love monday's - jan thirty first....

Welcome to the first installment of love monday's!! If you've no idea what I'm on about, I've decided to dedicate each Monday to what you guys love. I'll pop in a wee love to get ya started but most importantly I want to hear what's floating your boat on what is usually a bit of a down day. Y'know, something to get your butt out of bed and the sunshine back into your smile.

So.... in the comments below leave me a message, post a link to your own Monday love affair (remember to link back to here though so we can keep the cycle going!) or whichever other way tickles your fancy.

My Monday love is the poppies in our garden....

They were the first thing I spotted when I first came to view our house and they're the first thing I see when I open the dining room curtains each morning. Bliss!

I'm not usually a huge poppy fan, but the vibrant colour and happiness (a poppy's a pretty happy flower, right?) totally won me over and plus, Little Red likes nothing more than to gawk and grab at them! I'm also amazed at the fact that they seem to scuttle away and then pop back out at the drop of a hat - there seems to be new ones in new colours every day! Pretty, pretty.

Now! What are you loving today?! 

love what you love....

I was talking about blogs the other day with a friend of mine and love miss bonnie came up. She said it was a great idea but then pointed out - what about what everyone else loves? And I thought heck! She's right! All this time I've been blathering on about what I love and not asking you what you love.

So from now on (well, as of Monday) I'm going to post love monday's because if Monday isn't a day to find something to love then I don't know what is! It'll have something I'm crushing on at the moment and then pretty please post yours in the comments below. You can either leave a message or get into the true spirit and post a link to your blog, whatever floats your boat!

See you Monday, lovelies xx

love she & him....

I know, I know.... I posted a music vid yesterday but I was just over at Swonderful's blog and they had up the brand new video from She & Him. If you haven't had the joys of listening to them yet, please do! 

The brainchild of Zooey Deschanel (my one true love) and M Ward (think indie/folk along the lines of Cat Power and My Morning Jacket), She & Him is cute, kitsch, quirky. Check out the video above for a good wee pick-me-up.

love adele....

I find it so refreshing to see a pop star (although I use the term "pop star" loosely - who even knows what it means anymore?!) who is....

a) not skin and bones and promoted purely for her looks even though she has zip talent;
b) not trying to be someone she isn't; and 
c) completely and utterly brimming with natural born genius.

This is what music's about. I'm over the sheer artificiality of Lady Gaga and the like - yes, she's kooky and kudos to her for writing her own music but really, when it comes down it, she's just a chick that dresses weird and writes average songs. Correct?

So thank you, Adele, for giving me faith in the music industry and the fact that, despite all their money grabbing ideals, they still pump out a true star like you every so often. 

Check out the vid above to see a real musician take the stage.

love wardrobe wednesday - jan twenty sixth....

Little Red and I are off into town today for lunch with a friend and the weather is true awesomeness. Just when I was getting ready to pack our bags and flit on over to warmer waters, Wellington pulls a stunner out of it's socks!

 White blouse | Glassons

Dark blue stovepipes | Cotton On

Tan flats | Country Road

Tan belt | Levi's

Checked bowling bag | Primark

Sunnies | Asos 

I hope wherever y'all are the weather is just as amazeballs. Get posting your summer-inspired WW below!!

love yoga, love pilates....

So since I injured my back I've getting all zen on my recuperation and have taken up the above which I do on a daily basis.

Holy moly! It's totally amazeballs and while I've dabbled in yoga before I've never done either religiously but from this day forward I shall not sway from my yoga/pilates ways. 

Not only has my back healed up faster than ever before, I feel so.... light and limber and happy and healthy. Dare I say, it's even given me a new lease on life! Cheesy, I know, but after the way I was feeling the week before last (think 70 year old hip replacement) I'm honestly feeling like a sprightly teen again.

Yippee! Long live me!

love poetry - child....

In the sun and I hold a glass to my chest; it is full of

blood and bones and the life of my child. 

He is a thud in my belly and an ache in my breasts

and he is everyone and everything all at once.

