the world

i want to travel the world...

words to live by

neapolitan napoleon

i had some good old neapolitan ice cream for dessert tonight. 

loving this print. who isn't guilty of sometimes calling it napoleon!

when i was little i used to ask grandma for some 'pink, brown and white'. 

i was super cute (haha kidding!) 

simply delightful

these delightful pictures are from bridget's baby shower that i was lucky enough to go to recently. bridget is the big sister to my beautiful friend kathleen. kathleen and i met when we moved from brisbane to be a part of the myer graduate program. at the party we were marvelling at the fact that herself, myself and ash, our other lovely graduate program friend all moved to melbourne not knowing each other and now, all of these years later, we live within two minutes of each other. her parents place is just down the road from me and ash is a few streets away from there. whenever i am out and about in the local area i think to myself 'kathleen has probably been here or walked on this very footpath'. it's a nice feeling as it's where she grew up and spent all of her time so it's special to me because it's so special to her and her family. ok, so back to the baby shower! i knew before i had even stepped in the door that it would be beautifully done and it was. as you walked in the door you passed all of the presents (one of the best parts!) wrapped in every pale colour you can imagine. i added my pressie to the pile, a collection of tiny pale yellow and white singlets, a soft baby blanket, pale yellow, green and white washers and a silver bracelet for the mumma to be. from there you entered the main area of the house which was a food lovers and party planner enthusiasts dream! round vases held pink roses and white daisies and everywhere you looked there were paper flowers (like the ones i posted about recently!) in all different sizes and shades of pink. it made for a beautiful touch and added to the excitement and atmosphere of the shower. kathleen, being the perfect host, was offering each guest a drink as they arrived. there was champagne, with or without orange juice or delicious punch, which by the way, i now have the ingredients for and am going to copy! the glasses had blue and pink bases and your choice was based on what sex you thought the baby was. i chose pink, of course! at one point bridget was drinking from a blue cup but using a pink plate so she must be undecided! she said that all she wants is a healthy baby. it wasn't long before i was sampling some of the amazing cheese on offer. i later learned that the triple cream brie that i couldn't stop eating was from a cheese factory called witches chase in mt tamborine. i will certainly be going there in the near future! after the savoury, including perfectly cut cucumber sandwiches, the sweeter treats were unveiled. i tried just about everything that there was, which was a lot! my favourite was a cheesecake slice which i am yet to get the recipe for but am looking forward to making for friends and family. everything there was homemade and delightful looking, from the berry cake to the butterfly cupcakes. it really was such a nice afternoon and i think more of my friends should start having babies just so that i can help plan, bake, eat, drink, chat, relax and enjoy good company. it was great catching up with the lovely kathleen (who was also like a celebrity at the party, everyone was so happy to see her) and her family. as a parting gift we were each given a block of cadbury chocolate, unwrapped to its foil and then re-wrapped in pretty paper. this was one of my favourite ideas and one which i'd love to do one day. i not only left with the chocolate but also with all the big paper flowers! i found them so pretty that i couldn't let them be thrown out. they also inspired me to host my own tea party a few days later. they added the perfect touch and are now with kahli, possibly to be used at her mum's 50th birthday. thank you so much for a wonderful day dalton ladies, you are all beautiful people!

p.s. instagramed for my enjoyment and your viewing pleasure!

rainy night

it's very rainy tonight.

i'm at home in my pjs. 

this morning on my way to work i saw to little kids decked out in their brightly 

coloured raincoats, rain hats and gum boots. they were so cute, i took a mental picture.

i ♥ clean desks

  

last friday we all cleaned and expanded our desks at work.

this is a snapshot of my shelf. 

p.s. loving instagram!

the simple life

i came across these delightful ducks on the weekend.

six of the most tiny and adorable ducklings i've ever seen.

i was standing there watching them for at least five minutes.

i wish i lived on a farm. wide open spaces, nature and animals.

i don't know if it's were i grew up or if everyone desires the simple life.

stress less

i read in the paper last weekend ten ways to reduce stress. 

one of the ways... own a cat.

brilliant.

heaven in a bowl

tonight we had the most delicious dessert. 

strawberries dipped in melted dark chocolate.

i'm going to make it next time i have friends over for dinner. 

we each had a skewer and it was a huge hit with the kids!

it's super simple, 200g dark chocolate, milk chocolate 

tobelerone and 2 tbs of double cream.

heaven in a bowl if you ask me.

