Farewell my lovely housemates

I have been living in my current house for 9 months and it has been a wonderful experience with 2 fabulous people!  We all clicked straight away and have had an absolute ball and to celebrate us all moving on to bigger and better things we had a few people around on the weekend.  So thanks guys for welcoming me in to our home and living London with me!  You can probably tell by the photos that we had a great night!  My blue dress was actually an amazing vintage find in London and perfect for the summer ahead. My necklace is a treasured item I bought in Boston on my travels throughout America last year.

Blinding Brights

While in Milan over the long weekend I spent about an hour wandering the 4 storey Zara in awe.  I couldn’t take my eyes off the clothes.  In London I don’t normally visit Zara because I find their sizing on the small size and never really want to invest in something that’s a little tight.  For some reason though every time I’m away from London and I see a Zara I have a compulsive urge to walk in.  I know they will have the same stock as the London stores but my mind tells me just to go in anyway… it might be different this time.  Well the sizing hasn’t changed but I wanted just about every piece I touched.  Coral slouchy blazers, star printed tops, full length iridescent skirts, two tone clutches, puffy fluro skirts… there are too many things to name!  I had to tame myself and only took 3 things to the change room in hope, alas the fit was still the same but oversized slouchy blazer might be a winner!  Unfortunately I didn’t plan on buying clothes and was not wearing my trusty shopping outfit- jeans, ballet flats and a t shirt.  Somehow trying to imagine the blazer over super tight leggings just wasn’t working for me so when I’m suitably dressed I will venture in to a Zara store in London and try the blazer again.

I LOVE that full length skirt

See that oversized clutch in the middle.... you know it!

I want all of those belts!

You may see this added to my wardrobe soon

Gorgeous but too small

What I'm Listening To...

I can not get this song out of my head!  Katy Perry has done it again and put yet another song on replay in my head.  I think this video is one of the best I've seen and completely inspirational and beautiful.   I watched it a couple times and loved its sentimentality.  Everyone should rock their firework!

Red

How good does Blake Lively's hair look red? I love it!  For years as a teenager I always wanted red hair (yes, most people shy away from red but I didnt!)  and I must have died my hair a semi permanent colour hundreds of times.  However as a natural brunette and a fear of bleach at the time I never quite got the hair colour I adored.... **Sigh**

Love it and her emerald dress!

What a glorious day!

In the 18 months it has been since I left Australian shores I have not sat outside in the sunshine, at a cafe with a newspaper and had a beautiful brunch.  It may sound slightly self indulgent but it was kind of a routine for my friends and I on Sunday mornings after we had been out dancing on a Saturday night.  Greasy hash browns and poached eggs- nothing better!  So far I haven't experienced a cafe culture in London as is the case with Melbourne.  It's all about the cafe in Melbourne, so to start a new week relaxing with friends and reading was absolutely delightful!

Cows, Cider and Countryside

It may be a little late to post this but... Easter was a lovely long weekend spent in Normandy sampling the three C’s- Cow, Cider and Countryside.  Four friends and I drove early on Good Friday to Dover and boarded a ferry to Calais, France where we then drove to a small little village in the middle of the French countryside to spend a weekend indulging in our favourite things.  Along the way we visited Rouen which was delightful and even provided me with a new vintage dress to wear to an event this summer in London.  All for a bargain price of 12 euros! 

Our little cottage was set amongst the orchards of a grand manor property and was even kitted out with board games for quiet nights in.  Our Saturday was filled with grazing the local markets in Honfluer and St Pierre Dives before taking home a trunk load of cheeses, breads and wine for a little garden feast.  It was truly divine!  I’m a bit of a fan of jams and chutneys and found a delicious fig jam at a market store in Honfleur.  With some camembert, fresh loaves of break and sliced pear it was heavenly! 

One of the things I was looking forward to the most was visiting Mont Saint Michel, the island is not without its tourist hot spots but the winding lane to the top of the cathedral is worth the trollop up to see the view.  We never quite made it inside the abbey as it closed before we reached it but standing out looking over the sand plains before the tide came in was a once in a lifetime.

Honfleur

Fields of yellow everywhere

Yum yum

Farmers markets were heaven

Look how red they are!

Let's not mention the empty bottles

One of my favourite stops along the way

Mont Saint Michel

The Manor house built in the 17th century

This church dates to 1066- the inside is a history book

Inside the Church

All photos taken by me

Water for Elephants London Premiere

When did the first Twilight Saga hit the big screens?  I think it was in 2008 yes?  Well whatever the date, since its release I have had to deal with a mother who is obsessed, and I mean obsessed with Edward Cullen.  Slightly embarrassing yes, but also totally endearing!  I have had to moderate conversations with family friends where my Mum has gone off on some tangent about the Twilight movie and how wonderful Edward Cullen is.  I still don't think my Dad has any idea what's going on or that my Mum has a huge crush on some a third of her age!  So when I found out the the Water for Elephants premiere was going to be so close to my home in London I called Mum to tell her, the gasp I received on the other end of the phone illustrated all of the above yet again and I knew I would have to to go for her.

