MY NIGHT AT THE ASTRAS 2011

What a night!!!!!!! Being able to do a job I love, walk the red carpet and win awards is mind blowing.  But like any good renovation on a house, getting ready for the Astras is not effortless.  I literally had a 'team' helping me get ready.
Getting there for a start was an effort. Charlie and I were working for 3 days on our first make-over for the new series 5 of Selling Houses Australia and the weather 'gods' were against us.  Freezing temperatures, howling winds, constant rain and we were under the pump to get this makeover done.

I flew out of the house barking orders of all the last minute things so I could try and get to the red carpet on time!  By the time I got to the hotel room the 'miracle' worker Peita Gregory, disguised as a make-up lady, was knocking on my door and I hadnt even got in there yet.  A quick and very hot shower to try and warm up my bones and it was time for the 'renovation' of Shaynna.

To take a few steps back, the week before I was at Sophie Harts studio to try on a dress for the night.  The second dress on and we knew that was the one. BUT it was a tiny fit and it took 3 girls to do up the zip! Yes, I could not breath or even bend over to put my shoes on but in the words of Sophie, from now it is 'Nil by Mouth'. And so for the next 7 days I thought of that dress and deleted carbs from my life.  (Except for an amazing dinner with family where we had 4 courses, but dont tell anyone!).   Sophie sent pictures of what type of hair style I should have, what accessories and I was excited and terrified at the same time.  It better fit by red carpet time!

My outfit and accessories were all on loan and I want to thank these companies for letting me wear their items and hope I did them justice.  I know I would wear every piece again as I literally felt amazing!

The Dress
The stunning Midnight Blue dress was by George Gross.  The cut on this dress really hugged my curves.  Yes I have boobs and yes I have hips but most of all it sucked in my waist and I totally felt sexy. Every woman should have a dress that makes them feel like this.


The Accessories:

Clutch Bag -  by Oroton (can I say this is my favourite bag ever, it had a beautiful weight to it and didnt catch on anything. You know when you have a bag with stones and details and it always catches on something, well this one didnt.  I highly recommend this bag and it is from their new collection).
Shoes - Peep toe - look at the detail on the heels - Grrrrrrr
Earrings - Mimco - I felt like I was channeling Penelope Cruz with these beauties.  Elegant and sophisticated.  Sophie Harts eye for detail is incredible and she knew these would stand on their own with out needing a necklace.
Ring - Diva - just a simple bit of shimmer to finish it all off.

Peita did an incredible job to make my eyes smokey, my skin shimmer and the relaxed 'bed hair' hairstyle was by her associate Luke Davis

But the best thing on my arm was my husband.  His support through all my travel, time away from the family and lack of cooking and cleaning anymore (I do love that one!) has let me not only do this amazing job but enjoy it.  Thank you Steve for never making me feel guilty chasing my dreams.

Now for the fun bit.  The after party is the time for us to celebrity spot and gush at each others clothes and say a bit congrats!!
EVERY girl looked stunning and the guys looked incredible. There really is something incredible about dressing up to make you feel fantastic.
Here are some of my shots of the night

 

Jane Gazzo & Sarah Wilson  (Jane you were my 'favourite' for the award - next year!!)

 The sexiest weather girl around - Magdalena Rose

Charlie and his stunning wife Juliet

 

The incredibly popular!!! Andrew Winter, LifeStyle Channels amazing Head of Publicity Sharyn & Andrew's 'wind beneath his wings', his gorgeous wife, Caroline. 

One of my big squeals of the night was meeting Geoff Morrell who played Lester Lamb in the fantastic mini series Cloudstreet.   I loved watching that series so much and his character and acting was brilliant.  But what blew me away was after I gushed about his show, he started talking about episodes of Selling Houses Australia and how he loved our show. WOW!!!

Thank you again to everyone for your votes, support and most of all watching our show.  We love making it so it is brilliant to know you love watching it to!!!!!

And our hot General Manager at XYZ accepting the award for 

Channel of the year for The LifeStyle Channel.

(no wonder we are a little weary.......)

