hello prettiness

Now that's what I call a bridal bouquet. Peonies, roses and feathers - oh my!

lady in red

I love Rachel McAdams and adore a good frock {and a heel - natch} so this shot's a win/win all round. Do I mind that the frock is almost an identical colour to the curtains? Nah, not so much... She still looks gorgeous.

what's cooking wednesday

We're here again? Already? Okay then, here's the menu for this week...

Tonight: Glazed salmon, wilted spinach and sushi rice. The other night I made caramelised pork and served it on sushi rice {cooked and seasoned as if I were making sushi} as per Nigella's recommendation and it was soooooo good. Try it.

Thursday: Hubby and I are off on a date to have dinner and check out a performer - Adalita from Magic Dirt - oh yeah.

Friday: Garlic prawns, linguine and salad.

Saturday: Steak and roasted vegie salad.

Sunday: Off to the markets to find a suitable roasting meat. Mmmm.

Monday: I'm going to do that caramelised pork again. Let's hope I can remember the ingredients {I made a caramel with palm sugar and hot water, then added garlic, ginger, smoked chilli paste and ketchep manis. Smeared this over a pork fillet, salted it, marinated for 30 mins, then seared the fillet till golden. Then I sliced into thick slices, and added to the marinade to the pan and finished cooking the pork. Served on a bed of sushi rice with wilted chinese broccoli. Good stuff}.

Tuesday: Lamb salad.

Phew. You?

PS: Kitchen from Something's Gotta Give. Love.

some pretty breathing space

Sometimes you need to take a deep breath and smile.

in memoriam

Like most of the blogging community I'm lighting a candle and sending love out to Lori who lost her husband is such horrible, tragic circumstances. Rest in peace Tony.

I hold it true, whate'er befall;

I feel it when I sorrow most;

'Tis better to have loved and lost

Than never to have loved at all.

Lord Tennyson

a new beckham baby

Just after Posh was quoted in Vogue magazine as no longer trying for a baby girl - the Beckhams have announced that baby number four is on the way.

Bless.

They do make beautiful babies these two - and I don't think I've ever seen a celebrity father as genuinely affectionate with his kids as David is.

green with envy

I've been turning a fetching shade of green due to envy a bit lately. Reading my friend G's facebook status updates have me being infused with emerald as she's currently in Paris with her hubby enjoying champagne, culture and far too much fabulous food. Bliss.

These Alaia shoes are just the most glorious shade of green don't you think? And pretty too...

house p*rn

I'm pretty forgiving of a film if it offers something for me to sigh over - particularly house-po*n. Last night I finally got around to watching It's Complicated and realised that nearly every film that has a house I lust over has one thing in common Nancy Meyer. Seriously, check out this blog that has an extensive list of Nancy Meyer films and gorgeous interior images from them.

Obviously, number one in the House P*rn category has to be Something's Gotta Give - honestly, that kitchen!! It'd have to be one of the most googled kitchen's in history. But I didn't realise that Nancy had a hand in The Holiday, although looking at this gorgeous living room I should have realised. Do you know how much I now NEED this ottoman? Perfection.

PS: It's complicated was fun. I realised how much I do like Meryl Streep. And what I love about her is how amazingly sexy she is - honestly, that's one woman who just seems so damned confident in her skin. And there were plenty of giggles on offer to. And the house po*n, let's not forget the house p*rn {and in this case, bakery po*n, mmmmmmm}.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to ward off tons of google searches here looking for something inappropriate... * Ha - edited to, well, edit that word. Honestly people - nothing to see here, move along...

what a doll

If I were a movie star, or a rock star, and somebody told me they were making a doll version of me I'd squeee. Yep, I'd be damned excited. But what happens when you get that weird doll that looks nothing like you?

For example, you may be wondering why I've posted a pretty pic of Winona and this weird, ugly-looking man doll above. That's because the weird, ugly-looking man doll is meant to be Winona... Um, right. Sure, the doll has a waist, and boobs, but apart from that they've really just chucked on some kind of low-rent GI Joe head!

