c'mon springtime (you can do it!)

 

spring is slowly starting to really appear around here. To which I let out the most unlady like - YIPPEE!!

I am such a warm weather girl!

and I have been having a little fun with my camera in my mother-in-laws lovely garden (total perk of living here...)

wanna have a look at what we're enjoying at the moment?

 

 

and meet Count Mondago - our resident water dragon - he hangs by the clothes line, always ready to freak a visitor out!

these pictures from the weekend are keeping me happy during this strange winter snap Sydney had been having over the past few days...
so, whats making you smile lately?

do share :)

showering marlo

The fun thing about working in the event industry and being surrounded by such fun and lovely products is that you can throw the funnest (and prettiest) little work parties, using lots of yummy showroom pieces for FREE.

A few weeks ago Jacqui (the stylist I assist) and myself got to organize a little goodbye baby shower for our Wedding Stylist Marlo who has just left to go on maternity leave.
We decided to throw an afternoon tea send off in our showroom. And we (but prob more me) may have got a little excited about the whole thing - you can't make corporate events look this cute you know!!

The above image is the story board and sketch I put together for our afternoon tea table spread and below are some pictures of how it actually turned out. Unfortunately I forgot my camera that day and had to use one of the other girls point and shoot, but you get the general idea. 

we even made the bunnies put on their bow ties for the occasion - too fun, huh!

PSSST: my two sweet cousins are now blogging - yay! You can find their blogs here and here.
I'm really excited particularly as I have been bugging this one to blog for ages. You see, she is living a really interesting life in Dubai right now and we really miss her and her two littles! And you may just be inspired (or get really hungry) by Rach's and her man James cooking!
They are new to this wonderful online community - so won't you stop on by and show some love?

actually been a-reading!

So it was back to work this week with me (boo!) but boy have I felt refreshed and re-energized!
AND On my week off I actually got to go and browse our local library (oh squeal!) Since I was a little kid I have always love the library and can you believe the last time I got to visit was grabbing some books to take on our honeymoon back in Nov last year!?!

Here is the somewhat random selection I picked up this time ... there not brand new or best sellers just books that grabbed my eye and might interested you too ...

1. Jamie Durie Patio - cause who doesn't love a bit of Jamie and the magic he can work in exterior spaces!!? This would make the perfect coffee table book and has actually been on my book depository wish list for awhile now along with the outdoor room and inspired!
This book has some really great ideas which I am eagerly filing away for the day we have our own outdoor space and not just a teeny tiny balcony to call out own :)
random side note: Anyone else really miss Backyard Blitz!! Morgan I may NEED this...

 

2. A Slice of Organic Life
There is so much useful information in the book about choosing to live more organically that I think I might have to put it on loan again. I really have a passion inside me to not only eat but to live more organically and have more knowledge on the products we use daily. 

3. Squeezed 250 juices + smoothies
Another re loan I think. We love our freshly squeezed juices around here, especially on the weekends when we actually have the time to make them! and with summer just around the corner I am excited at all the fruit opportunities that are coming. This book kinda won me over with it's lovely food photography (anyone else a sucker for pictures of yummy food?) and oh look husband I may have just added this book to my wishlist :)

4 + 5. Some fiction reading for the train
Lucy's Kiss and The Preachers Bride.
I've only just started Lucy's Kiss so I have no idea yet but The Preachers Bride was an easy read. It is based on the story of John Bunyan (who wrote Pilgrims Process) but it kinda made me sad as it really showcases the treatment of women and persecution of those who were trying to preach the gospel (unlicensed) in England during the 1600s.

SO what have you guys been reading - anything fun to recommend for my next trip to the library?

some time for me!

