if they're good enough for coco

I would love a camellia hedge. Coco Chanel adored camellias - so, obviously, I have to follow in her utterly exquisite shoes. Unfortunately the damned things grow so slowly I'd be in my dotage before they stopped being flowers on sticks and became the dense beauty you see above you. They do say that good things are worth waiting for though...

love a list

This week I've been the Queen of Faff. I've had so much to do that I honestly couldn't work out where to start. I don't know if it's residual migraine hangover, but I've been seriously scatterbrained and that just won't do.

So this morning I sat down and typed up a to-do list, dyed my hair so my white roots sodded off, hung out the towels that had festered in the machine for a few days {after re-washing} and set to striking off things on the list.

And it's worked. So far I've got more done in the past few hours than I did in the last two days. I do love me a list...

red carpet countdown

It's nearly time for the holy grail of red carpet shenanigans - the Oscars. Be still, oh heart of mine. Please let there be fabulous on the day. With purple the colour de jour I'm expecting it to rein supreme, but for me, I'd love to see someone rocking this silver jersey Halston number. Allow your eyes to feast upon perfection.

I love jersey, and it's a fabric I never see enough of in the stalls. Maybe I need to ramp up my sewing skills this winter...

good shopping karma

You know my theory about good op-shopping don't you? The secret is to drop off bags of really good quality items to donate, wander around not looking for anything in particular, and, before you know it, something fabulous will appear.

I'd gone through my bookshelves and had three massive green bags filled with books. My first thought was to sell them at a second-hand book store {where I virtually exchange as I head out with almost as many as I've taken in} but then I realised that the Salvos could do with the money more than me.

So off I trotted, on a soggy monday afternoon, dropped off my books and proceeded to wander through and find gold.

See that pretty green and pink fabric up the top? That's a rather fabulous cotton bedspread that now resides on the daybed in our living room. Eventually the plan is to buy a new foam cushion for the coach and I'll ask my mum to cover it in this pretty floral. It's delicious and only cost $5.

The second is a beautiful white cushion cover, with the most perfect white cotton crochet edging. It set me back $1.

Finally we have a regular pillow case with the prettiest embroidery. I'm going to chop a little off the top to make a typical square cushion. 50 cents. Seriously.

My aim is to have a pile of pretty mis-matched pillows scattered on the daybed - and the only way to happen upon mis-matched is via chance. You can't go out shopping for it.

Now, I've still got a massive box or two of books here - including a couple of old Donna Hay cookbooks I no longer want. Surely they'll generate some lovely karma indeed!

let's blame the white rabbit...

So, I'm a day late posting my shoe of the week. Sorry! To make up for it will you accept my offering of these utterly exquisite Oscar de la Renta. For you.

on the shelf

Know what I need? Shelving. I've been dwelling on it for sometime now and think it's time to act. I'm going to file away some images of what I need then draw up some plans and then move into action. Don't you think that anything would be possible with a room like this one?

Mainly because of how perfect the leadlight window is in this picture. I adore leadlight and always gaze admiringly when I spy it in a home. My mum and step-dad create gorgeous leadlights - and have made some amazing pieces for the mudbrick home they're building. I think leadlight's just the most amazing way to sneak a little colour into a home - and let's face it, a little colour's always appreciated.

wet, wet, wet

Hi, sorry I'm late! I woke to a soggy morning after a torrential downpour last night and I've been on Canteen duty at school all morning. I had a deliciously lazy day yesterday where I did absolutely NOTHING. I even had an afternoon nap - bliss. So now I'm all recharged and ready for a productive week.

You?

bag lady

Kaz over at thetruthaboutmummy tagged me - curious to check out the contents of my handbag. Coincidentally this coincided with my desire to clean out said handbag so here you have it!

As you can see I have a scary amount of lip gloss, lip stick and lip balm. Ten in fact. They're generally summer shades, except my gorgeous YSL glossy red and guerlain sparkly red slick. Mmmmm. I've also keep some Clinique City Block Sheer in there in case I need a foundation look in a hurry, one bare minerals id shadow in a deep smoky blue - and two eye shadow brushes for some reason. There's also a daytime mascara just in case.

Perfume: Coco Mademoiselle. Mmm.

A Chanel eye shadow palette in a pretty pink and green.

