Yep, I'm popping another cherry with a guest post for the lovely Melissa from SugerCoatIt.

Click here to check out my guest post and learn something about me that even most of my friends don't know!

This is a sponsored post…

Lately I have had a real hankering to bake. I used to bake a lot, any excuse would do – if I had nothing to do or I was bored I’d just whip something up. But it’s been a while since I put beater to bowl and I’d been trying to decide for weeks what I felt like baking. I was standing in the baking aisle of the supermarket, staring in wonderment at the wall of cupcakes, muffins and cakes when something caught my eye. When I see the words ‘Choc Caramel Fudge’ in the same sentence I generally take notice!

Green’s have just released their range of soft-centred cupcakes that take the cupcake eating experience to a whole other level! A bite into one of these babies reveals a hidden treasure – soft warm caramel fudge, jam or chocolate cream…also known as cupcake heaven! So the lovely people at Green’s  sent me some samples to try for myself. Oh the things I do for this blog!

So Saturday  I donned my housewife best and set about baking these tasty morsels to road test. Yes, I know…a REAL 50s housewife would NEVER use packet mix. But luckily for me, I’m NOT real 50s housewife and Green’s have made whipping up these crowd pleasers a cinch (so there!)


As much as I love my baking, 36 cupcakes in one afternoon is a feat I’ve not attempted before. I was a little unsure how I would handle the multi-tasking (MasterChef pressure test eat your heart out!) but these cupcakes were so simple to put together. The mixes come with everything you need, all you need to do is add a couple of eggs, a couple of tablespoons of margarine and a little splash of milk and mix! Easy! It’s hard to resist eating the soft centre middle as is but the serving is generous so if you’re super sneaky you can have a little left over after piping it on top of your batter for some finger lickin’ fun!


The frosting also came with the mix and required a quick mix with some margarine and milk for that soft buttery icing that we all love. The flavoured frosting goes so well with each cupcake for an extra hit of soft gooey sweetness. Yum! Because I can never pass up the opportunity to decorate, I bought some little extras to finish off the top. For the Choc Caramel Fudge cupcakes I used Cadbury Caramello Nibbles, Strawberry Dream got the little Raspberry Jellies and Marshmallow Delight got what else but little baby marshmallows!



I must confess I did not eat all 36 cupcakes. I did, however, taste each component along the way to make sure that every little bit of these cupcakes was delicious and boy, was it! Batter? Check! Soft centres? Check! Frosting? Check! Cupcake when put together? Check check check! It’s hard to pick a favourite but if I did I’d have to go with the Choc Caramel Fudge. The neighbours loved them and so did the guests of the housewarming we went to. My fabulous vintage housewife and perfect guest reputation remains intact. Win!

A big thanks goes to my boyfriend for being chief bowl scraper, beater licker and cleaning crew. Seriously, there is nothing sexier than a big coiffed, tattooed greaser man assisting with baking and dishes. *swoon*

Another big thanks goes to Miss Lisa of Atomic Martini Vintage and Miss Karie of The Click-Clack Lounge for providing me with the gorgeous handmade vintage apron which kept my circle skirt free of all flying cupcake batter. More on these FABULOUS foxes soon!

And now here’s the really exciting part…

Entries close 4 pm (AEST) on Monday 4th July 2011.

Winners will be drawn and announced by 5 pm (AEST) on Monday 4th July 2011.

If you answered YES! to this question then I suggest you visit the little poll there under 'About Me' on the left and leave your vote on the poll.

Why should I? I hear you ask...

Well, if I can collect some decent stats about my readership, I can approach companies to give me FREE STUFF TO GIVE TO YOU!

So help me help you and vote on the poll...pretty please?

I already have a company in mind and trust me, you will want this stuff! I want this stuff so I gaurantee you'll love it!

This past weekend my sister flew to Wagga Wagga to see my brother-in-law graduate his training for the Australian Army. So their 2 ‘kids’ packed their bags and came to stay with Auntie Sheri for the weekend.

As a dog lover, but alas without one of my own I was very excited to spend the weekend playing house with 2 of my favourite doggies. They say never to work with children or animals and in this case it felt like both so of course, things didn’t go exactly to plan. These are the adventures of Bella and Blue.


Meet Bella

Bella is a young-ish American Staffy who is loving and affectionate and relatively obedient. She’s a very cute little girl with a white star patch on the back of her neck and she loves to be on you. Or near you. Or all over you. And she LOVES attention! See? Look! Look at her! Are you looking? You better be looking! Hellooooo!


Meet Blue

Blue is an old Blue Cattle Dog who is very sweet but old and is losing his sight and hearing. He can at times be a bit of a grumpy old man but he is generally very docile and likes to sleep. A LOT. He has very soft fur, unlike most Cattle Dogs and he frequently dreams of running and chasing things while he is sleeping. A LOT. When he dreams his feet quiver and move and he makes little whimpering noises and ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ.