EATING AT THE OFFICE

I am back on the crazy whirlwind of traveling around the country with my clients and for the filming of Series 5 (can you believe it!) of Selling Houses Australia.
What comes with that is not only long hours of sitting on your behind in taxis, cars, and planes but trying to eat well the whole day.  Trouble is I am gluten free and no red meat and they are challenges of their own.  So today I had the wonderful pleasure of cooking myself a gourmet breakfast at home.  I did have to get up at 5.30am and do 3hrs of work first but this way a very nice reward.

Do you start your day properly or do you struggle to keep a healthy diet with your work hours.  Would love to hear how you 'eat at the office' whether it is at home, at a work office or on the run.  Any tips for us to share would be great.
One of my tips is I take a small glad bag of protein powder to put in a glass of water for between meals while I am on the run.  It doesnt fill me (as I love to eat rather than drink my food) but it takes the edge off the hunger till I can get a proper meal.  And of course have a couple of pieces of fruit and a water bottle handy.  Your tips??

SELLING HOUSES EXTREME-Port Douglas - SHIRTLESS & THANK-YOU!

Well, I started a little frenzy saying my hubby will be in the background tonight - 'shirtless'!!!!  With his permission - here he is.  Now this is a tale to all of you out there to wear sunscreen or you might end up with a runway on your back too.  The funny thing was he took his shirt off, wrapped it around his head to protect him from the sun (that stripe is where the T-Shirt dangled)  but didnt think what it would do to his back!!
If you want to see all the before and after pics of this ep go to the link at The LifeStyle Channel

On another note, I do have to thank a few people up in Port Douglas.  (If you want to know all the suppliers of the show, go to the link earlier) Of course the owners and their family were fantastic and worked so hard the whole time and their daughter organised for us to do a trip with HABADIVE snorkeling tour after the make-over. 
This was so greatly appreciated as every single person, except a certain some-one who was working on his tan (cough cough Andrew Winter ), worked to exhaustion on this makeover.  As most of us were from Sydney and Melbourne we couldn't believe the humidity  and how it depleted you.  We had planned some nice dinner evenings after the make-overs but after sometimes 12hr days, no-one could bare having to socalize.  

Then there is Phil and the team at Century21 in Port Douglas, they were the most accommodating group of people and I have been tweeting with them ever since (@portdouglas21 )
I also have to say a big big thanks to Tom from Oceanic Art Gallery who allowed me to borrow the most amazing and precious aboriginal art to create a truly amazing makeover for this episode.

Port Douglas Beach

The community in Port Douglas we totally behind us the whole time we were there and cannot speak highly of them all.
The tourist industry was already suffering up North from the GFC but with the news of floods and cyclones people think that they should stay away.  Well I can tell you it is just as beautiful now as always and was very lucky to miss most of the brunt of the the cyclone.
So if you are thinking of taking a holiday PLEASE go to Port Douglas and enjoy the beauty that it has!

I would love to hear of your experiences of Far North Queensland  and if you plan to go what you would like to see.  The list of bars, restaurants, day trips is huge so I wont bore yo with them - share here so everyone can see the great places to go.

Thank you everyone!!!

Here are a couple of behind the scene shots as well

Left - Me, Jeremy or 'The Human Ladder' (researcher) & the lovely Di (my assistant)

 

The owners sealed the doors 'before' they moved out the furniture. This is the producer, sound man and the camer man on the other side catching the couch.

The crew taking a welcome break from the heat!

SELLING HOUSES EXTREME- Behind the scenes

Series Four is airing from February 16th 2011 and if you have FOXTEL/AUSTAR you couldnt miss the ads promoting the show.  I can honestly say it was hilarious making the commercial and seeing the result on the Tv has the whole family in stitches everytime.
What is even funnier is they have put up a behind the scenes video and it shows how much we enjoy working together.  I am very lucky!!!

 Watch the behind the scenes video!

http://www.lifestylechannel.com.au/tv/selling-houses-australia/videos.aspx#/sellinghousesaustralia/1CB28B43/selling-houses-extreme-behind-the-scenes

WORD OF THE DAY - MNEMONICS

I discovered a little word today - Mnemonics!!! I had never heard of it before but after reading '10 things you didnt know' on the gorgeous
Jacki Weaver, I thought, if it works for her it might work for me.
I write most of my pieces to camera for Selling Houses Australia and my YouTube channel videos but trying to remember everything while building is going on around you and a filming team hoping you get it in take, does produce a little  'mind blank' in the pressure cooker. 
Mnemonics is a memory tool to help you remember things like peoples names, formulas and in general - your lines!   I haven't given it a go yet but look forward to putting it into practice as we have begun film series four!