 

source

this week I am taking a 'me' week
and man that feels good to say (and even better to live!)
a whole week off from work to just stay home with no real agenda or plan (but to finish painting the living space because its been months!) and to let loose the house wife I so desperately want to be!

this week is the first time since we got married in November that I have had a relaxing break such as this (except for the busy Christmas season and a few long weekends with an extra day thrown in here and there)
and let me tell you...
it is SO much needed!
To be truthful, this first year so far has been hard on me.
hard and wonderful all in the same moment (I really DO love doing life with Mr A and we have had plenty of amazing moments!)
But I've been having such an inner struggle...
of feeling so far away from God, of not feeling like I am doing the best I can, of hating the it-is-always-messy house, of always being tired and sore (the joy of 5am alarms and loong train trips!) of letting tears fall slowly because I am not able to live up to those lovely ideals I built up in my head.  of trying to shake the sickies more times than ever before...
Feeling like I've let him down... like I've let me down!
and feeling like i've lost a little bit of me. the way I used to be so joyful and so SECURE in him.

and that's also prob why I haven't been blogging.
too much to say, but no words or heart to say it.

So here's to a week of spring cleaning of no agendas or deadlines.
Of diving deep into the word that is so desperatly needed.
of catching up with those so dear to my heart!
and of a little bit of crafting too!

But can I just say that so far today has been wonderful AND just what the Dr ordered!
today found me..

outdoors enjoying a healthy fruit salad, cuppa and browsing my fav mag at breakfast (and letting those legs get some sun!!)

of actually putting a tape on and exercising (I have been having bad back issues and am not dreading my chiropractor appointment this week !!)

two fresh clean loads of laundry drying in the sunshine

Starting a deep house clean and organizing - man it looks so good in there now!

wandering slowely through a fabric store just to look at pretty things ...
and looking at  lovely lounges and dreaming the way they would look at home (cause things like that make my heart happy)

sitting outside enjoying an afternoon cup of coffee, listening to the birdsong and blogging (blogging people!)

+ of being there when he gets home to welcome him with kisses and a lovely home made meal (one of our summer favourites)

of appreciating this time to just be me :)
hopefully I will be back to this spot with a slightly more fun post soon!

kt x

dear husband ...

Dear Mr A,

I am pretty lucky to be your wife I think and I am really enjoying being married to you. So I thought I would write you a list. It is entitled ‘50 reasons why you are THE BEST husband’ and there are 50 reasons why  I think you are so awesome.

…

50 reasons why you are THE BEST husband

1

1. There is no one else I feel more comfortable with than you. Whether I am dressed to the nines or  in my tracky dacks or winning farting comps I know no matter what you still love me and think the world of me!

2. You’re a really good kisser!

3. You’re not ‘too cool’ or afraid to try silly things. Like mud masks (which I know you really love!) and dancing in the kitchen (even if you don’t let me take photos for fb)

4. You stick to your word and you never let people down. If you say you are going to help someone or do something, you always live up to that promise = You are a man of your word.

 

5. You’re always on time. I am not – you get me moving and grooving !

6. You’re fun to play with. Dreaming of the day we can have a large house and have a really good game of chase!

7. You help around the house and don’t complain when asked to do a load of washing or the dishes. ( and I REALLY appreciate your spontaneous help around the place)

8. Pretty much every week you clean the bathroom - Nuff said!

9. You love to find bargains and get excited when I find a really good sale item! for e.g. -  your latest email "yea boy we just got 22.91 credit in our savings! Free money!! :)"

10. You sing along with me in the car.Sometimes you even harmonize (its really cute!) And sometimes you sing ‘girl’ songs “I’m just a little bit caught in the middle, life is a game and love is a riddle”...

11. You’re very smugly and give the best hugs.

12. You cook dinner for me almost every night, a lot of times trying something you never have before and learning all the time.

13. You really can’t wait to have a baby – seriously this one MELTS me and scares me at the same time!

14. You SOMETIMES like to discuss baby names

15. When I ask you to, you play with and brush my hair

16. You love god and have a deep desire to get back into a church family.

17. Whenever I ask you immediately stop what you’re doing and pray for me/us/whatever.

 

18. You sign your name on cards and write sweet messages to my dearest blog friends.

19.You have really neat handwriting and write the cards when I dictate and buy the pressies!

20.You know how to make a really good cuppa just the way I like it!

21.You let me climb all over you, and 'bury!' and snuggle in while quite nearly suffocating you in the process!

