A few weeks ago I joined the nice-nails club and haven't looked back! This is the only real nail salon I've been to so I don't have much to compare it to but I have been very happy with the quality. The owner is nice enough - the other girls don't say a lot (to customers anyway!) but I'm not here for a chat. Prices seem pretty reasonable.

Went to a function here in the room upstairs. It was an excellent place for a gathering (we had around 100 people?). Vibe was fairly relaxed and easy to talk to people. The staff were also very friendly and the nibbles they served were great.

I spoke to a friend of mine who is a physiotherapist about some concerns with my poor posture and a few minor niggles and she suggested I see these guys (she operates on the other side of town). After having kids I felt like it was time to get stronger again but rather than jump into a gym or pilates program, she thought it would be worth getting an assessment done so that I could target areas appropriately. I went and saw Paul at Bay St and wasn't disappointed. He did a very thorough assessment and pointed out things about my posture that I had never known. I'm now seeing Kit at the Church St clinic who does the remedial exercises. After 2 weeks I'm already seeing improvements and am very glad I decided to take this step.

Ordered some silly badges to have for my sisters hens night. I couldn't ever get through on the phone line but email was pretty responsive. The deadline was pretty tight but Damian got them made and mailed out to me really quickly. They were also very cheap - didn't have minium quantity orders for different designs.

Approximate cost: $28

Recently came here with some girlfriends. Its a pretty nice place and the food was good - but not fantastic. We shared a paella (ok), calamari (fabulous), potatis bravis (avg) and an asparagus dish (nice but tiny). Also had the chocolate spanish donuts. On a warm night, its nice to sit outside and watch the Chapel st world go by while sipping on sangria!

Approximate cost: $20

Wow! Anyone looking for anything remotely leather related should check these guys out. I just bought a beautiful tri-colour cowhide rug and I love it! Saw some at other shops and they were in quite poor condition comparatively. But the best thing is these guys have a HUGE range (which is also a problem as you can spend a long time looking at them all). They have all possible sizes and colours - and all quite well organised. You can also take them home to try without any charge (I took 3 home as I couldn't decide). They also have patchwork leather / hide rugs and lots of other leather materials (for upholstery, handbags, etc). I even saw some crocodile skins!

Approximate cost: $600

This place is a must-visit if you are having a party. When my daughter turned 2 a friend recommended Astoria for things like party plates, cups, decorations, balloons, etc. I should have come here earlier as they have tons of great stuff! Table cloths, party hats, whistles, invites, costumes, and heaps more. From the street it looks like quite a small place but it's massive inside. Prices seem pretty good too.

For my second baby, I chose Dennis based on the reviews here and later found out that he had also delivered babies for a couple of people I knew - who were also extremely happy with him. As I'd had a caesar with my first baby, I wanted an obstetrician that was open to the idea of a natural birth after a caesarian (V-back I think it's called). Dennis was very supportive of this decision. He laid out the ground-rules from the start - namely that I wouldn't be able to be induced and would have to go into labour naturally. I'd also have to be hooked up to the machine that monitors the baby's heart rate during labour. All fine with me. As my first baby had been a bit small and had appeared to stop growing towards the end, Dennis arranged for me to have a lot of extra scans and monitoring towards the end of my pregnancy. This time everything proceeded as it should and I went into labour exactly on my due date! In the delivery suite, I must admit that I was a bit out of it! (Not with drugs as I didn't end up having any, but with pain!) Dennis and the midwife from Cabrini were great though. Gave me instructions and were very supportive. My husband said it was amazing to watch them as they seemed to anticipate exactly what was happening next and handled it extremely well. Everything went smoothly and I was really happy with the whole experience. Dennis has a very calming nature and puts you at ease really well. His approach throughout the pregnancy was also very low key - but when needed he steps up!

Who needs designer pjamas? Well I recently discovered that I do! I received a gift from Peter Alexander for Christmas and as the size wasn't quite right, I took it in to exchange. Service was great (despite my screaming baby!) but more importantly, the products are gorgeous. I absolutely love my new PJs! I'm worried that this will become a habit and I'll have to ditch all my old Tshirts :)

Half way through decorating our lounge room, I became confused about the direction it was heading (I wanted warm and rustic, while still being modern, but it started looking a bit ski lodge!). Anyway, I came across Fiona's website somehow and so decided to see whether she could help.
She came out and gave very good advice - fitting in with the house and our vision, but also stretching our thinking a bit. Following the 1 hour consultation, she came back with a very detailed email outlining her suggestions for the various components we needed to get (dining chairs, lamp, rug, curtains, side tables, ottomans, etc) and also web links to the best places to source them. (I have long had a love for furniture but still hadn't come across many of the great places she recommended - it was well worth it even just from this perspective!)
Previously I was skeptical that all interior designers would give free advice and then take a huge margin by getting you to purchase through them - but Fiona was not like this at all. I was really happy to pay for her advise - I'll probably end up saving more than this by buying better anyway... Fiona has helped us with our "decorators block" and we just ordered our chairs today. I now feel like we know exactly what we need for the rest of the pieces and it will look great.
When we come to doing other rooms in the house, I'll definitely seek out Fiona's advice again.

Approximate cost: $90 (special from her website)