Colour Your Home.

1. Eames Replica Coat Hanger from Click On Furniture. 

2. Replica Mattias Stahlblom Pendant Lights from Matt Blatt.
3. Tag Stool from Stylecraft.

4. Candlesticks from Wocolate.
5. Pictogram Wall Clock from Matt Blatt.

6. Rug from Fenton & Fenton.

I know I've been posting a lot lately about home, decor and interiors, I thought to clarify that I don't intend on turning my blog into an Interiors blog, but this is just what has interested me more in the last six months. So why not share what I'm currently inspired by! And now that we've settled into our home, it's been awesome to let our style and decor reflect our personalities.

So today I would love to show you some colour! I love colour. There's no denying it. And I've totally embraced that part of me, it's just appeals to me most! And there are some pretty incredible colourful pieces that I would absolutely love to have in our home (I don't care how old the Eames coat hanger is now, I'm still in love with it as much as I was when I first laid eyes on it). These are all on my home wish list ;)

Lovely Links.

Image One. Image Two. Image Three.

I love that technology has given us so many sources of inspiration right at our fingertips! I thought I would take the time to share some of my favourite links I have come across this past week.

So, in no particular order, here they are:

1. Making Nice in the Midwest.
Mandi (you will all know her from Here's Looking at Me Kid) has recently made the move to a new blog called Making Nice in the Midwest. She has been a long time blogger and her post Blogging Wisdom and a Fresh Start is filled with so many wise words on how to improve your blog. Go on, read it, now!

2. Create a tree branch hanging rail.
Yes! Yes you should! Since we are still in the process of finding a new home (along with new furniture, appliances, bedding, the lot!) I have been reading a lot of interior magazines to gather some ideas for our home. Inside Out magazine has some super rad DIY projects within it's covers, but I stumbled upon this online one on Home Life whilst searching home ideas.

3. Blogshop
Bri Emery from Design Love Fest runs the most fantastic workshops in the US for new bloggers and creates an environment for anyone to learn basic skills to improve the presentation on your blog. These courses include Photoshop and Video classes (personal videos on blogs? Love it!! Might be keen to try it myself some day!) and definitely worth a look if you are in the USA :)

4. Top 10 Instagramers
This post by my dear friend Amanda from Here Comes The Sun I found truly fascinating! Instagram has become a new platform for everyone to get creative and hands on with digital photography and social media. This post lists Amanda's Top 10 Instagramers, which I found so inspiring I had to jump online and check out their feeds.

Enjoy x

Winter Needs.

Low Luv Aztec Ring l House of Zoi
Cape Metal Embellishe Shirt l Romwe
Ankle Chinos by Cheap Monday l General Pants
Susie Buckle Coat l Handsom
Betts Livingston l The Iconic
Zig Zag Sweater by Something Else l General Pants

Winter has arrived and I am quickly learning how quickly it gets cold in Melbourne. Maybe it's just me, but I always seem to be cold! When I look at my wardrobe at the moment, it just doesn't look like it's going to handle this weather, so I have been keeping my eye out for some new items to add to my wardrobe.

A few things I have discovered so far:
1. You can never wear to many layers! And that's not a bad thing, as you can always coordinate different layers with colours, patterns, textiles to create an awesome look.
2. Get a decent coat or jacket! Preferably one with a hood or high collar to keep your neck warm from that icy breeze. I spotted the Buckle Coat during the first week here and fell totally in love!
3. I don't wear pants much (I only have one trusty pair of jeans) however in this weather it's rather necessary to invest in some! I am planning on getting some chinos :)

And lastly...
4. Stock your cubboards with lots of tea! I am having withdrawal symptoms from not having my 3+ daily dose of Healtheries Green Tea with Raspberry. Can you believe it that I haven't managed to find any here yet?? So recruiting my mother-in-law to bring some for me on her visit next week! God bless my family :)

Loves & Wants.

