Thursday, December 27, 2012

Sinikka

Sarah from Sinikka Floral Design has launched her new website. It looks fantastic!
I may be biased as I happen to be on the home page at my sisters wedding.
Sarah did an amazing job for Kate's wedding. Funnily Kate showed her a few photos of events she likes which Sarah had styled, perfect.

Check it out here.



I hope you have all recovered from a big Christmas/ Boxing day! Im off for a relaxing day sailing in the sunshine!

XOXO

Wednesday, December 26, 2012

Merry Christmas

I hope you have all had a safe and wonderful Christmas!
Mine has been full of family, cooking and craft. We had lovely warm weather and no rain which was wonderful!
Christmas lunch was at my house this year. We started with 12 guests, by christmas day I had accumulated 21.
The more the merrier, I tend to over cater, we could have fed another 10!

I will slowly get my photo's up, my mum took a lot so I will have to wrangle her sim card.

This year my sister and I decided that roast food and Australian Christmas don't really match. I'm not the biggest fan of roast meats and I decided that spending two days preparing and cooking food that I didn't love was not going to fly.

After a few wines and some home made burritos we decided Mexican themed Christmas was the plan!
I purchased a great book and everything we cooked was fantastic, fresh and delicious.

You might guess from the poorly inscribed photo I got a Bamboo tablet from my dad! Thanks!
It was on my list and we have a kk system in our immediate family as we all have everything we need and christmas was getting a bit excessive, so between my parents, my sister, her husband, Alex and I we all get a name picked out of the hat and you get one gift for that person! Much easier and you can put more though into it rather than trying to find something for everyone.

Simone xoxo

Friday, December 21, 2012

TGIF

Today was the last day of work for the year for me, while I still have lots to do before Christmas I am thankful work is over.... For a few weeks.
This year has been very up and down, there has been lots of challenges as well as things to celebrate.
After a massive term including me starting private work one day a week and being short staffed I am exhausted.
Tonight I am staying in. Alex has his work Christmas party so the couch, Henry cat and eggs for dinner is the plan!
Best!
It's not even 8:30 and I'm ready for bed!
Have an amazing Friday night!
Xoxo


Thursday, December 20, 2012

Summer storms.

The start of summer has been predictably unpredictable. We have had hot, very hot, rain, wind, humidity and even snow in the mountains!
Last night was a warm windy night, perfect for sailing.
We started the race with large gusts and strong winds only to slowly limp home over the finish line with nothing more than a puff of wind and a few drops of rain.
The summer ahead will certainly be filled with sailing adventures!







Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Because I am a little crazy!

I think this may become a regular feature! I don't know why Christmas becomes a deadline, things must be done before Christmas or else!
Yesterday after working a 10hour day like a mad woman I insisted on starting to paint the courtyard area of our house.
Alex knowing not to protest smiled and nodded and joined my in a trip to the hardware store!
We started painting at 7pm... Lucky we have daylight saving!
We got one coat on one wall which was the trickiest as it was brick and needed a lot of paintbrush prepping and soaked up soo much paint!
I am very impressed with the result, no more salmon pink!
I will do a before and after once we have finished!

Xoxo

Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Tuesday

What a glorious sunny day! My first client cancelled so I have a leisurely morning ahead. With millions of things to do, lounging and listening to Lana Del Rey was all I desired!

xoxo

Simone

Friday, December 14, 2012

Pink and gray

I have started wrapping! It really fells like Christmas now that we have the tree up and its getting hot.
I can hear the thunder rumbling ready for a summer storm after a 35 degree day!

Here is a sneak peak of my wrapping theme, if you care.. I get tres excited about wrapping!
Next year I wonder if I will go a bit more christmas themed... probably not!


I had hairy helpers (Toby and Henry). Alex was banished as they were his gifts I was wrapping!
The bigger gifts I stacked and wrapped wool around them with one pom pom in the middle. There is also a little gift in the stockings my sister and I made!

Thursday, December 13, 2012

The smell of fresh Christmas tree!

The first Christmas Alex and I lived together we had a minor disagreement...
When I said let's go get a tree he thought lets go buy a fake one for $100 that will last us for years...
What I really meant was let's pay $60 for a beautiful shaped real tree that will drop stuff everywhere and will have to be sawed up to fit in the green waste bin after Christmas!
Not suprising to anyone who knows us, I won that battle.
I am like a child when it comes to trees!
Are you a real or faux tree kind of person?


This is not the tree we got. There was no way it was fitting in my hatchback or our front door! 

Monday, December 10, 2012

Colour Run

A few weeks ago a few friends and I did the colour run!
I hate running, but it was pretty fun, and colourful, and dirty!





Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Christmas is coming... fast

Christmas is speeding towards us rapidly.
I have started my Christmas shopping and am planning the Christmas feast.
It will be our first christmas in our own home and we are having all the family over for lunch.
The best thing is we don't have to travel this year!

