HOME AND DÉCOR
Tips for decorating a teen girl's bedroom from Bodie and Fou
My friend Karine from Bodie and Fou got in touch last week to share her recent before-and-after renovation project of her daughter, Mila's bedroom. Mila is the same age as my eldest (and she's also really into surfing!) so it's always interesting for me to see the girl version of twelve years old. (I often marvel ...
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HOME AND DÉCOR
Beautiful, handcrafted furniture from Kalon Studios
My friend, Michaele, and her husband Johann, started Kalon Studios back in 2007 shortly after the birth of their first daughter. They struggled to find a crib that met their needs in terms of design and sustainability, so they decided to create their own. Within a year of creating that first crib, Kalon was winning ...
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WEEKEND GETAWAYS
Weekend Getaway: Lisbon, Portugal
Crystal Sawatzky and her husband have six children, aged 13 to 3. Originally from Canada, they moved to Europe in 2015 to spend a couple years slowly traveling throughout Europe in an effort to better understand old cultures and find new community. Over the last couple years, they've spent time visiting family in Northern Ireland, ...
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TOYS & GAMES
Loveable dolls by Merrilee Liddiard
I've been a fan of Merrilee Liddiard for a long time now. She is the creative mind behind the wonderful Mer Mag blog, a great source of inspiring and always-beautiful craft ideas. She is also the author of 'Playful: Fun Projects to Make With + For Kids', which again offers a whole host of unique craft ...
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FASHION
Millk for your baby
Isn't it funny how our environment can alter our fashion style and clothing choices? Not just the weather, but the vibe of a place -- it can have such an impact on our lifestyle choices. Since moving to Byron, I've noticed a shift in the way I dress my kids. Here, I am all about ease ...
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FASHION
Breastfeeding-friendly knitwear from Boob Design
As I've written before, I am a big fan of the Boob maternity and nursing products. Their basics are my favourite: I wear the Boob nursing bras daily as well as my merino wool nursing singlet, and I've even discovered the nursing sports bras, which I also love (I'm wearing one as I type, in ...
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RECIPES
A flavourful garden kale salad with Tamari and sesame
When it comes to good cooking, I feel like there are two kinds of people. There are the ones who can cook by closely following trusted recipes (this is me), and then there are people who can open their fridge, see what's inside and feel inspired to get creative and cook up something delicious. These ...
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PARENTING
What chores do you give your kids?
Growing up, my siblings and I had loads of chores. Beyond the usual daily chores, my dad even assigned bigger project-based chores for us to do, especially in the summer time when we were home from school. He believed we should be kept busy working and helping around the house. We were given chores like ...
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FASHION
Indi Kids -- come find them at the ShopUp in NYC!
On first glance, the beautiful indigo-dyed clothing featured above looks like it could come from a local label here in Byron Bay. There is a natural, bohemian vibe to these pretty pieces that looks right at home on the beach, paired with bare feet and happy smiles. Indi Kids is, however, a Brooklyn-based brand of clothing founded ...
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BOOKS
'Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls' -- an inspiring book for girls (and boys!)
I was chatting to a friend over the weekend and she told me she recently read an interesting article about raising girls. The article pointed out that when a young girl is showing signs of being pioneering or dominant or even simply independent, she is called 'bossy', whereas when a boy acts in the same ...
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WEEKEND GETAWAYS
Weekend Getaway: Mexico City
Annika Lehtonen is originally from Finland. She went to Mexico in 2008 for a short 6-month internship after finishing her university degree in Madrid, Spain... and those six months turned out to be nine years (and counting) in Mexico! She's married to a Colombian man and now has two young children. She has a demanding ...
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FUN
Personalised, handcrafted wooden toys. Perfect baby gifts!
Heather, a mum of two and the founder of Noc Noc Wooden Toys recently got in touch to say hello and introduce me to her brand. She's a local mum, living just twenty minutes from me! (I continue to be blown away by the amount of creativity and talent that comes out of this area. Remember ...
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WEEKEND GETAWAYS
Weekend Getaway: Istanbul
Born and bred in London, Alara Hindle studied Islamic Art and Archaeology at Oxford, and was then sent to work in the magnificent Topkapi Palace in Turkey. Once there, she met and fell in love with her husband, and has been living in Istanbul ever since! Two daughters (eight and three-years-old) and a beloved art ...
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FUN
'Hats of Faith' a book by Medeia Cohan and Sarah Walsh
Hats of Faith is a beautiful new board book which celebrates the shared custom of head covering in different faiths around the world. The book, written by Medeia Cohan and illustrated by Sarah Walsh, aims to educate children about diversity and tolerance in a simple, endearing way -- highlighting all the different types of hats with ...
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RECIPES
Delicious apple muffins
On sunny weekend mornings, when the weather is nice and the waves are forecasted to be good, we hurry up with our breakfast, load the surfboards and beach bags into the car, and head to the beach! It's become one of my favourite things about living here -- that we can spend so much time ...
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BABY
A wonderful selection of baby gifts from Un Elefantino a Pois
I am still trying to figure out what to wear and how to dress the kids in Australian 'winter time'. While the nights and mornings can be chilly, by midday we are shedding the woollen layers we've put on over our summery clothes. It seems I always have a bonnet, jumper and booties in my ...
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RECIPES
Barley Salad with Broiled Feta and Tomatoes
My sister introduced me to this delicious barley salad (found in the Kinfolk Table cookbook) last week and we loved it so much the first time she made it, we begged her to make it again a few days later. It's the perfect summer salad with the roasted tomatoes and feta adding more depth and flavour ...
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LOCAL TIPS
Tips from a local: Edwina in Clapton, East London
Edwina Gieve grew up in London and has lived in Clapton (in East London) with her husband and three children for the past five years. She has three boys -- Dashiell 6, Cosmo 4 and Esmond 11 months. Apart from being a stylish and super inspiring mama, she is also the co-founder of the beautiful ...
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FASHION
Josefina Bags -- redefining the nappy bag
On first glance, the Josefina bag looks like a beautiful, super stylish handbag -- something you'd feel comfortable carrying into a business meeting or hanging over your arm on a date with your husband. Nothing about this bag says 'baby', and yet it happens to be an extremely practical, super handy nappy bag. The Josefina ...
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RECIPES
Vietnamese-style summer rolls -- our children's favourite lunch!
After my recent post on school lunches, I received several requests to share our recipe for the vietnamese summer rolls my kids love so much. Michael makes these for the kids at least once a week and it's always a huge hit -- it's the one day of the week where all three kids come home ...
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FASHION
Maternity and breastfeeding clothing from Clary & Peg
Aside from making beautiful, vintage-inspired maternity clothing, Clary & Peg, a London-based label, have gone that extra step further and ensured that each of the pieces in their collection is breastfeeding-friendly as well. Which means that you can invest in a pretty dress or stylish jumpsuit during pregnancy that accommodates your growing bump whilst knowing you'll ...
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TUESDAY TIPS
What to pack in your beach bag
Over the past couple years, we've had the hard task of spending lots of time at the beach. : ) Okay, I joke... but the beach did become a central theme of our travels, especially as we discovered our love of surfing, and we went from being city dwellers to expert beach-goers. (It's a hard ...
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RECIPES
Super easy Quinoa Brittle, a recipe from Lunch Lady Magazine
We've written before how much we love Lunch Lady Magazine. If you aren't already a subscriber to this beautiful quarterly magazine, then I urge you to head over to the website and sign up now! It's one of the only magazines I read (from cover to cover!) these days. Even Michael can be found scanning ...
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