obsessions

for a long time i have been obsessed with wooden letters and words. now this has extended to pretty hanging hooks. they seem to be popping up everywhere in shops. this website has some cool ones. if only i had my own house to bang holes into. it's probably a good thing i don't as they would be everywhere.

moving galleries

some trains in melbourne have poems displayed in the carriages. it always made the journey to grandma's more interesting. these are my faves...

‘companion’ by jackie hosking

in death 
she will leave the shape 
of a cat

‘colourful characters’ by paul mitchell

so, where’s bluey? oh, he’s off with snowy. 
where? 
snowy’s feelin a bit green round the gills 
so bluey’s gone over to try & give his cloud 
a bit of a silver lining. 
oh yeah. so where’s blacky? 
he got in a blue with browny. 
yeah? Is he black and blue? 
nah, whitey was there and he saw red. 
helped blackie out. 
ah good. so whitey’s comin? 
nah, he’s over at greenie’s, tickled pink cos 
they put a hundred on yellow fever and she ran red hot. 
fair dinkum? so who’s gunna paint this house, fluoro? 
just you and me rainbow, just you and me.

‘occasional furniture’ by ian mcbryde

occasional furniture - 
what are you 
the rest of the time?

you can see more here.

take the time

everyone should take the time to check out the pictures (and words) at http://flyfromnearby.tumblr.com/. oliver is a friend of a friend who took one photo a day for a year and posted it on tumblr. my favourite pictures are the cat ones of course but i must admit the dog ones are awesome too. in fact they are all pretty special. he has an exhibition in melbourne at the moment that i would have loved to have seen. i'll be there next weekend though and his photos of melbourne have made me even more excited about my visit.

delicate dance candle

shona gave me this beautiful tinned candle on tuesday.

it smells lovely and a lot like my perfume. 

'a delicate dance: linden, honeyed rose, wisteria petals & white musk'

is how it is described on their simple yet cute website.

an impressive website always pleases me after discovering something new.

view it here.  

just for fun

seeing as i'm feeling the aussie spirit at the moment i wanted to share this aussie slang website. some i've never heard of, others i use every day. almost all make me feel proud to be an australian (sheila). check it out here.

boating part two

the boat. this photo does not do it justice. it was amazing. and big. and expensive! we had the best weather. every man and his dog was out on some kind of boat with aussie flags flying everywhere.

i actually spent most of the day sick with some kind of fever but it didn't stop me from venturing into the sun for some fresh air, salt water and vitamin d.

no australia day is complete without snags and an aussie flag. matt was in charge of the barbie and he did a smashing job.

you can never be too sick to eat pav. best homemade pavlova i've ever had. homegrown passionfruit, eggs laid by hens at home, base made from scratch. so good!

boating luxury style

today is australia day! i have refrained from my applying usual australian flag temporary tattoos as matt and i are going on a fancy boat! we are about to head off to the gold coast where we'll be going on his bosses parents boat with his boss. the boat is called a maritimo which matt says is very luxurious, like something you'd see on the greek islands!

the good guide

brissy girls enjoy!

these are ultimate (and cute) (and free!) guides to all things great in brisbane.

the best designer stores, the best bars, the best restaurants and cafés and more.

they are rated 'the best' by locals and so far so good after my visit to the wooloongabba antique store.

i've seen them all around town but in the meantime you can read about 'the best' spots right... here!

nicci in oz

this weekend was all about good friends.

please don't go. you are the life of the party!

fiji in february

matt and i have decided to go on a holiday in mid february to fiji. we'll be there for valentines day which is so romantic! i read this while researching places to stay and i am beyond excited about our first overseas trip together (and ever!)...

fiji, the ultimate south pacific paradise - a collection of 333 sun-drenched tropical islands with soft sandy beaches, swaying coconut palms and stunning blue lagoons. a land of rainforests and waterfalls, colourful coral reefs and magnificent surf breaks. home to the friendliest, most welcoming people on earth, where instant smiles and lasting memories are guaranteed.

fiji is waiting for us!

good food & good friends

last night i shared beautiful food with my beautiful friend kathleen.

she reminds me how much i miss all the things in melbourne, especially her.

while trying to catch up on the past three months (which feels more like two weeks, it's gone so fast) we enjoyed the food and drink of mecca bah in the valley.

sweet potato falafels with tahini sauce

spit roasted lamb, rocket, yoghurt & sumac turkish pizza

apple, cranberry, orange juice, pomegranate molasses, lime, lemon and orange

& garnished with a sprig of mint

dreaming

i really want the goals book and 101 dreams book from kikki.k. perhaps my first goal should be 'come to the realisation that you don't need pretty books to achieve your goals and make your dreams a reality'!

let love fly

i ♥ syd

the argyle

last night we all met up for 'a' drink. we couldn't find anywhere that was open at first but then we were directed down a red brick road that led to this massive bar called the argyle. it was just around the corner from our hotel at the rocks and it had the most impressive and clever decor. everywhere you looked was a different space or nook with a different style. it was really delightful and two bottles of wine later we were the last ones there. i didn't want to leave the colourful little haven! so to spread my new found love for this place here are some pictures i found on their website.  

jess the mess

felling a little worse for wear today. i had to be woken up by cam (my beautiful work friend) as i was dead to the world and had (not surprisingly) set my alarm to 7:30 pm instead of am the night before. to counteract the large amount of white wine i consumed last night i have spent all day trying to recover by having coffee, fruit salad, yoghurt, orange juice, lots of water, peanut butter on toast and strawberry extra. i am very slowly starting to feel better but needless to say not a whole lot of work is getting done! it was so much fun though and worth the messy hair and red eyes i am sporting today.

date night

off on a date with matt and am just waiting to be picked up, talk about old school style ♥
i'm wearing so much of the beautiful perfume he gave me that it's making me sneeze! we had a lovely day together today and i wish it wasn't sunday so that we could do it all over again.

cherry blossom hair

speaking of hair... i bought some new shampoo and conditioner the other day. i am still searching for the perfect one (the same goes for foundation and mascara!) and so always love to try a new brand in a pretty new bottle. their products contain organic ingredients and they have so many beautiful sounding and smelling names to choose from. after a considerable length of time and complex decision making process i went with cherry blossom ginseng. isn't it amazing how simple words and colours conjure up so many different sensations. they just sound delicious.

coconut milk

mandarin olive oil

teatree mint

cherry blossom ginseng

shea butter

vanilla silk

whitetea grapeseed

pomegranate green tea

lavender soymilk

grapefruit mango butter

cocoa butter

passionfruit guava 

p.s. i am slightly obsessed with flowers at the moment. 

vija

i'm going to get my hair done this afternoon. it's been a long three months since the last time i went and to say i'm looking forward to it is an understatement. the place is named vija, which means to be beautiful or fascinating in the language of latvian.

montego bay

anna brought back this amazing scented candle from melbourne today and i am in love with it. the whole house smells like coconut and lime and we haven't even lit it yet. i looked up montego bay online and after one glance i instantly want to be there. palm trees. white sand. clear blue water. i think this candle will be as close as i can get to it for now. she bought it from peter alexander but their website is here... glasshouse fragrances.

lazy afternoon

i highly recommend watching this
it made for a lovely lazy afternoon