Sharing two simple striped tee dresses, and the last long hair outfit photo! I donated my hair back at the end of March, I've just been so behind with photos. Since I wait until I have some outfits that make sense to post together, these outfits were worn a little while apart, one with long hair and one outfit with short hair!
Simple tee dress for a busy day. Every time I wear this dress I'm so glad my sister didn't want it any more! I like wearing it with purple, I've done that before. It's a nice touch of colour with the black. Decided to add in some pink accessories too, I think these Balenciaga studded sandals and the rose gold necklace pair nicely with the purple mini MAB tote bag, even though they are both different shades of pink.
Took the boys out to our favourite playground in the morning, then had a couple of errands to run before sneakily managing to buy a birthday present without the birthday boy noticing!
A little bit more autumn-like with this outfit! I added some leggings to combat the cool morning and also as I worried this dress might be a little too short for a trip to the playground and rhyme time at the local library with the boys.
It was also my first attempt to curl my shorter hair. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, but it could have been a lot better! I think I will wait until it grows a bit more before I try again. As a graduated bob, the back is just too short to hold a proper curl.
Unhappiness with my hair aside, I did like this outfit - the leggings were a good choice for in the library sitting down on the ground with the boys. I think the Balenciaga day bag is such a fun pop of colour with the black and white stripes too.
I have included some Cotton On ones that are the same style as the one I'm wearing above - it's available in a range of prints!
How You Can Wear It:
A striped tee dress is a wardrobe basic, and a classic black and white one like the ones above works so well with bold colourful accessories. Pink and purple bags really pop with black and white outfits.
I've mentioned before I'm happy to keep my summer pieces out and wear them year round. On a mild winter day (which is most winter days in Brisbane to be honest) all I need is a cosy cardi on top and it's perfect.
First wearing of these new jeans! I was lucky enough to know someone doing the $5 challenge who saved more than they expected and decided to surprise people by using the money to treat them. (Can't share who it was as they are surprising multiple people!). I said I didn't need anything with my no-buy challenge, but there is that loophole where if someone else buys it for you it's not breaking the challenge! 😉
I went into Jeanswest, just for a look, and saw these jeans which were the perfect candidate to replace my old (10 year +) grey jeans I wasn't entirely happy with. I prefer a higher rise now. Super excited to have something new in my wardrobe, although it does mean saying goodbye to these old jeans. They had a good run and hadn't been worn a lot recently - I can see very few times in the past few years I've had the blog anyway.
As this was a quiet day, just a couple errands and grocery shopping, I decided to try something I'd been thinking about for a while and pairing the similarly coloured magenta bag and cardigan together. I actually really liked the combination! It was good to get this old tank out too. It hasn't been worn in a while after outgrowing it in pregnancy.
A much more colourful printed tank in this outfit! :) The last time I wore this tank it was the height of summer and despite the heatwave we headed out to see Thomas the tank engine at the rail museum.
Although it was winter this time around, I ended up swapping my thick wool cardigan for this thinner one, as it looked like it might warm up. It was again a hot and sunny day, I was pleased I picked the thinner cardigan! I loved this tank, bag and cardigan together when I wore it with flares so I knew I'd like the combination again with different jeans.
Had a lot of fun with the boys running around the museum and playing with all the Thomas toys, and it was good being able to take a picture in the same spot with the same tank but a different season! Just goes to show you don't have to put all your summer tanks away when winter arrives.
Your summer printed tanks can still be layered up and worn in winter with a cosy cardigan. Layering with printed pieces doesn't have to be tricky. For a neutral printed tank, try a plain block colour cardigan like in the first outfit. Neutral layers work well with a textured and colourful printed tank too. Monochromatic greys and black like in the second outfit make a colourful printed tank really pop. Linking up with Shoe & Tell, Mummy Monday, Hello Monday, Modest Monday, On Monday We Link Up, Mix It Monday.
My ninja baby tee was a firm favourite last pregnancy, and I'm enjoying wearing it this time around too. There are a lot of fun novelty pregnancy tees around so I thought I'd do a post featuring them.
Also wanted to give away an extra copy of the #Struggles book I received. I wrote about it last year, in my favourite post I've ever written. I pre-ordered a copy and received an advance e-copy to read. Since I ended up with one more copy than I needed when the one I bought arrived, it made sense to do a little giveaway.
Everyone loves a good ninja baby tee! I wore this to work from home, run some errands in the afternoon and attend my OB appointment. It's fun seeing everyone's reactions to this tee - at the very least it raises a smile. Comfy and casual outfit for a hot day.
