Times they are a'changing...

The Amazing Danny has finished my ink - isn't he incredible? Sorry for the dark picture, will try another one again so you can have a better look.



And there's a new haircut too!

From this...


To this!


With only a few magical snips of the scissors!

Much, much more refreshing for Summer. And as you'll remember, I have been growing the old colour out of my hair for simply an eternity. This seemed like a much faster solution. Now it's a all virgin and just waiting to be polluted with colour again!

Ahhh, lovely Saturday. I am home alone this weekend as the HTB has gone away racing mountain bikes for the weekend. Had some girls over for pizza, wine and The Neverending Story last night (can you believe that film is 25 years old now??) - 3 girlfriends and one much smaller 2 year old girlfriend. There was only one thing in the apartment that had any chance of keeping her amused and it worked a treat! Nice one ladies.

Have since spent the day relaxing on the couch, devouring a novel on loan from my sister-in-law-to-be who thought I'd like it - The Dressmaker by Rosalie Ham. It has inspired me to whip out the sewing machine again, and I'm going to work some floral Ikea cotton that's been sitting in my stash for awhile into this simple Summer skirt by the lovely Lady Melbourne. With a side of watermelon, almonds and strawberry goat-gurt for afternoon tea - YUM YUM YUM!

Anyhoo, back to it - was momentarily dazzled by the little green ADSL light signalling the Internet had come home again! Please don't leave me ever again, I'm sorry we had a fight...

Another Warby Weekender

I know I've mentioned before how much I love goats. They are JUST. TOO. CUTE.

So on this particular weekend away in Warburton we went on a mission to find the mythical goats all the (human) kids in attendance assured me existed... somewhere...

Lo and behold - hooray! Goats!

He did get a little too close to my bling for my liking though, and I had visions of packing him up, bringing him home, and sorting through goat poo until I got it back...

Someone downloaded all my internet and is hogging it all to themself...

Sigh. Our internet at home is totally busted. It's been out for about a week or so. I have a bunch of pics to upload (including my new haircut and the finished piece on my arm!) but alas, they will have to wait a little longer.

It busted on Saturday, and the HTB was so mad after trying to make it work all morning that all he wanted was a coffee. So I turned on the machine. And nothing happened - it was busted too. Oh dear. Not a good start to that rainy miserable weekend!

What else have I been doing lately?

• counting down the days til I finish work and packing up my desk (2 more weeks!!)


• counting down the days til we welcome back one BFF from overseas for Christmas, and farewell another on her big adventure - and trying to make sure the feelings of happiness of everything she will see outweighs the sadness of missing her to pieces.


• went out on a date to Maha - OMG, incredible, words can not describe this place. Actually let me use a couple - turkish delight filled doughnuts. Drool.


• trying to pry out of the HTB what, if anything, he would like to do for his 30th birthday in February (hence the reccie to Maha as a possible venue choice).


• waiting for the internet dude to come over and make it work again.


• sending out my love to a couple of friends on a rocky road at the moment - xxx.


• watching True Blood Season 2 (love love love love LOVE True Blood!) and Dexter Season 4 - with Mad Men Season 3 in the wings!


• tossing up whether to buy tickets to Golden Plains festival in May (nope).


• running errands - buying mountain bike tyres for the HTB, dropping in the aforementioned coffee machine to be fixed, getting my bridesmaid dress for January altered, meeting with uni to organise going full time next year, getting the dental x-ray my new dentist requested as a check up thing 6 months ago.


• and of course, lots of cocktails to celebrate Summer!

Well, I will post those pics soon, but in the meantime, here is one that always makes me laugh out loud!

PS - don't you hate how the word 'themself' is not technically a real word? From what I gather, it should only be used as 'themselves'? (Am I wrong here?). What are you supposed to say if it is a genderless comment?

Love a bit of sparkle

Oh Hello! - how stunning is that headpiece! Now I am waiting with breath that is baited for her online store to open: http://www.johannajohnson.com/

Zakkaya - 52 Johnson St, Fitzroy

Ooh, after passing by this little store on the way to and from work everyday for the last 2 years, staring wistfully at the 12pm-5pm opening hours and wondering how I was ever going to get there (don't ask me why I didn't think about dropping in on one of the countless Saturdays spent on Brunswick St!), I finally went for a long walk during my lunch hour to check it out. And I am in love. So beautiful. So so beautiful!

