Cairns Photo Diary

Situated in tropical Far North Queensland, Australia, Cairns is the gateway to the world famous Great Barrier Reef and also host to a weekend getaway the Mr and I recently went on. For anyone who's ever had a travel bucket list, this location deserves to be in your top ten.

The vast expanse of the green blue sea plays home to endless stretches of coral reefs viewable to the naked eye. Sailing around the Great Barrier Reef on a glass bottom boat was a life altering experience, all of a sudden a whole new world opened up. A world that until now was only ever viewed from the comforts of my own home or occasional aquarium visit. Seeing all these beautiful marine life in their natural territory was simply breathtaking. Without any warning the roles suddenly reversed and us humans became the guests, the aliens, visiting a foreign land. And because we foreigners were careful enough to tread ever so lightly, the local population greeted us with delight, often swimming up to snorkelers and divers and sometimes even putting on a show. It's nice to know there are places in the world that remain relatively untouched by humans.

I'm looking forward to the day when my daughters are old enough so we can visit again together.

Perfect year round weather and plenty of palm trees.

Beach essentials.

The public pool overlooking the ocean in the middle of downtown Cairns. 

Snorkelers by the pontoon of Marine World

Off to meet the locals

Sunset from the Shangri-la Hotel

Breakfast of champions

Mysterious fig tree

Cooling off at Millaa Millaa waterfalls

Abundant lush green rainforest

Recycling at it's best.

Life thus far...

I am so overwhelmed by the wonderful response I received from my last post. Thank you so much for all your kind words, they mean more than you can imagine. After all that party planning craziness, this week I took a much needed break away from blogging (and pretty much everything else) to just unwind and relax. Sometimes all you need is a little break from your usual routine to appreciate how wonderful life is.

Having been in Melbourne, Australia for a month now, it's about time I got around to posting photos of my trip. The truth is, having grown up here I sometimes forget that I am on vacation. Before I left I had all sorts of plans for places to visit and things to eat. But in reality, once I had settled the girls into their new home away from home, a routine began to emerge and pretty soon life became mundane and I forgot I was on vacation. It's been almost five weeks since I first got here and I have yet to skim the surface of my vacation to-do list. Luckily for me there's still plenty of time. For now, here's some snippets from life here thus far.

Wardrobe Diaries: The Art of Travel

Something you probably don't know about me is that I have an unhealthy obsession with anything related to the art of travel. This probably stems from the constant state of wanderlust that plagues me. I can spend hours pouring over atlases and travel guides, google earth and I are on first name basis. If I had my way my house would be filled with antique globes and world maps. But I digress.

I'm always curious as to what other people wear on planes. So much thought has to go into that one outfit. In an ideal world I would love to dress up like they once did during the 'golden' age of travel, but since I have two little monkeys it really isn't practical (or comfortable). My solution for long international flights- abundant layers for warmth, a rugged jacket to withstand the wear and tear from the kids, comfy but chic sweatpants, a large versatile scarf, some killer boots, sunnies and an oversized tote. These photos were taken right before the kids and I departed for Melbourne, Australia.

{ hive & honey sweatpants . j.crew denim jacket similar here . sweatshirt thanks to camp beverly hills . kookai tank . target scarf . michael kors booties . cole hann tote }

Friday's Fancies

Hello hello, happy friday everyone! I am now blogging to you from Melbourne, Australia. We landed earlier today after what might be described as a marathon of a flight. For those of you with little ones, you'll understand what it's like traveling anywhere with them. Now add to that 20+ hours in the air, 10+ hours of transit and travel, the crossing of 8 time zones and the sudden change from summer to winter. Let's just say I was quite relieved when I heard those two front wheels hit the tarmac.

Now that I've landed, I can't wait to get back to my usual blogging schedule. I'm dying to catch up with everyone and see how you're all doing. I'm sure I've missed so many great posts this past week. Thank you for continuing to visit me even though there hasn't been much activity lately. If you're interested in seeing what life is like down under, I will be snapping away on instagram @jeneechen. For now, a few pictures from life this week. xx Jenee C.

Spending quality time with my sister baking, laughing and eating. These were meant to be passionfruit yoyo's but they looked so cute open instead of sandwiched that we decided to leave them that way.

Miss mini-me fast asleep with her sunnies on. Keeping a low-profile so she gets to nap in peace. Little did she know it made for adorable photos.

We do not have a Whole Foods in our town, the nearest one is an hour away (sad face). I make sure I visit every other week to stock up on whatever fresh produce is in season. These beautiful figs go so well in soups.

Putting together a few colours to bring with with me that would transition well from summer to winter to spring to summer and back to winter. Yep, I will be experiencing all 5 seasons in the next 4 months.  

I love surprises but best of all, I love watching my kids faces light up at surprise visits from daddy when we're out at the park.

In My Suitcase

This week I have been quite absent from the blogosphere. The kids and I are about to embark on a four month trip to Australia so things have been a little hectic in this household. My wonderful sister has kindly traveled 30 hours from Melbourne to Nashville (yes, that's how long it takes!) so I wouldn't have to fly alone with the kids. We depart in less than a week, yikes!

Instead of my usual friday's fancies this week I thought I'd share with you a few outfits I've packed in my suitcase. I choose classic pieces that could easily be mixed and matched together. I also stuck to the 5 piece rule, where I choose only 5 pieces from each category. This helps me be extra selective and ensures that I don't pack. Plus, it's a good reason for me to do extra shopping at my destination.

1. Outerwear
This is my favourite category of clothing. I've packed all my classic go-to pieces here. My classic trench coat, leather jacket, denim jacket, blazer and my all time favourite houndstooth cape.

2. Pants
I've tried to be as diverse as possible with my pants selection. Again, adhering to the 5 piece rule. In my suitcase I have my black coated jeans, floral ankle jeans, distressed skinny jeans, red ankle pants and a pair of sweatpants.

3. Bottoms
Along with pants I also included an array of skirts and shorts. My picks are, black leather skirt, floral midi length skirt, chiffon shorts I bought in Australia the last time, denim shorts, and my pink highlighter skirt.

4. Tops
With tops, I tried to keep things simple and neutral picking out pieces that would work well with all my outfits. For instance, the sleeveless stripe blouse, classic white shirt, silk purple blouse, chambray shirt and a black ballet tee. I won't lie, sticking to 5 tops was incredibly difficult, I may have to make an exception so I can add a few basic tees and tanks.

5. Dresses
I love wearing dresses, they are the easiest way to look put together. It's probably against my better judgement to leave behind all my maxi's, sundresses, casual dress and only bring with me special occasion pieces. Out of everything in my closest I decided to pack my feather cocktail dress, a stripe tweed dress perfect for weddings, a deep red dress for date nights, a corporate looking dress and a black leather dress with lace sleeves.

6. Sweaters and Cardigans
Okay so I probably don't need the sweaters, but if I'm going to be taking outfit photos at my destination, it's better to have some on hand just in case. In my suitcase I have a white cable knit, black knit, and pink stripe knit. I've also packed a mint cardigan and a black peplum cardigan.