havaiana love

i know this is one of the lamest posts i have ever written but... it needs to be said. i do not like summer. i burn by just looking outside, feel like i am dying when it's anywhere over 25 deg celcius (that's 77 deg fahrenheit for any of you americanos that may be reading this), and love jackets, scarves and boots... but i love one strange thing about it - i love love love my havvies!

many years ago (10 in fact) i spent a year in brazil and fell in love with many things, one being the national shoe - havaianas (translation from portugese to english = hawaiians). they are amazing - but so flipping expensive in every country, except theirs. i must confess that i actually spent 40 dollars on the pair pictured above. but, they were worth every cent. i also have orange, red with cherries, aqua, brown, white and pearl (op-shops and sales are your friends people!!) and spend nearly the entire season every year with a pair attached to my feet.

the picture below is a lovely memory of the heaven that is most department stores in brazil. no more than 12 reais per pair last time i checked.

oh for a trip to hiper bompreco! :)

violet crumble cheesecake!!

so - the cheesecake. the famous cheesecake. i also made this at mum and dads's party to be dad's birthday cake. people ask me for this recipe all the time. so here it is. for anyone that wants it!

violet crumble cheesecake
1 x 250g packet milk arrowroot biscuits
150g butter or margarine, melted
3 teaspoon gelatine
1/4 cup water
375g cream cheese, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
1/2 cup caster sugar
1x 300ml thickened cream
packet of home brand (woolworths) or coles brand chocolate honeycomb pieces

method
1. grease a 24cm springform tin, place on an oven tray.
2. process biscuits until finely crushed. add butter; process until just combined. press biscuit mixture evenly over base and side of prepared tin. cover and refrigerate for 1 hour.
3. sprinkle gelatine over water in a cup. stand cup in pan of simmering water; stir until disolved. cool.
4. beat cream cheese, vanilla essence and sugar in a small bowl with an electric mixer until smooth. beat whipped cream in a separate bowl with an electric mixer until soft peaks form. stir gelatine mixture into cheese mixture with violet crumble bars; fold in cream. pour mixture over base in tin. cover and refrigerate until set.
5. serve decorated with extra cream and chopped violet crumble on top.

go nuts! eat massive amounts and enjoy yourselves. :) it's the best thing ever!!

easy peasy brownies

i freaking love these amazing brownies, so quick... so easy... and so good. i made them for mum and dad's anniversary party and they all got eaten. yum yum yum. like i said, easy as, very chewy and very chocolatey - even without added chocolate, just cocoa!!

so for all those who asked, here is the recipe:

brownies :)

-200g butter
-1/2 cup cocoa
-2 cups packed brown sugar
-1 teaspoon vanilla essence
-1 cup plain flour
-2 eggs
-1/2 cup chopped walnuts (these are totally optional!! i've also tried peanuts (if you only have salted ones in the cupboard - then rinse them off!!) )

1. grease a 20 x 30cm tin, pre-heat oven to 180 deg cel
2. put cocoa and butter in a big saucepan on a very low heat, melt gently and mix together. do not boil!!
3. add sugar and vanilla, stir very well
4. take off heat, sift in flour, stir it in
5. add eggs, beat in really well (add chopped nuts here if you want them!!)
6. spread mixture evenly in tin, bake for 20 - 25 mins

we often eat them for dessert - 30 seconds in the microwave with a scoop of vanilla icecream on top.

absolute bliss!

so thankful

happy thanksgiving!!

i am thankful...

so thankful. for everything i have.

doug and i are truly so blessed and have been given so much.

we have a roof over our heads, food in our bellies, a steady income, the most beautiful baby on the planet

- and so many possibilities...

not a baby any more

i took this photo of miss maddie on saturday while dannii and i were out getting our opp on, and it made me so, so sad.

my little baby girl isn't so little any more. :( she looks more like a little girl here - not a baby...

she's growing up so fast and there's nothing i can do about it. so i better get used to it.

