New Years Decorations

Inspired by the lovely Cate from All Cats are Grey at Night's post here: http://allcatsaregrayatnight.blogspot.com/2010/12/christmas-eve.html , I made some paper pom poms to liven up our deck area for New Years. I decided to go for a rainbow coloured bunch of pom poms which, in hindsight, looked quite 70's flower power inspired and very festive! We had a fun filled evening of dancing, eating and way too much drinking with our closest friends. I'm not sure I want to take the pom poms down now, they are too pretty!

Christmas Goodies

Ahh Christmas has come and gone... Now the wait for New Years. We spent Xmas Day hopping between families and then went down the coast for a couple of days. Above are a couple of pressies from Mr BD, Chloe and Louis Vuitton 2011 diary pages for my LV Agenda. The latter is a very practical pressie as usually I get to late January and am feeling lost without being able to track things and make a belated trip to the LV store. Their stationery is just divine and they usually include some little trinkets like the above page markers, stickers and vintage pics of LV trunks.

I'm using the 2 weeks I have off from work over the holidays to relax & recharge, spend time with family and friends, eat lots, drink lots, read, do some crafty things around our home, take some time out for myself and reflect on the year that was 2010. I'd be lying if I said I didn't want to squeeze some post Xmas sales and op shopping in as well. Hope you are enjoying the holiday season as much as I am!

O Christmas Tree

Over the last few days I have been rather knocked over by a bout of sickness so this weekend we decided to have a quiet one in, doing a few things around the house including putting up our Christmas tree. I cherish this time of year and really enjoy getting into the spirit. This year I thought I'd take it easy with the decorations on our tree as it's just a little one and in previous years I usually cover it with so much tinsel you can't see the lights, let alone the ornaments! This year the ornaments are the stars...

Christmas time is also a good excuse to pull out old Christmas photos. I just love these pics taken of Milly and 'Santa' a few years ago. The poor (female) Santa received lots of kisses! I can't help but giggle when I see these pics ;-)

Garden Party

These pictures really inspire me.. I can't help but stare at all of the details and how pretty they are.

More Melbourne

A few mixed pics from Melbourne.

Beautiful homes at Fitzroy

Main drag at Fitzroy

Little Creatures Dining Hall at Fitzroy (wicked place btw, Brisbane needs one!)

A painfully cute cruiser parked on Collins St

St Kilda

Pretty coffee

Creative City laneway

History of Australian Fashion exhibit at the art gallery

The history of television & cinema at the art gallery

I heart Melbourne. I would love to move there, if only the weather wasn't so different to Brisbane. We felt like such out-of-towners rugged up in our scarves, jackets and boots while local Melbourners walked around in t-shirts and shorts. 

Melbourne Buys

Here are a couple of my Melbourne buys... A Toi Et Moi top and Wittner heels. I've been searching for another black heel to tag team it with another pair that I wear to death! 

Road Less Travelled

I have been on another brief hiatus, this time to Melbourne. I went down for work but then hubby met me down there last Friday and we spent a few days eating, drinking, shopping and exploring. I had been to Melbourne a couple of times before (also for work trips) and well to say I had seen the city would be a serious overstatement. More like the inside of a conference venue. Hubby hadn't been before. 

We went on a few trips out of the City: St Kilda, Prahran, Fitzroy and Windsor.  I never find stores where I want absolutely everything in store, but I did at Dorothy & Evelyn at Windsor! 

http://dorothyandevelyn.com/flash/dorothy.html

Such a beautiful store... The mix of cute vintage dresses, new finds, pretty ornate jewellery and homewares were so beautiful. Considering I had already gone over my luggage limit on the way down (hey, I really needed those 6 vintage summer dresses ok? Not.) I just bought a Toi Et Moi top and a pair of earrings. I definitely could have bought more. Lots more. 

Oh Dorothy & Evelyn.. would you consider opening a store in sleepy old Brisbane? (especially since I make it sound so appealing?)

Wall Cluster

Just thought I would post some pics of our wall cluster... we added the Brisbane print not so long ago. It is special for us to have found something retro that is specific to Brisbane.. you see a lot of Sydney & Melbourne stuff around, but not sleepy old Brisbane! I'm thinking now it would be great to find some differently shaped items to add, perhaps a round or oval print or tapestry along with something else...

Lace Mania

I found a stack of lace and trims at an op shop recently and have only just got around to taking pics. Some of it is such beautiful quality, particularly the cotton trims. I'm not quite sure what I'm going to do with it all yet but I'm sure I'll find something to do with them... At the moment I'm thinking of decorating bibs and baby singlets for a friends' little girl.. I think that would be quite girly and cute!

Op Shop Buys

These are my buys from Saturday. I couldn't believe my eyes when I found this white dress. I had been searching for a vintage white dress for ages but all the ones I had found before it weren't in good condition, i.e. stains, tears or just generally falling apart. It was more than I usually like to spend on things at op shops - $25.. but when I am going to see another one of similar condition? Yeah, I'm trying to justify it...

White dress - Vinnies, $25

Blue & black dress - Salvos, $4

Yellow dot shorts - Salvos $.50c

Floral nightie - Salvos $.50c

Yellow slip - Salvos $3.50