The Real Housewives of New York City

the Hottest Workout

Rosie Huntington-Whiteley

Rideau Hall - Ottawa, Canada

Kristen Stewart's Favorite Songs

Kristen Stewart Should Play Casey Anthony

Kate Moss Finally Gets Married

Jennifer Paige's 'Crush'

Shia LaBeouf and Megan Fox

Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes

Misspelled Celebrity Tattoos

Tea Leoni and David Duchovny Separate

Contemplating Green

Whilst browsing through the images I have saved on my laptop today I pulled these three out as they caught my eye.  I seem to be drawn to green lately.  I don't know why as I have always been surrounded by so much blue thanks to my mother.  There seems to be something so grounded about green.  I mean, I wouldn't ever paint the outside of my house green but I have to say that I love the look of that beautiful old house in the top image with the fresh white trim.  I think I could accept green as an accent in my life. 

Look at Tory {middle image} sitting there ever-so-stylishly with that beautiful green side table mixed with the blue and white garden stools.  My mother is not a fan of green but look at all of that green in her lounge room {last image}...??  What's with that Mum?

Mixed with lots of white and blue and pink or blue and red and yellow, I think green could be a great colour to get to know a bit more...

image 1 - via frolic, image 2 - via peak of chic, image 3 - anna spiro

i'm not going anywhere.

unknown

Something my amazing boyfriend sent me: *

"I like you a whole ton, cuz you accept me for me and would never try to change me, you make me do my homework so that I can get good grades, you got me to fill out scholarships, because I know I can just be myself with you and you'll be totally happy with that, because you accept my flaws, because even though I'm afraid of being awkward I know even if I do something awkward you won't make me feel bad, because you ask what I think of your friends cuz you want me to like them, because you came up to my work before we were dating, because you've been there for me when I needed you for like the past 2 years, because you listen to me talk about Mary and don't get jealous or say stupid things like "you're not over her" type stuff, because you don't put up with bullshit so I know 99.98% of the time you won't give me any, because I don't have to constantly worry about upsetting you, because you are beautiful and you know it but you don't want to sound like a bitch self centered person, because you don't fish for compliments, because you really couldn't care less what other people think, because you did that drama thing in subway yelling about a moose, because you play cod and don't get upset that I played while you were doing homework, because you've made me 2 mix cd's, because I feel very well like when we hug, because you remind me that you like me daily, even though I'd have to be a complete idiot to forget :) "

A couple texts I've woken up to:
"Good Morning Scarlett Hunt, have I ever mentioned that I like you? Well in case I haven't, I like you, very much, please never leave. THANKS - Kennen"
"Scarlett... I love you"

I think that last one is my favorite. He rarely tells me he loves me because he believes that saying it too much will make it less special, and he's right. Because I hear it so few times, I still get overwhelmed with happiness any time he tells me. I think it's a technique that everyone should use.

So I'm 18 and I've found true, pure, honest love. I'm going to do my best to keep it. Kennen means more to me than sleep, and I LOVE sleep. He's the only boy I've ever been able to picture myself marrying, though we've both agreed that we don't want to do anything that serious until we're out of college. We agree on most important things, and we balance each other well. He helps me be goofy and happy while I help him get down to business. We also know how to keep friends while being in a relationship. If I were to give someone advice about love without having them ask me a specific question, I'd tell them to make sure that you can find the right balance, not just with each other but with the rest of the world. You have to keep other people around because you don't want to be left alone if something goes wrong. Also, age doesn't matter. You can find love no matter how old you are. It may not be the same kind of love that someone else finds, but you can certainly have your own. And when you do find it, hold on to it. It's the best feeling you'll ever have. If it's taken away, remember that you can find joy again. Very few people marry their first love, and I certainly won't be one of those few, but I think 3rd love is just right for me.

I love you Kennen, and I'm not going anywhere.

