Sugar Republic Review - Pop Up Dessert Museum in Melbourne

On Thursday last week the kids and I ventured into Melbourne to go to Sugar Republic - the new Pop-Up Dessert Museum in Fitzroy. Since moving from Perth to Geelong in October, we haven't spent much time in the big city! There has been so much exploring to do locally, weekends get busy, and honestly, I've been slightly scared to drive in Melbourne by myself with the kids, I'm freaked out by the trams and the weird hook turns! But, thankfully, we made it all the way to Fitzroy in once piece, with the help of a fellow Ex-WA friend leading the way! After years of watching cool things happening in Melbourne and feeling like we were missing out over in Perth, and seeing all the  wonderful images splashed over Instagram, I was pretty keen to make the effort to visit! 

 We spent about an hour and a half going through the different dessert themed rooms, taking lots of photos and enjoying the activities like playing in the giant gumball machine, jumping out of a three layer cake, swinging in the fairy floss room and swimming in the pastel pink ball-pit!  I did struggle to make them go slowly through the rooms, they were pretty desperate to get to that ball-pit!

There are some sugar-filled treats to be had along the way, but don't worry parents, not too many for the smalls. The kids loved spinning the wheel of treats, grabbing a Wizz Fizz, a bag of Fairy Floss and a Soft-Serve ice cream to finish off the visit! That was MORE than enough sugar for my three!

Entry times are staggered so it wasn't overcrowded, even in the middle of school holidays. We didn't feel rushed through the rooms! There are some amazing installations to admire and more photo ops in here than you can point a stick.. or camera in this case at! If you are looking for fun picture ideas and great back-drops it is definitely an Insta-worthy visit! The full wall off neon signs is incredible and the giant Make Me Iconic Bubble-O-Bill, Paddlepop and Golden Gaytime were so fun! 

Tickets Cost $35 for adults and $25 for kids over 3. Plus booking fees. I felt that the entry fee was a little over-priced for what it was. They did a great job in so many ways but I think there could have been a bit more polished and have a more upbeat atmosphere. For me, taking 3 kids (one who is only 2, so he was free) it cost over $90 for a relatively short experience. But, I do love to support ventures like this and people doing things that are different and original, so I was happy to pay.  I guess if they packed it out and opened up more tickets per time slot they could make the tickets cheaper, but it would have made for a pretty frustrating experience if you had to continually wait for all crowds to move to get your perfect shot! So they thought that out well! 

The kids had a great time, and are still talking about it. It was difficult to drag them out of the ball-pit after their 10 minute time allotment.. but at least I could convince them with the promise of ice-cream.

Sugar Republic is on in Melbourne until the 17th of August. It Sold-Out originally, so they have extended the dates! And then I have heard it is moving to other cities in Australia! Yay! 

You can find out more info on Sugar Republic's website www.sugarrepublic.com.au

Dyson V6 Absolute Vacuum Review - My new baby

* I was given a Dyson V6 Absolute Cordless Vacuum to Review, but all opinions are my own.

A few weeks ago, our new baby arrived. And by baby, I mean, my new Dyson V6 Absolute Cordless Vacuum. Yes, I might be slightly exaggerating about it being my new baby, but this new appliance has captured my heart...or perhaps just made my days just that bit easier! 

As a Mum of two small children,  it is safe to say that before this new cordless vacuum, our old vacuum pretty much never got put away, except maybe when we had guests coming over. The big lump of a thing sat in the middle of the lounge, because who really can be bothered lugging a heavy vacuum back and forth multiple times a day, to clean up every pile of crumbs. So it became a choice, crumbs everywhere, or the vacuum became  permanent lounge room decor. And so, it had found itself a nice little home, basking in the warm sunlight, streaming through the lounger room windows. And in the middle of the night when we were getting up and down with kids who are waking at all hours of the night, for all manner of thing! Our vacuum laid in wait, planning its attack, the plug always curiously landing underfoot in those dark wee hours, causing under the breath cursing from its victim.. usually me.

But, that has all changed. There is no bulky vacuum looking ugly in the middle of the lounge, tripping up unsuspecting victims. There's no bending and lugging, especially now, with my baby belly getting bigger, the bending and the lugging sure was a pain! And best of all, it really sucks!! I mean, it REALLY, REALLY sucks! The power in this little machine is amazing, it takes the pain out of cleaning up mountains of toddler crumbs, that are constantly accumulating throughout the day. Or helping me zip from room to room for those 'quick vacuum' run arounds before people turn up at the door!

