Friday Favorites, Fashion Friday and Friday Photos: Let's Go to London!

Welcome friends and Happy Friday! Welcome to this week's Friday Favorites post.

Have you had a good week? I am exhausted after a busy yet eventful week. I can't believe I've only been back at school for two weeks; it seems like it's been two months! I'm really looking forward to relaxing with a glass of wine tonight and relaxing in front of the TV. I won't be staying up too late though, as we are all waking up bright and early tomorrow morning to watch the opening ceremony of the 2012 London Olympic Games!

Source: Getty Images via adelaidenow.com.au

Are you as excited about the Olympic games as I am? I can't wait to see all the events, especially the swimming. I also can't wait to see all the London sites!

Tuesday Tune ~ Happy Christmas in July!

Welcome friends to this very special Christmas in July post! Can you believe it is already July 25? Only 152 days until Christmas you know!

I thought today would be a perfect day to do a special Christmas post to share some very special gifts that I received from a sweet blogger from New Zealand as part of a Christmas in July celebration that was organised by Alyx, Daryl and Cecilia.

I was so lucky to be paired with the gorgeous Sinead who blogs at Sinead in the Sun.

Say G'Day Saturday Linky Party {49} ~ Decadent Double Chocolate Walnut Brownie Recipe!

G'day dear friends! Welcome to this week's Say G'day Saturday Linky party! I hope you have had a wonderful week this week.

For this weekend's Say G'day Party, I am sharing a delicious recipe for

Decadent Double Chocolate Walnut Brownies!

#FashionFriday and Friday Photos ~ Keeping Warm!

Welcome friends to Natasha in Oz! Thank you so much for stopping by to visit me in my little corner of the world Down Under!

Before I share my Fashion Friday Polyvore set I would just like to welcome my friends and followers here at my blog, on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, Google+, Hello Cotton and at Blog Frog.

This week has been a super busy one for me here at Natasha in Oz because I hosted my very first Social Media Link Up. It was so wonderful to meet so many new bloggers and to learn about the other social networks that my new and old bloggy friends use. It's taking me a while to get around to follow everyone who linked up but I will get to your Facebook, Twitter, Instagram etc sites as soon as I can. If you would like to check out the 340 links and read my post about the benefits of joining a variety of social networking sites and the importance of Google+ for your blog please click the button below!

It has also been busy for me and and for my sweet family as we all had to go back to school and work after three weeks of relaxing and a week away at the beach. It was a little difficult to get into the swing of things and it was especially hard waking up in the mornings as it was so cold, dark and wet! However, instead of whining about the cold weather, I embraced it and pulled out all of my favourite sweaters, shawls, scarves and coats.

I wasn't going to let the Big Chill get me down!

The Big Chill by natashainoz featuring guerlain perfume

We all know that the cold wintry weather is all about comfort and warmth so I've been cooking lots of comfort food like warming stews and casseroles in the oven which helped warm up the whole house. Maddy and I also made a great big batch of chocolate brownies too...they were heaven on a plate! 

If you would like the recipe you'll have to pop by tomorrow and I'll share it at my Say G'day Saturday Party, a weekly link up for recipes, tutorials, DIY projects, gardening tips, instagram pics, Pinterest Round Up Posts, your linky parties...anything at all!

I hope you will be able to join me Saturday!

Today I will be linking up to the following memes:

Inspiration Friday; Tickled Pink; Show and Tell Friday; I'm Lovin' it;

Flaunt it Friday; Everything but the Kitchen Sink Party;

5 Days 5 Ways; Free for All Friday; Fashion Friday; Weekend Blog Party; Weekend Wander; Favourite Photo Friday; InstaFriday; Iphoneography; It's Overflowing

I hope to see you tomorrow!

Best wishes,

Natasha In Oz 

Let's Get Social (Media) Linky Party & Say G'Day Saturday Party {48}

Hello sweet friends and welcome to my very first

 Say G'Day Saturday 
Let's Get Social {Media} Linky Party!

I am so thrilled that you are here to get social with our bloggy friends from all around the world and link up your social media details.


Thank you for being here!

The reason why I decided to host this link up is because of the post I did a few weeks ago about the impact on social media on our lives. One statistic showed that in 2012 there are approximately 4.2 million Mummy Bloggers! That statistic alone got me thinking about how "Mom Bloggers' find the time to raise families, work in other paid employment and network and promote their blogs! After researching it I realised that blogging alone isn't enough to keep the lines of communication open with our blogging friends. We don't always have time to leave comments on each other's blog posts but it's so easy to let someone know that you are thinking of them by pinning one of their ideas, liking their latest picture on Instagram, hitting +1 on a great post they did, tweeting a link to their linky party, adding a link to a recipe that a bloggy friend posted on your own Facebook page or reblogging a pretty picture on Tumblr. I've discovered that there are so many easy ways to not only read each others blogs in a quick and effective way and to also stay connected with our online friends.

