in which clementine meets everyone

One of the great joys of being here has been watching my friends and family meet Clementine. So far, she has met:

1. Mateo - my little brother, her uncle. He is hilarious with her; every time he's home when she is, he yells "selfie time!" and whips out his phone to take photos. The results are hysterical (this one is my favourite ever).

2. Abuela - Ok, so my mom has met Clementine already, but no one is happier to see her than she is!

3. Grandpa - my dad, her Canadian grandpa. It was pretty great to watch my dad sit and make funny noises for Clementine's amusement. She was quite taken with him.

4. Andrea - my friend from highschool. She gets 4 photos because C was so damn cute that day. Andrea's great with babies, the perfect aunt.

5. Rochelle - one of my mom's best friends, who I've always thought of as my aunt. Rochelle just adores Clementine and showered us with a bag filled with baby gifts!

6. Vanessa - we met way back when we were competitive gymnasts, and despite a rocky start, we became the best of friends. She's the person I originally travelled to Australia with, and the friend I was with when I first met my husband. Next year she's getting married and I'm a bridesmaid, can't wait!

7. Carol - Katrina's mom, and a close family friend. We've had two backyard meals at their house this week and it has been lovely.

8. Pierrette - one of my mom's oldest friends and another aunt like figure in my life. The first time she met Clementine, she was naked and peed all over Pierrette's skirt. Pierrette just laughed.

9. Katrina - my oldest friend. We met in kindergarten. It is just so great to watch people who I have known forever playing with my baby. It's the best.

182 days of summer

Last week I got to snap some photos of my friend Helen and her 6 month old baby girl, Summer. She is pretty much the most photogenic baby around, and didn't seem to mind having my camera in her face.

I met Helen back when Summer was still growing in her belly and she would come to my prenatal yoga classes. We became fast friends and throughout my pregnancy and these early months of parenting, she has been the most amazing support. Helen is the most generous and helpful person I know, and I was so happy to be able to take these photos for her. I definitely don't consider myself a photographer, but I was pretty pleased with how these turned out so I thought I'd share some of my favourites.

p.s. Don't you think Summer should get into some baby modelling??

crafting for clementine: vol 1

 

It seems that Clementine won the crafty lottery by being born into a family of incredibly talented makers. Since her birth we've been showered with handmade gifts, from bed sized quilts to tiny booties and everything in between. In an effort to remember all of the handcrafted goodness, I'm starting a little series here called crafting for Clementine. First up, tiny toques (or beanies to my non-Canadian readers):

1. Clementine's paternal grandmother has been knitting up a storm this winter! She's already made C three of these bonnets, and I can't wait until she fits into this one.

2. This buttery yellow one is the first bonnet that came off her needles, and Clementine has worn in nonstop (see here and here).

3. The big-hearted Sarah from Love love, lady sent me a care package a couple of weeks ago. There were some sweet gifts for me, as well as these two adorable beanies. Clementine looks like a gumnut baby when she wears them; it's the cutest.

everyday makeup tutorial with Liv Lundelius

Today I'm excited to share an easy makeup tutorial from my good friend Liv Lundelius, of the blog Liv+Dave. She's a talented makeup artist who, despite having only moved to Sydney 7 months ago, is already super busy with weddings and photo shoots galore. I've never been good with makeup (or hair) so I loved getting the chance to pick Liv's brain. Here are her steps for an everyday look...

1. Foundation - Liv used a buffing brush to apply foundation all over my face. I normally use mineral makeup, but Liv told me that mineral makeup does not photograph well. Good to know!

2. Concealer - Using a smal synthetic brush, she applied a slightly light reflecting concealer with good coverage under my eyes and to cover blemishes. She recommends Terry Touche Veloutée as a concealer that's good for both. Another tip: if you have blueish eye circles, salmony tones are good to hide these.

3. Highlight & contour - Here I'm holding up a brush so you can see the line Liv followed. She used a rose gold cream highlighter on me, applied with her fingertips. She applied it to my cheekbones, a little bit on the bridge of my nose, my cupid's bow, under the highest point of my brow and a tiny bit to the inner corners of my eyes. As for contouring, she says that most people are too heavy handed so go lightly. Using your ring finger or a contouring brush, you want to sculpt your cheekbones and enhance natural shadows by applying product under cheekbones and to the sides of your temples. Tip: While bronzers work for contouring, don't use a bronzer that's orange. Liv recommends Benefit hoola for light skin or NARS laguna. 

4. Eyes - Using a big fluffy brush, Liv applied a light gold shade all over. This kind of colour will suit most skin tones and will make you look less tired. She then used a slightly darker taupe colour just through the crease with a smaller brush and blended so there were no harsh lines. Finally, a swipe of mascara and eyeliner under my eyelashes finished the look. Tip: Make sure to tap the excess off your brush.

5. Blush - Here, Liv used a powder blush. She found the apple of my cheek and then blended upwards using a brush. I'm wearing Laura Mercier barely pink.

6. Lips - The last step! I usually just wear lip balm, but I have to admit that I looked a lot better with something slightly darker. Liv used a lip liner the colour of my lips to fill in my lips following the natural lip line. Then some lip balm finished the job.