With its 20 minute running time after a charge I can't really do the whole house in one shot (we have a big house) but, lets be honest, I never did that anyway. It comes with two different exchangeable heads, one for hard floors and another the direct-drive cleaner with some serious bristles for carpet. Plus a range of other fun accessories! Our big vacuum doesn't have a beater head, and the amount of dust that the Dyson V6 Absolute sucked up on its maiden voyage through my bedroom made me shudder! The carpets looked amazing afterwards, and obviously a whole lot more dust was sucked out of them! I was recently informed, by my husband, the carpet guy, that many carpet manufacturers won't actually honour any warranties on your carpet if you don't clean it with a vacuum with a beater head!! Good to know, and now I can see why!

Our new baby lives in our pantry, nicely hidden away, with on its wall mounted charger/docking station, it really leaves me with no excuse to have dirty floors. Big crumbs or fine dust this can tackle it so easily.  And it has a HEPA filter to capture allergens and keep the air clean too! Goodbye dustpan and broom!!! 

The Dyson V6 Absolute is also pretty great at cleaning up the worlds most expensive sand (the kinetic kind). I'm so sick of crawling around picking it all up bit by bit! So, I've told them, this is it.. once its gone, its gone!

You can check out all the amazing features and sucking power of the Dyson V6 Absolute HERE! 

Grease is the time, is the place, is the motion and is The Musical in Perth

So, Grease the musical is playing in Perth at the moment, at the Crown Theatre! And I was lucky enough to attend the opening night! As a Mum of two little ones its not that often I get to head out to a show, and especially something like Grease that has been a favourite of mine since my childhood, even though the movie came out before I was born!! I cannot even tell you how many times I have watched the movie, and like a true dag, I also watched Grease 2 a lot, and know the words to all of those songs. Yes, I know, it doesn't even compare to the first, but, like I said I was a pretty big Grease fan! As you can imagine I was pretty excited to go, and I had pretty high expectations!

My Mum and I found our seats, and proceeded to wait for the show to start. Moments before the lights went down, a very strange fellow found his seat next to mine. He gave the impression of being homeless, I don't know if he was or not, but with his matted hair, dirty clothes and fingerless gloves, and incomprehensible mumbling it just seemed that way. But, the thing that really got to me was he TOTALLY STUNK! Like, one of the worse smells ever. I kept thinking it was a mix between B.O, cigarette smoke and off milk. He kept mumbling strange things, and although he seemed nice enough, it was really off putting!! I spent the whole show trying to breathe non-stinky air,  by leaning as far away from him as I could!

BUT, apart from this strange fellow, the show was AMAZING!!!

Of course it isn't an exact replica of the movie, and I was intrigued to see all the differences and how they would pull it all off. But, they did, it was clever, funny and entertaining and so much fun! One of those musicals that makes you want to jump out of your seat and dance and sing along! There are a few musical scores that aren't in the movie, and the T.Birds get their own songs which are pretty great! I won't give away too much, just know that you are in for a really fun night out, and you wont want it to end!

I have to say that Eli Cooper who played Eugene, was so, so funny! It was hard to take my eyes off of him when he was on the stage, his dance moves and whole character was just so good!

I loved Rob Mills as Danny, and his Travolta style 'cool laugh' was almost spot on! He was pretty impressive!

Todd McKenney stole the show as Teen Angel. It seems like such a small and obscure part for someone so fantastic, but he made it his own and the crowd LOVED it!! There was lots of cheering and interaction, he is just such an incredible showman no matter the part!

Kirby Burgess as Rizzo was another stand out performance for me. Stockard Channing's are some pretty massive shoes to fill! But, she did sooo well! Really they all were fantastic, you can just see how much hard work has gone into it, and I love that Australia has so much young talent in this musical!

I thought having Bert Newton as Vince Fontaine was kind of odd, seeing that in the movie he is totally hitting on Marty at the dance! But, I'm glad they didn't really add that in too much to the story, ewww!

The whole cast was really incredible, and it is definitely worth going to check out the show!! I'd love to go again, minus the stench!!

It is playing in Perth until 27th July!! So still plenty of time to get TICKETS HERE!

PacaPod Designer Parent Bag Review and Giveaway

Alright, so I LOVE a good nappy bag. Especially because I use one pretty much every day, and I am always shoving things in them, digging around or trying to find something for the kids every five minutes when I'm out! I'm always lugging kids and stuff somewhere. So for me organisation and space is essential. But, I also know that most Mum's I hang out with, and me included, actually like to have a stylish bag, that doesn't make it look like you've given up on all sense of fashion and just lug kids stuff around! Right?

