It's been a while. We've had school holidays (which always, despite my best intention has me disappearing off the grid for a while), then with the inevitable catch up of work/ laundry etc post school holidays, and then this week one (vaccinated) child home sick with Chicken Pox, so I've not been on blogs for a while. Oh, and then I became sucked into the Netflix void and started binge watching "Outlander". I'm clearly on some sort of Scottish kick this year, between Outlander and the James Trilogy plays I attended during the Adelaide Festival in March... and Outlander is very good by the way.
So, here are some snapshots from life for the past few months....
I've been to the Royal Flying Doctors Ball - Wings for Life, as I do each year. I know my real life friend and avid blog reader Richard has been dying to read a discussion about my dress (he really loves the dress chat posts I do), so Rich this is for you. This year's outfit was a dress I've had in my wardrobe unworn... purchased back when the dollar was at parity with the US (the Glory Days, shopping wise), and I was in a severe Fantasy Wardrobe phase purchasing cocktail dresses to escape from the actual reality of my life - a major building project while living in it with toddlers. So, I finally pulled the dress out (navy blue Martin Grant), bought new earrings to go with it (Oscar de la Renta) and donned the pink Shoes of Shame and their matching clutch bag.
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I had an updo done by my hairdresser.
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Unfortunately Mr AV is a reluctant photographer (he thinks social media is stupid, and he's probably right), so there are no fashion blogger style photos of me fake walking down the street. Just bad selfies using mirrors, poor lighting and an iPhone. Enjoy!
Reflecting on why I'd bought this dress in the first place, I realised I had in fact sort of outfit repeated, and already owned a remarkably similar dress in white
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My Wedding dress. I do like a bit of architectural style folding over the bodice it seems, even if they were worn 16 years apart. I also did a remarkably similar hair style on reflection... I guess I like what I like and am consistent!
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On the home front, a shuffle around was undertaken in the living room when a new artwork arrived for the casual living area. It still has to be properly hung, but I'm debating about frame choices. In the meantime I love the way this space has warmed up so well with the fabric choices on the armchair and cushions and colour from the painting. For a long time it was very neutral, and while I love neutrals, I love a bit of colour and warmth in our main living area. I have tonal cream elegance in my Sitting room/ library to satisfy me there.
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The arrival of the painting dovetailed in neatly with a book I'm reading - "I sold Andy Warhol (too soon)" which I picked up on the bargain table at Dillon's on the Parade. It's a bit of an inside account of the modern art market, centred around New York, which makes for depressing reading. Essentially a bunch of people just bid up things at auction, stockpile art that they never display, and manipulate prices for an artists work, in much the same way as people speculate on stocks. The artists work is not necessarily actually worth that much by technical prowess or maturity (and in many cases is totally overvalued when considering the quality of the art compared to prices fetched by paintings 100 years old by better quality artists... then again Art is subjective). Especially interesting reading given that a Basquiat broke records a couple of days ago by fetching $57.3M at Auction.
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In house news I've also just farewelled the 17 year old Jardan sofa to have it reupholstered. It's now the sofa for the kids playroom, having been our one and only sofa for 14 years before that, and I've had it slipcovered for about the past 8 years as the old beige coloured upholstery did not look good at all. I chose an indoor/outdoor fabric from Jim Thompson, and this will hopefully survive the kids and give a bit more longevity to the sofa, which is still in good nick and proves that quality lasts.
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Aside from my client work, I've also been working on another house. It's four storey, and has needed a few structural repairs on the exterior railings. It's only partially furnished, and my deadline is this Saturday... it's my old Dollhouse, which we are giving E for her 8th birthday, pictured above. E will be able to finish furnishing it herself - I've previously told the story behind the dollhouse, but to recap, as my father put me on a payment plan akin to a mortgage (after I had saved half the price by doing weekend jobs for 2 years) when I so desperately wanted it as an 8 year old, I wasn't able to furnish it. By the time I paid it off I was a teenager, and wanted to spend my money on clothes, rather than furnishing a dollhouse, so the interiors are sparse. It's been living at my Dad's house on the back landing upstairs with our old rocking horse Rigby whom you can see in the photo. So this weekend marks a bit of a birthday celebration and a passing of the baton to E with my first ever house project. I'm going to have to let go of it and let her make her own decorating decisions, which is only right I guess. Even though E doesn't seem quite so passionate about houses as I have always been, I know she'll have a lot of fun playing with it, and I can't believe she is about to turn 8 - when I started this blog she was 4, and that seems like a blink of an eye ago.
