In fact Cara had a baby 6 months ago, my other friend Lia had a baby 4months ago, Samira about 1 month ago and now Susannah, one of my oldesthigh school friends, is almost a month away from popping.
The thing is, that going to all these weddings over the last two yearsone would think that I would have expected this onslaught ofprocreation, planned for it and in some parallel universe maybe evenhave.... budgeted for it???

Right... the reality is i'm so terrible at getting my act together whenit comes to presents, and now that i'm not in Melbourne, to be forcedto go to maternity wards that thankfully always have a florist and giftshop, i've gotten worse.

This is why i've always been so in love with online shopping - and nowit's literally saving my life, and my close relationships with myfriends (although before my new fave site started there was one socialevent i did not grace with a sent present and I have already stoppedreceiveing emails from that friend... c'est la vie!)

Three little words - ministyle.com.au - lifesaver!

Penny Anastasiadis started the site earlier this year and since then she's had it covered for me.

She loves it so much it's hard to not get addicted to it "I have alwaysdreamed of having my own business. I tell you it's a buzz being yourown boss and having the flexibilty. I decided to start this business tosuit my lifestyle!
"Whilst studying at Uni I was always working in Fashion. Always had apassion for fashion & still do!! Love keeping up to date with thetrends in magazines etc..."

And up to date means when i'm on Penny's site - www.ministyle.com.au Iknow i'm gonna find something different, cool and one that my oh sotrendy friends won't think is dorky (people stopped buying things fromtoys r us? oshkosh went out of style 10 years ago? how was i supposedto know this stuff??).
Plus it's not all about clothes there's so many different things to choose from.

First thing I knew I had to get for Susannah was this - The Beatles Rockabye CD

Token Description - "Rockabye records transforms timeless rock songsinto beautiful instrumental lullabies. The soothing sounds of theglockenspiel, vibraphone, mellotron and other instruments will lullyour little one into a sweet slumber. Golden slumbers await your littlepride and joy at the end of lullaby road. The Beatles are the mostfamous songwriters of the twentieth century. The dreamy quality oftheir later work provides the blueprint for these beautiful lullabyinterpretations. It will glide your little one out across the universe,through an octopus garden, and lay them down in a slumberland ofstrawberry fields."

Awwwww how could I resist?? Plus she loves the Beatles in general!

Then there's some brands i've never heard of but apparently they're allthe rage with the mommas and the kiddies in Melbourne (I've only beenaway for a year! then i guess the tots section of DJ's ain't my regularcup o jo anyway).

"Kicokids I buy direct from them in New York and is exclusive toMiniStyle for now! They have a website you can check out. Theirclothing is quite upmarket! I am very excited about Ed Hardy as I wasvery lucky to get the opportunity to sell their gear. I loveeverything!!" said Penny.

Plus at the moment apart from some US online kids boutiques and the EDHardy website, she's the only Australian online retailer of the kidswear.


"Since having my kids i found it hard to find unique clothes &accessories for them. Even when shopping online I could never find aone stop shop! To be honest most of the sites are for baby things..."says Ms Ministyle herself.

And thank god she's branched out to some jewelery and the coolestparfums this century - Demeter - in so many amazingly original scents -my favourite whenever walking down Brunswick St and stopping at Kleinswas always Thunderstorm - but Penny adores Baby Powder!

There was a wall hanging called Look at the Wall Mr Panda and a softtoy called Mabel Soft Toy which is so cute but says coming soon to thesite!!  How soon?? That one's perfect for Sus..  Keep us up to datePenny!