Thursday 16 January 2014

2014 Here We Are!!

Well i am back! and cannot believe that we are already halfway through January - seriously time just flies quicker every year - or is it that once you get older you realise just how precious our time is!!

We had a wonderful and super relaxing Christmas and New Years. It was lovely to just relax and chill out throughout this heatwave that seems to be passing through most of Australia at the moment. We even took Little Miss M on her first camping trip for a night!

Our camping spot!
I know everyone is super excited about 2014 we have all our dreams and goals out there at the moment and it is such a special time - so much promise and exciting things on the horizon for us all - it just comes down to keeping your heart and eyes open for the opportunities that may come and letting go of your fear and jumping out of your comfort zone to grab them before they pass!

Personally for me my goal is to stop worrying what other people are thinking and just be the best version possible of me! Sounds simple doesn't it!

I have stuck to my healthy eating through the festive season and can count the glasses of wine and champagne i had on one hand - that is certainly a first for me!

My little family and I are really focused on being as healthy and happy as possible this year. We have pretty much been eating a Paleo diet for the past month and honestly we all feel amazing, so much energy (even when being out in these 40+ days), clean skin and for me zero mood swings - which my husband is cheering about!!

Instagram is my new love - totally addicted! You can follow me @kellstoll - to check out what recipes we have been trying and to follow my finds for our new house.

House is nearly out of the engineers! Yay, we went over the plans again during the break and realised that our gym come craft room just wasn't big enough so we are extending which means new drawings and more ticks needed from the engineer - bore! Though we are on track to start the tendering process in a few weeks and then into council in March ready to build Jun/Jul!!!!!!!!!! eeeekkk!!! Seems far away but oh so close! Fingers and toes are crossed as well as putting good vibes out into the universe for a quick approval from council!

The past few weeks have seen me spend why too much time on the ipad resulting in some very cool purchases:

Not ready to venture out into a bikini yet, so very excited to see the gorgeous tringl swimwear bringing out a underwear range! Ordered this and this.. can't wait for it to arrive!




Thanks to insta i stumbled upon Cactus Skincare - Ryan there is awesome and i ordered their samples (for only $5!!!) which were so good, so of course i then needed to get the full range which turned up last week and i am in total LOVE, even hubby is using the clay mask which would have to be my number 1 pick! Totally natural it is a very simple routine that works for my skin.. very happy girl x




Also as many of you would have already seen the gorgeous lorna jane posted this vid and i tell you at 49 she looks AMAZING and goes to show what the benefits of active living  are.. LJ you are such an inspiration!


One of my favourite recipes this week has been from the amazing Teresa Cutter from Healthy Chef Pumpkin Bread! it is SO easy and quick to make and is great toasted and topped with fruit and coconut yogurt for breakfast YUM!!

Hopefully next post will see our house plans finalised! Now my attention is really starting to focus on finishes and fixtures.. can't wait to show you what i am planning!

Stay cool during this heat

Kell xxx

Thursday 12 December 2013

Holidays & Happy Times

Wow the year is flying by! I just battled the shops with Mr T and Little Miss this morning and seriously it was as if xmas was tomorrow!! There was people everywhere, kids screaming & NO CAR PARKS!

We escaped with only one tantrum - Mr T wanted one of those trolley baskets in woolworths and with so many people around, trying to manouver him and the pram was going to be a nightmare, so i said no and my beautiful boy who had been SO well behaved turned into a monster who proceeded to throw himself on the ground and have a tanty - which then made his little sister scream as well - i wanted to throw myself down with him, but i tried to reason with him and then when that was not working i just picked him up and carried him down an aisle where he saw craft glue and wanted it so thankfully he calmed down and forgot about the basket! Phew, it could have been so much worse!

With only a week of our business open before we close for xmas i am so looking forward to just slowing down and relaxing as a family. Taking our boat out on the water for a spot of fishing, sitting down by the river and just enjoying life! Prior to our children we just worked, worked, worked. So it is nice now to enjoy the sunshine and catch up with friends who are home.

I am off on a little roadtrip to melbourne tomorrow (can't wait) hubby has promised to take Little Miss whilst i hit the shops!! (look out Zara!) it will be so nice to be childless for even a few hours to relax and find myself a new dress for xmas day.

House plans have been a little quite this last couple of weeks as we are still with the engineer (boring!) but i did find these super cool stones (cushions) which would look so great scatter around the house! Perfect for little kids to jump, cuddle and play on.