Well, I've found the bag that has both! The PACAPOD Portland is new to Australia, it has great organisation, heaps of space and looks really nice and is easy to carry! Pacapod actually has a great range of parent bags!!  PLUS, it has the added bonus of including some other daily essentials like an insulated bag for food and drinks, that can become a back pack for little ones!! And a separate changer pod for nappies, clothes and creams. It includes heaps of really thoughtful features that when I used it for the first time, I kept discovering new things and I was constantly thinking, Ohhh thats cool, ohhh good idea, ohhh nice.

With my last nappy bag Joel absolutely refused to look for anything in there because it was absolute chaos. He could never find anything and it would frustrate him so much! He actually really likes this one, and especially now that he knows where everything is, plus, he doesn't mind carrying it because it isn't super Girly!

All of the PacaPods have the 'POD SYSTEM' which is so clever, and its nice not to have to dig around your whole bag to find wipes or nappies or whatever they all have their own little home!

The Pod System is 3 great parts
1: The parent bag! That is stylish and lovely and even can fit an iPod or Laptop! Plus a zip pocket for your phone, keys, wallet and such!

2. Changer Pod: Which has 7 pockets, clothes pouch and comes with a padded change mat. The amount of stuff I can squeeze in the pod is awesome!

3. Feeder Pod: Which is insulated and has enough room for your kids food! And, it also detaches to be a neat little back pack, which Ez keeps telling me 'thats me's backpack' so obviously a hit with the kids!

This particular Portland bag retails for $279, but there are a great range of PacaPod bags that start at $159

If you want to check out the range of Pacapod Parent bags available in Australia click HERE
And you can also check out your local baby store to see if they are a stockist!

I'm really excited because I also have one the PacaPod Parent bags from their range to GIVEAWAY!

For your chance to win, just follow the Rafflecopter Prompts Below!! 

And GOOD LUCK!! 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

It's Just A Jump To The Left: The Rocky Horror Show in Perth

*I was provided with complimentary tickets to see the show, but as always all opinions are my own. 

Last week I had an email pop in to my inbox that got me all excited! Did I want to go and see the  Rocky Horror Show Live at Crown Perth? Hell Yes I did! I'm a bit of a closet Rocky Horror fan, you  probably wouldn't guess it from looking at me, I mean, I don't cruise around in red lipstick, fishnet stockings and a corset, but, I'm a bit of a fan! In fact, I know the words to most of the songs, and I definitely know the moves to the Time Warp. And every time I say Dammit (which isn't actually very often, not surprisingly) I always think 'Janet, I love you' immediately after!

Love to Swaddle UP 50/50 Review & GIVEAWAY

*The Love to Swaddle UP 50/50 was given to me for the purpose of a review, but all opinions, as always are my own.

Well, it's not really a secret that I am a big advocate for the awesome products made by Love To Dream, I've already written rave reviews for their Love To Swaddle UP Organic and their Love To Dream inVENTA Sleep Bag. So once again I jumped at the chance to try this one too!

Willow is a great sleeper, and I honestly think it has a lot to do with the Love To Swaddle UP, and of course the love she has for her dummy. But, to get her to sleep she ALWAYS has to have her hands covered up, if those little fingers are free, she immediately pops that dummy out, throws it across the room, plays with whatever she can and then screams bloody murder. So, usually either I put her in the love to Swaddle UP or I put her in a sleep bag with a wonder suit on with the bits that fold over her hands. But, with the warmer weather the long sleeve suit isn't really an option, and now that she is rolling she should be transitioning out of the Swaddle. I've been avoiding it though, because I really don't want to loose my great sleeper, and I am not prepared for bedtime battles!

Teaching Kids to Swim: SwimFin Review

*The SwimFin was given to me for the purpose of a review, but all opinions, as always are my own.

It was my goal leading up to this Summer (which is now finally here), to start to teach Ezra how to swim, and arm him with some much needed water safety skills. With everything that has been going on, pregnancy then, new baby, moving, building and everything else,  I actually hadn't taken him to the swimming pool since last summer, and for a two year old, thats almost half his lifespan ago. So it is safe to say that his swimming skills and water confidence were severely lacking. This was a constant worry to me considering how close we live to the water!! I would have nightmares about him falling in and him having no idea what to do.

So, a few weeks ago I embarked on this swimming challenge. And I am utterly amazed at the results. The second time we went to the pool, Ezra swam EIGHT laps of the 25 metre pool ON HIS OWN! WHATTT!!! And even though I'm a qualified swimming teacher, I mean, I'm a pretty good swimming teacher, but I'm not that good!

