Engaging

I don't think we could have been blessed with weather any better than Saturday's. Our engagement party was lovely. Once I calmed down and realised that I was the only who really cared if the biscuits were or were not aligned properly, things were good. We got to the park 2 hours before our guests, hoping to snag the good tables and pavillion. I don't know what kind of 5 year old needs 4 big tables for his birthday party, but his mum gets all the points for sharking the tables so far in advance.





I painted a sign in preparation for the lost and confused souls that would not find our picnic area. Unfortunately someone else (hopefully conveniently named Megan and Joshua) thought they might like to have our sign for themselves. A little bit of a shame - but at least we got a photo!
Our families finally met (I may or may not have had nightmares about how wrong that could have gone) and I think they even liked each other. Hoorah! Definitely can count as a successful day!
We were given some amazing presents (some of which will be getting their own blog post later in the week) and a whole lot of serving platters - so if you ever need a lend...




It's incredibly wonderful to have as many supportive friends and family as we do. The 'best friends since kindergarten' is always a crowd pleaser when people ask about my lady friends, and Julie Baby finally got to meet all the people she sees on the blog and hears so much about. My dear friend Joel even drove for 6 hours to be there! Lots of people got lost on the way and still persevered, and we're so truly thankful for everyones generosity with their time, gifts and general talents. We know the best people, I swear! It's super nice to celebrate love - in all it's different relationships. Friendships, family bonds, and of course that particularly special love that makes you want to marry a person and be with them forever. Love sure is grand!

Party Books

What are your plans for the weekend? Joshua and I are hosting a little engagement party (although I keep looking at the guest list and remembering it's not quite so little)... I'm a bundle of excitement and have been baking non-stop trying to prepare! My to-do list is a long one but I'm hoping to get everything done on time. In honour of parties: Behold, Lucie Everett's handmade book exploring 'party' as a theme. It's beautiful!

I spied this delicious creation over on You Are My Fave, but you can go straight to Lucie's website and see the other lovely things she makes!

Big Day, Big Plans

Knowing that once uni starts up again I won't have a great deal of time, I'm trying to get the bulk of our wedding planning done now. Last week we visited the hall we've booked - and I was pleasantly surprised. I booked it with my fingers crossed - great location, great price - but after visiting it I can't believe how lucky we got. Enormous, well set out, and all sorts of lovely extras, as well as being delightfully 'rustic'. Folding doors, velvet curtains and wooden floors. Eeeee! Thought you might like a little sneak peek of the interior!

Geof Kern

Love, love, loving the photographic work of Geof Kern. Originally seen here.
Visit Geofs website and see more of his brilliance here.

Tune Tuesday

Foster The People - "Pumped Up Kicks" from Foster The People on Vimeo.

A special request from Loukas. Video clips like this always make me wish I was in a band. Everything seems sunnier when it's spliced into well timed intervals and set to a nice tune.

North Shore Weekends

Last weekend Joshua and I spent the day up north with our friends Jake and Elle. As far as double dating goes, I doubt you could find a better match. We've been trying for months to plan a little get together - but we've always been working or had something on. Finally, we got to meet up! Jake and Elle both work at the same cafe, and the whole time we were there I couldn't stop thinking about how lucky they are to work in hospitality that is so lovely. On the water, friendly staff, and customers that know each other and everyone that works there.


We had a little tour of Palm Beach and surrounds, went for a little stroll and saw snippets of where Home and Away is filmed. Being locals, Jake and Elle knew all the great places to visit so I could fawn over ridiculously overpriced homewares and amazing vintage pieces.





Gelato milkshakes (how cute are the boys matching expressions?) and plans for buying cute houses all in a row - you know, when we're rich. It was the best Saturday I've had in a long time! I think we were all a little sad when we had to leave for our drive back to our side of the Harbour Bridge. Hooray for proper weekends with friends!

Australian Education

As part of my 'home overhaul' I also added a little nook for extra learning. The Australia desk I nabbed at the end of last year for $15 never made it to the blog - but I'm glad I waited until now to share, all clean and looking lovely! I'm certain that sitting at this desk for any period of time will educate me on Australia's discovery, 1600's style. The yellow chair is another thing I've been meaning to share (gosh I've gotten behind!). An internet purchase from a company in Melbourne, I bought 2 - one to live at this desk and one at my work desk. They're the perfect shade of yellow and my first step towards having rad furniture in our eventual new home. It's convenient that they match the yellow of the desk so wonderfully!

