Friendly Friday...

Welcome to our first Friendly Friday; the post where I show off my friends and their awesome style...


This Friday's friend is... drum roll please...

Mrs H.

Status... BFF.

Attitude to life... Positive. 

I think she is... the epitome of style, finesse and grace.

I think her style is... Classy, feminie and beautiful.

Wearing... her favourite vintage shirt.

See you next time

Mrs C

xox

A little something-something...

Well I've had a wee little blog break and over the last week I've been in the process of planning some new posts for you and I'm a little excited, I have a few in the pipeline that I'm pretty sure you will like... 

Anyway, I was planning on taking my girls out for a little fairy photo shoot, and I thought this weekend would be great, however one of my little fairies managed to shave her eyebrow off with her uncle's shaving razor... poor little fairy was distraught to have to go to school like that, so I'll have to keep that one on hold...

In the meantime, here are some photos from my blog 'week off'.... sorry, if you follow me on Instagram then you may have already seen these picts...

sleepover friends, a birthday breakfast...

Sunday's birthday girl...

Cake; made by Daddy

just making sure there are enough candles on my cake...

And... its Autumn. 

Leaves are everywhere.

Gold, amber, green's and brown's.

Far too pretty to leave on the ground.

Some of the new posts are:

"F.F = Friendly Friday"... 

you can see what my stylish friends are wearing on Friday's. Mrs H will feature this Friday... here's a tiny sneak peek...

"Ifie-Lifey"...

You all know I LOVE my iPhone4s... so much so that I gave her a nick-name "Ifie"  So "Ifie-Lifey" is life-y according to Ifie... fully pictorial, like so...

"Introducing"...

These posts will be done by guest bloggers... friends, family,other awesome people that I think you would love to meet... our first "Introducing" post will be from Miss Parnz, my sister just got home from a 2 week trip to the U.S of A today... exciting!  From Nauvoo to Long Beach woohoo, lets go on a pictorial journey with her soon.

It felt like it was going to snow today; there was a fresh, frozen snap in the air.  Needless to say the fire is going and chicken soup and fried bread was on the menu tonight... Yum-oh!

See you soon

Mrs C

xox

I do! I do! I do believe in fairies!!!

Do you believe in fairies?

Back in 1917, two school girls, cousins Elsie and Frances, took photographs that literally convinced the world that Fairies really did exist. These photographs came to be known as the "Cottingley Fairies".

It wasn't until 1982-1983 they were finally proved to be fakes and a 60 year old hoax uncovered. 

Don't you think it would be wonderful to really truly totally believe in fairies? 

I'm planning a special photo shoot of my two little girls soon... I wonder if you can guess the theme...


See you soon
Mrs C
xox

Super Sunday Styles.... kind of....

So, on Sunday I wore an outfit that you have already seen on here... this one...

I decided instead, to show you my absolute favourite 'go to' dress, if I ever have trouble getting dressed and get that 'I have nothing to wear!' feeling, I will usually 'go to' this dress...

I scored it from Trade Me about 2 years ago...

On Saturday I took the son to Levin for his rugby game.  It was a very close game and I was very proud of my boy and his team who played really well and won 26-29... only 3 points difference!!!  Really exciting game! 

By the time the game was over the sun was out so I got out of the gumboots and jeans and got into my dress. I was so glad I had packed it, there were so many beautiful shops on the way home and I think we stopped at all of them hehe! 

We spent a bit of time in Shannon on the way home and we found this wall which we thought would make a great style post back ground... What do you think?

I decided the Shannon is a cute and funky little town,  with it's rugby pride well and truly in tact according to this wall...

I've never been to Levin or Shannon before so I was pleased to have the excuse to visit...

Highlights of my week...

MOTHER'S DAY

• Morning hugs from 4 sleepy eyed children 
• Chocolate swap with my mum
• Church
• Home for a yummy early lunch cooked by Mr C
• Hot apple crumble pudding YUM!
• Miss Parns left to catch her flight to the STATES!!! So Jealous I am!
• Choir practise
• Supper
• grape juice and chocolate in bed

Style workshop

I did a little style workshop with some wonderful women in Featherston last night, it was super cool! I talked a little bit about myself, then we got down to the nitty gritty... over the last few weeks, the awesome organiser 'Felicity' and her crew have been collecting clothes from the ladies that they don't wear anymore... they sorted them into sizes, tops and bottoms and the girls were let loose... I was absolutely delighted to be asked to help them find some cute free outfits. 

The highlight of my night was 73 year old Nella... she admitted to me that she always wears skirts so wanted me to help her find some trouser outfits and we found two, she was totally delighted...

The only disappointing thing about last night was I totally missed the opportunity to take some fantastic photos to share with you... I apologise...

But thanks Felicity, so much for inviting me down to the South of Wairarapa to share with you all, I had a ball!!!

Have a lovely rest of the week y'all
Mrs C
xox

Curves and Clothes...

Yeh... I'm a plus size mama... and its not something I ever planned to be and not something I plan to be forever... but I'm pretty easy, so I just roll with it... lol excuse the pun... 

When it comes to what I wear... I'm pretty happy with where my style is these days, it took me a while to get here, because this wasn't always the case... In the old days I would settle for an over sized, plain and somewhat sloppy 'Bob Charles' polo shirt which for me was actually a big HUGE no no! 

So... One day back in 2007, I woke up and thought "Man! I'm a woman!" haha! As funny an epiphany that was, it was one nonetheless!  So with the help of my nearest and dearest BFF, I focused on nurturing the confidence I needed to change and eventually find my style.   Afterall curvy women need to wear clothes too... so why not be happy in them???

