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Last night I had the absolute pleasure of meeting up with these two ladies for dinner. This is the second time I've been out for an evening since BB's birth – almost two years ago. In both instances poor PB had a helluva time getting BB down – due to her always being breastfed to sleep – which inevitably resulted in hours of screaming and eventually falling in a heap from exhaustion. (Her, not him. But it was equally as traumatic for the both of them).

As much as it breaks my heart and instills an irrational fear of her rejecting me, I know it's time to start weaning. One value we really push for in our family is empowerment. And it's time for me to empower both of them to be able to have an evening together with a happy ending. (And let's be honest – I could do with the odd night out). The coming weeks are full with birthday parties and garage sale planning, but after that I'm dedicating myself to getting that ball rolling.

The above photo was taken on my way out last night, PB stopped me with the camera (probably to document an outfit he actually approved of!) and because I initially had no intentions of blogging the photos I was able to ham it up, rather than looking like a stunned mullet. Apparently I'm not embarrassed about silly poses and willing to post them on the internet.

Country Road top (this season) / Belinda Fairbanks denim skirt (I think she's an Aussie designer? I found it in a sale bin years ago) / Brogues from a trip to Florence. They're my favourites and I never have a chance to wear them since being back in Australia.

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I walked past this Garage Sale twice yesterday, the first time I managed to keep going but on the way home I was lured in. I picked up a couple of books for BB, a hand-knitted cream beanie and a softer than soft leather Country Road bag (on which I plan to change the strap). Then on my way out I spotted these puppies:

Bally (!) black patent leather loafers. In my size.

27 bucks for the whole lot. Score!

Hope you're all having an ace weekend. x

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The creative team behind the beautiful Aussie shoe label The Horse, have recently launched their baby sister company for the smaller soled, Jonah and the Girl. They were kind enough to send me some canvas kicks for BB, and in return instead of doing a normal post I thought I'd go all out and do a video. I had a strong vision of how it would look but my uncooperative little star had different ideas, and after about two minutes started objecting strongly. No more bideo mama! So the above was all I managed to piece with the snippets I had. The rest went more like this:

But after spotting the playground all was well again.

Jonah and the Girl is the labour of love by husband and wife, Scott and Amy. After the last year or so I can really empathise with running a small business, so I'm stoked to be able to help support them on this space. Well done guys!

PS. Their first collection – Bertie – comes in some rad colour choices. Can you imagine how much I agony that caused me?

Music by Laura Marling. Will always regret not getting the chance to see her perform live during my stint in London.

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Thank you for recent comments and emails. The post has now been removed, and I hope that anyone that felt offended has since been able to understand the framework in which it happened, and is content with how it was subsequently dealt with.

I actually have some fun things to post about, but whilst the mood is serious I thought I'd share one more thing. (A different topic, though).

The other day I was walking with BB, who was un-belted in the buggy, kneeling up to face me (like in this photo, which was taken on a different day). Usually I'm quite vigilant about belting her in, as we're in an area wrought with aggressive traffic, but occasionally on a long strip of footpath I'll let her sit like this so we can sing and chat to each other. What happened next did so very quickly – in the space of a few seconds – and before I continue, I'll skip to the end and say that thankfully no-one was injured.

The street we were walking on has a primary school at one end, is usually littered with children and a lot of the houses on it have concealed driveways. In my experience people reverse out with extreme caution. I crossed one of the driveways and saw there was a 4-wheel drive backing out, quite slowly. The driver didn't see me and didn't stop. I don't remember if sped up to go backwards or forwards but all of a sudden BB was on the ground – screaming – between the buggy and the car, which was now only inches away from my body. I bashed on the back window as hard as I could yelling stop – which it did. I scooped up a distraught BB, who besides a scraped cheek from the fall was unharmed. Eventually the driver came out, I don't remember clearly what she said, except that she didn't see us and are we ok. I spoke very calmly to her – not to further upset BB – and said we were fine, and that I must go now and look after my child. Throughout the whole incident I felt no fear, but strangely, very calm and in control. When I pulled out my iPhone to cheer up a terrified BB with some YouTube skateboarding I realised my hands were shaking like earthquakes. I spent the rest of the day jumping out of my skin whenever a car came close to us.

