Hi guys! Gosh, can you believe it’s mid-year already. I don’t know about you but I’m exhausted! This has been quite the year so far and I hope that the rest of the year ends on a more positive note. Wherever you are, takecare and be safe!
I’ve been on the hunt for a realistic Asian doll for my daughter for a while now and I think I may have found the perfect one!
Miss K has learnt how to dance and shake her hips to music! We love listening to the ABC Kids listen app throughout the day. It’s fun and educational at the same time. Definitely worth checking out if you have a little one!
I’ve been using these headphones for over a year now and their fantastic. It means I can enjoy music while keeping an ear out for my daughter while she’s sleeping.
As we’re nearing the middle of the year, I thought it’d be nice to check in with my first Project Pan update! This year I’m planning on finishing 20 items by 2020 and you can read my introductory post here.
Skincare
FACE MASKS: All of the face masks have been used up! I loved the Fresh Vitamin Nectar Vibrancy-Boosting Face Mask so much that I bought the full sized version. I’m transitioning away from disposable face masks, so I’ll be working on using the rest of my collection up. I have 13 left!
LIP CARE: I’ve used the Laneige Lip Sleeping Mask almost every night and sometimes during the day, so it’s about half empty. Not a fan of the Burts Bees Honey Lip Balm, so I don’t use it as often but I’ve made some progress. I hope to have used it up by the next update. I only started using the Sephora Kiwi Lip Scrub about a month ago because I forgot about it as it was tucked away! I’ve put it on my bathroom counter and intend to use it more often over Winter.
HAND CREAM: The Face Shop Mini Pet Fruits in Peach has been used up! It had such a lovely peach scent and now I have a cute container to keep. I’m now using Aesop Rind Concentrate Body Balm as my go to hand cream.
DRY SHAMPOO: I’ve barely used the Bumble and Bumble Pret-a-Powder as I just haven’t had to use it. My hair is usually clipped up and only washed 2-3 times a week as I rarely go out. I’m not sure whether to keep this product on my list or substitute it with something else.
Makeup
FOUNDATION: I’ve used up the Benefit Cosmetics Hello Happy Soft Blur Foundation and have repurchased it as my go to foundation. It matches my yellow skin tones and I love the sheer-medium coverage. Even though I’ve found my go to foundation, I can’t resist trying out new foundations. I’m currently using NYX Full Coverage Matte Finish Foundation in True Beige. While the colour is spot on, I’m not a fan of the full coverage and cakey feel it gives me. I’ll be moving onto another foundation once this has been used up.
CONCEALER: I’ve used up the Loreal True Match Concealer and am onto my next one. This is another go to product.
BROWS: Since I rarely go out anymore, I don’t really use my brow products! I’m still hoping to hit pan on the Benefit Foolproof Brow Powder by the end of the year and continue using a bit of Benefit Gimme Brow until it dries out.
BLUSH: Out of all of my makeup products, I use my The Balm Cindy-Lou Manizer the most. It gives a really nice flush to the cheeks and suits my medium skin tone well. I’ve really enjoyed using this blush and hope to have it finished up by the end of the year!
HIGHLIGHTER: I’ve been using The Balm Mary-Lou Manizer almost as much as my blush but I’ve barely made a dent! I would love to hit pan by the end of the year but I won’t be holding my breath.
EYESHADOWS: For the majority of the year I’ve been concentrating on using up Colour Pop’s Truth Super Shock Shadow and I’m happy to call this done. It was a great everyday eyeshadow that gave me the sheerest sparkle on my lids. I hit pan on this very early on but just couldn’t use up the edges before it dried up. I’m now focusing on using up MUG Eyeshadows in Peach Smoothie and Bling.
MASCARA: I’ve used up my travel sized Too Faced Better Than Sex Mascara. It’s been my go to mascara for a long while now but I was looking for a non-plastic mascara, so I bought the Besame Mascara Cake. Unfortunately I much prefer using it as an eyeliner, so I bought the iconic Maybelline Great Lash Volumizing Mascara to tide me over until I re-purchase another Too Faced mascara. One of the downsides of a living in a small regional town!
LIPPIES: I’ve been loving using the Tarte Amazonian Butter Lipstick in Plummy Rose and Etude House Apricot Stick. I’m terrible at remembering to re-apply during the day though, so I haven’t made as big of a dent as I’d like.
Below is a comparison of some of the products at January and now in June.
Stay tuned for the next update!
