happy river cafe

we went down to the happy river cafe for breakfast this morning and i have to tell you, it is the best place to go with kids.. we could actually relax & enjoy our coffee, without worrying which chair mirka would try and climb, only to want down again as soon as she got up there. the husband & i have given it a good go, continuing our pre baby, let's-go-out-for-breakfast weekend routine, i mean it used to be so easy when mirka was a baby.. we even took her out to our local cafe the first day after we came home from hospital.. but, not so easy anymore.. the last few times with mirka have been a stretch, so we were very happy at the happy river cafe. mirka played on the lawn amongst the mountain of toys, while we had a civilised breakfast. freedom.

out from hiding

blah. it's been a week already since my last post & i just haven't been feeling it, so i've been hiding down the rabbit hole instead. where to start? i think i'll just post some nice photos of water lilies i bought from flowers vasette in fitzroy, who by the way have someone quite funny in their office doing their twitter updates. you can follow them here. anyway, i love me some water lilies & it was fun to use the mirka mora vase for the first time.. and yes that's the husband in the background of one of the photos.. he is always trying to sneak in somehow.

little piggy

feel like a laff? well then, imagine yourself opposite your friend or lover while you enjoyed an early morning tea or coffee in one of these 'koppen' porcelain cups as first seen on bloesem, here.. right when you looked up to see your trusty companion take a sip you would be greeted with their little piggy face! tell me that wouldn't make you smile :) the only problem is, i can't see an easy way to buy them online. if you love them, i think you need to contact dutch designers freaks united & ask them. actually, if you like these, then i think you'll like the movie penelope. i did.

(image from bloesem)

hairy canary

while out & about in fitzroy, i walked past these great window displays at guy matthews vintage industrial furniture on johnston street. oh how i love that canary yellow outdoor table & chairs. i desperately wanted to go in and nosey around, but i had the little one in the pram with me & there just wasn't room. next time. sans husband & child. next time.

vespa dreaming

we had a great morning out & about in fitzroy. the husband went to vespa house to test drive the vespa he wants, while i checked out some local shops. he has decided to get black, but like i said before, i could be sooo tempted by this vintage, aqua blue little baby in the showroom. i could do my best audrey impersonation and have my own little roman holiday, even if it was all in my head. oh yeah. dreamy.

everybody needs good neighbours

what a nice surprise.. our neighbour knocked on our door yesterday evening & presented us with their home grown surplus squash & zucchini vegies. what's with the muffins then? well, they also gave us some home made chocolate & squash muffins.. and yes, they're yummy. i know because i've already eaten two today & if the husband doesn't get home soon, there might not be any left. piggy.

fragile

i love cutting a magnolia bud from the garden & bringing it inside.. and because the blooms are so short lived, i don't have the guilts about doing it. they seem lucky to last 24 hours & even less outside on the tree. quick.

go vespa

congratulations husband! we've been sharing the car for the past year or so. actually, since i sold my smartie a few years ago & it's starting to wear a little thin. the husband passed his motorbike licence on the weekend, so now he just has to decide on whether to get his shiny new vespa in white or black. choices.

desktop treats

ok so i've been a little slack in the blogging, but never mind that because look at these desktop treats i have to share. first up, you too can have an awesome flip clock screensaver from here, as first seen here. and why is that whenever i order something online, it's always the husband who seems to collect our post, only to bring it home and say "captain! what have you ordered this time??" when he walks in the door? anyways, methinks my new iphone stand from via alley rocks. every now & then i order something from via alley & it's always confirmed with a friendly email & received with a friendly note. over & out.

help haiti

poor ol' haiti sure needs all the help she can get right now. i feel so sad when i see the images of people holding children, just sitting in the middle of the road because they don't know where else to go. i can't imagine being in the same situation. but, there is something small we can do. yep, buy a $20 tshirt (the one on the left) here from double take clothing. the guys had the tshirts ready for market in 2 hours and 100% of the money is going direct to haiti. come on, you or your fella can always use an extra tshirt. help.

update: the tshirt on the right as first seen here is only $15 from fretto prints, who are also donating 100% of the money.

16 months portrait time

16 months. man, these monthly portraits on the eames rocker, (or off, as is often the case) seem to come around quickly. since the last one, mirka has taken her first steps on her own and more and more, walking is her first choice.. less of her funny bum shuffle & more wobbly walking. i'm still not quite used to hearing her little footsteps come up behind me, but it's very cute.. my sweet petite.

if you want to check out the older portraits, they're all here..
15 months
14 months
13 months
12 months
11 months
10 months
9 months

heide collection

what other goodies did i find out at the heide store? well, i absolutely love the twiggy owl mobile by anke kindle from i-design-things. i mean, i really love it, but we just bought the mirka mora vase, so our funds were low. too bad, i know it won't last long. apparently anke just makes them up as they sell them and they're all slightly different. the heide store has a small collection of samantha robinson's beautiful porcelain, which i read in the latest belle mag have been picked up by cult store anthropologie. they also have the gorgeous tea set commissioned from the talented kat mcleod as previously featured by lucy over at the design  files & who wouldn't want to enjoy their morning cuppa out of a heide mug?

p.s. sorry about the grainy photos. my real camera ran out of life, so i had to use the iphone camera.

number 109

the husband had the day off yesterday, so we had a family day out & about. first, we took gracie girl to the zoo, where she dropped her little silver sandal in the lion enclosure (!!) and then we drove out to one of my favourite places, heide moma. they have a great little design store there full of treasures, not least being the limited edition 'double the pleasure' vase by the one and only, fabulous mirka mora. it was a long shot, but i asked if they had number 109 left (our wedding anniversary) and of course they did because it was our lucky day. we got the silver sandal back too.

2009 best of picks

well. where to start? i'm feeling a bit like an escaped criminal (in a good way!) this morning. the husband is back at work & the little one is at childcare, so here i am, all alone and feeling buzzed. following on from my last post, i thought i'd do a best-of-2009 round up. it was quite hard to choose between the most-viewed and the most-commented-on, so this is a bit of both...

1. pattern + shadow  2. zig-zag temptation.. yes, another one  3. mark demsteader  4. happy, happy day  5. night hostage  6. my place & yours series: my collection 7. bedside  8. blog hq  & 9. through the front door... and for a laugh: 10. so on to it.

2009 marks my first year as a new blogger & i have to say it was quite fun to go back over my 173 posts  (did i really have that much to share??) and choose these ones.. i hope you like them too. happy.

happy new year

happy new year! before i welcome in the new year with open arms, i thought i'd write a post on the best of 2009.. you know, the most popular, or most commented on, blog posts from 2009.. or something like that.. and i will, i will.. keep a look out over the next few days for that. but, while going back over one of my most popular posts, another modern monster finished, i got a little distracted and it seems i've got a little more to add to it. while trying to decide on which one photo to use, (one photo, yeah right! that was never gonna happen), i found this old sketch of the kitchen i did when we were trying to decide on finishes etc & thought it would be interesting to post against the finished product. now, like i've said before, i'm no artist, but this gives you an idea of the design behind the design that happens. i know i'm guilty of simply devouring images of finished projects, so when i saw this sketch i thought it was a nice reminder that everything has a starting point.. which is a nicer way of saying it doesn't just happen by accident!