Katy Perry: Part Of Me 3D - Reader Giveaway

This is a sponsored post.

Last year, watching the Doctor at his end of year school concert was pretty darn emotional. As his mama, I have been through everything with him – and I love who he is becoming. He’s kind of shy (sometimes) – and totally clever, funny, and very cheeky. He is so earnest – and that pulls at my heart strings.



As the finale, the whole school sang Katy Perry’s ‘Firework’. I know I sound like a complete cheeseburger, but I remember getting a lump in my throat – and something must have flown into both of my eyes – simultaneously.


We’d successfully navigated our way through the first year of school. It was hard – there was the distance I felt from being a working mother, coupled with the spate of bullying, not to mention the epic journey that is the first year of school.


It wasn’t how I’d dreamt it, but the Doctor had persevered and gotten through that year.


It’s apt that Katy Perry’s ‘Part of Me’ comes out these school holidays. It’s a glimpse into her life – how she worked hard to be where she is today. Following her dreams, and never letting her individuality waver.

I’ve seen her interviewed and have to say she comes across as such a positive and upbeat person – I think it would be difficult not to like her.

If you’d like a chance to win 1 of 5 double passes to take your kids to see Katy Perry: Part of Me in 3D these school holidays, all you have to do is answer this simple question in under 25 words:

Come on, spill. What’s your favourite Katy Perry song?




For full terms and conditions please click here.

eBay: A Fashion Wonderland

This is a sponsored post


Once upon a time I was a devout eBay shopper. I regularly stayed up past my bedtime to get my winning bid in on whatever my heart desired at that time. In some cases it induced heart palpitation and great excitement - nothing beats those last minute bidding frenzies, let me assure you. 


One time (not at band camp) I remember driving like a crazy lady to get home to bid on something once, and the front gate of my house wouldn't open - I had to call my sister to shout down the line - "QUICK!!! Bid on this for me!" Clearly this pre-dates Smartphones, otherwise I could have just put in a winning bid from the front of my house, sitting in the car. For the record, I wound up getting online to win that sucker! It was a great win too. Bidding frenzies are akin to a good cardio work out. You can definitely work up a sweat. 


I've bought lots and sold lots on eBay - it would be fair to say I am a big eBay fan. From vintage clothes to furniture right through to books and toys I have been there. I am a big nerd and pride myself on my impeccable rating (100% - gold star, top of the class to ME!). 


However - it's been a long time between bids. 


Now I'm delighted to discover that eBay launched The Fashion Gallery back in October. I'm back in the eBay saddle! Yeehaaw! What makes this revelation even cooler? Model/blogger, (one of Net-a-Porter's top 10 style bloggers) Candice Lake is their ambassador. Man I love that girl's style - she has such a keen eye. 


The Fashion Gallery is like a virtual department store of over 30 brands (including Fleur Wood, Witchery, Lisa Ho, Marcs, Seduce etc) - where you can search by brand, clothing item and price. Et voila! Better than rifling through a rack looking for something to fit. I have literally spent a number of hours trawling this site shopping because it is supremely searchable. 


Plus there's an ace range of great deals to be had (including new stock). Already the Fashion Gallery is selling a fashion item every 8 seconds and a dress every minute. Isn't that cray?!




Check out Candice's Fashion Gallery Pinterest here.  Get yourself a-shopping at eBay's Fashion Gallery here. 


Did you know?
- 85% of all fashion sales on eBay.com.au are for new clothes, shoes + accessories
- 83% of items available on the eBay.com.au site are new
- An item is purchased every 4 seconds in Australia through eBay mobile apps (clearly I needed this all those years ago)




image of Candice Lake wearing Candice's picks from the Fashion Gallery from here

Review: SUV in the City

This post is sponsored by Nuffnang.


Last week I got to test-drive the new Mitsubishi ASX. When I saw it, I thought, ‘yep, now there’s a gas guzzler if I ever saw one’. I drove that baby back and forth to work all week – and when I returned it, it was only just on the half-way mark. My regular car uses a heck of a lot more fuel than that per week – and it’s a smaller car.


