our fire never went out

weheartit

I've always been a die hard fan of true love. I've always scoffed at people who said love didn't exist or love left you with nothing but a broken heart, a carton of Ben & Jerry's, and too many used tissues. I've always hated people who brought up the divorce rate in my face when I mentioned how in love my parents are and how rare at is. I've wanted to punch people in the face who told me that my parents would probably end eventually.

The thing is, I kinda have hard love life shoes to fill. My parents met when they were 15 at their mutual summer resort destination and since then they were head over heels in love. They have been married 24 years and I've never seen two people so crazy about each other. They wrestle and tickle each other and make out all the time, you'd think they were 17-year-olds. They are two of the most passionate people I have ever met and ever since I was 5, I've wanted what they have.

I've always thought that it was a 1 in a thousand chance of finding your true love at 15 and being together for all that time. That is until I met you.

We started dating in sophomore year of high school and god were we in love. We were the biggest abusers of PDA but the truth was we just couldn't keep our hands off of each other. I just didn't think I could be that in love with someone and have it last. Maybe that's what broke us in the end. You didn't trust me with your heart really and I took you for granted way too many times. I assumed that our love could withstand wild fire and you were sure that I'd never leave. But there were other problems too. Your parents were horrible and they caused you to have issues that I wasn't fit to deal with. I didn't know how to make you happy, to make you comfortable in your own shoes. I wanted to know that if I wasn't around you'd be okay.

And like all passionate romances, we ended in the summer a year later. I made the mistake of thinking I wanted to be wild and free and you made the mistake of never moving on. We stayed together off and on forever but we both knew we weren't going to get back together. Something had just changed in us that neither of us knew coming until it bit us in the ass.

I met him and he was sweet. He was nice to me. Not to mention he seemed to be completely stable and something that I could not feel worn down by during the ever tiring junior year. I sound like a bitch writing this and it sort of makes me hate myself, but I guess love can bring out the worst in you too. The truth is I've been with him 8 months and I still can't live without you in my life. Don't get me wrong I love him. Or at least I think I do, but then how does that explain that my heart pounds when you tell me I look beautiful or when you tell me you're mad I go into a frenzy and panic.

People say that true love never really goes away. I believe that the reason I can't live without you is just under my nose, I just haven't come to terms with it yet. Maybe we're done for good. Something tells me we're not. Our fire never went out, trust me. And the sad thing is, I don't know if I'll ever be able to move on...

-M

Senior Fun

Dakota Fanning poses with a friend with silly faces.

New Things

New Tables

New Paintings

New Blue and White Bone Inlay Boxes and Pink Inlay boxes too...

Another new painting

And another fabulous and very reasonably priced table

It really is like Christmas at Black & Spiro lately with all of the beautiful new things we have arriving from our overseas suppliers and also our wonderful Australian suppliers too.  Here are a few things which just arrived in this week.  I am finding it hard not to take things home.  I whisked one of the new pink inlaid trays home with me yesterday and I am obsessed with it...almost as much as my garden!!!

when you see his name

lena sophia + unknown

Garden Pots Inside

After planting a few little pots for my garden table on the weekend I have been thinking I might do a few more so that I can bring some inside to put on the table in our lounge room or to place down the centre of the dining table when we have people over for dinner.  I also love how they are placed on the bench in the bathroom I have posted above.  I think it would be a nice idea to find an old rack with perforated shelves {like Brooke's} so that I can store lots of potted up succulents and also my potted bulbs and herbs in the garden near our garden shed.  Lots to do!!

PS.  If anyone is wanting to plant up some of these traditional little terracotta pots, I purchased mine from Bunnings.  I think they were approximately $2.50 per pot.  And if you live in Brisbane and want to purchase some bulbs then head to Bunnings as well.  Bulbs can be a bit tricky to buy here in Brisbane due to them not really liking our climate.   Oh and one more thing, if you want to plant some sweet peas you need to get them in this week if you live here!!  Mine were planted yesterday.  I can't wait to see them grow and flower over the coming weeks.

PPS. I only know these things about when to plant etc. thanks to Merve, Uncle Robbie, my mother, my grandmother and the lovely man at Bunnings who is my new best friend.  What would I do without them!!


image 1 - via delight by design scanned from easy elegance, image 2 - http://brookegiannetti.typepad.com/ {thanks viera}

my sweet little revenge

weheartit

It's done. It's been done for a few months now. How did it end? If I recall correctly it was me realizing your immaturity and you not willing to put me before your friends, not even for the little things. After that, you thought you would get your revenge by claiming you liked someone else, some dumb girl you barely even knew who I knew would never like you back. Well your plan worked. It broke my heart. Even though I had wanted to end it, knowing you liked her while we were still together killed me. I was shattered into a million little pieces, and thought there was nothing in the world that could put me back together.

