BYS Spooktacular Soiree Event

BYS hosted us at Luna Park for a Halloween Spooktacular Soiree Event and boy did they nail Halloween for influencers/bloggers/media for 2017!

And who knew that BYS had a SFX range?! Like full on brah - this was exciting news as it's super affordable. From liquid latex, fake blood and scar wax, they've got it. You can check out their range here.

I won't say much more, I'll just leave you with some images of the night. And boy did the attendees dress to impress. I love when everyone gets involved and plays the part.

Disclosure: This post has been made in collaboration with BYS. I was invited along to the above mentioned event. I received no payment for this review and all opinions expressed in this post are entirely my own.

Santa's Magical Kingdom + GIVEAWAY

The annual Santa's Magical Kingdom is on it's way back around to Melbourne!
Will you be there? We will be and we are hooking one lucky family up with a pass to head to SMK also, continue reading down further for more details on how you can score a family pass on us!

Featuring much-loved favorite activities and many new additions, Santa’s Magical Kingdom will once again capture the hearts of kids and their families as they join Santa, Mrs Claus and Rudolph in sharing the magical Christmas spirit.

Special thanks to Santa's Magical Kingdom for inviting us down to Churchill Heritage Farm to spend an afternoon with Mrs. Clause to preview what will happen at Santa's Magical Kingdom this year.

As you can see above little Miss Niah was all smiles and super excited to be seeing Mrs. Clause in advance.  

You'll be in for another round of treats as this year Santa’s Magical Kingdom will feature:

• A giant Pirate Ship with Captain Cook, Tinkerbell and Peter Pan on board. Embark for fun craft activities in a land of make believe. 
• A new Candy Academy where kids can decorate and then nibble at their Gingerbread Men. o Mrs Claus has renovated her village home where her young visitors who can write a letter to Santa and watch movies on a giant screen. 
• Snowland this year will be visited by the Snow Fairy who will scatter her magical fairy dust on all the kids who visit her. 
• Meet this year’s Santa’s Magical Kingdom Ambassadors Poppy and Branch, the fun-loving Trolls who will pose with the kids under the giant Christmas tree for photos. 
• Minions, Minions and more Minions will be invited to celebrate Rudolph’s birthday with him on various days throughout the festive Kingdom’s season. 
• The Christmas Spectacular Show will this year have you spellbound as all the stars of Christmas come out to play with the audience. 
• And of course...what would a Christmas celebration be without lots and lots of rides! Amusement rides and games include Santa’s Sleigh Ride, the Giant Ferris Wheel, one of Australia’s largest Super Slides, Space Ride, Cup Ride and the Elves’ Magical Train Ride. 

Open to the public from 18 November to 23 December and located at Caulfield Racecourse.  

Santa’s Magical Kingdom delivers a Christmas wonderland full of activities that will capture the imagination of children and parents everywhere. Be amazed as you see the magic of Christmas come to life!

Purchase your tickets from Santa's Magical Kingdom via Ticketmaster.
Tickets start from $35 - very much worth it as all activities are included in the ticketing price but the sideshow attraction games, Santa photos, novelty items and food.

One lucky family will be able to go along to Santa's Magical Kingdom on us! Courtesy of Santa's Magical Kingdom who have gifted this to us to giveaway. 

Family pass is valid for 2 adults and 2 children. Valued at $142.68.

Pass is for Saturday 18th November session from 2pm - 5pm. 

Simply comment below as to what your favorite thing about Christmas is as well as head to our Facebook or Instagram page and tag x3 friends who you think should enter as well.

Giveaway ends: Saturday 11th November, 2017 at midnight. 

Winners drawn: Sunday 12th November, 2017. 

Winner will be contacted via email and have 24hrs to contact back with their postal address otherwise redraw will occur.

Session cannot be changed and you must be able to attend this session only.

