We have concrete & frames! A house update...

So much has been happening with our new house build, I thought I would do an update as a bit of a wrap up for the end of the year.

Here is a little recap:

++ The house purchase settled in early July and we spent about 8 weeks drawing up and finalising the house plans. See the before photos here.

++ Plans were then submitted to the Engineers and Certifiers to make any needed adjustments

++ Plans were submitted to council and we were sent the big approval tick about two weeks ago

++ The house demolition was approved and the house has now been demolished, ready for the new build.

But whilst all this paperwork and planning was happening, we have been busy working on the landscaping, studio building and demolition of the existing home.

So the house started off like this...

- a tiny two bedroom brick home

- an existing concrete slab that had approval for us to build on

before

 Nathan has been solidly working over at the house for the last four months now and has completed:

- a boundary fence

- front retaining walls

- a liveable garden studio

- tree removal

- demolition of the house

Here is some of what that looks like!

House before demolition

Roof was removed - then the excavator took over! It was demolished within an hour!

Pool is in - notice the boundary fence too?

Acreage style fencing so we can still see the bushlands and views from the rear of the home

The finished garden studio

The retaining wall progress and before the front fence was built (above) and after (below)

Foundation blocks being laid, ready for the concrete slab pour

Levelling the ground ready for the concrete slab pour

Saturday's concrete slab pour - where the house used to sit!

For anyone who has built before - you too know the most exciting part is the pouring of the concrete. Finally you can see an outline of where the house sits on the block, get an idea of room layouts and the overall vision. On Saturday afternoon we went and stood and took it all in - it was so exciting!

Yesterday the framing for the walls, ceiling and roof trusses were delivered to site. Today I couldn't help myself, I had to do a drive by and some walls are up - yipee! By the end of the week we should have some serious progress. Hopefully by Christmas all walls will be up and when the New Year comes, we will be ready to start roofing.

Piles of framing and we have progress with some walls

Coopar the site 'foredog'. Can you spot him in this picture? He thinks his job is to sit in the shade and guard the new delivery.

So that's a wrap from me and likely my last blog post for 2016. With our babies due any day now, I am madly ticking things off the to do list and throwing last minute items into my hospital bag. I am so worried about over packing now, I have so much jammed in! You can never know though what you might need. Literally everything is jammed into my bag, but the kitchen sink :P

So thank you, each and every one of you for following along and another year of Glamour Coastal Living blogging and adventures. I truly appreciate each and every one of you who pops in for a read, leaves comments and says hi via my social media. It truly is the best!

I wish you and your family a wonderful festive season and hope 2017 is your best year yet - I know I cannot wait! Merry Christmas and see you all in 2017! xx

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Christmas Gift Guide (+ Giveaway)

Note - giveaway now closed

Christmas and the festive season is well and truly in full swing now isn't it!

I am seeing lots of beautiful pictures of Christmas trees and elves on the shelf across my social media feeds - such fun!

We celebrated Christmas day a little early this year, with a ethical Christmas lunch. Did you see all the details here?

I am super excited as today I thought I would share the ultimate gift guide for those summer lovers who enjoy a day at the beach and turquoise blues...

Plus I have a giveaway in the spirit of Christmas thanks to Sodastream (worth rrp $249!).

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Christmas is about celebrating with those we love.

Entertaining, turquoise beach days, summer breezes, BBQ's...

Icy cold drinks, shady beach umbrellas, floppy hats and sandy toes.

I hope your Summer will feature some sunshine, cheer and lots of merry memories.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

If I was to write a Christmas wishlist, I know some of these beauties would feature!! If you are looking for a perfect Christmas present for your friend, a loved one, or maybe a treat for yourself then this list is for you...