No squeee from Winona - probably just a squeal I'd imagine...

{To see some more hilarious dolls from the 90s go here. Go on...}

what do you like about your house?

Last night we had some lovely friends over to dinner. It was one of those perfect nights. Everyone was relaxed, happy and in holiday mode. We sat up in the pavillion while the kids swam, and then, once it was dark we moved down to have our dinner on the back veranda while the kids ate inside and watched a DVD. Then, at about 8.30 the kids asked if they could go for another swim and we said "Why not?" and turned on the pool lights, and moved back up to the pavillion.

Bliss.

That's the kind of night memories are made of. I love that we've managed to make so many lovely friends who are also raising such gorgeous children. Seriously good kids. The two boys happily played with my gal, which is great as they'll be spending a week together in Provence, and our other friends have the most gorgeous little girl who enchanted us all. You know those children that are just so sweet, lovely, funny and fabulous that you can't take your eyes off them? That was Miss R. My gal hasn't stopped raving about her - she really was utterly enchanting. And so happy! She didn't have her swimmers, but happily sat there watching the big kids swim with the most beautiful little smile playing about her lips.

Bless.

But on to the topic of this post. What I love about our house is that it makes nights like that possible. Where the kids can have fun, the adults know their safe, and that we have enough changes of scene to keep things interesting.

You've got to be happy with that.

PS: this shot is not my house - but don't you love that candelabra in the corner? Why waste a spot when you can make it pretty?

flowers for friday

How glorious are parrot tulips? Watching The Tourist the other night made me remember how much I adore this flower. It also made me realise that Venice is a spectacularly beautiful city that I really do need to visit again. Another realisation: Johnny Depp is not always hot {I know! Wash out my mouth!}. Finally, Angelina Jolie - really needs to eat something. She's always been uber-thin, but she was distractingly so in this film...

But anyway - tulips - pretty!

cute potential couple alert

So, apparently they spent new year's together - and the rumour train totally has them together. I'm with that. I love Sandy, and while I do have issues with Ryan's often obvious foundation {dude, match your skintone and BLEND} I think they'd have fun together.

Cute!

best job in the world?

Blake Lively is the new ambassadress for Chanel Mademoiselle Handbags. Best. Job. Ever. Seriously, free handbags and you get to hang out with Karl - surely that'd provide dinner party anecdotes for a good 700 years or so...

PS: that bag? Oh MY!

good gear

I don't know about you, but I often truly, deeply believe that if I have just the right piece of equipment I'll be better at something. Take this Cath Kidston tea towel. If I owned this I wouldn't leave any washing up 'drying' on the sink for a couple of days... Nope, my sink would be consistently pristine.

I'm always considering the next best thing to make me a better duster. Have you seen those spinning lurid green dusters advertised on TV? Oh, I so nearly dialed that number - until I realised that I have two dusters {um, gathering dust} in my pantry. Every week I'm consumed with envy as I sit at my desk and watch next door's cleaner come in and dust around all the inside of the windows I can see. I know, weird. I've no idea what else she does - but gee I'm envious of the dusting. Despite my asthma and hayfever dusting always falls into a non-essential category for me: way after vacuuming, mopping, cleaning bathrooms, washing, cooking etc.

You?

best breakfasts

Oh, I do have me a hankering for some delicious pancakes topped with berries. Have a look at these pretties I saw over at martha stewart - scrumptious!

what's cookin' this week?

We're getting back into entertaining this week - hurrah! So here's what we'll be eating this week.

Tonight: the gal's off to her grandparents' for a couple of nights so we'll have a simple steak and salad dinner.

Wednesday: still no child - I think I might try a pork stir-fry.

Thursday: Child being returned by grandparents - who I'll repay by cooking up a meal. I'm going to try chicken with 40 cloves of garlic, potatoes and green beans.

