Tomatoes are delicious - off and on

Given that we have had such a wet, mild summer in Sydney we have managed to still have a pretty good crop of tomatoes from the small tomato grove (about six plants) we have planted on the nature strip at the front of our house. Our neighbours take one or two when they need them - which we encourage - but they usually leave us enough for all the caprese salads and bruchetta we need.

Late last year I discovered a fantastic recipe for roast tomato and red lentil soup ...and then I lost it. But no matter, I have followed the general recipe that I remember and have turned out a pretty marvellous soup that the WHOLE FAMILY eats! Tres rare!

You take these, fresh from the garden if you are lucky enough to have them -

Chop them and put them in a roasting pan with a sprinkle of salt, plenty of good quality grassy olive olive, and loads of garlic unpeeled and put it in a low oven for an hour or two until they are still juicy but baked.

Then you take a saucepan and another splash of cooking olive oil - add chopped onion, celery and two carrots. Saute until soft. Then add 5-6 cups of water and a vege stock cube. Cook for a while longer. I usually add a can of tomatoes just for a bit of added tomato omphf and then add the roasted tomatoes to the soup. When it's all cooked you blitz it with your food processor - we have a hand held one.

In the meantime I cook a cup of red lentil in two cups of water with three bay leaves until soft. You add the lentils to the soup after it has been pureed. Then eat with crusty bread and amaze your friends and family with the rich tomato flavour!!

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To go with my current tomato attitude I feel the need for a red dress that does the salsa on my soul. For example ...

Red leather! From Raoul Mock.

Or this cute and cheap one from Old Navy - they ship to Australia you know.

Fancy extra decoration

Etsy is my happy hunting ground when I have to satisfy my need for new accessories... that's if there is no good Anthropologie jewellery listed on ebay, because that stuff is like cat-nip to me.

I'm into leather cuffs and bracelets at the moment and just received a package with these littel beauties...

I also got the plaited bracelet in yellow and another is green - they lift an outfit with their yummy colours.

Other leather beauties I have my eye on are similar but I really like to add colour via accessories so the more the better.

The lovely obi belt from welovebelts.

It's not leather but I really love this gorgeous wooden pendant from depeapa.

 

The glamour that keeps on giving

My Mister and I are going to country NSW this weekend to celebrate the combined 40th birthdays of two dear friends who live in Orange.

Initially lady-who-is-turning-40 wanted the birthday bash theme to be GLAMOUR! Just that - just large letters GLAMOUR! But she got so many phone calls from so many friends who were stumped on what glamour is that she changed the theme to Sex in the City ... which has to be said, runs parallel to the glamour theme.

I never really watched that show, for no really reason except that I was probably on my big backpacking stint around the world when it started and then never really dove into it once I stopped travelling. So I had to ask the good old WWW for some advice on what those ladies would wear to a GLAMOROUS event in western NSW... and I was impressed by what I saw.

It was obvious early on that the SITC lady I most resemble is Charlotte - because we both have dark hair... and there the resemblance sort of ends, but it's a place to start. I like her preppy, casual American look so it's a good thing we both have dark hair! :)

I noted with my eagle eye that Charlotte had a fondness for lovely dresses, so that is my inspiration. Behold -

So I will be attempting a loose tumble of gorgeous hair, demure heels and some subtle jewellery while channeling my inner Charlotte in this dress from Portmans ....

I hope I can manage to do her character justice.

Pants with flare? Or team skinny?

Are skinny pants really going out of flavour? I admit I was late to join the skinny pants craze because they aren't exactly the thing you parade around in just after having a baby. Better late than never though and now I am NOT willing to give them up.

Skinny cut jeans and pants just suit me and they allow me to wear those looser tops which I just love.

So despite the best efforts of designers and fashionistas I will not be giving them up just yet... even though they are apparently killing us!

I have been thinking about mixing up things with some patterned pants though. But I wonder if that trend it a little bit to young for this 40-something mother of three. So I've been spending some quality time with the internet trying to find more mature ladies who have been sporting this trend, and it's slim pickin's. But there is always a way to 40-fy any trend!

