Squeal!

Squeal! Look what arrived today! The gorgeous girls from my old work bought me the For Like Ever poster as my farewell pressie and the darling J dropped it off today before our Farmers Markets date. I am delirious with excitement, but haven't yet worked out where to put it.

Dad was on a mission today and dropped by with Mum to help me put the place back together after the painter had been in the last few days (yay, gorgeous white walls! No more lavendar, fluro green or burnt orange!). We found a spare hook in my room that I am yet to fill and popped it up here for the time being - let me stress, however, it will not be staying here. No way do I want to send out signals to the world that I'll be in that bed - alone - for like ever!

So this little bout of redecorating has me pumped to keep it up. I've been flicking through my mags all night and browsing online looking for inspiration. I really think I just need to consolidate all my thoughts and put together a storyboard - grab a pin up board and cut and paste and play with some different ideas. I definitely need to inject some colour into these new white rooms, there'll be lots of pink for sure!

I bought a new quilt cover today to get me started . . . but that's where it ends and your advice begins! I'm useless, so need your help!

The new quilt cover (and yes, my overnight bag - I still haven't unpacked from staying at Mum and Dad's during the painting!) isn't what I originally had in mind, but I'm such a pink, navy and white girl - it really has my name written all over it. Now I just need a pink thrown or cushion or something . . .

My trusty (and oh so cheap) Ikea bookcase. Time to de-clutter and make these a visual statement rather than a storage. I do love my jewellery stands.

My family room - HELP! This is a nightmare - I can't afford new furniture just yet and am living by the mantra 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it' so am making do with my hand-me-downs for the time being. I really want a low, flat, white square coffee table so I can stack my books on top. And I've got two single chairs my Poppa made that I'm going to have recovered - one in stripes, one in floral, budget restricting. Then I would love a chunky big three seater couch where the dodgy two singles are sitting at the moment - what colour should I go for?

And the view from the door - what a disaster zone! My brother made the coffee table and cabinet on the right in year 12 and I've been lumped with them (the only sentimental one in the family!) but have decided it's time to retire them and reclaim some style!

I love my rug, it adds some great texture and brings some warmth to the room. And my mirror is great, but we've hung it on existing hooks and I have a feeling it's too high - what do you think?

And don't get me started on the TV - another hand-me-down, and don't get me wrong, I'm not ungrateful and couldn't even contemplate buying a new one right now, but it's a bit of an eye sore and the reception is terrible!

I have made a start on my cluster wall - it's taken a strange red, brown and pink flavour but I think it'll all come together (fingers crossed!). I'm thinking I'll hang it up to the right of the couches - out of view in the pics above. Should I take out shares in 3M hooks now?!

So, design gurus and bloggers alike . . . what do I do? Where do I start? Remember, I'm a single girl with a mortgage on a very tight budget. Kimberlee - this post is aimed right at you, my dear! Let's have wine time soon xo

Snug as a bug

Oh how I'd love to curl up in this Antropologie bedroom suite and bid farewell to this cold!

Long time no see! It's been a long time between drinks, but there's good reason for that.

The past month has been a complete whirlwind - but of the good kind! I hate that I haven't been able to give this more attention lately, but that will soon change - I'm slowly getting my life in order!

So a quick update . . .

1. I'm LOVING my new job - so much more creative and fun and scope to dress up!
2. Have come down with a killer cold - it's been doing the rounds lately so it was only time before it caught up with me!
3. Have hardly spent a night home in between house sitting stints, so a bit tired of living out of a suitcase!
4. Am in the middle of getting my house re-painted, so exciting! Goodbye feature wall and horrible horrible pisatcchio green walls. And no more lavendar in my bedroom! Hello paper white and a gorgeous cluster wall (I just don't have the designer's flair - Kimberlee, dinner and drinks in exchange for your know-how?)
5. Have dusted off my slow cooker and have some new great recipes to share.
6. Am obsessed with the new MasterChef cookbook, I'm impressed.
7. Trying to work out how to fit Foxtel IQ into the budget - wow, 24/7 cooking channels!
8. Have farewelled one of my besties for the Top End. I'll miss you Bree!
9. Dress fittings for the Spinks wedding, am SO excited to have a Betrothed bridesmaid dress. Love your work, Ally!

So there you have it, crazy times all round.

But it's fun, and I'm happy and can't wait to the weekend (to go to the Farmers Market with my new polka dot trolley!)

27 years on . . .

What a couple of weeks it's been!

Let's go back to the start - since I last touched base, I have started a new job (which I LOVE!), celebrated my mum's birthday, turned 27 myself, helped host a farewell brunch for Darwin-bound Bree, shopped for a bridesmaid frock, lost a housemate, moved into a housesitting house, become obsessed with Foxtel IQ, indulged a tad too much at Ladies Day and bought the most gorgeous Liza Emanuele scarf EVER!

