Category Archives: Motherhood

Fashion is fleeting, but change is constant

Posted on by

2

Lately I have been on the hunt for a part-time job.  It has been a bit of a nuisance as I do love being a full-time mum to my girls, but like many families, not everything is as easy as it used to be…

via

I tend to separate my work life to before-children and after-children. I have worked on and off since having my girls but last year I was able to work from home – what a score! I could set my own hours, work in comfortable clothes and not have to worry about peak-hour traffic. Alas, while the work-from-home job was fabulous on paper, the income wasn’t flowing back to me as regularly as it should have done, and so now I am back to job-hunting, blah.

via

Lately I have made such a comfortable groove with life at home, baking with the girls, trying out new recipes, cleaning when I feel like it and not to a schedule, basically enjoying the whole motherhood roller coaster but I wonder, how much is going to suffer when I go back to work? I was reading today about Gwen Stefani how she is currently preparing for her music comeback. She said that over the past year she has been working away on a new album with her band No Doubt but her biggest fear is what lies ahead – juggling her home life with her work life. She claims that it is a nightmare for her. I guess she must be one of the Hollywood mums who chooses to do it all herself, to not hire help. How refreshingly real of her. But the truth is I get it because I have hired a nanny and a cleaner in the past and while it has helped reduce stress, there is nothing like the satisfaction of being good at your job and good at everything at home also. Ok, I can leave the toilet cleaning to someone else, but I do love to pick my kids up from school, I do love to read to them before bed and to cook their favourite dinner for them as I only I can. 

via



Mostly I worry about finding the energy to do it all. Adjusting to the changes I will have to make to keep on top of everything. Why does everything have to change? I know that eventually I have to give in and go with the flow, but boy I don’t give in without plenty of kicking and screaming. It’s not just that life around me changes though, and this is the part that I think makes it so hard for me, it’s that it’s me who has to change along with life. I have to shape-shift with the change that goes on around me. I just like to get in a groove and stay there all safe and warm. 


What about you? How does change effect you? Are you struggling with being a working mother or are you also in the midst of going back to work after having children? I would love to hear your thoughts. 




Kisses,


Heidi

Inès de la Fressange, my style saviour

Posted on by

2

If there is one person who appeals to my style sensibility, who embodies those things that appeal to me most, it has to be Inès de la Fressange. Without doubt, she is my greatest fashion influence. Why? Put simply, she prefers flat shoes, she wears her hair short, and she loves to pair blazers/jackets with pants and jeans. Model, muse, designer, single mother and according to what I have read, possibly the first to pair her Chanel jacket with her jeans, Inès is a trend-setter, not a follower. But of course.

Ok, so I don’t own a Chanel jacket (not yet anyway), but that doesn’t mean I cannot embody the essential characteristics of French chic, does it?

Whenever I need to dress as to feel safe, that is, when I want to feel most confident – I dress like Inès does. On most days, or for an occasion, or even when the weather dictates it – I dress in the manner of Inès. It suits me, it suits my body shape; it is me to a T.

Inès was muse to Karl Largefeld in the 80s before a silly falling out, but the two have since made up and in 2010 she walked the Chanel runway again.

Inès on the Chanel runway in the 80s.
Inès with Karl Largerfeld, 1983.
Inès, the first face of Coco parfum.



Her style is simple, elegant, defined by blazer, slim pants, flat shoes, simple makeup (if any) and short unpainted nails, and of course, short hair.

I make no apologies for my Parisian style influences – if you’ve read any posts on I like, I wish, I heart you will already know how much French women are an influence and style barometer for me. And so…

Inès turned photographer on the street during fashion week.
 
I love that Inès hates super-high heels, even daring to walk the red carpet in flats – a woman after my own heart! 
Who says that Red Carpet style has to equal super high heels?

She is smart about shopping for her age, stating that she would never go into a shop meant for women her age because: 
“It’s all about your mental attitude: if you accept that fact that you are old and it’s over – you will look old, non?”  

Instead, Inès chooses to mix her wardrobe with high-street finds,  raiding her man’s closet and then pairing it all with jeans, sneakers or an army surplus coat and ballet flats.

My favourite look: pants or denim jeans with a beautiful blazer. I am in love with this emerald green velvet blazer!

Inès admits that as a young woman she was a perfectionist and not always happy, but “today I prefer to feel good, be happy and appreciate my friends.  That’s far more rewarding than being able to wear a miniskirt … I know what fits me – and how to look better quicker.”

Inès with Luigi d’Urso on there wedding day in 1990.



Her husband, Luigi d’Urso, died suddenly of a heart attack in 2006 at only 52. Since then Inès has been a single mother living in Paris and raising her two daughters Nine and Violette. Of learning to be a single mother she says: “I had to bring the joy, the money, the affection, the fun, the authority, everything.”

Inès with daughters Violette and Nine.

As a mother, I appreciate and adore her take on making life easier for yourself by choosing to laugh instead of getting angry – something I strive to do everyday!
“There is a moment when you decide if it is hard or not.  If you come back home and it is messy and you decide everything is dramatic then it is dramatic. But if you decide, “Ok, it is messy but it is better to laugh…”  Perfect wisdom.

Inès on the cover of French Elle with baby Nine in 1994 and on the Chanel runway in the 80s.