I'n my Uni days I was a fan of the tartan pants - I thought they gave me an English punk-rock edge. Sadly, nothing was going to give this country girl anything close to a punk-edge, but it didn't stop me trying. Oh God! I even wore Doc Martens.

Anyway, moving swiftly on. Here are some of my favourite patterned pants looks.

I really love J Brand - their pants and jeans fit me really well, so I sort of love these jeans even though I'm a little scared that the flowers could look a little granny-chic on me. But a neutral top and neutral shoes plays down the flowers nicely.

Yummy! Love these colour block skinnies from Washborn ... I am seriously tempted to buy these little beauties. They also look like they have the added benefit of being tres slimming. Yes to that!

These from ASOS are fun, but probably not for me. Cute though.

Now we are talking patterned pants that a Mum in her 40s can wear! Right? They are subtle and neutral, not to out-there and not at all granny. An oversized white or off-white jumper, or a black t-shirt would look spot on with these. I hope I can pull the look off because they are seriously foxy ;)

(And by the way, if ASOS can do free shipping all the way from the UK how come GAP charges $50 to ship a pair of jeans?)

Dress it up

For reasons I can't explain, I am more of a dress wearer in winter than in summer. Floaty wisps of summer dresses always look good on others but don't sit quite right with me.

Maybe it is the safety of being able to wear tights that makes winter dresses more appealing to me. I suppose I could embrace my inner Kate Middleton and wear flesh coloured tights in summer, but ummm, that will never happen.

As summer in Sydney has been such a disaster with lots of rain and minimal sun, my thoughts have been racing ahead to winter already. The good thing about Sydney winters is that all a summer dress needs is some tights and a cardi and you are as warm as you need to be... unless winter is going to be hysterically dreary and blah.

I'm finding Ashely Green's little red dress to be my kick-off inspiration. Black tights? Present. Pop of colour? Here! That's all I need, although I know I wouldn't be able to resist a whole arm full of braclets and rings in real life - if I don't chime and rattle like a bag of spare parts then I'm not happy!

And when it's colder, I would sling a leather jacket over this for that rock and roll edge. I need to find the perfect leather jacket for this season - one that is flattering but not too heavy and not too expensive. The right leather jacket is harder to find that the right pair of jeans.

Ashley seems to be fond of this look as well, because looky here, she's wearing another pop-of-colour dress AND standing in front of a poster of her on the cover of Lucky magazine also wearing a pop-of-colour dress!! Spooky.

Christmas wishes

My Christmas wish - among the usual good health and happiness - is that I find the time to devote to my blog in 2012. It's bloody hard carving out an hour or two every day, but the creative outlet is worth it and hopefully my personal mission to celebrate inspiring and stylish ladies in their 40s will in turn inspire others to find their inner style queen.
Have a safe and Merry Christmas everyone - I hope Santa is generous and that you have a safe and relaxing holiday. Keep stylish!

Did you know that in China Santa swims with the sharks? If my girls saw this I think they would be a little less confident about the safe arrival of their Santa bounty.

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I enjoyed this article by Paul Barry on Open Forum this week - a good look at the Christmas nitty-gritty.
Who really runs Christmas?

Weekends

"The only thing that makes it a part of your life is that you keep thinking about it."

anonymous

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I love this casual look on Stella McCartney as she leaves some ritzy hotel in Paris. The jeans are a great antidote to the skinny jeans that I see everywhere - including on myself. And the maroon blouse is perfectly nonchalant. As Stella has only just turned 40 I can't technically forty-fy her, but I can copy her casual look for myself.

Let's ask the World Wide Wardrobe what we could use to get the Stella look...

Twisted boyfriend Jeans from Just Jeans

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Bow neckchiffon blouse from Forever21 - it's not the beautiful maroon colour but it will work.

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Black shoulder bag by Ruche  - gorgeous!

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Golden strappy sandals from Betts

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I can't tell if she is wearing Wayfarers but I definitely would.

That's all it takes to look like Stella McCartney on a day out in Paris ;)