Address book and pen.

My gorgeous Cath Kidston phone {and Cath Kidston emery board, and lip balm... love her!}

Sunglasses {Colette Dinnigan three Christmases ago - still fabulous}

Car and house keys on a Tiffany keyring {30th birthday pressie - still going strong - thanks Bella Mumma!} A spare pink Eiffel Tower keyring in case I have to take a key off {you know, for the mechanic or something...}

A tape measure {for when you're out shopping and spy a piece of furniture!}

Mints - of course! And a pack of pretty tissues. And spare hairbands - in my gal's school colours - just in case! Wallet - a big Oroton one, sensible black after years of red. Think I'd like a bright one next time - this one hides inside my black handbags! Blotting papers - a saviour in this humidity!

What's missing is handcream and a notepad - obviously they've been transferred to another bag. I love Jurlique rose or lavender handcream - deliciously moisturising but not sticky.

Want to play? Let me know, I'd love to sticky inside your bag!

joyeux anniversaire

Just wanting to send out birthday wishes to the Divine Ms M. Hope this day is utterly fabulous and can't wait to have a girly night in celebration next week!

being yourself

You know I love Helena Bonham Carter. I adore how she's got such a strong sense of personal style and doesn't even nod in the direction of following the Hollywood ideal. Here she is at a screening for Alice in Wonderland {yes, I have been remarkably quiet on that front haven't I? Don't worry - I've been internally squeeling with anticipation}.

I think we all need to take a leaf out of Helena's book. She dresses in a way that obviously makes her happy and, aside from stopping us from being naked, shouldn't that be what fashion is about? Bugger sensibility - let's embrace fabulousness. I vow to always ensure that at least one item on my person will make me grin broadly. I'm going to raid my dress-up box and make-sure that at least one drool-worthy item makes it out the door every day.

Let's have fun!

back in a tic...

So, in Paris there will be an auction of garments actually designed by Coco Chanel.

Chanel really do know how to clear out their closet in style...

fabulously friday

So here we are, the weekend already. You got plans? I'm headed off with my gal to the school disco tonight where a friend and I will be sitting at the door collecting the money. Fun! Then tomorrow night we're off to friends for dinner, where apparently duck is on the menu which makes me sooooooo happy.

We might squish in a bit of gardening and getting stuff done around the house in between social engagements... I think I need to bring a few real flowers into the house too. I'm loving this pretty image of this floral-infused kitchen nook. Imagine the baking that must go down in such a glorious room.

Today I've got two articles to finish and send off so I'd best get cracking. Enjoy your Friday - particularly if you're off to see George Michael {cos I'm not jealous, oh no...}

be prepared

I find it very, very, very difficult to believe that it's already Thursday. But it is. Seriously. I'm not even on nodding acquaintance with organised this week. My French homework isn't complete, {and my lessons are tonight!} the garden needs watering, I haven't planned dinner for tonight and it seems as though there's a pile of to-dos with my name on it. So I'm going to separate the 'urgent' from the 'essential' and work my way though.

I'm sure it'd all be much easier if I'd sat down to a pretty Cath Kidston breakfast table like this one... Maybe I'll just pretend I did - think that'll work?

adorably edible

Hello prettiness! I've been feeling generally blah today. My migraine has subsided but has left me with a lingering nausea and general urkiness. So I needed to see something pretty to cheer me up. How happy would you be if you were a pastry chef at Laduree? Can you imagine the joy of creating little lovelies such as this? I have no idea how you'd attempt to eat it - either delicately with a cake fork or just dive in and expect a buttercream goatee...

My frustration at my illness is also compounded as I've also spent the past couple of days leaving messages and sending emails with no response. I feel like I'm standing on the edge of a canyon shouting "Is anyone out there?" but without even an echo in reply. The responses will come though, I'm now just having to insist on training myself not to expect a response to an email. I can't help myself - if I receive an email I respond, even if it's just a "Thanks!" to show that it's arrived. But, as I now acknowledge, plenty of people don't. And that's okay, that's their choice. I just have to trust in the reliability of mine and their server and believe that it's okay, that it's arrived as expected and that they'll get back to me if needed.

And move on.

