Perth Digital Parent Bloggers Catch Up

You may recall we had the first Perth Bloggie Meet Up some months ago which was a huge success. By 'huge', I mean everyone had a great time and we all got a little bit drunk.

On the weekend we had our second function. We opted for a dinner event at a lovely Chinese Restaurant in the city.

It was a low key affair. We drank some chocolate milk and we were at home in bed by 9.30pm.

hahahaha. Errrrr. No.

Georgia at Parental Parody was so keen she rocked up 30 minutes early. She was lucky enough to have her hubby drop her off during a dull moment on the Rugby.  Personally, I think she was just dying to get out of the house and get her wine on! hehe. I was early too, by some 15 minutes. This is because I have the Early Disease, which is a debilitating genetic condition. We also showed our excellent taste in wine, by bringing exactly the same bottle.

Mandi and I briefed the waitress on our mind numbing list of dietary requirements. Some half an hour later after intense discussions, I was feeling pretty sorry for our poor waitress. With my gluten free needs and Mandi's requirement for a Citrus and Pineapple free meal (I know. Unusual huh?), the waitress returned exhuberant, with our food. She had successfully navigated the battlefield of our table's food intolerances, and we were hoping the chef had also. He must have. The food was great and I didn't get sick. Let's not forget Rachel and her Vegetarianism. I have never seen so many special dietary requirements on one table. What a special bunch we are!

Colin and Rachel

Mich and Georgia

Me, Mandi, Colin and Rachel. My hair was sporting Super Boofiness for the occasion.

So we talked about blogs and blogging and more blogs and blogging and Twitter and Tweeting. We finished dinner and went in search of a bar in which to continue the fun. Where we talked about blogs, blogging and .....comment trolls. EWWWWWW.

Georgia, me and Rachel

Me and Rachel

 

Rachel and Colin

 It really was a great night. Thankyou to Brenda at Digital Parents for the lovely bottles of champagne.

We are currently in the process of organising some exciting events for the Perth Digital Parents branch. To keep in touch with all the goings on be sure to join our Facebook page. You won't want to miss the next one!

Warning. A Fashion Post. "Colour Blocking" Can be Hazardous.

At the beginning of the year, I resolved to be a bit more fashionable. With the birth of 3 children behind me and no plans for anymore *crosses fingers*, I chucked all my daggy maternity clothes on the floor and did a celebratory dance, rejoicing the end of the "being pregnant era".

The Colour Blocking fashion that is all the rage at the moment had me buzzing with excitement. I love me a bit of colour and I really do hate black. If you haven't been living in outerspace in a bright yellow hessian sack, you would know that the Colour Blocking trend is when you wear bright colours and give the middle finger to the notion that your clothes should be matching. So you might be sporting some bright coloured jeans and a contrasting colour top. Say yellow jeans and a hot pink top. For example.

As a big ASOS shopper (it changed my life) I noticed a pair of PETITE (yeehah) coloured skinny pink jeans for the pricely sum of around $19 Australian Dollars with free delivery. I popped these on yesterday with a blue top. I took the kids for a walk. I noticed the traffic slowed as it past me. Ok. That's weird.

I mentioned this to husband. I think these hot pink jeans were gaining some unwanted stares. I was feeling a bit OUT THERE and a little SELF CONSCIOUS by this stage. Before leaving the house, I felt like I was Totally-Owning-These-Hot-Pink-Skinny-Jeans-Matched-With-A-Blue-Top. Could I be wrong? Maybe my neighbourhood is not ready for Colour Blocking. Maybe I just look stupid. Maybe I am a fashion victim. Maybe THEY are they daggy ones?

Husband assured me I looked fine. We went out for lunch. He said "People are staring at your pants!". OH MY GOD. It's not just me.

So I got home feeling all weirded out. The world is not ready for me, a mother of 3 small children to be wearing brightly coloured pants.



Ok. This is me. With THE OUTFIT. Ok. There is a little bit of belt action here but if I don't wear one, the jeans will be at my ankles rather than solidly located at my hips.



I had my husband take a pic when we got home. Because I wanted to ask. DO I LOOK SILLY!!? WHAT DO YOU THINK? BE HONEST. I CAN TAKE IT!

The Ten Signs That Tell You, You're a Short Arse

I am short. No scrap that. I am really short. 152cm in fact. So yeah. I am pretty qualified to speak on this topic I reckon. I'll launch straight into it.

1. You go to Coles and you need something on the top shelf. But you are too short to reach it. You do the "jump and grab" trick but you fail. Dismally. Scared someone will ACTUALLY SEE YOU DO THIS, you decide to wait discretely in the aisle, for someone taller than you to walk past. So you can smile at them and ask them to get it for you.

