Lasoo Shopping and Reviews Blog

There’s an ever-growing fervor about Australia Day these days. Friends and families take to the streets, pubs, beaches an parklands wrapped in the Australian flag and smothered in zinc cream. However you choose to celebrate, here are some tips for hosting the perfect Australia day bash.

Have a Barbie!

The humble barbecue remains the truest example of our national cuisine. Aside from plenty of food and drink, you will need Aussie thongs, a barbecue apron, stubby coolers and a hat. As for the food, incorporate marinades and flavours from different international cuisines such as Asian and Mediterranean in a nod to Australia’s thriving multi-cultural heritage. If it weren’t for the divine intervention of these two continents, we’d all be doomed to Oz day fare of burnt snags and salad made of iceberg lettuce unceremoniously mingled with tinned beetroot and corn kernels. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

Hit the beach

Short of  hoisting a large Australian flag, there is no more Australian way to celebrate the national day than to head to your favourite beach. You’re in for the long haul though so make it comfortable with a canopy, plenty of Eskys, beach chairs, sun shades, Aussie beach towels and beach cricket equipment.

Have a street party!

Invite the neighbours – even the one who hasn’t returned your stepladder yet – and take it to the streets. This kind of come-one-come-all affair can make for great bonding between people who’ve shared the same street for years. Everyone can contribute food and drinks and the kids can run amok, just as the First Settlers intended. If you’re lucky enough to have multiple nationalities living in your street, get everyone to bring food from their homeland. Finally, dress up in Aussie regalia – even if it makes your bum look big.

Go to the pub

Anyone who’s seen the YouTube footage of 82-year-old former PM Bob Hawke sculling a beer at a recent cricket match, cheered on by an army of well wishers, knows that raising a cold beer on special occasions is still as much of an Aussie tradition as lawn envy, blow flies and hosing your driveway.

State by state

For a list of events in your state, visit:

NSW http://www.australiaday.com.au/

WA www.australiaday.org.au/wa.aspx

SA www.australiaday.org.au/sa.aspx

TAS www.australiaday.org.au/tasmania.aspx

QLD www.australiaday.org.au/qld.aspx

NT www.australiaday.org.au/nt.aspx

VIC www.australiaday.vic.gov.au/

You walk into the cinema, find your allocated seat and you are ready to watch the highly anticipated, super, action-packed, latest release movie!

And then you realise….

…. you’ve forgotten to buy the popcorn!

Well a solution is ready to be launched this month across Hoyts cinemas around Australia thanks to Mastercard’s new technology ‘QkR‘ which will let you order cinema food & drinks from your seat using your smart phone!

This is a world first for this technology and it is interesting to see how new mobile payment systems are being used to create new shopping experiences.

To read more follow this link: http://newsroom.mastercard.com/press-releases/9737/

Are you excited about this new technology? What are your ideas for changing the way people shop?

A warm summer’s day, drinks by the pool, steaks and snags on the barbeque (or lamb if you are Sam Kekovich), and the kids running around playing backyard cricket… ahhh… the perfect way to spend Australia Day!

According to an article in the Sydney morning Hearld, many brands and supermarket Coles- we can do more to celebrate our great national holiday by purchasing Australia Day themed products!

From Aussie Shapes, to Beetroot, Australian flag printed Huggies nappies and even former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd’s ‘Australian Afternoon Tea’ Australia Day tea from Twinings!

Will you be purchasing Australia Day products to help you celebrate?

Does the concept of a baby drinking the breast milk of a stranger make you feel uncomfortable?

Hospitals around the world are beginning to seek donors to donate their breast milk and this is proven vital for the health of some newborn babies.

The donated breast milk is then pasteurised and and frozen until required and is used for babies who need it throughout Australian hospitals. This is becoming vital for hospitals who need breast milk to help feed premature babies, giving them a great start to life.

Often mothers who suffer trauma during childbirth are unable to product milk to feed their baby. According to an article by Nikki Haynes from Nine months, the benefits of breast milk include:
• Babies in the Special Care Nursery or Neonatal Intensive Care Unit who are fed breastmilk progress to normal health 25% faster than if they were fed formula.
• The protein in breastmilk is more easily digested than that of formula.
• Babies fed breastmilk are better equipped to fight infections because breastmilk enhances immunological development.
• Premature babies fed breastmilk are six times less likely to suffer a life threatening gastro-intestinal condition called necrotising enterocolitis.