This isn't designed to be a maternity tee, but when I saw it I knew it would be a fun slogan tee to wear in pregnancy. I was contacted by SheIn and asked to pick another item to feature on my blog after previously featuring this cute lace kimono. I picked this tee right away. Of course as everyone who orders from SheIn knows, shipping is slow, (around 3 weeks) and with Christmas delays, it took quite a while to arrive.
I don't think I'll be able to enjoy it while I'm pregnant as much as I thought due to it's late arrival, as it doesn't have enough stretch in it for me to wear it again as the baby bump grows. I did size up, but the third trimester baby bump is pretty big. It's a tee that's easy to wear outside of pregnancy too, it just makes the text even better when you're growing a baby!
The Struggles book really made me think and change my behaviour so I'm excited to be able to share it with you! I completed a technology fast, cut down my data allowance on my phone, removed a bunch of apps, unfollowed some accounts, and set myself specific times each day to use social media.
The book is about something that is all too common to bloggers - social media burnout, and how social media takes up so much of our lives, time and worry. One of my favourite quotes:
We want to believe we’re more than the total number of clicks on our last post, but we still check to see how many we have #strugglesBook
While the book is written from a Christian viewpoint and references bible values frequently, I think the advice contained in it is worthwhile reading even if you aren't a Christian. Of course feel free to read the reviews first if you're unsure. If you've ever felt overwhelmed with 'keeping up' with social media, or browsing your feed has made you feel like everyone has the perfect life, this book is for you!
"The more you compare, the less satisfied you are. The more we interact online, the more we crave face to face intimacy, but the harder it is to find. The more filtered our lives become, the more challenging it is to be authentic. The more information about the pain in the world we’re exposed to the more difficult it is to care."
This competition is open internationally, I will ship the book worldwide. In order to win a copy of "#Struggles: Following Jesus in a Selfie-Centered World", you have to come up with the most creative answer to the question "What advice would you give to someone feeling overwhelmed with social media, or what is the best advice someone has given you?". You can enter this game of skill competition via the rafflecopter form below, and remember to include your answer in a blog comment.
This was a little bit of a hectic morning! Had to go to out to the depot near the airport to pick up a parcel, mail more things at the post office and stop by an event to see a friend as well as picking up a few essentials. Was a bit tired out by the end of it and considered having an afternoon nap with the boys...
Wanted a nice simple outfit, this was perfect. This wrap top is so easy to breastfeed in as you just unsnap the button holding the two wrap pieces together. It met the style challenge for the day too.
Another navy top! In contrast to the outfit above, I picked this for what was meant to be a much quieter day. Ran a few errands in the morning and had a friend over in the afternoon. It was nice to catch up and relax until the day got much crazier with another unexpected trip to the hospital for Baby Boy.
This is the first time I wore the shirt I picked up in the Jeanswest Cyber Monday sale before my 6 months no shopping challenge started in January. It took a while to wear it because I was in hospital with Baby Boy half of December. It's a slightly stiffer material so I was fussing with how it sat a few times during the day, don't think it worked too well with the half-tuck into the shorts. I've worn it untucked since and liked it better.
I really liked the studded sandals with this, and of course the pop of the magenta bag against the navy. The outfit worked nicely for the style challenges on Instagram, and I think I'll try the half-tuck again at some point with this shirt. Maybe just not with these shorts!
When I have a rare child-free day to myself I like to wear a dress. While I've worn dresses in the past with the boys, they aren't always a practical choice when chasing after two toddlers. It was good to have a reason to get these dresses out again. It's been a long time (almost 2 years!) since I've worn both of them as they aren't breastfeeding friendly.
Winter weather doesn't put me off of wearing dresses - fleece lined tights, ankle boots and a cosy cardigan or leather jacket keep me warm. While winter outfits can look a little monochromatic with all the neutral layers together, I've added a different colourful accessory to each outfit.
I loved this outfit. The cobalt blue scarf was the perfect pop of colour with the monochrome outfit. Kept me warm on the cold morning too.
I had a physio appointment, and I find wearing a dress with leggings under it works best for all the exercises. (I just swapped the fleecy tights for leggings when I got there). I wasn't sure how I was going to meet the 'tied at waist' style challenge on Instagram and figured I could wear this dress with a belt. After almost 2 years since it was last worn, it was time to get it out my wardrobe! Changed my mind when I remembered I had this cosy cardigan with a belt, perfect for the challenge. It kept me warm as I rushed around between appointments while my mother in law stayed home with the boys.
I had to have a procedure at the dentist so was feeling a bit sore in the afternoon, it was nice to stay snuggled up in this cardigan.
Although I was feeling under the weather, I still had to get up and get dressed for an appointment so I pulled on one of my old favourite dresses. I wore this so much the year I got it, but pregnancies and breastfeeding has stopped it being worn recently. Like I mentioned on Instagram, I was so happy to unbox this when I got all my winter clothes out of storage.
