disney on ice 2019

we love love love love looooove disney on ice! i started taking madeline when she was 2 and we have been every year since. this year however, i got in within a few minutes of the tickets going on sale and we got vip tickets, just six rows from the front. worth every cent!

every year i have my friends asking me why i didn't message to ask them if they wanted tickets, so after multiple calls around, we bought 8 tickets... and only two of them were actually for kids. crack up! we had one friend that only has boys who are all teenagers, two friends without kids, a friends mum even! (we love you nannaleah!) and one other mum with a kid haha. what a bunch.

mickey and friends opening the show 

when you look this fancy, a bathroom selfie is a must. how cool is my daughter? i swear she is going to overtake me any day now.

as close to the ice as you are allowed to get! maddie has always worn princess dresses and the likes, but this year she decided she wanted to be minnie mouse. too cute. i love the sparkly red shoes!

after the show, our grown up gal gang took the most ridiculous photo by the ice, if you look closely our arms all form a six pointed star (very bad lighting...!) and we were so busy laughing it took us forever to work out how to do it and could barely keep it in place.

my favourite girl and i after the show. oh how i love her little face (most of the time...)

disney never ever disappoints and we loved this year again... my favourite was definitely the moana segment (yes! they have finally included her in the show, hooray!) and we also loved rapunzel and ariel who both rocked out an ariel routine with their princes. disney is legittt with their routines. so much effort!

last but not least... squad goals! i had the best time with these girls and cannot wait for next year! ♥

disney, we love you!!

disney on ice 2018

the tradition continues... every year since madeline was two, we have gone to disney on ice together! we love it, it's a special night out for the two of us, we get dressed up and sing our heads off. sometimes it's just the two of us, sometimes we take other friends... this year we went with aunty dom.

(side note... anyone that knows me, knows i hate to spend money. there are lots of cool things to buy at disney on ice, but they are just soooo expensive. this year i saved myself a cool 20 odd dollars per person by grabbing these glow stick mickey ears from the local reject shop for $1.50 a pair. maddie has learnt over time that i just won't buy anything unless it's super cheap (so something really small) and although she does like to have a look at what's on offer, she doesn't really ask or get upset when i won't buy her any of the souvenirs they have at the show. phew!)

my happy girl and i

all of the photos!

took me a while of convincing, but somehow i got her to wear her flowergirl dress from aunty niques's wedding... she was a bit taken aback when i suggested she pair it with her pink converse, but threw them on quick smart (i think she thought i was going to change my mind haha) and was good to go. so glad that dress has been worn more than once!

i was chuffed with the show this year (other than the fact they always spend so long on frozen... i mean seriously, we get it, it's on the ice, the movie involves ice, yeah yeah, moving along - can't wait until they are over it!!) when they included friend like me from aladdin with 20 skating genies!! ohhh i love aladdin so much!

and they did some scenes from mulan! pictured is let's get down to business. yayyyyy!

as usual there was a finale full of princesses... i love it! disney, you've done it again. can't wait for next year - i have my fingers crossed for moana to make an appearance! ♥

pp girls mini disco

these five girls are the funniest. a few days ago i watched them bop around singing at the top of their lungs in our theatre room whilst listening to the mini disco playlist i'd thrown together at midnight the day before. 

long story short, one of them was sick when the school disco was on. the other four went and i snapped a pic of them looking chuffed to be there and hanging out together and posted it on my instagram. her mum saw it, she saw it... and she was devastated that she missed the party.

i couldn't let that happen, so an idea was born to make the pp girls mini disco! it was pretty easy... a few sets of fancy lights strung up about the place, some boppy music streaming onto the screen via apple tv, snacks and a few kids! they had the best time - and us mums had a pretty good time chilling out in the kitchen too. maybe something we will have to revisit... we have such a good bunch of kids here - and some pretty excellent mum friends. ♥

a night at the ballet!

the is the face of the luckiest girl in the world, who straight after her school disco this evening did another costume change and headed back out the door to her first taste of a proper ballet production at none other than his majesty's theatre in perth city! 

we have a friend who works at the west australian ballet and he managed to get 6 free tickets to tonights show of "the great gatsby." probably not the most family friendly show there ever was, but let's be honest, when it's told as a ballet, how bad could it really be?

off we went with the pinker girls and had a great night. the ballet was wonderful and looked amazing... 

