Erin Condren Life Planner 2015-2016

Like most Erin Condren fans, I waited with eager anticipation for the launch of the new LifePlanner back in June. I ordered a day or two after the launch, and only just received my order. With all of the changes the company has made this year to the LifePlanner, the launch was super successful, hence the long wait. That and I live in Australia, so shipping takes a while. Luckily, the wait was worth it!

Belle getting in on the Erin Condren action 

I was lucky enough to get my hands on the Rose Gold edition, and I hope this becomes a regular feature for all planners in years to come as it is so pretty. I will be interested to see how the rose gold coil holds up in comparison to the silver in terms of scratches and tarnishing, but my hopes are high as this option costs more than both the silver and gold coils.

The gorgeousness that is the Rose Gold Life Planner

So, what are the changes the company has made? All great ones in my opinion, and I will list below :

Disney's Aulani Resort, Hawaii

During our recent trip to Hawaii, we stayed at Disney's Aulani Resort and Spa,  which is located in Ko Olina, on the leeward coast of Oahu. If you haven't gathered by now, I am a bit of a Disney Girl and kid at heart, and love all things Disney. Luckily, my Husband is also a kid at heart and has as much fun as I do exploring Disney's creations around the world. 

While researching our trip, I looked into other hotels as resorts as a bit of a 'due diligence', but always knew we would end up staying at Aulani. I will run through the pros and cons of staying at this Heaven on Earth, general tips, what we got up to and of course - photos! 

Resort Information and History
Aulani means "messenger of the chief" and opened on the shores of Ko Olina in 2011. Aulani celebrates Hawaiian culture, history and traditions while adding a touch of subtle Disney Magic to the everyday resort happenings. The resort spans over 21 acres on the edge of a private lagoon and you truly feel like you are in your own little paradise. With Ko Olina Golf Course across the road, as well as a selection of shops and restaurants, there is plenty to keep you occupied within the area.
A variety of rooms are available, from standard studio styles to family suites. Rooms are on the side of pricey, starting at just under $400 USD a night, but if you keep an eye out on the Aulani website, deals like these pop up all the time. We stayed in a 1 Bedroom suite over looking the resort pools and ocean (view from our balcony is displayed in the picture above) and it was absolutely stunning (not to mention bigger than our current apartment...).
Aulani is a decent car ride out of Waikiki. If you are after a fast-paced holiday, nightspots to go out to and shopping centres, Aulani is probably not the resort for you. It is easy enough to spend the day in Waikiki and get your tourist and shopping fix, but probably not quite the same as just 'popping out' if you are staying in Waikiki. If you are after a true, relaxing vacation, then I would highly suggest looking into this resort.

View from across the road

White Leather Love

As our house build is moving along quickly, we have started to look at purchasing feature items such as our bed, couches and a dining suite. We made the decision on our new bed last weekend (we are upgrading to a king size, our current queen bed will become the guest bed), and we are very close to making the call on our main living area couch and theatre room couch.

The couch we are looking at for the main living area is a white leather modular. Up until Sunday, I had pictured a cool grey, fabric covered modular couch to give the area a comfy and inviting look. The leather gorgeousness that we saw on Sunday however, threw a spanner in the works. I loved the couch itself, but wasn't sure if it would give our space the inviting look I desired.

{source : Caitlin Wilson via Made by Girl}

So to help me make a decision, I called on a gal's best friend in a situation like this - Pinterest. I created a board and after pinning just a few images, I knew that the white leather couch we found on the weekend was going to be ours. Our floors are a dark brown-grey wood, the the white on top of the darkness will take away any 'clinical' look a white couch could give.
We will still run with a cool grey fabric couch for the theatre room, but I am now excited to start planning the styling of the living area.
Below are the images that helped me to make the decision (not my own, sources noted under each photo). Enjoy!

Felt Play Makeup

This week in a role play area in my Kindergarten class, we have set up a 'Salon' where the children can role play the roles of hairdresser and makeup artist. It was a big hit (with both my girls and boys!) and I had many parents asking how I made it, so thought I would share it here for others to see as well. This is by no means my idea - I have see this done around the www before, but I just made the procedure up as I went. I luckily took photos of the process  - albeit not very good photos - my current apartment has horrendous lighting in the afternoon. Oh how I can not wait for a house full of natural lighting!! - so I apologise for that in advance! But I thought bad photos are better than no photos at all, right?? Or perhaps not in this case. You be the judge...

Our Hawaiian Wedding

Aloha!

Those of you that know me, know that I am recently married. My Hubby and I had a a very short engagement and decided to do things slightly different to the 'traditional' wedding. Hubby and I have always had an open communication line about our wedding, even before we were engaged. I have never been a big 'wedding' girl, and although I love attending weddings and celebrating love, I had never fantasised about 'my day' and all that comes with it, I just dreamed of actually being married.

After many, many talks, run throughs of several different scenarios, we decided on what we felt was perfect for us, and like to call a 'Backwards Wedding'. The ceremony part of our wedding was done in private (just the two of us) on the Island of Oahu, Hawaii. So in essence, yes we eloped. Prior to our departure to Hawaii, we had what the majority of our guests thought was our 'Engagement Party' (one in Western Australia and one in Victoria to cater for all of our loved ones), and we surprised everyone with our wedding news on the night. As you would imagine, we were faced with a room of many stunned and shocked faces, tears, laughs and cheers. Our engagement - turned - wedding celebrations were some of the best nights of our lives, and we wouldn't change a thing for the world.