Even though I wasn't feeling the best, I did love wearing this dress again. Always good to get old favourites out! The magenta Balenciaga day bag was a great cheerful and colourful pop against the navy and black too.
You can add a little colour to a monochromatic outfit with a bright accessory. Winter is a good time to experiment with this - you can swap out any one of your neutral layers for a pop of colour. In the first outfit I added colour to a monochrome outfit with a bright cobalt scarf. In the second outfit, I was scarf-less but the bright magenta bag was the perfect pop against all of the black and navy.
Layer up your dresses and wear them all year! A cosy cardigan, scarf or leather jacket with boots and tights makes dresses work even in winter.
In October we took the boys on their first flight down to Sydney for a few days. I'm sharing what we did and things to see in Sydney if you're travelling with toddlers. If you want to skip that, I've included my regular outfits too.
Toddler T is 3, and Baby Boy is 19 months. Both are good walkers. We took a travel stroller and I had my Ergobaby carrier. The stroller was great for carrying the baby bag, layers to wear and food and snacks for the boys but we didn't think Sydney was very stroller friendly. Sydney had daylight savings time but it was only an hour different from Brisbane so we stuck to Brisbane time as normal.
I was looking forward to this day the most! I didn't have a lot of space as we packed light, mostly taking extra clothes for the boys. I still prioritised so while I wore the same Converse every day, I had room for a change of bag and instead of my Louis Vuitton speedy bandouliere I swapped out to this magenta Balenciaga day bag for our morning at the aquarium and spending the afternoon with my bestie. She has a magenta Balenciaga bag too so I had to wear this for the occasion!
Did wish I'd packed another jacket, as it was an overcast and colder day and this purple cardigan was the warmest piece I'd packed.
We landed in Sydney in the afternoon, and it was off to where we were staying for nap time. I will not be sharing the name of the place we stayed as it was the worst place I have ever stayed and if there had been other options available I would have demanded a refund and moved out.
After failed nap time for Toddler T, I took him with me on my bloggy date with Rachel from a Nesting Nomad. It was great to catch up with her again, after meeting her in Brisbane a while back. I followed Google Maps but failed to realise the route resulted in walking up a very long hill to get to the meeting point. Only slightly late. Sorry again Rachel!
We walked through Hyde Park to let Toddler T run around a bit, then met up with Hubby and Baby Boy once he'd woken up. We went for a walk around Paddy's markets and through Chinatown before going to Darling Harbour.
Tip: Darling Harbour playground is perfect for toddlers.
The boys had the chance to run around and play to expend some energy after sitting still on the flight. Lots of lovely restaurants nearby for dinner options too, although we went back to where we were staying and ordered takeout!
Day Two
A cold and dull day, it was supposed to rain so we headed to the aquarium as we suspected we might. We hadn't bought our tickets in advance, not wanting to tie ourselves down to anything much with two toddlers.
Tip: Buy your aquarium ticket in advance. The line to purchase was extremely slow.
The aquarium was worth the wait though, the boys loved it. Despite it being perfect indoors weather and a weekend, there was plenty of space for the boys to run around from exhibit to exhibit as it wasn't too crowded. There were roving staff members in a few rooms presenting and talking about things to see, as well as lots of helpful educational information near each tank. Made it easy to explain to the boys what they were seeing, even though they were a little young to read for themselves.
Tip: Take toddlers to the bathroom before you enter. The bathrooms are at the end of the aquarium which is not what you want to discover halfway round.
After the aquarium, we attempted to head over the Pyrmont bridge to get to the shopping centre for lunch. I have fond memories of walking along the bridge on holiday as a kid, back when the monorail was still there! So difficult to do with a stroller though. We'd walked past the lift a few times before we found it, and then getting the lift down into the shopping centre on the other side of the harbour involved getting out on the top floor, walking through the shopping centre, getting another lift down then walking back to go to where we wanted to eat for lunch. On our way back we just walked around the harbour in the cold rather than attempt the silly lift system again.
As the boys napped, my bestie arrived and I snuck out leaving hubby and the boys to rest as we went to the Lindt Cafe for some chocolate and a catch up. It might have just been the company, but it was easily one of my favourite meals in Sydney, as we shared the 'dome of decadence' between 3 of us.
Tip: Lindt Cafe might be a little too chocolate filled to be a good option with a toddler, but they do takeaway!
After an amazing afternoon catching up, it was dinner time and we just headed to the nearest McDonalds for a fuss-free meal, perfect for toddlers!
Day Three
The day Toddler T was looking forward to most - a trip to the zoo and a ride on a Sydney Ferry!