Making A House A Home

The whole time I've lived in my apartment (we've just celebrated 2 years together) I've had the mindset of 'it's only temporary' and haven't been particularly great at the interior styling, especially living on a student budget. I'm now onto my third flatmate, and I decided that now is definitely the time to make things a little more homely. In the 3 days I had between my flatmate Amy moving out and my new flatmate Wynn moving in, I did my best to spruce things up a little. Favourite addition? Last years Christmas wrapping paper that is now lining my kitchen drawers. So much cheerier! I need all the help I can get to enjoy cooking and kitchen activities... I think so far the fun paper and the slightly fresher look is helping.





My house is certainly looking more like an IKEA showroom everyday - but dating a fellow that knows how to put flatpack furniture together makes every visit to IKEA seem like a deal too good to pass up. The new look has certainly made coming home of an evening a little more welcoming - though it's still nice to know that it's less than a year and we'll have a place of our own to nest in.

Raining Cats

Their little paws! Too cute. Raining cats found here.

Tune Tuesday

I only have to hear this song once and it's in my head for most of the day. It's gotten to the point that putting on my wooden sandals like hers even makes me hum it. I'm surprised the Lolcat phenomena hasn't infiltrated to a music clip before... Playsuits, sunny tunes and kittens. Winning combination.

Hyper

I've recently started loving a little bit of hyper realism. Maybe because I know I could never paint anything other than 'abstract' and other peoples talents impress me a lot. I guess it's a little tacky, maybe that's why I love it so much. Maybe a pencil painting for my one day studio?
Whatever your stance, these images are pretty amazing in my books. You can see more of them over here with a great compilation of talented folks.

Man About Town

Hot damn. Who knew skateboarding could be so gosh-darn sexy? I'm sure it's a combination of the romantic music, the ballet-like skate moves and the well dressed gentleman. However it works I've watched it a few times in a row. It's the fabulously talented Kilian Martin for Man About Town - a journal that I'd be buying copies of in a heartbeat if the postage wasn't worth 4 times the cover price.
Joshua used to be quite the little skate rat in his teenage years. Perhaps it's time I start encouraging that hobby again - I'll just have to make sure he does it in lovely fine knit sweaters and cute socks.

You Can Taste The Fruit!

In the last couple of weeks I've bought a few bits and pieces from faraway lands, and they've finally started to arrive in my letterbox! It's one of my very favourite things to come home for the day and find a parcel waiting for me! These beauties came all the way from Canada - look how lovely their illustrated stamps are! A giant bundle of vintage cowboy postcards (one of which graphically portrays "It's Brandin' Time") and a neat little set of 1950's advertisements reproductions. I'm putting them away for another project later in the year. I'm sure this will be a true test of my patience, since I want to put them all up on my walls right now!

Love Month

I can't believe we're already a month into 2011! January always feels like such a write off. Here one minute and gone the next. I've a sneaking suspicion that this is how this year is going to go!

In honour of February and love month, I've put a new header on the blog with teeny tiny hearts. Like it?

While I'm not a fan of Hallmark Valentines cards and roses from your overpriced florist, I do enjoy some heart-felt creativity. These DIY fruit stickers from Twig & Thistle is the cutest thing I've seen. Adorable!  Head to Kathleen's website to get the download. Now if only I could get my Joshua to eat his fruits.

Feeling Flat

Our trip back to Sydney was a little less cheerful than we would have liked. We got a flat tyre on the freeway, right on the dot of 'everywhere you could possibly go to get that fixed is now closed' pm. Bother. We (Joshua) had to pop on the awkward, bright yellow 'space saver' tyre, which is all sorts of degrading, and crawl along the road at an embarrassingly slow 80km. The cars behind us were less than impressed. We were both a little cranky, but mostly me because I'd also gotten a little too much sun that day. Check out the burn!
On the plus side, the wedding was lovely and we got to catch up with some friends who we haven't seen for a terribly long time. Julie Baby also had a giant collection of Golden Books for me to take back to my nest, as well as engagement gifts (hello, pie dish!) and various odds and ends. Always nice to come home with new treasures! I'll make a note to share some of them one of these days when I've a little more time...