The Convenient Kitchen + 3 GIVEAWAYS!

Posted on May 19, 2013 by Cherry and me

It seems you can order anything online these days! A few weeks ago we ordered our weekly dinners, home delivered via TheÂ ConvenientÂ Kitchen. TCK organise and deliver ingredients andÂ recipesÂ for 3 or 5 delicious, healthy and easy to prepare dinners for couples and families.

Cherry inspecting our delivery

This is what we made on night oneMexican chilli beef on rice with avocado salad

Chilli, beef, tomatos and spices

Thumbs up from Mr Cherry

Night twoChar-grilled chicken and corn with Zucchini Pilaf

Zucchini pilaf

And this is what we made on the third nightPrawn, coconut & garlic pasta

It’s GIVEAWAY time…3 Lucky Cherry and Me readers will WIN 3 nights worth of TheÂ ConvenientÂ Kitchen dinners!

To enter the draw to WIN, simply:
1. Go toÂ TheÂ ConvenientÂ Kitchen‘s website and sign up to the mailing list:Â http://theconvenientkitchen.com.au/
(fill out your email address in the “Get fresh TCK news” section on the home page)
2. Leave a comment on this post telling us who’s in your family and why you’d like to win.
3. Tell your friends about this fabulousÂ competitionÂ buy sharing this link on Facebook! https://www.cherryandme.com/2013/05/the-convenient-kitchen

Terms & Conditions:

– Entries close midnight 01/06/2013Â

– The winnerÂ must live in Melbourne. To find out if TCK deliver to you, click here
– Delivery will be between 3:00pm – 7:30pm on a Monday afternoon
-Â If you are not planning on being home,Â please leave out an eski with ice

– TCK will send you a reminder text on Sunday evening
– Three winners will be selected and notified privately via email. If we do not hear a response within one week, another winner will be drawn.

PS. It’s week 33 and not long to go now before baby #2 comes along! Things are slowing down and I may be spacing my weekly blog posts to every other week. Stay in touch via the Cherry and Me Facebook page, Instagram and Twitter feeds for all the lastest news.

Posted in Food, Home | 16 Comments

Mother’s Paintings

Posted on May 12, 2013 by Cherry and me

Happy Mothers Day everyone! How will you be celebrating?

My mother is an absolute inspiration. Growing up, I always said “I want to be an artist one day just like my mummy”! These days I’m not an “artist”, although I am a Graphic Designer and have immersedÂ myself in the artworld collecting beautiful paintings and working as a gallery assistant at one of Melbourne’s leading contemporary art galleries.

Today, I thought I’d share with you a selection of my mother’s paintings starting from her early 1990’s work, to her latest series.

Â Self portrait of my mother Natalia who studied Fine Art in Russia and has been painting for over 40 years.

Mum painted this portrait of me when I was 7 years old. I’m still in love with it!
(This one’s not for sale!)

Babushka Doll Series

This one’s hanging in Cherry’s bedroom!

Mum’s latest body of work. Spilt Enamel SeriesÂ Â

My sister NiseÂ modellingÂ a pair of mum’s boots

The studio floor!

For more information about Natalia’s paintings, please write to elle{a}cherryandme.com.

Happy Mothers Day!

Posted in Art | Leave a comment

Healesville Sanctuary, Innocent Bystander & Marysville

Posted on May 6, 2013 by Cherry and me

Yesterday we took a long drive to test out our new car. We dove up through the beautiful Yarra Valley and thought it would be nice to take Cherry to HealesvilleÂ Sanctuary, followed by lunch at our favourite cellar door, Innocent Bystander.

Â Kanga-doos

Cherry and her daddy

PeeringÂ through the rocks to find the goannas

Birdie watching

Cherry and Me

Â Fruit bats!

Luck Cherry got a toy Kanga-doo with a baby joey to take home

Ready to order lunch at Innocent Bystander

Kanga-doo sneaking a sip of Moscato Slushy

Lunch

Then we dropped into Marysville to re-visit our property that burnt down in the 2009 Black Saturday Bush-fires

We felt a little bit sad but celebrated life with a toast to my late grandparents who buit the house in 1990. Then we breathed in the crisp mountain air, listened to the Marysville birdies andÂ reminiscedÂ for a while. Cherry absolutely loved the place and we knew we’d have to re-build here again one day.

Posted in Children's, Food, Outings, Travel | Leave a comment

Aunty Nise Comes To Visit

Posted on April 21, 2013 by Cherry and me

Yesterday Cherry’s Aunty Nise came over to play

Tea for two

Cherry showed Aunty Nise her newly converted cot-bed

How to make a pom-pom with Aunty Nise

Aunty Nise is one crafty chick and taught Cherry how to make a pompom.
This is what they used:
– Wool
– Scissors
– 2 circles cut out from cardboard with a smaller circular whole in the centre

To make the cardboard circle templates, trace around a glass for the outer circle and around a bottle top for the inner circle.

Start by tying a long piece of wool around both of the circles laying flat together

11_Pompoms cherryandme.com Warp the wool around the circles

10_Pompoms cherryandme.com KeepÂ wrapping around and around

To make a thick pom-pom, wrap another few layers around the circle. If you run out of wool, tie on another long piece. Don’t worry about the knots because you can trim them off later.

You can use different coloured wools to make multicoloured pom-poms

Once you’ve completed wrapping,Â insert the tip of your scissors in between the two cardboard circles and snip the wool all the way around

Slip in a piece of wool in between the circles

Secure a tight knot

Then remove the circles, trim any stray strands and hay presto, you’ve made a pom-pom!

Ta-da!

Did you know Aunty Nise also writes a healthy lifestyle blog?
She shares great tips onÂ Eating Healthly and Living Fit – www.eathealthylivefit.com
For weekly inspiration follow her on Facebook and TwitterÂ too.

