The handbag........

I'm a bit of a handbag collector!  But, late last year, I went through my largish collection and sadly, got rid of quite a few.  Surprisingly, I haven't missed the ones that are gone and I love the ones I kept.  But......I'm still searching for that elusive perfect bag :)

I was pretty ruthless when I culled the collection and threw away any bag with rips, broken buckles or that I kept getting lost in hahaha.  

I kept a select few........

My Lucca bag.  This almost the perfect bag!

My old faithful Roxy bag.  I always end up going back to this one. Almost the perfect bag!

My Kardashian Kollection.  A treasured pressie from my sister.  Almost the perfect bag!

My gorgeous Guess.  A pressie from Honey.  Almost the perfect bag!

Despite this impressive display of bags {not to everyones taste but I love them} I made the decision to not use a handbag this summer and instead, I'm using a $12.99 clutch bag from Cotton On!!! {which I have in two summery colours}  I got so tired of hunting around for lip balm, keys and change, and tired of lugging my bag with me when I just wanted to shoot out for a few minutes.  The little clutch carries all I need.....

Bargains!  $12.99 and it holds all I need.

Little pouch with cards, inhaler, eyedrops, ibuprofen, lip gloss, a pen, keys and my phone {that I am taking the photo with}  Travelling light these days ;)

That's heaps easier than carrying unnecessary junk around!

When I downsized, I realised that I wouldn't be able to take my makeup with me.....I don't wear it often but I had a purse filled with old lipsticks and mascara {sorry Drewe} so I cleaned that out and bought a new mascara {snaps for me}

The simple contents of my make up bag.  Yay for Thin Lizzy and $2 shop lipstick.  And my lovely new mascara!

Just the essentials.....and it fits in my clutch if I want to take it.

I feel so much lighter having less junk to carry around and let's face it, our bags are usually filled with stuff we don't actually need.

So your job is to clean out your handbag, or downsize your handbag or.....buy a new one!!!!

Take your pick ;)

trudy_n xoxx

Friday Fuzzy.....

It's been a great week.  Valentine's Day slipped in there and Honey and I enjoyed a lovely    lunch together at one of our favourite cafes.  We did a count up and discovered that we  have celebrated 23 Valentine's together!  Hope you had a nice Valentine's Day with your   beloved or if you're single, hope you rocked it!

Donuts with Honey for Valentine's lunch.

Apart from V day, it's been a pretty normal week - work, washing, school drop offs and pick ups, cooking, sleeping, chillin, you know.....the usual.  But there did happen to be one or two things that made me think, hmmmmm.  I can't go into specifics but let's just say that my life lesson last year {and it appears this years lesson too} is about being grateful for what I have in my life and who I get to spend my life with.  I choose to spend my time with people who understand, love and support me.  I choose not to spend time with negative and mean people.  I have a stack of special people in my life who love and respect me for who I am.

I am happy with my life {even the crappy bits} because they make me who I am.  I don't wish for this and that......I may dream about things but I know that I am already luckier than many people, in many ways, so that brings me to the........

-->

Friday Fuzzy....

                                                                                      

TRUE!!!  As my Mum used to say {and we would moan} "Be happy with what you've got or you lose the lot!"  Now I realise that all the little lessons my mum taught me are really coming in useful.  Thanks Mummy xxx

So I spread my message of gratefulness.  Be grateful people!  Grateful for whatever life throws at you, there's usually a hidden reason.  I have a grateful journal {thanks to Mum and Oprah} and I write down things I'm grateful for.  Some days, especially if it's been a tough one, finding 3 things I am grateful for is tricky but other days I could write forever.  That's why it's important to write in it everyday, good mood or bad mood.  On the bad days, read over the past few days and feel your spirit lift and then write your list.  This is a simple thing to do but it really works.  It has worked for me and it has worked for my Granmda {and you know how much I love her} so I truly believe it can work for you!

My Grateful Journal

So off you go....go to the shop and buy a notebook, cover it with pretty paper or stickers and buy a fancy pen to write with - make the experience fun and rewarding to do.

