Thursday, January 31, 2013

Landscape Dreaming - Getting it Right

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This trip hubby and I have decided our main focus is going to be on the alfresco / pool area.

The thing is - before you can actually "do" anything you need to have a plan. You need to know where you will be running retic, what you are doing with lighting and pretty much the basic order or works.

We are finding this particular aspect quite overwhelming, unlike the house a garden really cant grow organically, you need to have a method to your madness and have it all set down before you start actually working.

I have seen some lovely on line garden design tools but me not being the most technology savy means this looks more scary than not.

So im kinda stuck hand drawing my ideas and lets be honest .... its looking rather primitive. I will be working on improving these over the weekend and am hoping to show you my ideas on Monday but for now .... we have edited our wants / needs down and decided on a lush, semi formal style with lots of structure and boundaries.

I want it to feel almost like a lush secret garden like image number 2 while also trying to keep in fairly low maintenance.

Let's hope it comes out right? I have confidence, the pool looks amazing so we must be on the right track!!!

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Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Keep Calm ... It's Only a 30th Birthday

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That's right people - Miss V is no longer as young as she once was .... and in order to celebrate the start of getting old she has decided to host a party. Lets be honest, a part of the joy im getting out of organising this event is poor Mr V cringing. See its also his 30th so we are having a joint party and I am loving it. He is obviously hating it and thinks he may have married a geek.

The reason for my recent geek-hood? I am having a theme .... and not just any theme but a bond style theme.

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With casino tables

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Lots of lovely champagne


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And gourmet cocktail food

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A buffet desert station with a black and gold theme....

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And obviously a red carpet dress code!

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I am hoping hubby is going to look like this .....

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And im sure he is hoping I will look like this....

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Overall this is just the beginning so you will have to bare with me as I show you all sorts of idea's I have about this wonderful event!!!

Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Unusual Lightly Ideas - Love Love Love

Ok so you all know I am mad for unusual or different styles of lighting and wandering around Beacon lighting on the weekend I came across a cracking set if you are after something slightly different.

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I really really really want to use these over a kitchen bench - one of each shape ... that's right mother dearest - they wont match!

Anyways ... time flys when you are waiting in eager anticipation for dearest hubby to come home. More to come on the housing front tomorrow.

Monday, January 28, 2013

A Weekend of Martini's and Cake!

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That's right, I spent this Australia Day long weekend drinking Espresso martini's and baking my first ever sponge cake ... and it actually came out pretty damn perfect!

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It was moist, it was fluffy, it was nice and tall ... I actually made a whole batch of small baby cakes - cut them in half, filled them with cointreau infused strawberry syrup, cream and then topped with more strawberries. I then garnished with dark sugar french meringue.

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How can you not love a desert this pretty!

A busy weekend full of catching up with friends .... the perfect way to fill in time before Mr V comes home.

Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Black Pool Update

Last week when I excitedly showed you pictures of the pool you may have noticed it wasn't the lovely glossy black colour I promised.

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Nope it was milky and almost a light grey colour even after the water was added.

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This is due to the concrete residue that was stuck to all the little bits of glass. Yesterday the pool people were back and after dumping a ton of acid into the water it is now its lovely glossy black self. Obviously it will take a while before its again swimable but I'm really happy with how it turned out!

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I cant yet show you just how lovely it is because of the time I get home the pool is always in the shadows however here is a sneak peak at the almost finished product.

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Monday, January 21, 2013

A Few of My Favourite Things ...

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As some of you know Mr V is constantly travelling - he is away for long period and we refer to these as trips. My life is not worked in weeks and months but trips .... for example "it will be 2 trips before we have time to complete this."

As with everything some trips are easy ... sometimes I enjoy the time on my own getting things done that make me truly happy ... sometimes however these trips are difficult. Things get complicated, break, go wrong and I have to deal with these "issues" on my own.

This is one of those trips ... everything is hard, Tilly (the new puppy) is making sleeping for more than 4 hours impossible which makes poor Miss V grumpy without her usual 8 hour supply.

When times are tough I find it very easy to fall into this mood where I let even the little things get to me .... my coffee was cold, the air con is too loud .... the car is squeaking.

However i try very hard to counter mind this with lots of positive thoughts and one of these techniques involves me listing all the things that make me happy ... my favourite things if you will and I thought I might share them with you ....

1) A Brightly Coloured Dress - there is something that just makes you smile as you wear a dress the colour of sunshine.

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2) The way your tongue feels like sandpaper after eating really good honeycomb.

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3) The warm gooey feeling I get when Mr V kisses me on the forehead ... awww he loves me!

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4) The feeling of right as your two best friends snuggle with you in bed.

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5) The smell of fabric softener as you hang your clothes out in the sunshine.

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6) Being able to wander Ikea without a time limit - I know this sounds like some peoples idea of hell but they have such good ideas and so many great products it is wonderful to have the time to enjoy the crazy instead of stressing about it.

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So there are my five lovely things to raise my spirits on this beautiful Tuesday in January. How bout you, what do you do in order to get that happy feeling back when your feeling down!

Sunday, January 20, 2013

House Envy - Giuliana and Bill's New House

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Ok so I might be a bit behind the times but I have a major case of house envy ... I dont know if you know the couple but Giuliana and Bill Rancic seem to have hit the jackpot when it comes to a beautiful home.

God I love this house - every little details seems to be well thought out and full of that lovely warm feeling I desperately want to copy in my own home. So today is an ode to my green eyed envy of this lovely home.


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Thursday, January 17, 2013

A Little Bit of Pretty

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Mr V is going to kill me for this post however I feel the need to vent. So venting I will go .... is it too much to ask for just a little bit of pretty in our house.

Let me start at the beginning, as there is both a boy and girl living in the one space certain compromises are always made in order to keep everyone comfortable. The man cave and sporting memorabilia are either removed or restricted to certain spaces and mirrored surfaces, white and anything overly pretty are also reduced in order to cater to the comfort of the other sex.

The problem is ... our house is extremely neutral. It is dominated by neutral tones of grey, navy and black with just a hint of mustard to complete the look. This can not in any way be considered pretty and in most of the spaces there is nothing wrong with that but I have to ask myself .... why cant I have just one room of uninterrupted girliness to have coffee with friends, read a book on a pretty floral couch and enjoy the lux mauve drapes in peace.

I'm not talking about over the top pink and sparkly .... oh no I mean just a hint of the feminine ... something subtle and luxurious.

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My argument was that the media room is almost like a bit of a man cave abet a grown up one. He has a space he can lounge inelegantly, drink beer and watch horrible sports all in a cool dark ... cave like space while I don't have a bright, floral pretty space I can escape too.

Apparently he needs to think about the ramifications of allowing me my little bit of pretty so for the moment we are at a stalemate.

I know they say marriage is all about compromise but seriously ... they also say ... Happy Wife Happy Life!!!

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Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Cool News ... No really

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Yup thats right, my long awaited pool is finally wet. Not just wet but practically aquatic!

Obviously the day after they fill it up the pour gallons of acid in there making it totally unswimable but other than that ... I have a pool!!!

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