JACKI'S latest movie is, Animal Kingdom.  She plays the female matriarch of a Melbourne crime family. Intense viewing!!! 
Picture: Sony Classics

WINNERS AT THE ASTRAS!

The night of nights for Foxtel/Austar, the 8th ASTRA AWARDS, was held on Thursday night at the State Theatre in Sydney. What a fantastic night, but made even more fantastic that Selling Houses Australia cleaned up in the awards! Not only that, The LifeStyle Channel was voted Channel of the Year. These awards are industry and viewer voted and to win in both categories is mind blowing!
Thank you to everyone who voted and who watches our show. We are the highest rating show on The LifeStyle Channel and now the most popular! (sorry, I am so proud but please allow me to blow my trumpet a little!!)
Now a night like this means you have to have the right outfit! I was lucky to have to the wonderful Sophie Hart styling me who dressed me in a black silk dress by Jayson Brunsdon and stunning Jewelery from Jan Logan My 'sky-high' shoes were from Peeptoe shoes

Picture of us from the red carpet!

VOYEUR TO THE CELEBRITY HOMES

Nothing better than a well known artist selling their home so you can get a sneak peak. See Flea from Red Hot Chilli Peppers' home for sale. Simply Stunning. Make sure you click onto the full presentation to get the true beauty of the home. What I love most is how they have capitalised on the location and the whole interior reflects the essence of the view and lifestyle.

SELLING YOUR HOME

Now this is the opposite of what we saw above - in price and location of course but most alarming is lack of care and detail to any sort of presentation. Your photo's on the web of your house for sale is your best advertising. Make sure you show your house at its best potentential to get the best price possible, no matter what price you have on the house. Hanging jumpers as art isnt the best way to go! And putting yourself in the picture? - well move out of the way next time

WINNING THE ASTRA AWARD

Winning something this big has taken a bit of time to come down from. Having the most Popular show on Foxtel beating the highly commercial Project Runway and Australia's next Top Model is something to be proud of. So forgive me if my posts have been few and far between. With a show, company or event there are so many people that put a huge amount of effort in to getting someting like this up and running so I want to thank everyone behind the scenes at The Lifestyle Channel, Beyond Productions and my amazing team at Blankcanvas Interiors. We are deliriously exhausted. (In a good way)

BUY MY HOUSE... BUT I HAVE NO BATHROOMS

Trying to sell your house with no finished bathrooms, bedrooms and no floor coverings and expecting some-one to see your vision is a bit of a stretch. See how we got this house ready, tonight on Selling Houses Australia, for sale and actually finish a bathroom!

TIP OF THE DAY

When selling your house focus on the presentation of main areas such as kitchens and bathrooms. Not every buyer wants a DIY project

RESURFACE YOUR KITCHEN BENCHTOP

Bring your kitchen to the next level with granite. Cant afford it? Then look at this. A tired old kitchen updated on Selling Houses Australia series two, for half the price of a new kitchen. New doors and a granite resurface got this house sold in two weeks!

See premier of Series two tonight as 7.30pm, Foxtel, Lifestyle Channel and see how this kitchen is transformed.

LUXURY RETREAT

Mali Mali -For $950 a night at the foot of the Daintree Forest this is one to consider for the Honeymoon

DREAM ON

House of the year, 2007-2008 up for sale. On the Gold Coast, the architect was apparently inspired by Frank Lloyd Wright. Known for his streams and building within the landscape, this 40m infinity pool, which by the way wraps around the house is a perfect reflection of the coastal lifestyle. I wish.....

UGLY KITCHEN OR DYSFUNCTIONAL

Some people brand their kitchen's "the ugliest in the world (see more), I've seen worse, but to me this kitchen isn't so much as ugly and tired but cramped, unfunctional and in desperate need of some good design. We sometimes have to work with the space we have and introduce clever design and materials. See this low budget before and after for an episode on my show of Selling Houses Australia, Series two. By updating most of the surfaces and changing the island bench we made this room brighter and a lot more fucntional.