AVON baby

AVON baby

Finally, Avon have responded to the needs of woman all over the world and are setting about to release the company's first Baby range. Introducing... Avon baby...

Avon baby is Dye & Paraben free. Perfect for the sweet, sensitive skin of your little munchkin... I know I have been waiting for this for a LONG time. And I have to say, being an Avon rep in Australia has it's ,benefits... Avon Baby is not available here until Campaign 17, 2011 but, I have been lucky enough to receive a Demo of the Moisturiser with samples for all my lovely customers.

Last night, I tried it for the first time on my little Scarlett... The scent is so fresh and natural and Scarlett LOVED helping rub it in.  This morning, she asks 'mummy, can i have more moistiser'? (yes, she says moistiser...)

The fact that it is designed by mothers, approved by pediatritians and is free from dyes and parabens is all I need... I'll never use a supermarket product on my precious bub again...!

So, why not order a FREE sample from me??? I have a bunch to give away to anyone that wants it!
*1 per customer with a $1.00 postage fee

Simply visit my website and order a sample today and see why this new product from Avon is going to be a HUGE hit!

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Clearskin Professional: A review

Clearskin Professional: A review

I have been meaning to try this product out for months, every time I saw it in my Avon Brochure and when I saw it on special for $40.00 for the set of 3, I had no reserves about buying it.

Avon keep printing how it is comparable to Proactiv Solutions TM so I thought there was nothing to lose.

I am 31 years old but still have the skin of a 20 year old (not nearly as glam as it sounds) I have the fine lines of a 31 yr old but the breakouts like a 20 year old... Hmmm definitely DID NOT get the best of both worlds. (more like the worst)

So, with this new product in hand, I started my regimen. It says to start out once a day and gradually work up to 3 times a day... Lets see how I go.

After about 3 days of using (once a day) I got a HUGE blind pimple on my cheek. But, just as the directions say, I keep applying this treatment to help get rid of current spots and to help prevent new ones forming.

About a week later, blind pimple is now size of Hawaii. Not very happy indeed. I keep using only one a day as my skin feels a little tight after using.

Ok, 3 weeks later and the blind pimple is STILL there. Not only that, it is red and sore. I don't actually know if it is related to the Clearskin Professional I'm using but I have never had a pimple last this long and get this sore.

Current day: I still have the blemish on my face, and have had a few little white dots appear even while using Clearskin Professional. Having said that, I do miss some days and on the days that I do use it, it is only once in the day (or night, whenever I can be bothered)

All in all, when I do use it correctly, it does stop most new breakouts forming which I guess it what you mostly look for. I really do think it was just bad timing for that horrible blindy I still have. Perhaps I will run another trial of Clearskin Professional when it clears off for good.

Other than that, I really do enjoy using the product and I will definitely keep buying it (especially when Avon give it away at $40.00 for the set)

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Change the block quotes in your blogger template!

Change the block quotes in your blogger template!

Last month I purchased a new template for My Avon Team business. I used to code the websites myself, but I found this great template from a designer in the UK and thought it might just be easier to buy it along with the matching blogger template ($50.00 extra)

So, I made my payment and waited, and waited. When I finally did get a response, she was rude and slow. Anyway, she finally emailed me the code for the website so I could upload it myself with Dreamweaver. Then, I had to wait for my blog.

Now, If you have ever seen the pre-made templates from Rainy Day Templates you'll know that this girl puts her heart and soul into creating some of the prettiest blogger templaes around. For months I had been dying to buy one from her but having purchased a specific website, I needed a specific blogger template to match so I HAD to use the girl from the UK I was telling you about before.

Anyway, I ended up waiting 2 weeks before I emailed her asking what was going on? She then emailed me back saying she had completed my new blogger template and installed it for me.

YAY!

Although when I opened my browser and typed in the address I was mortified. This was not a new blogger template at all. All she had done was change the background colour and insert the header she had previously sent me for my website.

$50.00 bucks for something I usually do myself and I could have done it in 10 seconds... Not 2 weeks. I was so angry I sent an email. Not that it was going to do anything (i was aware from the start that she wont do refunds) but I just needed her to know that anyone with even a small working knowledge of the Blogger platform would be a little peeved if that's what they received as a template.

I mean, she didn't even change the link/text colour to match what she had given me in my site. Very unprofessional I think!