After a slight detour into the Rocks, we eventually made our way to Circular Quay and had the chance to take photos with the Opera House and Harbour Bridge.
Tip: The Rocks is NOT stroller friendly, don't even try it. Or you'll end up stuck looking down on the harbour realising the only way down is a very long flight of stairs with a stroller. Thanks again Google Maps!
I expected some excitement from the toddlers about the landmarks we'd been pointing out in books for weeks, but it was of course all about the boats! There was a big cruise liner docked while we were there which was exciting to see.
After buying our tickets we hopped on the ferry to go to Taronga Zoo. It's a short trip, just enough time for the toddlers to enjoy being on a boat and you to point out and take photos of all the landmarks before you arrive at the zoo.
Tip: You don't need to travel round all of Circular Quay to get landmark photos with toddlers - just hop on the Manly ferry and take photos from the boat!
When we arrived at the zoo, as we had bought our tickets in advance we were able to take the gondola up over the animals to the very top, with amazing views of the harbour. Of course it was the animals you fly over that the boys enjoyed more than the view! Tip: buy your zoo ticket in advance, even if just at the ferry terminal. It gives you the ability to take a gondola up to the top of the hill and work your way down.
Starting at the top of the zoo made getting around with the stroller very easy, no need to push up any hills. While we didn't see all the animals (we skipped the aquatic section after the aquarium the day before, and the line for the tiger experience was too long for a toddler's attention span) the boys had a great time running around and getting up close with the animals we did see.
We had lunch at 'The Fish Stop' which does have non-seafood options, and was less busy than the central 'Food Market' although it does have less choices. It was so easy to get food and then sit in one of the many picnic areas right next to it, with incredible views of the Sydney city and the harbour.
Tip: Grab a bite to eat at 'The Fish Stop' or bring a picnic and sit back on the lawns for an amazing view out over the harbour!
While the monkeys were the favourite animal of the day (and it was incredible watching one of them mesmerised by my teething necklace!) there were so many to choose from. There was a lovely playground in the farm animal section. Although it was geared towards older kids the boys really enjoyed playing there for a break from animal-watching.
The walk back to the ferry was a really nice downhill stretch, and while you do have to go through a gift shop as you exit the big shark tank and presentation that was on around the sharks meant the boys were nicely distracted as we left, souvenir free. If only that had been the case at the aquarium, ha!
Once we got back to Sydney, we headed to Helm Bar for dinner. I'd looked up a few places online for food and Helm bar was highly recommended, but seemed like a noisy party bar every time we passed it before. Having no luck finding anywhere else open on a Sunday night in our price range, we went there as it was listed as wheelchair accessible. While there's no easy way to get a stroller up the stairs to the bar, there is a lovely beer garden you can sit in and order food and drinks. It was perfect for families.
Food was so well priced, especially for Sydney, and the boys loved their kids meal. I'm still sad we tried it on the last night so I couldn't go back for another schnitzel burger - definitely will be next time I'm in Sydney!
Day Four
This was our travel day, we didn't do much other than pack up, prepare another lunchbox full of snacks for the plane trip home, and make our way to the airport.
Top Tips for Travelling With Toddlers
Have transport options
The toddlers can walk, and we had the stroller and Ergo Baby carrier for babywearing so there were options when the boys didn't want to walk any more.
Be flexible
We had a general list of the sights we wanted to see but didn't buy any tickets in advance so that our days could change if necessary, and we weren't feeling rushed as we didn't try to do too much each day. One activity or outing is fine, and just wing it for the rest of the day.
Pack snacks
This works for the plane flight too, but when you're in a new place you might not know how far away the next kid-friendly place to eat is, so having snacks with you for the toddlers and yourself comes in helpful.
Take lots of photos
The only regret I had in Sydney was that I didn't take a lot of photos (a few hundred over the 4 days instead of my usual couple of hundred I take a day when something exciting is going on!).
Would we do it again?
Not until the boys are bigger and the stroller isn't needed - it was a real pain trying to fit the stroller in places - even though we packed a small umbrella travel stroller instead of our usual big one. Sydney definitely felt a lot more cramped and less stroller friendly than Brisbane.
Unlike the outfit above, I actually found it too warm to wear the cardigan on this day and wished I hadn't brought it! We took the boys to see the Harbour Bridge and Opera House at last (our third day in Sydney...) and hopped on the Manly Ferry over to Taronga Zoo.
The benefit of wearing the Ergo Baby carrier in the back carry position (you can just see Baby Boy's little foot peeking out in the pic!) is that it's easy to wear a cross body bag, and my Louis Vuitton speedy bandouliere was perfect for keeping my camera close by for walking around the zoo.
