Happy Birthday to me!

Check out the best birthday cake ever! Thanks Freya for being such a wonderful friend to me and making my birthday so memorable! This was the cake we shared at a very special birthday lunch at The Ivy in LA - it doesn't get much better than this :)

Watching sun come up over Santa Monica Boulevard

I'm just back from a week in LA and I was so inspired by its abundance of quirky and colourful design. It was the furthest you could get from the hum ho of beige and Antique White with big pops of colour, statement furniture and quirky plays on size and scale. Here are a few pics of the Chamberlain in West Hollywood where we stayed and it's sister property the Viceroy Hotel - both designed by Kelly Wearstler (love her!!). We also had an amazing Sunday brunch at Cecconi's also in West Hollywood, they all epitomise LA style for me.

Images from Viceroy, Chamberlain West Hollywood and Cecconi's.

Boo!

Happy Halloween! Scariest child costume I have ever seen!

Image via People

Oh yes you do!

Image via Rachel Castle

Cool collisions

My friend Nicky sent this link through to me - my two loves, art and soft furnishings collide! Thanks Nicky! Love them :)

Images via Hoping for Happy Accidents

Cute!

Image via Evoke Mio by Orla Kiely

Denim on Denim

Usually a sin, on Jenna - hawt!!!!! She can do no wrong in my eyes. I may even be tempted to try this fashion no-no myself based on this funky look. Topped off with a splash of orange red lippy and hot pair of heels - bring on spring weather (she says whilst a miserable thunderstorm threatens outside - the grass is always greener, huh?!).

Image via Sartorialist

Thinking colourful thoughts!

It's been a rough two weeks, and I need some cheering up :)

Images via Chocolate Therapy Tumblr

Strange but true...

Image via Quote Book

David Downton, fashion illustrator extraordinaire

And he's coming to Sydney!!

Images via Fashion Journalist in the City, Ruby PR, Second Hand Cameras, The Essential, Trend Land, Today and Tomorrow

Dream House

If there was just one house that I HAD to move into without touching one single thing it would be the house of Louise Olsen and Stephen Ormandy from Dinosaur Designs. Fresh white walls, dark lacquered floors, lots of light, floor to ceiling windows, big colour pops, investment furniture pieces and gloss white joinery... I just can't fault it, love love LOVE it!

Images via Arianna Belle.

The Nine Lives of the Florence

One thing I'm sure of and that is the extraordinary talent of Florence Broadhurst. I, like many others, adore her time defying designs, what I wasn't aware of was her fascinating life story. After growing up on a station in rural Queensland in 1899, Florence became a singer and performer joining a comedy sextet that toured South East Asia and China in 1922. In 1926 she set up the Broadhurst Academy in Shanghai offering tuition in music and dance.

She returned to Queensland in 1927 where she was involved in a major car accident, following which she took off to England and married, divorced and remarried. In 1949 she returned to Australia and produced 114 landscape paintings known as "The Paintings of Australia" which toured the country. She was a foundation member of the Art Gallery of NSW and the Society of Interior Designers, a teacher of printmaking and sculpture at the National Art School.

That is an extraordinary life. As I approach my 30th birthday and contemplate whether I have done all that I need to so far, Florence's story inspires me to fearlessly grab every opportuntity that comes my way, to continue on a path of learning and continual reinvention. Can you tell I'm having a 1/3 life crisis?!

Image via Florence Rugs.

My Country, My Art

I wish I lived in a big old art studio with white washed brick walls surrounded by this art. The Kate Owen gallery is just up the road from me and everytime I drive past I gaze up at the second level and pine to go in and drag my bed behind me. These pieces by extraordinary painter, Kudditji Kngwarreye, brother of Emily Kame Kngwarreye speak to something in me - their colours and structure stir my soul.

Images via Kate Owen Gallery.