from somewhere in my imagination

I Am Woman - Hear Me Roar?

Today is International Women’s Day,  I remembered to wear purple.  Over the years I have attended a few International Women’s Day functions.  It was a big thing in Mt Isa.  Lisa Curry came and spoke at the Zonta dinner one year and preached on about weightloss.  I left feeling disappointed.  The day was born at the beginning of the 20^th century when the movement wanting equal rights for women was growing force.  A keynote speaker rattling on about weightloss doesn’t really speak to the true meaning of the day.

I think that International Women’s Day is a fantastic opportunity to celebrate how much has been achieved by women, by women for women and by women for others in the last 100 years.  However, as a middle class woman, mother, wife and professional the original premise behind International Women’s Day doesn’t really ring true for me today.  I don’t need empowering.  I am perfectly well empowered all on my own. 

International Women’s Day is not about juggling career and family, it is not about being a woman working in a ‘man’s world’, it’s not about women breaking the glass ceiling, not how I see it anyway.  I do not live in a sector of society where I fear for what the future may be for my three daughters.  From where I sit there are many groups across the world that have fewer equal rights than women as a gender group.

I studied to become a mining engineer.  Because I wanted to.

I got married to the man I loved  when I was 22.  Because I wanted to.

I had our first baby when I was 24.  Because I wanted to.

I went back to work when she was 4 months old.  Because I wanted to.

I have 4 children.  Because we wanted to.

I breastfed the 4 of them for 6 years combined.  Because I wanted to.

I worked hard at my career and am successful.  Because I wanted to.

I stayed at home full time for a few years.  Because I wanted to.

I now work part time.  Because I wanted to.

I cook most of our meals.  Because I want to.

I can never remember our bank details.  Because I don’t.

I am fit and healthy.  Because I want to.

I let my husband drive.  Because I want to.

I have choices.  I am fortunate and I am grateful for that.  I have choices where many others, both male and female, do not.

I believe that International Women’s Day is an important platform from which women can take a step back and look at all the people in the world around the,.  There are so many people in this world that do not have the same freedom that I have, they may not have choices relating to education, who (or even if) they can marry, when or how they have children and the way in which they live their live.  Those people are not empowered in the way I am.  They are the people who need the progressive aspect of International Women’s Day.  They are the ones who need women like myself to help drive change toward equality for all.

Happy International Women’s Day.

Tatum

The Month of Fabruary

I love clothes and fashion.  To be truthful I love them much more now than I did 10kg ago.  I also love that three days a week I get to get reasonably dressed up to go to work.  I love that I can finally walk in heels and am slowly adapting to wearing makeup most days.  I love that I actually feel comfortable wearing red lipstick.  Over the course of the past year I got amongst it with some of the Fox In Flats style dares.  I gave Darecember a shot but got in a muddle with work days and non work days and Christmas stuff.

Then Fabruary arrived and I popped all of the prompts into my diary, and Iam thrilled to say that I accomplished every single one.  Some with more vigour than others, depending on the day but I loved it.  I composed my look in my head for some days and definitely did a few things that pushed me out of my comfort zone.  I am thrilled to feel that there were some looks that I really pulled off that I was more than a bit nervous about giving a go.

The month of Fabruary

Sunglasses – A no brainer, I wore my aviators and kicked off the month with a complete look that really pushed me.  Jacket is a market find and skirt from Theory.

Glitter – I have a few glittery pieces but chose to pair some sequinned flats with Sass & Bide boyfriend jeans and my favourite Saba T.

Checks – After a 16km run and 1500m ocean swim I rugged up in my flannie.  I definitely got a few sideways looks at our local shopping centre when my kiddos were not exhibiting their best behaviour.  Who says people don’t judge a book by its cover?

Ponytail – A ponytail was pretty much impossible with my growing out hair and the fact my girls eat hairties and there were none to be found.  I compromised by slicking my hair back.  Skunkfunk Top with Country Road basic black pants.

Leather – A hot one in Adelaide and not one for my favourite leather jacket so I chose a French Connection white shirt that has a thin leather waist tie teamed with Witchery denim & hat.

Green – Green Lorna Jane shorts for morning training followed by Country Road pants for the afternoon.  I paired green with coral both morning and afternoon.

Statement Earrings – I had to enlist help from my sisters because I didn’t have any.  I enjoyed wearing them so much that I have lashed out on a few pairs since.

Noisy – The bright pink nails and reasonably loud Sass & Bide jacket were my nod to the noisy factor.  A work colleague told me I looked like I was straight out of a 70’s disco, you don’t get much louder than that.  Mission accomplished.

Killer Heels – My hottest killer heels are these A/X babies I couldn’t go past about 12 months ago.  They were perfect with my Sass & Bide dress for a night out in Brisbane.

Bright – I very nearly didn’t buy these Madewell shoes last year in NYC.  I am so glad I did because they have turned out to be my favourites this summer.

Belted – I knew that I’d be pulling this Roni NYC jacket out as soon as I saw the prompt.

Orange Lips – As much as I tried to find a bright orange lippy that worked on me it just doesn’t work no matter how much I love it.  I settled on a coral shade from MAC.

Flats – This was perhaps one of the toughest prompts for the month, because I am totally spoiled for choice in the flats department.  I ended up popping on pink studded flats to go with the pink and gold of my dress.