In 2011, Inès wrote a style guide called “Parisian Chic” which I bought and devoured of course, and from which she says: “Invest in these basics: a blazer, a trenchcoat, a navy sweater, a white vest (tank top to some of us), a little black dress and the perfect pair of jeans.” 


But my favourite thing about Inès? Well, it is that she doesn’t take herself too seriously.


Kisses,



Heidi 

Sources: telegraph.co.uk, gala.fr, lefigaro.fr, Parisian Chic: A Style Guide by Inès de la Fressange, elle.fr, alltheprettybirds, garance dorè, intothegloss.com   

Leave a reply!

Give a frock Friday

Posted on by

2

Lovely Kate Moss and her even lovelier daughter Lila Grace, photographed by Mario Testino for the special wedding issue of Vogue featuring Kate on the cover and pictures of her big day with hubby Jamie Hince.  


Kate wears Nina Ricci linen top and skirt and Lila wears a frock coat and slip dress from cool New York vintage haven Melet Mercantile.


I thought I would post a picture of a mother and daughter today because it is the last day of summer holidays here and so it’s back to school for my girls on Monday.  I am quite sad abut it too, which is to say, normally I am full of excitement to have my freedom back for 6 hours a day, 5 days a week.  But not this time. This time I am truly going to miss my girls.  

I hope you have a great weekend, I’m going to spend it hanging out with my girls!

Heidi



Image source: fashion69.com

Rituals – Making Bagels

Posted on by

0

A few months ago I took to making bagels for my girl’s lunch boxes for school.  Let’s face it, sandwiches can be monotonous. I remember my mother giving me what felt like the same thing for lunch day in and day out for all my years of schooling – a Vegemite sandwich, a muesli bar, an apple and a frozen drink, if I was lucky.  Needless to say many times I chose not to eat my lunch and bought from the school canteen instead. School lunches these days are a high priority in the morning routine.  My girls’ school requests that there be an emphasis on no pre-packaged foods and never any chocolate, lollies, or chips, (not that I would) and no packaging, so a litter-free lunch box must be provided each day. The children police this between themselves often coming home from school telling me where I went wrong.  I was not to use plastic wrap ever! I wasn’t supposed to give them cookies – I mean, home-baked chocolate chip cookies – really?  So we came to a compromise, I still put in the home-baked cookies, but now I alternate with home-baked slices, muesli bars and their absolute favourite – bagels. 


A fresh batch of home-baked bagels cooling down.

The bagels have become something of a ritual for me, and for the family too.  Usually I bake them once a week, sometimes twice, and they always get devoured by my husband and children.  I have to make sure I save some for myself – I love them toasted with either Vegemite or peanut butter and washed down with a nice cafè latte of course.

The bagel recipe I use is full-proof because it is a recipe from Nigella Lawson’s How to Be a Domestic Goddess cookbook.  What makes these bagels so good is they are based on a traditional Jewish recipe, so that involves poaching the dough before baking in a super hot oven.  The recipe makes about 15 or so, depending on how big or small you want them to be.  My girls’ love to roll out the dough and make them with me, so it’s nice to do with family around.  

The recipe calls for strong flour, my flour of choice is organic unbleached Spelt.  The gluten in Spelt ensures a perfect dough, but it is different to wheat gluten, so it doesn’t upset my daughter Chloè’s gluten intolerance.   



Bagels
1kg strong flour, plus more as necessary for kneading
1 x 7g sachet of yeast or 15g fresh yeast
1 tablespoon of salt
2 tablespoons of sugar (I use an organic raw variety)
1 tablespoon of plain oil (I use Rice Bran oil)
500 ml warm water
2 tablespoons of malt or sugar (I use organic brown sugar) for poaching the bagels
2-3 baking sheets 

Combine flour, salt and yeast together in a bowl.  
Add the sugar and the oil to the warm water and pour into a well in the centre of the flour and then mix to combine into a dough.  You can do this by hand or with a dough hook, whichever you prefer.  It doesn’t take long to do and I love the feeling of the yeast coming to life in the dough, so I do this by hand.

The dough will be very stiff and quite hard work, but keep kneading until it becomes smooth an elastic, about 10 minutes.

Form the dough into a ball and place in an oiled bowl, turning once to coast all round, then cover the bowl with cling film and leave it to rise for 1 to 1 1/2 hours.  A warm spot with no breeze is best.

Now punch the dough down, then give it another good knead.  Then divide the dough into 3 equal sized pieces.  Roll each piece into a rope, then cut each rope into 5 equal sized pieces.  Roll each piece between the palms of your hands into a ball, and then roll into another rope, circling it round to form a ring.  Seal the ends by overlapping them a little and pinching them together.

At this time, put on a large pan of water to boil.  When it boils, add the malt or brown sugar.

Sit the bagels on the baking sheets, cover with tea towels and levee for about 20 minutes, by which time they should be puffy.  Now preheat the oven to 240C or your maximum oven temperature. 

Now you can start poaching your puffy bagels.  Drop a couple at a time into the boiling water and poach for 1 minute, turning them once.  As you poach them, put them back onto the oiled baking sheets, well spaced, then bake for 10-15 minutes or until they’re shiny and golden brown.  Makes 15 bagels.

Once cool enough to touch, dig in!
Heidi 

P.S.
*Please note that I have not added all of Nigella’s recipe commentary, you can find the recipe in detail in her book.


Sources: How to Be a Domestic Goddess by Nigella Lawson (p.304) from Nigella.com and my own photograph taken with Instagram.
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...