Long Weekend

It's Australia Day long weekend. I'm not hugely patriotic but it does mean that its the annual Festival of Sail, which I love. We have had a great weekend although we didn't race this year.
The vibe down at the yacht club has been great and the fireworks last night were winners!

I hope you have enjoyed a few days off!

Simone XOXO

Wardrobe

 Over the Christmas break I did a massive cull of clothing. I hadn't got rid of anything in ages and my cupboards and floor were driving me bonkers. I have a fairly reasonable sized wardrobe which was in the house when we purchased it. Lucky for me it is an Ikea pax system which means you can easily customise it!
There is a lot of space in the wardrobe but much of that space is high, I am very short. I have previously posted about my wardrobe. I loved what I did.... But there were so many other clothes either in the washing basket or still not unpacked from the move. It was my ideal wardrobe not a practical wardrobe. 
After pulling everything out and starting again this is what I got.

This is my complete wardrobe.

On the left side is a skinny cupboard. I added one drawn at the bottom so I had more storage . Tops, underwear, jumpers, swimwear, pants and gym stuff live here.

Who doesn't love labelling! 

The corner cupboard holds a lot but things get lost. I have hung all my long dresses, with day dresses on the left and party dresses on the right. I have also put my long coats in here too. On the shelves I have frequently worn shoes. 

This is the big double cupboard. I added two draws at the bottom and  a slide out scarf rail on the right. This one holds skirts, hangable tops and short jackets/ blazers.

I have also added a lot of hooks for accessories.

The bottom draw holds winter shoes and under it is room for flats.

The top draw holds leggings, stockings, small purses and bags, gloves and accessories.

On the shelf I have less frequently worn shoes. In my previous house I got rid of all my shoe boxes, im not sure if that was a great idea.

 Its 39 degrees (celsius) here today. I also made it my mission to do all my washing, I had two big loads and a small load of hand washing so I could make sure everything had a place.

It feels like it will be fairly functional. Originally I had all my going out clothes in the double side and it was nice to open the doors and pick out something however this is a better use of the space!

Photo wall

We have been sick in my house so not much to report on!
A few weeks ago on a 40 degree day my sister and I put up a photo wall at her house. She has wanted to get pictures up for ages so part of her birthday present was picture hanging services.

Here is the finished product.

Photoshop

I have never been taught to use photoshop, I have no skills in graphic design and the only computer credibility that I have is that I am Gen Y. I am a speech pathologist but I dream of doing something different. Don't get me wrong, I love my job but i'm not sure if its my passion.

I am slowly learning the very basics on photoshop. I have just got a bamboo tablet, which I love and a few other bits and pieces to play with.

I would love to take time off and learn all of this stuff but that is not an option at the moment. For now I will play, experiment and google the basics.

Simone
xoxo

Mexican

Here are a few more photos of our Mexican Christmas.
I still haven't got my hands on mum's photos yet, all in good time!

January

Time is flying.

I have had an unplanned blog break, it just happened, I got busy.

How has January been for you so far.

Last week I went back to work. It wasn't too bad but I felt like I needed more holidays.

Yesterday we went for a bike ride to Buckley's falls. I have to admit I havent actually been there although I have driven past many times.

The ride was fairly easy but towards the end it got a bit hilly and 3 gears are not enough!

I'm not sure why I always feel the need to ride and take photos, I guess I am just a daredevil!

I will get back on track with my posting this week! I have had a massive computer cleanup so I'm feeling ready to share some more photos.

Simone

xoxo

NYE 2012

Hello,
I hope you had a wonderful New Years Eve.
It has been a massive year for us, too much for my tired head to remember at this stage.
We had a few nearest and dearest around for a BBQ and drinks this year, very spontaneous and very much disorganised. The best nights are the less planned ones!
We set up a photo booth on my iPad and took many snaps.
Here are a few.

I hope you have had a safe and content 2012. I'm certainly looking forward to 2013!

Xoxo

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.

Photo by Love Katie and Sarah

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

XOXO

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

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

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!

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

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

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!

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! 

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!

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

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!

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.