How to dress to look your best when pregnant

Story from Bupa by Penny Shipway

For years we have learnt what clothes best suit our body shape. But when it comes to being pregnant, where do you start?
Make no mistake, when you get pregnant you will acquire a rather large bump on your front porch, but with a few sartorial nips and tucks, you will soon be walking on maternity easy street.
Stylist Laura Churchill, of The Style Report, says every year the availability of good maternity wear is increasing. “Some of the best maternity clothes are an adaptation of what you already love to wear, not anything that will turn you into a caricature of a pregnant woman.”

While Churchill says fashionistas applaud some Hollywood A-listers for absolutely nailing their pregnancy looks, expectant mums should look to celebrities for broad inspiration only.
“Taking inspiration from celebrities can be a positive thing but, not everyone has a stylist, nutritionist, personal trainer, and hair and make-up team on hand every day, so it’s not realistic to look perfect everyday! But these stylish mammas can encourage us to see pregnancy as a fun time to experiment with your look.
Some of the best maternity clothes are an adaptation of what you already love to wear.

THE FULL STORY HERE 

Neutral palette for Sunshine Coast oasis



Story from Salt Magzine by Penny Shipway

 

When it comes to the home of acclaimed Sunshine Coast artist Amanda Brooks you really can’t judge a book by its cover. 

Amanda is renowned for her stunning and vibrant, contemporary pieces.

Her celebrated series of punchy, floral arrangements are particularly popular in the homes of country Australia.
From lilacs, jacarandas, fuchsias, salmons, teals and canary yellows, the paintings are always bursting with a veritable fruit bowl of colour.
In contrast, her exquisite Noosa hinterland home, perched in the exclusive hills of Doonan, projects more of a neutral Cape Cod style palette of whites, greys, charcoals and timbers and only the exceptional splash of muted colour.
“My paintings are no way, not at all like my home,” Amanda says.
“I love painting bright and bold, but I have to paint different paintings for our home as I prefer to live with restful colours. But I do love the paintings I sell to people who love colour!”
Amanda, who says she can work wonders with a bucket of Napisan, shares her sprawling tropical home with her husband Jason and their three “messy” children: daughter Coco, 8, six-year-old twins Jasper and Indigo and their beloved pets, a blue staffy called Zinzan and two Burmese cats Sophie and Porcini. 
“I love plantation, classic style, one-off individual pieces of furniture and a mix of Asian, coastal and French,” she says.

 

FULL STORY HERE
Photo: Anastasia Kariofyllidis

Sunshine Coast ghost busters

Story from Salt Magazine by Penny Shipway

 

As the mercury drops mercifully in the wake of summer across the Sunshine Coast and the pre-winter fog sinks deep into the hinterland, residents and tourists alike move towards the comfort and warmth of their homes like moths to a flame.
Log cabins fill with mulled wine-swilling visitors sharing stories about their adventures, while the country dwellers wrap themselves in layers and tell stories around outdoor campfires, the flames burning a distinct acrid, woody scent into the dewy night as they talk, sing and wonder.
Then the dark of the night sets in.
The stars shine brighter across the region and the night animals make their presence known.
Before long, the chitter-chatter of excited voices takes a darker turn. Existential thoughts begin to seep into their relaxed minds.
Who are we? What are we doing here? Is there something else out there? And just like that, someone shares a ghost story.
Ghost stories seem to be synonymous with the cold, gloomy weather.
People are scared of what lies outside their brightly-lit homes, of the dark, of the unknown.
The people of the Sunshine Coast are fascinated with the paranormal. 
Enter Nambour couple Jeremy and Charmaine Bannerman. Jeremy is a sheet metal worker and Charmaine is studying at the University of the Sunshine Coast.
Both in their 40s, they are down-to-earth, polite and intelligent.
And if you walked past them at a shopping centre chances are you wouldn’t even bat an eyelid.
But while the rest of us are fast asleep, Jeremy and Carmaine are moonlighting as ghost-busters.

FULL STORY HERE

Pic credit: gamesaveios.com

She stripped off her corporate suit to live the life of her dreams

Story from Profile Magazine by Penny Shipway

 

You know that little dream you have when you are sitting in the office? You know the one. Where you quit your job, sell the house and travel to exotic places with just your wallet and a backpack?

Well former litigation lawyer and Sunrise Beach resident Kym Foster, 36, did just that, shedding her corporate suit for a trip of a lifetime. Kym, who now owns a new concept business called Share Shop, was working fulltime as a lawyer, when she found herself at home sick one day with her then one year old son Hunter, and unable to attend a close friend’s funeral.

The pressures of working a fast paced job while juggling parenthood was taking its toll. Kym was diagnosed with a medical condition and her mother had recently finished treatment for cancer.

