Boy style Friday - fashionably late.

Otto wears:
Stripy hoodie - Farmers
Thermal top (underneath)- Farmers
Pants - Me
Crocs - The Warehouse (I firmly dislike crocs, but for some reason they look okay on people under the age of about four.)

Aesop wears:
Swandri hunting hat - Salvation Army
Hip kid shirt - Farmers
Skinnyish jeans - Pumpkin Patch.

 And, as a bonus, here is another outfit Otto wore this week.
Stripy top - Croutons
Monster pants - Farmers
Slippers - MEandREEKIE on Etsy. Best slippers EVER.
Teeth - $2 shop.. or being bitten by a vampire?

See more cute kiddies HERE.

Wardrobe Wednesday.

The presentation of this weeks outfit is a little like the wearer of the outfit feels: not super enthusiastic.
It is nearly midday, and I have only been dresses about half an hour. My throat is raspy, and my 'let's get dressed and look amazing' levels are fairly low. It's one of those days where I wish I had remembered to photograph an outfit earlier in the week. But I'm not going to let that stop me.

Dress: bought from a friend who sells on Trademe  ($15)
Tights: Farmers (about $15)
Shoes: Willowshoes.co.nz ($140)

So yeah, fairly basic (yet somehow expensive?) outfit today. But there's a bit of a story behind the dress.
My friend Cara and I, went to Bayfair (a mall..) on Saturday. We had money burning holes in our pockets, a day without menfolk and children and a need for lovely new clothes.
We searched high and low, only to find that fashion seems to have reverted back to the 90's, and not in a good way. Everything is grunge-tastic (think long skirts, thick knit jumpers and doc boots. Oh, and velvet. So much velvet.) and definitely not something I can work with. I came away with one brooch, a plain striped top, a pair of super cheap boots and a onesie for a small baby that I don't have. AWESOME.
I was feeling very bummed.
But yesterday, as I was picking up the mannequin from my friend Amanda, I spied her 'to sell on TradeMe' rack, and noseyed through it. Within just a few moments, I had two very wonderful dresses in my arms and a huge smile on my face.
Moral of the story? I need to stop trying to convince myself that modern fashion is going to get better, and face the fact that it is worth it to spend a little extra on 'retro' stuff. It's bad luck that I didn't find these dresses for $5 at the oppies, but even at $15 they are cheaper than the most of the ugly stuff I tried on at the shops. And probably better made too..
/ end rant.

The state of things.

Is it just me, or is thrifting really hard at the moment? For the last few weeks (or even months?) I have barely found a thing, which is mighty unusual for me. My bank account has been happy about it, especially with the recent price hikes at the Sallies, but my materialistic/bargain hunting soul just craves the goods.
Luckily, last week I was able to get my fill.

 (From the $1 rack. It needs a little altering, the front facing is too high, and too tight.)

 (Also from the $1 rack, I had planned to reconstruct it to fit Aesop, but Abraham has adopted it.)

I spent a grand total of $15. That is more than I would usually spend in one trip to the oppies, but I feel like I got a good amount of stuff for my money.
Stuff.. hmm.. I think Abraham would substitute that word for 'junk', and I would probably use the word 'treasure'. Ha.

Boy Style Friday.

Just one boy today - the other is dressed all swish for mufti day, but we were running too late this morning (not unusual..) and now he's busy having an epic Lego battle with his friend. Wayyyy to busy for photos, apparently.
Otto is, of course, rockin' one of his new 90 min tees. He's also wearing Mama-made trackpants (those long cuffs mean they don't drag on the ground, and also tuck into gumboots more easily!). The shoes are from the Warehouse, on sale.
The bag was a gift from my host Mother, for Aesop. It has 'Nijntje' on it, or 'Miffy' as she is known in English. I still struggle to call her that though, as I saw her for the first time while on my exchange in the Netherlands. I was instantly smitten, and she will always be 'Nijntje' to me!
Otto is now also smitten, not so much with the character on the bag, but rather just with the idea of having a bag. He must take it with him everytime we leave the house, usually with one of his 'snugglies' and a Thomas train in it. As soon as I pick up the keys he starts the yelling 'Otttttoooo baaaaaag! baaaaaag!'. Cute!

