Favourite Five this Friday - November 22

Wow! Another week gone already, and what a jam-packed 7 days it has been! From a triathlon up at sunny Hamilton Island, to a Birthday Boy turning 6 and tropic-cool Hawaiian themed party to match. Just non stop, but I'm loving it!

A huge highlight of my week was heading to Hamilton Island - for the first time ever to the amazing FujiFilm sponsored triathlon (it was my 3rd time on the Island. Last time I was there Adrian asked me to marry him! So romantic). I am totally inspired to do a triathlon myself now, so watch out Hamilton Island 2014 - I'll be back ;)

Here's a snapshot of the busy Fitness, Food and Style week that's been ...

1. Lucky enough this week to spend some time chatting with legendary ironman, Ky Hurst. He's a superfit athlete, who makes it look just so effortless! And a great fellow too!

Ky Hurst is an Australian swimmer and ironman

2. Beach-perfect lunch is something as simple as a wrap stuffed full of healthy protein and greens. Fresh and delicious .... and ... yes, that's a sneaky fruit muffin treat that you can spy in this picture too!

Healthy salad roll lunch on Whitehaven beach

3. The absolute highlight of my week was celebrating our Oscar's 6th birthday with a fantastically fun Hawaiian themed party. Check out the blog post from yesterday to see how I pulled it all together in under 6 hours. Healthy food, fun games and grass skirts ... aloha!

Hawaiian birthday party theme 

4. There are many times when the easiest option ever would be to give up. STOP! Don't do it! The greatest rewards come from persistence and pushing through. I love this inspirational image and shared it on Instagram this week as a reminder to all of you ... and me!

5. Please indulge me this fangirl moment as I share with you my opportunity to meet and interview the supremely gorgeous Lindy Klim. What a gracious and stylish woman she is and so completely down to earth too! Keep an eye out for the upcoming feature on her and her business.

Lindy Klim former model and fashion entrepreneur 

Wow, there you have it ... another whirlwind of a week! Funny thing is I can't see it slowing down for a while yet! 

Please, let me know how your week's been ... what exciting things has life dished up for you?

Until next Friday, take care!

Much love and friendship

xx Dani

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Aloha it's Oscars 6th Birthday Hawaiian Party

HipHooray, we've had a birthday in the house, and tell me, who does not love a good birthday party?

It only seems like yesterday this little man came into our lives, but wowsers the years have flown and our Oscar turned 6 last week!! Because life has been so hectic in household Stevens we had to delay a few days and managed to celebrate his birthday yesterday.

When you're on the go and flat-tack, just like I've been these last few weeks, I really do think you need to plan time super carefully - maximum bang, from minimum fuss!

We are big fans of birthday parties, and knew the day had to be special for Oscar, but when you put your mind to it with a plan, it's possible to hold a cracker of a party with minimum fuss and preparation.

This is how I managed to arrange a party for our birthday boy in under 6 hours!!!

Spongebob - passionfruit sponge cake with fruit topping

Spongebob is Oscar's character if choice - he loves him! He also loves water - both pool and ocean, and so logically the initial plan was for a pool party.

Unfortunately the dreadful Ballarat weather was not in agreement and we were resigned to entertaining the party guests indoors.

Plan B it was!

Happy TROPI-COOL Hawaiian party, Oscar! A great way of combining the ocean theme whilst keeping it all undercover! And, yes, any excuse to don my grass skirt ;)

Balloons are easy to outsource and by ordering them first up in the morning, I could collect them within 2 hours. A true time saver and they looked great, don't you think?

Balloons always make great decorations

With the clock ticking, I then devoted some energy to running around looking to find grass skirts, table decorations, shells, leis, cocktail umbrellas and anything that looked remotely "Hawaiian" and that I could easily get my hands on. My efforts were well rewarded and I managed to get home by 1pm, tropical props in hand, to start decorating the place and making preparations for the food! It was action stations!