Are you doing a project pan or following along another project pan? If so, please let me know in the comments below!
To read about our Waitomo leg of the trip, click here!
Following a short 2-hour drive from Waitomo, we arrived in Rotorua! After being on the go for the past few days, we spent 4 relaxing nights and 5 days exploring the town and its many attractions.
Quest Apartments
Although we enjoyed our stay at the Holiday Park, it was with relief that we checked into our spacious 1-bedroom apartment with its creature comforts and amenities. Miss K is prone to eczema flare ups when she gets too hot, so controlling the temperature of our environment (as much as we can) is important.
The living, kitchen, dining, and laundry area are combined in a single space with the bedroom and bathroom separate. The kitchen is fully equipped and the laundry contains a washing machine and dryer. Inside the bedroom, there is a lovely queen bed and ample space for a cot. Both rooms came with their own air conditioning unit. The bathroom was small but sufficient and the shower head was detachable, which I found useful showering Miss K.
The location of the apartments was fantastic. We were on the main strip with many restaurants, cafes, and, stores on our doorstep. 10 Minutes walk took us to Rotorua’s Central Mall. We were about 10-15 minutes driving distance from most of the main attractions in town.
Since we had a car we paid for parking. We weren’t able to get undercover parking so we had to park outside behind the apartments. Parking was tight and I still have no idea how all the cars were able to get in and out as some of them were blocking each other! Nevertheless we were glad to have our designated spot!
Around Town
Compared to Waitomo, which only had a single main road running through it, Rotorua seemed huge. Driving into town, it looked and felt quite industrial. While the town itself is spread out the city centre is relatively small with only a few main streets.
There are a few eateries and cafes, fashion and other miscellaneous stores, and the most wonderful secondhand bookstore. A short driving distance away is their main shopping mall with a decent food court. Behind it is a large Countdown, where we stocked up on groceries.
Before having kids, my husband and I would have explored all of the different eateries on offer including the intriguing sounding Eat Street. However with a toddler in tow, what’s convenient and fast worked best for us. With a few exceptions, we made simple meals at Quest or visited the food court.
Whakarewarewa Forest – The Redwoods
A short 10 minute drive from Quest are what the locals call The Redwoods. A gorgeous, lush green forest with the most amazing native and exotic giant trees. There are many activities on offer such as mountain biking, hiking, and ziplining. However, we were keen to do the Redwoods Treewalk.
The Treewalk is a half-kilometre long walkway between 22 giant 100-year old Redwood trees. Each tree is connected by a wooden suspension bridge. At each tree there are decks where you can take a seat and soak up the view. Amazingly, each deck has been specifically designed so that they would adapt to the rapid tree growth without causing any harm.
Before going on the Treewalk, we wanted to make sure that it was baby friendly and found out on their website that there are special baby strollers provided that have to be used. For safety reasons, babies and infants can’t be carried at any stage of the walk. Likewise, young kids have to be able to walk unaided.
I couldn’t find any pictures of the baby strollers online, but thought that we’d go anyway and check it out. Worst case scenario, we would just walk around and enjoy the scenery!
After a simple breakfast at Quest, we headed straight to The Redwoods and arrived there in no time. Onsite there’s a medium sized carpark and as we stepped outside of the car, you could already feel the wonderful atmosphere of the giant trees. It had been raining and you could smell the damp wood in the air.
On the way to the ticket booth there are a number of pleasantly clean portable toilets available. The Treewalk takes on average 40 minutes to complete with no shortcuts down, so something to note before you begin the walk. There are only 4 special baby strollers available with a first come, first served basis and when we arrived there were 2 available.
The special pram baby strollers are essentially car seats fixed on a specially made wooden wagon that is pushed. As there are steps on and off the suspension bridges, it requires 2 people to maneuver it (one at the front and one behind). Since there were 2 strollers available, we had the option of having Miss K sit up or reclined. We chose reclining so she could see the treetops or have a snooze if she got tired.
After a short safety briefing, we were finally on our way! To start, we headed up a long spiral ramp up to the first tree, 25 metres from the ground. At the first deck there’s a gigantic cross section of a Redwood tree, which gives you an idea of how large these majestic trees are.
The suspension bridges are narrow but sturdy and I felt quite safe pushing Miss K along. As we pushed her across the bridge, she loved holding her hand out and letting them run through the ropes. She was very quiet during our walk and seemed to enjoy the quiet serenity of the forest.
