the store next to us I have no idea :P

Speaking of recent purchases (how's that for a segue?), Kym brought me this present this week. Yay! I'm so excited about it that I'm 'saving' it for when he's off work over the holidays so we can just sit and watch. I love love love the Mighty Boosh - 'ooh such a good time' :D

Eye Spy... something in my garden

2008-12-08T21:42:00.014+10:00

So this is my first Eye Spy! I just want to say thank you to Curly Pops for picking this weeks theme, and also to Cindy at Bugandpop for hosting the Eye Spy.
I love this tree in my garden, not that I know what it is called. I keep thinking it's a poinsettia but I'm pretty sure it's not. I don't have a green thumb, and to be honest if you get up close and have a look at our garden you'll see it really needs some TLC. All the rain we've been having lately is causing it to go a bit nuts, and this tree in particular is in desperate need of some pruning (is that what you call it??). But I love the pretty red flowers it drops on the lawn - they remind me that Summer is here. I'm also a fan of the big palm next to it. Before I moved up here I always thought of balmy weather and palm trees when I thought of Queensland, so it's pretty cool to know I have one in my very own backyard.

I had to include this pic of the oregano in my herb garden - the weather lately has also caused it to really spread and I think it looks very lush.
Friday night saw my extended family, Mr J, and I attend Carols by Candlelight. With early evening thunderstorms forecast we decided to risk it anyway. We were there only 1 hour before we were rained out. But the carols themselves were pretty funny, if maybe a little lame. The 'host' of the evening was definitely a Jack Black from 'School of Rock' wannabe... which my sister and I found pretty hilarious. He had the same moves, held onto those high notes a little too long, tried to get the audience to 'rock' and at one point even referred to the females in the choir and the females in audience as 'the ladies'. If nothing else, he gave us a great laugh :P

Sunday we also had our family pre-Christmas party where all the kiddies had lots of fun opening presents. And the grown ups consumed some great finger food and of course some much-needed drinks. My couple of glasses of Piper went down way too easily...

Here's a couple of pics of some of the food brought by everybody. There's some bruschetta, little sausages with zucchini, olives, goats cheese and tomatoes, some buttersnap bikkies with caramel (thanks Bec, these were one of my favourites as a kid - who am I kidding, as an adult too!), and some mini trifles. Needless to say I think we all needed a little nap afterward :P

Run fat boy run!

2008-12-05T11:24:00.008+10:00

I am feeling so organised this Christmas. I even got online and made our first ever family Christmas card. Kym and I are notoriously crap at sending out cards - actually I think my whole family is a bit crap - but Kym's family always send us cards and each year we both say 'we should really do that next year'. So I have. Perhaps you get into these things more so when you have kids?

We also have our family pre-Christmas party on Sunday which I'm super excited about as there's always so much good food. And Jett now goes quite a few hours between breastfeeds so really looking forward to my Christmas bubbles :D

My recent exercise regime appears to be working which I am very excited about - 4kg in 5 weeks - woo hoo! Obviously my Body Step and RPM classes are doing the trick. I have less than 2kg to get back to my pre-pregnancy weight and only 4kg to get back to my preferred 'ideal' weight of 7 years ago...oh the days when I never had to worry about it! This is the first time in my life I have ever tried to lose weight (and possibly the first time in my life I feel I have really needed to for my own self-esteem!), so I'm pleased I can do it when I actually try.

Speaking of weight loss, there is currently a bet happening at Kym's work for his apprentice to lose weight. This kitchen is made up of a group of guys (sorry and one girl) who are not your 'typical' chefs - no one smokes (one recently quit) and no one has more than probably two drinks a week. Not your average kitchen brigade! And they often go to the gym in their breaks...

Now this one very loud and outgoing apprentice, who is 20 years old, still has a bit of 'puppy fat' which they all like to give him a gentle ribbing about (how many workplaces in this day and age can you get away with doing that???). There is a $200 bet going that he can't lose 12kg in 12 weeks. He's currently 92kg. Kym, two senior chefs and one of the owners have each put in $50, and if he loses he pays each of them $50, and if he wins he gets the $200.

What's so funny about this story is this apprentice has gone out and spent over $100 on weight loss products - which means that if he loses he is actually down $300 and if he wins he only gets $100... So each day now he is eating carrot sticks and drinking Tony Ferguson drinks (I haven't tried these but I imagine they are disgusting!) trying to lose 12kg. All for $100. Now I know apprentices don't get paid much but he's not on a bad wage. I'm not sure he's done the math for this bet...