 2 lovely dogs for the weekend – easy right? Not so. I was like a new mother! Overwhelmed and under-rested. Although I had already cleared it with my other housemates, certain members of the household seemed a bit peeved when it came to the reality of it. Friday morning I was up at 5:30 am to drop my sister at the airport and come Saturday morning Bella was getting very restless and would not let me sleep. They were creating enough noise and havoc that despite my best efforts to feed them and return to bed, trying to sleep was futile. I was over it big time and I’m ashamed to say, I had a cry. Yep, a big ol’ blubber and my tearful rant from under the covers went something along the lines of ‘Why won’t they just be quiet? Why can’t she sit still? I can’t get up yet I need more sleep and I’m sick of cleaning up dog piss!’


I felt a bit silly, but I couldn’t help it. Lack of sleep and total frustration took their toll on me. Not that I had even been considering it, but my inability to cope really drove home that I am in no way ready for children. Although on the bright side, I do feel a little more qualified to join in some of the ‘mummy talk’ at my next blog meet.

To stop us all from going crazy I decided to take Bella for a walk, figuring the fresh air and sunshine would do us both the world of good. Poor Blue is just too old to be up for a walk so he stayed home and alternated between sleeping and pooping on my deck. Oh yay! Bella was keen to get out though, and we walked for a whole hour! Aside from tiring me out, I was hoping it would have the same effect on her. Of course it didn’t. But we did have a nice time in the sunshine.


Toilet Tally of the weekend: 5 puddles of pee and one uber stinky poop right in front of the TV.

I absolutely adore those dogs…when I visit them at my sister’s house and they’re not my problem. I still love them but that feeling certainly waivered over the weekend. I chalk this one up to an interesting experience that has opened my eyes a little bit. I couldn’t help but think throughout the whole ordeal, that at least it would make for a good blog.

All you eagle eyes out there may have noticed a couple of extra additions to my blog. If you didn't it's ok, I'll forgive you but if you did well gold star for you!

Yep there they are, down the left side. A facebook button and my personal favourite, my Brag Box.

I've created a facebook page for me as a blogger/writer dedicated to this blog. It sure would be swell if you 'liked' it!

The Brag Box? Well it's pretty self-explanatory really. It will be links to anything significant I have written or contributed to. Just couple of things in there at the moment but very soon it will be starting to fill up...are you intrigued yet?

So far my claims to fame include:

My review of the Rusty Pinto Combo's show at Garterbelts & Gasoline 2011 used on the band's Myspace, Facebook & ReverbNation profiles - pretty exciting for me because I love these guys!!

A short article on the GreazeFest website about Kustom Kulture Fashion & the Pin Up Workshops being held by Micheline Pitt


There's a lot more going on behind the scenes right now and I can't wait to be able to share it with you!

For those of you unfamiliar with it, Cooly Rocks On runs from the 3rd to the 13th of June and is replacing the annual Wintersun Festival which sadly announced after last year’s festival that it would be moving to Port Macquarie. It’s still got all the much-loved elements of Wintersun including cars, rockabilly and 50s nostalgia.

Twas the night before Cooly and all through my lair, not a creature was stirring except for my hair. My bandana was tied with haste but with care, to keep all my pin curls safely in there. I nestled myself all snug in my bed, while stray clips and pins poked me in the head.

Unfortunately it was after a not-so-long winters nap that on Saturday morning the boyfriend and I dragged ourselves out of bed and made ourselves presentable to get away early in the hopes of avoiding the traffic and finding a park in plenty of time so as not to miss any of our favourite bands that were lined up for the day.

We shot off just after 9 (what with all the primping and preening that is early for me! Judge me if you want) and made great time, thankfully didn’t encounter much traffic and found one of the best parking spots! Very much a fluke but how lucky! There was hardly anywhere to park, legal or otherwise, and we managed to get a spot just a couple of metres from where all the action was happening. Thank you parking Gods!

The weather is usually a bit cool but generally quite nice for the festival but considering how crazy the weather has been lately it was a little bit disappointing because it was quite overcast and very cold!! In my outfit pic you can see my big red coat which kept me pretty warm, except when the wind really got up. Which it did, hence my slightly squinting expression – sorry!
It was great seeing everyone and catching up as it’s been a little while since we’ve really been out on the town properly. Boyfriend has been recovering from an op so we’ve been laying low and he’s still not fully recovered so he was a total champ to be on his feet all day at Cooly! It was great crowding the streets to see the bands playing, surrounded by some amazing cars! We caught The Detonators first up – one of my favourites! There were plenty of people down the front keeping warm by dancing up a storm! My feet were getting pretty itchy standing there watching, but since my mister had to take it easy we just enjoyed watching and bopping along.
The Rockabilly Outdoor Stage was where it was all happening and we stayed there pretty much all day apart from a few food, toilet and pub detours. We enjoyed seeing Doug Wilshire & The Tailspinners, No Brakes, Corn Liquor, The Flying Saucers and of course The Flattrakkers – another of my favourites! They have also just released a new album so it was really cool hearing some new tunes.