Last year on our way to Melbourne we got caught in a freak hail storm. Hail stones the size of gold balls and lemons attacked us while driving on the ring road.
Alex's car was looking pretty sad after that and I was pooped from driving!

This year we will go to my sisters in the evening which is only a few blocks away!

Friday night my sister Kate and I made an advent calendar. We used seed envelopes, letter stamps and scrtachies as the daily surprise 

Its the first tie I have had a real advent calendar and not just the ones with the cheap chocolate in them!

The hand stamping took a little while, we made two sets, one for Kate's house as well! 

We haven't won any money yet... I will let you know when we do! Fingers crossed for $10,000.

Simone xoxo

Monday, December 3, 2012

Happy 12 Months!

Today a year ago my sister Kate got married to her husband Luke.
We did soo much planning, DIYing and crafting for the wedding. It made is special and made the whole day even more fun.

The Tuesday before the wedding Kate decided she wanted a streamer backdrop that she spotted on 100 Layer Cake, check it out here.here.
Kate wanted to cover the back wall of the marquee eek!
10 meters of streamer backdrop was created. We spent a few nights in front of the TV cutting the streamers and then a crazy production line afternoon constructing the streamer wall.

It was so worth it, but I still have hot glue gun burn scars!

You can check out some of the photos on the photographers website here. Love Katie and Sarah were fabulous on the day, they were fun and blended in with the guests, I know Kate and Luke were really happy with them!


Glasshouse

I am obsessed with Glasshouse candles. I have many, way too many!
Recently one of my candles burnt unevenly, it was passionfruit and lime candle which I was loving.
I emailed glasshouse and they promptly sent me a replacement, plus a body bar, delicious!
Great customer service. I have never had any issues with my other candles.


I have also just purchased the white christmas candle, so lovely!


Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Around the world in 80 days...

Via fuck Yeah, Tattoos!
Im way too scared of needles to get a tattoo, but this is amazing!
I would love to colour in where I had been.

Wish list

I have been wanting a bamboo tablet for a while... It will be added to the wish list!
image via here
You can edit and add fonts and graphics to photo's. Elsie and Emma over at A Beautiful Mess did a blog post a while back. Check it out here!

Monday, November 26, 2012

Christmas+Shopping+Bike

I love hosting Christmas at my house but every year as our town expands town gets a little bit busier.
One thing I do look forward to is many shopping trips by bike!

last year I got a new Pashley Poppy for my birthday! She is PINK and styled like a britannia with a big basket, curved handle bars and shiny light.


I did get a message from a friend one year asking if it was me he spotted riding up a hill with a turkey in my basket!

Happy Christmas Shopping!

Simone xoxo

Saturday, November 24, 2012

Painting Chairs

I purchased two chairs that were a burnt red colour. I really loved the idea of having them painted in a bright high gloss.
I was recently given about 6 litres of yellow high gloss enamel paint that was left over from a building. It wasn't quite as bright as I wanted but was pretty close.

With my DIY buddy Toby we did a drive by of the building to peep in he window to get his approval.

I started priming the first chair by hand. It took forever and looked terrible. It was blotchy, uneven and streaky. Not what I had in mind at all.

I decided to look into spray painters. I had previously painted furniture with a can of spray paint which came out even and smooth.

I did some googling and after a trip to the hardware store I came home with an Earlex spray station.

We got into priming as soon as we got home with a water based primer.

Ah-mazing! Quick, easy and with a smooth even finish after one coat of primer.

It took us a while to get the hang of thinning the paint down enough. They provide a handy funnel which you fill with paint and time how long the pant takes to run through. If it is less than 3 minutes then you are right to go. Toby and I have issues sitting still... longest three minutes ever!

The spraying was super easy, point and spray with slow even movements.

The clean up took a while and with water based paints was easy enough. With the enamel you have to clean up with thinners. Much more challenging.
The time you save painting you certainly make up for cleaning up, but the finish is much better then painting by hand.


Pros: 
Quick,
Even,
Smooth paint job,
Get to wear hot onesie for painting.

Cons: 
Clean up,
Need space due to over spray.

Enjoy your weekend!

Simone xoxo

Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Christmas wishlist

I'm not big on camping but I could be if I had this...

Altair tent form Anthropoligie  Check out the review while you are there!

Simone xox







Sunday, November 18, 2012

The Plan

My friend Kim has just moved to Munich. Exciting but far away and I already miss her zen ways at work. 
She mentioned I should get back into blogging so she can keep up with what I am doing. 

I had been thinking about putting more time and creativity into my blog but wasn't sure how. I downloaded some resources, and have started doing a course through a beautiful mess

I was also looking into some photoshop courses to bring my editing skills up to speed as well. 

I plan on dedicating more time to my blog rather than just reading blogs... not that I don't love reading blogs. 

I also plan to think about content and what I will blog about rather than just blogging on a whim. 

