I had a good giggle over this!

This one reminded me of my days working in retail as a teenager. 🤣 It was a while ago (not THAT long though) but I can still remember crumbling under the pressure of giving the correct change to a customer in a timely manner LOL those were the days!


This is what I look like trying to work out how much change I need to give a customer…

Source: This is what I look like trying to work out how much change I need to give a customer…

Upping my skills

So if you read my last update, I've been in a bit of an upskilling phase lately. First, I was working on my spreadsheet skills... but now i'm on my way to becoming a full-fledged computer programmer.

Well not exactly, but my good friend Luke Smith is helping me learn coding (Javascript) to help my customise my Wordpress website (coming soon).



I already know some basic HTML, but this is a whole 'nother level from a technical perspective. It's great though, because I know it will save me a lot in development costs down the line.

It has been a bit of an uphill battle, and I've consumed plenty of these  in the process, but Luke has been especially patient with me while I get comfortable learning a new language.



Do I speak fluent Javascript yet? No...

But I know enough to be dangerous! I even learnt how to set up custom Javascript in my Google Tag Manager account to track all of you lovely blog readers and what you're clicking on my website :)

Keep up to date on my progress with this this mootools page

Self Improvement Hobbies I'm Trying

Image via LatteLindsay.com

I've started doing these tips from Latte Lindsay. They're great for when you’re not really in the mood to head down to the gym!

I would highly recommend trying these:

1. Take up a meditation practice
2. Start journaling
3. Visualise and write out your perfect day in detail

Since i've started visualizing and writing about my day, I've strung together a LOT of good days in a row.

Also as Lindsay states:

Various researchers have come to the conclusion that meditation changes the structure of parts of the brain, and is associated with an improved sense of wellbeing, awareness, and calm, in addition to other things.

What habits have you made for yourself that are based on "self-improvement"?

8 Luxury Home Styling Tips for Mum's in 2018

New year. New me. New home? I've been thinking about some styling changes to our home. In this post, I've decided to compile the best resources I've found online for DIY home styling advice for wanna-be interior designers like myself. I hope you find them as useful as I did!

Forget New Year New You, Give Your Home Your Full Attention by EVE MORGAN 

It can be so overwhelming in January. Everyone is going on about losing the holiday weight, not drinking for a month while they detox all of the lovely beverages and cheese they ate for weeks on end blaming the festivities and Christmas. But while a little self-improvement and love is not a bad thing at all, I also feel that this time of year is the perfect opportunity to get your home in order and organised. 

 How To Have A Harmonious Home by MAKE IT SHABBY

This article is to encourage you to use the energy of the New Year to get your home in ship shape condition… and offers a four-step process to create a harmonious home environment for you and your family:

Quick And Easy Ways To Add A Touch Of Luxury To Your Home by skirtgirlie.com

 Adding a splash of luxury to your home can be a quick and easy way to give yourself a little something to look forward to at home after a long day. Below are some ideas for the more regularly used rooms in your home.

Turn Your Bedroom Into A Relaxing Retreat by SARAH JAYNE POTTER

Our home should be a relaxing and refreshing place to come after a long day or week in the office. It should be a calming retreat for you and your family to enjoy each other’s company and entertain friends. Arguably, the most important room in your home is your bedroom. It is where you spend at least a third of each day, and needs to be the most relaxing place in your home.

USING LUXURY HOME TOUCHES TO ADD AN ELEMENT OF CLASS by LAUREN RONEY

 

With the likes of Pinterest and the many home magazines that we all browse through on a regular basis, it’s all there for the taking. But sometimes, it’s just too much. So much so that you find yourself overwhelmed when it comes to creating a look that you love. But when this happens, you need to forget the clutter and stick to something that counts - class. And to create an air of class in your home, you’re going to want to add the right luxury touches.

Simple Bathroom to Luxurious Spa in 4 Easy Steps by mumswinehq.com

When you get back in after a long day, the idea of visiting a spa is a dream come true for many people. Unfortunately, this isn’t a realistic option for most of us, mainly due to the practicality and expense. The ideal solution to this problem would be to transform your bathroom into a spa room. And you can do this without spending vast sums of money - you just need to think of ways to engage all five sense and get yourself feeling calm and relaxed.

