Travel can be a tricky business. I’m not just talking about the different time zones, the bad airplane food or the stinky feet of the passenger next to you!

I am asked several times a week about how I travel and what my tricks are for being practical, prepared and glam.  And what better time to share them with you than right now as  I start the count down to the APAC Blog Awards in Singapore. (Please vote for me!)

So pay attention class, today we look at the “Don’t Leave Home Without Me’s” and next week… Travel Fashion for the Fancy!

What you pack your things in is almost as important as what you pack.  God forbid you should be seen schleping an over stuffed, woven $2 shop bag with a broken zipper onto the plane. The less you have to carry the better for both your back and your look – so pare it down and choose wisely. When choosing a suitcase I ideally look for a hard case, even though these are limited in their capacity for expansion. I would rather arrive without fragile items crushed and have a safe space for all the knick knacks I bring back. Most importantly, your suitcase should have 4 rotating wheels! I cannot tell you what a life saver this invention is. After rolling around a 2 wheeled, 40 kilo suitcase in Tokyo during a rainstorm at 10pm at night, I vowed my next one would have 4 wheels. Whilst I tripped and struggled to negotiate the curbs and pavement, the local travelers smoothly went about their journey without loosing their knee caps to a misbehaving case.

Ensure you pack an equally beautiful tote bag that can be rolled up into a ‘next to nothing’ size.  Don’t fill it with things on your departure as this is your secret weapon for the exploding luggage syndrome at the other end of your trip. Down scale your makeup bag and brushes. Decide on the look you want before you go, and pack only the makeup needed to create that, not your entire case. Warning – don’t pack liquid eyeliner pens – they leak at high altitude and will fill your case with ink for a nasty surprise on arrival! You are better to pack either a cake eyeliner or a paint style of eyeliner. (I’m personally not a fan of pencils).

If you have the luxury to be able to buy all your luggage at once, pick a theme and stick to it. If you can’t, then customize what you already have and be creative.  At the very least, attach matching bows of fabric onto all the luggage you are planning to check so you can identify it quickly on the carousel.

How do the Star’s travel? Well is certainly isn’t without dark glasses! If I had to leave in a huge rush and not even pack, I still wouldn’t leave without these. My Passport in an entirely fabulous passport wallet. You need to both protect it and find it in a hurry. CASH! You’d think this would be self explanatory, but in the day and age of plastic, it is amazing how many people get caught out without the cash they need. NEVER assume that your destination will accept plastic, as there are many countries in which it can be very difficult to find an ATM and where cash is really the only acceptable form of currency.  But please, don’t take a money belt. It’s like painting a great big target on your forehead that says, “I’m a novice, please mug me!” If you’re worried, best to stuff it in your bra – seriously – just lie it flat and place it in the underside. Nobody likes crinkly tits!

iPhone / Blackberry / or whatever you choice of phone, camera and music all in one. Yes, you can listen to music once the plane has taken off, just make sure you are always set to flight mode. Last but not least on this list – My MAC Russian Red.  Generally, unless it is a very short flight, I don’t travel in makeup. Arriving with smudged eyeliner and skin that looks like the Gobi Desert is not my idea of chic. I travel fresh faced and take along a bottle of aromatherapy water for light spritzes. It doesn’t need to be expensive and I make my own with filtered water and lavender oil.  This way, when I arrive at my destination all I need is my big dark glasses and my trusty Russian Red – Instant Glamour!

What you take on your flight is VERY VERY important! You want to be prepared for the restless babies, the bad movies, the dry air and germ laden environment. A good nourishing lip balm is critical to maintain a soft, subtle pout in the coming days. Don’t bother with tints and flavours, just go for the most nourishing formula you can find. I’m a huge fan of the balm from L’Occitane, the hemp balm from Body Shop and also Paw Paw ointment. They all do a stellar job. Pack some pain killers but BEWARE of drug restrictions in the country you are headed to. Something as simple as Codine may be a restricted substance where you are headed and you don’t want to be cavity searched on arrival! Speaking on which, always travel in pretty but comfortable knickers – you never know when they may be on show.

Protect your hands. Carry both hand sanitizing wipes and a good hand lotion. The wipes won’t just be for your hands, but any suspect surface, you don’t want to be relying on paper napkins in the war against germs. I also carry a face mask in my bag.  It may seem a little extreme, but it never ceases to amaze me how many people travel when they are ill. In the event that I’m sitting next to someone who feels inclined to sniff, sneeze and generally inflict their ills on the surrounding passengers; I resort to my mask. Not only is it a good form of protection, but an excellent passive aggressive way of saying ” Stop sniffing on me you snot factory!”