22. When you say “I love you” I know you really mean it

23. You make me laugh like no-one else ... (last bit a little too private to share)

24. You have a few very sexy moves (some I am sure you’re not even aware of!)

25. You have a funny, crazy and very silly streak!

26. You take really good care of your stuff (me included)

27. You don’t blow money on silly things, and don’t spend as much as your friends on car bits – ha take that subyclub.com boys! :)

28. Family holds a really special place in your heart.

29.You really care about me. When I rolled the car and got home to a sleepy eyed you at 6am I could see the love and concern pouring out of you (did I ever tell you that it was a funny moment to but you totally melted me there and then?)

30. You’re a snuggly sleeper!

31. You don’t hold grudges or stay mad for very long!

32. You’re not too proud to admit when you’re wrong

33. You let me talk you into silly things – like date nights with ‘silly rules’

34. Your adventurous – (bit in brackets a little too private to share)

35. You look really hunky when you’re playing the drums

36. I know that if I asked ANYTHING of you would at least try your hand at it

37. You always try and spoil me and provide me with things I want but don’t really need, like LUCY (our kitchen aid!!)

38 You hold the nail polish for me when I do my nails and tell me it’s pretty

39. You don’t get too grossed out when I have forgotten to shave…  AGAIN: P – sorry love!

40. a little too private too share :)

41. You have a really sexy body! AND you look good in lots of clothes

42. You’re fun to pick clothes out for and style and dress up …

43. And you’re equally as fun to undress !

44. You keep my car clean and serviced and washed and full of petrol

45. You tell me I’m beautiful and pretty even when I’m covered in paint and in my tracksuit!

46. You cook a mean bbq!

47. 99% of the time you have a great sense of humor – and 1% of the time I just don’t get it :P

48. You make pinky promises with me in our cute fashion

49. You have the ability to melt me on the spot and make me loose my breath, words and thoughts all at once.

50. You’re the favourite thing in my life and I know how strongly you feel about the vows and promises we made to each other and that your sticking around for.. well ever!

I love you mr !

And now I will email you the unedited version ;)

Love wife

x

new kid in town...

 Theres a new kid in town and she is sweet sweet sweet!

tiny and squishable!
Miss Imogen Gwen 

She's really making me wish I was in Dubai right now loving on this dear-to-my-heart cousins family.

And it seems that The Keeks is pretty infatuated with 'her baby' too :)

off to finish sewing ruffle butt onesies and other teeny things...

"lots and lots of fast massive running!"

My cousin Larissa just sent over the cutest facebook link, that I just had to share.
My adorable second cousin Keara aka Keke aka The Keekstar aka Keeks (yes she answers to all of the above) and her daddy ran in the 3km Dubai fun run marathon.
I love the fact that they had no kids shirts so she wore a small ladies shirt, which looks like a dress and wore her number patch that takes up the whole for her body :)

Larissa said that she ran 1/3rd of the way by herself until she retired to the pram too - so proud of this little munchkin and wishing so bad she (and her mummy and daddy and new baby sibling on the way) were back here in Oz!

and apparently she was super excited to get her medal for "Doing lots of massive running!"
Man I love that Keekstar!!

aussie day!

It is calling to me ... wanting me to own it!

My Ikea desk that is... seriously I know, I know this is the third post I've mentioned that damn desk but it is stalking me!

Seriously. I was not even looking for it and then came across this post on SFGirlByBay yesterday:

sigh...

And then I was searching for cute Aussie Day Entertaining Ideas and saw it even used as an outdoor food table. See Husband - this piece is versatile and I NEED it!  ;)

ooh I hope Ikea gets this item back in SOON!

So Australia Day is coming up and I am dreaming of the day we can have some friends over for a really cute backyard do - lamb and prawns on the barbie and pavlova for dessert. Followed by some garden games (I have a crush on garden games) and then a total Aussie movie like The Castle or Muriel's wedding or Croc Dundee (can you believe I have still NOT seen this!) but as we can't fit many people into our teeny tiny little flat I thought I'd show you the rest of these images from this cute Australia Day spread by Wedding Style Guide.