You'll have to excuse me for my lack of interest online - no, I shouldn't call it that. I haven't lost interest at all - more lost too many hours!

I have some great pics to share with you soon - especially of our gorgeous yellow and pink themed brunch for Miss Bree. The macaroons from 'From Scratch' were a hit and the perfect finish to a perfect day.

Happy mothers day to all!

Wonderful Waiheke

I have been very quiet on the recipe front lately - not for lack of trying new things and keeping things fresh, just lack of time!

Things have been hectic with so much going on in the world of Kate - I like to call it my "in between" time . . . in between jobs, in between boyfriends, in between housemates and in between best friends! (The in between boyfriends reference relates to a book that Bree gave me a few years ago - it's a much nicer way of phrasing 'single'!)

So I thought it was time to report on my NZ adventures and share a gorgeous recipe I picked up over there. Flea and Gak (Fern's sister and brother-in-law) spoilt me rotten during my stay on Waiheke Island, just out of Auckland - we ate like kings (and drank like jokers!). I just wish I hadn't been so tipsy with my camera to forget to take photos of all the gorgeous food we gorged on. I did take some pics, but they don't do it justice - call it champagne goggles!

Flea introduced me - a non mango lover - to a gorgeous avocado and mango salad that I shared with the JKL at our Easter dinner. Divine! Pic is the top one, followed by some great local cheese, gorgeous green curry mussels, beautiful roast veggie salad and a great pear, rocket and parmesan salad with some yummy tamari roasted sunflower seeds. Yum!

Mango & Avocado Salad (I'm going to call it Waiheke Island Salad)

1 iceburg lettuce, roughly chopped

3 large ripe mangoes, thinly sliced (canned works okay if you're out of season)

3 large ripe avocadoes, roughly chopped

1 medium red onion, finely diced

2 Tbspns each of mint and coriander

Dressing

3 limes, juice and finely grated zest

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 1/2 Tbspn sweet chilli sauce

1 Tbspon sesame oil

1 1/2 tspn fish sauce

Combine all chopped salad ingredients. Mix dressing in a bowl and pour over dry salad. Ah-mazing.

Let's do the happy hen dance!

When it comes to hen's days, I'm in my element. Especially when you combine some pretty cool theming, a stunning venue and ah-mazing food.

Which is exactly what we were treated to when we celbrated Michelle's hen's day a couple of weeks ago at Hentley Farm in the Barossa. OMG. What a beautiful setting. My photos simply don't do it justice, but hopefully you get the drift.

We stuck with black, white and yellow for our colours, with stripes, polka dots and florals featuring heavily in our decorating. The fun started on the bus ride up and then guests were treated to pre-lunch drinks and nibbles on the verandah of the recently renovated farm house at Hentley, before finding their seats at the long table under umbrellas.

Lunch was divine - Phoebe sure spoilt us, and the game of bocce after we indulged was good to get us out of our chairs to work off some of the decadence of lunch! The 'survival kits' were a God-send - equipping our guests with water, jelly beans and Hydrodol - anti hangover tablets. Talk about investing in the next day! We had all bases covered.

It was a gorgeous day all round and thank you to Beth and Kelly for all the trouble they went to to help pull it off.

Bowerbird Bazaar

We've finally hit the big time! The little old Rad has embraced design and good taste and showcased a plethora of gorgeous goodies at the recent Bowerbird Bazaar at the Queens Theatre.

I bought some stunning greeting cards and prints for my slowly developing cluster wall - one which I intend to focus on next week during my break between jobs.

Bree's cousin Austin lapped up the Bowerbird bizzo, manning his Two Halves stall. Love love love his Jack and Jill hooks - would make for great kids presents. What cool bag or coat hooks in a little one's bedroom or in the laundry?

As for the Queens Theatre . . . wow, what a venue - imagine how stunning it could look for a wedding or black tie ball, stunning! Needs a lot of work, but so much potential.

Putting the 'kitsch' in Kitchen Tea

It's been a long time between drinks but during ad breaks in tonight's Underbelly premiere, I found the motivation to download some pics that have been clogging up my memory card lately.

I've had a crazy busy yet very exciting past few months and it's time to share some of the love! First of all, here are some pics from the gorgeous kitchen tea we hosted for Michelle at my parents' place a month or so ago. It was Cath Kidston inspired, with a vintage flavour helping to theme the day. Think polka dots, china tea cups and frilly aprons. Gorgeous!

There was a bolognaise taste test challenge, recipe swaps, melting moment take aways for the guests and cheeky punch that had quite the kick to it!