An eye mask is a no brainer, but many people forget the earplugs.  Make sure you get some small, mouldable plugs and you’re on your way to a good nights sleep, if not a good old cat nap.  My other super trick is the headphones. I bring my own large, ear muff style, headphones and headphone jack adapter.  It means I’m not at the mercy of the audio provided by the airline, but even better is…the noise canceling technology! If you have trouble sleeping with the drone of the engine or the poor baby three rows back screaming his head off; these are a godsend. You can choose to double up and wear your earplugs inside the ear muffs, then you’ll experience a sleep serenity only previously available in pill form.

And there you have it!

Now I’ve gotten you there in style, stay tuned next week to find out How to Pack and What To Wear!

Finally, phase one of the Great Wardrobe Project is complete! Not for lack of trying, but other pressing matters keep pushing this project to the bottom of the list.  Well, that was until I decided to take a total ‘time out’ on my weekend, not leave the house even once, employing my mini troops in the battle against chaos. Occupying children when you have every piece of clothing and accessories you own scattered around, can be a little tricky. So I armed them with swimming goggles, spray bottles (of water), dusting cloths, cameras and clip on earrings! Rather than tackling the Everest that is all my clothes (that is costumes, collection etc..) I stuck to only the current day to day wardrobe.  With vacuum in hand, plenty of boxes, tape, surface spray for warding off any critters;  we set to work.

Taking everything out of the wardrobe is the best time to check for any creepy crawlies, give it a thorough vacuum, wipe down and take measures to protect your threads until next time.  And while you have everything out, check its condition – holes, buttons, seams, threads, cleanliness. Only the pressed and perfect go back in, and I keep a clothing rail in my studio for all the fixer-upers.

Maximise your space with clever thinking. All my long necklaces and belts are housed on tie racks at either end of the wardrobe, making use of the depth of the wall rather than more horizontal space. All the larger, soft handbags and totes go into a big plastic storage container with pictures at the front. Each bag is in its own dust cover inside and these are rotated out seasonally. I don’t like to keep things in plastic as a rule, as plastic gives off fumes that aren’t great for textiles.  But this container has a front opening door that allows me to reach inside and pull out what I want without taking the whole box down.

Special occasion hats are all in various hat boxes, with those I use most frequently, able to be grabbed at a moments notice. I love to colour block my clothes, but the various lengths and space restrictions make this tricky.  So they are blocked by colour and length to allow for more shoe storage and drawers under the shorter garments.

Of course, there is never enough room to house ALL the shoes, so those not worn quite as regularly as housed in boxes with their photos on the front. An old trick, but a good one, as even though you can now buy those see through plastic boxes, I resent paying for something that comes with the shoes already and is better for the environment and the longevity of my shoes than yet more plastic in the closet.

My dressing table houses the majority of my accessories, and as you well know, accessories are one of those things you really need to be able to see at all times or you totally forget what you have.  So I make good use of all the drawers, using yet more old boxes to help separate and store things so they don’t become damaged and jumbled. Even the scarves are folded and stacked so I can see the ’spines’ of each of them to help identify them quickly.

And as for all the hair & makeup stuff… how do you tame that beast? With the help of fishing boxes from the hardware store, makeup cases, and lots of hooks.  Also, having a handy MR. SKM around to get the shelf on the wall was rather critical to the success of this one too!

If all else fails and you know like me, that your wardrobe has to extend into the rest of your house just to find homes – get creative.

China cabinets need not just be for nana nick nacks, they are the perfect place to do a bit of visual merchandising with your favorite handbags, hats and small plastic friends!

…… and Done!

If you’ve got any other great wardrobe organisation tips – share them with us in the comments.

I am excited! For too long have we put up with the fickle nature of Google Ads.  The Russian brides and Viagra. It is about time that someone fixed this mess and gave us a way to advertise on our blogs that not only paid us more than a packet of two minute noodles, but made it FUN as well!  Enter Nuffnang – Australia’s first blog advertising community.

I came across these guys about six weeks ago in my great advertising platform trial.  As you may have noticed, I have been trialing the best way to have advertising on this blog that is both helpful, complimentary to my topics and doesn’t completely piss you off!  For a long time I resisted having advertising at all, but the more my in box filled with requests and the more time I spent on this blogging lark, I realised two things. One – there are a lot of businesses that need my (and I would like to ) support.  Two- This much time creating a quality blog doesn’t pay for itself! And so I set about finding the best way to keep everyone happy.