Penguin Classics l Modcloth
Northern Lights Stripe Dress l Storm
Dakota Wallet l Status Anxiety
Canon 550D l Noel Leeming
Wacom Tablet l Wacom
Design Sponge at Home l Amazon
Udo Booties l Overland

Don't you find that once you start looking at pretty things online, it's just too hard to stop? Hah, I reckon I could easily do at least five more posts similar to this for all goodies I've found online lately. Some of these I wouldn't necessarily put in my "need" compartment of life, but would definitely fit in with my "loves and wants". So we must sift out our priority buys, which I know these beauties wouldn't fit into right now (apart from the Canon and the Wacom of coarse! That's a definite "need"!) but, it's always nice to look :)

Loving Right Now.

Photography by Lorena Arance.
Yay, okay I hear you say, she is finally posting again! I thought it's right about time to give a little update as I have been a bit of a shocker lately (I won't bore you with excuses!). So here's a bit about what I've been enjoying lately - and I dare say it would be most desirable in return to hear what you have been enjoying of late, as I always find it interesting to hear recommendations of other movies, books, music and foods to find and try myself :)

♥Watching Bones Season Six - I could not be more in love with this series!
♥Reading Little Women by Louisa May Alcott (having some trouble deciding what to read after finishing The Hunger Games!)
♥Listening to Foo Fighters Wasting Light...pretty much have been since it first came out - Best Album!
♥Eating Cous Cous salads
♥Drinking Green Tea with Raspberry
♥Playing social soccer...and tend to get way too competitive and vocal

Looking Back.

Twenty Twelve.
Two words that contain so much hope and excitement. There's a new bounce in my step as I look towards this year with optimism and relief. For many Twenty Eleven was a somewhat tough, challenging and a down right crappy year (to put it plainly). I am included. It has been hard in more ways than one, and I am sure everyone has experienced some of these knocks of life. But as the clock struck Twelve on December Thirty First, I decided not to let any emotional baggage drag into the new year. What's done is done, in the past and time to make the best of your situation. Really, there's not anything significantly different about Twenty Twelve, it's just another year. There's still the same seasons, the same days in the week, the same hours per day, but it's that conscious choice we make to say This is going to be a new year, and a good year.


I thank God daily for the amazing family & friends that I am so blessed with! There is so much love in my life for these people!! And despite the days of concern, there HAS been some amazing moments in Twenty Eleven, which I am so grateful to have experienced. I promise, totally not my intention to make this a depressing post about all the sad things from last year, but to remember the good.So here's to all the amazing events from last year!



♥ We welcomed to our little family our darling bunny, Flopsy.
♥ Started working with the most awesome people in the world.
♥ Enjoyed the evening with some awesome friends, at the Diana World Tour.
♥ Saw my brother get married in Fiji and enjoyed a lovely family holiday there.
♥ Went to New Zealand Fashion Week and enjoyed the Ruby & Liam collection.
♥ A weekend at the snow.


♥ Had a season of enjoying a lot of weddings!
♥ Enjoyed my first ever wander around the Auckland Craft Fair.
♥ Had an awesome festive Christmas & enjoyed making my first ever gingerbread house.

So with that said, cheers to the year ahead! And to start of this year, Neil and I get to share four years of marriage tomorrow! :) How time flies! So definitely going to be making the most of every moment this year, whether it be good or bad, happy or sad.

Happy wishes to you all for this new year x

Gentlemen's Corner

Matchbook Leather Bill Holder from Jack Spade.
Cinnamon Bow Tie from Forage.
NYC Slim Suit from Kings of Carnaby.
Pyramid Ring from Stolen Girlfriend's Club.
Zespy Pants from I Love Ugly.
Loyal Check Boxer from jac5.
Vintage Horse Bookends from Rawspace.

