Hello, lover

I am SO excited. My darling hubby got me the best Valentines/wedding anniversary present EVER...


Yep, its the tulip side table in marble I have been lusting after for-like-ever! I must admit, it did take a little bit of subtle *cough* email hinting:

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side table
Danielle (Delaks) [danielle@ delaks.com.au]
To: 'Lakshan De Silva'

I am watching a marble tulip side table on ebay, it’s a genuine one (not a fake), it has one bid at $200 and it conveniently finishes on valentines day. Just letting you know… ;) xxxx

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Unfortunately, though we did bid on that one on Valentines Day, it went for about $400 which is a little outside our budget. BUT - my fave replica store had it on special this week for $275, so off we went yesterday to pick it up! Hooray!!

I'm thinking when I eventually find a pair of chairs for the other side of the room it will go between them (similar to Victoria's set up), but for now its near the lounge and looking damn fine.



It's like a mirage or something, I keep walking in to the room and seeing it there but it hasn't yet sunk it that I actually own it! I'm so thrilled!!



READING: Cheap Healthy Good - well written, great recipes, practical and hilarious!
INSPIRING: I'm into illustrators at the moment as its an art I am trying (currently unsuccessfully) to master. I am loving the beautiful work of Yara Kono (found via Flickr)
LOVING: This interior - it was blogged all over the place but it really is beautiful. Something to aspire to in our own house I think!
COMING UP: I've had lots of questions about the interactive art in the lounge room, so stay tuned for an upcoming post about it!

Domestic Bliss

The table set ready for the strawberry & cream tea party

So its been a little over a month since I left the rat race and started working for myself. And I must say it has been brilliant. All the heartache and bullying and unrecognised work at my previous job seem (almost) worth it to be where I am now. Working my own hours, coming home to Morty in the hot afternoons, and earning similar to what I did before but working about 1/3 the time I did previously, it's absolutely wonderful. An unexpected side effect is that I have become Martha Stewart. Yep, I cook, I clean - I am now the hostess with the mostess. And I'm loving it! Case in point: it was my nan's 75th birthday last Friday, and my mum's 45th birthday on Sunday. So on Saturday I had them over for yum cha lunch at the Fish Markets followed by afternoon tea a la Martha at our house. The theme (yes, my afternoon tea had a theme): Strawberries & Cream.

The new pink dishes make an appearance, ready for strawberry jam & cream

We had apple tea cake as the birthday cake (too hot for heavy chocolate cake), pikelets with strawberry jam & cream, actual strawberries with cream, and strawberry & cream lollies. And creaming soda spiders because they are also pretty pink and white!

My inner-Martha emerges in the form of a festive garland

My 'Happy Birthday' banner is from Martha Stewart (rediscovered via Design Freebies), hung with mini Kikki-K pegs on a white ribbon. All round it was a great success, we all ate far too much and enjoyed the day thoroughly! Happy Birthday Nanny & Mum!


I've been thinking about a small new addition to posts - a few quick links to things that have sparked interest or inspiration recently. So from now on I will have a small link list at the end of posts - et voila!

READING: Renovation Planning (via Desire to Inspire). I just love aussie blogs!
INSPIRING: Illustrator Thom Glick's daily drawings and the gorgeous style of Helen Dardik (via Drawn! and Cupcakes & Cashmere/Etsy)
LOVING: Sunbeam Ceramic Kettle in blue, would looko fabbo in our kitchen (hint hint hubby!)


PS. Although its a rainy day here in Sydney, there are still terrible bushfires raging in Victoria - the worst bushfires in Australia's history. Many people have lost their homes, and far too many have lost their lives. Please visit the Red Cross to donate if you can.

Thrifty & (Un)Sticky

New pink glass bowls - just $2 each!

A million thanks to Victoria of SFGirlByBay for featuring our home in her 'Unexpected Guests' post this week :) I can't tell you how thrilled I am, its one of my favourite blogs. Hello to new readers who have linked across!

In other news, I went thrifting over the weekend. I was after chairs for the blank spot in the living room, but all I came home with was some sweet little dishes in pale pink glass, just $2 each. So pretty! I've eaten my icecream out of them every night since.

They are the palest of pale pinks, its tricky to photograph the colour, but this is pretty close

There are 4 of them, there were also 2 matching saucers as well but I thought I would be extra thrifty and save myself the $4.

Sticky no more!

Now I'm going to confess something quite silly here: I am totally thrilled this week because... I unstuck a sticky window. Small thing I know, but its made a HUGE difference to the study. It never used to open and it would get quite hot and stuffy in there because of all the glass, but no more! I used a sharp screwdriver and a bit of elbow grease to get it unjammed, and now the breeze comes straight in on me while I'm working away. Its so nice as the tinting on the glass is rippled, so I never used to be able to see outside - now I can gaze all day at the pretty tree in the park (whoops, I mean diligently work on my computer and not be distracted by the tree in the park).

I also missed out on these this week and they went for an absolute steal, what a bummer.