So there’s surprise number one for me. The Mitsubishi ASX offers fabulous fuel economy. And when I’m seeing petrol prices yo-yoing like Lindsay Lohan’s hemline – well I’m thinking fuel economy is right up there for me.


I cruised the streets like it was nobody’s business. I was perched up there, with a great view of the traffic. When parking, the reverse camera lit up in the rear-view mirror – and I felt like some kind of spy and it helped me reverse park smoothly. That there people – that technology, wowsers.


Lunchtime on Friday and the five members of our team trickled out to the carpark and we all piled in to go to lunch. There were several revelations that there was so much room for legs, handbags and chatting – and the sleek leather interior. This was Sex In the City meets The Stig.


When you turn the car on, the door mirrors open out, when you lock the car, the fold in – I am always doing this manually to our car, since someone whacked ours off a few months ago. It’s like it has little ears. So cute.


And of course, paramount to buying a car: safety features. SRS Airbags; an energy absorbing front section to offer occupants protection; reverse camera (which I used for parking and should not replace checking around your car before backing out); reverse parking sensors (my BFFs); active traction control; ABS and so much more.


For more information check out their website here.

Kids Night Out

This post is sponsored by Nuffnang.

If you’re looking for activities for the kids these holidays, check out the free outdoor cinema at Sydney Olympic Park.   We went on Saturday night, and it’s fun – we can vouch for that. We kicked back with other picnicking families and enjoyed each other’s company, on a clean, green patch of grass, under a perfect blue sky, and waited until it darkened enough to watch Cars 2.


The smalls loved the laid-back vibe, hanging out with other smalls, and the novelty of lying under the star-strewn sky and watching a movie. It was pretty special curling up with those little wiggly bodies and enjoying this first with them.

The Doctor finished the night with his: “This was my best night ever.”


Running until January 29th Kids in the Park has a whole menu of activities (more than 50!) to choose from an ace school holiday program catering to all ages (and all free or under $20). If you’re into movies, there’s lots to choose from (The Smurfs, Harry Potter etc) – you can check out the flicks here .

Kids in the Park runs every school holiday at Sydney Olympic Park.

Zis Is Ze Zinc

This is a sponsored post.

So. This is (not) me on the beach. I've got one Elle of a body. Right? Yes. Image via here

Way back when dinosaurs roamed the Earth, in my former life, I worked in beauty PR. I learnt so much about how our skin ages, about the three main factors of ageing:

- genetics
- hydration
- sun – lack of protection

You can’t do anything about a bad pair of genes, but you can do something about smoking (yuck, don’t do it) and sun – cover up buttercup.

My skin is naturally fair, so I’m not mad keen to be out in the full sun. I always wear a hat, I try to be in the shade, and I don’t go out in the middle of the day if I can help it.
I’ve always had good intentions of being one of those women who religiously use an SPF under my make-up everyday.. And yet? I never do. Why? Because I feel like a grease monkey or the sunscreen makes my face go white and I look like Pierrot.

This week I’ve been road testing two Invisible Zinc products and I’m going to be using them throughout Summer.

When I was asked to try a zinc product, well… I shuddered. I imagined life covered in a greasy film, with yellow and green zinc smeared across my face.

Thankfully, this is not the case. Because how the heck would I explain that to my workmates? I’m a massive Shane Warne fan?


In fact, no one even knew I was doing anything differently.


Invisible Zinc ESP Moisturiser with SPF 30+ UVA - UVB is pretty darn good. I used it under my normal foundation, and it worked well as a base, while offering anti-ageing benefits. I have sensitive skin too, and this was amazeballs. It felt light, it went on smoothly, and all day my make-up stayed in place. No one suspected a thing.

I also tried out the Invisible Zinc UV Silk Shield Foundation SPF 30+. I’ve got to say, I’m a girl obsessed. I love a two-in-one product, particularly as I am rushing about in the morning getting the smalls ready, and trying to get myself ready for school work. This is a really fab product that acts as a foundation and evens out your complexion. Plus it’s cream to powder, so it has a really beautiful texture that lasts the whole day.

I mentioned to the gals at work I was trying it, and they were impressed. It doesn’t look like your usual tinted sunscreen. This is LUXE!