1. Jungle canopy beach umbrella $249 

2. Shipwrecked straw hat $59.95

3. Power Sodastream Sparkling Water $249

4. Uberkate cocktail ring $195

5. Rattan beach bag $70

6. Escape cushion $29

7. French blue sunglasses $89.95

Today you can enjoy a more sparkly Summer - Thanks to Sodastream you can win yourself a new Power machine (rrp $249). Enjoy refreshingly cold drinks, perfect for those hot days on the beach or summer BBQ's - it truly is the ultimate entertaining sidekick. Make fruity flavoured water, cocktails and much more.

Note - giveaway now closed. Congratulations to Anne of "Let me be free blog"

to win:

lEAVE ME A COMMENT BELOW. super eASY!

tELL ME, WHAT DO YOU LOVE ABOUT SUMMER?

For an extra entry, visit me over on Instagram and leave a comment on the competition post.

terms and conditions
1. This is not a game of skill. Winner will be drawn from a random number generator.
2. There is one prize: 1x White SodaStream Power machine valued at $249
3. Entries open Tuesday 6th December 2016 to Sunday 11th December 2016
4. Open to Australian residents only.
7. Entry into any giveaway or competition is deemed acceptance of these terms and conditions.

Linking up with the wonderful Aussie Bloggers at #IBOT - come and have a read at some fab Aussie Blogging talent!

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An Ethical Christmas

have yourself a very ethical christmas

This Christmas, consider buying an ethical Christmas gift, to help shape and better the world we live in.

If just one in four Australians made one ethical Christmas purchase, we’d raise more than $2.2 billion for people living in poverty. That’s enough to provide clean water for every family in Zambia. Incredible huh?

Read on to see how we had an ethical Christmas...

Lunch at the Broadwater

Yesterday I did something very spontaneous.

I skipped half a day at work and convinced Hubby to as well (perks of having your own business I guess, you have to do it sometime!).

We had a long lunch on the Gold Coast Broadwater, thanks to Coles Supermarkets and their Coles Food Truck which is currently on tour around Australia. Look at the view of the Marina Mirage and parklands we were able to enjoy, it was the perfect day for it!

Oh Babies! My Baby Shower

On Sunday we celebrated the soon to be arrival of our twin boys with my baby shower - read about how we revealed their gender, if you missed that post!

I wanted a simple 'do, one that wouldn't be too much fuss. I was concious when setting the date to ensure I wasn't 'too pregnant'. I wanted to be able to still move around with ease, not have kankles and enjoy myself. I was also concious, that carrying twins, being 28 weeks pregnant that I am equivalent to the size and weight of carrying a singleton baby at 34 weeks. So the date was perfect, I was able to still get around with ease and the day was a perfect with blue skies, not a hint of rain as forecast. It was terribly hot though!

Feature Friday: Metricon's Southamptons

I have been home stalking on a full time basis lately - looking for design and interior ideas for the new home we are building. 

We have designed the home ourselves, taking inspiration from the natural layout of the acre block the home will sit on, the leafy tree surrounds and the aspects of the home.  We have kept it light with lots of high ceilings and windows, big stacker doors and all designed around a focal open plan living area. Designing the floorplan yourself is daunting and for most of it, we just winged it - lets home it turns out okay! Thats the thing that is tricky with building, you never know what it will look like, or if there are design flaws until you are living in it and then think 'oh should of added another window there' or wondering if a room needs more storage. So lets hope we have nailed it! 

When designing the home, we didn't focus on what others are building or designing or whats on trend. We focused on what we love, what is timeless and what works for the block of land and aspects. It is only now, that I am turning to Pinterest more (oh man it is addictive!) and also looking at other builders and what they are designing and doing at the moment. I then stumbled across Metricon's Lookbook page on their website and its brilliant - from high end glamour looking interiors, to a natural Scandi look, Hamptons or vintage, there is a home and lookbook for all!

If you’re new to my Feature Friday posts this is where I love to show you inside both real and designer homes.

Revealing our babies gender - Team Blue or Pink?!

Nathan and I had always said that when we were pregnant, we would not find out the babies gender. A healthy baby was all that we wanted and to find out the gender at delivery would be a marvellous surprise.

