Monday, February 6, 2012

I do...cakes.


The inspiration behind our wedding cake is simple, elegant, romantic and modern. I love tiered cakes with neutral coloured detailing and contrasting textures, perhaps with the tiers off centre. Although I sometimes get carried away and dream rather big, a modest three tiers would be divine.

Here are some of my recent favourite finds from around the Internet...
Enjoy! 



Giveaway Winner!



The first giveaway to celebrate Winter Loves First Birthday has come to a close! Thankyou to all who entered. I used Random.org to generate a random number and correlated that with a commenter to give me a winner.

So, without further ado, the winner is ...

Lucy! 

Congratulations Lucy! I will be contacting you shortly to organise your pretty bunting and sweet giraffes arrival on your doorstep!

Plenty of love, 


Sunday, February 5, 2012

...I do.

Source

With the expansion of our family and growing of baby #2, wedding plans have been tucked away for a little while. That's not to say that the dreaming and scrapbooking has halted, I am forever saving images, reading blogs and creating the perfect wedding in my head. With between 18 months to two years up my sleeve, I have all the daydreaming time in the world and hope to take the planning and booking process slowly, calmly and stress-free.

Winter Love has yet to share any wedding inspiration with you, which seriously needs review! I will begin documenting my ideas and inspiration here with you regularly in a new segment called
'...I do.' Fitting isn't it?

A lot of my wedding inspiration can also be found on my Pinterest account. I hope you enjoy staring away into the distance with me and welcome you along the countdown to our wedding. 

Saturday, February 4, 2012

Today...

Dishes on the sink, toys strewn from one end of the house to the other and piles of washing waiting to be folded. We could have spent today cleaning up and doing other enjoyable household chores and it was oh-so-tempting but, we didn't. I feel as though we needed a mini family holiday, some spontaneous fun and quality time with just the three of us. Finding that time when baby #2 comes along and sleepless nights are in full swing may be a little hard, and I swear if my pregnant body gets much heavier and any more fatigued I will probably start paying rent to the couch.

The day began rushed and hot, but once on the road we all breathed a sigh of relief. We drove only a short way out of town to visit our local 'Zoo'. Our local zoo is in fact our only zoo, and our only zoo is in fact a wildlife park. But what a wonderful wildlife park it is!

With over 80 species of birds, Tasmanian devils, penguins, crocodiles, wombats, echidna's, kangaroos and monkeys our humble little zoo is actually quite impressive! The first to tick off the list was watching feeding time at the devil enclosure. Stella chanted the word 'de-vil, de-vil, de-vil' over and over and was actually very enthralled with the whole experience. Nick and I call her our little Bindi Irwin, she really is an outdoors, adventure seeking and animal loving child. She picked up a stick from the ground and toddled her way around the park with sheer joy in her steps. She fed her cracker to the Alpaca and stuck her finger up the goats nose, then she came across a friendly yet cheeky cockatoo.

The fact that this cockatoo could say 'hello' was enough to send her into a million fits of giggles, but then he could dance? And laugh? Well, Stella was amazed. She reached out a little finger to pat him on the head and before I could catch it, chomp. We then learnt that the cockatoo could mimic a very loud cry.





I'm not sure whether it was just my intense pregnancy hormones or not, but I found myself feeling teary today. Stella was incredibly well behaved and Nick and I could feel the stress running from our bodies. Sometimes having two part-time stay-at-home parents can be more stressful than helpful, we may be in love... but oh gosh can we step on each others toes and breathe down each others necks that little bit too much.

Today was about appreciating the pretty little state we live in and enjoying the company of our family, seeing Nick get a childish grin from the sight of a crocodile and Stella gasping at the size of a kangaroo bought such happiness and emotion to this pregnant mama.

Plenty of love,

Thrifting Thrills...A vintage dolls pram!



Last week, we decided to trawl a market we don't often go to. It's closer to home, but just seems to be forgotten about most weekends. And boy am I glad we did! There was a lot of junk and other mens treasures but amongst it all I found some thrills. A  beautiful glass sugar pot, a soup tureen and a 1960's dolls pram!

The soup tureen will become a staple in this household, as my entire pregnancy I have been craving soup, soup and more soup. Vegetable soups, minestrone soups, chicken and corn soups, pea and ham soups...the possibilities are endless now that we have this pretty little soup holder.

The highlight of the day was definitely the pram, the vintage pram find excited me beyond belief. Can you believe it was only $12! Stella strolled around the market trying to manoeuvre the large wheels and it has now found a space in her bedroom, it looks beautiful in there.



Another weekend, another lot of thrifting thrills!

Plenty of love,

Thursday, February 2, 2012

A gift for you!


As a celebration for Winter Loves First Birthday and a thankyou to my readers, it is giveaway time! 

The very first Birthday giveaway is open to all readers everywhere! All you need to do is become a follower with google connect if you aren't already and comment below to enter. You have until Monday February 6th at 8:00pm AEST, so get entering and spread the word lovely readers!

Your prize? A beautiful neutral bunting and giraffe plush by 2 Little Birds, handmade by a local Launceston small business.



I cant wait to announce a winner, goodluck!

Plenty of love,

A Sweet Happy Birthday



I have been sitting her for quite some time wondering how to best start this post. With wit and humour? Meaning and conviction? Excitement and celebration? Casual and indifference?

Truth is, I am buzzing. Bubbling with a combination of happy, content, proud nerves and celebrating with a quiet smile inside and out.

Winter Love is celebrating something special today, Winter Love is turning one! 

A year ago, with the encouragement of others I finally began what I had been dreaming of for quite some time. I had been reading parenting and mama blogs even before falling pregnant and felt the fire start within. As a child I adored reading, as a teen I loved writing, as a busy adult I was merely left dreaming. One day, February 2nd to be exact, I stopped dreaming and started being.

Everyday in this journey through the blogosphere I have felt passionate and comfortable. I have written from the heart, staying true to myself, my beliefs and my values. I have been blessed to have the friendship, support and interest from the community of mothers that this blog has surrounded me with. I would even go as far as saying Winter Love has changed me. Not changed who I am, but defined who I am. I have since found a confidence in myself as a person and a mother that I would not have found otherwise, I have met incredible people that I would not have otherwise.

More than any other emotion today, I feel pride the strongest. I have achieved the goals I originally set out to reach for and surprised myself. So today, is about reflecting on my successes, planning for the future and dreaming for the best. It is also about giving credit where credit is due...and that would be with you. My readers. I owe my success and inspiration to you. You have encouraged me, helped me and motivated me with your lovely comments and regular reading. Thankyou for your support and love, I love you all for it.

Happy Birthday to my humble little corner of the Internet...may you grow and prosper, bloom and flourish.

Plenty of love,