Kristy Hinze gave birth to a little girl, Dylan (my secret favourite girl's baby name that I will never have the nerve to actually use!) last September. Photo's of her gorgeous four-month-old appeared in the latest issue of WHO magazine and it got me thinking, as I always do with celebrity mums, whether they have even slightly similar parenting experiences to us "regular people".

Kristy's a supermodel so she was independently wealthy to begin with, and then she married a billionaire. They have mansions and $100m yachts and housekeepers and personal chefs, so she obviously won't be caught up in things like, say, the endless mountains of washing that most parents of newborns cope with.

But what about the other stuff? Even though she likely has a night nurse, does she still wake up throughout the night and tend to her baby? Did she have any trouble breastfeeding? Does she think about sleep training and does the baby share her room, or sleep in the nursery already? Does she fret about starting the baby on solids, worrying that four months is too early and six months is too late and the experts warn about allergies if you start too early – or is it too late? – and now some pediatricians are now saying that rice cereal is not the ideal food to start babies on, but really what else should you start them on...

Or was that just me?

I'd love to read an interview with a celebrity mum just once that goes beyond "How I lost my baby weight!" and delves a little deeper...

Well, I've broken this rule. I've got two tattoos and I'm contemplating a third. I got my first, super original tattoo – a Chinese character on my ankle – when I was 18. Although it's not very attractive and a total cliche, every time I glimpse it I remember what my life was like as a carefree teenager, so I don't regret it.

My next tattoo was a tiny turquoise star etched into my foot in Las Vegas in 2006. My bestie Chrissy had a matching star inked in the same spot, but in pink. They're so teeny, the tattooist even said, "The minimum charge is forty bucks and that covers a star about twice the size, if you want to go bigger?" Normally I'm all for a free up-size but I didn't think having permanent pen applied to my skin was the right time to prioritise "good value"!

But getting to my point: Sydney journo and author Sam de Brito wrote a book, No Tattoos Before You're 30 a few years back (around the same time I was getting that second tattoo, actually!) and it offers some sage advice. I was flicking through it in a shop yesterday and landed on this page, below.

On a related side note, my husband sometimes loses his shit at other crazy drivers when we're on the road and I usually gently remind him, you never know what their day is about. Maybe they just lost their job, or their wallet. Maybe they're sad or depressed. Maybe they're just an arrogant douche, but whatever it is, I'm not going to ruin my mood - and that of the people in the car with me - because of someone elses actions.

So back to Sam. The page I landed on was a great reminder to not get caught up in other people's "stuff", because it's almost never about you...

“I suppose the thing I most would have liked to have known or be reassured about is that in the world, what counts more than talent, what counts more than energy or concentration or commitment or anything else is kindness." Stephen Fry

At Kmart today I bought Lila this top - on sale for 0.25c! Outrageous!

How awesome is this! Just when my mood was dipping to an all-time, world-weary low (the news has been so, so sad recently that David has banned nightly news bulletins in our home; I cry too much), this wonderful video from New York has added a splash of colour to my day. What fiesty, fabulous old broads!

As the end of the year approaches, we tend to reflect on what has happened over the last 12 months. Buzz Feed recently released the 45 Most Powerful Images of 2011 and delivered a shocking reminder of how much tragedy has unfolded this year..

They're not all sad images, but I must admit I had shed a few years by the time I reached the end. Photo 30 (below) really punched me in the stomach, and made me want to sell everything I own to send the money to needy communities in South Africa. Instead, I pledged a monthly donation to UNICEF for their work fighting famine in Somalia and bought a few OXFAM Unwrapped Christmas gifts. It doesn't feel like enough. But in 2012, I will dedicate some time to figuring out how I can give back more.

On a lighter note, Buzzfeed also posted this collection of cute dogs... sure to put a smile on your dial!



Merry Christmas everyone!!

How about you run a spell check before you print your labels? For a prestige brand, it's a bit ridiculous... (click on the pic for a bigger view)...