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After returning the Ford Focus last week, we're back to reality driving our beat-up old wagon and figuring out logistics of who needs it at what point in the day. The winner gets to drive around in traffic and clock-up wasted hours of their life looking for car spaces.

(I'm writing this post to vent...)

In the last couple of weeks I've aborted several supermarket missions because I couldn't park the car. I've had to leave a friends party early due to her residing in an area with only 1hr parking and the process of looking for a new spot with Raging Toddler was too much for me on that particular day.

PB continually jests that one day we'll move to Ulladulla, a coastal town he inhabited a while ago. We won't – but we will leave Sydney for a more peaceful, affordable existence. In recent talks we even managed to agree upon a possible location, which has been a major breakthrough in discussions of this matter. A new bloggy-buddy passed on this little gem of a quote – Bloom Where You're Planted – and I've been repeating it to myself constantly while deep down my heart is waiting for a sea-change.

I'm interested, do you live in the city or country? I always thought I'd be a city girl but more and more the noise and crowds overwhelm me. PB and I joke that by the time we're 80 we'll be total recluses – living in a dead end street and only trekking into town once a week for groceries. As long as we can get a car space I guess that'd be ok!

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It's been a hard slog but finally, after 5 days of passing ships we managed to see each other on Sunday –  which was also our 2 year wedding anniversary.

The first day together after a hectic work week can rapidly go pear-shaped and over the last year I've learnt – through many a trial and error – to ease into it slowly and gently. The key for us is to let the day take its course naturally and ease up on any pressure to make every second of it meaningful. I used to get very frustrated if things weren't going according to what I had envisaged in my head but I've since realised that it's much more beneficial to wake up with no expectations and an open mind.

(For the record we had a cracker day).

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Apologies in advance for the recent onslaught of baby photos. But you know, it's been raining all week and we're just hangin' out and bonding. Clearly mama's getting a bit camera happy.

Our cranky neighbour recently told me that by allowing BB to draw with chalk on my – my – back step I was 'defacing common property'. One of my fondest childhood memories is chalking up the whole block with the other small denizens of the summer concrete. We drew elaborate directions on how to locate the Ninja Turtles. It was nothing short of a masterpiece.

After my initial retaliation and defense I've decided not to let her ludicrous accusations get to me. I now encourage our next door buddies to come and partake in the so called vandalism – that washes off with the evening rain.

PS. Council clean-up non-working display bike only. But bless her little heart she loves it up there.
PPS. Snap!

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We're almost at a point where time wise,  the clean-up doesn't exceed the painting.

BB's very interested in colours at the moment, and thankfully no preference for the pink one yet. I spoke to my small friend Matilda on Skype tonight, and when questioned was told her favourite was red. Good choice.

I remember this being key information to one's personality as a child. Even as an adult I find decisions regarding colour serious stuff and have been know to spend a freakishly long time choosing a new toothbrush. And now that I'm in charge of dental hygiene for the whole family? Well you can only imagine how such a selection would impact my supermarket trip.

For the record my favourite colour is yellow, and as a kid it was blue. What's yours?

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And before it had a chance to really come to fruition, our two-day weekend reverted back to one. It is – without a doubt – a hard run from now until Christmas, and even then a break is not guaranteed. I'm not going to use this space to wallow and I know that many people have it tough. Generally we keep our spirits up. We have our health, we are fed – albeit with my dodgy cooking – and for that I am grateful.

And so BB and I spend our days flying solo again. Even at 20 months she's rapidly leaving toddlerhood and turning into a little (rough-nut) girl. In the past week I've given up keeping track of new words, as they slowly string together to form sentences. She's entered the esoteric world of childhood make-believe, sharing her lunch with Jimmy the Dog and even giving him a go of her snazzy new goggles. This current evolution evokes feelings in me reminiscent to the marvel I felt at her existence as a newborn. Those same intense emotions of love and fear have returned and sneak-up on me unawares throughout the day, resulting in sporadic bouts of tears. I suppose – if I'm honest – that from about 7 months of age until now has been such an intense time of physical learning for BB, that my days were inundated with wrangling her little bones away from danger and that brought a lot of frustration to both of us. But now that she's agile and rather dexterous, we've stepped into a new era; of verbal communication and words. I'm in constant awe of this little girl developing rapidly before me. Every. Single. Day.

Jacaranda inspired knit by PB's mum – ready for next winter but managed to convince myself that it was cool enough for a trial run today. Jimmy the Dog from PB's childhood, out of all her stuffies she seems to love Daddy's old one the most.

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I had no intention of posting again tonight, however half a Coopers and extreme procrastination of cleaning the squalor I sit in has led me to do so.

Just a few Oppie finds from yesterday, while I was zipping around looking for some not-too-scary-just-endearing-enough second hand teapots for PB.

– a strange little footrest thing. It will go in BB's room and I'm sure she'll use it to jump from.
– books, I love the Blinky Bill cover typography and the inside illustrations of tooters, tweeters, strings & beaters.
– enamel bowl, which if you squint you can almost pretend it's Acapulco.
– small granny square blanket, which I don't need in the slightest, but for three bucks could not pass up on the colourway.

Did you find any gems this week?

