Wardrobe Editing - Puffin style

Last week I did a wardrobe edit for a very good friend of mine. Let's refer to her as The Puffin.

You see The Puffin has her own dressing room - jealous? Yes me too. And it's a beautiful room, off a very beautiful bedroom but thing thing is, she had about 30% more items of clothing in that room than she needed. So we took to it with a zero tolerance policy for anything that hadn't been worn in 12 months or anything that had had it's day.

I learnt several things that day about my friend The Puffin:

1. The Puffin has lots of singlets, t-shirts and cashmere jumpers
2. The Puffin has a second-to-none casual wardrobe full of quirky fun colours
3. The Puffin loves soft fabrics
4. The Puffin needs to buy some shoes
5. The Puffin loves Raggedy Ann v neck, long flared or frill layered cotton dresses with patterns
6. The Puffin will not throw out her turquoise cotton skirt

And this is what we managed to take out of the wardrobe:

Assorted ousted garments strewn on the bed.

and on the floor...

Tidy hanging space. Tidier makes it easier to choose clothing.

It was quite the successful mission I have to say with a few garbage bags full going to Vinnies, about 5 items to be altered for increased wearability and everything in better order.

Belts in a shoe box lid. Great for the spatially challenged.

Folded cashmere.

The Puffin's Scholl denim wedges. They were something else...

And check out these little gems which were unearthed... No, they didn't stay ... ;)

Birds Ski Weekend

The Birds! (Top: Frannie, Soph, Ali, Tana. Bottom: Trudie, Rennel).

The Birds At the base of the Kosciusko Express L-R (Frannie, Lizzie, Soph, Rennel, Trudie, Tana and Ali)

You may recall that I go away with some equally amazing chicks on an annual ski weekend. Having recently returned, I feel kind of sad to no longer be with the birds in the mountains, having a whale of a time. Ah, so much fun.

Rennelly AKA The Puffin our only boarder.

We skied pretty hard this year, in years gone by pre-kids, we partied a bit harder, but this time it was all about pulling some great turns, finding new lines and of course lots of laughs.

Tana (team captain) in the carpark downing a coffee.

Day 2 was an absolute cracker. Like every day, we were up for first lifts or thereabouts, we skied under bright blue skies and we nailed that illusive jewell here in Australia when we found ourselves skiing dry, fresh, non-icy, non-slushy snow. There was no powder (just a little windblown stuff here and there) but that didn't dampen spirits. You see Aussie skiers are used to less than fabulous ski conditions. We learn to turn on ice, to stop in mixtures of slush and barely covered grass. So when we arrived in Thredbo 2 weeks ago and saw the runs covered in a thick blanket of white we celebrated. That's the jackpot.

Sev and Nic AKA the Tassie Devil and The Mexican Walking Fish

So back to Day 2, we skied hard til 2pm exploring all of Karels top backcountry, Trudes and I finding better and better lines through the windblown, the basin, Gold Course bowl, Cannonball, the Bluff, the Central Spur and a few cheeky tree runs near the super trail. FUN!

On the hill. Soph, Trudie and Tana.

Then it was off to lunch at Merritts where the chicken laksa surprised us (with how good it was) and the schnapps were plentiful. We stayed til last lifts at 4pm, skied home with full bellies and giggles non-stop.

Birds at Lunch. Kareela Hutte. Frannie on Right.

Dinners were also impressive. Sante on the Friday night for tapas and great service (thanks James!) and take-away pizza enjoyed in our glamorous pad, Elevation where we had earlier enjoyed the view and the always impressive Thredbo flare run and fireworks. That is a tradition that never grows old with me. Even at 36 (yes, thank you, it's a new thing), I still get butterflies when watching it. Long may that wonderful Thredbo tradition continue.

Trudes and Soph.

And speaking of wonderful traditions, long may our BSW continue. A very big thank you for our tour organiser Tana for such a wondeful weekend. I LOVED it.  xxx

Polo Anyone?

Yesterday we hopped in the car and travelled an hour north west out of Sydney to the Windsor Polo club to watch Australia play New Zealand in the polo. I am proud to announce that Australia won and the Kiwis were put firmly in their place.
As is always the case at the polo, there were plenty of stylish people to look at and then of course the beautiful ponies, who despite my love of stylish people watching, always manage to steal the show. Here are some pics.

Kathryn from Mediacom and Sarah from LVMH.

Two rather smart looking gents working the hat.

Sev, Clare and Tania from the(sydney)magazine.

A suave looking couple. White jeans are always popular on the boys at the polo.

Good pair of pins are never out of style...

This lady worked some great accessories.

Very chic pair.

Understated chic.

More good pins...

The New Zealand ponies.

