all frocked up

Look at this bottle of Piper all frocked up by John Paul Gaultier. It's Rocky Horror meets fabulous - love it!

the real paris

This time next month I'll be in Paris. I know! We'll be there for the Bastille Day celebrations {squeeee!} and also for the sales {double squeeeeeeee!}

So obviously I'd be mad not to stock up on some Parisian classics. Checking out the Galeries Lafeyete website I stumbled upon these pretties. Galeries Lafeyete Paris - yep, that's their name. I know, stop it. Could there be a more parisian nom? And look at them - such a classic pair of grey wedges.

Luckily we've got a 30kg luggage limit - I'll be taking 2kg of luggage from Australia...

sunday suppers

I tell you what, I am LOVING my Aussie Farmers Direct deliveries. Every Thursday there's a rather fabulous black cardboard box filled with a surprising selection of fruit and veg {and those black boxes are being put to good use as storage - they're fabulous!}. They even made me learn to like green capsicum - true. Slowly simmered with onions and garlic, and diced finely, they're actually rather lovely. Today I had a ham, cheese and tomato sandwich with all my freshly delivered ingredients and it was delish. Simply delish.

It's also making meal planning easier - I know what vegies I have and can go from there. Here's what we're eating this week:
Sunday: Pork roast {from Aussie Farmers}, crash hot potatoes {par-boiled baby potatoes, squashed down with a masher, and topped with olive oil, garlic and dried chillies and baked till golden}, parsnip puree and roasted carrots with thyme and garlic.
Monday: Chicken casserole topped with herb dumplings served with pumpkin and spinach.
Tuesday: I need to feed up my gal - she's off for a three day school excursion to canberra tomorrow {eeek!}. I'll make beef bourginon, it's her favourite. Served with mash and green beans.
Wednesday: No gal tonight {sob!} just the two of us. We'll have barramundi {from Aussie farmers} and I'm going to try baking it on a bed of potatoes, lemon, garlic and tomatoes.
Thursday: No gal again, so no ballet. I think hubby and I should head out to dinner don't you?
Friday: Okay, today's the day I'm off to Sydney {not last week}. I'm going to have all the prep done for chicken noodle soup for when my lass gets off the bus late at night.
Saturday: Hubby's got a catch-up with school friends. I think the gal and I will make Gourmet Girlfriend's gnocci. Mmmm.

two good

I don't know about you, but there are some couples/two-somes that just make me sigh, "Oh, I love them!" Here are mine, share yours...

 Posh and Becks. Love.

Diane and Joshua. And look at them on their matching bikes. Bless. This couple always seems so blissfully besotted with each other - and c'mon - he was Pacey! What's not to love?

Kyra and Kevin. I swear, if these two ever break up you'll hear my howls of "Noooooooooooo!" across the globe. If I were Kyra I'd make Kevin dance for me every night. Chances are he would have left me years ago, unless he's as fond of dancing as I am....

Paul and Joanne, quite possibly my favourite old Hollywood love story.

 Richard and Elizabeth, quite possibly my favourite Hollywood lust story. I'm planning on taking Furious Love on holidays with me. Am dying to read the story of their passion.

I have an almost unnatural obsession with Ryan Gosling. It all started with The Notebook - which is probably why I keep hoping for a reunion with Rachel McAdams. Have you YouTubed this "Best Kiss" from the MTV Awards a few years back? Oh my...

Simon and Maggie aren't a couple, but boy, do I love them together. This scene from the final episode of The Cook and The Chef had me sobbing. I love how he says her name, "Maggie" and the lovely, respectful gorgeous relationship they have. Love.

Okay, now I'm sure to have forgotten a few - so tell me yours.

flowers for friday

Ooooh, look at this - dahlias combined with votive candles - hello extraordinarily clever and pretty idea!

the right accents

I was really looking forward to Nine. I'd looked forward to it at the movies {and missed it}, then looked forward to it on DVD {and, um, forgot about it} and then excitedly recorded it when we got Foxtel IQ. Well, last night I was keen to watch something and thought I'd give this a shot. I was pretty sure that I'd be able to ignore Nicole Kidman's botoxed and lip-plumped face, and settled in to enjoy it. But something bugged me.

Daniel Day Lewis' accent.

It really bugged me, and it wasn't until he started singing until I realised why.

His accent wasn't so much crazy Italian Director as, The Count from Sesame Street.

Obviously I had to stop watching as everytime he spoke, in my head I heard {"And nine, ha, ha, ha!}

What's been your accented bug-bear?

just gorgeous

Watching MasterChef last night reminded me of just how much I love Nigella. And my gal's squeeling and handholding reminded me of how much she loves Nigella too. Bless.

Don't know about you, but it also made me crave a {rare} standing rib roast and potatoes dauphinoise. Sunday's supper perhaps?

to do, do, do, do, do

We're flying to England in three weeks - eek! Before then there's a whole list of stuff we still need to do - including buying a new camera {love my iPhone shots - but we'll need more than that for Paris and Provence}. I'm trying not to get panicky, but - eeek!

Also, my gal's off for a three day school excursion to Canberra next week, poor frosty lil critter. As she's grown about a metre since last winter I'll have to succumb and stock up on a few woolies for this trip. And some kind of dutch courage for myself to cope with my gal being in a different state to me! Eeeeek!

pink patent mary janes

It's outrageous that I do not, seriously, I kid you not, own one pair of Pink Patent Mary Janes. Outrageous I tell you. I own red mary janes, and quite a few black pairs - patent even. But pink, well, not. However, an email from my friend Nikki - showcasing these beautiful Kate Spade mary janes could well be the impetus to change all that.