Friday: two couples and assorted kidlets for dinner tonight. We're going to Provence this year with one of the couples so I'd best check out my Provence cookbook to find a suitable meal. For pudding I'll be making my new fave - nectarine clafoutis and vanilla bean icecream.

Saturday: Thai beef salad.

Sunday: The farmer's markets re-open - hurrah! I'll be buying something yummy and cooking it up.

Monday: lamb on the bbq I think.

PS: I adore this pop of colour and use of a screen door on the pantry. I'm tempted to take the screen door off our side veranda, paint it and pop it on our pantry. Unfortunately I've hidden away our fridge, recycling bin and rubbish bin in our pantry so it's not quite as peep-worthy as this one...

shoe boop be do

The first shoe of the year has to be pretty ridiculous don't you think? So these Versace numbers fit the bill. Despite their outrageous platforms - I think the colours and the straps on top are divine. Plus, they'd finally take me to the height I feel I deserve to be {actually, by the look of them, they'd take me over 6 foot!}.

Ah lofty heights...

oh joy...

Why is it that putting the Christmas tree up is accompanied by carols, good cheer and big smiles, while putting it away is always a far more subdued event. I think next year I'm going to make the taking down of the tree a far more festive event - and do it with songs, champagne and a true sense of welcoming in the new year.

I think the hardest thing to take down was this garland. I love how beautifully it frames the rose in the centre of the leadlight on our front door. I love our leadlight - not only is it beautiful - it also has a lot of meaning. See, my mum and step-dad made it for us - using glass from my beloved Nana Rose's front door. Hence, the rose. I loved my nana enormously, in fact, she was the inspiration for our daughter's middle name - as her surname was Rose and she always grew beautiful roses in her garden.

Every time I walk down the hallway the light shines through the beautiful shades of amethyst roses and dappled glass and I remember happy times with my Nana. That's what I mean by surrounding yourself with things that are not only beautiful - but have meaning. I truly believe that your eyes should dance around a room and alight on things that cause your heart to sing.

What's making your heart sing today?

11 things...

Like many, I'm not a fan of the new year's resolution - however, the new year plan I like very much indeed. I like having goals, and working toward them. It's always baby steps, which is why goals kick the ass of resolutions - resolutions are all "I will do this" whereas goals are "I'm moving toward this..." much better.

Here's my aim for this year {and why yes, I am being cheaty and adding things I've already put in motion - half the fun of lists is the retrospective adding and crossing off}.

1. I aim to stress less. I don't like being stressed, it doesn't suit me. And apparently when I'm stressed my eyes do this weird, fast darty thing - that can't be good.

2. I aim to move more. I love walking, love it. So this year I plan on doing a lot more of it. I'd like to think every day, but I'm aiming for just a lot more of it.

3. Love more. I want everyone close to me to know how special they are. Whether it's with a look, a touch or a smile - I want them to know every day what they mean to me.

4. Dance more. Dancing's the best, it makes me smile. I aim to organise or participate in events that involve dancing - or at the very least, pop in my Zumba dvds and get myself moving around my living room.

5. Laugh more. Every smile is a gift, and a laugh is an even greater one - I'm going to look on the funny side of everything.

6. Talk more. Call my friends and chat.

7. Study more. My husband bought me another year of French lessons - this year I'm going to dedicate an hour a week to homework to let some of the learning sink in.

8. More music. Love music - never listen to it often enough. Must rectify that.

9. Surround myself with all that is splendid. Sounds marvelous doesn't it?

10. Prepare for Paris. I don't want to miss a second that we're spending in my favourite city - so this time I'm going to work out exactly where I want to explore - and spend hours walking around it.

11. Aim for excellence. I want to sit back and smile at everything I offer up knowing it's as excellent as I could make it. Whether it's work, a blog post, a cuddle or a meal - why do it if you don't do it as well as humanly possible?

So, what do you think? Achievable?

happy new year

No matter what you're doing this evening, I hope you have a lovely new year. Can't wait to catch up with everyone in the new year!