The secret is out...

So I know that I have not blogged in forever and my friends (that know I have a blog) have all asked why and here is the answer.  I am pregnant!

11 weeks and 2 days today.  It seems so surreal because I do not feel sick anymore and to look at me quickly I don't think you can tell but there you go.  On October 31st (or sometime near then), we will, God willing, have a baby.

Already some of my clothes are too tight to wear and be comfortable so I am going to have to go shopping.  It's coming into Winter here (Autumn really began this week with a freezing wind) so I can layer.  For inspiration I have been  watching Mad Men in Season 3 and 4 where Betty Draper and Trudy Campbell are pregnant but both of them seem to be pregnant in Summer.

 

Here is Betty just after she has had the baby but she is till in maternity wear

 

This is Betty in her new maternity dress for a big party - Derby Day at a country club.  I love her hair and make-up here and the belted waist of the dress but definitely not the sleeves.  I itch just looking at them.

 

This an at-home outfit of a skirt and smock style top.  I think that this would be the most comfortable to wear but again, not so great for Winter.

 

Here are the only photos that I could find of Trudy Campbell Pregnant.  The amazing shots on the left are from Tom + Lorenzo blog which breaks down each Mad Men episode and discusses all the fashion and a lot of the set as well.  I would like to think that if I decided to wear something similar to Trudy on the right to bed I would actually still be able to sleep.  I wish I could look that good when my tummy is that big.

Now for some pictures of two of the greatest style icons of the time, Grace Kelly and Jackie Kennedy.

 

Here Grace (Princess at this stage) is apparently quite pregnant and standing with one-time beau and fashion designer Oleg Cassini - fancy looking this good running into a ex?

 

I had to include one of the famous Kelly bag hiding the pregnancy - again with a coat.

 

 

These two are of Jackie.  One public and one private.  I love the amount of colour that Jackie wore.  I think the top picture convinces me to get a nice warm big coat to wear in Winter.

 

When I told my Grandma I was expecting she was telling me that she hates seeing pregnant tummies bare in public and she was telling me she used to have skirts with a cut-out bit for the belly.  I didn't know what she was talking about until I have seen the above illustration.  I think it's hilarious that none of the women illustrated are pregnant but I can see how the waistband of the dress expands to accommodate the growing baby.  Today skirt seem to be designed to wear under the tummy or have a giant elastic bit to go over the bump.

 

These two designs show how the smock style top covers the belly down to wear the skirt has the cut-out.  I think it would be hard to get them to sit right but they do look ok.  I think the green one at the bottom would be comfy for sleeping in.

I will maybe (depending how brave I am) do some outfit posts of what I wear as I progress.

Our new life

I have been taking lots of photos lately of everything to do with our new home.  Mostly they are of the garden as I don't have the interior looking as I could wish.

This tree is a mandarin that was already in the garden when we got here.  This was taken maybe 2 weeks ago and since I have had some delicious mandarins - you just have to be careful not to eat the grubs!

This beautiful rose is from our front garden - I love the clear red colour.  I cut this one because the previous two were destroyed in all the rain we have been having.  It looked like this the entire time it was in its vase.  All the petals just fell off.  It doesn't have scent.

This a picture of my favourite spot in the house - under the wonderful Norfolk pine.  When it was warmer the Beau and I would have lunch under this tree.  I love looking up into it.

Here are the three trees I got for my birthday off my brother (a landscape architect) - who also planted them because I don't have a spade, and my Mum and step-Dad.  The are from left-to-right a Dwarf Tahitian Lime, a Tangello and a grafted Avocado.

As all my casual work has dried up I also have time to do my hair.  Actually though it is not taking that long.  I put in a few pin curls at night , and then just pin it up in the morning.  It takes about 10 minutes all up so I really could do it every day and have for the past three days.  But that could also have something to do with the Joan Harris (nee Holloway) obsession that I have at the moment.  So the pictures of my hair (not taken very well and with no make-up) are using the template that Super Kawaii Mama (you can access her blog from the side bar) sets out in a tutorial.

This is my first attempt - I put in about six pin curls around my face  - which helped with my long fringe.  However, I didn't get the side swept fringe that Joan has.  Please excuse no make-up.

This shot it a better one for showing the front.  My hair is also a bit too fly-away even though I had hairspray in - how does Joan get hers to be so clean, shiny and stay up?

Here is a shot of the back on day 2 - i think the hair looks smoother and I did do the fringe differently.  Also I didn't 

create the extra loop at the back the SKM and Joan both do - I just tucked the end under as I would normally do.

Today I also did more of a side sweep fringe and curled the extra length into a kiss curl.  I also think the height is better today.

So onto the wedding.  It is coming along so quickly and only last week I got out the invites.  It is also getting a bit stressful with people giving opinions were they are not asked for or going to be listened to!

This paper is by Christina Re.  The blue and gold are going to be the main colours for the wedding.

Here I have been experimenting with flowers and table seating as myself and Maid-of-honour are going to be doing all the setting up ourselves to keep the cost down.  This is what I have decided to go with for the flowers.  Some type of greenery with some blossoms arranged on top.  I got all these things from the garden and it took al of 2 minutes to do this.  The tablecloth is vintage damask and will be what we are using at the wedding.

This picture gives more of an idea of the colours but I decided not to go with this arrangement because then I would have the lug around vases.

Lastly here is something that I made for dinner the other night.  i have been cooking pretty much every night because now we have a Mortgage we cannot eat out as much as we were.  Which is fine because I like cooking - and we are getting a dishwasher for a Wedding present!

Here is the Beau's version - A steak and a salad with roast Butternut pumpkin, roast garlic, walnuts, roast onions, avocado and lettuce.  I hat menus that read like recipes so I will call it Warm Autumn Salad.

And my lovely vegetarian the version.

A New Morning

I love waking up in Autumn when the air is crisp.  Just like it is now.  I can't hear anyone over at the beach and there are no cars driving past.  There are a few surfers out braving the brisk air in steamers but there really isn't any surf.

I can hear a Magpie somewhere and the only other sound that is coming through the kitchen window is the small waves breaking gently.

Last night was a melt-down.   I miss the Beau (this is the longest we have sent apart since we first got together a few years ago) and felt lonely and after making enough dirty martinis for four - which  I drank all of - and watching Mad Men - which is lovely but ultimately depressing - I had a cry and went to bed with a cup of tea.

When the world shows you a serene day full of promise and potential, then it all seems like it's going to be ok again, even if it is going to take awhile.

Assignments

Why is it always the way - when I have something to write about I can't because of how muh other stuff is going on?

Well to get it out off my head - I'm going to note down what I would like to write about:

• Easter Show Jam entry
• Mad Men 
• My Birthday
• The Beau leaving for 6 months of study
• Finance
• Maggie Beer and Simon Bryant  - "the Cook and the Chef"
• Farmer's Market
• Walk the Line
• Cleaning/Organizing/Procrastinating

There - almost done!