 5 Essentials You Need For A Luxury Bathroom by Istin

 

Luxury means different things to different people. For some luxury might mean opulence and extravagance. For others, luxury might refer to the feeling you get when you’re surrounded by high-end features and facilities. A bathroom that is built to a very high standard could be exactly what you’re looking for. Add some carefully selected details, some high-tech facilities, and a touch of opulence, and you might be enjoying your very own luxury bathroom.

 2018 Interior Design Trends by Lauren Kinghorn

This article explores some of the most popular trends we can expect to see in 2018… but in all honesty, particular as a busy mother, it can be very time consuming and expensive to always stay on trend, and when it comes furniture fashion is always changing.

and there you have it! 8 of the best home design and styling articles from around the web in 2018. I hope you've found them as entertaining as I did.

Becoming a real-estate agent: should I take the plunge?

To become a real estate agent, or not to become a real estate agent? That is the question.

I think I may be having a midlife crisis. Or rather, a quarter-life crisis, since I hope to live past my sixties (“God willing”).

I’m not really sure what I want to do with my life anymore. Even though everything is going so well for me, and I’m pretty content. Have you ever felt like that?

Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy the flexible admin work I’m currently doing and nothing beats being a mum. It’s pretty amazing, even when I’m forced to moonlight as a referee whenever one kid (usually the younger one, surprisingly) declares war on the other.

And yet, I desperately crave a change of pace and new challenges. Especially now that the Little Miss is spending two days a week at preschool and one day with my sweet mum.

I know what you’re thinking. Corel, honey, what could be more challenging than juggling school pick-ups with cooking and cleaning. Not to mention, wiping vomit off the floor when the tiny humans are sick?

Yup, that’s quite an achievement. And one I’m very proud of, especially since I’m currently doing some admin hours from home as well.

But I really want to put myself out there and work with adults, face to face. I’ve always been a people-person and quite the talker. My husband tells me that I could persuade a wall to divulge its secrets, if given the chance (though I’m not certain he means this as a compliment).

Real estate could be my future...

With that said, I’m thinking about becoming a real-estate agent.

I’ve read a few articles lately about the anticipated growth for Sydney’s property market. It seems like a decent time to enter real estate, as far as I can tell.

I understand that real estate can be a difficult industry to crack into. There seems to be the perception that you need to be a bit of a “shark” who knows how to make things happen. You have to be self-motivated, good at problem-solving AND have an engaging, honest personality. It also helps to be determined and passionate about what you do.

Not to toot my own horn, but I feel as though I already have many of these traits. The rest, I hope, would become polished on the job. There’s nothing like being thrown into the deep end to remind you of your capabilities (after all, it’s sink or swim out there).

The idea of helping others find their dream home also appeals to me. I used to help people in crisis find sustainable employment, as a full-time job, before the little Mister came along, so this doesn’t feel like too much of a stretch.

So how does one go about becoming a real estate agent?

According to my research, it’s not too difficult to become qualified at an entry level. In NSW, you need a Certificate of Registration to be able to sell or lease property. Before you do this, you need to complete at least four competence units:

• Work in the real estate industry
• Identify legal and ethical requirements of property management to complete agency work
• Identify legal and ethical requirements of property sales to complete agency work
• Communicate with clients in the property industry

There are also other courses, which aren’t compulsory, but could be useful further down the track (if I decide to go “all out” with this).

Right now, I’m really intrigued by the fact that I can complete this course from home. This would fit so perfectly with the part-time work I’m currently doing, and my duties as a mother.

So far the positives are:

• As a career, there’s room for growth and I’ll be challenging myself
• I could probably work flexible days
• I’ll be working with other adults
• Studying from home is an option (RETS offer a hotline support 7 days a week)
• I’ll get to put my negotiation skills to the test

I haven’t decided yet, I need to think about it and do more research. This isn’t something I want to go into lightly, but I’m excited by the possibilities.

Never underestimate the art of picture framing

If you’ve been following my blog lately, you can probably tell that I’ve been overcome by the sudden urge to spice up my life.