When the news broke, many of my girlfriends had the same questions. Are you wearing a wedding dress? Do you have a photographer? Are you getting married on the beach?!!? You are SO not a beach girl... Do you have a minister?  What about your hair?? Makeup?! How did you organise it? and the most frequent of course was: Why??! When you hear the word 'Elope', many minds turn straight to a runaway bride, Vegas, bad photographs and unhappy families. Before sharing some of our beautiful photos (which in themselves manage to diminish all preconceived ideas on eloping) I thought I would answer these questions and explain how eloping doesn't have to involve some guy dressed as Elvis.

Did you wear a wedding dress?

Yes. I am not a Princess dress type gal, and was always going to choose something sleek and classic. I turned straight to one of my favourite Australian Designers, LOVER and fell in love with the Marianne Dress. I ordered it in a heartbeat and luckily it fit like a glove and was perfect. Yes - this is a very 'simple' dress in terms of a wedding dress - but it is 'me'.

Did you have a photographer?

UMMMM... Yes.  Photos are very important to me (my iPhoto catalogue could easily tell you that) and I pretty much like to document everything. Many people don't know this, but we changed our wedding date to suit our photographer. I am the type of person that researches everything to the absolute core. Planning a Disney vacation? I became a Disney expert. Buying a bed? I became a bed expert. Getting married in Hawaii? I became a Hawaiian Wedding Photographer expert.  Many, many hours were spent researching and stalking other people's Hawaiian weddings, and guys, I found the Holy Grail. Ashley Goodwin is beyond amazing, and if you know anyone planning on getting married in Hawaii, recommend her one thousand times over.

Did you get married on the beach?

That would be a no. Not that there is anything wrong with getting married on the beach - I think it is beautiful! But as my friends pointed out, I am not the quintessential beach girl by any means. I am pale, don't really like the sun with out a hat and love heels. Again, I researched quite possible every wedding location on every Hawaiian Island. And settled on the amazingness that is Kualoa Ranch (and I promise it's not just because Jurassic Park was filmed there...). Photos do not do this place justice at all. We were absolutely dwarfed by the landscape and our breath was literally taken away. There are several venues to choose from on the ranch, and we decided on Hale Moli'i. For those movie fans reading along - it is the location of Kate Hudson's wedding in You, Me and Dupree. Anyway.  It can be quite tricky finalising the details of your wedding via the www, and Heather at Kualoa Ranch was more than helpful and patient when I was deliberating between two different locations.

Did you have a minister?

Yes, our Wedding Planner (which I will get to in a moment) matched us with the most perfect Wedding Celebrant. Kahu Bruce gave us a truly spiritual, meaningful and personal ceremony, with elements of Hawaiian culture and tradition tied in. I couldn't recommend him more.

Did you have your hair and makeup done?

Of course! It was my wedding day and I wanted to look my best. I found Leslie Fair after (surprisingly...) extensive research and knew she was the gal for me. Leslie is the sweetest and really listened to what I wanted in terms of my look, and I also trusted her input and suggestions.

How did you organise it?

If you haven't guessed by now, I am a Type-A personality and like to have everything organised and researched to the tee. There were some things with a Destination Wedding that I wasn't 100% comfortable in organising myself, so enlisted the help of the amazing Kibby from Oahu Wedding. This was seriously the best money we spent in regards to our wedding, and having Kibby there to help us prior to and on our day was amazing. She organised flowers, Kahu Bruce, coordinated our vendors, transport, wedding licence meeting and also supplied us with a time line of events for our day. She was such a darling and could not recommend her and the rest of the girls at Oahu Wedding more.

Why??

This is a very personal question with a very personal answer, but in a nutshell, it is what we felt was right for us. It had nothing to do with our families not getting along or disapproving of our marriage, it is quite the opposite in fact. If eloping is something you and your Fiance are considering, the best advice I have for you is to block out all outside noise and decide what is important to you as a couple, and to do it for the right reasons.

Now! Time for the photos. As mentioned earlier - all photos were taken by Ashley Goodwin. Enjoy!!

Lust Have It!

Hello lovely friends!

Sorry for my absence here the last month - school has been keeping me busy this term! I promise I will be back with some exciting updates in the next few weeks.

I am popping in to share with you an offer for $5 off the Lust Have It beauty box with this code below:

The Lust Have It beauty box has been my FAVOURITE beauty box to date (and I have tried a few!) as the products are always items I wouldn't necessarily have tried had they not been packaged into the box, and are always great brands. The products are quite often full size, and there have only been a handful of items I haven't used, and this is usually due to a colour not matching my skin tone to be honest!

Tokyo DisneySea | Japan Travel Diary, Part Five

Tokyo DisneySea is perhaps the best Disney Park in the world. The Magic Kingdom-like parks are my favourite as they are quintessentially Disney, but TDS is the most detailed, perfectly executed park I have visited. Each land has a different and unique feel and themed down to the last grain of sand. You truly feel like you have been transported the one of the pages in a Jules Verne book, or down to the mysterious fathoms below with Ariel and King Triton. 

In this post I will be giving you a rundown of the park as it is so different to all other Disney Parks worldwide, as well as our 'plan of attack' and what we loved. Again - this post will be very photo heavy - but how could it not be with SO much beauty. 

King Triton's gorgeous castle. 

The entrance to Tokyo DisneySea at dusk. 

Selfie with Mt Prometheus