♥

checking in

hello.
just checking back in.
i know my posts are getting fewer by the day but i promise it's not intentional.
i really want to keep my dedicated readers (the little handful of you special people!) up to date but it feels like there aren't enough hours in the day lately. i know i get disappointed when my favourite blogs have had no new posts for days on end. they must have better things on than being indoors in front of a laptop! so what have i been up to? well... thursday was possibly the most important day that i have had at work since being with virgin. it was the day we relaunched our frequent flyer program velocity, which is the department i work in. i won't go into too much detail, it's all very exciting to me but possibly not to everyone else! it's what has kept us working so much of late (we couldn't tell anyone of course!) and it's what we have been building up to for what feels like forever now. certainly a career highlight for me.
that night our beautiful and talented team headed out for a drink to celebrate. i think four of us (including myself) ended up leaving our cars there overnight as the first champagne led to another and then another! it was so much fun and we laughed our way through the entire night. i ended up somehow telling everyone numerous stories about googa, our one month long year 10 camp, in particular all about my opp shop knitted jumpers! i love our team so much, i've been so blessed with great people at both myer and virgin.
on friday night we had a drink to farewell dougal who is leaving our team and moving out to the airport for his next rotation with the graduate program. it was nice and quiet after our effort on thursday night and luckily there were no tears from me! we'll see him lots though, and he's coming to the launch party we are having next week. it will be help at cloudland and the theme is platinum (our new highest tier in velocity!). i bought my dress and accessories today and i am officially excited for the official event!
as for today, matt and i spent it together. we had a sleep in and woke up to the rain, then headed off for coffee and breakfast at a new cafe that i have been wanting to try. the afternoon was all about shopping, a shirt for matt and dress for me. matt and i had spilt up and we met back at the newsagency. he waited outside while i popped in to buy the new frankie. i also bought a crossword puzzle scratchie, only to walk out and find matt scratching the exact same one! i won and he didn't! tonight i watched the rugby while matt was actually at it (in a corporate box, the one next to the wallaby coach!) and now i am about to head in to town to pick him up. noosa tomorrow, i don't want the weekend to be over!
anyway i hope you enjoyed the quick update!
goodnight lovelies!

shopping for a shopper

my first asos purchase!

an asos colour block shopper

it was $45.74 and i scored it for $18.30 (bargain!)

'shopper bag featuring a spacious design with an open top, twin handles,

 a leather-look finish and a contrast block coloured base and handles.'

i also purchased this usa college sweat shirt (in memory of my trip!)

and this pretty floral print dress (ready for summer!)

p.s. asos has free shipping and returns.

they also have 20% off at the moment!

shop away lovelies. 

whale of a time

 in two weekends time matt and i will be staying at the gold coast.

he has been given two nights there in recognition of his hard work.

i'm really hoping we can organise to go whale watching. i've never been!

asos finds

cute necklaces found on asos. the last one says 'a sailor stole my heart'.

yo-yo-ing

today i have been playing with a yo-yo that was brought into work.

i forgot how much fun they are and how addictive they can be.

i like these pretty wooden ones. although i'm not sure they would

be as good as my dad's (probably now vintage!) coke yo-yo.  

sunny spot

doesn't this look lovely! 

(and the many others found here)

it reminds me of christmas day when everybody secures their spot.

most years mum has bought us big bright beach towels for christmas.

we would fit in very well with all the colour!

just need to work out where this is... 

summer and strawberries

this reminds me of summer.

my favourite of the seasons.

one good thing about winter is strawberries.

they are so big and delicious at the moment.

i've had them almost everyday at work.

mostly on porridge for breakfast.

anna says that now when she sees

a strawberry she thinks of me.

sunflowers remind me of her.

i'd love to go strawberry picking.

maybe in summer.

say cheese!

the older i get, the more i appreciate a good cheese!

it's monday tomorrow, another long week awaits me. 

i hope everyone had a truly wonderful weekend.

mila

i can not get over how stunning she is. 

i can also not get over the fact that she dated macaulay culkin... for eight years! 

make a move on justin i say. 

i love music

this week i discovered a few cover songs that i can't stop listening to.

i love the way they can sound so different to the original. 

girls just wanna have fun by bubsy marou

under pressure by ben harper

and

use somebody by pixie lott

my friends libby and shannon chose an acoustic cover of jack johnson's 'better together' for their first dance at their wedding. 

so beautiful.

richard and robin

this is a new ad campaign by virgin mobile and i find it hilarious. the sixty second ad was played before the movie we saw on saturday night and you can enjoy it and other snippets right here! got to love richard, have i mentioned that i've touched him before?! he really is a nice man!

rainy sunday

today was lovely and rainy. i don't mind a rainy day every now and then. it was nice to wake up to the rain falling on matt's tin roof. i headed home for a hot shower and changed into some tights and my poncho, super cosy sunday driving wear. matt and i then stopped off at spoon for a coffee and a bite to eat before driving up to noosa for the day. it turned out to be a much longer drive than expected due to the wet and two accidents. i read matt the paper and we listened to the radio while stopped in the traffic. the afternoon was spent playing trivial pursuit (the first time i'd ever played!) with the witton girls, grandma, mum, louie, rach and myself. i think i want to buy it now! i do love any form of board game. right now i am sipping champagne, chatting (while blogging) to matt and the family. there is a fresh fish curry on the stove and lobster in the oven. a pretty great sunday if you ask me. simple but great.