After trialing a Nuffnang space for a month I learnt that not only were they hooked in with good quality advertisers, but they were much more than just another ad box space.  They are a community.  A place for bloggers to connect, get tips, tricks and tools; no matter what your blog topic of choice is, there is a place for you at Nuffnang.  The question is why am I now sounding so evangelical about the whole thing? After meeting with their team in person at their Melbourne offices I got so excited about what they are trying to achieve for us bloggers, that I couldn’t help but get involved. So here I am to introduce you to their new community manager – Me!

Yet another excuse for me to validate all my time online, it seems to be a great match so far. Basically I get to spend time talking to loads of lovely bloggers, finding out what they want, making up great competitions and prizes, then meeting you all at different functions and events. Sounds good? It is.  And the best part for me is that it works in so perfectly with what I’m doing here on the blog that it will allow me to continue bringing you more of what you love, which according to the poll I have been running in the space, is more Vintage Tips and Tricks and Daily Outfits!

And there you have it. Now you can hook up with me at Nuffnang too and get something back for all that great blogging you do!

This weekend was the big day – Miss 5’s birthday party! My own first memories of birthdays past began at my fifth birthday.  I remember mum making a “Dolly Varden” cake from the Women’s Weekly cookbook, complete with faux Barbie inside the cake.  I remember receiving the coolest gifts from my friends and family; my first “lipstick”, a set of fashion plates (which I have since recovered via the magic of eBay) and a special dress with matching hair ribbons.  As I thought about my own fifth birthday, it occurred to me that so much of what happened on that day and the type of gifts I received, have gone a long way to shaping who I am today.  And so it was that I decided that this birthday had to be a cracker for my own daughter,  something that she would remember for the rest of her life as a fabulous pink dream.

All these intentions are well and good, but just how the heck do you pull something like this off without a team of event organisers and caterers at your finger tips? Here are my tips for making your own Unicorn Pony Party.

Pick Your Colour

When you’re a five year old girl, you just can’t go past pink. Sugary sweet it can do your head in, so pick your shade wisely. We decided that “Musk Stick Pink” would be our shade of choice, and then applied that to everything we possibly could.  It helps if you already have a bit of a colour theme to your home decorating and can scam pieces from your own collection to help pump up the ambiance. I brought out every pink table cloth, bowl, picture frame, flower and outfit I possibly could.  Even Mr SKM got in on the act wearing a pink and red shirt!

Carry Your Colour Theme Through to the Food

The easiest way to make your party table look fancy is to carry you colour theme over to the food.  When your catering for kids, this is 100 times easier than trying to come up with adult versions of coloured food! So we had every pink and white lolly we could think of, musk sticks, marshmallows, jelly snakes, white chocolate cover red licorice… enough to make your teeth fall out just looking at it. Savoury food was covered by those ever popular “little boys” also, reddish in colour, and the usual mini quiches, pies etc.. and for desert (as if all those lollies weren’t enough) mini pavlovas with pink whipped cream and raspberries.

Pink Cake Too!

Rather than staying up till midnight the night before, creating some elaborate confection that was way above my culinary skills, I decided to stick to cupcakes again this year.  I still haven’t gotten the hang of that perfect icing yet, and spent much of the previous evening licking strawberry frosting off my elbows as the piping bags continued to burst mid swirl.  They passed the taste test with flying colours though.

Goodie Bags!

Every good party comes with goodie bags, but after such a sugar laden day, I didn’t think that sending people’s children home with yet more sweets would be the best idea. As some of you know first hand, mixing both sugar and red food colouring is akin to baby crack, so sending them home with yet another stash would have probably seen me relegated to parental purgatory.  The goodie bags are a fun, cheap and easy way to win good party points with all your guests. Once again, make sure to stick to your colour theme, but think of things that can be used over again and aren’t simply going to break or end up in land fill.  They needn’t be expensive, but just make them look pretty!

For our stash we put together little pink organza bags containing My Little Pony makeup sized bags, super cute doggie sticky note pads, scented erasers shaped like cookies, and a little Cuppa Chup lolly pop.

The Piece de Resistance

All the best parties have one event that makes them the stuff of legends.  The stuff that shapes memories and imagination.  When I was asked for a Unicorn Pony for her birthday I knew I had a challenge on my hands. But with the magic of the internet, a little saving up, some glue and glitter; I managed to work a miracle.

Behold – The Unicorn Pony!

And now after all that, I plan to retire from partying for at least another month… until Miss One turns Two!