Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Speeding Week

It's only Wednesday and already this week feels like it is flying by. His Travel Romance left for Adelaide today - he's attending his sister's wedding on Saturday and spending a few days either side with his parents and some friends. Unfortunately I wasn't able to go (funds are rather tied up right now in anticipation of what's happening in two months, four weeks, and two days time! Eep!), which means I am left to amuse myself for the Easter long weekend. Fortunately, I have a friend's birthday drinks and nibbles tomorrow night followed by dancing followed by Kitsch, and on Friday a lovely girlfriend from Adelaide, who is in town for the weekend, will be meeting me for lunch at the fabulous Little Creatures. Saturday is birthday friend's girly birthday lunch in the Swan Valley and then... Well, I have a house to clean, and some knitting to do!

I'm not sure how to neatly sew these two subjects together so, quick! Look over there! Was that something blue?? No? Well, speaking of blue, here are some photos of me and my fellow Blues 'n' Roots Festival goers...




Sunday, March 28, 2010

Vintage Lovlies

Earlier this week, my Assistant Director of Operation Save As Much Money As Possible (Op OSAMMAP) severely reprimanded me for my accidental purchase of three lovely vintage dresses from Beta Boutique, which I found via a certain little Gypsy (whom I blame completely by the way)...



I just love the colours in this gorgeous afternoon dress from the 50's. I think that wherever I wear this little lovely, I shall be fluid and graceful, and with my hair pinned up with wisps dancing around my face, and with warming tights and a cardigan, and some beautiful creamy boots, I shall look cool, yet warm on the autumnal streets of London, and people shall whisper, "who is that lovely girl who channels Zooey Deschanel?"


If I ever have enough of the 50's, I can then move on into the 70's, with this lovely white and tan, rose printed, skirt pleated lovely...


It doesn't look like something so special from further back, but if you come a little closer, dear friends, you will see what it was about this dress that reached out and stole my paypal login details...


I think the floral pattern on this dress is just divine, and with the subtle colours, it will do very nicely for those days when I feel like staying neutral. And, with warming tights and a cardigan, and some beautiful creamy boots, I shall look vintagey-warm on the autumnal streets of London, and people shall whisper, "who is that lovely girl who channels cinnamon chai lattes?"

Finally, we reach the 80's, with a dress with a story.


Beta tells me that in 1986 her Godmother managed to get herself from the USSR to the German Democratic Republic and, if that wasn't feat enough, she then managed to buy herself this very, very dark navy blue dress.


If that story wasn't enough to get me into these layers, the fact that the dress is dark navy (a current absolute favourite of mine that I've been finding very hard to find lately) sealed the deal. I just have images of this dress with a fabulous red belt cinched around the waist, and quite possibly a pair of warming tights and a cardigan, teemed with a pair of beautiful creamy boots. I shall look boho-warm on the autumnal streets of London, and people shall whisper, "who is that lovely girl who channels truth, beauty, freedom, and love?"

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Fizzing!

Tonight I decided to browse through the West Coast Blues 'n' Roots Festival web site and choose a few more artists to add to my playlist and check out on Sunday.

By pure, random, delighted, happy luck, the very first band I clicked on was...


The Swell Season!! I can't begin to tell you how freakishly excited I am by this! I am absolutely fizzing with screaming joy, excitement, and anticipation! For those who don't know, The Swell Season is Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova, who are the couple from Once. For those who don't know Once, well, I suggest you go out to your nearest DVD shop and rent it or buy it now! If the nearest DVD shop is already closed for the night, scout around the building for an open window... If all else fails, get over here and I'll set you up in my lounge room with a cozy blanket and you can watch my copy. I'll even bring you a glass of wine or a ho'cho' and snuggle into your shoulder whilst we watch. It wont be creepy, I promise...

Once is a beautiful story with beautiful music, and the people who made that music are going to be playing in front of me in a mere matter of days! Er. Mer. Gerd!! The excitement is doubled because I seriously didn't even know they were going to be there until about half an hour ago! Eep!

Monday, March 22, 2010

Long Time No Blog

It was pointed out to me today that my blog has been doing a poor job at keeping people updated with my life this last week... Fair call. But that's only because I've been busy baking and planning and spending time with His Travel Romance, who is away for the best part of this week...