Hello, beautiful, come to to mama...

sunday suppers

Okay then, so, it's almost the start of another week. Honestly? When we get back from holidays we're hoping to start the long process of a kitchen renovation - so I thought I'd start sharing some of our inspirations as we go. We've got three windows very similar to this in our kitchen, that look out into the pool {our pool's raised in our terraced backyard so you basically look over the water - very soothing.} I'm only asking for two things in the kitchen: a butler's sink like this one, and a 900mm freestanding oven. Luckily we can position a nice big sink in the middle window - just like this! Happiness!

But, in the meantime, in my present kitchen, I'll be making these meals.

Sunday: Chorizo and canellini bean pilaf {no roast dinner tonight as we had roast vegies with our duck confit last night, including carrots roasted with garlic, honey and thyme - mmmmm}

Monday: Pork casserole with green beans.

Tuesday: French lessons, so I'm making chicken bolognaise for dinner I think.

Wednesday: Netball training: burritos.

Thursday: I'm in Sydney, so hubby and daughter will have to prepare dinner. Home-made pizzas are the best option I think.

Friday: Barramundi, oven-roasted chips and green salad.

Saturday: Paella. Oh boy have I had a hankering for paella lately - best make some huh.

farmer's best

For some reason, we go through a lot of milk in this house. It could be the coffee addiction, or the fact that my husband and child tend to snack on cereal, but it's the one thing we're always low on. It made me pine for the olden days when the milkman would deliver milk to your door. In glass bottles {yes, I am that old}.

So I did a bit of a happy dance when I saw that the milkman was doing a comeback - just when I had my cranky pants on about the milk discounting and how that was impacting our farmers. When the dude knocked on our door we signed up and have now had two deliveries.

Yep, milk, bread, vegies and barramundi{!!} all delivered in a box on our doorstep.

The quality has been awesome. We went with the mixed box and aside from a rogue green capsicum, the quality's been brilliant {the green capsicum was fine - I just don't do green capsicum...}

If Aussie Farmer's Direct is operating near you go check them out. It's a great way to support Aussie farmers - and get food delivered to your door. Next week I'm doing the full shop with vacuum sealed meats and deli meats - I'll let you know how I get on.

bellisimo

Three curvalicious models on the cover of Italian Vogue.

Bella, bella, bella.

flowers for friday

I think I always go back to a classic petal pink flower. I love a bunch of happy yellow blooms, can admire the simplicity of white, adore the dramatic richness of red, but really, if I had to choose one coloured flower for the rest of my life, well, it'd be pink {but I'd be sneaky and want all the shades on offer...}

You?

yeah baby

When I happened upon this over at Chalk and Talk, well, I thought it was perfect. It's too easy to get bogged down in 'stuff' that obscures the true beauty of the day and our life in general. So I'm hitching that cute lil caravan to my wagon and taking a ride on the happiness train. Wanna come along?

the people you meet

I've written before about the power of community with blogging - it's one of the things that makes my heart sing. I've 'met' so many people through blogs who are kindred spirits.

One of these is Kakka from Menopausal Mumma. Kakka's been a sweet, consistent voice in both comments and blogs and she's just one of those people who makes the world a nicer place to be in. So when I discovered that Kakka's mother blogged, well, I had to go see.

Unsurprisingly, Mimsie, Kakka's mother is just as lovely as her daughter. I love checking in on Mimsie's blog {not in the least because we have the same blog design - kindered spirits indeed}. I think it's so important that we're exposed to the voices of different generations, with respect and understanding. Mimsie always gives me something to think about - and for that I'd like to thank her.

So here's my virtual afternoon tea setting for my on-line friends - with a place for Kakka, a place for Mimsie - and one for you if you'd care to join us.

hot diggity

There are two types of people in the world: those who find dogs in costume hilarious, and those who don't.

I fall into the former category, and when it's a pug in costume? Well, hello, it's doubly hilarious obviously. Two pugs? Let's not go there...

sunshine always makes me smile

Oh, it's all sunny outside - that makes me ever-so-happy. I've finally washed my gal's sports uniform {let's not discuss how many times the tracky dacks were worn before washing...} and I have a dark load flapping away on the line. Love.

I'm also plotting a wee floral arrangement like this in my living room - can you imagine the heart-soaring whenever you wandered into a room like this? Pretty is as pretty does - especially in your home...

new scentsation

I'm almost out of my favourite perfumes. What a shame. I estimate that I have about a month's worth of two of my favourites, and will run out just about the time I hit Paris. Guess I'll have to buy a few newbies while in Paris....

This one's sounding pretty spesh, and very Parisian don't you think?

washed out

I feel like I'm in an episode of Hoarders at the moment. Except instead of 'just-in-case' stuff, I'm at risk of being crushed to death by mountains of laundry - dirty and clean...

When it rains, and rains, and rains, and you're busy, busy, busy, things tend to fall by the wayside. This week, in this neck of the woods, it's the laundry. Oh yeah, I've been doing the 'sniff-test' with monotonous regularity. Eeek! And looking at the weather forecast for the next week I can't see that pile diminishing, well, not without the drying running 24/7 which just isn't an option.

I know I'm not alone though, gee, we're only a household of three! Please tell me that you also have a washing pile that sniggers at you every time you walk by it...

shoes with a splash of shiny

It's all grey, drizzly and erky outside, and I have PDLIT {post dancing like I'm twenty} injuries. So I thought I'd best pop up some Jimmy Choos to brighten up the day. Luckily I wasn't wearing these when I was dancing like a maniac on Saturday night, I'd be walking around in an even more sad and sorry state than I am now.

Hope you're having a good start to the week.