Lived in

Emma sent me through this pic as she'd suggested a similar kind of window dressing for my little bay window.

Love it. And that headboard? Exquisite!

Actually, love everything about this room. Love the idea of a table/desk thing at the foot of the bed.

And do you know what else I like? The room looks lived in, not like a showroom. I don't do sterile, but 'lived in'? I can do!

Pho sure

Celebrated the Rugby World Cup Grand Final with a gorgeous big bowl of Pho at Kristie and Andy's last Sunday.

So simple yet packed with flavour.

Charlie's Shack has some competition!

PS. Well done to the All Blacks

Lipstick Queen

She's back.

And she's bigger than ever.

Poppy King has made a comeback and the Lipstick Queen who perfected the look of the 1940's . . . for the women of the 1990's . . . is taking the world by storm with her collaborations with two of the biggest fashion names in the business.

Kate Spade and J. Crew.

Could you get any cooler!?

All I want to know, is when can we see it in her homeland!?

Archer Wrap

Kiel James Patrick and Sarah Vickers.

Don't they just make the most gorgeous pair?

And the new KJP range of Archer Wraps have similarly caught my fancy.

"Revering the construction of the classic hand-sewn necktie, the Archer wrap borrows similar elements of a haberdasher’s superior bold fabrics, delicate craftsmanship and exquisite personality." 

Kaspicks Sail Charts

Or what about the Xaves?

Or the Sumner Spurr? I just love boys in a touch of pink!

Yes frills

Am thinking something like this for my bay window.

What a perfect spot for some weekend bookworm activity. Just finished The Help and loved it.

Any recommendations for my next read?

via pinterest

Table top love

I played Master's Apprentice the other night when Emma shared her pearls of wisdom with me and we decided we need to shuffle my living room around.

Lots more pics to come, but I thought I'd share with you the magic she worked on my coffee table.

Now, this coffee table is actually a bookcase, turned on its front with castors screwed on to the bottom. It's been painted about seven different colours before, with Tiffany blue the most recent.

Loving the glossy navy in its current state.

I do love my coffee table books so we made these a feature. Domino taking pride of place on top, of course!

And beautiful roses from my garden - we had to sneak out in the dark to cut them so that my neighbours wouldn't see (oh the joys of living in a block of units!). They looked gorge in my vintage vase from Absolutely Beautiful Things (thanks Anna!)

And this was a great find on the fence - a beautiful big scented rose. Looking very cute in my Kate Spade cup and saucer (sitting on top of the one and only Kylie!)

This is how I left the rose that night . . . .

And how I found it in the morning, wide open. Love using the tea cup as a vase (great taste, Bree!).

We also snuck in this Tapas cookbook to the stack as I just adore that navy and white pattern. A very cool front cover.

Instant facelift.

I just love my little collection!

Thanks Emma! You can White & Wander over here any time you like!

With love and Grace

The Grace has been open for a while now and I've become firm friends with their sangria and cocktails. Good stuff on a hot day!

Made the most of an opportunity to catch up with a dear friend over a long lunch at The Grace on Saturday. Perfect Adelaide Spring day . . . perfectly celebrated with a bottle of wine and good company!

We started with two small entrees that were ah-mazing.

Kingfish sashimi, ginger and shallot dressing, sesame mayonnaise

Fried chicken with buttermilk dipping sauce

Then the mains topped off a yummy meal with Em opting for the mussels and I went for the beef rib

The french fries with aerated ketchup were good too.

The meat just fell away from the bone, it was fabulous.

Love a long lunch, I should do it more often!

Click here for the website

Grown up little boys

So while I look ahead and dream big of my 30th in New York, it's time to stop and celebrate the big 3-0 for Pete tonight!

Michelle and Pete are putting on a par-tay at their place and I've just woken up to some glorious weather.

Michelle is the hostess with the mostess and you're always guaranteed of a fabulous spread when you're in her company. She's got the catering all sorted for tonight but I can't not pitch in on a night like this so offered to do some late night snacks to help soak up the booze.

I LOVE when a plate of goodies comes out towards the end of the night - never has something tasted so good! It's like getting a yiros on the way home, but this time, it's brought to you!

So I turned my memory back to their engagement party and remembered the Red Hots that were a late night winner.

A kind of grown up 'little boy'. Perfect for a bloke's 30th birthday!