And if you are wondering i am still on my healthy living and eating.. green smoothies are my daily wake up - seriously they give you so much energy throughout the morning, if i miss a day i just feel so sluggish!

And i am now on instragram - totally addicted to this - i have to thank my girlfriend @misskatadams88 for that, she has me hooked! You can follow me @kellstoll

Have a great week everyone hope your xmas lead up is stress free!!

xx

Thursday 28 November 2013

Summer is here!

Yay! The warm weather is coming! And with it brings, fun, xmas, parties and late nights.. Though not sure there will be much partying going on this year with now 2 kids in tow! It is my favourite part of the year when we get to wind down and look back on the amazing things we have achieved both in our business and as a family and where we start to look towards to the new year and the amazing and exciting opportunities that may come our way.

Our house plans are slowly moving forward, our architect is busily working with the engineer getting everything signed off structurally before we submit to council, which should (hopefully!) ensure the smooth sailing of our application to build. I will be one excited lady once we get that final tick of approval from council. I can't wait until the 1st of Jan so i can finally say we are going to build THIS year - omg super duper excited!

The pics below really shows where we are heading. Our kitchen is entirely black - including the tap ware - it is certainly going to be a statement! My dreams are filled of cooking and entertaining in this space!



concrete floors, floor to ceiling glass, open fireplaces & crisp white plaster work with recessed lighting!
 

all black kitchen! Everything hidden - can't wait to see this finished
 
Little Miss M's room is nearly finished - well in my mind it is!! Wallpaper is finalised and beaded light fitting has been purchased. It is definately not a 'girly pink' room, but hopefully something that she loves and keeps for many many years to come!


black beaded chanderlier for Little Miss M's room


Wallpaper from Schumacher
This xmas break whilst our business is quite will see me spend quite a bit of time in Melbourne sourcing finishes, fixtures and finalising furniture pieces. For be past 10 years we have held off purchasing furniture so the only thing we are taking to our new home will be 3 x original bentwood dining chairs which i have restored - everything else is going to be new!! Though hopefully it doesn't feel too much like a furniture showroom, i am hoping i can throw a few vintage pieces in there which will soften and make it feel a bit more homey!

Yep, totally excited about the new year - it is going to be huge. No doubt lots of challenges, but wow there will be some huge highs too!

Have a great weekend..

Kell xoxxx

Thursday 7 November 2013

Nearly Another Year Down!

Last week our little Mr T turned 3!! My little baby boy is not so little anymore and a great day was had - though as with most parties there were tears and tantrums and way too much sugar. I have vowed that i will not be throwing a party like this again, as fun as it was i had way too much food and way too many options that all contained way too much sugar!!

The party was simply and quickly thrown together (bit hard to plan anything too elaborate with a newborn who does NOT want to be put down - EVER) with a few finds from etsy in particular the lovely Mel at Sweet & Snazzy who helped out with the printables and a very clever sister-in-law who made Mr T's dreams come true with his Lion birthday cake!


So now that his birthday is done and dusted i have cleaned out the cupboards of all the sugar nasties (goodbye lollies, chips, biscuits etc) which have found there way into the pantry during my pregnancy and made way for our healthy life to get back on track (hello, cacao powder, chai seeds, kale chips!). I also purchased Lorna Jane's new book MORE which i have read and LOVE. It took me a bit to get through it as i could only manage a few pages during middle of the night feeds, but it has given me so much inspiration and motivation to get back on track. And not just my weight or fitness but my whole life. Prior to kids i was the one who had all her goals and dreams written and plastered on my walls and office, i was always trying new recipes and foods or reading self help books such as 'the secret' and the classic 'The Laws of Attraction'. I always knew where i was heading and had a clear path of how i had to get there in my mind. Lately i feel like i am floating. No goals written with deadlines, no action plan for where i want to be. And i have that lethargic lazy feeling of complacement that comes with not pushing yourself or striving for more.

SO i have vowed to eat amazing healthy yummy food and start planning my goals again! I am super excited, the healthy eating is challenging but i am starting to feel really good again (mind you it has only been four days! i will let you know if i can keep this up!). With the new year quickly approaching i am excited about what is coming my way!!

House inspiration is coming thick and fast this week - it always does when the new magazines come out - Belle this month has an amazing house featured by the super talented team at Ian Halliday's BKH, the decking on this pool is superb and exactly the look i am after: simple, stunning and of so chic!

No engagments booked in this weekend! Yay.. so you will find me at the farmers markets bright and early on saturday morning and then relaxing for the weekend!