but 

please remember i took a 6 year old. this six year old was asked about 4 times prior to entry if she needed to use the bathroom. she said no. halfway through the first act, she (of course) needed to go. a lock out period applies, so we were forced to go and sit in the back row of the very top tier of the theatre. we could still see everything, but of course then she was upset because she wanted to sit with the pinkers.

after intermission we were admitted back to our seats, only for her to ask me question after question so i had to move my head a lot, then i had the guy behind me tell me quite sternly to sit still and stop moving his head or he wouldn't be able to see a thing. maddie chose this moment to tell me that she'd had enough and wanted to go home (fine by me!) so out into the foyer we went... only to see the lovely mermaid jessica pearl (so of course then maddie wanted to stay) who chatted with us until the end of the show and our friends came out again.

in a nutshell. the ballet was lovely, (however without having read the book, or seen the movie... and having any provided dialogue) but really i had no idea what was going on, especially when i had to go in and out more than one. apparently though, maddie did chose a great point in the show to exit... as the ending especially is not child friendly.

i am sure if we go and see something a little more suited to her age group she would enjoy it a lot more... maybe we will try again next year.

another first done.

ballet? check!

boho bash

i was invited to the most wonderful gathering last night... my friend debra threw a "boho bash" for some of her closest friends and family. it was such an amazing night and i felt so blessed to have been a part of it. the evening was a chance for us to build each other up, to discuss how we all knew each other and are connected and what we like about each other. in short, why we are "spectacular"



as human beings, and especially as women, i know it is often hard to take a compliment. but hearing someone close to you tell you why they love you and what is special about it, was such a wonderful thing and an awesome confidence boost. i left feeling really good about myself and inspired to do more good things, especially boosting those around me!

debra put together this incredible grazing platter, which was absolutely perfect, so many options for me, with fruit, veggies and even some dairy free chocolate (yay!). we all ate our fill and then talked the night away. what a blessing to be amongst friends and friends of friends. ♥

we even got a little take home gift, a frame with this gorgeous quote printed in it.
"she woke up every morning with the option of  being anyone she wished... how beautiful it was that she always chose herself. - tyler kent white"

frozen on ice

madeline and i have been to disney on ice everytime it's in perth since she was two years old. so, this year was our fourth time! this year was super exciting for pretty much every little girl on the planet, because this time, they decided to do frozen on ice! frozen is great (although not my personal favourite) and they would be silly passing up doing frozen on ice, wouldn't they!

madeline and i went with aunty dom for a girls night out... and had a blast as usual. the three of us always have a good time, so adding disney into the mix made it even better!

my favourite part of the night was olaf's song "in summer" where he was surrounded by bees, butterflies and flowers, so so cute!

 

during the intermission we found madeline's friend brooklyn from school, so they had to dance about, do some spinning and sing in the foyer. crack up kids.

elsa and anna dancing up a storm

of course, the highlight for madeline was seeing elsa sing "let it go"... as usual, disney did everything to perfection, you really can't fault any of their shows.

i must admit though, i am much more excited about the shows that they do when they change the theme/ story every 10-15 mins or so. i love being able to watch multiple stories and seeing how they put each one on show. for this reason i am especially looking forward to next years one, which is apparently going to be an anniversary show. hooray! can't wait.

we love you disney on ice! ♥

freo prison night tour

one of my gifts for my birthday this year was to attend a torchlight tour of fremantle prison with my two dominiques.i was thrilled beyond words, as i love the place - and love fremantle too! i was born there and lived there with my family until just before my 4th birthday, yet for some reason i can't explain i love to go there almost as if it were going home. i love the smell of the ocean, the old buildings, the streets, the markets and well, pretty much everything it has to offer. 

i have been for the torchlight tour a few times now, but it's always as fun as the first time you go, with each of the guide having slightly different stories to tell and showing you little things you may have missed before. i love the yards and towers by night with such a small amount of light... if only the walls could talk, what stories they would tell. we brought dominique's friend bryan along for girls night (yes we make allowances sometimes) and he seemed to enjoy himself too... i mean seriously, who wouldn't enjoy a tour of a heritage listed, supposedly-haunted, old as prison bny torchlight. welcome to australia bryan! hahaha.

locked up and loving it! we had the last tour of the night, which leaves at 9;30, meaning it was totally dark, no one following us, a little creepy and lots of fun. there are always some hidden things to spook those brave enough to take on the tour.