So, now that I'm home alone in the house with Annie, and now that there is an absolutely fabulous storm raging outside my window, throwing sheets of rain down onto rooftops and giving them a fuzzy appearance, and flooding streets and driveways, and now that I'm all comfy in my PJ's on my couch with a chocolate chip cookie and a glass red wine within easy reach, and now that Two Hairy Bikers are telling me about their adventures in Morocco via my television, I can finally sit back and tell you a bit about my week.

Really, this week has all been a lead up to yesterday, which was Our Travel Romance's third year anniversary. I've never actually been with someone for three years before, so this seems like a great accomplishment for me. To celebrate, I decided I was going to lean on the creativity of Katie Sokoler and, rather than spend a fortune, which my London-bound self can't afford to do, I made my lovely old dinosaur a flip book and I baked him some heart shaped chocolate chip cookies! In all honesty, the cookies were only borrowed sub-consciously, because I could have sworn I had the idea myself, until I stumbled across Katie's cookies whilst looking for the link to her flip book...


The photo below was what I used as the gift tag for the chocolate chip cookies - they were bundled up in some dark purple felt with silver string, and I wrote on the photo in red marker, "sweet hearts for my sweetheart". Naww...


I'm actually munching on one of the chocolate chip cookies right now. The recipe I used (from Taste) is lovely - so buttery it almost tastes like shortbread.

In return I was delighted to receive two vouchers - the first for dinner at Chez Pierre on a night yet to be chosen, and the second for two tickets to see Cats!! I'm so excited!! I booked our tickets today for the 29th of April - only just behind the premium seating section! Eep!

So, now that the sun has emerged just in time to duck down behind the horizon (hiding from the next sweep of the storm), and now that my second glass of shiraz has disappeared along with the cookie, and now that a 1980's re-run of Alf has finished and my head is warm and fuzzy, I'm going to put aside my macbook and, in an effort to channel my inner nanna, I'm going curl up and turn to my knitting and my glass of muscat...


Reading: George Orwell's 1984.
Knitting: A blanket for a homeless child to keep them warm this winter.
Wanting: To visit Scarborough in North Yorkshire, England.
Counting down to: the Cloudy Bay Vineyards Wine Dinner at Fraser's this Friday, and the West Coast Blues n Roots Festival this Sunday.
Excited about: receiving my birthday invitations, currently being created by Yak!

Sunday, March 14, 2010

Princesses of Hearts

Today Annie and I cut out 43 red paper love hearts...



And then we played with them...



Just because we could.

Saturday, March 13, 2010

Cubes Of Colours And Smiles In The Surf

It feels like whenever I want to write a post, there's never just one thing for me to write about. I don't want either story to take away from the other, but I also can't hold off on telling either of them!

So, story one. Last night was the long-awaited rubiks cube party! I started the night off with a white skirt, blue polka-dot top, red belt, orange gloves, green scarf, and yellow Ray Ban style glasses. Quite a fetching outfit, but not one you particularly want to be sporting when the drive-through liquor store attendant decides he's not going to come and serve you in your vehicle, and you have to actually get out and be seen in public looking like the blind victim of someone's fashion prank.

By the end of the night, I'd managed to swap most of my outfit for all things coloured orange - including swapping my lovely red belt with the Best Lead for his lovely orange paisley shirt.


Having talked it over with Pinky in London on my way home from last night's festivities (have to love a convenient time difference!), I think we may well be bringing the Rubiks Cube party to Fulham before the end of the year!


But as fun as last night was (and it really truly was!), I really want to get onto story two! (See - one story always suffers!)

This morning I got up nice and early, slapped on some sunscreen, jumped into my board shorts, and headed down to the Fremantle Surf Life Saving Club to volunteer with the Disabled Surfers Association.



The DSA was started by surfer Gary Blaschke who, after a motor cycle accident, lost one of his knee caps and had to undergo extensive rehabilitation. Today, the DSA helps anyone with a physical or mental disability who wants to get out into the water and onto a board.


Participants today ranged from primary school aged kids, right up to experienced adults who just needed some extra help to enjoy the water. The smiles on everyones faces as we swooshed them along on their surfboards made today one of the most rewarding volunteer days I have ever experienced. To see immediately that you are brightening someone's day, and giving them an experience they will absolutely treasure, just makes you feel as though a little glow worm has snuck his way into your heart and your eyes and is making you glow from the inside out.