A good friend of mine has asked me to come along to a meeting of church women tomorrow night and run a little workshop on this topic... I'm flattered although totally daunted because I truly do not think of myself as a fashion guru... but I think I've learnt alot about my own personal style in the last 4 and bit years... so this is what I will share with them tomorrow... 

check it out...

How I found personal style:

What's my body shape? 
This was really important.  I concluded that I am an hourglass shape... thats right curves up top and curves down low... and a waist somewhere in between.

What's my best style? 
In trying and failing, and trying again, I've concluded that my shape is best suited to the baby-doll style.... instead of wearing belts around my waist, I'll wear them higher up, even under my bust, same goes with tops and dresses. These bring me in at the waist and helps to show the hourglass thats here somewhere lol.

Am I comfy?
I have never in my life worn a 'mini' skirt... They're just not me, even in my slimmer 'young adult' years... Only I can know how uncomfortable they are for me, as you would know what is for you.  On the other hand maxi skirts make me feel tall and floaty, I love the feeling a good maxi gives me.

In saying that...
...and at the risk of contradicting myeslf... Sometimes we all need to take a little step out of our comfort zone... but only if its good for us... for example; I will never wear a mini skirt and I'm sure the community will thank me for that... however it wasnt too long ago that wearing dresses, to anywhere other than church, made me uncomfortable and now they feature considerably in my wardrobe, I just LOVE a good dress! 

Nurture style confidence...
Confidence is the best accessory and it goes with anything and everything! 

Experiment...
Try mixing; you'll be surprised how great florals go with stripes.  Mix vintage with ultra modern, try colours you havent worn before. 'Over-wear' items ROCK! Jackets, blazers, cardigans, vests... give them all a go!

Accessorize...
Belts, scarves, hat's, bags, rings, earrings, necklaces's, gloves, stockings, tights... there is so much... use them!  Use them ALL!!!

Shoes glorious shoes! I have always loved shoes, but only in recent years have I had the opportunity to nuture this love... so I have converse chucks, nike sneakers, clogs, boots, lots of sandals and jandals, heels, flats, chunkie soles and mary-janes.  I would never have imagine myself owning a pair of cowboy boots 4 years ago, but I own a pair now and I love them!  If you have a great pair of beautiful shoes to compliment your outfit you'll have a winner.

So... I hear you ask, what is my style... well I'm pretty ecclectic, but I stick to my own personal basics as noted above... these are some of the things you will find in my everyday wardrobe...

• vintage dresses
• home made dresses
• denim jacket
• corded jacket
• long vintage coats
• a variety of jeans colours and styles
• easy tops (easy as in can wear with anything)
• fitted t-shirts (which I wear under lots of things)
• tunic/long singlet type tops (because I love to layer)
• a couple of belts
• several scarves

Whatever your personal style, make sure you love it!  If you don't love it then I'd say it's time to lump it... changing your style won't cost a lot if you go to sales, thrift stores etc.  Although I reccomend maybe spending a little extra on staple items, like a good quality pair of shoes.

Don't forget to spend a little time getting re-acquainted with your hair and make up...  And don't forget... we may be mama's and nana's but we are still girls!  And playing with hair and make up will always be fun, don't you agree?

Anyway whatever you do and whatever you wear, have fun doing it, and have fun wearing it...

Mrs C

xox

Beauty and our Curves...

There are lots of beautiful curvy women out there. 

Two of the most recent celebrity stunners that I love are the amazing Adele... 

And the awesome Amber Riley from Glee..

Both of these women are beautiful and super talented...

And I have said it before and I could end up saying it a
ba-jillion times...

"just because you're curvier than the next girl, doesn't mean you can't look good!"

beautiful hair and make up doesn't need to be done by a celebrity stylist, you can give these a go in the comfort of your own home...

My make up: Minimalist

My favourite beauty items that I use almost daily...

As for my hair... my hair is so, soooooooooooo thin, in fact when I was little my mum used to say that combing my hair was like combing a potato sack, get it? Potato sack? Hehe!  Anyway I have learnt how to do lots with my hair in recent years... thanks inspiration and tutor videos at blogs like these...

Orchid Grey

A cup of Jo

Mucho Mucho Bueno Bueno

and one which I just found this week but am totally in awe of...

Hair and make up by Steph

I think if you look good, you feel good.
Don't you agree?

 

What are your fav hair and make up tips?

Mrs C

xox

An Apple a Day...

Woohoo!!! I'm so excited! Remember the 1950's photography competition that I won a wee while ago?  Well yesterday I finally received the prize... a white 8gb iPod Touch, so pretty! 

A big HUGE thank you to Kath from Destination Manawatu for organising to get my new toy to me... You're the best Kath!

So yesterday I was trying to figure out how to work it, my son has already put games on it, I've taken picts on it and using i-cloud all the picts from my i-Phone are now easily found on the iPod as well... pretty cool huh?  Anyway Miss Parnz is home tonight and she's the iPod queen so the kids and I will have to get some lessons from her...

Verdict: as far as I can see, an iPod touch is the same thing as as iPhone4s, just that its not a phone... although, I called the iPod from my iPhone using facetime and we had a little giggle because we were both in the lounge, but that was fun!  So in actual fact if I were an iPad... I'd call the iPod touch 'Mini Me'.

We're going to have fun learning the in's and out's of
the iPod touch...

Do you have any hints or advice for me?

Mrs C
xox