the main cell block. there are day tours too and plenty to see and learn about, even a tour that operates in the tunnels below the building. do yourself a favour and read some more about it here, then book yourself in for a tour. it is amazing!

disney on ice: dare to dream

tonight we had a girls night at disney on ice: dare to dream at the perth arena. i went to disney on ice with madeline last year and when i told mum how good it was, we decided we would all go this year ans it was an awesome night out. yay! some of our other friends joined us too, as well as dougs aunt and cousins daughter who arrived this morning to visit from melbourne.

elsa and anna from frozen were chilling (get it? hahaha) in the foyer, taking pictures with people as they arrived... i am hoping this is a hint that frozen on ice will soon be coming to perth!

and my favourite of the modern princesses... rapunzel, had her own little photobooth upstairs as you went into the show.

i was absolutely thrilled to see that this year, one of the major sections of the show was dedicated to tangled, which i am obsessed with i mean seriously, find me a girl that doesn't have a huge crush on flynn ryder...

the finale was amazing as always, including a dance with all the disney princesses and princes on the ice together and even a few mini fireworks. i loved every single second, because i'm clearly a big kid at heart. i think i'll have to take madeline until she begs me not to.

my favourite little one and i  :)

madeline showing off her rapunzel flag that we bought. i must admit, it is possibly more for me than her... hahaha.

and a shot with her cousin emma overlooking the rink. what a wonderful night out.

thanks mum!

pippa skye's surprise bday!

i love this girl! so much! and tonight we got to celebrate her turning 31 with a lovely surprise dinner at siena's in leederville that another one of her gorgeous friends organised. you should have seen her face! completely unaware that it was in the works, thought she was rocking up for a casual dinner with a few friends... and there we all were - waiting. there were smiles, there was a few tears, but she was loving it! 

pip and i became firm friends when doug and i moved into dianella ward when we got married (8 years ago now yikes!) we knew each other as teenagers (and even unknowingly dated the same boy - apparently at the same time - a.w.k.w.a.r.d...) we weren't overly keen on being mates back then - but totally hit it off once we had grown up some.

since then we have spent a ridiculous amount of time together - laughed, cried, agreed, disagreed, had kids, worn each others clothes, eaten copious amounts of food, shopped (and op-shopped) up a storm, watched buttloads of televison, partied hard, teased each others husbands and just generally loved the hell out of each other.

i wouldn't trade her friendship for anything - she's amazing. 

so... happy early birthday pippa! 

love you long time! ♥

skatty

another day... somewhere else cool to be!!

friday night, dannii, me and lisa hit up the skatt claremont re-launch. the salon has moved from old theatre lane in bayview terrace, to times square - next to claremont quarter. fabulous as always, with parades, loud music and gift bags :)

congrats to my other lisa on another beautiful salon!

bday love!

my beautiful friends dannielle and lisa
kidnapped me on my birthday...
these two gorgeous girls came to my house, curled my hair - made me up - gave me a birthday *star* wand and then took me out for dinner at burswood, where our "gentlemen" friends awaited :)

then back to dannii's house for icecream cake...yum

but all in all i was pretty damn spoiled...
my lovely husband bought me some versace perfume, a gorgeous pandora charm with a star on it :) , the new twilight dvd
and some chocolates

there's nothing better than a birthday!

thanks girlies... i love you both lots and lots! xx

dannii's bday part I & II

part I

thursday night was danni's bday outing with lisa and i at the galleria, hans cafe and maccas morley (as you can see we spared absolutely no expense whatsoever to ensure she had a truly unforgettable night!)

the night began with lisa and i collecting danni, blindfolding her and driving her to the galleria, then handing her a list of tasks to complete throughout the night (as well as telling her that she wasn't allowed to go home until it was complete!) - of course completely ridulous things such as:

-tell lisa & jade periodically throughout the night just how awesome they are

-try on the highest heels you can find in betts

-tell at least three shop assistants that... "it's my birthday!!"

-ask for a diet water on the rocks for your dinner beverage and ensure that you ask the waitress if she wants to see your id

-ask for a birthday discount

it was lots of fun and laughter - and a great time had by all

can't wait for the next one!

part II

and last night...

the crew went out to dinner at chatters in morley (best freaking chinese ever...) followed by san churros in subiaco for a chocolate overload!! way too much... try it some time, they are almost as good as the ones in brazil (and i would know!!)

happy birthday danni!!!

empty cup?? perfect end to a perfect night!!