Have a great one xxx

Saturday 26 October 2013

Little Miss Mia Rose has arrived!

In what has been a huge couple of months for me, i finally have my sweet little miss in my arms! Of course she had to be different and was breach through the entire pregnancy! No amount of upside down stretching, exercises, yoga poses or invertvention from the doctors to try and turn her were successful much to my dismay so on 30 Sept 13 our little miss was pulled from my belly via c-section!


Little Miss is settling in ok, she doesn't settle as easily as Mr T did but she gives the most gorgeous smiles (yes i know it is wind!) and at 2am those little flickers of smiles are what get me through the continuous cuddling and rocking - she just doesn't like to be put down!

Our house is slowly coming along. I didn't realise the time involved and the work you needed to do before submitting to council. It is such a process, one that i am definately enjoying but now with no bedroom for Little Miss i really want to get into our home.

Our wonderful architect is currently preparing all the drawings for tender, this is the scary part, hopefully in a few weeks we will know if our dream home is going to become a reality or if it is going to need a good dose of cutting back and compromise - compromise is certainly not something i am going to enjoy, but hopefully we are close to budget and don't have to scale too many things back.

Hopefully i can load up some pics of the design shortly so you can get a feel for where i am heading. I think we have nailed the colour palette so that is a good thing, it makes it easier to narrow down your choices when the colours are chosen. Our vibe is a bit scandi with a white interior and blocks of black, polished concrete and natural oak flooring along with some amazing stone walls should complete the look - super excited!!

Royal Oak Floors | Timber Flooring Specialists | American Oak Floors | Product Gallery
Loving these floorboards (image credit: royaloakfloors.com.au)

I have been loving so many varied things lately, especially new baby finds, ouf course the never ending home ideas, plus i have just started working my way through an AMAZING e-book by Rachel MacDonald and Tara Bliss called 'Sprited: Soulful lessons on clarity, connection and coming home (to you). I am trying to read a few paragraphs a day (it is so hard finding a bit of me time with a newborn and 3 year old!!) but it is just something to remind me that our lives are amazing and that even when things aren't so rosy there are still little pockets of our lives that are wonderful and special.

Here are a few links for you to check out if you have the time!!

E-Book: Spirited
Beautiful Baby Quilts (as seen on Decor8)
My Pinterest Page has so many varied boards that i have been updating!

Have an amazing week, i have a Jungle Party for Mr T to plan this week, which is going to be so much fun, he is one very excited little boy.

Lots of love, Kell xxx

Saturday 1 June 2013

First Post!

via freshome.com
inspiration for our new home

Wow! Excited and a bit scared all at once, my very first blog post!

So here I am! A Pile of Lovely is exactly that – a pile of lovely things/words/images that catch my eye and inspire me.

I am in the process of working with our architect to build our new home so a lot of my findings are design orientated and directed at beautiful interior spaces and products. I have a love for anything concrete, with grey, black and white being my fav hues and I am obsessed with peonies!

Having a toddler as well as a second on the way (due in October) I also find myself loitering around the beautiful world of kids fashion and interiors as well as how to nurture them and help them grow into amazing young adults.

I my effort to be the best mother and wife possible I am also constantly on the look out for ways to better understand myself, grow and be as positive and happy as possible (even on those bad unbearable days!). Being healthy and happy is the motto in our house and we are always trying out new recipes and experimenting with healthy options – currently our love at the moment are these amazing balls from Nat Kringoudis  of Fertile Body Heart & Soul fame.
via: Fertile Body Heart & Soul
 
There are so many blogs that I love and I will post them up here as I go along.. though the first four are my total faves and I usually pore over them with a cup of tea before getting into my day.
 Table tonic - Louise's blog has the most amazing finds from fashion, homewares, healthy living and also has the cutest little shop by the same name in Avalon, Sydney.

Design Files - this daily blog keeps me up to date with the best Australian Design (very melbourne based) has to offer - it has the coolest stuff and the most amazing house profiles.

SouloMamma  - Lisa's blog is so beautiful and honest. Her posts resonate with me and her honesty is so refreshing and nuturing.

Beetle Shack - Emily's blog is like having coffee with your best friend where she talks about motherhood and the general day to day stuff of running a house with 2 little ones and a newborn plus a amazing hubby who somedays i wish was mine!

If you happen to stumble across this little blog please hang around and sign up for my weekly ramblings, pics and other stuff that I find along my travels. Or follow me on pinterest where I tend to spend way too much time!

Take care

Kell xo