All done! If you have any questions, ask away in the comments section and I'm sure Liv will be happy to answer you.

my blessingway

 

Before I post about Clementine's birth and first week, I have to rewind a bit to the week before she was born. During my pregnancy I knew I wanted to do something to mark my passage into motherhood and celebrate the journey of pregnancy and birth, but I just couldn't see myself having a baby shower. I can't remember how or where I first heard about blessingways, but when I did I knew instantly that was what I wanted. I ordered myself Mother Rising: The Most Complete Guide to Blessingways and got thinking about the day - who to invite, what we should do, the gift debate etc.

In the end, I chose two friends to help organise the day: one friend helped with all of the planning (making invites, taking RSVP's, buying flowers, cleaning my house and more) while the other would guide the blessingway. I gave each of them a copy of the book so they could plan it without me; the actual elements of the ritual should be a surprise to the mum to be on the day. I was also lucky enough to have the wonderful Belinda snap a few photos on the day. They were truly the perfect friends for the job.

On a Sunday afternoon, at 38 weeks pregnant, we gathered in my home. Friends from yoga, university, blogging, husband's school friends and even my doula came along. My friend Katie guided us through a beautiful ritual that I will always remember. Afterword, we ate some of my favourite foods and sat on the floor and talked about life, babies, pregnancy, and friends. It sounds lame, but my heart felt so full and I felt so supported by my Sydney community. One week later I went into labour and text messages were sent - everyone who had come went home with a candle that they were to light when they heard I was in labour. It made me smile to think of everyones' candles burning away while I worked so hard to have our baby.

All photos by Belinda from Billy & August
p.s. a great article that Jodi wrote on blessingways

voices of 2013

Lately, I've been reflecting on this little blog of mine and how grateful I am for all the wonderful opportunities it's bringing me right now. Nothing earth shattering, I've just had some great experiences lately that I would not have had if it weren't for this blog. On the weekend, for example, I got to hang out with the sweetest couple who took my 37 week bump photos. I never would have met them were it not for blogging, and I'm glad that I did. On the way there I popped into a makeup artist friend's place so she could disguise my baby-won't-let-me-sleep-under-eye-circles. I realized as we drove there that I met her through blogging as well. Internet friends becoming real life friends, it's pretty damn cool.

I'm also completely delighted and amazed to have been included as a finalist in the Voices of 2013 top 100 bloggers. It was a total surprise to me (and I still don't know who nominated me, so if it was anyone reading right now, thanks!) and I'm honoured to have been chosen amongst some of my very favourite blogs.

And finally, just to round out the awesome week I'm having, I heard from Leslie of Maze & Vale that I won her giveaway! I love her fabric so much and I'm a bit tickled that she posted 2 of my projects today on her blog.

I probably don't say it enough, but thank you for reading and for taking the time to leave such thoughtful and encouraging comments.

* Photo by Ellen Arthur. She actually took this at the nursery way back in august, which is amazing because all the photos that I took that first day of shooting manual are rubbish. P.s. it's quite funny to see myself in photos where I'm not pregnant, like "oh, so that's what I look like without a giant belly!"

cook-off

Autumn arrived right on cue on Friday with stormy weather and cooler temperatures, which was perfect timing for the cooking party my friend and I had planned. We wanted to try out some recipes from My New Roots and from the whole foods course we're doing; we settled on the life changing loaf of bread, crispy cornmeal sweet potato fries, and some roast chickpeas.

We'd never made any of these before, and to be totally honest, each of the above had some 'issues.' I think though, that when you're learning a new way of cooking, buying food, and eating it just takes some patience and trial and error. For example, the fries were yummy but would've been better if we'd followed the recipe more closely. And next time I attempt the loaf of bread (gluten free! flour free! yeast free!) I'll make sure I have the exact quantities of everything needed, let it sit for longer and enjoy it as toast, as Sarah suggests.

That said, it was a really enjoyable morning of pottering around, making, and taking photos of Katie's cute kitchen. We already have plans to do it again in a few weeks with different recipes. I'll let you know how we go!

What's been happening in your kitchen lately?

my creative space: christmas mittens

 This Christmas I didn't get around to making many gifts, so I was pleased when I whipped up these re-purposed mittens for a friend of mine. Luckily, she was about to go New York which means that she'll actually get to use them, because otherwise, getting mittens in the middle of an Australian summer is pretty lame.

But back to the project - the mittens are made using an old sweater and they come together quickly so they're the perfect last-minute gift. That said, it took me 2 pairs to get these right. I made the first pair using instructions found in The Crafty Minx. Most of the projects in that book are seriously great, but this one is a dud. Naturally, I turned to the internet and used this tutorial from A Beautiful Mess. They turned out great, if I do say so myself!

linking up here today

in l.a. - what we wore

My friend Aisha happens to be one of the most stylish people I know, and ever since she started her blog I've been harassing her to do outfit posts. It was harder to ignore me when I was standing there, in front of her, with a camera in hand. So we did it; we took photos of our outfits...

Necklace: House of Harlow, Top: Forever 21, Belt: Cherry Pick Vintage, Skirt: Urban Outfitters.

Top: Anthropologie, Jeans: H&M

It's progress I tell you, progress!