Luckily I had my favourite pineapple, a funky fedora hat and ukulele from Hawaii (a souvenir purchase Adrian and I made when we married in Hawaii, 2006) as the basis for the afternoon. They became my centrepiece decorations and everything else fell into place around them, surprisingly easily too! 

Hawaiian theme birthday party

If you've seen what I've been up to via Instagram, I'm actually not long back from Hamilton Island and, as such, any time for 'home' cooking was scarce. I decided to opt for a little bit of a semi-healthy 'cheat' and figured that party time was a pretty good excuse for it ;)

Drinks were easy - Tropicana juice with no added sugar, preservatives or additives. I had timing down to the wire as five minutes before Oscar's guests arrived, I was busily tying straws around the necks of bottles whilst my adorable big helper, Mietta, opened up all the cocktail umbrellas. 

Tropicana juice in cute little glass milk bottles 

I kept snacks very simple with colourful fresh tropical fruit and loads of tasty popcorn. I was right in betting on the kids being more interested in playing than in fancy food and these healthy options were still fun enough to satisfy them as party starters.

Hawaiian party theme food

Here's a quick family snapshot before all the guests arrived. Hope I don't look too rushed and frazzled ;)

Our beautiful kids (Mietta, moi, Zali, Noah and Oscar)

Just how cute are these grass skirts and leis? I'd recommend having a Hawaiian themed party if only to see your littlies dressed up like this! Adorable!

Hawaiian grass skirts are the best party dress ups

Hawaiian lei and grass skirt

Hello hula! Kids always love getting into the spirit of a themed party, don't they? It's amazing how confident little personalities can become when given the opportunity to land in a created world of make believe. You can guess we love parties, right? ;)


As Oscar's little party guests arrived, I started getting the warm food ready. Super easy pocket ham and cheese pizzas - being quick, tasty and universally loved by kids they ticked all the boxes and were a hit!

Cheese and ham pizza pockets

I can assure you that this plate of pizza slices did not last long after being photographed! It was quicker and easier to prepare these freshly than it would have been to either heat unhealthier frozen ones or order greasier ones in from the store. I'd call that winning, wouldn't you?

The activities were easy to organise and included those party games that kids never tire of - bobbing for apples and statues were probably the firm favourites.

You can see from the smiles and laughter below that Oscar's mates all had a fantastic time! We all did!

Happy 6th Birthday, Oscar! You are such a little rockstar and bring so much joy to our lives.

Now if I were to tell you that this now 6 year old kid of ours has a smile that melts hearts wherever he goes and is the coolest little dude we know, you'd call me biased wouldn't you?? ;)

Hip Hip! Hooray! Happy Birthday Oscar

So there you have it, a rocking kids party, all in under 6 hours from start to end! Phew!

Have you ever planned something short notice and pulled it off to be a cracker? I'd love to hear about it!

Much love & friendship,

XxDani 

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Our Wedding Anniversary

We just celebrated our 7 year wedding anniversary the other day and spent the weekend in Melbourne.

Mr and Mrs Stevens

Here are a few more pics from our wedding in Hawaii from a really early post I did when I just started blogging

It was amazing. We have the best sister/brother in laws EVER, as they took care of our 2+2 kids. It was so nice to have one on one time.

Peace. Laughter. Togetherness. Shopping. Eating. Dancing. All the cool stuff.



I love entering the hotel lobby, the smell, checking out their funky foyer design and just seeing various people checking in. I love to travel and experience new places.

Crown Metropol

It was a super relaxing weekend and the only thing I had to worry about, was which outfit to wear?

Weekend attire

The best part?

Sleeping in.....

Adrian asking me "Can you hear that?"

I said "What?"

He replied "Exactly!"

We were "kids free" for 24x7 and boy! it was so cool to hang out with each another.

And of course the soft, thick and luxurious hotel robes. I LOVE THEM! I have been renowned for "accidentally" packing them in my suitcase :-) however this time it couldn't fit!

What's your most favourite thing to do when you get away?

XxDani

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