So, today I am sharing the various ways that I read all the blogs that I follow and the different ways that you can follow me, Natasha in Oz!

Let's Get Social {Media}!

Friday Favorites, Fashion Friday & a Reminder about the Let's Get Social Media Link Up.

Welcome to Natasha in Oz sweet friends! Thank you so much for stopping by to visit me in my little corner of the world today. I hope your week has been as wonderful as mine. We have just returned from a relaxing week at Mooloolaba, my favourite beach in the world! If you follow me on Instagram you will have seen a few of my holidays snaps but I just wanted to share a few today for my bloggy friends who aren't on Instagram.

The cold weather and sometimes rainy weather didn't stop us from taking long beach walks, dining out and simply relaxing and enjoying each other's company.

We really had such a great beach holiday!

Down by the Beach by natashainoz featuring wide brim hats

I haven't had time to visit everyone who linked up to the Say G'day Saturday Linky Party this week but I'll try to visit as many people as possible over the next few days. If you haven't checked out the amazing links from last week yet please just click here!

 Here are a few Friday Favorites from last week's Say G'Day party.

Tanya from Twelve-O-Eight shared her recipe for easy BBQ Teriyaki Chicken. Doesn't this look delicious!

Emily from Entirely Emily is asking all of her bloggy friends to help her with ideas on how to keep her kids busy! I'm sure she would love to hear from you if you have some suggestions!
Great post Emily! I wish I was blogging when my kids were younger so I could have found some ideas on how to keep my kids amused!

Kristin at Homespun with Love showed us how to make this Vintage (and Modern!) artwork for the kitchen. Thanks for the great tutorial Kristin!

Judy from J Bigg's Little Pieces took us on a virtual tour through Cairo in Southern Illinois. The pictures of the beautiful gardens are stunning!

I really love this "It Is Well With My Soul" canvas/wood art shared by Nicole from Raggedy Creek Creations.  Your artwork is fabulous Nicole!

Thank you so much to every single one of my sweet bloggy friends who joined in. Please feel free to grab an
"I Was Featured" button!



<br /><a href="http://www.natashainoz.com/"target="_blank"><img src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-6HYyhYmEZh0/T_ZBemtt8gI/AAAAAAAAJQ4/B5i3rIhXkRU/s208/saygdayfeature.png" border="0" /></img src="https:></a>

Please come back tomorrow to join me for a very special Say G'Day Saturday Linky party, which will be devoted to Social Media. I am so excited to be hosting my very first

 Let's Get Social {Media} Linky Party!

This linky party will be an opportunity for us to to do a bit of bloggy networking!

If you would like to join in here's what you need to do:

1. Write a blog post that features all the different ways that you are social! Include all the details we would need to find you at all of your social media outlets. Provide us with links to your Twitter profile, your Facebook page, your instagram address, your pinterest boards, your Google profile, your Tumblr blog, Etsy Page..everything! I will be including as much information as possible in my post and I will be adding a few pictures for added interest because I have decided that as part of my bloggy renovations this post will eventually be used as a stand alone page on my blog for my contact details. If you are like me and don't have a fabulous-looking contact page maybe this could be inspiration to get one organised!

2. Starting July 14th through to July 21st add your link to your the Say G'Day Saturday Social Media Linky Party post which you will find when you click on the special party button!

3. If you don’t have a blog but still want to join in it's not a problem! You can still link up your Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google, Hello Cotton, Blog Lovin, Polyvore and Instagram profiles! Just add the URL to the profile you would like us to visit.

4. I would love it if you could help me spread the word about this social media linky party by sharing this post on all the social media outlets that you use! You can use the hashtag #LetsGetSocial to share the details about this Social Media Linky party with your online friends.

You could tweet something like: Join @natashainoz for the #LetsGetSocial linky party. Link up your Blog, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram & Pinterest profiles!

5. Finally, I would love it if you could add this party button for your sidebar and your party post!

<a href="http://www.natashainoz.com/search/label/Let%27s%20Get%20Social"target="_blank" title="Say G'day saturday"><img src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-XJ9G3_bVyac/T-wIhMSF1cI/AAAAAAAAJOc/MboA4K-Kl-M/s200/Social+Media+button.jpg" alt="Poofy Cheeks" style="border:none;" /></a>

Don't worry if you don't have a Social Media post to link up. You can still link up your recipes, tutorials, DIY projects, gardening tips, instagram pics, Pinterest Round Up Posts...even your own linky parties.