Although the practice of producing human milk for distribution is becoming more and more accepted by society, we are a long way from seeing breast milk being sold in our local grocery store.  However, when you stop and think about it, society and our cultural norms are a little bit puzzling- where we think it is socially acceptable for us to drink milk from a cow and are shocked about the concept of drinking milk from a human.

With more women returning to the workforce soon after the birth of their child forcing children to be fed using formula, and the evidence of the benefits of breast feeding becoming more apparent, there may be an increased desire to be able to purchase breast milk in a more convenient way.

Did you breast feed your baby? Would you have bought it from the grocery store if it was available?

Your bedroom should be a haven away from the chaos of work, children and everyday drudgery. Giving your boudoir a makeover doesn’t have to involve major construction work or painting. It can be as easy as following these simple tips:

Declutter

Get rid of any junk you have laying around and invest in some efficient storage options for eyesores such as shoes, clothes, books and general bric and brac. Bite the bullet and divide all your clothes into three piles: keep, pack away and charity. If it doesn’t fit – and hasn’t for over a year – it needs to go. Then be brave and tackle what’s under the bed. It’s great if you can have as little as possible under your bed but, if it’s unavoidable, it’s worth investigating the great range of built-in storage beds now available.

New bedding

The easiest way to freshen up your inner sanctum is with new bedding. An updated doona or quilt cover, and plump new pillows can create a look to suit your style whether you’re modern, classic, romantic or quirky.

Choose a statement piece

Find something beautiful that will inspire you morning and night. Wall prints are effective way of creating atmosphere and distracting focus from other parts of a room.

Feng shui your furniture

Move your bedroom furniture around to not only change to appearance but also the feng shui in your sleeping area. The best configuration for a positive flow of chi (energy) is to position the bed so that you can see the door, but preferably not with your head right under or next to a window.

This will cause your chi to dissipate through the window and leave you feeling drained when you wake up. If you have an ensuite, close the door while you sleep.

If you’re in a relationship, the state of your bed is symbolic. It’s good feng shui to have your bed equidistant from walls, with a bedside table on either side. This creates balance and equality in your relationship. Bedside lamps are also a great way to jazz things up.

Beds that sag or are threatening to collapse at any moment are speak volumes about your relationship, but if you don’t want to update your entire bed, think about a new bedhead instead.

Accessorise

Finally, regardless of whether you have floorboards or carpet, a rug makes your bedroom feel nice and cosy. Make sure however that it is the right size for your space.

And bedroom accessories such as stylish laundry baskets which help keep mess at bay, funky photo frames to keep loved ones and precious memories close by, bookends for your bedside table, and blanket boxes for storing winter woolies can be as cheap or inexpensive as your heart desires!

I used to play for hours and hours with my dolls…  and I did love them!

But there was always a part of me that wanted to join my brother smashing some trucks and Transformers around!

Thankfully, the rules for toys have been blown wide open in recent years and girls are no longer limited to toy vacuum sets and shopping trolleys while the boys have all the fun with building, getting messy and making noise!

According to Psychology Today, a 2002 study from Texas A&M University and City University revealed that vervet monkeys showed the same sex-typical toy preferences as humans – in other words, the males showed greater interest in a ball and a police car, and the females were more interested a doll and a cooking pot. However, both sexes were equally drawn to the neutral toys that were provided.

Monkey’s aside, the lines between which toys are supposed to be for girls and boys have become increasingly blurred, meaning both genders can have a lot more fun. Here are some boys’ toys that are increasingly popular with the ladies.

Wooden blocks

Not just for boys, wooden blocks have unlimited outcomes to challenge young minds and will also help your little girl develop her sense of spatial awareness and cognitive abilities.

Lego

These timeless building blocks from Denmark encourage creative thinking and social skills through role play. Lego for girls is not only great for girls because it now comes in pink; stimulate your budding builder with Lego Creationary and, of course, Harry Potter Lego defies all gender boundaries.

Start your little girl’s love of Lego with Duplo and work your way up to the incredibly complex castles in the Lego Kingdom range. Everything can be built and rebuilt with endless possibilities which stimulate the imagination every time.

Science kits, Telescopes, Microscopes

Little girls should be encouraged to look towards the heavens just as much as boys, and telescopes now come in a range to suit every budget. And, rather than traditional kitchen and cooking sets, why not get your little lady a messy science kit that she can use to create bangs, smells and all manner of concoctions. Who knows, maybe a microscope will set her on a path towards curing disease?

Ride-on cars

Move over boys, the girls have started their engines! Once upon a time the girls were confined to the nursery changing pretend nappies, while their brothers had hours of fun zooming around on ride-on cars. Now, the playing field has now been leveled. Develop your little girl’s gross motor skills and independence with her very first car!