* reader submission

i want a simple love

weheartit | unknown

do you believe in soul mates?

weheartit

Do you believe in soul mates?
I didn't. I used to think that I would never find the person I was meant to spend the rest of my life with in this little town.
I thought I would have to leave and start over new somewhere else to start my life...I thought I would have to leave if I was to ever find my true love.
But then he came along... and it's like everything I ever knew changed. Everything I ever wished for, hoped for, wanted to do... changed.
Because of him. Because i knew that no matter what, he was the guy I was going to spend the rest of my life with.
We took a little while to get to know each other, even though we both practically felt like we knew each other inside out from the first moment we said "Hello."
What we found out though, was that we really were perfect for each other. Were he was speechless, I was there to say what he couldn't. Were I was sad and had shut down, he was there to make everything better again and to put that smile he loves to see on my face..
We had weird moments that I could only laugh about with him..our own little private jokes that we will never forget about. Everything was perfect...he was even into the same taste of weird music as i was into. Because of all this and more, I knew he would be the one.
But lately, it all seems to be changing.. I keep thinking to myself that he still loves me, and he reminds me of this as much as he can..but where I used to see him every day, I only see him about three times a week, maybe less.
Where I used to talk to him every day, now we go days without even a phone call. He got a new job. It keeps him busy, so it's not like he's out there doing things that could potentially break my heart...but all this separation is killing me. I'm proud of him for trying to make his life better, and I wouldn't tell him to give any of it up. But i do wish I would see him more...I wish there would be more hours in the day, more days in the week, just so I could spend a little bit more time with him...
This separation will be good for us in the long run. It will be a test of our love... So far we have had a wonderful 8 months together, and he has become my lover, my partner, my best friend..
I know that we will get through whatever obstacles we come across because I love him and he loves me..
So do you believe in soul mates? Because I do.
-M

Cute Max Side Table


I've posted about our custom made Max coffee table before but today we took delivery of this little Max side table which I had made for placement between 2 single beds in a client's guest bedroom.  I couldn't resist sharing this little beauty with you all. 

quédate conmigo

valeria lazareva + unknown

stay with me.

First Bulbs Flowering

I have been having many conversations with my grandmother of late about our bulbs {flowers}.  You see she is a very keen gardener and loves planting lots of bulbs in her garden each year.  However, this year her bulbs {and mine too} have been very slow to sprout.  She has been ringing me every week asking me if mine have broken the soil yet.  You could say that we have been comparing notes. 

As this is my first season planting bulbs I admit I am completely not-in-the-know so each morning I head out to our garden to check on their progress.  I think the boys must think I am going slightly mad.

To my complete excitement, joy and surprise when I went out to the garden on Saturday morning there she was...my very first flowering bulb for 2011!!  I spent the entire day weighing up whether or not I should cut her to put into a vase.  By Sunday afternoon I decided to cut her and a few other flowers out of our garden including a sprig of our flowering yellow snapdragons.  I arranged them in a new jug which I purchased online HERE.

This gardening thing really is very exciting.  I can't wait for the next bulb to flower not to mention the sweet peas and hollyhocks!!

xx
Anna

PS.  The lovely nickel lanterns are a new purchase from HERE...

i want to love. love you.

eαse*

Everyday I tell myself that your not longer a big part of me. Sometimes I really believe it, sometimes I actually think that you don't mean a god damn thing to me. Every time that thought appears I feel relieved, I feel less vulnerable, it feels like you can't affect me anymore.

I've repeated this thought so many times that I've almost made it true. At the same time it makes me so freaking scared of moving forward, cause what happens when you stop loving someone? What happens when you someday wake up and realize that this person actually doesn't mean anything to you? How can you manage to go from 1000 to 0. Cause that day will eventually come. The only thing you have left is the beautiful memories that you hopefully will carry with you your whole life. But I'm so afraid of that day coming, because I don't want it to. I don't want it to happen because I want to love. Love you.

Love,
S

don't allow those bastards near your heart

this isn't happiness

Exciting News

I am delighted to share some very exciting news with you all.  It has been a long time coming but I am always of the opinion that it takes lots of time, lots of thought and lots of planning to do something properly.  So here goes....

At the end of July/beginning of August 2011 {just over 1 month away} we will be launching our very exciting online store which will be called - Anna Spiro's Absolutely Beautiful Things.  Because I always like to be different, it won't be like a normal online store.  It is a unique concept which I have had in my mind for over 2 years and now it is finally going to come to fruition.

I will be keeping you all updated over the next few weeks as to when it will actually go live.  All I can say at this point is that once we go live you will have to be quick as the early bird catches the worm!!

