Daisy

I've been hanging out for Baz Lurhmann's  'The Great Gatsby' , for what seems like ages!
With delays in the release date, a huge blow-out in the film's budget I'm hoping it will be nothing but spectacular!
I love how the Fashion world get behind Baz & Catherine's films - their creative vision and beautiful styling  should be celebrated.
The May issue of US Vogue features Carey Mulligan who stars as Daisy, I'm still waiting for my subscription in the mail, but I've spotted some of the beautiful images by Mario Testino on fashion blogs -  you can see the set  here at the Vogue site.

...I read 'The Great Gatsby'  a couple of years ago - such a fast read,  but I was on holiday...a  beach holiday so had lots of idle time.
I must admit as the story unfolded I found Daisy's character to be very shallow...still,  Gatsby is obsessed with her!
Im hoping movie goers world wide will be obsessed with The Great Gatsby!  

.....The last of the sunshine fell upon her glowing face with romantic affection....

Inspiration Now - Botanical prints

Beautiful, delicate Vintage botanical illustrations.
I adore them! 

What were originally technical and not artistic, drawings, they  look beautiful in the home.
Try second hand book shops or Etsy for book  plates or large botanical charts look great against a stark wall!

The Royal Botanic Gardens in Sydney offer botanical illustration classes ...drawing from nature amongst the most beautiful surroundings -  How wonderful.

* images Top by
 Tine Ediger for HomeGarden.nl
Bottom via
Hvuitur Lakkris

Sun*Day

How fast does the weekend go by...

I had such a lovely Sunday - sublime weather after a wet (and chilly) Saturday.

We spent the afternoon at my sister's for a family BBQ to celebrate my Brother-in-law's birthday.

Good food

Great conversation

Smiles all around!

Wishing you all a great start to your week!

* images by me of my sister's garden...Winter is just around the corner so we're hanging on tightly to the last of the sunny days....

Etsy picks of the Week: Dreamy Blush

Happy Friday everyone!
I've been getting back into Pinterest and Etsy favourites lately -  marking images and items that appeal - so much visual beauty, wouldn't you agree?!
here are my Etsy finds for the week, inspired by this dreamy image.
Enjoy and have a great weekend!



Top image SweetMontana Tumblr (original source unknown)
* Shimmer Blush Pink Sequin Clutch by GiftShopBrooklyn
* Peach and Gold Dot Dish by Upintheairsomewhere 
*La Petite rose necklace by NestPrettyThingsShop

Frankie is in Town

Talented stylist and photographer Kara Rosenlund is in town with her vintage 'Travelling Wares' Caravan, Frankie!

Kara was part of The School's first birthday celebrations and drove down all the way from Queensland to teach her Vignette workshop and sell some of her beautiful wares.

Silly me forgot to book in before I left for the USA and the workshops sold out real fast,  but I was thrilled to find out there would be an extra class - tonight!
....and I'm going! (yayy!)


I'm looking forward to it.
Not too sure if its a hands-on styling workshop but I will definetley be taking  lots of photos
so look out for a blog post soon!

*images via Kara Rosenlund

at a standstill

at a standstill....
Ive been thinking a lot lately - always inwardly (as true introverts do).
Ive come to my blog many times the past week, wanting to post...post about lovely things.
But I hold back. It doesnt feel right.
Im at a standstill and my blog has always been a positive space for me - a place where I can share beautiful things, things that inspire and conjure happy emotions
but the past two weeks back from a wonderful wonderful holiday have been really tough.  I don't write about my day job often but its been the main thing on my mind lately
and causing me real grief.
Sometimes I think I shouldn't whine or complain and I know as a mum I'm very lucky to be only working part time but I've just been so unhappy there lately...its affecting my everyday!  ...it certainly has  me assessing and doing some soul searching about what I truly want from  life...

During our recent trip i was itching to blog, there was so much to see, to share all around - I had my (new) camera hanging around my neck every single day for 3 weeks!!... true!
....please dont think I only see the world in rose tinted glasses - I don't, but I guess I am a true dreamer...always trying to be positive and optimistic that life is and can always be great.
I also bought some beautiful supplies for my Etsy shop and hope to take some photos this weekend ...the sun is out today and I'm feeling in a better mood already!

* images during our San Francisco week (via my Instagram)

Catching up...
Hello friends!
Hello new week (and a time change!)
Ive been busy catching up on my taped TV shows....its bad enough that in this day and age we are so behind here in Australia when it comes to TV (and movies...and a few other things) -  Google search is just a keyboard away and I'm doing my best not to peek ahead -  I'm dying here...I don't want to stumble across any spoilers!
Especially for my beloved series 'Downton Abbey' ...are you a fan too?
I haven't even seen the wedding of Lady Mary and Matthew yet!?
...gahhh....I know!!...I'm so behind!

*images via Shadowcats tumblr 

Instant snaps

Instant snaps (from our recent trip)

We’re back!!...well we’ve been back 5 days already....(already??)

 I think it should be a mandatory rule that if you come back from an overseas trip you should be allowed to slowly and leisurely get back to a normal routine.

Wishful thinking -  nope, instead we went straight back to work commitments the very next day (not happy) , the boys went back to school (happily), I spent most of my week nights unpacking bags, laundry, ironing and packing away…. I still have some stuff in neat little piles on my bedroom floor ...

but WOW what an amazing trip and what a fabulous time we had...I was not ready to come home,

 I really wasn't.  

There was so much more to explore and see and taste and observe. 

I wasn't planning to be online much but Im new-ish to Instagram  and had a real treat snapping away on my phone and uploading, it was a fun way connecting to friends during our travels.

The real treat for Andrew and me, was to spend great quality time with our boys, we loved it, they loved it and it was fantastic to discover new cities, towns and tourist spots together as a family.

Someone at work asked me what was the best thing about my trip and I had to have a think about it but for me, it was just walking in new neighbourhoods and seeing how people live, how they go about their day to day.

...I love observing and imagining...

plus we got time to explore some beautiful shops, discovered we all love Chipolte and Mexican food and a real highlight was meeting my online friend Veronica and her family, for the first time - she is so lovely!! ....We spent an hour at the 'Neon Museum'  doing a fun tour - a colourful explosion of Retro Vegas