Beth Kirby’s Kitchen. Enough Said.

From memory, Beth Kirby’s Local Milk was one of the very first blogs I began to read in earnest. The meticulous styling, photography and beautiful writing continues to inspire me to sit down and commandeer my very own corner of the internet. I have revisited, both in my mind’s eye and in actuality, her recent post on New Orleans on an almost daily basis. And now, we get more than a glimpse into her newly made-over kitchen on Remodelista. That saying, the kitchen is the heart of the home? Well this has never been more true in this space. Percy Bright and Tara Mangini of Jersey Ice Cream Co. are the brains and brawn behind bringing Beth’s vision to light. My favourite thing? Almost every single item in the kitchen has a story, a provenance. It’s a kitchen with soul.

Here’s the before shot…

And here is what it has become…

Images via Remodelista | Photography: Beth Kirby

Love in the Blue Mountains

The final box has been unpacked. I am vowing to never ever move again. But as I sit here and listen to the sea after having watched a sunrise and a sunset all from the comfort of my home, it all seems worth it now. Hopefully this means blogging will now make it’s way to the top of my to do list. Hopefully. I’ve been meaning to post photos of our anniversary re-do in the Blue Mountains for ages now but haven’t gotten around to editing (our camera did weird things in the mountain light and we ended up with really overexposed photos) – Jordan came to the rescue with a few edited beauties (I have no idea where he finds the time to do this but I am grateful none-the-less). We had an amazing weekend in the mountains. Although nothing, and I mean nothing, could prepare me for the level of cold I experienced. The townies that we are, drove up from a balmy 19 degrees in Sydney armed with only paltry long sleeves and realised we were in deep trouble when car after car passing us in the opposite direction had a foot of snow on their car roofs. I ended up having to buy full on mountain thermals the minute we got there. I’ll get around to editing some more shots but in the meantime, here is the just of it.

Images | Wishful Thinking

Ensconced

We are in! 15 car/truck loads later, several falling outs and four very bruised knees, we have successfully moved ourselves to our new home in Little Bay. It’s so beautiful, I have to keep pinching myself. We are able to see the sunrise over the ocean and sunset over the golf course. It’s bliss. Photos are coming soon but in the meantime, I’ll leave you with a picture Jordan took last night from our balcony. Note the living plant I purchased, even though it tried to run away from me in the shop. Hopefully I can keep it alive.

Image via Wishful Thinking

S.O.S

It’s moving week for me and it’s c.h.a.o.s. at home. Who knew we could accumulate so much stuff in less than a year? The day to day tasks such as cooking dinner (I have packed away most utensils) and eating breakfast (we have no table) have become somewhat challenging. If that wasn’t bad enough, we are also slowly eating our way through the weird and wonderful dated contents of the freezer and pantry. It’s fair to say blogging is bottom of the list at the moment. I’ll be back soon, hopefully blogging from my new balcony overlooking the ocean. Now if you will excuse me, I need to find a way to take the (alarmingly orange) fishfingers out of the oven without the aid of an oven glove (which I can’t find).

I feel I should point out that our car will probably not look like this on moving day.

I’m Ready

One by one, the layers have been coming off and this evening, as I sit and type this, the door is wide open letting in a balmy summerish breeze. I’m deliriously excited. I can’t even tell you how DONE I am with winter… and it hasn’t even been that bad. I guess it’s because I know how good summer is here. Hot days and warm nights, catching a tan in my lunch break and most importantly, finishing the day with a long walk (and let’s be honest here – a beer) on the beach. Bring it!

Early Morning Shades of Pink

Something weird happened to us since moving to Sydney. Our sleeping patterns are totally screwed up. Some nights we are asleep by 9.30pm and up at 4.30am, even on the weekends. I am no early riser so this is particularly unusual for me but I am kind of loving it. I seem to have far more time during the day and I’m not forcing my bleary eyes to stay open while watching some mindless crap on tv. It also means we are up before sunrise. This gives us enough time to head down to Maroubra beach, grab a coffee, dig our toes into the cold and freshly combed sand and just watch in awe as the beach is bathed in pinky purples and then golden oranges. Of course this is Sydney so the dog walkers, surfers, yogis and baristas always seem to have a head-start on you.

All images | Wishful Thinking

Architectural Therapy

Bleugh. It’s been a truly shitty week for me. Jordan has the man flu, we are knee deep in boxes, we are having another open house on Thursday, work is manic (as usual), a fellow commuter elbowed me in the noggin this morning – I’ll stop there. I declared myself d.o.n.e. as I left work this evening and took a big time out. I donned my pjs the minute I walked through the door, ordered Thai, did my nails and ogled some dazzling architecture. I feel much better and ready to tackle the rest of the week. For those of you suffering the same fate as me, let me share the very thing that made it all good again. If you have ever been on Pinterest, it’s likely you would have come across stunning architectural images like these below. These steep sloping tiled roofs, grand entrances and sweeping porches are the work of Alabama based architects Mcalpine Tankersley. And you can bet every single one of these images went into my “Pie-in-the-Sky Future Dream House” folder.