Disclosure: This post has been made in collaboration with Santa's Magical Kingdom. I was invited along to the above mentioned event and provided with a giveaway pass and to run through the blog. I received no payment for this feature and all opinions expressed in this post are entirely my own.

CoolXChange Compression & Cooling Gel Bandage First Impressions

Advanced recovery for pain and inflammation. 

Gone are the days when you need to get wet flannels or the ice pack from the fridge to put on sprains, sores and hurts. Many research studies have found that infact these are not good ways to manage those sorts of conditions. 

CoolXChange is the perfect solution in my opinion being that it doesn’t need to be chilled, the gel contains the cooling agent so it’s always cold when required. It's reusable, resealable and comes in a bandage compression. It's everything you need in one. 

My initial thoughts when reading and looking at the CoolXChange was this is going to be messy... BUT do not be fooled. The bandage has a gel coat around it that is non sticky based and is not wet at all, it is self adhesive also. Simply take the bandage from it's plastic pouch and apply to the area of need for up to 2 hours. Once finished simply wrap it back around it's plastic roll and pop back into the plastic pouch for next time. Even after taking the Cool Xchange off of your skin there is no residue left what so ever on the skin, not even feeling damp. 

In a nutshell - CoolXChange is a double agent of compression and cooling at the same time. 

How does CoolXChange work?

When needing to treat the area with R.I.C.E you can easily call on CoolXChange. 

CoolXChange actually advances R.I.C.E methodology by combining the cooling and compression stages, designed to provide convenient and effective solution for the pain you may experience. 

CoolXChange can be left on the skin for up to 2 hours and is instantly cooling without having to be refrigerated.

Who is CoolXChange for?

Everyone! The whole family can use it from kids to adults. 

Little Miss. Niah of mine had a go at it and with true fitting words 'Mumma this is so, so cool'. Not only product wise is it cool but it is also cooling for your pain and inflammation. 

CoolXChange comes in two sizes - regular and large. CoolXChange can also be cut into size as needed. 

What size CoolXChange will you need? 

A regular sized CoolXChange is best used for arm areas being wrists, elbows, hands or lower body areas like the feet and ankles.

A large sized CoolXChange is best used for the bigger areas of course being thighs, knees, groin, hamstrings, calves and upper body being back and shoulders. 

How much is CoolXChange and where to buy CoolXChange?

At a super affordable and attractive price point of only $14.95 for regular or $24.95 for large. 

CoolXChange can be found at your major pharmacies like Chemist Warehouse, Priceline, Chemmart and other leading pharmacy stores. Being reusable for up to 6 months you are getting a whole lot of bang for your buck. 

I'm a big gym go-er as you may know if you follow along with me on instagram: @njtblogger and having issues with my knees the CoolXChange is a fitting thing for myself to use. 

At times when I train legs I can get sore knees afterwards so just taking some heat off of them by using the CoolXChange will be super helpful. 

In which follow along for two more coming features of CoolXChange as I take it through a few weeks of gym with me and then I'll be hitting you up with a giveaway from CoolXChange.

Disclosure: This post has been made in a sponsored collaboration with CoolXChange. I received the above pictured CoolXChange sampling. All opinions expressed in this post are entirely my own.

Monster Jam GIVEAWAY

Niah and I are no stranger to Monster Jam and absolutely love when the Monster Jam trucks are in town. An awesome day out with the family hearing the roar of the powerful Monster Jam trucks doing burn outs and tricks,  and of course the best of all crushing those cars!

Monster Jam is well known and are some of the most popular trucks in the world.
Some of the trucks you'll see on the day will be Grave Digger, El Toro Loco, Monster Mutt and more. Special Monster Jam trucks designed to have a favourite for everyone. Think big cars on monster wheels dressed up!

Monster Jam will have your jaw dropping, hands clapping and potentially no voice the next day as you cheer on in amazement.