I found some magical Japanese ceramic cups for a dear friend's 30th. He is a big fan of Japanese style. And he doesn't read this blog so I can blab all about it. Well, I'm pretty sure he doesn't. At the moment he is home alone with this little guy, so I think even if he does read this occasionally, he won't be before his birthday on the weekend! Anyway, the cups are gorgeous, beautiful in their Japanese simplicity. White and about the size and shape of a takeaway coffee cup, slightly textured and just bliss.

My problem is that this particular dear friend lives in Sydney! Not good for transporting such precious little things. At this point I confess - I am a hoarder of packaging. I keep it all with the hope that I will use it again next time I need to send something (which I do! Just not as quickly as I receive things!) So I wrapped up the cups in so much bubble wrap that they are now the size of footballs, and I reckon I could probably kick them all the way to Sydney and they wouldn't break. I hope not anyway!

Oh oh - time to make like Christian and Bale - lunch of spicy grandmother's bean curd with my girlfriends awaits!

Favourite Things Friday #4 - The Great Gatsby

Or more specifically - Robert Redford and Mia Farrow in the movie. Swoon.

Nice Eyes!

From Little Lost Love

A call to bring the world together...

Perhaps you would like to consider affirming the Charter for Compassion over here?
So much potential to make the world a magical place...

Love This!

From The Design Files

Page Me!

Quite a few weeks ago now we went to the opening night of this exhibition. I have been meaning to mention how great it was - the photos were fabulous and they had a whole candy bar of old favourite sweets at genuine prices - 40c got me a can of pasito, a packet of fags/fads and a major sugar come down. I also picked up a couple of packets of the ole love heart lollies for 20c a piece, which taste just like those little pink fluoride tablets we used to get as kids.





We were gushing about how they are all old school and not at all different from how they used to be, except, what's that? EMAIL ME?



Seems I'm living in the past!

The Gangsters' Ball!

Remember how ages ago we got tickets to the Gangster's Ball? Well it was last night and was heaps of fun! I got my hair done up in some 1940s victory rolls by Kat, the gorgeous gothic fusion belly dancer at Wildilocks in town and didn't it turn out incredibly well!? I also indulged in a pair of fluffy, feathery Shu Uemera eyelashes for some uberglam - divine!

Retro Corner

Our apartment seems to be recessing through time starting in the back corner and spreading forward. There seems to be a lot of dark wood and orange featuring at the moment, and my latest impulse lust have Telegram map hasn't helped!



I do like how the corner has history though - the lamp came from a particularly dodgy little junk store in Collingwood in which the proprietor also sold Chopper's collection of paintings.

The cabinet was found for $20 underneath a pile of pallets at a going out of business sale, brought home, sanded and varnished as a place to store all my fabric stash.

I'll never make it to the Melbourne Cup BBQ today if I even begin on the couch's long and hilarious story.

The stunning white vase from Dinosaur Designs was an engagement gift from our dear friends in Sydney.

The tikis were purchased at the Pagan Pleasures tiki exhibition night held recently at Outre Gallery - the HTB has a thing for Tiki Chic.

And the wooden Hawaiian sailor? Well, that's what happens when the HTB heads unattended to the Op Shop with $2 in his pocket. Revolting.



Edit: Loving my timing here, there must have been some forces at work! After posting this I went and checked Pip's blog and realised that this post fits perfectly with the latest "my place and yours" - Blog HQ! I blog from the comfort of my big orange velvet couch and now here it is for all to see!

Balloons from the balcony...

Brisniland Weekender!

Spent the weekend enjoying the humidity of muggy ole Brisniland. Was beyond lovely to get up there and see everyone, especially considering it was the birthday of one BFF and the last time I will see another BFF before she and her boy head off on their amazing 9-10 month adventure (we tried to convince her it was ok to have a baby out of wedlock and that she didn't have to go on 'holidays' for 9 months, but she's still sticking to her story that they actually are going adventuring??)

What do you get a beautiful friend that's travelling light for a year? Well, we decided to all stitch a little bit of love into a patch for her pack so she can carry it with her everywhere she goes!



Patches aside - Brissie just isn't Brissie without a loooong lunch of tapas and cocktails - divine! We missed you though Al!
I'm just stoked I got to debut my dream - two feathers in one ear. Bliss!