All posts tagged: lifestyle

Give the gift of: Tiritiri Matangi

Published by

My sister loves nothing more than a good bush walk which made choosing a birthday experience for her fairly easy – we are a bit spoilt for choice in our part of the world. Of all the experiences I’ve given as a gift this year, this one was the most rewarding for both the gift givers and the gift receiver. There’s nothing like two days on a bush clad island full of the most beautiful birdsong to reboot both the body and the mind. Where we went We went to Tiritiri Matangi – a bird sanctuary on an island just off the Whangaparoa Peninsula. You can take a ferry from Auckland CBD which takes about 75 minutes, or drive to Gulf Harbour (where there is plenty of free parking, and a drop-off zone makes it easy to get gear from your car to the ferry) and pick the ferry up there for a quick 20 minute ride across the water. What we did Most people visit Tiritiri Matangi on a day trip, but there is …

14 Ways to Make Your Trash Someone Else’s Treasure

Published by

I’d love to be able to tell you that I’m on day 30 of my 100 Day Declutter and that it was all going swimmingly. Truth is by Day 7 I’d already given up. While it was a nice idea – and I’d prepared a huge list of things to declutter in advance – the reality of doing a little every day just didn’t work for me. I’m always one to look for silver linings. I didn’t achieve what I set out to do, but in the process I did put together a list of great ways to turn your trash into someone else’s treasure. Work Clothes: Dress for Success help women get back into the workforce so they can be financially independent. They accept good quality business clothing, shoes, handbags and jewellery that would be suitable for someone to wear to a job interview. They have branches in Northland, Auckland, Hamilton, Rotorua, New Plymouth, Wellington and Christchurch and lots of convenient drop off points. All Types of Clothing: The Clothing Collective is a second …

Me, My HRV and Why Two Out of Three Aint Bad

Published by

For years I’ve banged on at husband about wanting a ventilation system. His counter argument has always been that a) what we really need is a heat pump and b) there’s no point doing anything until we do the ‘Big Renovation’. As the ‘Big Renovation’ is no longer happening the time has come to make a decision one way or the other. Our house doesn’t have the open plan kitchen/dining/living that so many new and renovated houses have. We’re a big family for our small house so for us it’s better to have a kitchen/dining space that is separate from the lounge. It gives me respite from the kids (and them from me I guess) and as we don’t have space for a rumpus room, having these two separate living spaces is a must. This, I’ve always argued, means a heat pump won’t work for us. So husband got a man in to try and talk me round. His recommendation was to install four separate, yet small, heat pumps  – one in the kitchen/dining room, …

The 100 Day Declutter

Published by

A while back I embarked on a major declutter and enthusiastically announced I’d have this done in 30 days. That was 6 months ago. During that time I’ve hauled several carloads of stuff down to charity shops and school fairs, but it really doesn’t feel like much has changed. So I’ve decided to undertake a 100 Day Declutter – a rather ambitious task for me I admit, but by turning it into a game (of sorts) I’m hoping it’s something I’ll persevere with. Below is the list – I’ll keep adding to it as I go along. Wherever possible I’ll find a home for my stuff and in doing so hope to hunt out some worthy charities or causes that might be useful fo you, my fellow declutterers. Some will go on TradeMe for sale to help fund my first renovation project – the hallway (and yes, I’m pretty sure that’s going to take me another 100 days to complete….) and other things I’ll post on my Facebook page to see if anyone else can re-use …

Give the gift of: 48 Hours in (Roto)Vegas

Published by

Keeping the kids entertained during school holidays is never easy, especially when you’re self-employed. Being dragged to meetings or having yet another ‘movie day’ while Mum gets her work done isn’t what my kids call fun, so rather than bribe them with toys I promised them an experience focused totally on stuff kids want to do. Where we went For this, Rotorua is perfect. There’s plenty to do and lots of fun to be had for kids and parents alike, even if the weather isn’t great. What we did We found a package at Quality Inn that offered two nights’ accommodation plus vouchers for the Gondola and Luge, Rainbow Springs and the Polynesian Spa all at a price that made a fun-packed weekend away very affordable. Normally I’d be disappointed that the definition of a ‘family’ is 2 adults and 2 kids – but with Miss 10 away at Horse Camp we fitted right into that box. How it went We checked into the hotel on Friday afternoon. The room was basic, but comfortable, with …

Giving the gift of: Social Cooking

Published by

In our busy lives the most precious thing we have is our time, which is why this year I’ve decided to #givepresence instead of presents to everyone I know – young and old. Choosing an experience for my best friend was easy – something we both love to do is eat good food. Taking her out for dinner would have been way too easy and predictable so instead I took her to a place where you get to learn, cook and then eat your own tasty creations. Where we went I chose Social Cooking as they were located not too far away and offered a range of different styles of cooking. Plus they do vouchers which makes it an easy – give the gift then sort out which class to go to later. What we did We booked into the Celebrity Chef series to learn to cook MasterChef Dai and Dal’s famous Pork Larb – one of the few dishes to ever get 10 out of 10 from the judges. Just a word of warning …

Making a Life or Debt Decision

Published by

I’m a strategist by trade. My professional brain thrives at 30,000 feet.  I can develop concepts. I can see the big picture. And I watch in awe as teams of people bring ideas into reality. And that’s my problem right there. In my personal life, there have been no teams of people swooping in to create the home I want. Lately our family motto seems to have been “why do today what can be put off indefinitely”.  We’ve been busy building our careers, raising three kids and working on a multitude of other excuses. Whatever the reason it’s fair to say my home is more student flat than “House and Garden”. A while back we’d decided to undertake a massive renovation that would have given us the big, beautiful home you see in all those magazines. You could say we were about to make a life or debt decision. We chose life In line with our family motto, we chose to do nothing. Well actually, we chose to do everything – overseas trips, camping holidays, …