Steven Meisel v Wong Kar Wai

In the Mood for Love would have to be one of my favourite films having been a fan of director Wong Kar Wai's work for a very long time.  Iconic Hong Kong actors Maggie Cheung and Tony Leung are both so beautiful in this film not to mention the set design, interiors, Christopher Doyle's stunning cinematography and of course the gorgeous array of cheongsam worn by Maggie throughout. Hence I love this Vogue fashion editorial shot by Steven Meisel featuring Amber Valletta inspired by the sumptious look of the film... I wonder what Wong Kar Wai thought... 

image source:

http://eclecticflies.blogspot.com/

Currumbin

Having enjoyed our fair share of sun yesterday we decided to push on in search of food.  A short drive up to Currumbin Surf Club for dinner at sunset.  The club was bursting with life but we still managed to find ourselves a table on the balcony overlooking the rocks, Currumbin Beach and sea towards Surfers Paradise.  Fresh whole barramundi with kipfler potatos and salad, just what we were after.

Queensland Homes

Back to Kirra Beach again today after trying a different offering from the Lady Marmalade menu.  The weather held up and it was a beautiful day on the beach.  I saw a couple of houses today which grabbed my attention.  The top image is of a house along the same street as the cafe in Stones Corner.  A quintessential Queenslander albeit a little rough and tumble but the golden palms at the front stairs and the faded beauty of the house appealed to me.  The second image is of a beach house at Kirra which I just adore.  Simple, blue and white, high ceilings and facing the beach... what's not to love!

Hotel Daniel Paris

Well, the tickets are booked and we will be on our way to Paris in a couple of weeks time.  Needless to say we are very excited about travelling to France and visiting the La Ville Lumiere!  I so much wanted to stay a while at Hotel Daniel but it shall be the one that got away this time around as we left it too late to book.  I happened to have posted about De Gournay wallpaper back at the beginning of the blog which inadvertently featured the guest lounge of this hotel. I absolutely love the Chinoiserie styling and thought it was meant to be when we were researching accommodation and the hotel was the first one we came across. Definitely next time... 

image source:

http://www.neathome.net/

Sketch Design

Here are some early sketches of one of my current projects.  The steeply pitched roof over the entry verandah helps identify the entry while the relative informality in the form aims to render the building more comfortable for it's occupants.  For this building we are working with iconic Australian lightweight materials such as corrugated steel, variegated timber batten screens, plywood panelling and glass louvres.

Beach Life

Continuing on with the Australian beach theme, here are some of my favourite beach accessories of course!  I love the fun and uplifting colours and patterns on these beach umbrellas, towels, bags, outdoor furniture and homewares from Australian brand SunnyLIFE.  Loving the geometric navy and white outdoor cushion especially.  I think it would make for a very chic outing to the beach indeed!

image source:
http://www.sunnylife.com.au/

South Australian Coast

Alright, so it's pretty obvious I love the beach.  I think it's because so many of us Australians live along the coastline that it's inevitable we have a huge beach culture.  And what better way to acknowledge Australia Day than to pay homage to our beautiful beaches all around this sunburnt country.  These photos were taken last week during my whirlwind trip across to Adelaide and Whyalla in South Australia for work.  I managed to squeeze in a quick wander along the beach and a wade through the shallows.  The tide was out and you could walk right out along the sand and the water was wonderfully warm.  Happy Australia Day everyone!

Kirra Beach

Talking of seeking out new places, we took an impromptu trip down the coast to Kirra Beach after breakfast on Saturday.  I hadn't known of this sleepy stretch of beach just north of Coolangatta until this weekend at James' suggestion.  It was surprisingly quiet despite it being the height of an Australian summer and practically the first weekend the rain (and floods!) stayed away.  It's still a relatively undeveloped area with mainly old fibro shacks and 1970s brick units, although I noticed the tall apartment blocks are starting to appear beyond. We almost had the beach entirely to ourselves and spent a perfect day in the waves, lounging on the sand and beachcombing for shells and bits of coral.  It was a much needed escape after a stressful couple of weeks.  I'm finding more and more that wherever there is sun, surf and sand is where I ultimately want to be most...

Lady Marmalade

We are yet to be allowed back in to our flood damaged apartment building for the second week running.  Hence this weekend we decided to distract ourselves from feeling displaced by seeking out new places.  We visited this cafe for breakfast on Saturday called Lady Marmalade.  I had recently read a review in some local street press and decided to check it out.  We were not disappointed as it had some of the tastiest, most unpretentious food not to mention the cafe's own coffee blend which was perfection and such great value!  I also loved the quirky mismatched vintage furniture, cutlery and crockery decking the place out including this fun use of an old timber ladder wall mounted as a magazine rack.  Can't wait to go back next weekend!

Brisbane Flooding

This morning we awoke to news updates that the river has peaked lower than expected.  This has been a relief considering the dread we felt for what we were going to awaken to this morning.  However, many areas have suffered catastrophic damage from flooding yesterday and overnight with thousands of people affected.  We walked back down to our area late yesterday afternoon to assess what the damage was thus far and found the streets in our area flooding rapidly, water gushing into our basement carpark and roads and bridges inaccessible and deserted.  It was such a surreal feeling walking through the city streets on a Wednesday afternoon with the constant sound of helicopters overhead and alarms and sirens from everywhere. Normally we would be finishing up for the day at work and the city would be full of workers making their way home.  The river continues to rush through the city into the bay.