I like it cause it's not the typical green and gold aussie spin off (it's actually really cute) although It very much reminds me of a 4th of July event - I think it has to do with the stripes?! But still total inspiration for any of you US or UK girls who follow the blog too - or anyone else who has a blue, white and red flag. You just maybe couldn't wear that bikini ;)

Seriously so looking forward to Wednesday - we are heading to the beach with friends. What are you up to?

aussie aussie aussie..
and now you say...

random. I want a desk

I got an early mark from work yesterday which means I walked in the door around 6pm, 6 PM PEOPLE!!
woo hoo - That is ahumazing!
I would be a very happy camper if I could do that everyday.
I had so much more energy too!!
I filled hubby's tummy with bbq pork spare ribs, cous cous and oolala kt salad and then he took me to a movie.
Morning Glory.
It was ok - we had a few laughs - although does Harrison Ford's voice annoy anyone else in this movie!!!! gaaah!
and when did he get so old looking!?

anyway I enjoyed snuggling and munching on my bubble gum rock candy (left over from the wedding) and did you know Rachel McAdams (well the character she plays) has my Ikea desk. in white. just like I want waaaa (see below post)

anyway that was kinda a post about nothing .. hoping to get a little bit crafty tonight so I can have something fun to share over here, using my new hot glue gun (os. any Aussie's out there Spotlight have 50% off their glue guns right now - I got mine for $7!) that I am an going CRAZY not being able to create!!

itching to get decorating!

The current state of our spare bedroom/craft room/home office...

ughk, right!

it's basically just a junk/store room right now.

And this non-inspiring space has been the reason that not much crafting has been happening around here lately. I can't stand it anymore- so much so that the door to the second room stays shut pretty much all the time I am home.

I can't wait to get in there and 'prettify' it by...

1. Getting rid of that ridiculous spare room sink!??!
2. Refreshing the walls with a new coat of paint
3. Buying a new bedspread and cushions for the single bed (I want to turn it into a more day bed/lounge and put on a larger quilt cover so it hides the ugly plastic covered mattress underneath)
4. Purchase a new rug (especially for winter because I can imagine those tiles are going to be cold then!!)
5. Purchase a new desk
6. Add floating shelves above the desk for added storage
7. Finishing painting 2 x roadside furniture finds (a wardrobe 'craft supplies' cupboard and the rest of that white chest of drawers shown)
8. Hang fun artwork
9. an inspiration board and;
10. decorate with lots of fun accents!

Here's my little inspiration mood board ... (click to see it larger)

It's quite colourful and I probably won't stick to it completely ... but I think with the simple waem grey walls, whites and timbers I can easy change the look and feel of it with smaller accents and decorations and allow the room to evolve over time.

And speaking of desks, for our wedding I couldn't find any big old rustic tables I liked for our lolly station so dad made a desk top out of three old wooden planks which he glued together (I know I am super lucky!!) and placed on some trestles - it looked really good! I was going to get dad to make me some more white ones as a desk for the craft room (I wanted a really long desk and couldn't find one in our price range that I liked anywhere). Then I came across the Vika Artur Ikea Trestle - I love that it has shelves underneath too - and is adjustable for drafting (this would of been perfect for college!) or cutting out fabric.

And since then I have seen it being used in some pretty fun spaces ...

(another fun trestle table - i LOVE them!)

Sadly though it seems I am going to have to wait till March to get my desk as we were informed on Saturday that they are sold out of the vika trestles and wont get more stock in for a couple of months - rats!

summer toes

this is where you'll find me on Sunday afternoons ...

barefoot and daggy (and not pregnant!) in the garage stripping layers of paint of an antique cupboard I saved from the side of the road a few months before our wedding - in absolute pouring rain too :)

It feels so good to get stuck into it now and get rid of a thick layer of mission brown paint...

then fluro green ...

then a yellow stained white.
noice!

Once this cupboard is restored it will go in our spare room/studio craft room to store (hopefully) all my fabrics and craft supplies.

I have plans to paint it a fun colour, but am having a hard time deciding what colour exactly...

any suggestions?

I have no real inspiration or starting point for that room yet - I think I may need to spread my resene paint colours over the floor in that room and see if anything grabs me.

in the meantime here some inspiration images of cute painted furniture:

source

 

 

Can't wait to hear your ideas :)