Happy Birthday Babies

Yet another cake!  Thank god for Grandma who had us over for dinner and made sure there was a big chocolately cake to share.

More Princess Watch...

Aren't I in Princess heaven this week - Will and Kate are out and about again today, this time at a reception at the Imperial War Museum.  And check out Kate's hair!  It's been a while since we've seen her wear it up.

Kate is wearing - a dark grey dress by Amanda Wakeley

No More Cake!!!

No sooner had I recovered from Gidget's birthday when Moondoggie's birthday rolled around.  They are exactly a week apart which makes it a rather busy time (especially for someone who hates cooking!)  I need to start thinking about the cupcakes he'll be taking to school on Tuesday - I thought I could get away with something simple but last night he told me he'd really like LEGO cupcakes.  Not too difficult I thought - until I saw these  and now I am a shaking mess of insecurity...

Anyone got any simpler ideas??? PLEASE!!!

Stairs!

I've been thinking a lot about my stairs today.  To cut costs in the eventuality that something else boring like the sewerage may need thousands of dollars spent on it, we have decided to hold off on carpeting the house.  The three bedrooms were going to be redone in a natural oatmeal wool blend and the studio and stairs were going to be done in a chunky sisal (I think).  This was a bit of a shame for about an hour and then I started thinking of the fun things I could do in the meantime.
As the stairs were going to be carpeted they will be made from crappy timber that will probably need to be painted to look any good. This opens up a world of ideas....
A bold, fun, bright colour?

Just the treads, just a runner, the treads and the rises?? So many questions.  Maybe some choice words, or images?

These tiles are amazing but I don't think they will help with keeping the budget in check!

 

I think my absolute favourites are the raw timber but unless I can fake it with a good stain I don't think this will work.

 

Let me know if you have any ideas - I'd love to hear them.

Princess Watch

Finally we get some Will and Kate action - yesterday was their first public outing together in three months.  They attended the premiere of the movie 'African Cats'.

Kate wore - a classic, dove grey, dress with turqoise and gold encrusted detail on the cuffs by Scottish designer Matthew Williamson.

Blimey - I nearly missed this one.... Kate and Will attended a reception today and Kate wore - a two piece skirt suit by New Zealand born fashion designer Rebecca Taylor.

Double Figures For My Baby Girl

As the heading says, my gorgeous Gidget turns 10 today and I can not for the life of me work out where that time went.  She has blossomed into an amazing person with a dry wit and a killer death stare.  She is kooky and thoughtful, loving and nutty.  She can be silent and moody, or all giggles and sunshine - she is 10!

On the weekend we celebrated with an 'Awards Night' - Gidget's 10th Annual Awards to be exact and we were lucky enough to be able to hold the party at a friend's Music Studio.  The girls channeled their favourite artist, got dressed in their finest and worked the red carpet out the front of the Studio.  

They posed for the Paparazzi and then made their way in to the Green Room (or in this case, Red) to indulge in a little Champagne (non-alcoholic) before making their way into the sound booth to lay down a track! 

 

You can imagine how thrilled they were, not only to see inside a real music studio, but to be able to record a song as well - words could not express the delight on their faces.  They all lined up in front of the mics, donned the headphones and warmed up for their rendition of Katy Perry's Hot N' Cold.

 

Craig talked them through the process and generally made them feel like Australia's newest Girl Group - Craig had them do a couple of takes and them we left him to weave his magic and the girls adjourned back to the Green Room for the awarding of the statuettes for the night, followed by a screening of 'She's The Man'

 

Many lollies were eaten, champagne drunk, and after the mandatory Birthday Cake we got to listen to their recording and each girl received her own copy of their song to take home.

Gidget also spent hours the night before designing a Mix CD for everyone to take home instead of lolly bags - I think she had just as much fun in the lead up  as she did on the day.


I hope she had as much fun as I did - her friends are all delightful and I'm pretty sure the day was a huge success.
Happy birthday Gidget!

Peeping In - REVENGE

You may have realised this by now but two of my favourite things are TV and houses - so what better to do than a post about a TV house!

The Hamptons Beach Houses from REVENGE to be specific!

Emily VanKamp's  character, Emily (funnily enough) rents a gorgeous beach house in the Hamptons (actually filmed in North Carolina, but let's not be picky).
All weatherboard and wrap around verandahs - this home is close to perfect as far as I'm concerned. 

I'm not a huge fan of the interior decor but that dining table is pretty ace.

 

This home is yet another reason why I'd love to visit the Wilmington area of North Carolina - One Tree Hill, Dawson's Creek, and now Revenge, so many reasons...

Stay tuned for the other amazing home from REVENGE......

House Update

Today was the first time I have been to the house and got that delicious thrill of anticipation - I was able to picture the house with the furniture in it and I got very, very excited.  Surfer Boy has finished both sets of steel doors (because he is bloody brilliant) and coupled with the weatherboards going on it is actually all starting to come together.  

 

 Sideway with Laundry door, heading to the shed

 

 From the back fence looking towards what will be the deck (living room on the left dining and kitchen straight ahead)

 Looking back to the shed

Call Me Maybe

You know those songs that come along and on first hearing you are hooked!  Well this is one of those for me.  I've heard it once on the radio and I fell head over heels in love with it.  It makes me grin, it makes me dance, it makes me turn it up loud!  It may be a completely cheesy pop song but hey, what's wrong with that?  Thanks Carly Rae for making me smile.

Nicole Ritchie

What a beautiful image - Nicole and Harlow Madden for Harpers Bazaar

Cabinets

This is Surfer Boy's last week of work - he's taking about 5 weeks of long service leave to work on the house.  Being a cabinet maker by trade he has taken on the job of doing all our cabinetry.  He'll be designing and installing the kitchen, bathroom and laundry for starters.  The thing I most love about working with S.B. is that I will sketch out what I want and before you know it he has not only made my drawings workable but built it as well.  Although he knows what he likes he is more than happy to leave most of the aesthetics to me - our taste is similar enough that he trusts that he will like what I design.  We make an ideal team I think.
Here are our kitchen plans which will probably be the first thing he tackles...

 

and then comes the bathroom....

We are going to hold off on the laundry for the time being just in case any unexpected invoices appear to ruin our life.  We figure it's better to be safe than sorry.

Weatherboards!

Awesome People Reading - Jake Gyllenhaal

LOGIES

Yes it's that time of year again - the night when Australia's entertainment industry get together and celebrate their year - or just drink heaps of free booze if you're Karl Stefanovic!  Who will you be gunning for to take out the big one this year?  I sat next to Adam Hills this morning at breakfast so that's good enough for me - if you live in Yarraville you get my vote.  Easy aren't I.
I'd love to know where you're vote's going....