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! 

NEW These Hearts Collection from Children Of The Tribe

The New Children of The Tribe, Winter 15 clothing collection named 'These Hearts', launched this morning. From the moment I saw the look-book, I fell in love! And I've been desperate for it to all arrive in our store! This Byron Bay baby and children's wear company is just absolutely nailing it with their designs, patterns and styles! It's a Winter collection, without being too wintery, because you know, they don't get that cold in northern NSW! So it is great for winter and the transitional months, plus they have some shorts and tanks because you never know when the sun is going to come out!!

I love their surf/boho style, I just wished they made styles in my size too! Like everything we stock, really!

You can see the new Children of the Tribe collection in our store HERE

Paisley Bell bottom pants

Chambray Denim 3/4 Dress

Eye of the Cacti Muscle Tee

Good Vibes Hooded Tee

Paisley Slouch Pants

SHOP THESE HEARTS COLLECTION BY CHILDREN OF THE TRIBE HERE

Easy Miffy Birthday Cake

This year for Willows 2nd Birthday, I made her a Miffy bunny cake! She does love rabbits after all, and Rabbits don't get much cuter than Miffy! Plus, Miffy's face is really, really simple! The hardest part of the whole cake is cutting the bunny ears out. But, I found an easy way to do that too!

This cake is really easy. Its perfect if anyone is embarking on their first child's birthday cake! I know, it can be a pretty daunting task! I have now successfully made 5 birthday cakes, and I have another one to make in about a months time, and Ez is requesting a dinosaur...eeep!

For all of the 5 kids birthday cakes I have ever made, I have used the same really simple butter cake recipe, I'm not trying to be all fancy, butter cakes are a simple classic, here is link to the basic cake recipe that I use. BUTTER CAKE RECIPE . For this cake I needed to double the recipe. some for the head and then some for the ears!

I used a round cake pan for Miffy's head. And then a smaller square tin for her ears, but you could use another round tin if you have one on hand, or if you only have one cake pan!

Once I baked the cakes and let them cool it was time to embark on making the shapes. I put some baking paper on a bread board and taped it down underneath, and then placed the round cake at the bottom. I then used a sharp knife and cut it a little at the top and bottom of her face to make her head a little more of an oval shape.

For Miffy's ears, I found this template on Pinterest HERE opened it on another page and printed it out at 250% the size, I tried a few other sizes, but this was perfect. I placed the template on the square cake and cut around it with a sharp knife. Then I picked up the ears and moved them to the covered breadboard and put them in place! Thankfully they stayed together.

Next was time for the icing. I just used a simple Cream Cheese icing recipe with a bit of lemon for some extra zing! I'm no expert in icing cakes, but i put most of it on with a spatula and then spread it around to even it out with the back of a tablespoon.

Then, for her eyes and mouth I used liquorice. I just sliced the liquorice about 3mm thick in a round shape and stuck on her eyes, and then for her mouth sliced thin pieces and crossed them for her mouth.

Like I said, easy!!!

Some of my other cakes:
Easy Toothless Dragon Cake

And yes, we made Miffy cookies too! These little cookie/sandwich cutters I got on Amazing for less that $3 and Free shipping! Steal!

Gorgeous kids Knee High Socks from Mini Dressing

Have you seen the cutest kids knee high socks from South Korean design company Mini Dressing, that have been a huge hit this season? If you haven't, then you are definitely missing out! These gorgeous Mini Dressing socks come in a range of animal prints like Raccoons (some call them Foxes), Bears and Snakes, they come in three different sizes from size 1 through to size 6.

They also have some other super cute accessories, like the felt bunny hats in the picture below!

SO far, Willow just has one pair, but I know her collection will grow pretty quickly!

Of course, as soon as I saw these, I knew we had to stock them our own Yellow Dandy Shop. I mean, can you blame me, they are just too cute to resist!

So you can find the Mini Dressing Knee Socks and Bunny Hats here

House Tour: Our Kitchen and Living/Dining Rooms

A few months ago now Godfrey Hirst asked if they could photograph our kitchen, in particular our floors, which are Godfrey Hirst Vue Laminate in Mountain parchment (thought I would throw that one in, because people are always asking about our floors and what they are)! Of course I was more than happy for them to come and take some snaps. Until, of course, I realised the amount of work that I would have to do to get the kitchen up to a photographable state! Not to mention that we hadn't even put our skirting in our living area at that time! Because, you know, life with 2 toddlers a husband who works really hard and trying to run a business from home doesn't leave a lot of time (or energy) to finish off house projects on the weekend.

But, we pushed through, Joel laid the skirting, and I painted it, because, well, I won't let him do it. Then I made that kitchen sparkle! And the living area too, because I wasn't sure they just wanted the kitchen. And of course, the play room, because we thought they might like some snaps of that too! Phew.

So, when the photographer arrived, she was really lovely, but she informed me that her brief was to include the kids rooms and other areas, because our carpet in those rooms are Godfrey Hirst too.. EEEEEEP! So another mad rush around vacuuming and tidying and trying to sort out the absolute chaos Ez had made in his room since he has been up at 5am.

So, when you see these photos, know, that it doesn't always look like this, actually it rarely looks like this at the moment, I wish I had the time and the energy to make this house perfect, but, it is what it is!!

Our old house had such tiny rooms and everything felt cramped and cluttered, so I was determined with this house not to have 'too much stuff' filling up the dining/living area! So its spacious and a little bare in places, but I like it like that. I like not having cluttered corners or having to squeeze around furniture. And, there isn't much around for the kids to get into or destroy!