When it comes to Christmas shopping, I always seem to fail horribly with ideas for the gentlemen! In the past it used to be a toss up between CD/DVDS and music vouchers, but this year I am determined to find something a bit different, a bit quirky and a bit classy. Thank goodness for the amazing online shops you find these days, I've seemed to bookmark quite a few pieces which would be quite suitable. With a range of items, from underwear (always a favourite on the wishlist - and these are particularly classy!) to something fancy like the suit or the casual and cool zespy pants, I hope I may have given you some ideas too, as I am sure I am not the only girl that struggles with gifts for the boys!

Good luck ladies!

Happy Thanksgiving.

Image One. Image Two.

No one who achieves success does so without the help of others.
The wise and confident acknowledge this help with gratitude.
-Alfred North Whitehead

Even though we don't generally celebrate Thanksgiving here in New Zealand, I love the idea of it! So tonight Neil and I are having a Thanksgiving meal with Amanda and Jeremy ....just without the turkey unfortunately!

So thanksful for:

♥ Grace

♥ Friendship

♥ Opportunities

♥ Adventures

♥ Love

♥Compassion

     

Ten Things.

Sometimes in this online world that we live in, I have to stop and think whether what I am posting and saying is really me, or if it's just the "thing to say or do". So I decided today I will actually share some things which you probably don't know about me. Just so you know, well, yeah, I am real :)

Ten things you probably didn't know about me

♥ I don't like the texture of fruit
♥ I got married at 19 to my high school sweetheart
♥ I have lived in New Zealand the past 10 years, but originally from South Africa
♥ After nearly 4 years of being married, we're still living in a simple, cosy home till we can invest in a house
♥ I love Jesus. He makes me super excited about life!
♥ When I was young, I wanted to be an astronomist
♥ I like having maple syrup & cheese on my french toast
♥ I really want to learn the flute again - used to play when I was young
♥ I have seen the Foo Figthers live twice already, third time will be in December
♥ There's nothing more that I value than the relationship with my family & friends

So there you go, ten things you probably didn't know about me!
Now your turn, I'd love to know some things about YOU!

Let It Snow.

Well here we go friends, a very brief post today containing just a few essentials that I have to be packing for the weekend at the snow. I am so looking forward to a couple of days on the slopes, but trying to prepare as best I can for comfort and warmth!

Snow gear - Pants, jackets, gloves, goggles, board, boots etc.
Runaway Jury book for the evenings
Diana Mini to capture some shots of the beautiful mountains
Hot Water Bottle for the end of day relaxing
Mini Cupcakes with Ganache icing

I will be thinking of our little Flops so much, as I hate leaving her behind, but lucky for friends and family, we have sorted out company for Flops and someone is coming to house sit and keep her company.

So friends have an awesome weekend! Any of you have anything special planned? Hah I suppose half of you readers are all experiencing Summer time at the moment, so probably hard to contemplate us going to the snow :)

Spring soon?

Just Yellow for Me Jacket
English Accents Dress
Woven Leather Watch
Stud Court Shoe
Karen Walker Mini Rabbit Ring

Today has so far been the coldest day this winter for me! So I am dreaming about some upcoming Spring outfits that I would love to invest in! This dress particularly caught my eye but I couldn't see myself being able to wear it with this chilly weather. That is where I thought it a great idea to put together an outfit that would make it possible to wear sometime soon. And that is where the lovely jacket does the trick! Also adding some yummy yellows to our dull wintery days just brightens it up, don't you think? Now all I would need to do is add some warm tan stockings and I would be set!

Also, a big THANK YOU to all who entered the Bird in a bunny suit giveaway! The lucky winner for this giveaway was comment #16, Matt Toohey! Congratulations and I will contact you shortly :)

Sharing is Caring.

Natalie Nguyen.

Don't you just love finding neat little things on the internet that excite you throughout the week? Well I thought, hey, sharing is caring, so I want to share with you all my favourite links that I've stumbled across this week, or that has just been on my mind lately.

♥ Looking forward to We Can Create in August in Auckland.
♥ Awesome Japanese Background generator via Pugly Pixel.
♥ I love this! Cannot wait to join in on The Thrift Exchange.
♥ This is on repeat 24/7 at my house at the moment.
♥ Oooh yes please, I would very much like this dress.
♥ I absolutely love her style.
♥ Fantastic video that makes me laugh with joy every time.