He is playing in the sand

and every breath he takes I can feel it in my veins.

His voice leaves cracks in my skull and it rings in my ears,

I can feel my skin growing older

with every passing cloud and I could never leave him

I could never stop loving him.

He is all that I have in this world and

he is all that I need.

copyright caitlin mcdougall 2010

love a hand with the washing....

Your kids are never too young to help with everyday chores. Well, mine isn't. As you can see above, Little Red is always on hand to assist with the washing. Not really, he'd much rather eat the pegs. But hey it's pretty cute.

love the duck song....

May I present to you the coolest song ever. One question though, have you got any grapes?

love wardrobe wednesday - jan nineteenth....

Eek! So I'm a little late with today's installment (I stupidly clicked save this morning instead of publish before I scooted out the door) but here it is anyway - better late than never!

Tee shirt dress | Max

Floral cropped cotton jacket | Frutti

Grey pull up socks | Portmans

Boots | Dotti

So there you go! I have to say, the boots were a slight overkill and I may have swapped (thank heavens) to jandals upon stepping foot outside. If you've got a WW post it up! I don't want to be the lonely WWer that sits in the corner picking my toenails, keep me company with your awesome Wednesday threads! 

love my boys....

Nothing warms my heart cockles more than watching my two best boys hanging out. Ladies, I'm sure you agree - there's something about a man and a baby, right? I've had the odd red-cheeked request from guy mates to "borrow" Redford for an outing to the park (yes, to pick up chicks and no, I'm not kidding).

Nick and Little Red make a cute father/son duo - looking at the wee man you've no doubt who's boy he is, it's creepy really. Give Red a mop of hair and a beard and you're staring at his Daddy. They're like twins. Dr Evil and Mini Me, except better looking. And not evil. Or weird. OK, sometimes weird but definitely not evil.

(don't) love back pain....

Ugh. Back pain is not my friend, yet it seems to drop around unannounced every so often with the intention of turning me into an invalid for a couple of weeks and as you can see by my suitably upset and unglamorous photo, it has done just that.

Hence the hiatus. 

My back went "ping!" last Wednesday as I was lifting the 8.5ish kilos of solid, wriggling mass that is my son out of his buggy. Right smack bam in the middle of town - there I was, stuck in some sort of limbo pose dangling Little Red mid-air with the odd tear prickling at my eyes (thank goodness I had my sunnies on, at least they allowed me to hold on to some semblance of composure).

So after being told by the physio to "refrain from heavy lifting for the next 7 days" (yeah right) I've been resting up while Nick and the grandies take over the household and the laptop has all but reached my eager typing fingers. But I'm back now with many more things to love so stay tuned....

love wardrobe wednesday - jan twelfth....

First WW for the new year! I have to admit, I've been a tad slack - we only got back from up north on Sunday and since then we've been busy settling back into normal life again - so I've not been able to dress up/get a pic and my Wednesday outfit this week is less than ideal. Apologies!

However, here's me and Little Red on Chrimbo day dressed up in our Sunday best....

 I'm wearing.... striped dress | Glassons

With bangles from Equip

Little Red's wearing.... checked shirt | Osh Kosh B'Gosh

Denim cut-offs | Baby Gap

So there's my meagre offering for this week but I promise to be back into the swing of things next week!

love good covers....

Name: Lelia Broussard

Cover: Single Ladies by Beyonce

I have nothing else to say other than THIS GIRL IS THE FREAKING BOMB.

See her unique take on B's #1 here. Enjoy!

love waiheke....

While still recovering from my New Year's induced hangover (I was with child last year so had to make up for lost time!) the fam bam and I headed up to the golden sands and blue skies of Waiheke Island.

Needless to say I am in LOVE. The weather was amazeballs (I pretty much felt like I was in the tropics after the chilly breezes of Wellington) and we spent our days lounging on the beach, trouping around the vineyards and eating and drinking far too much. Life is tough, ain't it?