When I also had a go at Kym for putting $50 on this bet, he pointed out that it's Christmas in 3 weeks and there is no way he can lose weight over that period! I hope for his sake he does win to show the rest what for, but I don't like his chances... Hmm, maybe I'm not liking my chances of keeping my weight off for that matter when we're on our two week break in South Australia...

But I think I'm glad I'm losing my weight the good old-fashioned way - blood, sweat and tears! OK, maybe no the blood or the tears, but certainly lots of sweat and red faces nonetheless :P

Definitely no need to pass the salt...

2008-12-02T14:05:00.014+10:00

Although I'm not the chef in our household I certainly don't consider myself a bad cook - nor is my sister for that matter. In fact, I'd normally say we were pretty good and our meals are generally quite tasty. Except for the last Friday night. I was invited to Bec's for dinner to eat some snapper they had got from the markets. I had the great (??) idea of steaming the fish with some lemongrass, coriander, garlic, shallots and white wine - something Kym had done for me the previous Sunday and it was fabulous. Perhaps I should have paid more attention to how it was actually cooked... and how you fold up the paper and foil so it steams nicely. Oops. Mistake number one...

So with beers in hand Bec and I got to work on the preparation. I cut all the veges for the stir fry we planned to eat with our fish - very organised. Perhaps I should point out at this stage that normally Matt (Bec's husband) cooks the stir fry's in their household most of the time - and Kym in mine. Perhaps there's a reason for this :P

We wrapped the fish the way we guessed it should be and popped it in the oven. No idea just how hot it should be, we guessed (wrongly). Bec started cooking the stir fry and unsure what sauces to use, we decided to throw them all in. Oyster, Maggie Seasoning, Light soy, Sesame, a touch of sweet chilli. We didn't get the timing quite right and the stir fry had to sit for a little while we waited for our fish. Mistake number two...

When we finally got the fish out of the oven it was a little grey (perhaps overcooked?), pretty fishy (not the asian-infused smell we were expecting) and the stir fry was a little cold and so salty (Bec may have gone a tad overboard on the Maggie Seasoning) that even I was struggling to eat it. So all in all, it was pretty bad! Actually, a bit of an understatement - it was very, very ordinary. Perhaps we should both stick to what we know - spaghetti bolognaise, chicken casseroles, quiches, scones, and all those other 'homestyle' meals we learned from our mother (who is a great cook!). Oh well - live and learn right? I think we should just leave the Asian cooking to our husbands in future :P

On a more positive note, I finished another bag (the above pic) that I gave as a birthday present for a good friend of mine, Laura. I must admit, I was a little hesitant to hand it over - I really liked it and would have happily used it myself!! It's another Beckybean design and it was definitely a lot of fun to make. I only decided two days before seeing her to make it so I didn't leave myself much time and Jett may have been a little neglected... not that he seemed to mind. This is what he got up to while I sewed...

He sat for over an hour here playing with some catalogues - oh to be so easily amused!

Well I better get back to my bag making - I'm helping Bec with a few bags for her market next week. Perhaps I already am her new 'Aussie sweatshop' :P

It's the answer to everything

2008-11-21T07:10:00.005+10:00

Well, just to prove my point about our love of all things salty, Kym had a cooking demonstration in the Queen Street mall on Wednesday for the Brisbane Times Good Food Guide. When the story was written up on their website and he was asked the 'secret of his spectacular flavours', Kym simply replied "salt." He he. You can also check out the article here if you feel so inclined.

It's funny as it's also the answer when he's asked the same question 'why doesn't my food taste as good as this when I cook it at home?' Reply: 'you need to add more salt...'

I guess people will now understand why I cook all Jett's pureed foods rather than let Kym do it. Somehow I think he really doesn't need the salt in his diet just yet :P

But I am proud to say that Kym's public speaking is definitely improving over the years. He's becoming more confident and less mumbly (is that even a word???)- something my sister pointed out just yesterday when I was telling her the demo went well. He was even like that when speaking in front of all my family at our regular gatherings let alone the general public! For a person who only knows one language (English), sometimes you'd swear it wasn't his first!

Oh hang on! Sorry my mistake, he does know how to swear in many languages. A lovely skill he has picked up from his time in kitchens. Perhaps there are a few similarities between Kym and Gordon Ramsey besides the fact they are both chefs - they share the same language skills :P

And the winner is (drum roll please)...

2008-11-18T07:42:00.014+10:00

Photo extracted from the Brisbane Times website

URBANE!

