Want | Lusts & Loves 01

Winter is finally hitting us here and I have found myself searching for some wardrobe updates.

 

1. Status Anxiety – Relentless Handbag / 2. Valley Eyewear – Salvatore Sunglasses / 3. Status Anxiety – Maud Wallet

I am in a big accessories phase at the moment and am currently lusting after these divine products from Status Anxiety and Valley Eyewear.

1. Essie Nail polish – Smokin’ Hot / 2. DKNY Fragrance – Golden Delicious / 3. The Body Shop – Morninga Range

Right now I can’t get enough of light floral scents to help brighten my mood on these cooler days. I am also loving my Smokin’ Hot manicure. The deep colour is perfect for the cooler months.

What are you in love with or lusting after right now?

House | The fun begins

I can’t believe it, we are almost 13 weeks away from our little girls arrival and there is still so much to do! With that in mind (and the fact my body doesn’t cope the best with pregnancy) the husband has taken time off from his degree to get things sorted.

So its time to get organised and plan out the jobs list.

First task is to set up a cleaning schedule. I have always been one to do the big one day house clean but with all we have going on there just isn’t the time to keep doing it this way.

So I am going to try the divide and conquer approach with set daily chores and one big task a day, we will see if this system can get my house clean and organised while still leaving me time with the family.

Life | Weekend Round-up

We were blessed with a long weekend here in Queensland and I must say the timing could not have been better!

Last week we were hit with illnesses and the husband had two university exams to sit for on the Friday, so a long weekend to recover was just what the doctor ordered.

So Friday night the husband and I enjoyed a cozy night in to celebrate our 6 year Wedding Anniversary, eating yummy food, drinking amazing drinks and did I mention the Snickers Sunday!

The rest of the weekend was spent starting the big house clean out with the garage getting a huge clean and tidy to get ready for the next three months of house renovations and also to make space for me to be able to create away to my hearts content (YAY!).

Our weekend was also rocked with the discovery that our eldest sons Chicken Allergy has reemerged. We were very lucky it was a minor reaction that antihistamines were able to clear up, but it definitely brought back a lot of emotions and stress for us all.

So to help clear our heads and our hearts before the start of a new working week we all piled into the car for a afternoon road trip which did the trick.

What do you do to clear you head and heart?

 

 

 

 

 

Kitchen | Orange Cake with Coconut Streusel

So one thing this pregnancy has done for me is to re-inspire my baking efforts. I have always had a love for baking but in recent years I have done less and less of it and when my eldest son was diagnosed with severe food allergies my desire to bake grew even less and less.

But as we became more aware of his allergies and substitution options that didn’t hinder the outcome I have slowly got back into the kitchen.

So when a sweets craving hit and I had some oranges that needed to be used in the fridge I turned to the one place I go to for inspiration; Pinterest. So along my searching I stumbled across Tiffany at Creme de la Crumb and her amazing Orange Muffins with Coconut Streusel and apart from it being a nice and easy recipe to make it has been a huge hit with the hubby, the boys and little pineapple.

So I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we do and if you are looking for more delicious treats I highly recommend popping over and checking out Creme de la Crumb.

Here is my adaption of Creme de la Crumbs recipe.

 

ORANGE CAKE WITH COCONUT STREUSEL

Egg Free Recipe

 INGREDIENTS

Cake

• 2 cups flour
• ½ cups sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 5 tablespoons butter, melted
• 1 teaspoon of Orgran No Egg to 2 tablespoons of water or 1 egg
• 1¼ cups milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 teaspoon of orange zest

Streusel

• 4 tablespoons shredded coconut
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted
• 4 tablespoons sugar
• 2 tablespoons flour

 Glaze

• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1 tablespoon hot water
• 1 teaspoon fresh orange juice

 INSTRUCTIONS

Cake

• Preheat oven to 180 and grease a cake tin.
• Combine flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
• In a separate bowl mix together milk, butter, egg, and vanilla. Stir wet ingredients into dry ingredients until just combined.
• Stir in orange zest.
• Fill greased cake tin.

 Streusel

• Combine shredded coconut, butter, sugar, and flour in a small bowl. Mix to combine.
• Spoon onto cake batter.
• Bake 15-20 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out mostly clean. Allow to cool.

Glaze

• Mix together powdered sugar and hot water. (Add extra water 1 teaspoon at a time until desired consistency is reached).
• Stir in fresh orange juice.
• Drizzle over cake. Store in airtight container.

What is your favourite recipe right now?

House | Almost there

 

Welcome! I guess this really should have been my first post but I have never been one to do things in the correct order all the time.

So let me introduce myself properly. My name is Jessica and I am blessed with an amazing husband, two gorgeous little boys and a little girl on the way.

For the past seven years we have been living in and slowly renovating our little cottage and we are fast approaching the end of the major renovations. Yay!

I was just reading a post written by Megan on The Fresh Exchange  about their house hunting adventures and it made me think back to our experience.

We bought our house with my heart and not our heads. We opted against the unit in an inner city suburb of Brisbane for a cottage in Ipswich as we wanted to be able to have pets and we wanted something to renovate. We saw so much potential and the price was right, but looking back I just wish I had the knowledge that I do now.

So after all this time and effort and so many plans changed and aborted we are almost done with the major renovation work of our tiny two bedroom cottage. Once that is done we just need to finish a few things off and properly decorate each space and then we can hopefully sell up and move back to Brisbane in the next year or so.

But I must say getting inspired by this house again is a hard thing for me as I am just so ready to move on with our life.

So off to Pinterest I go for room update inspiration and I will share with you all the room updates as we go.

Pineapple | 23 Weeks

 

Eeek 23 weeks! I honestly can’t believe how fast this pregnancy is going. With two little men to chase after its no wonder the time is flying by.

I am still in total shock that we have our little baby girl on board. After having the two boys its exciting to think of the new adventures we will be going on with our little family.

And speaking of excited the pink invasion has already started with these beautiful little outfits from Cotton Kids & Pumpkin Patch that my Mum bought for Pineapple. I must admit I never thought I would love to see some pink outfits but after the boys I am welcoming some softer touches.