A lovely apartment...

Look at this lovely apartment belonging to designer Michelle Adams of the gorgeous Rubie Green.

I just love the way books are turned so you can see their covers. Don't you just love the cover of Painting People by Charlotte Mullins.

Michelle is one part of the duo Lonny a photography/styling duo. This fab pic of these fab yellow shoes is on their site.

And watch this space. Michelle and Patrick Cline (her business partner) have rounded up some fabulous editors, designers, artists, bloggers and friends, and in September, 2009 will be launching the premiere issue of an online decorating and lifestyle magazine called Lonny. I can't wait - it's rumoured to fill the void left by Domino!

What a day... or not

Still feeling rather ick. Had a very slow start and was helping Turtle & Mu reload Garage Band when my laptop died. And I mean died died - as in the hard drive died! Disaster! A trip to see the super friendly and helpful people at Magnum Mac (who are ever so patient when I use terms like 'the little square face thingy'). My poor iBook I'd had her for years - I mean years - and sadly she is no more..... Much to Turtle and Mu's utter amazement we came home with a sparkling new MacBook Pro. The look of sheer delight on Mu's face was priceless. And thanks to Mr Time Machine everything copied over super easily - hooray!

On an entirely different note I was thinking of my Mum today (probably 'cos I'm ill), and the time she came to see me and much to her horror I was in hospital. Once she knew I was OK, and the colour had returned to her face, Mum bounced back and made a classic Mum comment "I know they're hospital pj's Annabel, but that green really suits you you". It always makes me smile. Speaking of stunning green things - I came across these beautiful beads at Madder & Rouge this week. They are made from acai seeds by this uber eco company called Escapulario.

Sadly no riding today - too ill.

Image from Red Magazine UK.

Not so well today....

I am not feeling great today - pretty awful actually. Hopefully it goes away soon. There are so many icky bugs about. On a brighter note I have conquered my new email downloads AND sorted out my hard-drive memory problem. Ok so possibly not that hard for most but somewhat revolutionary for me.

I am enjoying the hols with Turtle & Mu, who have been wonderful today with me feeling all ick. I attempted to brighten things up for myself by researching things (and people) I love.

What I'm loving right now....

Anything and everything by Isabel Marant. Images below from her Fall 2009 collection

New season sunglasses - especially these ones from Bottega Veneta.

Sofia Coppola....and her room!

Kim Noorda's hair...

Off to bed to see if I can shake this bug. I think tomorrow will be all about inspiring interiors...

Feeling rather pleased...

I'm feeling rather pleased with myself. This morning I finally managed to practise yoga - wait for it - at home (!!?!) I must say I'm rather impressed by my ability to procrastinate, and as much as I would much rather pop along to the lovely Kiri's shala alas it's not always possible. Fortunately Mu's impromptu photoshoot this morning didn't coincide with my yoga! Blurry or otherwise I'd really prefer not to be captured with my feet up around my ears. I've attached a few of Mu's pics - a moment in time in the life of a 9 year old - if only his brother would keep still.

A day of gazing at art...

Well almost! The boys and I spent time at Te Papa in the art galleries - but it was 'fair for everyone' according to Turtle as we'd spent a good (and long!) half hour at Our Space first. There was a great Len Lye film in the modern section which the boys enjoyed. And the John Reynolds installation, Cloud (see below) is great! Comprised of 7081 small canvases with words and phrases from The Dictionary of New Zealand English, the work is a galaxy of words written in silver marker. Turtle and Mu were very excited to see a few featured 'swear words Mummy!'

On the way home we saw a great Kim Pieters (I think) in the window of Bowen Galleries. I love this picture of Kim's studio - with peonies!

I've no good reason to post the following images other than I love them likewise pretty much all the work by both photographers!

Photograph Joseph Kelly.

Woodpecker Bay, State Highway 6 by Derek Henderson.

A cold & windy winter eve

Another weekend has gone by.... R and I went to Capitol last night and had a wee planning session, and laughed a lot which was nice. Turtle & Mu spent most of the weekend drawing, and we all ate way too many pancakes this morning! R left this evening for Portland and Europe. The 27th is a long way away and we all miss him already. On a brighter note on Saturday I popped into Small Acorns and gazed longingly at the lovely ceramics from Mud Australia.

And discovered the most gorgeous stationery from Poppies for Grace. I may just have to go back and purchase some.

I think this week I'll have to start sorting out a few cupboards, I made a start on my email folders tonight and came across this great Robert Frost poem...

Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening

Whose woods these are I think I know.


His house is in the village though;


He will not see me stopping here


To watch his woods fill up with snow.


My little horse must think it queer


To stop without a farmhouse near


Between the woods and frozen lake


The darkest evening of the year.


He gives his harness bells a shake


To ask if there is some mistake.


The only other sound's the sweep


Of easy wind and downy flake.