Be grateful, even for the little things.

trudy_n xoxx

Obsession number two......

Time for another obsession confession!!

Hi, my name is trudy_n and I'm a Pandora addict.  It all started a couple of years ago when Honey bought me my first Pandora bracelet and my first three charms.....hooked!  I'm not a big jewellery person {I wear my wedding, engagements rings and a pair of earrings} so my Pandora's are the only other bits of jewellery that I own and wear...but not everyday.  Oops, did I mention I had two???

Each charm on my bracelet has a special meaning to me so it's not just a pretty bracelet...it also has significance when I wear it.

Like.......

These represent my family - Ezra, Macy and Honey.  Three of these were my first charms.

The queen bee has lots of meaning.  Because I'm a queen {stop laughing}, because Ezra had a buzzy bee as his cuddly toy for a million years and because Macy called Honey, Honey!

The pineapple represents Australia.....there's a big pineapple you can visit in Queensland, which is where I was born. Queensland, not the big pineapple!!!

Honey gave me the pillow with the rings on it for our 20th wedding anniversary and the together forever for Christmas last year.  He's such a sweetie.

There are loads more.....my Mum gave me the picnic basket {long story}, my gorgeous sis has given me my coloured beads and Macy got me the camera for my 40th birthday.  So I'm a lucky girl.  And Macy has caught the bug!!!  She has a gorgeous bracelet with cute charms on it that have special meaning to her.....and my sister bought me the gorgeous Pandora chain bracelet so I need some charms for that too!!! {Mum and my sister have Pandora's too}  Birthday and Christmas presents are easy for all the girls in my family, lol.

My Pandora's.  I love them.

And Macy's.  I've created a monster, lol!

I just love these bracelets....they are super special to me and I know some people don't like them but hey, everyone's an individual with their own tastes...Pandora's happen to be mine!!!  And if you want to, go to the Pandora website and have a nosey.

Obsession confession number 2 over, phew.  

Not such a weird thing to be obsessed about really :)

But there is a few weird ones to come....so look out!!!

trudy_n xoxx

Friday Fuzzies......

A few years ago, the president of my church {I'm LDS or Mormon} President Thomas S Monson, requested for his birthday, that he would like everyone to do an act of kindness for someone.  Such a simple request!! People from all around the world wrote to him and sent him cards and he shared with us {through conference video and the Ensign magazine} a few stories that touched his heart.  There is one I remember......

President Monsoon unwrapped a gift from a group of Primary {sunday school for kids} children and found it to be a jar of colourful pompoms.  The pompoms filled the jar.  The card explained that all of the Primary children who had done an act of kindess for someone placed a pompom in the jar....these were warm fuzzies that they want to give to Pres. Monson.  Each pompom meant a child had done something kind and that was all he asked.  A jar of warm fuzzies!!!!  Giving a warm fuzzy feeling. How cute and how wonderful for the kids to see how their good deeds had created such a large amount of love and good feeling.

I decided I wanted some warm fuzzies in my house so I made a warm fuzzy canvas that hangs by our kitchen.  It's a constant reminder that we should do nice things for others without being asked to.  So I'm declaring that my Friday blog entries will be Friday Fuzzies...filled with happiness, thoughfulness and hopefully a message to uplift your spirit and make you smile {there will probably be the odd giggle in there too!}

My warm fuzzies....too cute :)

Here it is.....the first friday Fuzzy :)

“Almost every day

brings opportunities

to perform unselfish acts

for others.

Such acts are unlimited

and can be as simple as a kind word,

a helping hand,

or a gracious smile.”

–James E. Faust

Have a great weekend

Try and do something kind for someone in your family!!

And be kind to yourself.....buy a huge ice-cream!!!

trudy_n xoxx

January - GONE!......