I hope you will be able to join me tomorrow!

I hope to see you tomorrow!

Best wishes,

Natasha In Oz 

Please visit me at PINTEREST, TWITTER, GOOGLE+

INSTAGRAM and FACEBOOK!

Say G'Day Saturday Linky Party {47} ~ Instagramming!

Welcome to another Say G'day Saturday Party sweet friends! I'm so happy that you found time out of your busy day to spend time with me-thank you!

I have been on school holidays with my kids for the last couple of weeks and I have been having a great time doing very little indeed! I have however been catching up with family, catching up with some TV shows that I have taped (I am quite addicted to all those "Real Housewives" from Beverly Hills, New York and Orange Country!) and catching up with my friends on Twitter and Instagram.

As many of you already know I am taking part in the monthly Photo a Day challenge on Instagram. Fat Mum Slim came up with the original Photo a Day concept and I have blogged about my pictures here and here. Well, Jen Bishop from The Interiors Addict has come up with specifically interiors version of Photo a Day.

Now I am busy taking pictures for two Instagram memes and I love every minute of it!

If you are not playing along it's so easy to join in. You just need to be on Instagram first. Once you have the Instagram App on your phone or ipad you are set to go!

#FashionFriday and Features ~ Kate Spade & Spring!

Welcome friends! Thank you so much for stopping by to visit me in my little corner of the world today. I hope your week has been as wonderful as mine. I have had a great time with my two sweet kiddos and I've also enjoyed spending some time with my Mum, Dad, sisters, nephews and nieces.

The cold weather hasn't stopped us from doing anything but I must confess that I have been dreaming about warmer weather and my very favourite season of the year...

Spring!

Spring! by natashainoz featuring a star necklace

I guess I've been thinking about the warmer weather because many of my American friends shared posts about Summer fun at last week's Say G'day Saturday Linky Party. If you haven't checked out the amazing links from last week yet please just click here!

 Here are a few of my favourite summery links:

Sylvia from Sylvia's Simple Life shared some of her thoughts about the simple pleasures of a summer's day. Her post is so beautiful and her photographs are stunning! 

Niki from the blog Hello paper Moon repurposed an old attic window into a 

wonderful wall feature for her home. I love this idea!

Katie from Team Skelley shared her tips on what to pack for a summer vacation as part of her series on her amazing Disney cruise! If you are planning on going on a Disney Cruise you must visit Katie 

and read her posts!

Tory Burch

The Happiest Mom on the Blog shared this simple yet brilliant idea for an iPhone Protector for the beach or pool! I will have to remember this for my next beach vacation!

I really love this idea for a Seascape Photo Shadowbox from Pocketful of Dreams which is made with  acrylic craft water, something I've never heard of before!

Melissa from Mama Miss shared her instructions for a patriotic pinwheel and a free printable. I love pinwheels and Melissa's red, white and blue version is fabulous!

Finally, Deana from Country Momma Cooks shared her recipe for Berry and Melon Salad. This looks like summer on a plate Deana-YUM! 

Thank you so much to every single one of my sweet bloggy friends who joined in. Please feel free to grab an
"I Was Featured" button!

<br /><a href="http://www.natashainoz.com/"target="_blank"><img src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-6HYyhYmEZh0/T_ZBemtt8gI/AAAAAAAAJQ4/B5i3rIhXkRU/s208/saygdayfeature.png" border="0" /></img src="https:></a>

Please come back tomorrow to join me for another Say G'Day Saturday Linky party, a weekly link up for recipes, tutorials, DIY projects, gardening tips, instagram pics, Pinterest Round Up Posts, your linky parties...anything at all!

Also, if you haven't already heard about my Let's Get Social {Media} linky party on July 14th please click the button below! This linky party will take the place instead of the Say G'Day Saturday party on July 14 and it will be an opportunity for us to to do a bit of bloggy networking! I hope you will be able to join in!

Today I will be linking up to the following memes:

Inspiration Friday; Tickled Pink; Show and Tell Friday; I'm Lovin' it; 

Flaunt it Friday; Everything but the Kitchen Sink Party; 

5 Days 5 Ways; Free for All Friday; Fashion Friday; Weekend Blog Party

I hope to see you Saturday so until then, best wishes for a happy Friday!

Natasha In Oz