The woods are lovely, dark and deep.

But I have promises to keep,


And miles to go before I sleep,


And miles to go before I sleep.

A whole lotta organising

It's starting to sink in that we have a fair bit to do between now and the end of August. Only 54 days left before we depart on our adventure! Turtle & Mu are on holiday for the next fortnight - we have lots planned starting with an expedition to the cable car this afternoon. Not quite as glam as the SF cable cars but pretty good for our little city. I wonder what kind of house we'll be living in? I seem to be obsessed with interiors at present and found these wonderful images from Storage: Get Organized by Terence Conran. It's often all in the detail and by having the bits and pieces we've collected over the years around us we will be able to make our as yet unknown new home a home.

Feeling a bit blue...

It's been a bit of a blue day. Perhaps it's the cold, grey, wet weather.... Dropped Turtle and Mu at Spanish and pottered about in the local bookstore. I found a lovely book Grace Kelly: A Life in Pictures by Pierre-Henri Verlhac. To quote Publishers Weekly "Kelly's radiance, both on-screen and off transcends the pages".

I also found the magical This is for you by Rob Ryan. A romantic and touching story of thoughts and dreams. Each page has been cut out of paper using a scalpel, sprayed and photographed. He has an etsy shop where you can buy his amazing work, plus a great blog.

Back to get the boys and home to find an invite to a Simon Ogden exhibition opening at Bowen Galleries. Simon uses the colour and patterning of 'found' materials to make wonderful collage compositions, like Minevois Flower (2006-2007).

Images from Amazon, Rob Ryan, and Bowen Galleries

One or two beautiful things...

...I'm loving right now. Simple Song a gorgeous blog over on typepad. Pop on over to have a peek.

Anni B Sweet a beautiful voice from Madrid. Her song Motorway is fab, and she has just released an album Start Restart Undo.

Bob Wolfenson a Brazilian photographer - just love this image of Camilla Finn.

Images from Simple Song, Anni B Sweet and Bob Wolfenson.

Monday, Monday...

A quiet day spent catching up on the weekend. My hyacinth bulbs have finally dried out and become ugly and beautiful at the same time. And the first sign of a distant spring - my daphne have just started to bloom...

A lovely start to the weekend...

Hooray I was able to nip out to the lovely Kiri's yoga class this morning. Kiri teaches traditional ashtanga yoga and I always leave her classes feeling refreshed and with a skip in my step! Below is a random selection of books I've on the go......I stumbled across a 1958 book of Paul Klee prints - one of my favourites is Individualized Measurement of Strata (1930). Just love those colours!

Last night I read The Allure of Women by Francois Baudot. Francois describes allure as a mixture of distinction and grace, authority and gentleness, a singularity.... An interesting book and a beautiful collection of photographs of past and present alluring beauties.

A pretty book I treated myself to earlier this year is Beauty in Bloom by the gorgeous Natalie Bloom. Full of lovely inspiration and beautiful illustrations......

R gave me Eat Pray Love earlier this year. Elizabeth Gilbert had spoken at the TED conference and R thought I'd enjoy the book.  I can relate to Ms Gilbert on many levels.  Update - whilst there were moments of insight in the book, there were also many moments when I felt like "get over yourself woman!". Plus the way she has totally sold out to mass-marketing, goes against the whole concept...

I'm also enjoying Things I wish my Mother had told me - Lessons in grace and elegance. Full of lots of simple, practical and lovely ideas and thoughts.... for example 'You can't change most people. Don't expect them to give what they are unable to give.' 

Have a happy weekend!

A day of beauty and sadness...

I'm loving my camellias from the lovely Jeanie at Next Stop Earth, Newtown. The buds are bursting into lush dark pink blooms. My own tiny white camellia has been flowering outside Turtle's window.....

Farrah Fawcett's death is sad - she has had such a brave battle - and under all that hair she was stunningly beautiful.

And now we hear that Michael Jackson has died - ! So many of his songs remind me of my childhood - he was so talented. So many great songs. Earth Song is just heartbreakingly beautiful.

Lovely inspiration....

I discovered Flora by Nick Knight when rambling through the library on Tuesday. Nick, a fashion photographer, shows his love for the pressed flower collection from the Natural History Museum of London. So delicately beautiful....

And indulging in the decor mags at Magnetix I came across the May 2009 issue of Elle Decoration which featured Martin Bourne's NY apartment. I just love his desk and pale blue wall.....

And lastly Michi Girl's Kat MacLeod image from yesterday was as pretty as ever...

Must rush - am trying a new recipe - baked penne - yum!

The great cookie caper....

My weekly bake-a-thon is still going strong. Although the last batch of cup cakes weren't a roaring success. Mu & Turtle stayed up late decorating the last batch of cookies - yum!

Gotta rush - boys have started Spanish after school on Tuesdays and it's a mad dash across town to get there in time!