So, with that in mind, I decided to start teaching myself how to manipulate the code in Blogger to make my blogger template and little more appealing (and matching, at the very least)

From the day I started this blog, I have never liked the width. The template designer in blogger is very limited and I needed more space so I set about learning how to do it.

I simply logged in to my Dashboard and did the following:

Click on Edit HTML
Hit Ctrl+F
Enter this into the search: <b:template-skin>
      <b:variable default='930px' name='content.width' type='length' value='1200px'/>
      <b:variable default='0' name='main.column.left.width' type='length'/>
      <b:variable default='360px' name='main.column.right.width' type='length' value='480px'/>

Where it says 1200px that is the new amount (it used to say 1000px) and where it says 480px I changed from 430. And you can see how wide my blog is now... Simple.

Next I wanted to change my Blockquotes.

Still in Edit HTML I did a search for 'Blockquote' but the search came up empty. Hmmm, there was no tutorial on google that prepared me for this one, so I found some code from a fellow mummy blogger and thought I'll just insert it and see how I go!

The easiest way to find it was to look for the 'Post' section and get right to the bottom (i inserted the code just above this piece of code:

/* Footer
----------------------------------------------- */

The code I inserted looked like this:

blockquote {
background:#fdf5e7;
font-size:100%;
padding:10px 15px;
border:1px solid #0f491c;
}

That above code looks like this:

This is my test blockquote code at work!

 You can go back in and change the colours and font size as you see fit...

Hopefully this little tutorial has helped you a little! Please don't forget though to download your original template before playing around with the code...

Happy coding!

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Does it ever end?

Does it ever end?

Well, Scarlett has decided she wont attend Day Care unless Emily is working. Scarlett literally attaches herself to Emily's leg in the morning and wont let go until I pick her up.

Has anyone else encountered this with their child? I know Scarlett has always been very clingy to me, but I thought that once she started Day Care she might start playing with other kids... At the moment, there is really only 1 other kids that she will actually play with and that is my life long friends son, Bowie.

I'm at the point of taking her out of care because it really isn't helping her develop social skills the way I had hoped. See, if she's not with Emily, then it's home we go! We tried taking her last week and when she realised Emily was on annual leave, she sobbed and asked to come home with me.

There was just no way I could leave her in that state...

Does anyone have any tips that they used for their kids to get them used to being in care? (she is only going 1 day a week at the moment)

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Calling all Housewives

Calling all Housewives

I can't believe it... Seriously, I thought I was one of the remaining few women in the world who actually ENJOYED being labelled a "housewife"

For some reason, over the years it has become almost frowed upon to stay home with the kiddies (or even if you don't have kids) to look after the house. Pfft....

I can recall a time, in the not so distant past where I was working full time as a Property Consultant for a company called Symbion Health in Melbourne's CBD.

It was a great job and I loved going to work every day. However, it was when I got home around 6.30pm each day that things got a little hairy. Hubby (aka: da ferret, idiot or ass) felt he could rest and relax when his highness returned home from a busy day at work but I somehow had to cook dinner, clean up after dinner and do the washing when I got home.

Hmmm. Slightly unjust, no?

Anyway, There was a period of time when I left my job and {very slowly} started looking for another one. It took 4 months for me to find another job as I realised that I wanted to be a housewife.

It was great. I could get up in the morning, at usually the same time as when I was working in the city, and I could clean the house, do the washing, run errands, pay bills, focus on fertility treatments, cook dinner and then RELAX on the couch with ass, I mean idiot, I mean hubby (oops) and know that everything was done for the day!

Not long after my revelation, hubby asked that I go back to work to "contribute" to the household... Again, Pfft....

I told him that the only way I was going back to full time work was if he would contribute 50% of all household chores to which he replied "I already do 50% of the housework. (seriously, he had done the dinner dishes MAYBE twice in the last month)

According to that logic I'm able to just click my heels and the house is clean. And better yet, it must stay clean with no further effort for the rest of the week. Bah!

Against my will, I went back to work and lo and behold... I was still doing all the housework, cooking and errands between my 10 hour day at the office.

When we finally got pregnant with Scarlett I knew our lives were about to change for the better... I'd have my beautiful little baby I had been dreaming about every since we lost our first pregnancy almost 8 years ago.