Exciting times ahead.

The site address is - www.absolutelybeautifulthings.com.au

xoxo
Anna

PS.  There will definitely be some 'Signature Spiro' things available to purchase like our beautiful pink cockatoo lamps which are made in the pink exclusively for us!!

Stay tuned....

the best promise you could ever break.

We are so cliche. We finish eachother's sentences, sometimes I think you're a mind reader.

I cannot count the times in a day we say the words "I love you" yet this countless amount never seems like it's enough. I love you infinity past beyond, because this love really does transcend this universe. Your love for me makes me grow childish-a feeling more amazing than could be described- for while everyone is busy trying to grow up and move on, you bring out the joyful youth in me. You've reminded me what being happy is and have shown me that I've been missing out on happiness for far too long. The first time you told me how you felt - that you loved me - my heart seemed to melt and overflow my ribcage. This was a feeling like no other. People say they get butterflies around "that" someone, that they feel all warm and fuzzy inside and that their heart just melts as it is overcome by such a strong and pure emotion. I doubted that possibility, laughed a bit at how cliche it seemed. I mean of course I'd fantasized about the possibility, but I never thought I could feel that way so literally. When we first started talking, you promised you'd never fall for me or see me as anything more than a friend because I was frustrated with the guys in my life who couldn't just be my friend. I thought I just needed a friend. But what I needed was you.

And darling, we are the best promise you could ever break.

We are so cliche. We fawn over eachother, constantly declaring our love and proclaiming every possible reason why our love is the perfect love. We'd get so deep into these conversations of outpouring affection but then try and pull ourselves out, for fear of being too cliche. Like today, when you said we were "losers and oh so cheesy". I told you that "honey, cheesy is what it's called by the people that don't get to experience it. And as far as I'm concerned, as long as it's real then I love it and shall not frown down with 'cheesiness nonappreciation'" . You said "that's probably the most sensical thing i've ever heard". I smiled.

Because that's what I do when I see you, or hear you or read something you write. I smile. You always give me that instasmile. You are the sunshine in my life when I'm a stormy cloud, so together we create a rainbow. And that will never make us cheesy.

I love you, my sunbow rainshine.

-b.c

i stop breathing

grace kathryn + unknown

Fresh Tulips Fresh Window

It's always like a breath of fresh air when we install a new window display at Black & Spiro.  To celebrate our new window I bought some pretty fresh tulips which we have placed into one of a pair of blue and white vases we have on the table with a beautiful pair of lamps.  Good old Chiang Mai in blue and white makes a big appearance in the background.  I will try to post a picture from the outside of the shop too as the antique table which you can't really see in this photo is absolutely divine!!

Disappearing Act

I am still here.  I promise I haven't performed a disappearing act {although sometimes I wish I could!!}.  Just been a bit busy.  My dear friend Soph has declared that she completely dislikes the word busy and I have to agree with her but it really does describe my life!!  Anyway, back to beautiful things....I have fallen head over heels in-LOVE with Joel Penkman's painting above which I spotted on Design Sponge.  I think I will add it as number two million five hundred and sixty two thousand on my wish list!! 

I won't make any promises but I will TRY harder to post some more lovely things this week!!

xx
Anna

no guarantees

unknown

A year. Just one year. In that time we have left and re-entered each other's lives way too many times to count. I don't even remember how it first started, how "we" first started. And in the times when we weren't together we were with other people, but it was always like there was this magnet inside of us that only we could feel. As the magnet would move closer, we would become friends, and then all of a sudden it would be like the magnet shattered. And once again we would leave each other's lives. And every time it would shatter just as we were getting closest to something serious between us.

But this last time was different. For some reason the magnet didn't shut off and we got close. Really close. The first time we went out you told me you were going away for two months this summer but I was so wrapped up in the excitement of it all that I pushed it to the back of my mind. Then on the second time, I noticed something had changed. We sat in your car and you stared at me for a while with this longing, sad look. I tried not to think twice about it and the thought of you leaving hadn't crossed my mind in a while.

Then last night, you reminded me that you were leaving. In two days. And all of a sudden I felt this pain in my chest. I brushed it off as I joked about you not hooking up with any girls while you were away but I knew there were no guarantees. And then tonight you tell me you thought it was weird that I would say that because those kinds of rules are only for "a boyfriend and a girlfriend."