Then we found out that there was not one but two heartbeats at our first ultrasound. We decided that having twins was a whole other ball game and it was probably best to be prepared!

We had spoken about concentrating on getting the twins over the milestones of 12 weeks/19 weeks etc and then make sure they were along with all their organs and limbs developing healthy. Finding out the gender could happen later on. I thought we had agreed that was the plan. I thought it was the plan!

 Then here we are with our Obstetrician at 10.5 weeks. When doing the ultrasound, he asked if we wanted to know the gender. Before I could give an answer, Nathan's face lit up, he had the biggest smile on his face. Like a kid at Christmas! How could I say no? 

"Yes, yes, yes!" he said. And that is how the gender was known.

I must say though, mothers instinct, I had sensed the gender when I found out I was pregnant. My gut instinct proved me right.

So we held onto this secret for four weeks and oh boy was it hard! Our parents and siblings tried so hard to get it out of us, but we told them they must wait a few more weeks. We had set a date for a morning tea where we would reveal the gender to our family.

A triple layer naked cake was baked, M&M's of the gender 'colour' were placed inside and with butterflies and excitement the cake was cut. Our family at this point had been quite evenly divided, with 60% saying girls, the other 40% saying boys. 

And so the cake was baked....and revealed....

BOYS!!

We are so over the moon!

 Nathan is already talking about their first fishing rods and taking them fishing to the creek at our new house. It will be perfect, so much grass to play on, trees to climb and the new house even comes with a big cubby house. They certainly will be outdoorsy boys which I love. I grew up a tomboy, playing outside until dark and coming home covered in dirt. The best way to grow up. Especially when you have an identical twin brother by your side!

Fourteen weeks pregnant here, at the gender morning tea - ready to reveal! 

Cutting the cake and throwing a morning tea was such a fun way to reveal to our family and I thought, incase you were interested I would share how I made and assembled the cake. Any excuse for cake huh?! :P

Please note, I did have some hands on help - Nathan was fabulous on the knife carving me lovely flat layers of cake to stack!

I made a three layer simple butter cake, using this recipe here.

I iced it with buttercream icing, I love a simple old fashioned cake! It also allowed me to get that 'naked cake' look which I was aiming for.

HOW TO MAKE A GENDER REVEAL CAKE

To make my three tiered 'naked' cake

Once the three cakes were cooked, I froze each of the three layers (freeze for a minimum of two hours). I had read that this helps, having the cake frozen, to cut it when the cake assembly needs to take place. You see, to get a layered three tier cake, you don't simply stack the three cakes on top of each other (if you tried, you would end up with a leaning tower of Pisa!).

You need to level the cake top out, hence cutting it to get a nice smooth even top finish.

We used a serrated bread knife which worked well, below is Nathan demonstrating his culinary skills and cake levelling.

Then, we assembled the bottom layer, placing icing on top.

With the second layer, using a cookie cutter we cut a hole large enough to fill with M&M's in the middle of the cake, centered. We then sandwiched the second layer, using the icing to stick it to the first. Then came the fun part - filling the hole in the cake with the blue reveal M&M's. Once they were in and filled the hole, we placed more icing on the layer, before sandwiching the top layer on.

Now, we had a three tiered cake, complete with the reveal M&M's inside.

We then iced the sides of the cake, quite roughly to achieve the 'naked' cake look. I had then bought some baby booties and a nappy pin to place on top, alongside the 'Oh babies' sign I had made out of gold glitter cardboard (save yourself $20 at the store and make it yourself, its not hard, just requires some tiny nail scissors!) 

Here it was finished - Voilá!

It was alot of fun making the cake and sharing it with family and now you all know the gender too! 

Two little boys will be joining us by Christmas 2016. What a special Christmas it will be.

TELL ME, DID YOU FIND OUT YOUR BABIES GENDER?

 How did you reveal it to your family and friends?

 Ever been to a gender reveal party before?

Linking up team #IBOT

PS: have you seen my online store is closing, there isn't much stock left, so get in quick. All 30% off! SHOP HERE!

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