8 months in and I was able to officially take maternity leave. YES! 6 whole weeks off says hubby... He made it sound like a holiday. I however, felt it was 6 more weeks of feeling like a whale, peeing every 2 seconds, swollen feet to the point of not being able to walk and, hang on, I can't even see my feet anymore, how do I know they're swollen? Oh yes, the throbbing pain I get whenever I move. Holiday? I think not.

Well the day finally came for us to meet our little Scarlett bear, and she was perfect, and we were perfect and everything in the world was perfect!

 

{just after she was born by emergency cesarean}

 Daddy & me when I was just 1 hr old

 Me and my mummy who loves me SOOOOO much

Hmmm, 24 hours old and I'm starting to de-wrinkle

And at that moment, I became a housewife AND mother all in the one day. This was definitely the most amazing day of my life. 

So, how do YOU feel about being a housewife? Do you like it, deny it or embrace it? I'd love to hear from everyone with their own story below!

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Brooklyn Blackout Cake

Brooklyn Blackout Cake

So I finally decided to make this DELICIOUS cake I saw in my recipe book about 100 years ago... It looked so decadent (and difficult) that I couldn't wait to try it out.

Ok, so here are the ingredients you will need to work with. (I will post quantities shortly)

You will need:

For the Cakes
100g Unsalted Butter
260g Caster Sugar
2 Eggs
1/4 Teaspoon of Vanilla Extract
45g Cocoa Powder
3/4 Teaspoon Baking Powder
3/4 Teaspoon Bicarb Soda
Pinch of Salt
170g Plain Flour
160ml Whole Milk

For the Chocolate Custard
500g Caster Sugar
1 Tablespoon Golden Syrup
125g Cocoa Powder
200g Corn Flour
85g Unsalted Butter
1/2 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract

Method:

Preheat the oven to 170 c (325 f) or Gas 3

Put the butter & sugar in a large bowl and beat until light & fluffy

Add the eggs, 1 at a time and mix well, scraping any mix off the sides with a rubber spatula. Turn the mixer down to slow and add the Vanilla, Cocoa, Baking Powder, Bicarb and salt until well mixed

Add half the flour - all of the milk and continue mixing. Add the rest of the flour and mix well. Pour evenly into 3 prepared tins of the same size and smooth mixture with a pallete knife.

Bake in the oven until a skewer comes out clean and cakes spring back in the centre when lightly touched.

Cool slightly before turning out onto wire racks to cool completely.

 

For the custard, put the Sugar, Goldne Syrup, Cocoa and 600ml water in a large heavy based saucepan and bring to the boil over medium heat, whisking occasionally.

Meanwhile mix the cornflour with 120 - 200ml water until the mixure resembles a slightly thick glue. Whisk this mixture gradually into the cocoa mixture over medium heat (not high). 

Bring back to the boil, whisking constantly for a minute or so until quite thick. 

Remove from the heat and stir in the butter and vanilla extract. Pour into a bowl, cover with cling film and chill until quite firm and cold. 

Slice a thin layer of one of the cakes and put in a food processor. Process until you have fine crumbs.

Spread one of the cakes with a thin layer of the custard and place a second cake over it. Repeat.

Now cover the sides and top of the cake with the Custard. Try and keep it as smooth as possible. A pallete knife works best as they are usually larger and easier to work with than say, just a big knife.

 

Now all you need to do is to sprinkle the cake crumbs over the top and sides of the cake. You can be as liberal as you like in this step. 

I also thought instead of using cake crumbs, to use Milo for a REAL chocolate hit! Perhaps you could even add some Raspberries for a bit of bite. 

There could be so many variations to this cake! The only limit is your imagination... Enjoy! xox

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Top Recipes Competition

Top Recipes Competition

Hi everyone! I have decided to get with the times and join Linky Tools... Yep, hip I know. I wanted to do something fun and interesting while offering a prize for who ever gets the most votes!

Have you got a food blog that you would LOVE featured? Have you got a recipe that you think will get the MOST likes?? Then enter below for your chance to win the $50.00 Avon Voucher...

Heres how it works...

1.          Click to enter
2.          Enter the details as required
3.          Let everyone you know to "vote" or "like" your entry on my page

The person who has the most votes or likes WINS the $50.00 Avon voucher which they can spend on my website! (please note that this comp is open to Australian residents only)



Good Luck!

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