Obviously I'm extremely grateful that BB wasn't hurt, and the only positive thing I can take from this is to be even more cautious when crossing driveways and backing-out. I'm sharing it on here as a reminder to everyone of how easily things like this can happen.

Much to BB's disappointment she'll also be belted in at all times from now on.

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A little while ago – actually it was last October if I'm honest – I announced my bold foray into garment sewing, and finally after hours of stitching and unpicking I've made myself a top. It was certainly a labor of love but with the guidance of PB's mum and an excellent Wikstenmade pattern I got there in the end. Previous attempts at sewing, which were coincidentally all pre-baby, left me frustrated at not being able to do something correctly straight-away, but if the last two years of motherhood have equipped me with anything then it's most certainly patience. I actually surprised myself at how easily I was able to chip away at this without getting too discouraged with such slow progress. Who would of thought?

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Finally got around to dusting off the kit lens to take a few snaps (while the 50mm still awaits its fate...) Despite the recent sunshine there's still been a helluva lot of rain to contend with. I tried to stretch out a drawing session* by presenting BB with some New Chalk. It was so successful that BB now demands nooo chork for every drawing session, so my pastels will be quickly diminishing. At least it makes for some colourful photos, right?

* These sessions invariably result in BB directing me on what to draw; usually ducks on bikes.

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Sometimes I feel like a broken record on here, harping on about how our weeks are long and hard and sweet moments like this are few. But they exist and for that I am grateful, everyday.

I was asked a little while ago to help spread the word about a charity gala dinner to raise money for the CCIA's neuroblastoma research. I'm sorry I've not done it sooner, but if I'm honest I find this a hard topic to write about, and my head has not been clear enough lately to find the words.

Sienna’s Frangipani Annual Gala Dinner is held on the 17th Feb in Pyrmont, in honor of Sienna Hoffmann – who coincidentally lived only a suburb away from me and died at the age of two. Her mother Lucy has organised this event to help raise awareness of neuroblastoma and raise money for research into this aggressive childhood cancer. I can't imagine what it would be like to lose a child and I commend her mother's strength for being able to do something positive in such a tragic situation.

The event is on the 17th Feb and tickets are $130. There are many prizes available from local businesses and a bevvy of entertainers. To find out more or purchase a ticket please visit here.

You can also donate directly to the CCIA, here.

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The last lot of holiday pics – that I'm posting, there are many more – taken at Gardenworld. I spent many hours here as a child while my folks perused, and not surprisingly I remember it being a lot bigger. It's still as rad, although sadly the epic desert mural at Collectors Corner has been taken down. I took home one little succulent who has so far managed to live, despite a shaky start.

And happy belated Australia Day. I have a little video of BB yelling out booooogaaan that I was going to post but then realised doing that would be a bit, well, bogan... so refrained. It's pretty hilarious though!

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I'd give you all of Sydney Harbour
All that land, all that water, 
for that one sweet promenade.

Paul Kelly – From St Kilda to King's Cross.

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A few snaps of BB with her Babcia and Dziadzia at Christmas. The last photo reminds me of a similar shot from last year:

In which I happen to be wearing the same dress! Just shows how much she's changed and how much I've stayed the same. Can't believe we'll be celebrating a second birthday in a couple of months.

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Here's the first batch of Melbourne photos; a little one-legged evening scoot. Not all future holiday posts will be so blatantly baby focused (there's an epic session at Gardenworld to come, woohoo!)

This week BB and I have been watching some skateboarding on You Tube, in which I fast-forward* the part when he swears and smashes his deck around, because BB finds it a little too exciting. Hitting! Aaaannnrrgggyyy! She also cringes when he falls, because she knows too well what it feels like to smash yourself from doing something a little dangerous.

* Fast-forward, is that even used these days? Or is that a bit VHS?

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I've finally downloaded the photos from our trip to Melbourne – all 556 of them. The task of editing that many images will take a few sitings and they'll go up here in separate posts. Many will be deleted, including one of my puffy-eyed Christmas morning face to which even PB said upon viewing, bloody hell Ania that's not your best, is it?

I couldn't even compete with this one, BB smiling for the camera, and smiling for the camera.

(Note to self: don't ask her to smile).