Our mint Green kitchenette was an EBay purchase back in 2007. When we bought our last house it didn't have a pantry, so the kitchenette was perfect, and I'm so glad it fits in with this house too! Our dining table is an old one belonging to Joel's Grandma. It is made from American Oak, in the USA and we brought it over here when we moved back. Our dining chairs are some more eclectic EBay purchases, and the Muuto pendants over the dining table are my absolute favourites!

Our fabulous friends built us the giant ply hex shelf on the wall, and we mounted it on with screws in the back, because its so heavy!

I like the mix of retro and new, it gives some old time character to our new house.

The house is still very much a work in progress, but I like the way it is coming along.

Kids Decor for the Rabbit Lovers

Last year at Easter Willow got 'Rab Rab' from the Easter bunny. He is just an Ikea Rabbit toy, but he is still, a year and a bit later, her very best friend! She takes him EVERYWHERE. This is new to me because Ezra was never really into stuffed toys, when he was about 2 he got slightly attached to 'Pup Pup', can you guess what kind of animal Pup Pup is, it might be hard because my kids are super original when it comes to naming stuffed animals. Pup Pup is a dog, der! The Golden Retriever, from Ikea! They have a thing for Ikea animals I guess!

But, her love of Rab Rab started her love of Rabbits. She met a real life Rabbit the other day in our neighbours yard (a pet one), and she proceeded to make it and Rab Rab kiss the whole time!! HA! Hilarious child!

So with the Rabbit theme in the back of my mind I've been noticing some really awesome Rabbit themed kids decor items around lately, and so I thought I would share some of my favourites! I probably wouldn't go as far as to put it all in ONE room! But, its nice to have an idea of what is out there.




1. Piccolo Studio Bunny Garland
2 Little Pop Studios Bunny Pillowcase
3. Miniwilla Bunny Cushion covers in black and white
4. Jimmy Cricket "Little King' Rabbit wall stickers and wallpaper
5. Gold Heico Bunny Lamp
6. Grey Lapin and Me Lamp
7 Miniwilla Hello Poster
8. Miniwilla Rab Love poster

Cuisine Companion - Green Curry Fish Recipe

A few months ago (in Feb) I was offered a trip over to Sydney to check out and learn how to use the new Tefal Cuisine Companion, which is an all in one kitchen wonder machine, pictured above!! Oh my, I was so excited! It was a whirlwind one night stay in Sydney, but I had a blast hanging out with all the other bloggers, and of course testing out the amazing Cuisine Companion! I also was given my very own Companion to take home!  I haven't blogged about it much, but if you follow me on Instagram you would know all about it. And I use it pretty much everyday.

 Around Easter time Tefal sent us a bunch of groceries that were delivered to our door for a Food/ Recipe Challenge!! I had no idea what to expect and the ingredients were a little random! It included things like Nutella, Fish, Leeks, Potato, Honey, Currents, Fish Stock, Easter eggs, cinnamon! But, I like a bit of a challenge,  so Joel and I brainstormed, because we all know he is the one who likes experimenting the the kitchen the most. We came up with what turned out to be an AMAZING Green Curry Fish Dish recipe, made entirely from scratch in the Cuisine Companion.

So, here is the recipe for anyone keen to try it out!

INGREDIENTS:
Curry Paste:
1 Leek
2-3 Green Chillies (remove seeds for less heat)
4 Cloves of Garlic
2 TBSP Lemon Grass Paste
1 TSP Ground Coriander
Bunch of Fresh Coriander
1 Cup of Fish Stock
2 TBSP of Soy Sauce
1 TBSP Canola/Olive Oil
1 TBSP Ginger
1 x Lime

For the Curry:
2-3 Cups of Butternut Pumpkin
2 Cups of Potato (I like skin on)
1 x 400ml can of Coconut Cream
2 x Pink Ling Fillets
1 Bunch Asparagus

Step 1 : Make Curry Paste
1. Put Ultrablade in Cuisine Companion
2. Add to bowl: 1 x Leek (roughly chopped), 2 x Green Chillies, 4 x Garlic cloves, 2 TBSP Lemon grass paste, 1 large tablespoon grated ginger, Lime Zest, 1 tsp Ground Coriander, small handful of coriander stalks, 2 TBSP fish stock,  2 Tbsp soy sauce, 1 tbsp Canola oil

3. Pulse to blend on speed 12. Periodically open lid and scrape ingredients off the side.
4. When a paste is formed, put in separate bowl and set aside

Step 2:
Cook Veggies and Steam Fish
1. Remove Ultrablade and replace with mixer
2. Add to bowl 2-3 Cups cubed Butternut Pumpkin, 2 Cups of cubed Potato, 1 x 400ml can of Coconut Cream, 200ml Fish Stock
3. Coat Ling Fillets with some of the Curry Paste and place in steamer basket. Place steam on top of bowl and fit lid, with steamer half open.
4. Use Slow Cook Program 2 for 45mins.

Step 3: Combine Curry
1. Break fish apart in steamer basket, and put fish into bowl (scrape all curry paste in as well)
2. Add the curry paste into bowl
3. Roughly chop asparagus and add to bowl
4. Slow Cook on P3 for 20mins

And then you are done!
To serve
- Garnish with Fresh coriander leaves
- Serve on Jasmine Rice
-Squeeze of Lime