sea salt

stefa.zozokovich

thank you kate!

A Collar for Ned

I just came across these very cool Mascot dog collars and leads. I think I am going to have to order one in for Ned. Only problem will be trying to decide on which colour.....probably Navy.

A Beautiful Vignette

I am in-love with this beautiful vignette in the home of Melbourne based artist John Young which was featured in the July/August 2009 issue of Inside Out Magazine. I think the composition of the simple, natural tones of the objects with the divine, earthy coloured portrait is very beautiful.

if i could wish...

ffffound

Loving Ruffled Kitchen Skirts

I love the informality of ruffled kitchen skirts. I'm thinking from a budget conscious point of view this might be a fun option when we renovate our kitchen at our Stradbroke beach cottage. Are they a pain to use and keep clean?? I would love to hear from anyone who has had these before...

image 1 - mary ruffle, image 2 - skona hem

summer lovin'

thanks to donna of crush + lovely !

Pretty Yellow Wattle

Whilst I have been out on my morning walks of late I have noticed the wattle trees in flower all over the place. When I went down to the park with Harry yesterday there was one large tree in flower. I picked a few branches and brought them home and then arranged them in an old crystal vase my grandmother gave me a couple of years ago. I just adore the vibrant yellow of the flowers against the grey-green of the leaves.

nibble

ru_glamour

Saturday Vintage Shopping Trip

A friend asked me to go hunting for vintage pieces with her yesterday {Saturday}. I warned her before we left that sometimes it can be hard to find things and sometimes we can come home with no great finds. Well, didn't I eat my words. We had one of the most successful vintage hunts I have had in a long time. We filled the boot of the car and then filled the back seats with things too. We even have a few pieces which need delivering next week!! Now, that's what I call a successful day...

Life in the Fast Lane

Behind the Scenes of The Secret Life of Bees^

At a party with friends.

Here are some pictures of the teen actress Dakota Fanning you haven’t seen from the event/party pictures you have seen.

don't do it

Friday Flowers

I was very lucky to be given these pretty mottled roses from a friend today. I arranged them in a pretty yellow vase we have at Black & Spiro. I placed them next to our beautiful vintage lamp and shade {note the beautiful embroidery on the shade} on a table in the shop and then a very lucky young lady came into the shop with her mum and her sister and they took the lamp home for her bedroom. I am sad to see this beautiful one-off vintage lamp go but I know it will be loved and cherished by it's next owner...

Happy Weekend. See you next time.

xx

Anna

like i do with my feelings for you...

ffffound

Black & Spiro Today

It's been a while since I posted some pictures of the shop so I thought I would post some today. We have some lovely new pieces in at the moment including some beautiful vintage/antique pieces.

i never have to steal kisses

ru_glamour

Summer on the Otherside

One of the things I love about this time of year {Winter in Australia} when it comes to my magazine subscriptions is the beautiful Summer homes featured in my favourite American magazines. Even though we are a little lighter on this year without the likes of Domino to give us our hit, this month's issue of Elle Decor looks like it's a cracker!! Loving this house belonging to Scott Currie {Elie Tahari public relations} in Southampton, New York.

The Origins of Taste

I've been talking a little bit about my mother's style in comparison to my own this week and I happened to stumble across this article by Anne E. Collins the Executive Editor over at Point Click Home in which she talks briefly about the origins of taste. I think it's a good read and applicable to my posts here this week. I hope to talk more about this topic in the coming weeks on ABT.

Geraniums

My mother has always had lots of large pots of geraniums growing on her verandah. No family dinner or lunch is complete without some sort of flower arrangement on my mothers dining table and geraniums have often filled the void when other options aren't flowering in her garden. I thought I'd post a couple of her little geranium arrangements. You won't believe it when I tell you the last image is actually in her old bedroom at my grandmother's house. The black and white ticking wallpaper which you can see in the background has been on those walls for around 40 years! Mum chose the wallpaper for her room when she was a teenager. Now doesn't that spell timeless....

Ed McMahon Passes Away

Ed McMahon died this morning at a Los Angeles hospital. He was 86 years old. McMahon had been hospitalized for pneumonia at the beginning of this year and was also battling cancer. He had a great career as Johnny Carson's sidekick on the The Tonight Show. (Who doesn't remember his famous "Heeeeee're Johnny!") McMahon also hosted the television talent show, Star Search.
Today, we pay tribute to Ed McMahon and remember his legendary career in Hollywood.

*Getty Images

- Aanchal

Jon and Kate Are Getting Divorced

Jon and Kate Gosselin from TLC’s reality TV series Jon and Kate Plus 8 have officially announced that they're getting divorced! They have been married for 10 years, and have been shaky for the past six months. Both have agreed that it is best for their children. Jon says, “It's not good for us to be arguing in front of the kids.” There has been a whole lot of publicity around their troubled relationship, but the announcement was comes as a shock. They have thought it all out and are still carrying on with the show, just parenting at different times. The kids will still live at home, since the house was bought for them.

Kate was very upset and apparently sobbed, and said "Parents of multiples have triple the divorce rate ... I was thinking we were going to beat that.” Yet, she was the one to make the first legal move. When they announced their divorce on the show, she had already called a lawyer. This is the first reality show that is going to air while the divorce is going on!

They seemed like the perfect family! The show is going to be so different now!

- Aanchal

let me get that for you

ru_glamour