And find a pretty cake like this to gaze adoringly at...

bed time

I thought I'd give you a pic of a pretty bedroom today mainly because I'm spending so much time in mine. I went to bed at 8.30 last night thanks to a migraine, and today it's decided that it hasn't spent enough time tormenting me so I'm going to back to bed to make it sod off.

How cute is that side table?

pork in my belly

Those of you who love pork {you know who you are} will have to sigh in rapture with me over this. It's a slowly roasted loin of pork served with apple chutney.

Sounds about four thousand times yummier than the plain old ham sandwich I had for lunch.

Is it nearly autumn yet? Honestly if I have to cook one more meal with salad I think I'll die of boredom... I'm keen for slow cooking. I want to bring out my le crueset and create something rich and flavoursome... Actually the sky is looking rather grey and ominous outside {that'd be because I finally hung out the beach towels I've been wanting to wash for a week}.

I'm itching to cook up something with garlic, with wine, with herbs...

sew sew

Oh, how I wish I could sew with confidence. I'm not a natural seamstress. My mum sews magnificently and so whenever anything got tough {zippers, button holes, circular seems...} I'd hand any projects over to her.

But now I have a task. A task I've put off for the last two weeks but can no longer ignore. I need to sew the ribbons onto my daughter's ballet slippers. Eek. And my mum's in Melbourne and I can hardly ask her to fly up to do the job.

Now, while you'd think that hand sewing would be easier, you'd be wrong. My stitches are huge, clumsy and the ribbons would be off before the first pirouette. So instead, I've got the machine out, the ribbons are waiting and I'm going to have a coffee for strength and sew those ribbons on for my pretty ballerina.

mile high club

When it comes to Robbie Williams what's not to love?

i see red

You know how I love a red carpet - and these are a few of my favourite looks from the BAFTAs. First of all, let me say how in love I am with Gabourey Sidibe. She's rocking that gorgeous champagne frock and boy, does she give good interview. Saoirse Ronan looks so pretty and age-appropriate in this delicately-ruffled frock that I can almost forgive her Atonement {she was great, film made me cranky!}.

Audrey Tatou carried off a candy-pink frock with scarlet accessories. Yep, it's pouffy - but she can do pouffy - she's French and she's teeny. Joely Richardson's gown was such a breathtaking shade of blue that I still nearly burst into tears just looking at it. So tremendously elegant.

Tom Ford? Well, he's Tom Ford, hence no wrong can be done.

Kate Winslet looked fab as always. The cutouts in her Stella McCartney dress actually worked for me, and I loved her long, loose curls.

Now, bring on the Oscars!

oh my

Triple perfection here on the red carpet in Venice.

My desire to view A Single Man is fast reaching obsessive levels...

ma vie en roses

I do love a pretty rose, and a pretty pink rose, on a pearl chain - with ribbons would have to steal my heart. This Lanvin necklace set my heart-a-flutter when I spied it over at net-a-porter, so I had to share...

perfectly pretty

Despite the fact that her clothing sizes are out of whack, and that since moving production off-shore the quality tends to be less than it used to be, I've swooningly fallen in love with the new Alannah Hill collection. Seriously, how beautiful is this image? From the candy floss pink hair, the bed of blowsy roses, the combo of purple and red, those gloves, those frills, those lips, that headpiece...

Excuse me while I sit in a corner and have a total smitten-fashion moment...

i shoe, i shoe, i shoe

If I were getting married {like, say, Kellyansapansa} I would use the event as an excuse to buy myself a damned fine pair of shoes. Like, say, these. I'd love to see a pair of scarlet shoes paired with a wedding frock - but the next best option would be scarlet soles...

We organised our wedding in six weeks. We already had our house, and our daughter, and just wanted to commit to each other. So we had a very small wedding with just our parents and our daughter, then, a month later we had the big reception party at our house. It was bucketloads of fun and I'd do it all again... in these shoes...

ice, ice, baby

The girls and I have had quite a lovely weekend so far. Yesterday we went to a pool party that a new mum at school put on for some of the girls in the class - such a good idea to introduce yourself in this way. The girls swam and a few mums sat and chatted over a glass of bubbles - ah, good times.

Last night we watched Coraline - a gorgeous film, but damned scary! My gal's inherited my wussy gene - I don't do scary films, or books, although I devoured them when I was a teen. The girls sat hugging each other on the couch and I had to read them a book about kittens to help them go to sleep!