I arrived at the premiere 2 hours before the stars were due to arrive and waited until at 5.45pm the host announced Robert Pattinson would be attending and within seconds he appeared from a sashed red wall of fabric.  Totally gorgeous and tall he spoke about the film before spending the next hour and a half signing autographs and taking photos with fans.  I was one of the last fans he saw before heading up to the movie screening and when he came over he looked absolutely exhausted.  I was snapping pictures with a long lens the entire time he was making his way over and the poor guy looked so overwhelmed.

Taking so many photos and being pushed left, right and center actually made me feel guilty for being there!  I felt like a paparazzo and yet here he was, taking it all in his stride and pushing through the screaming and name calling.  I have to say that I admired his composure throughtout the whole ordeal.  To be honest I was so exhausted after dealing with screaming fans after 15 minutes yet he deals with them all day, everyday.

Reese Witherspoon was also at the premiere and she is just so petite!  Her dress was a bright blue off the shoulder number and looked fabulous with her killer heels.  I have seen nearly all, if not all of Reese's films at the cinema and adore her!  As she walked by signing autographs she appeared so gracious and delicate.  Also at the Premiere was Christolph Waltz and Francis Lawrence.

Oh and I got the best present for my Mum while at the premiere.  As Robert was signing autographs in front of me I asked him to say hello my Mum and he did!  I haven't told her yet that he said hello on film for her and am thinking of sending it in an email as a surprise.  After such a horrible month with my grandma's passing this will cheer her up so much!

Francis Lawrence

Christolph Waltz

All Photos taken by me and are not to be copied.

I'm going to Italy for lunch

Yes, I am going to Italy for lunch!  While in Switzerland I was looking at a map of Europe dreaming about holidays and trips to make and contemplating how Australia is so vast compared to Europe, it is impossible to drive from one side of the country to the other in one day as it is in Switzerland.  I took the opportunity of a relaxing day in Switzerland to board a train to Milan, only 3 hours away by train.  It sounds so completely decadent and self indulgent and I think I may be spoiling myself just a little too much!  I have been to Milan previously with my parents while they were on work trips and for the past couple of years have made a short trip with my Mum for a girls getaway when they have been in Europe. 

The only problem with Milan’s shopping is that you need the big bucks to really get in to it, and I mean big bucks!  While everyone knows Milan as a fashion capital of the world with Prada, Miu Miu and Jil Sander showing every year at Fashion Week unless you have the bank balance to support it Milan can be quite a let down in the shopping stakes.  Of course there is a multitude of other things to do in Milan with Leonardo Da Vinci’s  ‘The Last Supper’ on display in a temperature controlled stone brick building or the regularly changing exhibitions at the Palazzo Reale but if you’re a high street lover Zara has a spectacular store on the Emmanuelle Vittorio which is 4 storeys high and has a separate menswear store next door.  H&M is dotted all over the city along with brands such as Desigual, Replay, Max Mara, Sisley and United Colours of Benneton.  Sephora is also available in Milan which is not available in the UK, yet.  So I spent the day wandering the streets of Milan which were completely still once off the main tourist traps of the Duomo.  I didn’t think I would ever find a place in Milan where the hustle and bustle of scooters and car horns beeping was non existent but that’s the peace a Sunday brings.

Walking the back streets proved amazing

Check out the roof top greenery

The Duomo

Central Station loves D&G

Amazing!

A tourist shot- just had to do it

What did you do this weekend?

In the UK this weekend it’s a double public holiday!  Of course the world knows that on Friday Wills and Kate tied the knot and all of us Britons (and expats) were lucky enough to have the day off to celebrate with them.  To make it an even better start to the new month Monday May 2^nd is another bank holiday- a four day weekend!  The past two weekends have been 4 days weekends and it has been the perfect time to travel so I set off on a couple adventures. 

A square

Since before I was born my parents have had a unique fascination with Switzerland and even one of my favourite photos of them travelling the world before I was born is reminiscent of a scene out of The Sound of Music (I know it was set in Austria but you know what I mean).  So as an child I travelled with my parents on their business trips to Europe an fondly remember playing in the snow and shopping with my mum, however one of my most vivid memories is of the hotel we always stayed at in Switzerland.  My parents loved one particular hotel and just thinking about it I can virtually see myself leaning out of the living room window, rolling a ball of snow in my little hands and dropping it on to the street below. I wonder how many people I hit? 

This weekend I utilised the extra days off to come back to my parents favourite holiday destination in Switzerland and it’s still as beautiful as I remember.  I wandered the streets gazing at the old buildings and their meticulously painted exteriors, ate pastries and watched the mountains.  It was divine!

The beautiful buildings