As we had to push the stroller and pick it up and down at each suspension bridge, it was a bit of a workout and we spent a bit of time resting at each deck. Although it was a bit repetitive, we really enjoyed our walk amongst the trees. During our walk we stopped to take lots of pictures and around mid-point, my husband took a separate staircase to climb to the highest point before re-joining us (you can continue on a higher altitude before re-joining the main walk, however we weren’t able to do this due to the stroller).
We spent over an hour walking amongst the treetops and spent some time back on the ground taking pictures on the forest floor. While I would have loved to explore the hiking trails, we left to feed Miss K lunch and get her down for her afternoon nap.
Te Puia
Rotorua is known for its geothermal activity and there are several geothermal parks that you can visit. While they all offer slightly different things to see, we wanted to see a naturally occurring geyser so we chose to visit Te Puia. As with all the other attractions around town, Te Puia was a short drive from our apartments. We went there straight after breakfast, so we were able to beat most of the tourist buses and crowds.
There are several add on ticket options that include a steambox lunch tour and Maori cultural experience, however with Miss K in tow we wanted to keep things simple, so we purchased the basic day pass. There are also free guided tours but we decided to explore the park on our own.
The park is easy to navigate with signs pointing to the next attraction and advising whether it’s wheelchair accessible. Miss K was in the travel pram, so we stuck to the wheelchair accessible pathways.
We followed a big loop around the park, first through the Kiwi House, and then past the different types of geothermal landscapes such as bubbling mud, different coloured pools of boiling water, and the main attraction, the geyser! We arrived at the tail end of an eruption, so Miss K and I went ahead while my husband stuck around for the money shot.
After seeing the geyser, there’s an option to quickly head back to the front of the park or take a longer path to loop back around. We were feeling adventurous so we took the longer way back and saw a beautiful lake and other geothermal wonders. Word of warning though – if you have a pram, the only way to get back to the front of the park is to take several flights of stairs down or go back the way you came from (avoid the tunnel up ahead as it leads to staff parking and a locked gate)! The following path is dirt gravel and uphill so not very pram friendly either.
It was a bit tricky but as our travel pram was quite lightweight, my husband was able to carry Miss K down in the pram and did most of the pushing uphill. In hindsight, I would have much preferred taking the shorter route back!
By this time, it was almost noon and Miss K ended up falling asleep on the way back to the front of the park. Bumpy pathways have always helped her to fall asleep so we took a leisurely walk back and managed to squeeze in a light lunch from the cafeteria before she woke up! Te Puia also offer a buffet with traditional Maori dishes for those looking for a culinary cultural experience.
Polynesian Spa
The last time I visited Rotorua, I visited the Polynesian Spa and had a wonderful afternoon relaxing in their hot pools. Since I was pregnant I wasn’t able to go, so I encouraged my husband to have a relaxing night at the spa after Miss K went down for the night.
There are various packages and my husband chose the Deluxe Lake Spa that includes 5 mineral hot pools overlooking Lake Rotorua, geothermal recliners and deluxe changing rooms with lockers. Children are allowed, however since he went after 7pm there were no kids at the time and it was relatively quiet.
Although my husband wasn’t super keen on going at first, he really enjoyed his time there and left near to closing time! He gave it 2 thumbs up!
Private pools for minimum of 2 adults and spa treatments are also available.
Skyline Rotorua and Buffet Lunch at Stratosfare Restaurant and Bar
As I was looking for other things to do in Rotorua on Trip Advisor, the Skyline and buffet lunch at Stratosfare Restaurant and Bar came highly recommended. We bought a package deal online and booked in for a late lunch to hopefully coincide after Miss K’s late morning nap. Fortunately for us, the stars were aligned for us that day!
After a short 10 minute drive from Quest we had ample time to enjoy the gondola ride up Mount Ngongotaha, which is a dormant volcanic dome overlooking the town and lake. When we arrived at the top, we had enough time to enjoy the breathtaking views before sitting down for our buffet lunch.
Stratosfere offers a lunch or dinner buffet with floor to wall window panoramic views of the town and lake. Seating is on a first come and first served basis and we were lucky enough to be seated by a window. While the views and service were outstanding, unfortunately I wasn’t very impressed by the selection or quality of the food.
Other than enjoying the views, there are other activities available such as mountain biking, ziplining, skyswing and trails for the more adventurously inclined.