Today we've just made herbe omelettes for breakfast and the girls are off ice skating later this morning. We haven't watched ANY of the Olympics so far - damned if I'm paying extra for my pay TV subscription and double-damned if I'm going to stay up late to watch the over-exposed Eddie McGuire on free-to-air. It'll be interesting to see if the screening of the winter olympics has inspired many mini-ice-skaters today. I'll be staying off the ice this time and may well take along the book I'm reading to skim in-between waves, nods and spontaneous bursts of applause...

You?

for my dressing table...

When you have an obsession with make-up and are besotted with Alice in Wonderland how on earth is it possible not to covet such an object of desire? This Urban Decay palette would give me hours of fun - I could play and create for hours without boredom. There are also divine Paul & Jo options featuring the original Disney Alice that are so cute I could explode, and amazing shades in O.P.I. that just scream Tim Burton.

Be still my heart...

blue hues

Well, I enjoyed my girly night at home, although, as expected I did wake a few times to strange "oh my god, is someone breaking in?" noises. {Which were, of course, possums, wind, branches scraping across the tin roof - the usual...}

I ended up getting malaysian takeaway for dinner, in a wee box - things taste better in wee boxes don't you think? The DVD store nearly did my head in. I found Marie Antoinette - but every single other film I wanted to see was out {No Colin Firth - NONE}. So instead I hired Julie & Julia and still adored it on second viewing.

Now I'm waiting for my gal and her bestie to be dropped home. We'll have a girly day today and may do some baking {perhaps that cake I featured a few days ago hmmmmm?} My gal's bestie's parents are off to AC/DC tonight so I jumped at the option to have her stay with us {I'd adopt her if I could - such a sweet child}.

I've also got a few chores to potter on to. You know, washing etc. We might make a trip into the new markets in the mall today - apparently one of the stalls is selling goat meat - surely I could make a curry from that? I also have a bucketload of French homework to get on with {PS do you know that I now cannot look at any word without giving it a French pronunciation! Luckily I'm just doing it in my head...}

Enjoy your weekend. I hope you're being blessed with skies as blue as the ones I spy from my window.

* Lordy, just realised that this is my 100th post for this year. Do I ever shut up?

rouge chaud

One of my earliest red-headed loves was, of course, Lucille Ball. She was so hysterical that it was easy to overlook how completely and utterly beautiful she was.

Now, guess how much I'm coveting this frock? Seriously, I'd FIND an event to wear it {probably a summer one so I could justify the fan...}

I'll be off now to finish some work... Gotta justify that violette martini later on somehow!

frill seeking

Ah, Julianne Moore, so exquisite. My adoration of gals with titian locks is almost becoming obsessive...

Am desperate to go see her and Colin Firth in the Tom Ford flick - desperate I tell you. A couple of gals and I were discussing the appeal of Colin Firth today and I do believe that he can do no wrong {unless he steps out on that adorable wife of his...} He's charming, funny and was Mr Darcy. Oh, and as my friend R reminded me today, there was also the hysterical fight scene in Bridget Jones. The man's perfect...

But this wasn't a post about Colin {damn man highjacking my Julianne Moore love-fest}, no, it's about this frock and my love for it. Simple, elegant, sexy and swooshy. I'm not sure if that's feathers or a fringe, but either way, I'm deeply smitten. A little black dress never looked so red-carpet worthy. {Now, personally, I would have worn coloured shoes - I love a basic black accessorised with a shot of bold colour}.

Oh, and guess what? Nine has concluded its run at my local cinema. Pretty sure it only ran for a week and for that I'd like to blame Nicole Kidman's face {I tend to blame her face for a lot of things...} So instead, I'm going to stay home and be girly. I'm hiring Marie Antoinette for purely visual purposes and will get into some secret girls business {no, just pedis, manis, face masks, hair masks... you know}.

Hey, can you do me a favour? Because I'll be home alone would you mind sharing a drink with me around 6pm? I'll be having a violette martini as it will co-ordinate nicely with Marie Antoinette and my grey fingernails - but you feel free to have whatever you like. Salut x

brain train

A few months ago I was researching a story on keeping your brain young. One of the leading researchers in the field said that one of the best ways to ward off dementia was to learn a language. Apparently, when we learn a new language we engage parts of the brain that have previously lay dormant.