Quiff – This was a prompt that I was really looking forward to trying out.  I enjoyed it so much I’ve done it again since.  Ted Baker top and Country Road basic black pants

Furry – The furriest thing I could find in my wardrobe was a feathered headband so I mostly just focused on putting together a great look with the Coop dress and Country Road heels. 

Leggy – I spent all days with my legs out between my Lorna Jane running shorts, bikini down the beach and Diesel denim skirt in between the weather was perfect in Adelaide for having legs on display.

Laces – I usually live in thongs and barefeet on the weekend but lacing up in my Nike trainers was a good idea because my feet are sore from all the running.

Bun – Two little tiny buns at my neckline had to suffice.

Polka Dot – I was pleasantly surprised by the number of polka dot pieces I have in my wardrobe but yellow wins every time.  Perfect outfit for a school picnic.  Kookai top with skirt purchased in NYC.

Fragrance – Wednesday is a double training day with an outdoor session followed by gym session but most days I’ll be sporting that sweat fragrance at some point.  Keeping it real.

Red – I have a surprising lack of red in my work wardrobe so red flats it was to be.

Button Up – This was one of those looks I could see clearly in my head but knew I’d have to put my brave face on to do it.  Was pretty damn happy with how it turned out.  Cue shirt, Country Road Snakeskin print pants and those A/X killer heels.

Layers – Another hot day in Adelaide, the best I could manage was a light scarf and some super dangly earrings with my dress.  I took my denim jacket with me to Symphony under the Stars in the evening but didn’t even come close to putting it on.

Gloss – My favourite lip gloss is Chanel Insouciance paired with some glossy sequins on my Country Road tank

Kicks – I pulled on my Nike frees for my early morning run, these are seriously the most comfortable pair of kicks I have ever owned.

Vest & Retro – Tuesday is my day off. It was hot and I had a bit of a case of CBF so I held over my vest wearing until Wednesday when I teamed it with a white tank, charcoal All Saints jeans and my new yellow Florsheim loafers.  The whole look was a little bit 50’s rocker but the humidity meant that my hair wouldn’t play nice no matter what I did.

Pink – I had to pull out the needle and thread to stitch up a few wayward seams in this neon pink Country Road dress, perfect for both the theme and the weather.

What I learned during the month:

• Planning outfits and digging things out of my wardrobe that I might bypass otherwise is a whole lot of fun.
• I am starting to get more comfortable with having product in my hair.
• Wearing heels at least three times a week is actually good for keeping my running feet stretched.
• I am now comfortable putting on lipstick of a morning, the next challenge will be actually reapplying it ;)
• I love the little Instagram community that Andrea has created through these dares.  Such a seriously nice bunch of ladies!

We're in to the March style dares already.  Today I cuffed my jeans and zipped on a pair of killer heels just to do school pickup.  Just because I could.

Looking forward to the month ahead!

Tatum xx

Meatless Monday - Gado Gado

It’s been a while between meatless Monday drinks for me but I find myself here on a Monday with something new and meatless on a Monday so thought it might be fun to share.  So, I'm linking up with The Veggie Mama today.  If you are on the look out for some new meatless ideas make sure to pop over and check out the linky!

Big Day Out was a few weeks ago now and aside from how amazeballs both The Killers and Red Hot Chilli Peppers were the food was of a pretty excellent standard too. 

A little bit different to what I expected but it had been 17 years, count them, that’s half my lifetime, since my last BDO and I think it’s fair to say that times have changed, as have the tastes of the punters.  Or perhaps it’s just is recognition of the fact so many of were still there, half our lifetime later.

I chose my dinner from Simon Bryant’s Dirty stall, Gado Gado, it was delicious and I have been keen to recreate it at home ever since.  With a forecast maximum of 39C in Adelaide last Monday spending as little time as possible in the kitchen was high on my agenda, so this seemed pretty perfect. 

Gado Gado is essentially an Indonesian salad with peanut sauce, feel free to mix and match your veggies or add some tofu if you wish.  That would have required additional cooking so I didn’t bother, I just added an extra half egg per person to amp up the protein factor.

Gado Gado - Serves 6

Ingredients

4 Carrots, julienned

2 Red capsicums, julienned

Tin of baby corn, halved lengthways

Bag of bean sprouts, washed

250g Green beans, trimmed

Bunch coriander, leaves roughly chopped

1-2 eggs per person, soft boiled

Peanut Sauce

150g roasted, unsalted peanuts

2-3 dried red chillies, depending on how spicy you like it.  Fresh will work fine too.

2 cloves garlic

25g palm sugar (or 2 tbsp brown sugar)

Juice of 1 lime

2 cm ginger

Salt to taste

Method

Blend the peanuts, chillies, garlic, sugar and ginger with a food processor or pound in a mortar and pestle.

Tip the mixture into a small saucepan and fry over medium heat until it starts to smell good.

Add 1 cup of water and mix well, scraping up any caramelisation from the saucepan, leave to bubble and reduce but check and stir often.  Once it is getting really thick add a second cup of water and reduce some more. 

It will thicken more as it cools so be careful not to reduce it too much.  Add the juice of one lime and salt to taste.

Pile all your veggies onto a large serving plate together with the halved eggs and top with the still warm peanut sauce

Dig in

Happy Monday to you, do you have much planned for the week ahead?  I'm looking forward to finishing off some of the many many blog posts I now have in draft for here and Eat Move Explore.

Tatum xx