Category Archives: Uncategorized
The benefits of playing with play dough and 5 fun play dough activities.
Every aspect of playing with play dough is enjoyable for children. It is a tactile experience where children can explore the sensory qualities… They can squish, mold, roll it flat, create shapes, press objects inside it, smell it and create different colour combinations.Working play dough with their hands develops the child’s large and small muscles.Play dough can be an effective stress release – we all know that children canbecome stressed and frustrated and playing with play dough is a calming
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The benefits of playing with play dough and 5 fun play dough activities.
Every aspect of playing with play dough is enjoyable for children. It is a tactile experience where children can explore the sensory qualities… They can squish, mold, roll it flat, create shapes, press objects inside it, smell it and create different colour combinations.Working play dough with their hands develops the child’s large and small muscles.Play dough can be an effective stress release – we all know that children canbecome stressed and frustrated and playing with play dough is a calming Continue reading
A Collection Of Easter Ideas…
Make your own naturally coloured lip-balm with cocoa butter and beetroot.
Easy adult and kid friendly lip balm made with beetroot and items from the supermarket.The blog I wrote a while back titled “Cochineal, E120, carmine… “The little red food colouring bug and allergies” was written after my daughter had a reaction to my lip gloss when I kissed her. Unknowingly it contained cochineal beetle (that she is allergic to), so I decided I would try and make my own so there would be no more buggy kisses from mummy :)Mmmmwwwwaaaaahh!I made this with Scarlett last week so
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Book Review – Rants in the Dark by Emily Writes
Published 27/2/17, Random House NZ RRP $35, EBook also available. I read a lot of books and 99.999% of them are not about me (surprise!) or my life or anything remotely…
The post Book Review – Rants in the Dark by Emily Writes appeared first on The Best Nest.
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Spotlight on FishyPaint – a app for kids.
(FishyPaint App is only available on ios, this is a sponsored post and all words and opinions are mine.) FishyPaint in its simplest form is an app where you can bring your aquatic art to life. Download here. Price – FREE Description – FishyPaint is a high quality app that feels very natural. There areRead more
The post Spotlight on FishyPaint – a app for kids. appeared first on Lisasaurus .
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Ditching Plastic with Honeywrap
Looking for an alternative to plastic wrap…? Then… Honeywrap’s are for you! Honeywraps are a natural alternative to one time use plastic wrap. They are the brain child of three kiwi mums (and friends) who ‘have always tried to their bit for the envioronement’; a school project ‘lead them to discover beewax coated fabric being used as an […]
The post Ditching Plastic with Honeywrap appeared first on Always Made With Love.
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Vail Engagement Photos – Lucas and Leslie
My last post featured photos from Lucas’ wedding proposal to Leslie. He was so organized that he booked engagement photos for the following morning in Vail Village. We started at the Covered Bridge early in the morning, to be met by a small… Continue reading
for a new mum
My littlest sister is expecting her first baby soon, and I wanted to make her something useful for everyday Mum-life. She said she had her eye on a particular tote bag and zip case that our sister-in-law used with her… Continue reading
The waiting game.
Come on Little Balls. Continue reading
All that glitters – Blog Tour
Book Details:
Title: All That Glitters – A Tale of Sex, Drugs and Hollywood Dreams
Author: Liza Treviño
Genre: Women’s Contemporary Fiction
Publisher: Koehler Books
Published Date: March 1, 2017
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1633933083
ISBN-13: 978-1633933088
Synopsis:
Alexandria Moreno—clever, sexy, ambitious and, at times, self-destructive. She blazes a path from Texas to Los Angeles at the dawn of the 1980s to make her dreams of becoming an A-list Hollywood film director come true. She and her best friend arrive in Los Angeles with little more than hope and the determination to make it big. Alex, a beauty as dark and mysterious as her scarred heart, stands at the bottom of the Hollywood mountain looking up, fighting for her chance to climb to the top. Will her quest to live fast and take no prisoners on her way to success destroy her in the end?
All That Glitters is a women’s fiction Jackie Collins-type saga that introduces a strong, driven Latina heroine at the center of a rags-to-riches story spanning a decade of action. Along the way, Alexandria walks the fine line separating ambition and self-destruction, and discovers that some sacrifices will cost her everything.
What early readers are saying:
“Treviño tells her story with wit, intelligence, and an undercurrent of sadness at the plight women face to make a name for themselves as human beings instead of strictly as women. Treviño may have cloaked her ideas in entertaining vignettes and snappy dialogue, but underneath is a bite that stays with you.”
— Jonathan Marcantoni, author and publisher of La Casita Grande Press.
“Liza has a way of taking you with her as she tells this very compelling story. She draws readers in with her as she describes scenes and characters with colorful detail and vivid imagination. This story is a testament to it’s title: it really glitters!”
