My life mission: To rid the world of man’s ugly, pilly, baggy track pants and thigh-high polyester shorts

It’s fathers day in little over 8 days in Australia. Time to celebrate the men in our life.

And if your dad is anything like mine (sensitive, grumpy, a little needy, a lot argumentative, and always right…. But also generous, kind-hearted, supportive, totally lovable, and worth enduring the annoying first listed traits) – then might I suggest you avoid risking the ordinary this fathers day?

The ordinary being, an ordinary blah blah father’s day gift.

My dad always says he doesn’t want anything. But I’ve never seen him turn down a box of Darrell Lea Chocolates come the big day (He has to rely getting those from one of my sisters’ these days though as there are questions whether they ethically source their cacao…. Poor dad).

So this year (like the last) I’ll be sporting Dad out in some sorella men’s pieces.

Yes he already has a draw-full, but he has secretly told my mum that they are the comfiest dacks going ’round. And he’s been around a while my dad – so he’d know.

And that’s why I think you should get a pair for your dad too. Or maybe for hubby from the kids!

A happy Dad is… well… a happy dad. And let’s be honest, we really do need to rid the population of ugly, pilly, baggy track pants and shorts.

 Owens Short – $44. Available in Evening Sky (shown), Vintage Black, and Feather Grey

3 things no.4! || nina, sisters & puppies

Time for another edition of 3 things! (I can just FEEL your utter excitement. Yes. Read on my friend).

3 things I learnt/realised/randomly thought about this week || no.4

 #1 That Offspring is over. For good. (Apparently)

Nina makes me feel “normal”. If this is the end, who is going to make me feel normal now?

Are you sad too? Group hug?

image credit: Network Ten Australia/ Southern Star Entertainment

  #2 I found the best birthday card

The case of the mysteriously appearing Nappies

Regulars to the sorella-hood will know that I recently moved house (- and survived, although this mid-move pic may lead you to believe otherwise):

I find that hiding in a packing box for a while every now and then can help reduce anxiety

Moving house provides the opportunity for discovery:

• That earring you lost 2 years ago
• The spare car key (you blamed your husband for losing) in the pocket of the shorts you wore all summer
• The receipts you desperately needed for last years tax return

And then there are the discoveries of other things. Things that you had no idea were residing in your house in the first place.

Here’s an example:

• Three quarters of a pack of boys nappies

There’s nothing extraordinary about these nappies. They are just your regular run of the mill disposable nappies.

The extraordinary part is that I don’t know where they have come from.

I don’t have children of my own, and I don’t recall buying them in some sort of comatose supermarket shop at midnight. So I’m dumbfounded. I just don’t know how they got into my house, or with whom.

sorella sale time!

If you are a sorella-devotee you will note we don’t have sales very often.

But it’s the ‘end of financial year’ here in Australia, and with that it means: tax time.

And with tax time comes stocktake. And with stocktake comes sitting on the floor for countless hours, days even, counting lots and lots of PJs.

You will probably know from my whingeing that I moved house this past week. I survived by the way – but it’s not yet the end. There’s a mountain of boxes still around me and I have been forced to create a very strategic ‘valley’ throughout the house to enable me to get to the most important places one needs – the fridge and the bed. I have even bribed the delivery guy of our new couch with beer to PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE take some empty boxes in his van.

So with this added household chaos – I just couldn’t cope with the thought of our annual event of counting womens, mens, and maternity sleepwear!

What a snooze-fest!

So I came up with the ingenious plan to have a sale. The more we sell the less we have to count. I’m sure our accountant will see some sort of positives in this approach to my business, no?

Anyway. Get amongst it. Because apart from doing yourself a favour by sleeping in some organic cotton, you are doing me a favour by not losing days of my precious life counting.

Shop here: www.sorellaandme.com.au – We have up to 50% off selected styles from every collection – menswear, womens and maternity wear. So whether you are pregnant, a fella needing to ditch your baggy pilly tracksuit pants you’ve had since 2005, or you need a gift for a friend – there is something for everyone.

My sincere thanks! anna x

3 things no.2! || boobies, coconuts, birth

Did you like our first 3 things?

Well then let’s not stop now. Here’s edition no.2!

3 things I learnt/realised/randomly thought about this week || no.2

#1 LITTLE KIDS ARE funny HILARIOUS

I spent the weekend on the Sunshine Coast (Queensland) visiting my 3 nieces and nephew and apart from an education in Frozen, I came away with some gold-nugget quotes that are still making me laugh.

This is perhaps my favourite – from my 4 year-old nephew who I guess has had a lesson or two at Kindy on God recently:

“God is in your heart. Your heart is in the middle of your boobies”

 Fair enough.

My nephew. Always smiling (and always happy to entertain a crowd ie. the future Hugh Jackman?)

#2 I WISH I INVESTED IN A COCONUT TREE PLANTATION 10 YEARS AGO

Actually, also a Chia Seed farm, Quinoa farm, Cacao farm… I would be a bazillionaire right now.

AND have wonderful skin.

In addition to a coconut plantation, I would also have my very own human-coconut opener. This guy I met in Fiji collects the nuts from local farms, pays them a fee, then sells them roadside for weary travellers. Makes a motza he does.