Monster Jam is in Australia for the below shows:
Brisbane - QSAC - 7th October - 6pm
Melbourne - AAMI Park- 14th October - 2pm & 7pm
Sydney - ANZ Stadium - 21st October - 5pm
Tickets are priced very affordable so the whole family can head to the show.
Tickets available via Ticketmaster for Brisbane and Ticketek for Melbourne and Sydney.

We've teamed up with Monster Jam to giveaway a family pass (4 tickets) to one Sydney and one Melbourne reader to take along their friends, family or little tribe! It will be a show you'll remember forever.
Not only are we hooking you up with a family pass but you'll get an amazing prize pack to go along with the tickets to really get you set for the day. The prize pack includes a yearbook, colouring book, DVD, flag, ear muffs, merch bag and sports bottle.

To enter simply leave a comment below advising who you would take along to Monster Jam and which state you would like tickets too.

Giveaway ends: Thursday 5th October, 2017 at midnight. 

Winners drawn: Friday 6th October, 2017. 

Winner will be contacted via email and have 24hrs to contact back otherwise redraw will occur.

Disclosure: This post has been made in collaboration with Monster Jam. I was invited along to the above mentioned event and provided with giveaway passes and merchandise packs to run through the blog. I received no payment for this review and all opinions expressed in this post are entirely my own.

I met my best friend online

It's just the way things are these days... You rarely met people out in person anymore, as we are so time poor we are having to use social sites to connect us.
Sometimes we won't see our friends for months on end but when we see one another we can still feel as if we know what has been happening as we've seen that they've been overseas to Disneyland and they've got a new dog named Buster.
Its even the same for dating in my opinion so many people will use online dating sites to find connections.

Some of my closest friends have come from the web. And no, I didn't buy them on amazon!

My best friend so happens to be someone who I connected with online.
It began with the company I work with taking part in a charity event which I told part in and met others throughout the divisions of the company I work for and meeting another employee and connecting on social media then his amazing partner started stalking, uh I mean following me, then the flirting of liking each others photos and then it blossomed into a friendship where we now see each other on a weekly basis at minimum take our kids who have now become best friends and potential arranged marriage (just kidding!!!) for play dates whilst we have frappes and enjoy having some interaction with a person of our age instead of talking about why Peppa's family always have to lay down to laugh.
Don't get me wrong we love our kids dearly but their needs to be some time for us to be us, just like children need to be children. Knowing that not only we get on like a house on fire but our precious babies get on like two peas in a pod just makes things work so much easier. It's a win, win situation. Us Mumma's get along and have time to chin wag and the babes get to play around with a friend.

Another close friend story I'll share with you is; how I became friends with one of the girls I was being somewhat cheated on with, although they never met they talked for quite some time and developed strong feelings to one another.
One day I balls-ed up and contacted her when things were going too far for my liking and told her he wasn't 100% who he said he was and then we connected on just another level. This girl became one of my backbones who has supported me through every step of my last 18 months of life and has always been there to give me an earful of how stupid I was being or give me an abundance of compliments on how proud she was and how happy she was for me  moving forward. And to tell you the truth I see why he was so into her, gosh even I love her - she's like a complete me! Although if I had half of the self power she does then I would never have been in the situation of my last 18 months. This one is a blessing in disguise.

Other friends of mine I have connected with through social media sites just from following one another over the years of blogging and being an influencer. First the likes start happening, then the little comments to then having huge DnMs in their DM's on SM! (Translation: Direct Message on Social Media)

Generally I find myself connecting more with the Mummy bloggers because having children consumes a lot of your time and I always want to be around Niah. I admit though, I do have issues where I don't take a lot of time out for myself to go and be me because I feel guilty for not being with her. I have grown up to be taught that if you have kids that you must be their always and from my background culture it's that the women usually tend to be at home with the kids whilst the man goes to work. Times have however changed and we can't all be Real Housewives like on TV so most of us Mumma's are now out there hustling to provide for their families as well.