My work colleague and fellow volunteer, the Free Man.


The DSA operates during summer all around Australia, so although they're wrapping up for the 09/10 summer this month, if you live in Australia and don't mind the water, I couldn't recommend more highly that you get in touch with this loving organisation and spend a few hours next summer giving joy to surfers with a disability.


Such an amazing day...

Oh - and just to tie the two stories together - my toes were still channeling last night's rubiks cube in this morning's sand...

Thursday, March 11, 2010

Channeling Snow White

So I decided this week to change my hair a bit. I already had a trim, which actually resulted in a good two inches coming off (trainee hairdresser - it was free, but it took 2.5 hours and got me into trouble at work for my extra long lunch break!), so all I needed now was a colour.

Down to the local supermarket I popped and in between work, and Italian lessons last night, I performed the fastest ever dye job my bathroom has ever seen! With "darkest brown" hair colour in gloved hand, I smothered my head in drippy goo, and voila! This is what my new hair looks like when I'm cheesy-happy:


And this is what my new hair looks like when I'm goofing around:


What do you think?

Sunday, March 7, 2010

Celebration Day

Saturday was officially the day for His Travel Romance and I to celebrate my British Citizenship. After visiting a camera shop in Fremantle to discuss entry level SLR's with a lovely English lad, we skipped down to San Churro for churro's and chocolate and Spanish coffee for breakfast!


We had time to run a few little errands before winding our way down to Maylands for high tea at Peninsula Tea Gardens which was simply delightful! Delicious mini sandwiches and quiches, delectable scones with sweet strawberry jam and freshly whipped cream, and cupcakes, eclairs, and many other delights filled out three tiers and later, our bellies.




The Royal Albert bone china was just gorgeous, and had I not plans to leave the country and my house in the next few months, I would have added a set to my little teacup collection. Mind you, I would look rather dapper sipping my tea from a bone china tea cup on my flight to New York...



Even Mr Willy Wag-tail decided to bring his family down for the day to nibble at some Parisian high tea. He said his favourite by far was the scone.


With appetites sated and pots of tea warming our hearts, we sauntered back to the car and came home to rest for a moment before heading back out again to see Alice in Wonderland in 3D. After hearing of many negative reviews of this film, I am delighted to announce that the negative reviewers simply have no idea what they're talking about! I found Johnny Depp as delightful as ever, I fell in love with the Cheshire Cat all over again, Matt Lucas was just gorgeous as Twiddle Dum and Twiddle Dee and the entire story was captivating and enchanting and I would suggest that anyone who delights in the imaginary will fall head of heels in love with this movie.


Just as I fell in love with this photo of His Travel Romance - so nerdy, yet so cute!

Saturday, March 6, 2010

British Kitsch

Thursday was a fabulous day! Dressed in my lovely new navy blue dress, lips smacking of red and with a white flower headband in my hair, I became a British citizen!


I was congratulated on my accomplishment by one of my dearest friends who, for reasons unknown even to us, refers to me as I refer to her...


I also received a lovely key chain from Mother Romance, in the shape of the Royal Crown. Such a sweet gift.

I celebrated that night with dinner out at the aforementioned Kitsch Bar before dancing, which was just amazing!




The Best Lead and Mr V, who joined me for this gastronomical delight.

My fragrant and very tasty lon of prawns simmered in coconut with rice crackers and poached vegetables. Mr V has decided that the next time he eats here, this will be his dish of choice.

The boys both had duck nam prik ong with iceberg, tomato and pork scratchings. Quite tasty but, in my opinion, not quite as good as the lom.

Comic strips cover the bathroom doors. Very kitsch.


Chocolate sandwich with peanut brittle icecream. This dish may or may not have been used to tease Mr V with, as he had to leave before dessert to go and prep for the dance lessons for the night. Simply put, it was heaven in your mouth.

One of my favourite features of Kitsch - the lamps on the staircase to nowhere.

Today's adventures see the celebrations and the planning continue. First stop, scouting out camera shops for a good, but small SLR for my travels. Second stop, a bike shop to get my wheels valued so I can sell them in order to buy the good, but small SLR for my travels. Third stop, Peninsula Tea Gardens for a celebratory high tea! Fourth stop, the movies, to see Alice in Wonderland! And all in my lovely new skirt. Yay!

Her Other Tales

Related Posts with Thumbnails