Actually, that's not 'apparently' it's "Damn, parts of my brain that've really remained inactive have been poked, prodded and shocked into action!" Yes, after week three of my French lessons my brain's still spinning. Last week's homework was damned difficult - took me ages - but I did get 100 per cent {yay me!}. This week's lesson? Hellacious. Our teacher expects us to learn something, take it in, and utilise it - but my brain? Not content to work in that way. There are a lot of rules with French words and pronunciation and my single-minded brain likes to work on one thing at a time. If I'm concentrating on how to pronounce symphonie {sah/fo/na} then I'm probably not paying attention to whether the word preceding it is la or le - but I should be - oh yes I should be...

While I got a few "parfait" in my direction last night, I also nearly had a breakdown answering the teacher when she asked me what time it was and I had to answer 6.20. Yes, I was required to remember how to say those numbers in French as well as how to say that it was twenty past... So hard, I nearly cried, and I did eventually get it right - after making everyone else in the class sigh in relief that they'd have to do better than me.

But, while it's hard, it's also utterly fabulous. My pronunciation is really rocketing and my understanding is already massively improved. I feel more than confident that when we're in France next year I'll be able to converse and understand native French speakers.

Parfait!

all by myself

My husband's off on a golfing weekend with his buddies this weekend. A bunch of blokes who've known each other since school will spend time golfing, drinking and reminiscing. Bless.

He leaves tomorrow morning and tomorrow night my gal's been invited to her bestie's house for a camping sleepover with two other gals. Yep, glad I'm not hosting that one! But you know what that means? I'll be spending my first night alone in what must be about 15 years. Goodness!

So I'm going to take advantage of it and take myself off to the movies. Yep, alone. I'm going to see Nine and hope that if I squint through my eyelashes every time Nicole Kidman comes on screen I'll enjoy it.

Who am I kidding - I'll come out all drenched in the urge to be Italian...

greased lightening

When my husband and I met, nearly 17 years ago, we both had very cool vintage cars. He had a cute-as-a-box-of-buttons Morris Minor in British Racing Green and I had a grey and white Vauxhaul Kresta {just like this one with fins, whitewall tyres, red leather interior and hydromatic transmission...}. Such. A. Damned. Cool. Car.

We moved in together after six months and, as we were both at Uni, decided we only needed one car. Sadly, my car needed extensive work so the Morris won. It was a great little car - so damned cute. No seatbelts though so when we moved to Sydney and would regularly drive the Sydney-Newcastle freeway we were totally putting our lives out there.

When I fell pregnant we had to get a sensible car. One with seat belts. So we had to sell our little Morris. Luckily it went to a good home and we sometimes see it tootling around Morpeth up in the Hunter Valley. Nice home.

Now we've both got a craving for another vintage car. A vintage ute to be exact. I saw a gorgeous powder-blue Holden the other day that set my heart-a-fluttering. If our first car's a sensible modern option surely we can have a funky second car?

calling my name

Today I had to go to an outer suburb to buy a part for my car. I had a general idea where it was, but then totally managed to drive past it. So I pulled over, ready to do a u-turn, when I realised that I was directly outside a Lifeline store. Now, I'm not sure if you know this about me, but I think that when a serendipitous event causes me to stop outside an op-shop that's because something inside is calling my name.

And oh boy, was I called.

First of all I found two of these pretty lil cake stands. They're cream, hand-painted with roses and rimmed with gold. Perfect. I'm in love.

So then, I place them on the glass counter, stare below and am socked in the eye with, wait for it, VINTAGE EIFFEL TOWER CUFF LINKS. Yeah baby. And they were only $5. So I hand over $3 each for my cake stands, repress my squeals and hand over $5 for the cuff links and walk out on a cloud of delight.

PS: Husband is utterly chuffed to bits at the cuff links - and now I'm kinda wishing I'd saved them till his birthday, but as if I could keep a buy like that to myself till May. C'mon...

let them eat cake

I think that for my next dinner party I just need to serve up stonking big slices of a pretty cake instead of pudding. Seriously. This pretty, with its lemon curd interior and angel-pillow icing is the type of creation my cream Kitchen Aid mixer will do justice to.