Me & You Keepsake book Winner Announced

Oh my goodness, picking a winner was so hard. Thank you so much everyone for sharing your beautiful memories, I loved reading through them, they made me all teary and mushy! Aren't daughters and mothers amazing! I finally have a winner (sorry it is a little late). But, I loved Caoimhe's entry about surprising her Mam! Beautiful. Made me want to do something similar for my own.

Caoimhe, can you please email me at yellowdandydreams@gmail.com with your mailing address so I can get the Me & You Keepsake book posted out to you. I hope you really love it, it is such a fabulous book!

Thank you again everyone, and I'm so sad that not everyone can win. But, remember you can get your hands on a book at www.meandyoubook.com

The Best Darn Iron I have ever owned: Review Philips PerfectCare Aqua Steam Iron

I am officially an ironer, I never thought that I would ever be able to say that, but, turns out that one crazy, awesome iron can do that to a person. Its hard to believe I actually like to iron now. I've always liked the look of ironed clothes, but the whole process of getting everything out, waiting for the iron to heat up and tediously trying to free my garments from wrinkles whilst inadvertently putting more wrinkles in it, was just something that I could not motivate myself to do. I was more than happy to look like a wrinkly slob to avoid doing the ironing! Although in the spirit of honesty, I still don't iron Joel's work shirts, because he is skilled in the art of ironing, he loves the new iron too and I'm a firm believer that a man can iron his own shirts!!

SnoozeShade Plus: Review and Giveaway

I was really excited when I was contacted about the opportunity to review this product. After having a browse around their website I thought that the SnoozeShade Plus looked really good, and it looked like something I would actually use. It is both a sun shade and block out sleep-aid cover for your pram or stroller. It takes the place of using a towel or blanket to cover the pram, of which older babies like mine will simply grab and pull off.

This weekend we had the perfect opportunity to put it to the test. We were at a wedding (like I mentioned in my previous post) and Ezra's nap time was right in the middle of the proceedings. Before this point I hadn't even had a chance to pull it out of the packaging and have a good look at it, but it was so simple to use and attach to the pram, I just attached some velcro and it was ready to go. It is designed to fit any pram (stroller or buggy), I have an ICandy Peach pram, one that you don't see around too often, and it fits great.

I gave Ezra a quick feed, plopped him back in the pram, covered him up with the SnoozeShade Plus, went for a short stroll (in the bright sun) and very quickly he snoozing away! Now time for me to sit down and enjoy a drink!

One of my favourite features about the SnoozeShade Plus is the little zip opening, so that I can peek in on the little man to make sure he is asleep! The zipper is so nice and quiet that it didn't disturb him either.

You can use the SnoozeShade Plus to block out light (94% of outside light is blocked, and UPF 50+) if you want your baby to nap,  or it can be used just as a sun shade by unzipping the front panel, in this mode it shades their precious skin from UV rays (filters 80% of UV ) but lets them still look out at you and the world around them!

The ease of use and the fact that it is lightweight earned big bonus points with me, it is easy to fold back into the little mesh bag that it comes in. This means that when I'm not using it, I can store it in the bottom of the pram or in the nappy bag, or the bag draw string has little velcro bits so you can hook it around the handle of your pram. With the Australian sun being so harsh, it is a good peace of mind to know that it keeps their bare skin covered and protected from harmful UV rays. 

This product has become one of my new go-to items, especially as a sun shade, Ezra doesn't nap in the pram as much as he used to, but I know it will be very useful for future bubs whenever they come along!

He insisted on modelling the bag for me!

The SnoozeShade Plus Retails for $49.95 AUD and you can buy them from this list of Retailers in Australia: HERE. They are also available globally so check out their website: HERE for international retailers and distribution.

As a special deal for my Aussie readers if you use the discount code "YELLOWDANDY" to purchase online at www.snoozeshade.com.au you will get 20% off!! 

Here is a direct link to the shopping cart: snoozeshade cart

The lovely people at SnoozeShade have also sent me a SnoozeShade Plus to 
GIVEAWAY
So one of you can have one too, YAY!

TO ENTER THE GIVEAWAY:

1. LIKE the YELLOW DANDY Facebook page (click HERE or Like button below), or Follow via Google Friend Connect (on the right hand side of this blog) then, ALSO

2. Leave a Comment at the Bottom of this post in the Comments section letting me know which one you have done. 

I will then use a computer randomiser to pick the lucky Winner.

Winner Will Be Drawn on TUESDAY 17th JULY at 5pm (my time).

 This product was sent to me free of charge for the purpose of reviewing it, all opinions are my own and based on my experience with the product.