She had an epiphany. “I decided that day, that life was too short and waiting for retirement to travel, experience life and spend quality time together seemed nonsensical” says Kym “I needed to get off the merry-go-round of life.”

When her husband Andrew rang to check on her she told him, “I think we should sell our house and travel around Australia in a caravan. I told him I would have a plan by dinner time. He laughed a little but said we would talk about it then – which we did. Luckily my husband, who is a pretty laid back guy, agreed with me! It was the absolute best thing we have ever done – it was the experience of a lifetime.”

With a campervan stacked to the brim, Kym, Andrew and little Hunter embarked on their three year adventure, traversing our great country and leaving no stone unturned. "Everything we couldn’t access we flew over in small planes. We went on tours, went over to Uluru, Kakadu, The Kimberley, Tasmania, and kayaked through gorges.” she says. When their funds ran dry, they stopped in Darwin where they stayed for 10 months – Andrew working in his trade as a tiler and Kym picking up legal work.

FULL STORY HERE

Xavier Rudd's United Nations Band embraces a tender spirit

Story from Scenestr by Penny Shipway

Earth man Xavier Rudd has a new album - and it's catchy.

Backed by his nine-piece United Nations band, Xavier’s new, heavily reggae-influenced sound brings together musicians from across the globe, representing the diverse cultures of Australia, indigenous Australia, South Africa, Samoa, Germany and Papua New Guinea. The release of Xavier’s eighth-studio record, 'Nanna', will coincide with a national tour in March and April, including Byron Bay’s Bluesfest.

The United Nations band brings a slew of new sounds to Xavier’s usual one-man band including: guitar, bass, drums, percussion, keys, horns, flute, saxophone and backing vocals. It’s rootsy, reggae and at times a little Blue King Brown-esque.

While there’s no stomp box, Xavier’s iconic didgeridoos remain. Beyond that, however, most of it is a pretty new sound, he says. The new-look band is symbolic of the message, “that all people of the world can come together and return to spirit, respect the ancient ways, and protect the earth and the very essence of creation,” he says.

FULL STORY HERE  

Hawaiian mellow man Donavon Frankenreiter cruises into Bluesfest

Story from Scenestr by Penny Shipway

Life as a touring musician can be a rambunctious affair. There’s the clamour of the crowds, the turbulent road trips, and the cyclonic publicity circuit. Not to mention the deafening, albeit electrifying, shows themselves.  As musicians often describe it: it’s pandemonium.

So it’s no wonder that the mellow man with the moustache, Donovan Frankenreiter, likes to take it easy when he isn’t touring; instead enjoying life’s simple pleasures and doing those regular things that regular people like to do.

“I get back to the basics. I wake up at 6am, make my kids lunch, and take them to school,” he says talking from his home on Hawaii’s garden island, Kauai, which he shares with his adorable sons Ozzy and Hendrix, and his wife Petra. “I write songs. And (I just enjoy) spending time at home with my wife; being a husband... going to the water and surfing. I’m doing a lot of painting at the moment. And I like to be just here around the yard, gardening, living a normal life. It gets kinda crazy on the road, up at all hours at night. You live in a surreal bubble. You get home and it’s cool to be normal, every day.”

 

FULL STORY HERE

Photo from Star News Online

Coast couple's love for laughter and ice cream

Story from Salt Magazine by Penny Shipway

When it comes to living a long and fruitful life there were certainly no fad diets, exercise regimes or intensive spiritual retreats for Arthur and Betty Bluett, who celebrate 66 years of marriage this year. 

Instead they travelled the world, played golf, ate ice cream every night and dinner was never without a stiff drink.

Their secret to a happy marriage? “Not having a family straight away,” Betty says from their five-star retirement village, Arcare at Peregian Springs.

Bucking the trend of their married friends, Arthur and Betty chose to spend the first 12 years of marriage “getting to know each other better” and taking holidays wherever possible throughout Europe, Canada, USA and Hawaii. 

Betty says she wasn’t too fussed on the local teenage boys hanging around at the time, and it was enough to put her off having kids. 

“The young blokes were called ‘teddy boys’ and we didn’t want a teddy boy so we said ‘no thank you’,” Betty laughs. “This one said we needed a lot of practice!” 

But the truth is, Arthur and Betty just love each other’s company.  

“Many people don’t believe it when I say it, but we truly didn’t argue. We’ve had no time apart and never had holidays separately. The only time we have been apart was when Arthur was in hospital,” Betty says. 

“I didn’t talk much and that suited her,” Arthur adds in jest. “I don’t tell her I love her every day, but it’s there. She puts up with me.” 

FULL STORY HERE

Photo by Anastasia Kariofyllidis