I found these amazing yellow vintage heels at the opshop in my size for $5. And some free baby hands.


We attended Isis and Damien's 'Year of Retirement' party - Isis' lovely style is always present in everything she does!


I finished painting my traffic controller box, though it still hasn't been installed yet. I'll show better pictures of it when it has been installed in the city.


I treated myself to this cute dress at Target.


I put a tea cosy on Theo's head (thank you for the gorgeous tea cosy Gitte!).


I rode my bike most days (we haven't used the car in so long!) - today I went to the hardware store and loaded myself up with herbs and potting mix. It did make for a rather wobbly ride, but I made it home!



I admired the house colour choices of the homes of Invermay.


I ate lots of good things. I have stopped eating gluten and a bunch of other things because I basically had a permanent belly ache for a long time and now I feel so much better. I am still pinpointing particular foods that make me sick, but so far the gluten free thing hasn't been too difficult because I'm mostly eating food at or from home. I am not a coeliac but I seem to have a sensitivity to wheat - if you're the same way, I highly recommend a low FODMAP diet.


Speaking of food, Theo tried his first kiwi fruit. Loved it.


I gave this boy some piggy backs with minimal hair pulling (and we inadvertently matched our clothes).


He crawls like lightning. He stands. He says "DADADAD" and "MUMUMUM" and something that sounds ever so slightly like "Cat". He feeds himself. He's a ham.


Blackberry fingers.


Mysterious eye graffiti.


Theo wakes up at 7am every morning with a grin on his face, blows raspberries in my face, rips out my hair and searches the bed for cats, then sits and pulls at their fur gently and they don't seem to mind. He also laughs at them when they're near him and tries to catch them.

Reading | Freehand - Helen Birch.
Watching | Teevee: Rectify (loved it), House of Cards (only the first episode but I could take or leave it), True Detective (same goes for this one) and The Checkout. Films: The Book Thief (at the movies with mums's group), What Maisie Knew (which I really liked), Enough Said (enjoyed), An Education (loved Carey Mulligan and Peter Sarsgaard) & Murder By Numbers (can't help but love Ryan Gosling even though the movie left much to be desired).
Making | A cosy little nook at uni. I'll share some pictures next week.
Listening to | Lucy Schwartz & Josh Pyke.
Visiting | Hobart to see DJ Shadow (which I wished I enjoyed more).
Looking forward to in March | My twenty fourth birthday, getting into my studio project at uni and spending lots of time in my little nook making, planting herbs on our kitchen windowsill, maybe just maybe buying a digital piano and Autumn leaves.

This month I started running. When I was a kid I ran a lot. I got up early and ran and then came home and made my lunch and went to school. I was the fastest kid in my school for at least a year or two and before that I definitely gave the other fastest kids in school a run for their money. I won ribbons and I was sports captain and basically obsessed with sports (hard to believe, I know). But when I got to high school, I just stopped exercising and I basically haven't since. I never put on weight despite my lack of physical activity and I was happy with the way I looked (well, as happy as any teenager can be). But now my body feels like it wants to run. I don't run very far or for very long, but it feels so nice to be running again. Invermay where I live is lovely and flat and the streets are quiet and friendly and full of cats and nice to run through. My only problem is that I don't like to run during the day when people can see me, but there aren't many street lights around at night. I hope to continue running through March.

Going back to university has made me so happy already. I know it's only a week in and if you ask me again at the end of semester I'll probably curse myself, but I just feel so pleased to be there. I have set up my desk space with my materials and inspiration board and a vase with flowers in it and succulents and nice books about art and being there just feels right. I am really fortunate to be able to go back and finish my degree while Theo is small - I know a lot of people have children and don't get the chance to go back. It is basically C's dream to be a stay at home dad, so he's putting in the long yards with Theo until the end of the year - something he genuinely enjoys and is fantastic at. When I do take Theo out by myself C always says how much he missed Theo. My hours are pretty flexible at uni but I have a lot of work to do on my major studio project this year, so I will be there 5 days a week all day, sometimes into the early evening, and meeting up with C and Theo for lunch (and breastfeeding) in the middle of the day. So far I think it's working really well. I have decided that I won't do work at home if I can help it and I will try not to do work on the weekends so that I can spend time with my family. I am still tossing up what I want to do next year - there are three options - I can do a Masters of Teaching by distance for two years, I can do Honours (and then the Masters later) or I can start a second degree in a completely different field. I've got a whole year to decide, but I'm not really feeling pulled in any particular direction. Who knows!?

Today was my first day back at university. Because it is my final year (of my degree, I'm still going to do a two year masters afterwards), I was allocated my own desk and space in the uni to set myself up and work from, which felt kind of special. I haven't filled my space with anything yet, but I'll be going in tomorrow to pin some things up, inspiration and the like, and to start working. I am feeling really positive about the year, though I really don't have much of an idea what my final project will look like at the moment.




My bike is looking a bit naked at the moment because I took the lovely skirt guard and back fender off. I'll put them back on soon, but my back fender has broken in two and was rattling around on my back tyre and I've been meaning to fix it for forever, though I'm still not entirely sure how. I assume it's made of aluminium and that I'll have to solder it back together or something. Bummer.

My university campus is about a four minute bike ride from my house, so riding there each day was a given. My hours this semester are great (no early mornings! no long days!) so I can continue breastfeeding and spending as much time with Theo (and C) as I can. A lady I'm friends with at uni just had a baby and is bringing her sweet little 3 month old girl, Daisy, to classes! I'm not so game with my fidgety, gets-into-everything, chatterbox almost 9 month old.

One of my zine idols, Vanessa Berry, asked me if I'd like to do a supermarket themed zine swap and I decorated this envelope to send my zine in. I am still going to sell a few copies of the zine but have decided to add a bit more to it and should have it finished by the end of the week. Stay tuned.

I thought I'd make a printable envelope based on the one above, so here it is.
Feel free to download it and print it and post it!




I recommend printing it onto thin card stock, using a bone folder to make nice clean creases in the card stock and fastening the side tabs together with double sided tape or strong glue.



You can access other free printable things I've made here.

Today we went for a walk to the Heritage Forest (much less nice than the name would imply, but still, a nice place to walk) and gave Theo another go on the swings. He loved them last time, but this time it was a bit too soon after a nap and he was less keen (or a bit like "Um, what is happening? Where am I? What are you doing to me?"). Afterwards we walked to the supermarket and decided to do our fortnightly shop without our car, so Theo's pram was packed full of stuff and probably carried about 50kg worth of groceries!




Just before I found out I was pregnant with Theo I started trying to get the black dye out of my hair and return to something like my natural colour (very light ashy blonde). It took a lot of work and money and I was never really able to get it to a colour that it could grow into and I hated the look of the regrowth and the damage that lightening did to my hair (that's why I cut it short *weeps*). I have always loved having black hair and wished that it wasn't the complete opposite of my natural colour. So, I'm back to the colour I love the most and that I feel most comfortable with. My almost white regrowth makes it look like I have bald spots and I have to touch it up about once a month, but I'm happiest this way (and it matches my eyebrows!).



"What are you trying to do to me?"



I like the look he's giving me.

+ PS. My dress is from Dotti (on special yay!), Theo's overalls are thrifted and his cat shirt is from Target.