All in all a great weekend and I look forward to Cooly Rocks On next year, which will hopefully attract some better weather. We’ll be at 100% next year and if we’re lucky we might even score some accommodation and party up properly!

Quick update in case you’d all be wondering what ever happened to my Von Franco Eye Gone Wild model that I was so excited to build.

Well it’s finished!

I actually finished it a couple of weeks ago but hadn’t had a chance to transfer over the photos I’d taken.

I took my time painting all the various bits and pieces to make sure not a bloodshot eyeball was out of place.

I painted the body in a rather fetching shade of purple with a bit of sparkle to catch your eye but matte enough to keep that ‘rat rod’ look.

Some fat slicks, a few strategically placed decals and a contrasting  turquoise motor later and she was ready to put together.

Behold! Eye Gone Wild a la Sheri Bomb by Von Franco! A pretty good job for my very first model if I do say so myself – which I do!

While we’re on the subject of hot rods, I’ll be heading off to Cooly Rocks On this weekend. Replacing the annual Wintersun festival at Coolangatta I’m keen to see what the new festival’s first year is like. And to take in some awesome bands and rockin’ rods. More to come on this for sure!

Yep you read right - this weekend I finally popped my cherry, my blog meet cherry that is!

Thanks to Hello Blogger Events, who organise blog meet ups all over Australia for fellow bloggers to get together, have a good time and learn some blogging tips along the way.

Being relatively new to the world of blogging, or at least running my own, I was looking forward to getting together with some like-minded folk who perhaps answer some questions, point me in the right direction or just help me network.

Slightly smaller in the grand scheme of blog meets, it was the perfect mix of age and experience with enough intimacy to get some helpful advice.

We went to the Sushi Train at Chermside and there was sooo much delicious sushi! I'll have you know that's not all mine either! This was also Hayley's first time ever trying sushi so we all had some yummy bits and pieces.

It was great to put faces to some of the names behind blogs I have been reading and to discover new ones to become addicted to. Zoe was our offical unofficial photographer for the day although Danielle was sneaking in a few candid shots too, like the one of Zoe and I below. I wasn't aware this was being taken so not my best work.



 As the only childless attendee I didn't have much to contribute to all the 'mummy talk' although there were quite a few hilarious stories shared that whilst being entertaining, were also an excellent form of contraception for me! Kids can be cute but I like them better when they're someone else's problem haha

Big thanks must go out to Mrs BC for lending me the use of her hand mirror to check my teeth before the token group shot. Seaweed in your teeth equals not attractive or the best impression! Altogether now, everyone say 'awwwwwww'!


What a lovely looking bunch we are! It was definately a great experience, all the ladies were very friendly and even though I'd never met any of them before it felt just like a lunch with my girlfriends! I'm looking forward to my next one where hopefully I'll get to meet more of the lovely bloggers I follow.

The 3rd tattoo I ever got (for those of you who don’t know me, I have quite a few) was the word ‘Blessed’ in script across the back of my neck. It’s a relatively simple piece done in an elegant font, just plain old black and white. When my hair is down, which is quite often, you can’t even see it. But it’s not a ‘show piece’ it’s a special, personal, private tattoo. Just like the sentiment it embodies, while I may not always be able to see it, it’s always there – a part of me.

There was no great catalyst in my life at the time that inspired me to get it, other than the fact that I was just beginning to forge my own path in life. But I wanted to get something that would be a constant reminder to be grateful, to be thankful for all the wonderful things I do have rather than feeling negative over the things that I don’t have.

Too often it is so easy to get sidetracked by envy or jealousy or to allow one small thing to become an all-consuming negative force in your life. It is moments like these when it is so important to think about all the wonderful memories and experiences you’ve had in your life, and the wonderful people that you have around you.

Life isn’t easy for anyone; we all have our share of ups and downs, of hurdles to jump and crosses to bear and it isn’t a matter of who is most hard done by, or who has been through the most. It’s about the lesson’s you’ve learnt along the way and the special people who you’ve been lucky enough to have in your life to help you through.

I don’t want to get all cliché and say ‘live each day like it’s your last because you never know when your number’s up’ but there is definitely a great deal of wisdom to be taken from that statement. Enjoy the little things and appreciate the small wins of each day because you just might need that little ray of sunshine to get you through tomorrow.

I hope it doesn’t come across as naïve but I try to see the good in everything. My parents got divorced when I was young and as hard as it was at the time, I’m now so grateful to know them as people in a way that I don’t think I would have been able to had they stayed together. Not to mention, I’ve picked up a step-mother and step-father along the way that has given me even more people who love me and give me advice from a different perspective.

Sometimes it is the darkest moments in life that can show you who your real friends are and the fact that you can come through something negative is a positive in itself. I feel very lucky to be going through a very positive time in my life right now, and it’s times like this that really make me look back and realise just how good I’ve got it.

So I didn’t want to let the moment pass without acknowledging how thankful I am for the opportunities I’ve been given and the wonderful people in my life who love and support me, who just by being in my life make me feel truly…