Basil and feta red-hots

Makes 12

 

Ingredients
12 mini ready-to-bake bread rolls
12 mini frankfurts
1/4 cup (70g) pizza sauce
1/2 cup small basil leaves
1/4 cup drained marinated feta

Method

1. Place the bread rolls on baking trays and bake according to packet instructions or until light golden.
2. Leave the bread rolls to cool slightly.
3. Cook the frankfurts in a large saucepan of simmering water for about 5 minutes or until heated through, then remove from the pan and drain.
4. Cut slits into the top of each bread roll and brush the insides with pizza sauce. Place a frankfurt in each roll, top with basil leaves and crumble over feta.

It's raining baby

I've been meaning to blog about Bree's Baby Shower for ages but didn't have any good photos myself, so finally got some pearlers from her sisters.

Check out the effort that went into this shindig.

The theme was 'Cute as a Button' and as we already know Bree's having a girl, the pink touches were inevitable!

Now for the food . . . out of this world. I had to undo the top button of my pants when I went home later that night! I ate enough to last me a week!

The dessert buffet was the obvious highlight with the layered cake my hands-down favourite (Abby, do you take orders!?!?)

A fabulous idea was the little pots of chocolate with the spoon set inside - they were to stir into your coffee to make mocha. Clever, hey!?

Bree's oldest sister Kelly (on the left) has an almost three year old (remember Zara?) and is pregnant with her second, and Abby (in the middle) has two gorgeous little ones of her own (hello cuties!). Plus, she lives in the country (and so does their Mum), so how they all pulled this together for the guest of honour (who lives in Melbourne, mind you!) I'll never know!

It all helps that they had a beautiful space to work with, thanks to the in-laws.

The countdown is on, Miss Bree!

In the meantime, we have had a number of other 'buns in the oven' announcements of late, so it looks like we'll be raining baby for a while yet! Bring on the showers!

xo

Racing across South Australia

Check out Thoroughbred Racing SA's latest TV campaign.

Makes me want to pack a picnic hamper and crack open a bottle of bubbles!

There's nothing like a day at The Races.

Girl crush

There's nothing better than a good girl crush.

You know, in an innocent 'we-love-kate-middleton' kind of way (as opposed to a distrubing 'single white female' kind of way!)

My latest crush is anne m cramer.

Not only is she a fabulous designer, but hello!? Check out her 'things i love'.

Could she sound any cooler . . .

all about anne

things i love.

in no particular order.

chocolate. coffee.

my grandmother.

children. sterling silver.

open windows. jackie o.

pixie stix. any shade of blue.

the inner circle. my mom. soft towels.

white tulips. bad 80's music.

my boys. silver glitter.

satin ribbon. room service.

french fries. freckles on a child's nose.

disco. my adorable hubby.

black cars. cotton underpants.

oatmeal. flip-flops.

a clean house. dinner parties.

nude nail polish. vw karmann ghia.

my sister. a good bra.

going out for dinner.

sidewalk chalk. ping-pong.

magazines. birthdays.

fancy french chandeliers.

vintage pearls. pedicures. life cereal.

my dad. cashmere. the great gatsby.

jack purcells.

west palm beach.

chapstick.

this life.

 

Taking a bite

I know, I know, I'm way behind the times, but have only caught up on my Adore Home magazine fix just now. There aren't enough hours in the day!

But oh, how I could dedicate all 24 hours of the day to this mag!

I just go weak at the knees for all things NYC.

Bree and I spent 10 days there on my way back from two years in London, gosh, way back in 2005-2006.

And even after all my European adventures, I still rated the Big Apple as my favourite place.

Hello Kate Spade.

It's just magical!

From the shopping to the food to the architecture to the traffic to the theatre, there's something for everyone.

I was especially interested in this latest issue of Adore as it's just over 18 months until I hit up the island again for my 30th birthday. Gosh, I know I'm still young but putting it down in type like that makes me feel old.

Single. And old.

But I have New York to look forward to!

Who could contain their excitement if they worked in an office in this. I mean, working in PR in NYC is about as fabulous as it gets, but in this office? Puh-lease. I would practically sleep there!

And this Rooftop Rendezvous story was totally gorge. Loved being high up amongst the skyscrapers - makes you catch your breathe and feel alive.

And I especially loved this behind the scenes video. Very cool.

Adore Home Magazine "Rooftop Rendezvous" by Summer Kais from Summer Kais on Vimeo.

'Til 2013 . . .

Stripey McStripe

Ooh.

La.

La.

J'adore anne m cramer.