Last night was the Brisbane Times Good Food Guide restaurant awards and Urbane (where Kym is the head chef) finally got Restaurant of the Year. Hip hip hooray! After other recent awards this month where Kym was named Chef of the Year (Courier Mail's Good Food Guide), and Urbane were the only Brisbane restaurant to receive the coveted 3 stars (Absynthe on the Gold Coast also received 3 stars), they were still pipped for Restaurant of the Year to Isis Brasserie. So yay, they got it this time!

My parents watched Jett which was great (and apparently he was very good - he even went to sleep!), and Kym and I got a lovely 4 hours away together to go to the awards. Considering how warm our weather had been (OK... so we have had a cyclone, but it's still been very humid!), I wasn't expecting to need a jacket at the State Library where the awards were held, but as it was held 'semi-outside', a jacket would have been nice! So naturally the only way I could see to stay warm was to have a couple of glasses of the Verve Cliquot on offer. Another hooray! The fact that Jett slept pretty good last night hopefully doesn't have anything to do with that :P

Ah, Derek Zoolander... one of my favourite movie characters of all time. Why am I mentioning this here you may ask? Well last night there was a very hilarious situation which was very reminiscent of the scene from Zoolander when they are announcing the 'Male Model of the Year' award to 'Hansel'. Just as Derek gets up and accepts the award as he assumes he won and didn't listen properly, so too did another restaurant owner, who got up and accepted the award for Urbane when its 'Two hats' status was awarded before the owner of Urbane could get there. What was even funnier was that no-one stopped him making his thank you speech and it wasn't until he was having his photo taken with the award and he looked down at it that he noticed it wasn't his restaurant which had received the award. Unfortunately this restaurant didn't receive any accolades last night - even more awkward for him... But oh well, it was still pretty damn funny :P

My first sale!

2008-11-13T22:20:00.007+10:00

I've sold my first bag to Kym's sous chef Matt (it's for his mother in Canada) today which is very exciting. Typically, I'd been procrastinating it for a few weeks until I bit the bullet, ordered the fabric, reminded myself how to put them together, and got on with it. I'm actually very pleased with the bag and Kym tells me Matt was very happy with it. Yay! The elephant fabric is by Sprout Design which I brought from Duckcloth and I've used denim on the cuff and strap, with the internal lining coming from a pillowcase I had. I think I could get into this...

Now, if you're looking at this bag and thinking 'hmmm... that design looks familiar', that's because it probably is. My sister is Beckybean and she sells her bags on etsy. She's been kind enough to lend me her pattern and show me how to make them. Perhaps I can become her 'Aussie sweatshop' and work from home while Jett is little...? This just may be my new plan!

What a great meal - and it was healthy!

2008-11-11T22:30:00.007+10:00

Did I say I would start write my blog next day?? Tsk tsk. Four days later but I'm here and I'm determined to start this!

Well last night's dinner was one of the best meals we've cooked at home in a wee while. King snapper - steamed with parsley, lemon, garlic, white wine and thyme, and sauteed organic mushrooms, zucchini, corn, toasted almonds, and onion cous cous, with vine-ripened slow-roasted baby tomatoes. The fish was superb and very delicate, matched perfectly with the acidity in the tomatoes. The glass of Hawkes Bay Pinot Gris went down a treat, but I think the best part was that Jett, our 7 month old son, was asleep and stayed so for rest of the evening until we went to bed - YAY!

I am desperately trying to make some healthier meal choices in my attempt to lose some of my baby weight - hence the aforementioned meal choice... Being married to a chef certainly has its perks when it comes to food options, but it also means Kym seasons (salt and pepper) our food quite well (as my family love to point out!), which is not so healthy. Kym on the other hand is not so keen to change our diet, but he did only use a small amount of salt in this meal to please me - isn't he supportive??

This is also my third week at the gym and I must say I'm getting rather addicted. Apart from the fact I'm going into classes like Body Step (which seem to be filled with 'super-fit women...aagh depressing) and I seem to be the only person emerging the same colour as my slow-roasted tomatoes, it feels good to have some 'me' time where I can switch off. I also find it amusing that when I come home and Jett's desperate for me to pick him up, he likes to have a suck on my arm (which he never does so I assume it's because my skin is salty from sweat) - a salt lover already! Dad is so proud :P

First post!

2008-11-07T21:38:00.000+10:00

Well, here it is... the first post. I shall try and start properly tomorrow. Nothing like a bit of procrastination to get you off to a flying start! For those who know me, you know it would be strange for me to start anything off any other way. Baby steps...