I work different days to the normal Monday to Friday so I'm working Friday through to Tuesday, so weekends I'm not available to catch up and have play dates with the kiddies like most do with their social activities. Working those days have their pros and cons. I miss out on special occasions at times like taking Niah to her friends birthday parties but thankfully I've got a supportive family who are able to aid in taking care of Niah on weekends and take her to the parties. But the pros are definitely perk-able given I can go to run all my errands during the week when things are actually open like the post office and banks, I can go do my shopping without having queues for days like on weekends with the Mums who do their shopping ready for Monday school and I can spend time at the parks with Niah not being crowded.

Not only can you find friends online now too but you can do literally nearly anything from just being online. I love the internet.

I've accepted that you just weren't for me...

'Even those we love the most can be a poison to our souls' Atticus

I was patient... I was waiting for a change. A change that never came. 

Sometimes you have to admit defeat and know that not all the time will you agree on views, values and importance. Not all the time will you prioritize the same things in the same order. Not all the time will you change for the better of the bigger picture or the end goal. 

For 18 months of my life I experienced something I would have never thought would happen to me. I never thought I would become as weak of a person to stay for so long having done what happened to me over and over again. 
For 18 months of my life I was in this black hole of a vicious repeating cycle of disrespect. 

Sometimes if you allow someone to do something over and over again to you they then think that, that is the level of respect that you deserve. They think that, that is how you are meant to be treated. I did this to myself and allowed my heart, my life, my family and my head to go through this for too long that it became the normal. 

I was cheated on not once but multiple times. I was manipulated constantly by mind games. I was emotionally and mentally abused. 

I always gave strong advice to those around me that if cheating was happening then leave their ass, they aren't deserving of you and you shouldn't have to put up with it but little did I know how it actually feels to be in the situation. 

You love the person so much, you expected better from them, you're confused and shocked that it's happened to you, you're wondering what went wrong and why you, you question yourself as a person... So many whys and how's go through your head and sometimes you're just too emotionally attached to the person that it's so hard to let go because you still have glimmer of hope. 

Hope that they'll change for themselves, change for the better of your relationship, change for you, change for your family but then they say you shouldn't have to change and should be accepted as you are. 

Well, that saying is a crock of shit and I think it's a complete incorrect saying to me. 

I changed, I changed for the better of my relationship, the better of my family. Change for the better shouldn't be looked at as they wanted me to change or they don't like the way I am. Change can be good, change can be necessary and needed. 

Sometimes I would put it into perspective and say how would you like it if your daughter was treated the way you have done me? 

A strategic answer would be put in place to self benefit and flip the real answer knowing you had done wrong so you would make it ok in your answer. 

I hope to God that my daughter never has to go through or ever feel what I went through. 

Their is stages of emotions you go through when cheating and self worth is a huge one that gets all messed up. To this day I'm still doubting my self worth, not as bad as I once did but you still linger in that area. 

You question yourself; what's wrong with me? was I not pretty enough? did my body changes dissatisfy you?.... 

You get played with so emotionally and mentally that crying becomes something so normal several times a day because you're so broken and question life constantly. 

Eventually you come to a stage of realizing your worth, realizing it's not you who fucked up, realizing that the problem was never you - it was always them. 

They are not content with life, not content with themselves and will always want more. 

One day you'll realise, you'll realise the grass isn't greener on the other side and when you do, I won't be their anymore. Your safety cushion who was always their before stupidly waiting and hoping for you to change, for you to man up, for you to realise what you were giving up will no longer be there. 

You would think that after 5 years I would have deserved more than that, better treatment then that. Actually make that 4 years where it was first fine until then on you thought I was just nothing and was able to be played with like that after multiple other girls. 

I was made out to be 'the crazy ex girlfriend' when really I was 'the actual upset girlfriend' 'the real hurt mother of your child'. You never let me get away from it all. You would be right there in my face doing it. 

How could I for so long allow myself to think that, that behaviour was ok and to allow you to do that to me over and over. 