So that leaves me. For two months. Sitting here. Hurting. Wondering what you're doing, and who you're with. Two months while I work at some boring, 9-to-5 job. And with no guarantees. No guarantees that you won't have hooked up with another girl, that you won't have stopped liking me, that you won't have missed me, that you won't have forgotten about me.

Nothing.

-R

Random Rare

Dakota Fanning poses for a friend at a party.

only one of you

unknown + weheartit

i miss that feeling...

ph: carlos s.

tiptoes on top of toes

swaying side to side

as if standing on a rocking ship

letting myself go completely.

leaning with the music

as if nothing in the world

not even an unexpected branch

could scrape me as we pass

to and fro, back and forth

trusting in your arms.

held. unafraid.


unafraid because pain and I haven't met yet. I miss that.

Grad Party

Dakota Fanning with a friend at a grad party.

take me with you

weheartit

Pale Yet Colourful

Sometimes I think people are under the impression that I only create very bright and colourful rooms however, this isn't the case.  I thought I would post this room today as it is one I recently finished for a client who wanted a bit of colour but also wanted a more formal and sophisticated look.  I love the palette we selected for this room and the curtains with the orange banding turned out just as I had hoped.  We worked with all of the existing pieces of furniture and just added cushions, curtains, lamps and recovered the ottoman.  It's amazing how these few things have completely changed/improved the look of the room.  Now we just need to hunt for a beautiful painting for behind the sofa...

when the time is right it will happen.

Ciel Photography

Realisations of love and general inspiring thoughts:

I just wanted to say I think the best people in life are the ones that get brokenhearted, time and time again and can still open their hearts to love after the exasperating pain of heart break. Those are the best kinds of people in life.
The ability to love anything and anyone is a gift. And anyone who hasn't found love yet should not fear, because it's fear that drives you to insanity and worry. But its hope that sends you to belief and opens your heart again to love and for love. And once you've found it, and really found it, Love will never let you down. It will be faithful and kind. Love will be beautiful and unpredictable. And even though I haven't found it, I feel all these things for it. I don't know why and I don't know how, but I can tell you I really do believe In love.

I just wanted to say that to anyone who is going through something right now, because I'm in a state of heart broken heartedness, and over my best friend that I have loved to the core of my soul for about 3 years of my life. But unfortunately he doesn't feel the same. He wants to find something better I presume and I'm not that. I've sometimes felt unworthy of love and inadequate, almost useless. But one day I'm gonna get over it and I'm going to find love and love will find me back. And to those who are broken, it may not seem like it now, but take me for example with such an emotional attachment like mine it cannot be overcome in a day. But I know it's gonna happen for me.

Lol I know this sounds like a motivational talk for everyone but I was just feeling inspired. I just wanted to get one of the nice things I was feeling about love off my chest. But of course I'm angry, hurt and frustrated sometimes, that's a natural emotion just know you should be all driven to smile and be happy with the thought of the hope of love.

And to those who have found love, be happy. Don't let go, hold on tight, because he or she is a keeper. And be inspired by that love, because people like myself who long to find 'the one' envy you and can't wait to be in your position.

But I say to myself everyday when the time is right it will happen.

And it will. ;)

I believe in love, do you?

dear heart

weheartit + unknown

New VL & New Office

It's always an exciting moment when our 2 subscriptions of Vogue Living arrive in the mail.  We get 2 so that I can have one at Black & Spiro and 1 at home.  We received the latest issue today and I have to say that it is jaw droppingly beautiful!  My favourite story is on Chrissie Jeffery and her redecorated Sydney apartment.  I remember when her apartment was featured in VL the first time around.  She is extremely clever and very inspiring. 

Talking about redecorating, I recently decided that I don't want to sit at a desk anymore in my office at Black & Spiro so I removed my desk and I have turned my office into my very own lounge room.  I now sit on my Peggy sofa with my laptop on my lap.  It probably isn't the most ergonomically suitable situation but I love it and I feel so much more inspired.  Here's a little snapshot of how the room is coming together.


Hope you all have a great day!  I have a huge week ahead of me and I am determined to get through it with all things ticked off my list by Friday!