If you have any handy little links to share, please do so. We all need lovely things to fill up our weeks.

Currently.

(Brian W. Ferry)

Time for an update me thinks! The last few weeks I've had so many things rushing through my mind, this is kind of way just to clear my head and also let you know what's happening with me.

Currently I am...
♥ Reading Love Wins by Rob Bell
♥ Listening to Eisley & The Honey Trees
♥ Watching Survivor (guilty pleasure!)
♥ Drinking Chai, chai, chai all the way!
♥ Eating a lot of homemade soups
♥ Trying to make more interesting dinners (cut out every single recipe that I've had in magazines)
♥ Saving for the husband and my overseas trip next year (destination TBC hah)
♥ Wanting the snow season to start already
♥ Wishing there was more time to go road tripping with friends
♥ Loving the slow cooker this winter - soup saves lives!
♥ Enjoying movies at home with the husband while it's pouring outside

And one that I am certainly excited about...
♥ Looking at opening an etsy store in the near future...Watch this space :)
(and now since I've published it on the world wide web, I better follow through on this. Sooo, if you don't hear anything else about this in the next few weeks, HIT ME UP ABOUT IT!)

Oh now please join in, that would surely make my day as I can be super curious too! Just copy and paste the bold words and write your own answers in a comment! :) Looking forward to learning more about you!

Happy Queen's Birthday.

Happy Birthday Mrs Queen!

How lovely it is to share your special day (well not really, her birthday isn't actually today) with us and grace us with a public holiday. And I know even though we are supposed to be celebrating your birthday, I thought, hey if you would like to add a gift to my special day off, you are more than welcome to get me one of these:

1. Keep Calm and Carry On, Union Jack Magnet from London Paris Rome
2. Dahlia Heart Print Chiffon Dress from ASOS
3. BDG Primary Satchel from Urban Outfitters
4. Cropped Cardigan from ASOS
5. Blue & White Ceramic Bird from Rawspace
6. Keep Calm and Carry On Milk Bottle from Rawspace

Hope all you Kiwi's had a lovely day off!
Out of curiosity, is it Queen's Birthday over in Australia as well?

Husband, Read This.

Well, this post is for you Neil - you said you wanted some ideas of what to get for my birthday, so here you go :) Hah! As this month has been so busy, and since we are moving house this weekend as well, there's been so much on my mind, I haven't even thought of what I would like. But after spending hours looking for ideas, this is what I've come up with:


Patterned Yellow Dress
Canvas Satchel
Vero Moda Button Skirt
Cloud Mobile via Style Milk 
Penguin Classic Books
Viktoriya by Bec Winnel
Moulin Rouge poster by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec
Holga Camera 135BC Yellow

And, if you want to go all out you could get me one of these babies:


(Canon 550D)

Or if you reaaaally want to make me happy, you could even get me one of these:

:)
(Gorgeous baby Eleanor - Rockstar Diaries)

So this was fun! But more than anything, I would just love to get dressed up, go out with the husband and come home to share in the birthday cuddles from our little bun bun and friends.

In love with love.

Yay so happy Valentine's Day everyone! I cannot believe it came by so fast this time round, this year just needs to stop and chill out. Looking forward to a lovely dinner out with my Valentine, as it's another excuse to: one, go out for dinner; secondly, get dressed up and three, spend some good quality time with my love. What's everyone's plans today?

These are just a few pretty little things that I just found too sweet not to share for Valentine's Day :)

1. Giant Candelebra by Uncommon.
2. Doily Coaster by Uncommon.
3. In love with love by Virginia Kraljevic.
4. The Ladybird dress by Modcloth.
5. Valentine Paper Cut-out by Kind of Matter via Oh So Beautiful Paper.

Have a wonderful day and love, love, love!