Kuirau Park
A short 5 minute drive from Quest was a lovely park with a large playground area for big and small kids alike, picnic and BBQ area, crater lake, mud pools, geothermal vents, and free thermal (man-made) foot baths.
During our stay, we visited the park twice. The first time was to check it out. We spent some time at the playground where Miss K enjoyed her time watching an older child play. He was very intrigued by her and followed us wherever we went! After some time, we left to take a short walk to see the rest of the park.
Just across the playground is the large crater lake and there are warning signs around the edge not to get too close! A short walk along the pathway across the lake you’ll see plenty of small geothermal activity that’s been fenced off for safety reasons. Even though we’d seen our fair share of geothermal activity at Te Puia, it was still fascinating to see it naturally occurring in a local park!
Continuing along our walk we came across the public thermal foot baths. There were 2 medium sized pools – one covered and the other uncovered. Both were full of people dipping their feet in and I was pleasantly surprised to see that the water was nice and clear. The edges of the pools were wet but I’d come prepared with 2 towels – one to sit on and one to dry my feet off later.
It was snack time for Miss K, so while my husband fed her nearby I enjoyed a hot feet soak under the sun. It was so lovely and I ended up going back there a second time on the way home from our buffet lunch while Miss K took an unexpected late afternoon nap in the car with her daddy!
Rainbow Springs: Rotorua Wildlife and Nature Park
On our last day in Rotorua, we decided on a whim to visit Rainbow Springs Nature Park. Just like every other place we’d visited, it was a short 10 minute drive from Quest and located opposite Skyline Rotorua.
There are 3 main day pass options: Lite Pass, Essentials Pass and Ultimate Pass. As we were there for a short casual visit, we bought the Lite Pass which includes park entry and optional guided tour, Taonga experience, Kiwi Burrow and Nocturnal House and 1 ride on the Big Splash.
When you first enter the park there’s a mandatory touristy photo booth that you have to go through. It was unexpected and frankly a bit annoying but we did our poses and finally entered the park. I’m not a fan of guided tours and with a toddler I like the flexibility of doing our own thing, so we explored the park on our own.
Our first stop was the Kiwi Burrow and Nocturnal House, which is also a kiwi hatchery. Rainbow Springs has been hatching kiwi chicks since 1995 and is now the largest and most successful hatching facility in the world. Inside the Kiwi Burrow, there are interactive screens and information boards about kiwis and their conservation. From the Kiwi Burrow, there’s a door that leads into the Nocturnal House where you can spot a few kiwis on the way out.
Following our kiwi experience, we followed the guided path to explore the rest of the park. The park itself was lush with greenery and there was plenty of things to see. Miss K was particularly enamored with the giant fish swimming in a circle in the water! Overall we spent about 2 hours there and we had a lot of fun pointing out animals for Miss K to see.
While we brought our pram with us, she was mainly in the baby carrier so she had front row seats to everything!
On the way out we had to go through the gift store and the obligatory photo collection booth. Although I’m not a fan of these touristy photo setups, we ended up purchasing some online photos in the end as they turned out pretty well so I guess the touristy ploy worked in the end!
Last year, I was looking for a fun DIY craft project for Miss K’s nursery and stumbled across a gorgeous rainbow wall weaving. Prior to this I had no idea what weaving was about and was intrigued to learn more.
Over a year later, many late nights, and too many balls of beautiful yarn, I’m proud to announce that I’ve opened my own Etsy shop called The Little Owl Design selling my own handmade woven wall hangings!
I’m really excited to see where this takes me and look forward to sharing my weaving journey with you all!
Every year the number of photos that I take has grown exponentially and I’ve used various systems to try and organise them. For the last few years I’ve been using a relatively simple folder system on my laptop to organise my photos and thought I’d share it for those of you who might be interested.
Single Place for All of Photos
Most of my photos are taken and located on my phone but I also get photos from other sources such as Watsapp, Arlo, and DSLR. Eventually all of these will end up in my Photos folder on my laptop. Having a single place for all of my photos means that I save time transferring all of my photos and can quickly locate them.
Folder Organisation
Within my Photos folder, my photos are further organised by yearly and monthly sub-folders. The monthly folders are numbered so that their shown in order of the month. For example, 1. Jan and 2. Feb. If there’s been a special event in a particular month, it’ll have it’s own folder but numbered with the appropriate decimal number and a brief description so that I can easily see it amongst the monthly sub-folders. For example 3. Mar – NZ for our recent New Zealand Road Trip.
