happy birthday freddie

Love me a bit of Freddie, and to celebrate his birth, here's one of my faves {followed v closely by Fat Bottomed Girls! Oooh, and Crazy Little Thing Called Love... and....}

PS: The Google Doodle to celebrate what would have been Freddie's 65th? Beyond awesome.

let the light in...

The people who renovated our house got it pretty well right - except they obviously ran out of money when it came to the bathroom. Where we've got gorgeous, original windows throughout the whole home, in the bathroom there's a nasty aluminium number {admittedly framed with timber on the exterior - but still...}

When we eventually do our bathroom up {and that's way down our list of priorities - it looks fine} I'd love to pop in a lovely big window that comes down to the bath. Now, as our back veranda will look directly into said bathroom, it'd need to be frosted, but still - imagine the light! Bliss.

Oh, and I'll have that bath too. x

super dooper saturday

Oh my, it's a bit of a whopper of a day for us today. To start - my girls are in the GRAND FINAL. Yep, the netball team I've lovingly been coaching for three years has made it to the top. Eep! Bless their socks, they've won and lost with grace this year - taking to the court with enthusiasm every single game. And leaving the court with a smile on their face. I hope their smiles are mega-wide today. We've made some red and white cheerleader pom poms and I'll be waving them around like crazy today.

Immediately afterwards {actually, kinda during} my gal has to dash to ballet to do her first-ever classical exam. She'll leave before the last quarter to get their on-time - luckily her dad's the ballet-bun person in the family {seriously, eight years on and I still can't get the damned thing to stay put for a whole lesson!}

Then, that afternoon it's a catch-up at the club that sponsors our netball club - drinkies and nibblies for all the players. Bless.

And is that all? Nope. I'm catching up with a fab friend who was in Paris at the same time as us - but our conflicting schedules didn't allow us to have champagne in Paris. So we'll have some champagne and cheese here while sighing over Paris together and plotting our next trip... Then, we're headed off to meet some more friends at Bar Petite. More champagne? Probably.

Sunday's father's day, so not tooooooo much champers on Saturday night. Breakfast in bed for the hubby, then pressies and a bit of a relax. We'll be needing it I think.

How's your weekend panning out?

i want candy*

*{and her hair}

flowers for friday

While I can usually admire orchids from afar, they've never been one of my faves. I think I've always been jealous of their high-maintenance perfection. But on such a glorious spring day I needed a pop of fabulous colour to celebrate, and, really, can you believe these gorgeous colours?

Taken en-masse at the Hampton Court Flower Show. Oh yes, just gorgeous.

i wanna be kate spade's friend....

Oh, I really shouldn't have followed Kate Spade on twitter. I was already besotted with the woman and the most recent series of instagam shots have me longing to be her bestie.

Look. Cocktails! For me?

beauty lust-haves

I'm a sucker for Chanel eyeshadow, and this gorgeous, slick, glittery grey is no exception. I haven't splurged on a new eye colour for yonks. But this little pretty may well need to come home and live in my make-up bag.

I'm still utterly besotted with my new YSL Parisienne Extreme parfum I purchased in Paris, but when I run out of current Tom Ford {Black Orchid - the ultimate nighttime scent} then I may be persuaded to track this down. Hello - gorgeous!

i've said it before...

The best thing about being a celeb would have to be getting to play dress-ups all the time.

And don'tcha just love how SJP seems to enjoy it too? {Wonder if Matthew Broderick got to play the Big Bad Wolf when they got home?}

wee french yoghurt pots

In France you don't have to eat yoghurt from a nasty plastic tub. Oh no, in France they have the most delicious yoghurt in lovely glass jars. I know - glass jars! So this time, I made sure I washed a few and brought them home. I wasn't quite sure what I was going to do with them {aside from popping in a votive candle...}

But here's what I can do. When I popped outside earlier to grab the mail I noticed two of my Pierre de Ronsard roses had gotten a bit damaged while hubby was tying them back. No problem, I snipped them off, brought them in and put them straight into a yoghurt pot.

Perfection.

Now all I have to do is clean my desk to make a more appropriate home for them  {please ignore that weird, crumby thing in the corner of my photo - focus on the roses and the yoghurt pot instead. Thanks}

it's all about contrast

Don't you just love a bit of contrast? I adore the way this lavender pops against this pale green shutter, which co-ordinates just beautifully with the stone wall.

I think I need to bring a little bit of Provence back to my spot in Merewether...

meal planning monday

Okay, getting organised again. Honestly, if I don't meal-plan my whole week seems to fall apart, so here we go.

