Dolly

So yesterday, since hubby was in Sydney on a "boys weekend" Miss E and I decided to do a little shopping. We were looking for a baby dolly as she's taken to playing with them at childcare (they play doctors and nurses hmmmmm). Now I don't know if you've been dolly shopping lately but on entering our local toy shop I was expecting to be hit with a wall of dolls to choose from. Not the case at all!

We had four choices.....

Lalaloopsy......a little too Coraline and unsafe for a 19 month old.

The Cabbage Patch Kid......They wanted about $80 for this ugly thing and it's half the size of the ones I had as a kid that cost $30!

Another ridiculously priced doll, hard plastic and not very baby-like.

I was getting really frustrated. What ever happened to a plain old plastic doll that looks like a baby?

We ended up with this one for $29.95 which we bought in the toy department at Myer.

Meet "Baby" or "Abbey" depending on what Miss E feels like calling it at the time. Since joining our family "Baby" has enjoyed several bottles, constant putting on and off of clothing, a few flights through the air, lots of kisses and some play dough meals. 

Hubby came home early this morning and we've spent the day enjoying each others company. This week will hopefully be a bit easier since we're all here until I go off to Sydney for the Kids in Style Expo. I'm so looking forward to it. Imagine every kids clothing label all under one roof showing off their wares for the following season! Hopefully it will give me lots to blog about.

Social Media Bullshit

Recently I held a competition on my Facebook page to get to 250 likers. I don't know why I put so much emphasis on getting so many likers.

I posted and promoted and shared and did liking ladders all to get to this magical number of 250. I had a giveaway of a $50 gift voucher and customised handmade tee by A Dor able. But why?

New likers, or any likers for that matter does not mean I have 250 customers who are buying from my kids clothing on-line shop. It doesn't even mean 250 people like my shop. It means a certain number of people just liked my page to win a gift voucher and when I announced the winner my number of likers magically went back down.

Ms J from the cafe around the corner popped in to say hello on Friday. She told me she went out the night before and ran into a woman she hadn't hung out with for 15 years and hadn't even seen for 5 years. This woman had sent a friend request to her on Facebook. Ms J felt obliged to accept the request but recently culled her friends list to only include people she actually talks to and family members. The woman wanted to know why Miss J deleted her as a friend and was very upset (some might say aggressive) about the fact that Miss J had deleted her.

My point is.....do we place too much emphasis on social media? I mean, I follow a lot of blogs, I write a blog, I Facebook, I Twitter. How many people do I actually talk to? Apart from face to face customers, probably not that many.

In some ways Facebook has helped me reconnect to a lot of people I haven't seen in a long time and some of them have become close friends again. On the other hand I have at least 100 "friends" that I have blocked posts, don't see or speak to, don't actually like and probably don't really like me. So why are we friends?

My sisters and I never really called each other much. We never needed to, we always just pick up where we left off. Now that we are all connected on Facebook we chat, post photo's of our kids, email and see each other even more. Why couldn't we do that without Facebook?

I don't have answers to my questions. I don't even have an ending to this post. Social Media can be bullshit and it can also be a great way to feel a little less alone in a huge world.

Birthday Boy

Today I would normally have off but my Saturday girl had a wedding to attend so I worked. It's also my Mr Mummasphere's birthday today so even though I've been away for most of the day at the shop I wanted to do something special for him.

Firstly though came work. I'm so excited because today I've ordered stock for my third clothing label Mizzle. Mizzle is a gorgeous baby basics range that is mostly organic cotton and manufactured under fair working and pay conditions. It fits perfectly with my other baby clothing lines and the ethos of the shop.

I really think it's so important these days to buy fair trade and ethically made products. I would hate to be walking around in something that was made by a 14 year old girl who got paid $2 per hour and worked in horrid conditions for over 16 hours a day. It's not right and I wouldn't want my daughter working like that, so I wont support anyone else's daughter doing it.

So here's a sneak peak at what's coming...

I can't wait to get it in and on the shelves!

So now I'm home and since Mr Mummasphere is from Ireland and it's his birthday I've decided to cook him something traditional from home. He doesn't do sweet food so getting him a cake is pointless. His favourite foods are home cooked comfort foods like good old Irish Stew and Mashed Potato. His mother taught me this recipe and I'm experimenting a little with a twist of my own.

1kg of Osso Bucco in either veal or beef
3 carrots chopped
2 cloves of garlic
1 brown onion sliced
500g mushrooms sliced
1/4 cup of Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon of HP Sauce (my own twist)
1-2 teaspoons thyme
1 cup chicken stock
1 cup of water
salt & pepper to taste

Add all ingredients into a big pot and bring to the boil. Once the liquid is boiling reduce to simmer and put the lid on. Stirring occasionally, leave to simmer for 2-3 hours or until meat is tender and falling off the bone. All the marrow should be dissolved into the stew. Serve with mashed potato and some gorgeous Irish Cider. Delicious!