#3 AN AUSSIE BABY IS BORN EVERY 2 MINUTES

That means that in the time taken to eat my lunch, 5 brilliant women have been to hell and back. 

Just holding my sanga to my mouth is often a hard enough physical challenge for me some days. Nice work ladies.

The sorella baby. THE cutest. Her mother is lucky she didn’t get put in my handbag after shooting the catalogue to bring home with me.

And that’s a wrap for another exciting instalment of 3 things!

I would love to hear what you have learnt/realised/randomly though about this week?

~ anna x

You want it? You got it.

While we are still only a baby of a label finding our feet, those that have found us have been devoted since their first restful night sleep in our soft organic Pjs. And they keep coming back for more.

And it’s these dedicated fans that shaped our plans this year, and will continue to do so into the future. We have already managed to fulfill one big fan-based request – to launch a mens line. So it is with a big smile and a stack of excitement that we announce the launch of the 2nd big request from our awesome customers this year….The request was clear:

“WE WANT IT IN BLACK”

So it’s with much pleasure we can now offer all your favourite pieces in beautiful black! And it’s a lovely earthy black that goes in line with our organic goodness.

Our best-selling organic singlet. Wear as sleepwear, loungewear, or out & about!

sorella & me organic singlet – wear through pregnancy as your belly grows and after as a perfect nursing top with its snap button opening ($54.95)

I confess. I find it hard to get completely nude.

It’s easy to feel overwhelmed when you walk into the ground floors of major department stores, don’t you think?

Dazzling lights. Floor to ceiling images of photoshopped glamazons with ethereal skin staring with judgement at your dull epidermis. Their faces represent the health I crave.

I want that frigging glow dammit.

So you find yourself pulled into the beauty vortex, the assistant with her hands inappropriately all over your face.  Your phobia of abused personal space is pushed to its limits. She’s talking AT you as if you are some sort of recluse given your lack of knowledge on the importance of niacinamide and hyaluronic acid.

And you leave, feeling slightly inadequate and definitely overwhelmed, but somewhat hopeful armed with a stash of samples containing that scientific-blah-blah-skin amazaballs-technology that the assistant seemed so convinced would leave you with the skin of Cate Blanchette. (Can I get that promise in writing please?)

sneaky-peek behind the scenes! 2013 sorella & me photoshoot

It’s so exciting for us to be so close to launching a few new pieces to our much-loved sorella & me collection. After the success of the new men’s collection, we are sure you will love these new women’s and maternity pieces just as much!

To keep you salivating until they launch later this month, we’ve put together a little behind the scenes video of the shoot which we held on the Sunshine Coast. You might spot a few of these new pieces!

A big thanks to the very talented Harry Mark for putting the video together for us!

New styles, photoshoots, and awards!

Hard to believe we are through half of another year isn’t it?

Time seems to be flying by, and life with sorella & me has been a big part of that. We have been super busy and have so many exciting things to share with you in the coming months – the first of which is our photoshoot next Friday…. if you think this might indicate we are adding new pieces to the current collection, you’d be right!

Stay tuned for some behind the scenes photos next week for your first look of what’s coming!

Behind the Scenes – 2012 sorella & me photoshoot

Think. Eat. Save.

It’s World Environment Day!

A stunning butterfly I found hanging out by my vegie patch

Celebrated every year on June 5th, World Environment Day is a campaign run under the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) aiming to raise awareness and bring about positive environmental action.

This year, the campaign’s theme is Think. Eat. Save – which encourages us to be more aware of our food choices, and the carbon footprint we are creating through such choices and waste.

The UNEP provides a couple of great ideas to easily get started:

“Purposefully select foods that have less of an environmental impact, such as organic foods that do not use chemicals in the production process. Choosing to buy locally can also mean that foods are not flown halfway across the world and therefore limit emissions.”   

We all know that we love organics at sorella & me! (Organic sleepwear anyone? Yes please!)

Our environment is clearly something we are all responsible for.  And every little bit helps.  On World Environment Day last year, we posted 10 really easy things you can start doing today to help the environment – check them out here.

So now to add to that list with this years theme, we are going to be more mindful about the food choices we make and what we waste more broadly – “Think before you eat and help save our environment!”.

I already try to buy organic food when possible, but I am going to try and understand more about seasonal fruits and vegetables too.  There is no point in buying a product that has been flown in from the other side of the world – even if it is organic. It’s easy to pop that item in your basket without thinking about it – but from now, let’s stop, think, and make an alternative selection if need be.

And my other goal is to finally start the compost I have been talking about doing for the past 2 years. Living in rental properties has stopped me from setting one up but it’s so important and can make such a difference. So these are my new goals.

For more ideas on greening your lifestyle, check out this great A-Z list from the UNEP.

And don’t forget to check out our friends at Sustainable Table, who have a heap of resources (and a couple of great cookbooks!) on how our food choices can impact our environment.

Do you have any green-tips you’d like to share with the sorella-hood? Perhaps you only shop locally?  Maybe you only buy seasonal fruit and vege? Whatever it is, we’d love to add it to our list!

 ~ anna