First step, launch a new career in real estate.

Second step, get another body piercing (location yet to be determined).

Third step, redecorate the home!

Final step, take over the world? learn how to dance salsa.

And not necessarily in that order either.

Right now, I’m obsessed with restyling my home. This process reminds me that small changes can make the biggest difference. I’ll wait until the kids are a bit older, before launching a major overhaul, but I’m currently making tweaks here and there. This is actually transforming the space in my house (as well as my head) in surprising ways (more on that later).

Part of this process has involved rethinking the picture framing in each room. After taking the time to clear out useless knick knacks, neglected toys and tattered objects in every room, I couldn’t stand to look at my old picture frames any longer. They looked glum, in comparison to the clean and fresh rooms.

One frame even had shattered glass in the corner, and I’m ashamed to say it stayed that way for over a year. It finally came crashing down one happy day, when the children were “singing” along to the Mamma Mia soundtrack while jumping enthusiastically on the mini trampoline (all captured on video, thankfully).

I interpreted this as a sign from above that it was time to get some new picture frames.

In case you don’t know this about me already, I believe in synchronicity (I can sense you rolling your eyes). After the Mamma Mia incident, I was flicking through the channels and saw Artform Living pop up on TV. Two days later, my friend told me she was on her way to pick up some frames she’d ordered from that very company, as we wrapped up our coffee date.

Usually I wait for three synchronistic strikes before I listen to the heavens, but I figured that two out of three “messages” is pretty good.

Anyway, I love my new picture frames. They really do our family pictures justice. Last year we had some beautiful photos taken by a photographer on the Central Coast, so I was pretty excited to see them in the new frames.

It may seem a bit unnecessary, but I also asked the installers at Artform Living to hang up the frames for me. After going to the effort to buy new frames, I didn’t want to lose another picture to enthusiastic trampoline dancing. They did a good job. I’m pretty confident that even a hurricane couldn’t shake these frames down (don’t take me up on that challenge, Universe).

By the way, I love this idea for framing treasured objects. How good does it look?

Now that I’ve done some basic restyling of each room, I’m itching to “feng shui” the entire house. Clearing out all the junk that we no longer use has lifted a burden off my shoulders. I actually feel lighter, mentally and physically. I want to take this feeling to the next level. My neighbour recently had a Feng Shui expert fix up their home. He swears that this entire process simplified and improved his life.

Maybe that can be my next project!

What a great idea!

I've been trying to track down a good deal (because as you know, I've been in the market) and I came across THIS:

 

Not bad, right? I don't getting $100 off for nothing!

A friend of mine was actually interested in the franchise opportunity after they retired from service, so that's how I first heard about the company.

Here's how he broke it down to me:

We want you to take ownership of your store, and lay it out in a way that will suit your clientele. We understand that one size doesn’t fit all, and every square metre in your store needs to generate revenue. Our job is to support you by helping you get the best bang for your buck.

I think he should do it! They're after a lifestyle of independence and from the numbers and everything we ran comparing the different franchises, this looked like the best. Better than a lot of the alternatives that we talked about... I don't even want to go there.

Anyways, I'm off to enjoy my $100 discount!

What an Amazing Process...

I recently came across the art of wood-fired pottery on a trip to Perth, Western Australia, I was in awe of the process that transformed a molded piece of clay by days of wood firing into a beautiful pot. Here's a video that illustrates this beautiful process of a jug being molded by hand to being hardened by fire.



Pots are placed in the kiln, where they best fit. Gary Hootman explained to me that glazed pots are placed in the back of the kiln, whereas bare clay pots are placed near the front of the kiln or near the fireboxes.

It's truly amazing that this process can create everything from Whiskey Cups to Teapots, Platters and Pitchers, and Vases that as tall as I am! Some of the more exquisite pieces reminded me of the types of luxury Italian designer furniture you'd see in a 5 star hotel in Sydney.

The kiln gets incredible hot - lucky for me I need to take the kids to swimming lessons, so I might take a quick dip myself while they're in their lesson! With weather like we've had the last few weeks, I'll taken any opportunity I can to submerge myself in any body of water I'll fit in 😂😂