is it really friday?

wow, where did the last three days go? if i'm going to close the blogging chapter of my life next month (i'm still undecided) then i need to make the most of each day! i hate that work is getting in the way of everything.

bring on september and some work life balance!

tomorrow

 tomorrow i am hosting a races day brunch! only instead of champagne there will be tea!

tonight i stopped off at the shops and brought home all kinds of delicious things. strawberries, kiwi fruit, pineapple, watermelon, pears, gourmet yogurt, croissants, crepes, strawberry jam, cream and fresh orange juice. it should be a lovely morning and i love having the girls over. hopefully the sun is shining on our little courtyard. i'm going to hang the beautiful paper decorations in all shades of pink that were at bridget's baby shower. i thought they were too pretty to be thrown away and now i have the perfect use for them! the baby shower was beautiful with so many gorgeous little ideas and the most delicious food!

i have some photos to share when i find some time later in the week, although i don't think they do the party justice! it was lovely seeing kathleen, i wish she didn't live so far away from brisbane!

wine and cheese night

i was supposed to be enjoying wine and cheese right about now. 

unfortunately work has this skill of getting in the way of plans!

i was invited to a wine and cheese night of a friends but didn't make it. 

i could have found a wine from a cute place like this (just closer to home!)

now i am at home, exhausted and looking forward to a day off tomorrow. 

wonderful weekend

ahhh... what a wonderful weekend. will tell you all about it tomorrow. early night for me! xoxo

the beautiful audrey

for beautiful eyes, look for the good in others; for beautiful lips, speak only words of kindness; and for poise, walk with the knowledge that you are never alone.

- audrey hepburn

long lost letter

this morning beth gave me a letter that she had written to me a couple of years ago while i was in melbourne, but without realising, never sent. it was written on beautiful paper (the pink floral paper that you can see here) and it held her hopes and dreams for the future at the time. what was even more lovely than the letter itself was that most of the things she had wanted for herself, she has since achieved. one of those things was to buy a house. little did she (or i) know at the time, was that i would be her very first flatmate! another thing that made me smile, was her telling me about the links to pretty blogs that her friend from work had sent her. clearly beth could see into the future as this was long before we ever entered the blog reading and writing realm and now here i am blogging about it all this time later. the brand of her letter writing set is called poppies for grace and their stuff is still as cute as it was two years ago. 

orchid party

oh how i would love a party in an orchid.

nothing is original

nothing is original. steal from anywhere that resonates with inspiration or fuels your imagination. devour old films, new films, music, books, paintings, photographs, poems, dreams, random conversations, architecture, bridges, street signs, trees, clouds, bodies of water, light and shadows. select only things to steal from that speak directly to your soul. if you do this, your work (and theft) will be authentic. authenticity is invaluable; originality is non-existent. and don't bother concealing your thievery - celebrate it if you feel like it. in any case, always remember what jean-luc godard said: "it's not where you take things from - it's where you take them to".

- jim jarmusch

on the cards

on the cards today:

sleep in

read my book

eat breakfast in the sun

go for a walk

order a takeaway coffee

paint my toes

window shop with ash

find a baby shower pressie

cook soup

hand wash clothes

talk to matt

eat lunch in the sun

read some more

exercise

have a bath

write some cards

clean the house

do some work

get ready for dinner 

dine with kahli

early night

a benevolent night

remember the days of picking up book packs and trying on school uniforms during the school holidays? i want to go back there. everything was so new and exciting in the lead up to a new term. how cute are these pencils by marc jacobs? you'll find them at his store bookmarc in nyc. also, i love this photo. i like how colours can represent feelings. at the moment i feel benevolent (expressing goodwill or kindly feelings) as i spent the night at the airport with matt and jason. i waited with them until they got on a flight to sydney. they didn't make the 6pm, 7pm or 8pm but made the 9pm, the last flight of the night!

one fine day

 this was our bike riding and kite sighting adventure a couple of weekends ago.

such blue skies and such fun! i wasn't letting those poor little kids have a go of the ball!

i hope we can do it again soon. i can almost see summer in the distance and i can't wait.

beautiful thing

keep your head high, keep your chin up, and most importantly, keep smiling, because life's a beautiful thing and there's so much to smile about.

- marilyn monroe

the end (almost)

this date next month will mark the end of my blogging days.

maybe. i am undecided! can you believe almost a year has passed?

i can't. i went back to the beginning of my blog last night.

let's just say it has come a long way in one year!

want to see where it all began? click here. 

♥