Hot Wheels

Why should the boys have all the fun? Little girls love a bit of smash ‘em up derbyn and racing games just as much as little boys. Hot Wheels toy cars and racing sets can help girls with problem solving, teach them how to get along with others and also encourage increased physical and hand-eye coordination.

So put your perceptions of gender toys aside and let the children play!

Six weeks spent eating chips in front of the television is not the stuff you want your kids to remember about their childhood! Here’s how to give them some great school holiday memories…

Do a swap

This is particularly helpful for working parents: line up a cousin or friend to come and stay for a week, then send your little one to stay at their place the following week. Everyone wins and the kids will have no trouble making their own fun, leaving you free to get on with the business of business. Similarly, sending children to another town or state to stay with family or friends can give them a sense of independence and will enable them to discover new parts of the country.

If it’s free, do it.

Not everything has to cost you $100 just to walk out your front door.

Check newspapers and parenting websites for a list of free activities during the holidays. For example, in Sydney, Homebush Olympic Park offers free Moonlight Cinema for kids where you can take a picnic and enjoy a recent release for free in the fresh air. Best of all, you won’t be paying a week’s wages for popcorn and ice cream! Searching online for free school holiday activities in your city will yield a wealth of options you’ve probably never considered before.

Start a project

If your kids are old enough, keep them busy with a building project such as a cubby house, pet kennel, vege garden or worm farm. They can track their progress through the holidays and their friends can join in too.

Take the initiative

School friends often drift to the four corners of the Earth during the holidays but if you make the effort, bringing them together again can result in good times. Send a group email alerting all class parents to the fact you will be at a certain park/pool/activity at a certain time and date and invite them all to join in. You never know who will show up!

Inspire your little MasterChef

It’s high time the burden of the kitchen was shared, don’t you think? Teaching your kids to cook is messy, yes, but fun and rewarding. Get them searching for easy kid-friendly recipes and let them loose in the kitchen (obviously with supervision if things need to be cooked). You’ll be giving them a valuable life skill and giving yourself a much-needed break as the treats roll out of the kitchen prepared by someone else for a change! So their first efforts at fondue might end up with a fon-don’t, at least it’s a start.

Be a culture vulture

Turn of the Xbox and and drag your little tech-head to some old-fashioned fun such as museums, art exhibitions, and kid friendly theatre. It will open their minds, and expose them to new and exciting mediums outside of touch and computer screens – just don’t tell them it’s educational!

Can you remember going Back to School? When I reflect on my school days the main things I recall include:

-School photos- Being in a new class but always ending up sitting in the front row on the end (meaning I’m the shortest kid in the class)

-Stationery Show & Tell- the unofficial bragging during class when you show off your retractable eraser, metal ruler, new set of connector pens (still in colour-order) or new purple glue stick to your classmates.

and finally…

-My name being labelled on everything…

My mum and dad were serial labellers- bags, books, pencils, hats, jumpers, socks and rulers nothing would be left without my name imprinted on it in some way or form. My mum had these special name labels which she could sew onto all our pieces of clothing and she would find stickers to label our names on our lunch box and books.

I even remember my dad showing me how I could write my name on a strip of paper and use sticky tape to stick it to any pen, pencil or any other piece of stationary imaginable.

At first, I thought this strange practice was done in case I forgot how to spell my name, but I soon realised how practical it was when it came to lending your stuff out to your classmates and ensuring it got returned or finding your belongings in the sea of bags outside the classroom.

It was a bit strange at first but the whole labelling thing is actually a great idea!

Are you a serial labeller? What are you top memories of going back to school?

That’s right the latest word on the celebrity street is  the birth of Beyoncé & Jay Z’s baby girl- Blue Ivy Carter, born on Saturday, January 7.

As the news spread around the world  and confusion over the baby’s name (is it Blue Ivy or Ivy Blue…. wait… isn’t Ivy green?);  so did a love song Jay Z wrote to his new daughter.

Lyrics include:

“Life is a gift love…. open it up…”

“Baby I paint the sky Blue- My greatest creation was you…”

The loved-up dad even talks about:

- the joys           “yo mama said that you dance for her- Did you wiggle your  hands for her?”

- struggles           ” Last time the miscarriage was so tragic… We thought you’d disappear”

during the pregnancy.

It’s hard not to be moved by the raw emotion in this song whether you like rap music or not.

Listen to it here: http://youtu.be/rn_3Wf2q8jE

What are your thoughts? Did you do something special when your child was born?