Posted in Children's, Craft, Home, How to | Leave a comment

How Preggy Mummas Keep Fit

Posted on April 14, 2013 by Cherry and me

I’m now 6 months pregnant, well into my 3rd trimester and feeling fabulous! Not long to go now! This week I thought I’d share my favourite ways to keep fit during pregnancy.

When Cherry was a bump in my belly, I had plenty of time toÂ myselfÂ and managed to fit in at least 3 exerciseÂ classesÂ per week. This time round, finding time is a little more tricky, but since Cherry started pre-school a couple of days a week, I’m now back on track.

Friday mornings I look forward to Aqua Mums Water Aerobics at St Kilda Sea Baths. The feeling of floating in the warm water is just amazing! Our instructor Mandy is a trained Physiotherapist and really knows what’s best for our preggy bodies.

6_PreggyFitness www.cherryandme.com

7_PreggyFitness www.cherryandme.com

9_PreggyFitness www.cherryandme.com

8_PreggyFitness www.cherryandme.com

My other weekly exercise ritual is Preggy Pilates atÂ Core Melbourne,Â Elsternwick.

The class is shared with post-natal women, so mummies are welcome to wheel in their prams, lay their babies on a blanky or even breast feed during class. I brought Cherry in with me after she was 6 weeks and plan on taking baby #2 as well.

This little bub just feel asleep while her mummy worked out!

If you’re interested in joining a pre or post-natal exercise class, make sure your instructor knows your weaknessesÂ and don’t feel pressured to push yourself past your comfort zone. Finding time to exercise during pregnancy is important, but it’s alsoÂ equallyÂ important to rest and relax! Besides looking and feeling your best, these classes are a great way to meet other ladies with babies too!

Posted in Pregnancy | 2 Comments

Cherry’s Kewpie Party + Kewpie Doll GIVEAWAY!

Posted on April 7, 2013 by Cherry and me

A couple of weekends ago, we celebrated Cherry’s 2nd birthday and boy did we have fun! The party took place at aunty Nellie’s house who has an incredible kewpie doll collection. Cherry absolutely loves kewpie dolls too, so of course we partied kewpie style!

Aunty Nellie’s kewpies – Read about her collection here

2_Cherry's_Kewpie_Party Chrysanthemum, Carnation and Kewpie posies byÂ Wunderplant.
We love Amy’s beautiful organic floral style! Visit the Wunderplant website here

30_Cherry's_Kewpie_Party cherryandme.com Our kewpie brunch table deliciouslyÂ prepared byÂ Egg Unlimited.
We loved Egg Unlimited’s tiny breaky treats! Visit their website here

22_Cherry's_Kewpie_Party cherryandme.com Crispy bacon, free range egg and house mayo in buttermilk rolls

Green pear and spice mini muffins with kewpie party-picks fromÂ Etsy

Baby spinach and salted ricotta muffins

21_Cherry's_Kewpie_Party cherryandme.com It wouldn’t be a party without fairy bread!

24_Cherry's_Kewpie_Party cherryandme.com MumÂ and me

20_Cherry's_Kewpie_Party cherryandme.com Cherry’s pick:Â Smashed avocado, sun dried tomato and lime multigrain sandwiches

34_Cherry's_Kewpie_Party cherryandme.com Wow!

We made polka-dot party hats with kewpie stickers fromÂ Etsy

15_Cherry's_Kewpie_Party cherryandme.com Three kewpie babies

17_Cherry's_Kewpie_Party cherryandme.com “Welcome to my party!”

4_Cherry's_Kewpie_Party

16_Cherry's_Kewpie_Party cherryandme.com

CherryÂ loved herÂ Rock Your BabyÂ dress so much, she refused to take it off at bedtime! Visit the Rock Your Baby website here

29_Cherry's_Kewpie_Party cherryandme.com Cherry was simplyÂ fascinatedÂ with the Naughts & CrossesÂ bubble machine!
Visit the Naughts & Crosses website here

Daddy and Me

13_Cherry's_Kewpie_Party Cherry’s kewpieÂ birthday ice-creamÂ cake!

Cherry said “it’s amazing!”

“Happy birthday to you!”

9_Cherry's_Kewpie_Party “Make a wish”

“Do you like your cake Cherry? She looks like you!”

11_Cherry's_Kewpie_Party We served Cherry’s kewpie cake in Â ice-creamÂ cones

7_Cherry's_Kewpie_Party “mmm yummy mummy!”

Click here to see how we celebrated Cherry’s 1st birthday last year

To celebrate Cherry’s 2nd birthday, one lucky Cherry and Me fan will WIN a kewpie doll from Naughts & Crosses!

Photo from mypoppet.com.auÂ

To enter the draw to WIN, simply:

1. LIKE Cherry and Me on Facebook
2. LIKE Naughts & Crosses on Facebook
3. Then share this LINK on your Facebook wall
(Either cut and paste this URL as your status or click share on our Facebook wall link)
4. Don’t forget to leave a comment telling us you’ve entered!
5. Extra points go to Twitter, InstagramÂ andÂ Pinterest tagged mentions too. #Kewpie

Entries close midnight 13/04/2013.Â The winner will be selected at random and notified privately. Kewpie doll sizeÂ approximatelyÂ 25cm. Postage Australia wide.

SHARE THE LOVE:Â

Facebook:Â facebook.com/Cherryandmeblog

Pinterest:Â pinterest.com/cherry_and_me/

Twitter:Â twitter.com/Cherry_and_me

Instagram:Â instagram.com/cherry_and_me

Posted in Children's, Events, Flowers, Food, Home, Interior | 14 Comments