What still confuses me and angers me inside is why people cheat? 

Why do people cheat but have a partner? Why not leave? You don't want them but don't want anyone else to have them? You can't put people on reserve whilst you muck around. Either you're in it 110% or you're just not at all. 

To love someone means you won't deliberately hurt them, you wouldn't put yourself in a position to lose them. That time and energy pursuing girls should be put into making your relationship work. If you've done all you can do and it still makes you unhappy then leave. Simple as that! 

I can only hope that if any other person is to do what you did that they just leave. 

My fight is over. I can no longer fight and make you want what I want and make you care. I no longer will tell you what to do, you do what you think is right. I can't make you be someone you don't want to be. 

Seeing you in person makes my heart hurt so much knowing that we're not a family because of the choices you made. 

I'm not saying I was an angel the whole time. I've had my moments of weaknesses where I lashed out just as much with insulting words, said and done things I shouldn't have and for that I'm sorry, but I've already said that. I've apologized sincerely over time and never did I receive an apology back on your own accord or without me having to prompt you by asking if you felt bad or felt anything when doing it. 

Of course there is two sides to every story but this is just a glimpse of mine to how I felt and saw it but only me and him will know the full story and what actually went on. 

I'm left with the greatest gift of them all and that's my baby girl that I wouldn't change for the world, thank you for taking part in that with me. 

There are good qualities to you deep down and you are a good person (when you want to be) it's just a shame that you couldn't want to be better and be that person for me, for us and for our family. We shared some good times and made some memories that will last our lifetime but... I've accepted that you just weren't for me. 

I am Nikita.

I am Nikita.
I am strong, beautiful and happy... that's how it usually goes right... but this isn't how mine goes.

I am Nikita, I suffer from severe anxiety and self esteem issues. I may appear confident and fine at times but most of the times I am uncomfortable and very shy on the inside.
My anxiety has developed from the self esteem issues and my self esteem issues are from myself being really self conscious of my body.
Yes, I can do something about it but it's not as easy as said done... but wait, it is easy isn't it?
There is so many people telling you different things and there is so many quotes or sayings of this is easy, if you put your mind to it, if you think positive etc etc.
Each and every single person deals with things differently, each and every single person will cope in a different way, each and every single person will experience things differently... we are not identically the same when it comes to our personality and traits.

What does my anxiety do to me?
My anxiety will make me doubt myself, my anxiety will make me flustered, my anxiety will make me feel uncomfortable, my anxiety will make me quiet, my anxiety will make me purposely miss things or be late.
Those who suffer from anxiety will experience anxiety in different ways and for different things. In mine its due to my body image issues.
Ever since I was in primary school I have been a 'bigger' child. Both primary school and high school will eat you alive, it's the worst place to stir up your self confidence. Nothing can be done except for try to educate the children as young as possible to either look after their health or to be kind to everyone of any shape, age, gender, religion etc.
I was the target of many comments made about my body shape and those lists that would go around in high school when the boys would number in order of which girls they would like from first to last would have me close to the bottom. It plays at you something shocking.
I think to myself now why has it been years since then and you haven't changed? but I have changed so everyone keeps telling me. I get told regularly how amazing I'm looking and how well I have done but I don't see it.. I look at myself in the mirror and look at myself in disgust most of the time.
If you were a fly on the wall you would see me pulling at my fat and even at times when I'm really feeling really down on myself you would even see me punching or hitting at my stomach.

For about 10 years now I have been trying to control my weight and be a better me externally. Prior to having Niah I got serious for awhile and focused on myself and feeling better. During pregnancy I stacked a whooping 30kgs+ on, I didn't know better and stopped exercising and took advantage of 'eating for two' and then it took me another 6 months to get back into the swing of things. Having a child certainly does make things a little more challenging as you need to make sure you have a good routine and are prepared, you will need to be more accountable. It has taken me 3 years to get to here and where I am now... I'm down 50kgs and at the lightest weight I've ever been. I don't ever recall being in the 80's even when I was a teenager. The way I feel body wise isn't like where I am at weight wise. I still feel huge and down on myself. I know that I am the only one who can change this.