But something did. It was my new found self confidence. When I realized I deserved so much better than you, the pieces very slowly began to reassemble. And then I began noticing. That more and more guys would smile at me, try to talk to me, give me compliments. That made the pieces come together more quickly. The best part about it was, I never needed to get revenge in order to become whole again. Hurting you wouldn't make me feel any better, because I simply didn't care about you anymore. You broke my heart, made me feel like shit, and then did it again. Now all I see are those wasted months with you, the time spent waiting for you to show you cared.

So now I'm putting that last piece back together. I've found someone who cares, found someone who will put me before his friends, found someone who truly loves me. And I love him back. And there is no doubt in my mind that you are completely gone. I don't ever think about you when I'm with him. There are no lingering thoughts about us in my head, about "what could have been". This isn't one of those stories where I realized I've always still loved you. No. In fact, I don't know if I ever loved you, because now that I know what true love is, I know what I felt when I was with you sure as hell wasn't this.

So in a sense my happiness is my sweet little revenge.

Goodbye. Forever.

Chair Heaven

When I was at a client's house a few weeks ago I spotted this fabulous image when she was showing me through her file of things she loves.  I took a photo of the tear sheet as I too love this chair.  I'm sorry I don't know the source of this photo so if anyone does then just let me know.  This image has now been slotted into my file of things I love...the file is bulging these days!

image source thanks to Make mine Mid-Century Blog - Home Beautiful May 2007 'Bohemian Rhapsody' p 72.

reserving a space in your heart

unknown

Garden Ramblings

This is our garden yesterday with the round garden table Harry and I filled

with pots and also our vegetable garden to the left.

If my ramblings about my garden are becoming annoying just take me off your google reader or stop reading because I am thoroughly enjoying the excitement my garden is bringing me and I hope that these posts might inspire you to get your gloves on too.  I am actually quite a highly-strung, stressed-out maniac most of time however, I am finding that my garden is a place where I can relax.  I tend to drift off into another world when I am out there.  So, this is what I got up to on the weekend.

Harry and I planted up 10 little pots with succulents, herbs, pansies and another little plant which I can't remember the name of.  We arranged them on a round wire garden table which I placed near our vegetable garden.  I think this idea is such a great idea for interest in a large garden like ours but also would be wonderful on a verandah in an apartment or in a courtyard in a small garden.  I originally got the idea from a story on Deborah Needleman in Lonny magazine.  I think it was in one of their first issues...

We also started planting up some terracotta pots with Hyacinth bulbs which won't flower now until Spring but we are prepared and I think I might plant a few more this weekend as they will make nice gifts when Spring comes around. We also planted 30 Daffodil bulbs into the garden.  This weekend we will plant the Ranunculus, Freesias and tulips {which are currently in the fridge}.  I am keeping my fingers crossed that they will like it here in our red soil and will flower in Spring.

On Saturday we spotted 2 capsicum growing in our vegetable garden along with some corn.  We collected a small basket full of beans and cherry tomatoes which I cooked up on Saturday night.  This week we are planting some pretty sweet peas...this is the perfect time here for planting them.

And just to prove that I am making some headway in the garden compare the top photo in this post to this photo above as this is what one area of our garden looked like just before Christmas last year.  What a difference some effort can make and some help from my Uncle Robbie and Merv our lovely 84 year old gardener.  I can't claim all the accolades although if I didn't work I think I might be out there 24-7!

PS...One day she will be painted white but for the meantime we endure the red, green and yellow...xx