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Today the restaurant also opened as a cafe, PB had very little sleep and BB threw a supreme wobbly in a very small yet busy public space. It's the middle of a huge working week here and I'm extremely thankful that we've had two cars to help get us through it. 

Ford has been ever so kind as to let me test-drive the new Focus Titanium. Whilst I don't usually do sponsored posts I am so grateful for having this opportunity at a time where I can help run errands and alleviate some of the stress from PB's week.

As for the car it's snazzy whizz-bang and I'm pretty sure I didn't get through all of it's features, but I will say it's fuel economy is fantastic compared to our big ol' wagon. For a person that has never owned a new or near-new car this has been so much fun to drive around in. And it can reverse park by itself, which is both very cool and terrifying the first time you try it. I'm not sure I can photograph it without looking cheesy so for a proper image and more information look here.

Having this experience has made us realise how helpful two cars can be, particularly for me to have while PB is at work. Unfortunately this is not in our foreseeable future so for now we have another solution – we're getting his pushie fixed.

What do you do in your family?

(BB has taken to weightlifting her wheels, as she proudly shouts HEAVY!).

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PB and I headed over to Centennial Park yesterday, to snap a family portrait of some lovely friends of ours. We arrived early for a quick recce, during which I continued my slightly awkward continuation of Outfit Blogging. Afterwards we were invited to stay for their picnic at which BB hovered over the cheese-platter like a guard-dog. That's my girl.

Billion Dollar Babes denim skirt – bought from a sale rack about 10 years ago and I've never worked out a way to wear it until yesterday / Country Road top / Converse / Ray Bans / leather bag from Greek-sandals.com

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A rare quiet moment snapped by PB. Her preference for jumping off tables rather than sitting at them must have been forgotten, for this short moment. Thank you for your sweet comments on my last post. I don't mean to be cryptic but I feel the restaurant and its happenings are not my story to tell, so I keep it separate from this space. But like any small business, it's a hard slog and especially one in an unrelenting industry. My dear PB is again working to the bone and BB and I are back to spending our days without him, until further notice.

On a happier note, BB's vocabulary is expanding daily. Her newest addition is colour – caya! And for some strange reason is usually attached to an inflected vowel, i caya! a caya! mummy, e caya! During challenging times it's important to be grateful for what you have. I'm thankful for the opportunity to spend all day with my sprite – despite how I may feel in the middle of a rough one – which allows me to decipher her strange little sounds and witness her foray into language.

Who else would know that caya bobo translates to a broken crayon?

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We've got challenging times ahead here – our health is fine but our lively-hood is about to hit another metamorphosis. I've really enjoyed getting back into blogging so despite this upcoming turbulence I'll endeavor to continue with this space regularly. It feels a little bit strange to be snapping silly fashion shots amidst a more serious state of affairs, but I've realised it's good for me to stay active in this little community of like-minded souls.

This necklace was gifted to me by a blog reader and talented jeweler from Barcelona, Elena. We've never met yet she designed and hand-made this beautiful piece especially for me when BB was born. I've been wearing it a lot recently to remind me about all the good stuff that's come from Rummey Bears.

Yup, the warm, fuzzy bloggy feeling is back again.

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An interruption to normal programming for this special announcement:

PB got Wave of the Day on Swellnet today! He made the switch from normal surfing to SUP only three months ago so he's pretty stoked with this wave at Voodoo on Saturday morning, snapped leg-rope and all. 

Photos by Darryl Menzies

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There is always a looming temptation to do some outfit posts on here and join the clan of What I Wore bloggers, however hesitation usually prevents them coming into fruition. But this morning I was feeling a bit snazzy in my new-to-me skirt and asked PB if he would snap a photo before we headed out to a friends barbeque. We both agreed it would be ok to post as long as I was frank about it. BB and I partook in some jumping and were joined by our buddies Tilly* and the Magpie.

I think they were both competing for the same bit of chicken. Magpie 1, Tilly 0.

t-shirt by Zara / thrifted skirt, originally from Miss Shop – a bit scary – I have no idea which era it came from / Saltwater Sandals.

* Tilly actually belongs to our neighbors yet spends most of her days in our yard and house. Unfortunately she loves us so much that any deliveries of murdered rodents come our way too.

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Usually I'm complacent about the Sydney winter – for its lack of extremity and length – but this year the present arrival of balmy nights are welcome as we embrace the warmth with some outdoor art. It's hard to get this little mite to sit still and draw inside for more than five minutes so giving her free reign with the chalk and our back steps (door, floor, dishwasher...) allows her to draw and move about freely and me to clean up after dinner without her clinging to my leg. This piece was inspired by Zeph via Rothko.

And I've still been lurking around Op Shops, albeit with no supporting funds. Luckily this gem was only 2 bucks – which PB brought to my attention the whereabouts of in the back seat of the car. Thank God for change residing in couches and cars and spare handbags on weeks like this.

Good night! x

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"Everyone suspects himself of at least one of the cardinal virtues, and this is mine: I am one of the few honest people that I have ever known." – Nick Carraway in The Great Gatsby.

Not entirely true, but I do feel obliged to supplement yesterdays tutu with a more accurate image of BB's little get-up – before it was dismembered to accommodate for the sudden change in temperature. And there's a glimpse of those chipped teeth that have finally, naturally and thankfully filed themselves down a smidge.