The calling

We woke up early on Saturday morning to chilly winds and lashing rain. It didn’t prevent us from doing our ritual weekend walk on the beach [with coffee] but it did mean that we had to wrap up warmly. After finishing chores and errands, we decided to hunker down for the night and had a little beer and cheese party whilst going through old photos of our travels to Europe. We had a great time reminiscing over silly haircuts, bad fashion choices and of course, our favourite travel destinations.  Greece is right up there as one of our favourites so when I saw this rustic Ithaca villa, I knew I had the perfect post.

Images | EST Magazine

Homeward bound

Yep, that’s right, in just over a week I will touching down on the motherland. South Africa. For those who know me, they will know that this trip is bittersweet. Although I love going home to see my family and friends, it’s absolutely gut wrenching to get back on that plane and say goodbye. It’s a country filled with both sad and wonderful memories for me and it never fails to be an emotional rollercoaster. The last time we went home was well over 6 years ago. That’s an awful long time to go without the familiarity and strength of family. But it’s a choice we made in order to settle in the UK (going back and forth was proving way to unsettling). And now here we are, in a new country with the knowledge that this is almost certainly our permanent home. Very far away from everything we know and love. And we are shit scared that the trip back home will throw it all up in the air for us.

It was that scary car crash over Easter that made me pull myself towards myself and see the trip for what it was. An opportunity. A chance to reconnect with family, to revel in the beauty of our home country, to laugh with friends, to gorge on our favourite foods, to relax at home with those we love, to celebrate their lives (my grandmother turns 80 and Jordan’s mom turns 50 while we are home). So what started out as a reluctant trip, has turned into a total fit of excitement for me. If we are being honest here, my bag is already packed and waiting by the front door.

Melbourne is a badass

It feels like light years ago but I have thought about Melbourne every day since we visited it. It was quaint and modern, bustling and contemplative, pretty yet grungy – you can be sure all those cheesy travel journal words you find in airplane magazines applies to Melbourne. We embraced ALL this spectacular city has to offer: food, art, trams, chilly weather and a whole lot of fine alcohol. Here are my favourite (unphotoshopped because I am still in lazy ass mode) shots…

(and just in case you are wondering where the street art shots are, they deserve a post all on their own)

All images via Wishful Thinking

The power of neutral (and herringbone)

I had THE BEST weekend. It started with a day off on Friday and got better ever since. I’ve spoken about my endless restlessness before but lately it seems to be on speed. I sit down and then get up two seconds later, I start a book and then put it straight down, I start blogging and then taper off. It’s maddening. And then Friday came along and I couldn’t bring myself to get up off the sofa. I l.o.u.n.g.e.d. I worried about nothing and no-one. I just kicked my woolly socked feet in the air and revelled in relaxation. It was delicious. Now that Sunday is here, I feel like a totally new woman. Wrapped in a fluffy pink fug of calm. I’m hoping the mood takes me through the week but to help it along, I’m sticking to all things calm. I found an absolutely stunning neutral London home complete with one of my favourite patterns, herringbone. You couldn’t get any more zen than this place.

Source | Remodelista

Work in progress

First off, I just wanted to say thanks for the supportive messages from my post on Monday (promise, I’ll stop needing supportive words soon… honest). You’ll probably never hear me say this again but it’s been good to get back to work and keep distracted so that we can finally get back to normality. Luckily, the Aussies are fond of public holidays and we have another one coming up on Friday (3-day weeks should be law just by the way). I’m hoping to keep busy with some crafty projects that I have been procrastinating on. I’m also hoping to finally get some order into our spare room-come home office. It’s currently acting as a graveyard for folded washing (that I am too lazy to pack away), beach paraphernalia, receipts and bills. I’m thinking something earthy and organic and dare I say, studious? Here’s my moodboard.

| A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K |

Perspective

Happy (belated) Easter everyone! Our Easter holidays began with a car accident. Our very first and hopefully our very last. Luckily it looks like injuries to all are mostly minor (we are both fine) but I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that I have never been so scared in my entire life. So Easter was officially cancelled for us and Jordan and I spent most of the weekend in a haze of shock and worry. If you can take one positive thing from a car accident (and boy that is difficult to do) it’s that every other stupid thing you have ever worried about, suddenly seems utterly trivial. The transition to a new country has been exceptionally hard for us but after some deep reflection, Jordan and I both agreed that we were slowly falling into the category of being those moany ungratefuls. Noisy neighbours, tiring commutes to work, long work days, empty bank accounts – subjects of my recent tirades - all pale in comparison to getting seriously hurt or losing a life. As much as car accidents (as well as life’s other unpredictables) truly suck, sometimes you need a little perspective. A little reminder that actually, your life is pretty sweet. You are lucky, healthy, blessed, alive – go and make the most of it.