2. You buy a pair of jeans. They fit great. Awesome! But you need them adjusted and approximately half of the length needs to be cut off. This completely changes the look of the jean. You can't return them because you performed a drastic disection. You end up throwing them in the back of the closet and giving them to the Salvos some 7 years later.

3. You buy shorts. They are Capri's on you. You buy a maxi dress. You've unwillingly bought a parachute.



The Lifesaver. Every Short Person Has one (or 15)



4. You get asked for ID when you go to a licensed venue. Even though your Drivers License clearly states that you are 33 years old.



5. A salesperson comes to the door and asks if "Your Mum is Home?".

6. You put on 1kg. You've changed a dress size.



7. The drivers seat in the car is yanked up as high as it will go. Your husband smacks his head on the roof of the car everytime he gets in (and curses loudly).

8. You love wedges, heels, platforms and anything with a bit of height to give the illusion that you are at least of "average height".

9. You can't dust all those "high up" places, and you know they need doing but you ignore those jobs permanently because you are too short to manage it by yourself. And oh. What an excellent excuse.



10. Your most prized possession is a step ladder which you keep in your pantry. Because you can't reach the cereal boxes at the top of the pantry without it.


Easy Gluten Free Gingerbread

I have been playing with different Gluten Free Gingerbread recipes here in the Taryn Test Kitchen, and OH BOY have we had a few disasters. My first batch came out very dry and pale looking. It's not a good look when your visitors come over for a coffee and leave with a bit of gingerbread stuck to the top of the inside of their mouth. Urggggh. (Don't worry this post has a happy ending)

The below recipe is truly fabulous. It doesn't have many ingredients and they are easy to make. They have an excellent taste and texture (which is a rare combo when cooking gluten free). It is also EGG FREE.

I originally got this recipe from HERE and changed it a bit. Here is my version. I hope you enjoy.

Ingredients
60 grms of unsalted butter
160 ml or 2/3 cup of golden syrup
2 cups of gluten free plain all purpose flour, plus a little bit more on standby
1 1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 1/2 tsp mixed spice
2 tsp xanthan gum

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees and line three baking trays with baking paper. Place the butter and golden syrup in a saucepan and stir over heat until the butter has melted. Then bring it to the boil and remove from heat. Leave to cool for 15 minutes.

In a mixing bowl, sift the flour, spices and xanthan gum together. The xanthan gum just helps to bind the mix together.

Add the syrup mixture to the flour and combine with a spoon. Keep your eye on the dough. You may need to add extra flour if it is too sticky. If your dough is too sticky it will stick to your bench and be hard to roll.

Knead the dough on a gluten-free floured surface and it should become lovely and velvety. Roll the dough out with a rolling pin, about 1cm in thickness, and cut into shapes.

Place evenly on your lined baking trays,. These will spread a bit during baking so give each one room. Place in the hot oven for 5 mins or until they are just baked. If they get too much colour on them, your gingerbread will be very bitter. Try and avoid any colour for best results. You will need to keep your eye on them.

You can ice these or leave for the kids to decorate. But I think they are just delicious plain.

Nom

The Art of Procrastination

Three and a half years ago, when I was heavily pregnant with Harry I decided it was about time I gave our newish leather lounges a good clean and condition. According to the manufacturer, this needs to be done every 6 months. We had the lounges for just over a year and I hadn't done it yet. Sure I had wiped it over now and again in response to sticky fingers and the like, but it had never had a decent clean.

I got all the cleaning stuff I needed out of the laundry cupboard to complete the task. The moment came and went. Something else got in the way and I didn't get to do it. The cleaning stuff sat on the kitchen bench for the following few days looking at me saying "Hello! Remember us?" and soon I decided to put them back away because it was making the place look untidy.

Every day for 3 and a half years I have sat on our couch and thought "I need to give this a good clean".But I never get to it. Numerous times over the past few years I have followed the same ritual of getting all the cleaning stuff out of the laundry. Never getting the job done and then putting it back away.

mmmm. Smooth and shiny. FINALLY

So now. After three and a half years (and two babies) since I originally set about completing the job. It is FINALLY DONE!
I cleaned them. I conditioned them. It took 20 minutes to do the job. But it took 3 days worth of actually THINKING ABOUT DOING IT.

What a waste of time.

I'm going to get these silly jobs done in my house and spend less time thinking about doing them.

It really is just mind over matter.

What are you procrastinating about?