Once a year.

In my little recipe book, I have some recipes that have been relabelled with their purposes rather than their names. For example : The devil food cake is titled ' THE cake', the potato and corn pie has 'Mums pie' scrawled next to it, and the zucchini loaf recipe is credited to my mother-in-law, Kaye.

The sub-title for my lemon sour cream cake recipe is ' Abraham's birthday cake'. I'm not sure how it ended up being his cake, but I know I have made it for at least 3 or 4 f his birthdays.And, well, long may it continue.. because it really is quite divine. (I admit, it's not as cute as the robot cake I made him a few years ago, but unfortunately taste has to win sometimes. It seems to be that the older I get, that more often that is the case!)

I thought, seeing as I couldn't share the cake, I would offer up the recipe for anyone who might want to give it a whirl. (Who knows that the subtitle might end up being in your book - 'rainy day afternoon'? 'PMS cake'? 'for the hell of it cake'? )

Lemon Sour Cream Cake - Abrahams Birthday Cake!

185g softened butter (I use marg, because well, that's what we always have.)
1 1/2 cups sugar
4 large eggs, lightly beaten
3 tsp lemon rind
1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 cup sour cream

Glaze:
Juice of 1 lemon
3/4 cup sugar

Pre-heat oven to 160C.
In a large bowl, cream butter/marg and sugar. Add eggs and rind.
Combine the flour and baking powder. Fold both the flour and the sour cream into the creamed mixture, alternatively. (I'm not sure that even makes sense? Basically add half the flour, then half the sour cream, and repeat.)
Mix gently until smooth, and pour into a greased cake pan (I have used both the spring form and a hole-in-the-middle tin. if you use a spring form, it pays to line it with baking paper.). Bake until a knife comes out clean.
Once cooked, wait about 2 minutes. Then pour the glaze over the cake and allow to cool. Apparently this is good served with cream or yogurt. We eat it with soy milk.

NOM.

A reaction and the reaction to the reaction.

There was no rash. No scratching, itching or days of complaining.
Otto just woke up one morning and decided he HATES wool. He despises it like nothing else. I tried to dress him in it he screamed and thrashed around, like I was trying to harm him. After that, the reaction is the same even at the sight of it. He is, somehow, so traumatised that even acrylic jumpers get the no-go.

This posed a slight problem for me. You see, I spent the Summer amassing a huge collection of handknitted jumpers. And whipping up recycled wool pants, too. I think the boy had a total of nearly 20 wool or acrylic garments in his drawers! I had focused so much on the knits that I hadn't really bothered to stock up on anything else.

So the 'operation replacement' sewing has begun. I've got quite a few things done, but there's a way to go.
Want to see? Who am I kidding? Of course you do, it's a blog! Here you go:

There are a few others, but they're lost somewhere in the washing system. Isn't it darn near impossible to get on top of washing at this time of year? Guess that's one benefit to the war against wool.. far less handwashing!

Wardrobe Wednesday.

Let's not speak of my absence. Let's just pretend it never happened, okay?
It's Wednesday. The perfect day to jump right back into Wardrobe Wednesday. So here I am.

From head to toe:
HUGE hair - not really sure. New shampoo?
Brooch - Croutons. (free)
Top - NESclothing. ($120. A million times more than I'd usually spend, but has been worth every penny.)
Grouchy child, who weighs a tonne but won't let me put him down (and is, somehow, smiling in this picture?!) - a nasty ear infection and a virus. (free, unfortunately.)
Skirt- Salvation Army  ($3)
Happy Shoes - The Warehouse. ($6)

So, I'm a week ahead of everyone else who is getting back on the WW wagon. But you should join in next week! It'll be grand!