Some recent pic of my family

As you know we moved house and are now living about 5 minutes walk to one of the nicer places on Sydney's shoreline. We are making the most of it. Looking for crabs, jumping into bogey holes, swimming, boating and just generally having fun in the sun by the sea. I am the luckiest person going at the moment. Don't get me wrong life can be tough. Very tough. But I am not one to dwell on negative thoughts and actions.
Welcome to my new backyard.

Resent purchases from Ikea and Anthropologie

Two recent purchases: one from Ikea and one from Anthropolgie.
As mentioned in a previous post I am into white at the moment. So no surprise that two of my recent buys are white.
The white orchard is from Ikea. I know who goes to buy Orchards from Ikea. I didn't plan as I went to buy curtain rods.
The owl is from Anthropologie. I LOVE LOVE LOVE this store. We are heading to NYC later this year so I can't wait to visit and buy and save on postage.

What have you bought recently?

The Simple Things Magazine

I am loving this new magazine. It is great. Although in Australia we are experiencing a different season to what's being mentioned in the magazine as it is a UK based publication. Regardless there are loads of great and inspiring ideas.

http://www.thesimplethings.com/

As a graphic designer the layout of the stories and recipes is superb. I take my hat off to the designer and creative director.

The photography is gorgeous, recipes delicious and stories interesting.

So if you are in need of a new magazine to subscribe to then this is a good one.

Happy reading.

My work neighbourhood - Surry Hills

I love living by the beach. It is so lovely.

I do like though also having the opportunity to come to Surry Hills twice a week for work. My design studio, Fresco Creative, is located on Holt St amongst so many cool cafes, restaurants and shops.

What I love about Surry Hills is its diversity. The suburb is a buzz with families, groovers, designers, newspaper people (News Limited is down the road). Basically a real ecelctic mix of personalites, careers and people of different walks of life.

Some cool places to visit in Surry Hills.

You will always find the perfect gift at this store. It is located in the heart of Surry Hills, paper2 is a beautiful boutique paper store owned by graphic designer, Margaret Rockliff. _{In pursuit of her passion for paper and stationery, Margaret searches far and wide, collecting the most innovative and luxurious paper creations the globe has to offer. As well as delivering products from Tokyo, London, Frankfurt and New York, paper2 also stocks it’s own range of products, all designed and printed in-house. 
You can buy online.}http://www.paper2.com.au/home.php

There are amazing places to eat

For some delicious breads, cakes, sausage rolls and sandwiches check out

http://www.bourkestreetbakery.com.au/index.html

Something more fancy I would suggest Movida's. But book ahead. The tapas is innovative and not to mention delicious.

http://movida.com.au/

I buy my coffee here on the days that I am in the office. Their freshly baked muffins and little breakfast tarts are  delicious and I try very hard to not to by one every time I buy my coffee. I limit myself to one a week. The staff here are lovely and so hospitable. Oh and if you do visit have a look at the light/vase display above the bar. Very cool.

http://www.ortotradingco.com.au/

Yummy and classic Thai food. You will pay a little more but you also get a little more when it comes to flavour.

http://www.muummaam.com.au/

So that is very brief snap shot of why I love working in Surry Hills. All of these places are within a 5 min walk from our office. There are so many more amazing place to visit if I had more time on my days in the office. In saying that though I love our little neighbourhood and the people that make it what it is.

I'll doing shopping separately. There are few great shops on Crown street which I want to share.

Bespoke Rugs in Australia

We are in the market for a new rug. I find rug buying very difficult and costly.

I want something that is neutral and natural that would suit the beach feel I am trying to create for our home. The problem I have is whether I go contemporary or more traditional. What do you think?
This company is amazing as you have so much control of the perfect rug.
Only problem is there is so much choice.

Above are some of my favourites so far but still so much more to trawl through and some final measurements of the space.

This site allows you to change colour, pile height and dimensions. A price is calculated based on the information you provide AND only 6 weeks delivery....

Check them out
http://www.bespokerugs.com.au

Bali - take two

two new summer styles

the perfect winter dress

A wise person once said.  'If at first you don't succeed: try, try, try again. Don't give up too easily. Persistence pays off in the end" by American educator Thomas H. Palmer

Well this is my current mantra. I have been totally duped by my original manufacturer. Yes! she has promised and promised and still nothing. Now she doesn't even respond to me.

Luckily I have a lady on the ground in Bali helping me find my stuff. She has all of the board shorts and the screens. Now she is trying to get the rest of my clothing and patterns. Initially I was totally bumbed out when I finally accepted that I wasn't going to be seeing my goods anytime soon. Now I have come to terms with it and I am all systems go for the next round. I am heading back to Bali at the end of Feb to chat to a new manufacturer and also to hopefully retrieve my stuff from the very dishonest Linda.

I remember that when I started Fresco Creative all those years ago there were always set backs. There always are in the world of business so this is just all part and parcel. I am not going to give up. I will keep going to fulfill my dream.

The feeling of disappointment is an understatement to how I feel but no point dwelling on the past. Negativity never got anyone anywhere.

I am back - Gordon's Bay

Gordon's Bay

Oops had another little break. This time because I was moving house.

We have moved to the most amazing street in the most amazing part of Sydney. I had reservations about moving in that we left a beautiful home (which I renovated) to a more modest home. I thought it was all about the house but how wrong I was. I love our new modest little abode and I love being able to walk to the beach. It is so wonderful. 4mins to Coogee and 7mins to Clovelly and 2mins to Gordon's Bay.

Life is good.

what a lovely little break that was

It wasn't planned but I gave myself a little blog break.
What have we been doing? well...

we drank coffee

we swam

we packed

we had sleep overs

we ran through sprinklers

we opened Christmas presents from Santa

we sang Christmas carols at Carols by Candlelight

we danced

Santa came to visit?!!@#$%

we ate... a lot

and we baked.

So much fun, so busy and still so much more of the holidays to enjoy.

We move house in less than a week. Busy times ahead.

What have you been up to?

Vedic Meditation

 we are in the process of branding a company called Inner Space which is owned and run by Corey Snell a Vedic Meditation teacher.

What is Vedic Meditation?
Rather than me try to explain it please take a moment to watch this short video.
http://youtu.be/wImaO6mTXNk

As part of this creative process Corey offered Triscia (my business partner) and myself the opportunity to explore the benefits of this style of meditation. It has been great.
I meditate twice a day for 20mins each time.
At first I thought it would be hard to find the time but I seem to be finding the time and experiencing the benefits

I have tried many forms of meditation in the past and always found it to be frustrating but this one seems to work as there is no pressure and you do it at your own pace and time. A great tool to have when you lead a busy life like most of us do.

Give it a go.

New collection for children's clothes by loopylu

Even though my current collection hasn't come from Bali I am already planning for the next collection.

Here is a sneak preview of my initial sketches.

BTW the gloss in the background sitting on my desk is the best. Buxom bought in the US last year.

The only place to buy in Australia is from here. http://www.madamebutterflybyron.com/index.html

Love to hear your thoughts :)

White is the new black!

Thinking about my new colour scheme for our new house... I am loving white. I know it is a long way off but I am really into white at the moment. White on White ...

So I trawled the internet for white inspirations. Don't you just love the white bird?

What are you into colour wise at the moment... oh and I am still obsessed with yellow.

My little babies are growing up

how cute are they... the kids are loving watching their progress and which onces grow quicker thank others and they take note on how much they are changing from day to day.
so lovely.