Yesterday I managed to wrangle a very good afternoon and evening indeed! I had a meeting with clients up in Sydney (which also happened to include some very good friends) and with Vivid on, we decided that we would try and get away with dinner and a sleepover while we were there and what do you … [Read more...]

After a less than ideal start to the year with constant sickness thanks to perfuckuss and then a shitty Easter thanks to post perfuckuss stress disorder and colds I was keen to make the most of these school holidays and actually have a nice time! So I had a look online for a house for us to escape … [Read more...]

When I packed for Brisbane I literally bought carry on luggage - a few t shirts and shorts and a pair of jeans because I knew I was coming to NIKKI'S. She has quite the wardrobe...shoes especially and for a girl like me who doesn't take fashion and shoes all that seriously it's like Christmas day! … [Read more...]

Mags and I arrived in Brisbane yesterday afternoon for the event on tonight with Those Two Girls along with Jessica Rudd & Frances Whiting and had a delightful time at Nikki's place. We hightailed it to lunch locally, then home for a quiet afternoon before we Nikki hosted a gorgeous dinner for a … [Read more...]

We've just woken up on our last morning in Tuscany. Bags are being packed, car sorted before we drive down to Rome tonight for our last night in Italy. Tomorrow we fly out at 10pm...arriving back Wednesday morning first thing. Yesterday afternoon I went for a walk down the little lane our villa … [Read more...]

Today we all took our car sickness tablets in good time and hightailed it to San Gimignano for lunch after Maggie's morning sleep. It was a cracker of a day - after some morning fog we finally got a day without wind which has been constantly blowing gale force since Sunday afternoon. I'd heard so … [Read more...]

Our holiday is coming to a close and what an amazing 3 weeks its been! Our bellies and hearts filled with wonderful food and memories - Italy really is a place that fills you up. Not only with the amazing food, but the culture, the history, the beauty...throw in some wonderful family time and our … [Read more...]

Having done two overseas trips in two years I thought I might have some ideas to share with you guys about travelling OS with young kids. Last year we had a 7 and 4 year old, this year an 8, 6 and 4 month old. It's been different this year - a baby will do that to you - and we also made the … [Read more...]

We had plans this morning to head to San Gimignano via Volterra for a day of wholesome family Italian sight seeing. I meant to make Harps take her Kwells car sickness tablets before we left, but then Maggie needed changing and feeding or something, and promptly forgot. Maggie has not been loving the … [Read more...]

This morning we had a very quiet morning in the villa - catching up on some much needed time in pj's, drawing, playing, drinking coffee and reading. We've got our portable speaker and Spotify (there's no TV in the villa and we have not missed it one bit in the 2 weeks we've been away) and the pace … [Read more...]

This morning we bid our farewells to Rob's Dad and Step Mum and a lot of their guests that had started to arrive for the grown up/non family part of their trip and headed to our next villa where we'll be until next Sunday. It was so hard to choose somewhere to go to next - Tuscany is a pretty big … [Read more...]

This morning Harper led a few of us on a walk hop through the olive groves that run up the hill next to the villa. It's a cracking day again here in Toscana - the sun is shining, a cool breeze a blowing and a little smoke through the valley from some burning off. This entire estate is filled with … [Read more...]

Lucca is just a quick 10 minute drive from our villa and a beautiful place to explore. My Mum and step dad have come and visited Lucca about 3 times now, always singing the praises of its beauty, shopping and of course food. We headed in there this morning for a good look around and explore and it … [Read more...]

I always love how you can imagine places to be before you arrive there. Snippets from stories, movies, books and a little imagination thrown in to create a kind of understanding of place before you've even arrived. For me, Tuscany was like this. From operas and Stealing Beauty and reading Under a … [Read more...]

Well time has well and truly slowed down and we are in the hot, summery daze of life in the villa. And boy is it good. La Dolce vita... … [Read more...]

We spent the last of our time in Florence soaking up some shopping, more walking and people watching, some fun for the girls and eating at a lovely little restaurant. I haven't been able to take many food shots at this stage - I'm usually juggling kids (trying to spill drinks) and a baby and then … [Read more...]

There really is no place like Florence. Simply stunning. Every street you turn down makes me gasp. It's old. And dirty. And fancy. And decaying. And grand. All rolled into one. We didn't really have anything much planned to see when we were here - some quiet time after the pace of Rome and … [Read more...]