Previously, I used to keep all special events in a further sub-folder within a particular month. However, I found that I couldn’t easily locate the folder because I couldn’t remember what month the event occurred in! I would have to either search or go through the monthly folders that I thought it happened in, which was time consuming. With this new ordering system, I can see at quick glance when I went on a trip or had a special event throughout the year.
Selecting Your Photos
In an ideal world where I had lots of time on my hands, I would transfer all of my photos and select which ones to keep. While it’s a nice to do, I usually transfer all of my photos across and leave it at that. If I’m working on a project I’ll quickly delete some of the obviously bad ones but I won’t spend too much time on it as it’s not a priority for me. If you have limited space and have the time, then definitely go for it!
Backing Up Your Photos
Lastly, don’t forget to backup your photos! I have all my photos automatically backed up by Google Photos but there are many other online cloud or external hard drive options.
I hope you found this article useful! How do you organise your digital photos? Any other tips or ideas in the comments below would be awesome!
Being stuck at home lately means that I’ve been focusing on my skincare routine. I don’t think that my skin has ever looked this good! While I still have too many products in my makeup collection, I’ve almost managed to whittle my skincare products down to a single product per category.
Here’s my current skincare routine:
Olay Complete UV Protection Lotion SPF15 (Sensitive Skin) – even though I rarely go out nowadays, I always wear an SPF face lotion. I’m currently using Olay at the moment. I’m not a big fan of the smell but I like the way it feels on my face and it’s not oily. While I like this face lotion enough, I’d be open to trying other SPF face lotions.
Missha Time Revolution The first Treatment Essence – I first came across this when I was doing research on Korean skincare products before my trip to South Korea many years ago. I’ve never tried SKII but I’ve heard that it’s similar if not superior as it contains more active ingredients. The price is certainly superior! I pat this on my face at night before applying anything else and pat the excess on my neck and the back of my hands. After using this essence I quickly noticed that my skin cleared up and seems brighter.
Sukin Enriching Night Cream in Rosehip – while I love Skukin’s night creams, I haven’t fallen in love with their scents. The last one I used had a lavender scent and this one has a light rose scent. While the rose scent is okay, I’m still on the hunt for my go to night face cream.
Laneige Water Sleeping Mask – although this product has been around for a long while, I recently decided to try it out. It’s an intensive night moisturiser that I use once a week. I love using this on nights that I’m feeling lazy and just want to get to bed!
Fresh Vitamin Nectar Vibrancy-Boosting Face Mask – I first bought the smaller jar to sample about a year ago and this is now my go to face mask. I love it so much I splurged and bought the full sized jar!
Encare Bio Nourishing Face Oil (Evening Blend) – a few months ago my talented sister released her very first face oil. It has a combination of different oils that has a lovely lavender and lemongrass scent. I gently pat 2-3 drops on my face and neck once a week before going to bed and it’s helped keep my skin soft and supple when I wake up!
Laneige Lip Sleeping Mask in Strawberry – I reviewed this lip mask a few months ago but in short, I love using this before going to bed. My lips get really dry, particularly during colder weather so this has been a godsend. I was so impressed that I bought the Laneige Lip Sleeping Mask Mini Travel Set while on holiday! In addition to Strawberry, there are 3 other scents – Grapefruit, Apple Lime and Mint Choco. After I finish the strawberry, I’m keen to try out the other scents!
Aesop Rind Concentrate Body Balm – This lotion has pink grapefruit, orange rind and lemon rind, and it smells absolutely divine! Rather than a body lotion, I use this as my hand lotion. It moisturises beautifully and leaves a lovely scent afterwards.
Redwin Sorbolene Moisturiser – as you can probably guess by now, I have extremely dry skin and I’ve been using my trusty sorbolene moisturiser since I was little. It sinks in well, doesn’t leave an oily residue, and has no scent. Although I’ve been using this for years and absolutely love this product, I’m thinking of making the switch to Dermaveen. My daughter has unfortunately inherited my dry skin and we were recommended Dermaveen by her GP, so it would be helpful to streamline our moisturisers and buy in bulk.
Palmers Stretch Mark Massage Lotion – I used this for my last pregnancy and am using it again for this one. The branding and scent is different (previously cocoa) but am loving this new version. I use this daily over my stomach, chest and bottom – all the parts that are growing larger everyday! I love how silky and smooth it feels on the skin.
What’s your current favourite skincare products? I would love to know in the comments below!