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I thought I'd have a crack at a new year's post while I'm still avoiding the camera. In addition to my fear of the cost of repairing the lens I'm also stretching out our Melbourne holiday, and well, downloading and deleting those photos makes it feel like it's really over. You know?

Last year I boldly stated that in 2011 I'd be correcting one bad or creating one good habit a month. That's a whopping twelve resolutions, which needless to say I didn't adhere to. But the year presented reoccurring opportunities to rectify my first one – which was remaining positive – and I'm pleased to say that after conferring with my Behavior Specialist (PB) we both agree I've done pretty well. Hi fives!

In 2012 I plan to continue with these habits and dedicate as much time to each one until I'm ready to add the next. Towards the end of last year I started focusing on efficiency, in a bid to balance out the ratio of work produced to energy spent. It's not that I'm lazy, but I'm (very) easily distracted. To the point where during a clean up I'll hypothesize possible colour combinations of dropped crayon particles for longer than one really should, then freak out at dinner time when nothing is prepared. Meal plans and weekly grocery shopping goes on this list too, even though I do really enjoy my morning avocado and blueberry run.

And as I keep kicking objects around the house, I'll be reminding myself of quality over quantity when it comes to consumption. I seem to be carting to as much as from Vinnies these days, and I forget that there are things out there that I would like to try and save up for. This idea will also carry across to visual stimulation. Instead of cramming as much of the internet into one hour and walking away frazzled I'm going to focus on one or two things – be they blogs, articles, artists, whatever –  each time I sit at this time-sucking thing. The feeling that if I don't look at everything I'll miss out is one I'll be aiming to curb this year, whilst trying to actually retain some of what I see online.


* People by French Illustrator, Blexbolex. A Christmas present for BB that I decided to withhold as with everyone's collective presents she had enough to open on the morning, and was so uninterested that it took hours to get through it as it was!

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Happy New Year! We're back from Melbourne and off to a slow start. There's a slew of photos to post but they're yet to be downloaded. My lens started to malfunction towards the end of our trip, and I've not been able to bring myself to unpack it and admit it may be broken. That's in the Deal With It Later basket, for now.

Hope the start of 2012 has been a cracker for you all!

PS. I was going to edit this down but BB is too hilarious at the end there so here's the full version. 
PPS. Also to clarify, I didn't draw the bear in the new header. He's scanned from a vintage Polish children's book that I rediscovered whilst I was doing a routine mold and damp check in our bookcase. I've been compulsively sniffing any object within my reach.

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This time last year my unchristmassy self stated that card-making would become a tradition in our household. Although these ten second scribbles have nothing on the googly-eyed trees, I've held true my word. And what I've lacked in effort I've made up with in consistency – not getting around to sending them again.

It's been a tumultuous year to say the least, and I've gone to and fro with this space but I end the year feeling grateful for this warm and kind online community. Thank you for reading, taking the time to comment and email. Have a happy and restful Christmas and a joyous celebration to bring in 2012.

Until then,
Anna xxx

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One of my goals to knock off before the end of the year was to finally finish BB's space. I've been procrastinating as the completion of this room means I now need to focus my attention on the rest of the house, which is nowhere near as rad to do.

As we've co-slept since day dot this is the first room and bed she's ever had. It's a small space and tricky to photograph – hence the different lighting in almost every picture – but I'm chuffed with how it's come together. It's a mix of hand-me-downs, roadside and op-shop finds, gifts and existing stuff I've had for years all centered around a good old Ikea pine bed (to which we hack-sawed off the bed-head.)

I'm usually vigilant with editing my photos but I'm going all out here. And please excuse the dodgy paint job, we're in a rental and apparently the last tenant decided she would go over the white walls with this murky colour. Nice one.

Here we go!

And that's what the room looks like first thing in the morning. (By the end of the day it looks like someone picked it up and gave it a good shake!)

Apple Papple print by Fine Little Day. Pirate Rosie print by my super-talented mate Cass, who makes custom orders, so check out her shop! Small bunting gifted when BB was a wee babe by Alex Le Jeune and larger bunting from Lou at we heart books. Thanks to my mother-in-law for helping me sew-up the doona cover from two old sheets and to my dear mate and fellow colour enthusiast Jill, for always being an inspiration. xx