Also on my list is to take more photos. This is something I need to get better at as I have taken lots... just not good ones. 

So this is the grand plan, it may take some time to gain momentum. 

We will see how it goes!

Enjoy snaps from my lovely weekend away house sitting at Mt Macedon.



Simone xoxo

Monday, September 24, 2012

Cat cat cat cat cat cat....

We finally got a pet (other than fish)!
Alex and I have wanted a dog for ages but our lifestyle at the moment doesn't really fit with a dog. I had been working on Alex to get a cat but he was a bit hesitant. There was a fur shaped hole in my heart and Alex suggested we visit the pound and see if there were any friends there!

We found Henry, he had been given up by his owner who had to move and couldn't take him (heart breaking).

We are in love and he has settled in really quickly!

There will be cat accessorizing!

I have a heap of DIY to update you on this week!

Friday, August 31, 2012

Garden lunch date

I have beautiful gardens behind my office! Alex had a day off this week so we had lunch in the park!
The sun is shining but it's still cold! Summer is coming!

Sunday, August 26, 2012

Monday, August 20, 2012

Lounge update

As our front lounge is the warmest room in the house we have been spending much time in there.
I did a bit of a re style on the weekend. I still have my Bally print to put up, wallpaper, paint, painting my desk and a few other things to do.

I am much happier with the room!

Here are my lamps completed with new shade. You can see the before here.
I'm not sure what colour to pain my writing desk. i will have to browse the web for some ideas.


My Bally print will go above the fire place. I think I would like the render the fireplace or find and old mantle to put up!  I am planning a bit of an op shop run to get some old books to put on my fire place.

Lamp close up.

My dog chairs. Alex loves these, they are growing on me. I love them with the cushion. I am still needing to paint my nest of tables. 
Tomorrow I will take a photo is the day light and do a bit of a before and after.

On an exciting note my sisters wedding is in Cosmopolitan Bride this months. We spent lots of time putting the wedding together so its exciting that it will live on in print!
More on that this week!

Good night
xoxoxo

Snow trip

Hello,

This weekend we went on a road trip to Falls Creek. My friend is living in Mt Beauty for the season so we though a visit and a bit of a ski trip was needed.

It has been an awesome season. We usually do a week trip to one of the mountains but buying a house this year knocked around the finances.


There was soo much snow, I haven't skied on that much fresh snow in Australia! The drive up and down the mountain was tiring. We made it up with no chains as I have an AWD but back down chains were needed and a bit of digging to get out of the car park!

It was a lovely trip and catching up with good friend was the highlight!  

Monday, August 13, 2012

Weekend.

Hello out there!

In an attempt to post regularly I have attempted to take more photos!

This weekend we did some more organizing, in my ginger jar I found Easter eggs! Huh! My sister put them there when we moved! They were still deliciously good!

We did some work on the boat and went for a sail on Sunday.

I got my nails done too!

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Bad blogger

I know I have been missing posts and not overly engaged. I have no excuse, I feel like we have done as much as we were going to do to the house for a while!
I need a new direction!

This I will ponder....

Meanwhile here is a quick update on life!

I have been dog sitting these two babies... many hugs and kisses!
Pippa

Hugo

I saw Lana Del Rey, amazing but 45 minutes was fairly short.
Lana Del Rey
My lovely car Yolanda was broken into... sadface :(
Poor Yolanda
So I had to drive from Melbourne to Geelong on a cold winters night with a broken window... Lucky I have plenty of layers in my car!

I didn't get much taken from my car, but I can only conclude the theives must have been highly unfashionable (or animal activists) as they left my vintage fur cape and miu miu coat.. phew!


I have been working hard!
Poppet
Work lunches are way more fun in my Gaga lunch box!

Gaga



That's all for now xoxo

Friday, July 20, 2012

House on Hold

Life has been busy, but who am I kidding, its always busy!

We have got the house to a liveable state and making the front living room livable has been awesome for winter as it has the best heater.

Anyone who knows me knows I hate the cold. I am happy to announce that this house has insulation and is fairly warm for an old house.

I still have grand plans for the house but I think they are on the back burner for a while. We are deciding what our priorities are at the moment and I think travel is winning!

As for the last few weeks I have been out dancing, fixing up dad's new boat! (sailing adventure to come this weekend), been on a short break to Byron Bay and had gross germs so spent some time tucked up i bed!

Here are a few snaps...
Yes we went to Nimbin, I was horrified. This dog was the only alert resident! I think he may be the mayor.

Surfers Paradise 


Sandcastle, not made by me!
Melbourne, 3am.




Resting up the slipway.




Friday, June 29, 2012

Today I...

had a day off and headed to Melbourne for some shopping with my sister. We started at Letitia Morris  a vintage poster shop. I purchased an amazing BAlly detail. I loved the whole poster but it is massive and I don't have a wall big enough.


I originally thought it would be sweet above my bed. But it looks pretty good above the fire place too!