The Organised Mother

I've heard many a parent bang on about how organised they became after having a child. I have to say I think I thought it was all a bit of a martyr statement until recently. But, I am soon to return to the workforce and thus I am now one of those annoying people who thinks that they are now sooo much more organised than they used to be.

You see this newfound sense of order has manifested itself in many ways but probably the most obvious is in our freezer. And I'm not alone. Allow me to introduce you to Trudie's freezer drawer...

Isn't amazing? Just looking at this makes me feel satisfied. Not only is this the height of organised heaven, but tasty meals in Trudie's freezer for little Iggy include: beef casserole, poached salmon and peas, lentils and vegie, raspberries and pear and blueberry and apple compote! How fabulous is that?

As I type I have a tasty little chicken, asparagus and sweetcorn number on the hob and yesterday I stashed a few pots of spag bol for him. It's odd but cooking and freezing does give one a real sense of contentment... ahhh.

Girls on Film

So it just happened to be my birthday this week (35 big ones) and even though I didn't arrange a dinner or party, I felt it necessary to get a couple of the birds together for an impromptu night at the pub. The venue was the Lord Dudley in Woollahra and the tonic? Prosecco... and a couple of shots of course. It's tradition.

We then moved onto the Sheaf for a Jagerbomb (cause we needed that) and by 11.30 I was so tired it was time for bed. Just don't have the same stamina as I used to!

Wonderful night ladies. Thanks a million!

Cool Kids on the Piste

Well I've been hitting the slopes both here in Australia and overseas for a few years now and I noticed a real step up this year in ski chic, and it was the boys leading the way people. I saw so many cool young things getting about the slopes in the most amazing array of ski chic. Largely driven by those uber cool snowboarding kids, the latest looks were all about patterns, print and colour. BIG. LOUD. COLOUR.

I tell you what it certainly made queuing for lifts that much more bearable.

But if you're not of the knuckle-dragging persuasion, and you prefer the more refined method of getting down the hill on two planks not one, there were still some gerat looks to be worn. The best looks incorporated fur, block colour or neutrals and slim line cuts. As far as I'm concerned the pastel should not be seen on the slopes. Never. No need. Come on, get bold, this is your excuse to get a little creative.

As with every season, I am in love with and am coveting pretty much the entire Moncler range... particularly the hot Alpin jacket (shiny cherry puffer with red fox hood, oooh aaah), the Cluny (sporty blue perfect for real skiing) and the Tarn (saucy white sleveless puffer with fox hood). Check out the Moncler site for further inspiration www.moncler.com/

Here's Wally!

My old school buddy Kate Walsh was in Sydney a few weeks ago catching up with family and friends so you'll imagine my excitement when she popped in for a visit to catch up and meet Orsie. Just wait til you hear what her new job is... she's the Communications Director of Slow Food in New York. Hello??Dream job!

Kate's having a great old time in NYC and seems really content and energised about life and I can't wait to hear more about her new job and all the great food she'll have to indulge in along the way.

Katie it was so lovely to see you again, stay in touch. I'm thrilled we got to shoot the breeze like old times.

Girls Night Out

When I find myself wiping up yet another spilled bowl of pear and rice cereal mush or throwing a half-eaten teething rusk at one of the all too regular redneck guests on Dr Phil, I like to start planning my outfit for the next Girls Night Out (GNO) or at very least contemplate the menu of the chosen restaurant.

Our most recent assault on Sydney after dark took place in Crows Nest - home of the Peacock Gardens Chinese restaurant. You see we like to mix things up us ladies... see all of Sydney, not just our usual haunts and we all kind of love Chinese food. About half the regular GNO attendees live on the northside so it's only fair to split the events on both sides of the bridge.

For the first time, we organised (that's the royal 'we', by we I actually mean my friend Boh) a banquet and pre-ordered wines. Now what a revelation that was. No fussing about with debates over fried versus steamed, no having to sell-in your fave entree to the group, just a seemingly endless flow of good food being deposited on our generous lazy Susan.

My favourites included the Sesame Prawn Toast (a triumph), Salt & Pepper squid (I know, it's everywhere but not often done this well) and a pretty damn fabulous Bombe Alaska (below). My word what a fine beast it was.

After that, we found ourselves sharing a very smooth bottle of wine (Curly Flat Pinot Noir) at nearby wine bar Small Bar www.smallbar.net.au/. I think it's safe to say that a good time was had by all. I think this was evidenced by pictures found on my camera the next day including Trudie wearing Iggy's beanie (top) and this little gem featuring Kailey who suffered a sartorial disaster in the form of a skirt malfunction (below). In true style, Kails managed to make it work by turning it round the other way. Good times.