—Reesha Goral, author, The Servant Boy
“With distant echoes of Jacqueline Susann’s Valley of the Dolls in the background, Alexandria Moreno, the protagonist of All that Glitters, chases after the allure of Hollywood, all the time substituting pills, booze and sex for genuine happiness. It is only after she reaches success that she has an awakening leading her to realize the emptiness of her aspiration, and finally accepting true love. Kudos to Liza Treviño for giving us this unique image of the New Latina! I urge reading All that Glitters. You won’t regret it.”
—Graciela Limón, author
Read an Excerpt:
Los Angeles
Oscar Night, 1990
When did things start going wrong?
Alexandria Moreno gulped another swig of champagne from the bottle. She picked at its broken gold foil. It was the same stuff she used to buy back in the days when spending more than ten dollars on bubbly was an extravagance. Now she sat in the best limo money could buy, inching along the craggy hillside road waiting for her turn to put in an appearance at the first of many scheduled post-Oscar parties. She was obligated to dole out heartfelt hugs and kisses to any of the beautiful people who might want one. Tonight, everyone was going to want a piece of her. She was the girl of the hour.
Until recently, Moreno had been an unknown writer-producer. She rocked Hollywood, winning Academy Awards for Best Director and Original Screenplay for the lushly violent, low-budget film, Win or Lose. Moreno, widely considered a dark horse contestant in the Oscar race, was the first Hispanic woman to be nominated, and win.
Two golden statues for writing and directing lay on the limo’s floor and the vehicle glided to the top of Hollywood’s heights. Beyond the winding canyon road, the Los Angeles electrified grid shimmered like Moreno’s own personal cauldron of gold. She understood that more than just a movie had won tonight.
She had won.
So why doesn’t it feel better?
Why don’t I feel better?
Despite everything she’d done to reach this moment of glory, Alex understood that none of it mattered. Not one bit. No matter what happened to her, she was still alone and drinking the same convenience-store champagne.
“Want some of this blow, babe?” Nick sniffed and dropped his head back with a slight shake, giving the chemicals a little jumpstart in the brain he liked to say.
“No thanks,” she said, “I don’t want to mix tonight.” Alex turned her attention from the scrubby hillside to handsome Nick Sirianni sitting across from her, casually relaxed in his Armani tuxedo. Though he favored stiff Wall Street suits, Nick was always casually relaxed due to the fact that he was worth millions from a Hollywood Midas touch.
Alex heard Leonard Cohen’s gravel-rubbed, breathless voice floating faintly through the air, crooning his patented melancholy love proclamations, and she couldn’t help but let her eyes wander along Nick’s impeccably tailored suit. Her hands absently grazed the familiar bluish-purple marks on her wrists currently hidden under make-up.
Nick’s thin lips curled into a slow, understanding grin. “Fine, but I have some X for later, and I don’t care what you’ve taken already,” he said in a tone Alex had learned not to question. “I’ve got plans for you, babe.”
“I guess it’s gonna be a long night.”
“The longest ever.”
Alex could tell he had taken off. She absently twirled a lock of her black, shoulder-length hair.
“Hey,” Nick nudged her leg with his polished leather dress shoe, “let me see.”
“Not right now.”
“I’m not asking, Alley Cat. Let me see. And do it right.”
Alex locked eyes with him, but she relented.
She found the fold of her straight wraparound skirt of crepe and beading that draped to the floor. She peeled it back and uncrossed her legs beneath the gown, giving Nick a peek-a-boo of her
narrow ankle and high-heeled foot. She loosened her knees, proving to Nick she’d followed his instructions.
Nick looked her over and loosened his collar.
“Good girl,” Nick said and shifted toward her, the leather seat creaking beneath him. He knelt between her legs and softly traced the length of her pale grey stocking from her shoe, along her leg, up to the matching garter, and over her supple brown thigh exposed between the garter and its straps. Nick kissed her just above where the stockings ended. He breathed in deeply and peered up to her.
“I gotta have a taste, baby,” he said and dipped his handsome face between her thighs.
Alex sighed and sank back into her seat.
How did things get so out of control? Isn’t tonight supposed to be everything I’ve worked for? Everything I’ve sacrificed for? Or, what I’ve sacrificed everyone for?
Alex knew she had purposely cut off anyone who had the misfortune of ever giving a damn about her. And there were such people.
It certainly wasn’t Nick. She’d made her deal with this particular devil nearly a year ago. Things between them were comfortably tawdry. Nick owned her. She knew it. He knew it. They had an understanding.
A flicker nudged her: so many things that could have been. She took another swig of champagne, letting the alcohol’s fizz and burn push everything back into the darkness.
Alex registered Nick’s velvet tongue expertly stroking her crevices, and she couldn’t help but give him all the access he wanted. She felt him smile when she dropped her head back and settled deeper into the limo’s bench. The car halted forward and the lazy, swaying sax turned up the tension in Cohen’s sonic plea for love.
