and that they did

Went to a wedding on the weekend, it had to be by far the most relaxed wedding I've ever seen. Everything was a breeze, easy and uncomplicated. The bride was beautiful, the groom was relaxed, the buckets and buckets of daisy's were simply splendid and the dancing was endless. And so after a year of preparation, of conversations about "wedding world" they are now married and they carry OR marry on for the rest of their lives...

holiday yum yum

A few months ago we were driving to Newcastle, I was in a deep conversation with myself. A hundred miles away from anything else or anyone else in the car and suddenly out loud I said "Yum Yum Yum"...Embarrassing yes I know but nothing compares to the deserts I was imagining I was indulging in.

These holidays my friend and I plan to make macaroons. I love macaroons but have never attempted to hand make them but I am very excited to do so. Lavender, lemon and strawberries- yum yum yum!

discovered a wonderful blog miss sew and so she is a local, well close enough (Sydney sider) who has moved to the countryside of England. I was drooling over her experiences abroad and motivated to take the plunge and live the dream...well one of the dreams...

My friends Dad died early this morning and I am so sad for her, so sad that she'll never get the chance to pass him a cup of tea or read him something interesting from the paper...life is far too short for "one days ..."

I discovered a cool magazine...online!

I know I sound hypocritical in saying this but surely shopping online isn't always so bad especially when you can loiter through the pages of this really, really cool magazine for FREE Lonny magazine has some really interesting takes on practical home decor. I know many of you love the combination of classic and eccentric and this magazine has lots of inspiration for those budding interior designers.

audrey knows best.

found something pretty

The creative people at This is Pretty have some lovely little pieces to fill your home with that special touch...they have all sorts of pieces from home decor, travel accessories and decorations for weddings. Don't you just love going to a wedding that's filled with "the little details". Detail that only the trained eye actually picks up and point outs to other guest on the day.
I think the little details are definitely a sign of an organized bride.
www.thisispretty.co.uk

laura ashley and me

I have had a secret love affair with Laura Ashley for years. Confession: I can't walk past a store without going in and loitering through their homeware and signature fabrics.
I know its target audience is probably more middle age woman than myself but I don't care, I have loved Ashley since I was a teenager, from the moment  I purchased my first tea towel, with the stores staple country manner print on it. I love that the sales woman working in the stores are elegant, graceful, silver-haired woman with names such Beatrice and Elizabeth...who could ever say no to a Beatrice??

cabbages and roses

So if you're anything like me and you absolutely love all things vintage, french inspired, white, chic and rustic then your heart might skip a beat too when you see all the gorgeous products available on line at cabbages and roses. You'll absolutely love this website...

a room all for me

 ok the next house we buy has to have a room, an entire room, for my wardrobe (dreams can come true) Everyone remembers that scene from the movie Sex in the City when Big builds that incredible walk in wardrobe for her...

Well wouldn't you just love a space like this to separate all you belongings and always know what you have and exactly how many staple white singlets you actually own. I like this idea I think it would stop me buying things I actually already own but have forgotten about.

enjoy your birthday.

Happy birthday to my big sister who deserves every happiness in the world. Hope you have a wonderful day Mirella (I've secretly always been jealous of your French name) and may everyone around you lavish you with lots of love, cupcakes and magazines you can sit back and enjoy.
I promise I won't buy you a book this year...sorry about the last three year!

love always begins with hello...

The daily telegraph emailed us today to ask permission to print one of our wedding photos, sure not a problem, lovely delightful actually, however they asked us to fill out some questions about the wedding day, the lead up to the day and...how we met...

He was greeting people as they arrived at church that night in February. I saw him and thought to myself...whoever is his wife is one lucky girl, in a micro second I had imagined them both in church, a tall attractive couple, the lucky ones.. I thought he was the handsomest of men. As cliched as it sounds my heart really did miss a beat and then, later that night, as I was about to get drive off in my little green car,  he came to say hello...it always begins with hello.

a little ray of sunshine

Did you notice how many people were out and about today? Enjoying the little bit of sunshine that fought it's way through the clouds and wet weather...soooo pleased that it has stopping raining momentarily, although confession; I do love nights indoors with a cup of Dilma tea, layers of blankets and basking in the heat coming from the ducted air conditioning.