Stylish Blogger Award

We are very glad to have received from Malena at HelloHello Baby the Stylish Blogger Award. Thank you Malena, this is very lovely!

As many people are probably aware we are based in Brisbane, Australia and currently our city is in a state of emergency facing the crisis of major flooding over the next few days as our river overflows from weeks of constant rain.  Hence we have escaped to a higher part of Brisbane and will be waiting with a degree of apprehension over the coming days as power and fresh water supplies are potentially cut to the inner city.

We will endeavour to properly acknowledge and pass on this lovely award once our city returns to a semblance of normality over the coming weeks. We may not be blogging very much over this period as right now we are concentrating on making sure we are well prepared for the worst of the flooding to come.  We hope that everyone who shares this city with us as their home will keep well and stay safe over the coming days.

Weekend Project

We've been contemplating putting up a coat rack for a while and the rainy weather has given us the perfect excuse to stay indoors and put one together. We took inspiration from the reclaimed timber frame Stuart gave us for Christmas and salvaged some T&G board from a demolition yard and picked up a few metal hooks from the hardware shop. After a Sunday afternoon of sawing and drilling we finally put the rack up in our little entry way.  I really like how it has brightened up the space but most of all I like that we had some fun putting it all together. Our apartment became an impromptu workshop for an afternoon!

Sharing with:
http://www.abeachcottage.com/

The Nutcracker

With our holidays coming to an end today I have been reflecting on the events of the past month and trying not to get too down by the thought of returning to work.  What am I saying, I enjoy my work. Anyway, for me the festive season began on Friday 17 December when we attended an evening performance of The Nutcracker by the Queensland Ballet, accompanied by the Queensland Symphony Orchestra.  Dad, Leonie, Anton and Oi Lai joined us in celebrating the arrival of the festive season, the coming holidays and my birthday.  The performance, the athleticism and of course Tchaikovsky's score all magnificent.


Image source:
http://awhitecarousel.com/

Sitting by the Bay

Well the rain continues to fall steadily this morning so I'm still in bed with the weekend paper to keep me occupied.  I really wish we could have a little sun sometime soon.  The forecast in the paper for the next week is more rain and most of our state is flooded.  On Wednesday we took advantage of a break in the weather to visit my Dad down by Moreton Bay.  We had lunch at Fish Cafe and strolled out along the Wynnum Tee Jetty (a long concrete jetty in the shape of a T).

Brunch for Seven

After catching up with some friends last weekend we decided to continue the trend with brunch at our place this morning.  We enjoyed croissants, homemade blueberry muffins and bircher muesli followed by a cooked breakfast.  It's always fantastic spending time with friends especially when plenty of food is involved.  And of course I couldn't possibly turn down an opportunity for a few rounds of mahjong.

Rainy Weather

The relentless rain has kept us indoors for the day so I decided to break the spine of a new Penguin book I purchased recently called Perfume: the Story of a Murderer by Patrick Suskind. I have to admit it is an intense read from the very first page and I needed a bit of respite from it after finishing Chapter 7.  Hence I put the book down and picked up and old road map I've had lying around for ages and decided to re-fashion a box of Redhead matches, I know, go figure!  I love maps and always end up holding onto them from road trips. Inspired by the cover of the holiday issue of Lonny I decided I would make a fun matchbox using some old brown card and a map of South East Queensland. Crafting respite over, now back to the book!

Apartment Therapy

I've decided a new year calls for a refreshing of our apartment.  With our trip to France looming large I am trying to be a bit thrifty so it's more of a shuffling around of bits and pieces rather than any major purchases. I am sure there will be lovely things I'll want to pick up while over there. However, I may have to sell a few things in order to make room!

Here is a collage of our apartment as it stands. I figured I would take a few snaps for our records before I reorgnised everything. Ron and Leonie, I am glad to let you know I will be taking inspiration from the beautiful book you gave me for Christmas! 

Rosebery House

We went across to West End today to try and source some materials for a new coat rack.  We had no luck but decided to take a look around the area.  I wanted to show James my favourite house in Brisbane but I couldn't remember the directions exactly as it is almost completely concealed from the road and it's been such a long time since I saw it last. I remembered it was at the end of a tiny street leading down towards the Brisbane River. Luckily we managed to stumble our way to it and it was well worth all the wrong turns in the end.  Rosebery House designed by Andresen O'Gorman and built in 1998 has stood its twelve years extraordinarily well.  I remember discovering it in 2003 and it looks even more beautiful today than it did then.  The greenery surrounding the house has grown and embraced it with all its lush foliage. It is like suddenly coming upon a secret treehouse set amongst a rare pocket of tropical rainforest right in the middle of inner Brisbane.  Both times I have been there the house has had a very surreal, suddenly deserted ambience both beautiful and intriguing.