Lastly, I thought I'd share a few Instagram accounts I've been enjoying... I mostly follow Designers, people that focus on their own house interiors, and fabric companies... then a couple of extras. These are two that never fail to make me laugh
Firstly Barbie Savior - it's a parody account on the young women in their 20s that earnestly go to Africa to "save" the local population, all while taking slum selfies, and talking up their noble efforts and sacrifice.
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The second is Overheardla, which is an anonymous account people submit funny things they've overheard people saying in LA to, some of which are downright hilarious, and also those that capture the zeitgeist.
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Enjoy!
So, here are some snapshots from life for the past few months....
I've been to the Royal Flying Doctors Ball - Wings for Life, as I do each year. I know my real life friend and avid blog reader Richard has been dying to read a discussion about my dress (he really loves the dress chat posts I do), so Rich this is for you. This year's outfit was a dress I've had in my wardrobe unworn... purchased back when the dollar was at parity with the US (the Glory Days, shopping wise), and I was in a severe Fantasy Wardrobe phase purchasing cocktail dresses to escape from the actual reality of my life - a major building project while living in it with toddlers. So, I finally pulled the dress out (navy blue Martin Grant), bought new earrings to go with it (Oscar de la Renta) and donned the pink Shoes of Shame and their matching clutch bag.
I had an updo done by my hairdresser.
Reflecting on why I'd bought this dress in the first place, I realised I had in fact sort of outfit repeated, and already owned a remarkably similar dress in white
My Wedding dress. I do like a bit of architectural style folding over the bodice it seems, even if they were worn 16 years apart. I also did a remarkably similar hair style on reflection... I guess I like what I like and am consistent!
On the home front, a shuffle around was undertaken in the living room when a new artwork arrived for the casual living area. It still has to be properly hung, but I'm debating about frame choices. In the meantime I love the way this space has warmed up so well with the fabric choices on the armchair and cushions and colour from the painting. For a long time it was very neutral, and while I love neutrals, I love a bit of colour and warmth in our main living area. I have tonal cream elegance in my Sitting room/ library to satisfy me there.
via Christies
old slipcovered sofa in my kid's playroom
In house news I've also just farewelled the 17 year old Jardan sofa to have it reupholstered. It's now the sofa for the kids playroom, having been our one and only sofa for 14 years before that, and I've had it slipcovered for about the past 8 years as the old beige coloured upholstery did not look good at all. I chose an indoor/outdoor fabric from Jim Thompson, and this will hopefully survive the kids and give a bit more longevity to the sofa, which is still in good nick and proves that quality lasts.
Aside from my client work, I've also been working on another house. It's four storey, and has needed a few structural repairs on the exterior railings. It's only partially furnished, and my deadline is this Saturday... it's my old Dollhouse, which we are giving E for her 8th birthday, pictured above. E will be able to finish furnishing it herself - I've previously told the story behind the dollhouse, but to recap, as my father put me on a payment plan akin to a mortgage (after I had saved half the price by doing weekend jobs for 2 years) when I so desperately wanted it as an 8 year old, I wasn't able to furnish it. By the time I paid it off I was a teenager, and wanted to spend my money on clothes, rather than furnishing a dollhouse, so the interiors are sparse. It's been living at my Dad's house on the back landing upstairs with our old rocking horse Rigby whom you can see in the photo. So this weekend marks a bit of a birthday celebration and a passing of the baton to E with my first ever house project. I'm going to have to let go of it and let her make her own decorating decisions, which is only right I guess. Even though E doesn't seem quite so passionate about houses as I have always been, I know she'll have a lot of fun playing with it, and I can't believe she is about to turn 8 - when I started this blog she was 4, and that seems like a blink of an eye ago.
Lastly, I thought I'd share a few Instagram accounts I've been enjoying... I mostly follow Designers, people that focus on their own house interiors, and fabric companies... then a couple of extras. These are two that never fail to make me laugh
Firstly Barbie Savior - it's a parody account on the young women in their 20s that earnestly go to Africa to "save" the local population, all while taking slum selfies, and talking up their noble efforts and sacrifice.
The second is Overheardla, which is an anonymous account people submit funny things they've overheard people saying in LA to, some of which are downright hilarious, and also those that capture the zeitgeist.
Enjoy!