I've gone a little over board with baskets

See the basket under the window well I am heading out today to take that little treasure home with me! Now this is not going to be as easy task, in fact it will involve bidding and overriding a friend who is also going to bid on it. I am very much looking forward to finding the appropriate space at home to accommodate it when it's mine!
Isn't she just lovely...lovely indeed

wall of inspiraton

Adjacent to my desk at work I have a "wall of inspiration", it actually looks very similar to this. Lots of eclectic pieces, quotes from Shakespeare, verses of scriptures, regal pictures of Maria Antoinette I found at her Palace, family snap shots, wedding pic's, notes from close friends reminding me throughout the day that I am loved.
I particularly love the Polaroids of our private engagement party (it was just the two of us celebrating in a hidden, neglect garden we stumbled across). A photo of a blue Vespa to remind me that one day I want to drive a Vespa around the streets of Monaco (properly best to let husband drive) and art works- all things that help stir the creative juices in me!

 image via sweet william
http://lovelysweetwilliam.blogspot.com/

six makeup remover wipes later

My friend is doing a make up course, a proper one, not just one at the local community hall, it was very professional and the salon was full of every imaginable makeup product and colour available, anyhow, I was asked to be her model for the night and I thought I would share with you a few things I discovered that night:
* Brushes are kinda important (note to self probably time to ditch the brush I've had for about 6 years now).
* You can use eye liner that's liquid on your actual eye lids.
* My eye lids are very dry (no-one really knows why but powder doesn't quite do the trick. I need to use cream based shadows)
* doing the smokey eyes look actually involves more than just a brush stroke on the edges of your eye lids.
* make up is a lot of work and I just can't justify using 6 makeup remover wipes at the end of a days work...sorry!

I am going to be lovely to you

Dropped off husband to work and thought it would be a prime opportunity to do some early morning grocery shopping. So off I went to my local Coles store and after half an hour of loitering through the store I made it to the checkout. I start loading my groceries onto the belt and the lady serving barks at me about leaving my trolley there, now my initial instinct was hey lady (who by the way was wearing way too much make up for a Sunday morning) I was just going to move it...relax!
I desperately wanted to use a harsh tone with her but... I didn't, I thought, actually this woman is screaming for some kindness (and a makeover) and I am just the right person to give her a big sunny smile and think nice thoughts about her.

image via dottie angel

so is chocolate for breakfast really such a bad idea?

Confession- I sometimes eat chocolate for breakfast. In fact up until the age of 21 I didn't quite realise that eating Tim Tams with your cup of tea in the morning was considered taboo. I thought that was ok, normal.
I now see that there are three types of breakfast eaters, those who eat a nuterious breakfast with muslie and lots of fibre, those who claim to eat breakfast but really only manage to eat a piece of toast with their daily espresso and thirdly people like me who would like to throw this question out into the void...
"so if we can eat chocolate with our tea before going to bed than why is it so terribly wrong and unspeakable to have a tiny piece of chocolate 9 hours later?''

Image via topshop london

a little flat and black

I sometimes worry that my wardrobe is a little flat and black. I don't think I look particularly great in bold, vibrant colours hence the reason I seem to be constantly drawn to more neutral and conventional tones.
Confession almost every morning I stand in front of my wardrobe and say to my husband " I have nothing to wear" and invariably this is the absolute truth at the time, however, I somehow always manage to fall back on my faithful, black pieces.

And it looks like the latest winter range from Collete Dinnigan is perhaps on my side this season.

childhood happiness

For some reason the name "Punky Brewster" popped into my head this week and if that names mean anything to you than it's probably safe to say we tick the same age bracket when we fill out random surveys on line. I remember my little sister had the same thick fringe as her and wrapped a yellow scarf around her knee every time she wore jeans... I was jealous. I was a tad jealous because i was at that stage where I still loved watching the show but it was probably a little uncool to say that publicly. Alas the Punky Brewster closet door is now opened.

What I think I really like about her sense of style is that it seems so completely effortless, that the clothes she wears seem to be made perfectly for her body. There is nothing particularly glittery about her signature style but it is so very iconic yet easy enough to replica.
PS: I bought another pair of straight leg pants that I love so much I want to sleep in them!

vogue is a tad different in paris

I remember buying this copy of Vogue in front of a news stand close to the Arc de Triumph in Paris. Who knows why I would buy a magazine full of articles I'll never be able to understand or read however, there was something enchanting and exciting about buying Vogue Paris in Paris. Confession, I love Kate Mosses style. I don't think anyone rocks a pair of tight straight leg jeans quite like she does. I sometimes loiter through top shop on line to see her latest designs and her clothing line. 

PS: Note to self when buying Vogue Paris in Paris it's like buying soft porn lots of nakeness disguised as fashion photography!  

no matter what they say, words can't bring me down.