Well folks, first month of 2013 done and dusted.  January just flew by, didn't it?  If you're like me, half {if not all} of your new year resolutions have gone out the window but I have managed to stick to two things that I wanted to do this year.  #1 I have not worn black every day!!!  Yay me!  Today, I am wearing sunny yellow :) and #2 I have completed a month of the photo a day challenge.  Double yay me!!!

I first found out about the photo a day challenge when I stumbled across a super cool blog called fatmumslim.  I don't know how I found it but I did and I've been reading it ever since and always looked at her photo challenge but didn't do it because I didn't understand Instagram, which is where we load the photos.  But now I'm an Instagram nutter {I actually like it better than Facebook} so I decided to do the January challenge and I've completed it!!!  I took a photo each day, uploaded it and was proud that people "liked" my photos.  I thought I'd share my month with you :)

January Photo A Day Challenge.

Day 1. Today.  Today was rainy so I watched movies on the couch with Macy.  Home

Day 2. Something new.  Orange - the new colour at Smiggle. Queensgate Lower Hutt

Day 3. Heart.  My porcelain heart.  Home

Day 4.  The view from here.  The view from my ladder as we paint our house. Home

Day 5. Movement.  Honey loading his mates truck so they can head off for a dive. The Foxes

Day 6.  Mine.  My side of the bed. Home

Day 7. Street.  Adidas street shoes.  So cool.  The Plaza Palmerston North

Day 8. Something beginning with T.  Tennis ball - it's a big one. Home

Day 9. Paper.  Our boarding passes as we head to Christchurch for a girl's holiday. Welly airport

Day 10.  One o'clock.  Time to hose the kune kune - it's hot. Rangiora

Day 11.  Water.  Ice in homemade lemonade. Rangiora

Day 12.  Surprise.  Nine eggs from the chooks this morning. Rangiora

Day 13.  Circle.  Mr "Flash" Potato Head and his circle eyes.  New Brighton

Day 14.  Yellow.  Yellow cupcakes. Riccarton Mall

Day 15.  An ordinary moment.  Movies on a rainy day.  Rangiora

Day 16.  Two things.  Flight boards as we head home.  Christchurch airport

Day 17.  Ready.  Ready for walkies.  Home

Day 18.  Shadow.  Shadow across the hill.  Lighthouse Cape Palliser

Day 19.  Delicious.  My delicious new perfume.  Home

Day 20.  Something I saw.  Two war planes flying in the Wings over Wairarapa. Home

Day 21.  Something I do.  Fold washing!!!  Never ending.  Home

Day 22.  Corner.  Corner of the tiles.  My favourite photo of the month.  School pool

Day 23.  Electric.  My salt lamp.  Home

Day 24.  Stripes.  My birthday present packaging.  Home

Day 25.  Landscape.  My palm tree.  Home

Day 26.  Together.  The boys, always mates.  Home

Day 27.  Sun.  Sun-day...church in the morning.  Featherston

Day 28.  Through.  Through my front door.  Home

Day 29.  Grow.  Grow chart I found inside Macy's cupboard!  Home

Day 30.  Down.  Gotta put the car windows down - it's a scorcher.  Home

Day 31.  Yourself.  Getting my hair done on my last day of holidays.  New Image Salon

All of my photos were taken on my iPhone 5 and edited with either Instagram or Picute.

I hope you enjoyed my January....February has started and so has a new photo challenge.  I'm going to do my best to keep it going this month too, although, it may be harder now that my holidays have come to an end, boo hoo.  But it's worth a shot, it was so much fun last month.  So if I can stick to it, you'll see my photo challenge photos each month.

So, I say goodbye to January, holidays, sleep ins, long swims, reading all day, no work and my 30's all in one month - life is so cruel ;)  but I say hello to February.....back to work, Macy starting Intermediate, Valentine's Day, treasured weekends and a new photo challenge.  Mmmm, that's not so bad!

Big kisses and hugs to Mace for all of her help with photo ideas, you are a treasure xxx

Happy February and check back soon for new posts.

trudy_n xoxx

Go to fatmumslim if you want the February challenge list.