Tonight: I couldn't be bothered leaving the house so we had a 'pantry meal' of potato, capsicum and chorizo tortilla. Served with a simple green salad. Yum.
Tuesday: The gal and I are taking her cousin to see the Verona Theatre Group's version of Pinocchio and getting a rather fabbo Italian meal with it. Last year this company came out and performed The Little Prince. Half in Italian, half in English - I was fully in tears. Bless.
Wednesday: I think I have to make a risotto as there is some kick-ass home-made chicken stock in my fridge that's begging to be used. Lemon chicken and haloumi risotto you think?
Thursday: My gal's last ballet lesson before her ballet exam on Saturday {why yes, it IS right after her netball grand final... BIG weekend} Best make her happy and make up a Shephard's pie for dinner.
Friday: Now, chances are that I've invited friends for dinner tonight. If so, there will be duck confit, potatoes and green beans. If not, well, why not have duck confit...
Saturday: There's a celebration at the local club for the end of the netball year. Nibbles will be available - so I'll have a curry at home in the slow cooker ready for our return.
Sunday: Roast beef. Yep, with plenty of veg - am LOVING roasted carrots and beetroot alongside my meat. You?

how many?

People, a moment please: this is, wait for it - my 2000st blog post. I KNOW!

I never realised, when I started this blog for a bit of fun a few years back, that I'd still be blogging 2000 posts later. I also had no idea that I'd form such incredible friendships, and discover so many fabulous aussie blogs.

So, woo hoo, here's to 2000 - and the next 2000. Thanks for sticking around x

flowers for friday

Later on I'll be popping out to buy some daffodils for Daffodil Day. But, until I have their pretty yellow faces popping over a pale blue jug, I'll have to fill this space with some provencal lavender.

le bol

A bowl of coffee, in a pretty bol purchased in Menerbes in Provence, my sweet new mousemat {purchased at Typo at Charlestown... doesn't have the same ring... but still - pretty!} and you have the perfect combination for a good morning's work.

Thanks Gourmet Girlfriend for a timely reminder that a big bowl of coffee is sometimes all you need.

here?

Excuse me, but how divine is this? There's a spot on my veranda that's just crying out for one of these babies {and the charcoal boards too - divine!}

colour coded

Should you ever be curious about the next hottest nail colour you only need to look to Chanel. Ever since Uma Thurman's nails in Pulp Fiction set the fashion world alight, Chanel have been the go-to for what's hot on nails.

While Rouge Noir is still one of the highest selling nail colours {what's not to love about a red so deep it's almost black} each season Chanel has fashionistas salivating in anticipation of their newest release.

Now, I didn't go for last season's citron yellow {when you have olive skin, yellows tend to bring out the jaundice effect...} I think I could be inspired to paint on this Coco Blue.

Or Blue Boy...

Blue Rebel?

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to stalk the Chanel counter...

a cameo role

When you have long, black, curly hair that you tend to wear just, you know, hanging, earrings tend to get lost.

But I think I'd be persuaded to wear an up-do for these!

Helloooooooooo lovely {Dolce and Gabbana clip-ons via net-a-porter.com - yum!}

Farewell Harry and friends

So, I finally got to the cinema for the final Harry Potter. Genius.

I was worried I'd feel let down, but once again the team came up trumps and created a fitting finale. I do feel sad that it's over, but thankfully the film did provide some closure.

Now I think it's time to revisit the books, then start all over with the movies again...

sweet saturday

Oh my it's a glorious day in sunny Newcastle today. We had our netball semi final against the top team, we lost, but boy, did we play well. That means that next week we'll play against the winner of the other semi-final and then, hopefully, onto the Grand Final. Woo hoooo!

And tonight I'm off to a Year 6 mums' night out. Yes, Year 6. Goodness. It does mean that I'm missing a fabulous blogger's bash in Sydney tonight to welcome back the BlogHer goddesses Mrs Woog and Eden - but I'm sure they'll have a fabbo time and I can live vicariously through blog posts and twitter feeds.

Now, I'm off to paint my nails - what goes with tapas? I'm thinking grey as I'm wearing a black vintage frock with white piping, red shoes, red lips and probably red bag. Too much red? Sorry, that's just not possible.

You?

eye spy

Because what's funnier than a cat with a "What you talkin' about Willis?" expression.

Nothing.

Thank you Isson Eyewear spring-summer 2012 catalogue. Not only is your eyewear pretty damn fine, you brought a giggle to my grey ol' day.

PS: Beware, link contains not only more rather fabulous shades; but a pug {!!!} and guinea pigs... You've been warned.

PPS: At first I thought that cat was lounging back and wearing a leather jacket. My die...