Only thing I need now is a gorgeous milk glass cake stand. Donna Hay General Store - is that you calling my name?

fait accompli

Ha! When you have as many nail polishes as I there's bound to be the shade you desire. I found this - a delicious kit nail polish that goes by the name of switch on. Not only is it a gloriously gunmetalic grey - it's got sparkles and you know what makes me happier than sparkles? Not much! Please ignore my painted-over cuticles - I was in too much of a hurry to push them back and I'm never particular when I paint my nails - so long as the nails are covered I can just run my fingernail around the edges in the shower and any excess comes off.

So happy right now. A spot of colour therapy always puts me in a good mood. And as Sara Rose would agree - one of the quickest routes to a pick-me-up is purdy coloured nails...

colourways

I have an addictive personality - particularly when it comes to nailpolish. See, I'll hear about a shade or a new nail trend and I just must have. So, just now, I'm checking out twitter and hearing about how Marc Jacobs was working backstage offering suggestions on custom-mixed nail colours and mentioned grey.

Guess how much I now need grey nail polish?

I'm now off to rummage in my nail polish basket {oh yes i do} just in case there's a shade of grey in there. If not, I can feel a shopping expedition coming on...

coverlust

I so need this magazine for so many reasons. First of all for putting this utterly glorious woman on its cover, secondly, for Marc Jacobs' wedding story {by his husband - bless}, thirdly, Kate and Andy Spade. It'll probably set me back about 9 million dollars at Borders {if they've got it} but I reckon it's worth it.

Wouldn't it be nice if we didn't have to comment when someone outside the regular model mold was featured. You know, when you expected to see someone unexpected on a cover. You'd think that with the trend for celebrity covers we'd be seeing a bit more variety, but no, it's always variations on a theme...

No wonder blogs are so popular. On blogs there's a celebration of a wide range of diversity. We bloggers get to share images that we love - without worrying that it'll affect the popularity of our blog.

Having worked on magazines I was part of some pretty intense conversations "Not green - green doesn't sell." or "She's got a wonky eye, can we swap it?" {and yes would be the answer to that one...}. Each year a big wig from the UK would come out and address the company with new pronouncements on what worked and what didn't work {green on a cover was always unanimously loathed - which I never understood - I love green}.

Blogging's fabulous because you can share a lot with such an intimate audience and connect in ways you never could in publications. We have the immediacy of comments too which I love. Checking back to see who's said what keeps on driving me through the day. I also love checking out comments on other's blogs - to find new blogs to read {people who give good comment tend to give good blog don't you think?}.

put a smile on your dial

These guys are so freakin' funny.

red hot

I had to feature a pair of Alexander McQueen shoes this week to honour the talent of the man. I adore how the zipper opens to feature a peep toe - and look at the shape of that heel - perfection. The man had a singular eye for unique design and his legacy shall live on in his utterly fabulous creations.

oh coco

Isn't this image totally and utterly parfait? J'adore Audrey Tatou and think she made the ideal Gabrielle Chanel.

my funny valentine

It's Valentines Day, so share the love around. Give a sweet smile, a loving hug, do a good deed and treat yourself nice. Love is all we need x

happy weekend

Happy Saturday! We're off to the nursery soon. I've found that they sell a variety of Hydrangea that blooms all-year-long. It's called Endless Summer and comes in both the traditional mophead and lace cap forms. I'm thinking that the blue will look prettiest against the grey and violet of our house - but we can always change it to pink later if we feel the need.

We're also buying some French lavender to hedge around the garden to the left of our front stairs. We've got a massive murraya in there and my husband's extended the garden so we can fit lavender across the front. Behind it I'm thinking of tall annuals such as foxgloves, cosmos or delphiniums... We'll see what's on offer. It'd be nice to have something pretty to look at while you're walking up the stairs.

What are you up to today? Oh, while I've got you - send out some best wishes to Beth at BabyMac who's having a birthday baking cake-off against her husband - may the best woman win!

l'heure cocktail

The Cointreau Teese

1 ½ oz. Cointreau
¾ oz. apple juice
½ oz. Monin violet syrup
½ oz. fresh lemon juice