mum revelations VANESSA ROWSE | STYLE & SHENANIGANS

Today I would like to introduce you to Vanessa who blogs over at Style and Shenanigans who recently invited us to join in a colour photo challenge with loads of stylista's taking part making us realise how much colour we have in our closets. Colour is great and brings happiness.

Vanessa has three sweet boys Xavier 7, Henri 5 and Louis 2.

1. Where do you reside?

Melbourne, Victoria

2. What is special about where you live?

We live in a vibrant city with a great cultural scene (great restaurants, cafes, museums and galleries) not to mention the home of AFL! Go Bombers! We are also lucky enough to have all our parents and siblings living in Melbourne. Locally, we are part of a wonderful school and kinder community and surrounded by great people.

3. How long have you had your blog?

After many years of procrastinating, I finally began my blog in August 2013.

4. What is your favourite childhood memory?

Summer holidays spent either on the Gold Coast (where my mother grew up) or Phillip Island. I have always loved summer, the beach and fish and chips. Now I am passing on these loves to my boys!

5. What are some memories that you like to create for your children?

I would like our children to have memories of my husband and I  spending lots of time with them, all of us having fun together, spending time with our extended family and friends and having lots of adventures!

6. Who inspires you and why?

My mother is my greatest inspiration. She is an incredibly kind, patient and generous person. My boys adore her to the extent that my toddler recently told me to go back to work so he could go over to Grandma’s! (I have taken some time off work to settle Henri into school). My husband, (Mr SnS) is also a great inspiration. He is a creative, kind and optimistic person who is always dreaming big and seeing possibilities. He is also very encouraging and supportive of me and is a most excellent Dad to our boys. I am also inspired by my many female friends who are all wonderful people in their own right but who have also become great mothers and who demonstrate their unconditional commitment and love to their families and communities every day. I love their honesty and hilarity and their willingness to be real, admit and talk about all the hard stuff!

7. Describe your perfect day?A sleep in, followed by a cooked breakfast and reading the papers/Facebook in peace. Morning tea and a play with the kids and friends followed by a drive out of town somewhere fabulous with Mr SnS to a winery for a long lunch, an early night and shopping the whole next day.

8. Favourite holiday destination?

We have had a couple of fantastic family holidays in Fiji.

For many years, we thought it was impossible to say fantastic and family holiday in the same sentence but we finally cracked it just before our youngest turned 1.

9. What are some of your favourite items that you could not live without? 

I personally could not survive without dry shampoo. It is a life/time saver. I also rely on my concealer to cover up the impact of having three children in 5 years.

10. What is your favourite product for kids and why?

My boys love our Springfree trampoline and it was worth every cent. They spend every afternoon on it and it is the first place they head when friends come to visit. An honourable mention must go to Lego which missed out by a hair. Our boys play it every day for hours, before and after school. Our record is a five hour lego marathon. Yes, it was a miracle!

11. What is one product you have bought that you did not need but just had to have?

This is a tricky one. I have a Kitchen Aid in Ice (a minty blue)  which is the most beautiful appliance I have ever owned. I like to look at it and occasionally, I even turn it on and make magnificent pavlovas.

12. Your favourite children’s fashion label?

I can’t go past Target (they are all wearing their Target red jeans in the photo below) for the basics and Country Road for jeans and hoodies.

I also love Mini Boden and Joules, two UK brands which make hard wearing and excellent quality clothes, although the exchange rate is not fabulous at present, so  I am only shopping their sales.

13. What is your family’s favourite meal?

We love our roasts and have one every Tuesday night. The boys inhale their dinner and it is a relatively peaceful affair except for the debate we like to have about whether roast pumpkin or roast potato is the greatest roasted vegetable on earth.

14.What is your go to mummy uniform?

In summer, a floaty frock and a pair of sandals. In cool weather, ballet flats or flat boots, jeans and a tunic/long knit of some description.

15. What is the best thing about being a mother?

Too many things to mention but at the moment, I am really enjoying seeing all three of my boys develop into very different (but gorgeous) people who are all creative, kind and sociable and who also  genuinely love spending time together and are the best of friends.

16. Favourite place to shop? What are you loving right now?

I am making the most of my Spend & Saves at Country Road at the moment! It’s a one stop shop with great women’s basics, men’s and children’s clothes, on trend accessories and stylish home wares.

I also love Metalicus and Sussan for every day and Alannah Hill for special occasions. I also love to shop at markets where I stock up on great accessories and interesting, one off pieces. I’ve also been known to crack out a jumpsuit on occasion.

16. To finish off would you like to add a favourite photo? Tell us why it is your favourite.

This photo, taken just this week, captures the fun and love my boys share together (when they are not hitting/poking/sitting on/teasing/ each other!).

Wow! What a lovely insight to Vanessa. Thank you so much for sharing a little about yourself and your gorgeous family.