I am the one responsible for what happens to myself. I am the holder of what happens with my body. I am an emotional eater and that really sucks. If I'm feeling sad I want to just stuff my face with food. I am also really bad with organisation so I will be out somewhere and either not eat or will have to visit a takeaway place and most of the time I'm too lazy to go in somewhere so I'll opt for drive thru.

I look at the photo above of myself and I just seen pain, the huge amount of pain I have been enduring and putting upon myself more recently in the last year. I've had a really tough year and I'm surprised with how I have managed to get up some days and to still be working full time. I take on a lot and I do a lot but that's just how I role, I need to be kept busy as my mind with myself on free time is not a healthy area. I am not suicidal at all as my daughter means the world to me and I wouldn't ever leave her but it leaves me in an unhealthy area where I over analysis and over think.

This isn't a write up for sympathy, this isn't a write up to be gentle with me... this is a realist piece that I'm sure I'm not the only one in a boat like this.
Life is cruel and unkind but I'm fighting, I won't give in nor give up. I will get better and want to get better and I'm hoping that the fire within me grows enough to give me the strength I need to retrain and refocus my mind.

Speedo Kids Swimwear Review

Sunshine, hot weather, sand, beach, swimming, tanning, BBQs and family time is calling at our doorstep as we move into the beloved summer days. 

With summer days comes the essentials and having the correct bathing clothes are key. 

Speedo fall nothing short of being right on point. 

For us quality is always most important, you want to know that when you pay for something you are getting quality to last its time. 

When in the water there is nothing worse than having swimwear that sags and ways you down, something that we noticed with the Speedo range was that they stayed tight to the elasticity areas without any saggy parts and needing a ring out to get rid of excess water. 

When you feel the material of the Speedo you notice difference, their durable tough but also soft and comfortable on the skin. 

You know how on some written print clothing pieces when you stretch them you can straight away see the cracking of the letters - well I pulled and pulled at the Speedo top and nothing moved, no cracking what so ever. 

As well as the one piece bather suit Niah was also gifted the short sleeve rash top in which came down to the elbows and half way up her neck covering a good amount of skin from the rays. 

The patterns and styles that Speedo comes in for toddlers are cute and stylish with light colours for the kids and cursive cute text to follow. After getting the cute bathers from Speedo we went and checked out the other patterns and styles they had online, that was dangerous as they have soooo many cute colours, styles and patterns to choose from for the little ones and we ended up starting a list of what to get next.

You know how bathers can be all distorted and smelly after visiting the local pools? Well generally we try not to visit them because of the chlorine stench but the chlorine held up really well and didn’t affect the colors or written print at all on the Speedos.

Post swim use they were super easy to clean through a machine wash; stripping them of the chlorine smell and then they dried super-fast that you could almost go again within an hour of line dry time. 

Something that really sold me on the Speedos was that they put an extra strip of material over the zipper part of the material so that the kids aren't having the bare rough zipper rub up on their skin or catching in skin and snagging them. It's really the little things that win you over and in this moment, Speedo definitely has done that. 

I didn't see the big deal about Speedo as a brand before testing them out with Babyology and I can't thank them enough for introducing me to the brand because I don't think I could look elsewhere for quality to compare now. 

We couldn’t compare these to anything higher as Speedo definitely was the highest for quality, comfort and design.

Speedo’s just work and fall nothing short of what they say they will do.

Read more of the review over at the Babyology website.

Disclosure: This post has been made in collaboration with Babyology and Speedo Australia. I received the above pictured Speedo bathers as above mentioned in exchange for its promotion here. I received no payment for this review and all opinions expressed in this post are entirely my own.