What also sells me on this product? It contains no chemical sunfilters. No parabens (big tick). And it smells nice (this is a prerequisite for me, call me old-fashioned).

You want to try too? You can! Enter my super fantastic giveaway and you can try Invisible Zinc for yourself. Yes! Fo’ shizzle! This is what you can win:

1x Environmental Skin Protector SPF 30+

1x UV Silk Shield Foundation SPF 30+

1x Tinted Daywear SPF 30+

1x Junior Clip-On SPF 30+
1x Foundation

How to enter? Answer this simple question in 25 words or less:

How will Invisible Zinc benefit your Summer?

Click here for terms & conditions.

Well Hello Holidays!

This is a sponsored post.

I couldn't think of any better way to spend a perfectly sunny and Spring-a-licious Sunday than heading to the park. A really, really big park. Seeing the smalls run around, happy, it's a simple pleasure. Not to mention the benefits that come with an extended park visit. Kids that go to bed on time. It's win: win.

I love a good park, and I can wholeheartedly vouch that 'Kids In The Park' at Sydney Olympic Park is no ordinary park. It's huge. It's sprawling. It's green, and there are little hills that remind me of the Teletubbies. So fun.

Given the Doctor is learning to ride his bike, we decided to check out Newington Armory . The tracks are wide and flat, so it's perfect terrain for a beginner, with Tiny riding on her push-along. In fact, if the smalls hadn't seen the playground, we could have ridden all day. But they saw it, and while they were happy to explore the Armory, they were intent on clocking up some time climbing, swinging and sliding.

No matter, we rode for about 45 minutes, explored the Armory, checked out the Birds Australia Discovery Centre, where we saw live footage of a month old eagle in its nest - pretty rad. How often do you get a birds eye view? (BOOM BOOM!)

Then we rode back, had an iceblock on the grass overlooking the Rivercats cruising past, a quick coffee, then we were whisked off to the playground by our small companions.

If you're looking for something to keep the smalls active and entertained during the school holidays - whell hellz to the yeah, this is your answer: press this - so many activities to choose from, lots are free, or otherwise under $20. There's something for sporty kids, adventuring kids, or crafty kids.

I recommend it as a super place that we'll definitely revisit during the holidays to keep the kidlets busy. As the Doctor said on the drive home: "It's my best day ever."

The Day The Doctor Scored A Goal Against Wendell Sailor

Sponsored by Nuffnang

We headed to the Marrickville PCYC on the weekend to check out the Tetra Pak Kids event hosted by sport start Wendell Sailor and chef Darren Simpson. You can find out more on their Facebook page.

If you know me, you know I am not an exercise junkie, I wish I was that way inclined, but Lycra and I just aren't great friends. I was thinking we'd check out the action for an hour or so, but it was two and a half hours before we headed out with two totally pooped kids. It was that much fun.

The smalls had a great time getting active - playing soccer, racing against one another in a jumping castle obstacle course, playing some kind of skittles game in teams - or drinking carton after carton of milk (Tiny).

The Doctor took on king of the kids, Wendell Sailor, and scored himself a goal. Proud moment - even though the Doctor has NO idea who Wendell Sailor is. The photo is stuck on his bedroom wall - ready to go to school for news.

Darren Simpson demonstrated just how easy it is to make rice paper rolls - and eat them in one mouthful. I was salivating and a little dirty I didn't get to try one. But thems the breaks folks. I'll just have to make my own with the little people.

There were people streaming in throughout the afternoon, it's a free event, and it really does reinforce how fun being active can be and how quick and easy healthy eating is (and how the smalls love being involved making quick eats!).

You can check out a whole repertoire of Darren's easy and delicious - nutrilicious (see how I made that word up?!) recipes here.

And if you're like me, and need some hints to get active - in a fun, foolproof way, Wendell's got it tapped here.

And if you'd like the opportunity for your children to be worn out, you can check out the Tetra Pak Kids events at two more Sydney locations:

Penrith

Saturday 16th April 2011

Penrith PCYC, 100 Station Street, Penrith

12-4pm

Campbelltown

Saturday 23rd April 2011

Campbelltown PCYC, 95 Minto Road, Minto

12-4pm