Alex peered beyond the cracked sunroof, searching the starless LA sky for some answers. A corner of the tinted sunroof caught her faint reflection and she saw a vacant-eyed, thirty two-year-old wasted stranger. She’d never known herself less than at this moment. Her passion for work was burned out and, even tonight, she couldn’t muster excitement. Now, everything was just a game requiring too much effort.
She shut her eyes tight and sucked in air sharply, breathing in the car’s mixture of broken-in leather and artificial lemon scents. She clasped at Nick’s broad shoulder, wringing the expensive jacket sleeve as if it were nothing more than a cheap cocktail napkin. After a moment, she relaxed.
Nick brushed a sweet kiss on her inner thigh before he returned the thin black crepe material of her skirt to its full length. He slid back to his seat across from her and smoothed his hair back.
“Damn, you taste good, honey.” He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.
“We’re next in line, ma’am,” the chauffeur’s voice crackled through the intercom. The limo moved into place with a definite stop.
Nick grinned. “It’s show time, Alley Cat.”
The cool night air took Alex by surprise as she waded into the sea of people and flashing cameras. She staggered, unsure she could move.
“One foot in front of the other,” Nick said in his soft voice through her hair. “I’ll get you a drink once we get inside.”
Alex smiled serenely and nodded. She focused on the live band somewhere in the distance belting out a Sinatra standard. Her eyes found the majestic Griffith Observatory looming in the distance, hovering above the white party tents.
Inside, the camera flashes kept coming.
“And here we are,” Nick offered as he swiped a couple of champagne flutes from a roving waiter’s tray. “This should get ya right, babe.”
Alex took the glass automatically. Another bulb flashed near her and she saw blue sprinkles. She regained focus quickly, but then her stomach dropped. Across the room was the last person she wanted to see.
Jamie Douglas stood out in any crowd. Angular looks punctuated by oceanic blue eyes, a naturally lean athleticism, and down-to-earth boyishness had made him a reigning movie star around the world for almost twenty years. And right now, Alex saw Jamie’s eyes find hers through the crowd. When they caught each other, a flash sparked between them like one of those popping camera bulbs. Jamie’s surprised look gave way to a lopsided grin; it was a look so familiar to her.
Alex registered Nick snake his arm around her thin waist and she broke her gaze from Jamie.
“Okay, Alley Cat, time for our victory lap.”
“Perfect timing,” she said.
Timing—everything always came down to timing. It seemed to her that her timing had always been off. Not crazy off, just that extra millisecond that pushed everything either too early or too late. And now, she understood that it was too late.
Suddenly, she couldn’t bear to go through with the whole charade of tonight. Maybe, she couldn’t even bear to go through with the whole charade of her life any longer. Just leave, a soft voice whispered inside her head. There’s nothing written you have to stick around. It’s practically programmed into your DNA that you’ll be checking out of this world early.
All at once, Alex understood that simple fact. She, Alex Moreno, would leave Los Angeles tonight as anonymously as she had arrived nearly a decade earlier. She knew that wasn’t an entirely accurate account of how she’d started.
Now I’m alone, and that’s just how I knew things would always turn out.
Author Bio:
Liza Treviño hails from Texas, spending many of her formative years on the I-35 corridor of San Antonio, Austin and Dallas. In pursuit of adventure and a Ph.D., Liza moved to Los Angeles where she compiled a collection of short-term, low-level Hollywood jobs like script girl, producer assistant and production assistant. Her time as a Hollywood Jane-of-all-trades gave her an insider’s view to a world most only see from the outside, providing the inspiration for creating a new breed of Latina heroine.
Munch Lunchbox Cookbook recipe: Orange and apple rockies
In this post we share a yummy lunchbox recipe, that is very easy to make. These Orange & Apple Rockies are from the Munch Lunchbox cookbook. These are super simple to whip up and are great for bento style lunchboxes. The Munch Lunchbox cookbook will help you with the lunchboxes for your kids every day. Written by the Munch […]
The post Munch Lunchbox Cookbook recipe: Orange and apple rockies appeared first on Munch.
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Episode 20: Heather and The Lucky Few
When Heather Avis and her husband realised they couldn’t have their own biological children they turned to adoption. There they found their three children, Macyn, Truly and August. It wasn’t the journey they thought it would be, but as Heather says in the episode, saying yes to Macyn was her “best yes” and now she Continue reading
Baby Led Weaning
Baby Led Weaning was a concept started in the 1980’s which involved a significant change in the way we introduce babies to solids. Traditionally babies started solids from as early as 4 months old and began with very smooth pureed versions of any food. Baby Led Weaning takes a different approach – allowing baby to […] Read more…
The post Baby Led Weaning appeared first on The Baby View.
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February Coffee Date
Wow, February has literally just whooshed past! It started off with me preparing for and looking forward to my first big race in New Zealand, and two kiddos in kindy. And now, a mere 28 days later, I’m the proud owner of a Cigna Round the Bays finisher’s medal (and brand new PB!) and we have one kiddo in kindy and one in "big school"… What an eventful month! So grab a cup of coffee, and Continue reading
