House and Garden.

I love magazines, especially old ones, so I was more than thrilled when a friend of my parents gave me a stack of House and Garden magazines from the early 1950s. I love the chalky feel to the pages, the odd smell and the great articles and advertisements. The homes featured in the magazines aren't too far from the fantastic modern homes you see today. It just shows how fashion continues to repeat itself..

Wise words.

When in doubt... Wear red.

Bill Bass

Image via Flickr

I carry your heart.

I carry your heart with me (I carry it in
my heart) I am never without it (anywhere
I go you go, my dear; and whatever is done
by only me is your doing, my darling)

I fear no fate (for you are my fate, my sweet) I want

no world (for beautiful you are my world, my true)
and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows

(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life; which grows
higher than the soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

I carry your heart (I carry it in my heart) 

E.E Cummings

Image via We Heart it

In our Mum's Kitchen.

I love a good timberjack.

Adrian Johnson is one of my favourite illustrators so I thought I'd share this totally awesome poster. View more of Adrian's work here.

Street art.

I found this awesome graffiti in Newcastle last weekend. The centre of Newcastle is kind of baron these days so it was refreshing to see some colour while it was raining and blowing a gale!

Homage to the Beard.

If you have read our first ever post 'A beard by any other name...', you will know that Lella has a thing for beards. I had thought that her obsession was rather odd, but came to terms with it (and even have to admit that Captain Gregg – from The Ghost and Mrs Muir – is pretty fine, beard and all).

So when I came across Erin Dollar's fantastic handmade beards on Etsy, I quickly showed Lella and we decided Erin may just be one of the coolest people with an Etsy store. 

Not only is Erin an excellent beard maker, she is also a wonderful illustrator and has a great blog, I made you a beard, dedicated to 'sharing beard related tid-bits'.

Whether you are a beard maniac, or prefer a clean shaven chin, I'm sure you will appreciate and enjoy Erin's work – she has had me chuckling all morning.

When is love not enough?

Lella's posts of love today got me thinking...

My Husband and I were married at 21. It was clear to us that we wanted to be together always, best friends and lovers. We chose each other and made the life long commitment, that looking back seemed so easy. So here are my questions – why does it seem to be so hard for some people? Why can't it be as simple as 'I love you, You're my best friend, I want to spend forever with you? Why does love get complicated by fear? Why is love not enough?

Image via We Heart It

For my darling.

Image via We Heart it

Five: Love Songs.

Light of my life and guest blogger, Anooke, posted this: "The average person spends two weeks of their life kissing"...mmmm...interesting, I wonder if I've used up my two weeks yet?

5. 'Syrup & Honey' by Duffy

4. 'You really got a hold on me' by She & Him

3. 'I'll be there for you' by Bon Jovi

2. 'As much as I ever could' by City and Colour

1. 'I will follow you into the dark' by Death Cab for Cutie

Image via LeLove.

Today, I'm all about the love...

If I only knew your name, 

I'd go from door to door. 

Searching on the crowded streets, 

For the face that I once saw.

 

'Young Love' by Mystery Jets ft. Laura Marling

Image from Teen Vogue.

Cody Hudson is my hero.

Check out Cody's website here.

Wise words.

You can have whatever you want if you dress for it.

Edith Head

Shell.

As you know, I have a love for old signage, so when I saw this old petrol station and it's bright Shell sign on Portland's (a small country town west of Sydney) main street I had to take a photo and share it with you. 

Five: Most played songs on my iPod at the moment.

I love listening to music that makes me reflect. I like to be absorbed by the music, forgetting everything that's going on around me. Here is my top five songs of the moment:

5. 'Sleeping sickness' by City and Colour.

4. 'Walking with a ghost' by Tegan and Sara.

3. 'Such great heights' by Iron and Wine.

2. 'Rowing song' by Patty Griffin.

1. 'World spins madly on' by The Weepies.

Image via We Heart it

Things we find.

My Mum was going through some things I had left when I moved out and came across a folder filled with magazine clippings. Some of the cut outs were beauty tips from a 1994 Dolly Magazine! (Yes, I'm one of those people who never throws things out just in case they might be useful one day.) Anyway, one of the beauty tips sounded lovely so I thought I'd share it with you:

"Skin-saving kiwi fruit: Cut a kiwi fruit into thin slices and place the slices on your forehead, cheeks, nose and chin. Kiwi fruit has properties which remove dead skin cells from your face naturally. Leave the kiwi fruit slices there for about five minutes, then take them off and splash your face with water."

Image via We Heart It

If you want me, satisfy me.

Image via We Heart It

Blog Love: Post Family

I've finally got around to posting about one of my favourite blogs, The Post Family.

Its a creative hub of goodness. My favourite thing about them is the studio tours they post, namely this one with one of my favourite artists, Cody Hudson. With awesome photos of his work and studio and a lovely little interview, its just too wonderful to explain! I wish I had a sweet as studio like this.

Check out Cody's studio here at The Post Family.

Out of the ordinary.

It was an ordinary grey day and we were on our way home when all of a sudden we caught a glimpse of a garden full of colours. Not just colourful flowers, but colourful umbrellas! Who could have dreamed such a scene? It was something magical right there in the middle of suburbia.

Yes, I'm another Twilight addict.

I didn't want to be. I'd seen the hype around it all and wasn't the least bit interested. So when my sister hired the movie for us to watch one afternoon, I sat on the lounge with her to keep her company, preparing to be bored. Well, that all changed half way through and I was hooked.

I'm now half way through the third book, Eclipse, and totally loving the series! I Can't wait to finish! It's all I can think about.

I felt like a cop out when I saw a 13 year old girl wearing a t-shirt that said 'Forget princess, I want to be a vampire', but then again who wouldn't love the old world charm of Edward Cullen? He's romantic, well read, musical, stylish and oh so strong... I've joined teenage girls all over the world and fallen in love.

Photo from Vanity Fair

My heart is in the tropics. No longer.

It has been two years since my Husband and I moved back to Sydney from Cairns. We lived in the warm and sultry far north for almost four years, but decided to move back to New South Wales to be closer to our families. I had thought the move would be easy – we were going back to what we knew – but I was wrong. I missed everything about Cairns, my friends, my lovely little townhouse, the bright tropical plants, the warm weather, even the geckos and cane toads! I longed to be back in the warm.

We went back last June for a holiday. It was lovely to catch up with every one and to enjoy wearing little summer dresses in winter, but it was so hard to leave. I think it took me a good few weeks to get over the visit. So when my Husband suggested a holiday in Cairns this year I was a little hesitant. I didn't want to be unsettled again.

We have just returned from two weeks in Cairns and I can honestly say I'm glad to be home. Things have changed there – friends have moved, my favorite cafe has changed, and I hated being bitten by sand flys! Don't get me wrong, I still love the tropics (there is something beautiful about lying in bed with the fan on, windows open and the rain pouring down), but I've moved on. This time I bought my heart back with me.

Image via Flickr

This is Glamorous.

I was just reading the very stylish blog, This is Glamorous and fell in love with this room! I can imagine curling up in style with a hot chocolate and a good book.

Image via This is Glamorous

Today I want to dance.

Image via Flickr

We do all this and more.

I found this lovely image on We Heart It and it just reminded me of our family. We definitely do loud very well, but after reading this poster it made me think about all of those points and how our family really do all of them but still manage to wind up at "we do love".