breaking dawn part 1

jamie-lee and i went off to see breaking dawn part 1 tonight. honest opinion? there's a lot of tedious scenes that are just downright crickets chirping in the background-ish. (awkward, awkward, awkward...) but... when one has read all the books and loved them (yes, i admit it, i like twilight. i don't love it like crying in the streets and stalking the actors, but i like it yes.) you have to see all the movies, no matter how bad (or good) they may be. and... the movies always provide a lovely quick fix of the book when you a) don't have time to read them, or b) quite simply can't be bothered.

i must say (and warning if you haven't read the books spoiler alert to follow!!!!) the scene where the werewolves end up splitting off into two packs because jacob and sam are arguing over what to do with bella... you can hear all the werewolves thoughts out loud... and they sound like a freaking pack of transformers, except with no moving mouths, (so more like power rangers i guess) and man was it funny... not in a good way. lame is a better word. jamie and i had a great old laugh at that one.

all in all - it wasn't that bad, the wedding was beautiful!!! and rio, oh do i love rio, so that quick stop over was more than enough for me!! but still... give me the book anyday, a fine effort nonetheless. just have to wait and see what they do with the last one! :)

kings of leon!

last night doug and i went to see, in his words - the greatest band on earth - the kings of leon, at nib stadium in perth. i actually bought the tickets for doug last christmas, but the tour was postponed because the drummer had to have surgery. it was a freaking awesome show though, awesome tunes, heaps of energy - and that fabulous voice!! 

here's us - waiting for the show to begin!! it was our first night ever away from maddie, she went to sleep at cody and dannii's house just before we left - and was a very good little girl, apparently she didn't make a sound the entire time we were gone. :)



as you can imagine, biggest crowd pleaser, sex on firrrrre. they did a fabulous job - and was definitely worth every cent. loved it! check out the perth review here!

arabian nights

on saturday night mum and dad celebrated their 4oth wedding anniversary in style with an arabian nights party. a lot of effort went into it (a lot) and it was a raging success. we had the shin-dig at the hub of the hills hall in mundaring and there was about 60 or so people there, friends and family from the last 40 years of their life.

my brother aaron (aka. kingsley shacklebolt - due to the costume) and his gorgeous little wifey katja came all the way from london for it!! it has been so nice to spend time with them during the last week and for them to get to know maddie... i can see she adores them already!!

no party is complete without one of these! haha

we had made up a photo tribute of mum and dads lives together over the years (big thanks to jamie-lee for the effort she put into it!!) and it was a big hit... so many hilarious (and embarassing) shots for all of us. then... they were dragged up to address their crowd. i am so proud to call them mine, the most wonderful parents one could have ever hoped for. i only wish they could have another 40 years together. 

my lovely doug was dressed as the magic carpet from aladdin, in my doona cover that mum and i had re-fashioned, complete with a tassel on each corner. (i am sure that later in the night it again served it's purpose as a doona cover when miss emma had a sleep in the adjoining room.) i had a sari that i was given by a wonderful indian family through work years ago for assisting on their mothers funeral.

miss maddie was beautifully behaved as always, passed around through all her aunts, uncles and grandparents... as well as a few people she'd never seen before in her life, but still managed to have a few catnaps and enjoy herself - in her little outfit that nanna made for the night.

mum had organised a surprise for everyone, a bellydancer that arrived later in the evening to do a bit of a performance for everyone and certainly got the crowd up on their feet. it was fun just watching everyone getting into it.

my dad (aka the sheik) was also presented with a birthday cake (my specialty violet crumble cheesecake) near the end of the night... yummmm

quite simply, it was a fabulous night...

and in the immortal words of frank sinatra,

"the best is yet to come!!"

mans... ehrm, maddies best friend

i honestly have the most beautiful child on the planet. so sweet and placid. a complete delight to have in my life. last night she had her first encounter with a dog - and loved it! she was so sweet - just looked away at him while he sniffed at her.

maybe one day she'll have a puppy of her own.