wouldn't trade it for the world

weheartit

Relationships come with a lot of tribulations. We fight, we yell, we get jealous, we cry, we feel pain, we hurt, we scream, we get frustrated, we get angry, we get upset, we break up and our emotions take us over. So why do we do it? Why would we want to feel not just sad, but truly hurt, sad to the point where your whole body hurts just because of one person, sad to the point where you feel empty when everything falls apart, sad to the point where your heart aches for the company of that being. I’ll tell you why I do it, its because besides all those moments when your stupidity gets in the way of what your truly feeling and you “fight”, the moments when you are truly loving someone are the most touching, astounding, magnificent moments you will ever experience. When two people are just loving each other its magical. And to those of you who are to scared of getting hurt and too scared of the baggage that comes with relationships, let me tell you this, having someone you love and having them love you back is a feeling that you can not substitute. Having someone look at you with such a deep emotion is remarkable. Having someone touch with so much care brings a feeling of weightlessness throughout your whole body. Having someone whisper they love you feels like they screamed it. Having someone to hold your hand at all times just feels special. Having someone to be your best friend and be loyal to you and never lie to you feels so safe. So yeah, relationships suck, breaking up hurts, but having that someone that you feel so comfortable with, someone that you let inside your soul, someone that lets you inside theirs, someone to talk to at all hours during the day, someone to laugh with, someone to fall asleep with, having someone that is your other half for whatever amount of time you are together, is true beauty and I wouldn’t trade it for the world.

so important to me

weheartit + unknown

Thanks Goodness it's Friday!!!!!!!!!!!!

Where did the week go?  I have no idea but I am glad it's Friday.  I am thrilled to advise that our 2 back rooms at Black & Spiro are now open again.  We've had a lot of customers waiting for the doors to open so thank you for your patience with us.  It takes time to make things beautiful!!!  I thought I'd share a few pictures as above.  We also have lots of blue and white in again which is great.  We actually have a brand new supplier of  blue and white so the pieces are all a bit different to the ones we've had in the past.  Oh and we just got in some more I love New York cushions too.

I think it's time I left the office.  I'm heading home to the garden...hopefully it won't be raining this weekend.  See you next week.
xx
Anna

our story isn't over

weheartit

You make my head feel like a busy, New York City street the second your name lights up on my cell phone.

It doesn't happen often, and it hadn't happened for a year and a half until recently, but when it does i don't know how to feel.

You were my first love, and first loves are hard to forget. I truly believe that the first person you fall in love with will always have a piece of your heart. It's never whole again- no matter how much you move on, how many more people you fall in love with, or how much you give to the next person- there's something special about the first time you give your heart away. Or maybe it's because your first love usually ends up in your first real heartbreak and you never quite get all of the pieces back.

I don't know what kept me with you for all of those years. I was young, naive, and immature i guess. But i loved you. Oh man, did I love you. I think i would have fought to be with you until i couldn't go on. I would have been content being with you and only you forever and ever. But you didn't feel the same. And to fight any longer would be foolish. You gave up on me not once, but twice, and it broke me down more and more. You treated me terrible in those last few months, as if I were a stranger you never even cared about. You left me a ghost. You left me broken. You left me.

It took so long for me to get back on my own two feet and finally feel anything again. And as everyone would tell me, time did heal. But no one ever really listens to that phrase...time heals. But healing doesn't make it go away, it just makes it bearable. It's like a scar. There's the initial wound and it hurts like hell, almost to the point where you think you'd rather just be dead at this point, and then slowly but surely your cut closes up and then there is the scab. You pick at it a few times and it hurts all over again. And eventually you have a scar, and it fades and fades, but it's never gone. There's always something to remind you.

And then i met him, and he swept me off my feet. He showed me what it was like to truly be loved and he gave me everything you never even thought to give. Everything that hurt finally went away with a flash of his smile and with the touch of his hand I felt like I had found my real forever. A month into the relationship I could see myself with him fifty years down the road. I had never loved someone this way before, not even you. Months in though, little fights started poisoning our relationship but we worked at them. I still love him with my whole heart and i still fall asleep next to him but every now and then you slip into my dreams, out of nowhere, just like in real life and in my dreams I miss you.

I never thought, in a million years, you'd come back to me again. I'm over you, I am, I worked way too hard at it not to be. But when I get a text alert at 2:30 in the morning, and i see your name on the caller ID, my head and heart start a war. I don't think it's love, i think it's missing who you were. I have this idea of you at sixteen in my head but six years later that isn't who you are.

But for some reason tonight, it hit me hard. You know me way too well not to know how to win my heart, even for five seconds. I hate you for making me feel like this. I hate you for what you did to me way back when. I hate you for making me second guess the perfection I have now. I hate you for never really disappearing from my life. I hate you for having the nerve to ever even think I'd take you back. I hate you for your late night texts. I hate you for who you've become. I hate you for it all.

You texted me tonight and said: "I just have a weird feeling that our story isn't over. But clearly I'm the only one thinking that."

And I'd never admit it, to you or myself out loud, but...I've never stopped thinking that exact same thing.

je t'aime

weheartit + unknown

i feel like a fool

unknown

I was freaking out the whole time that I walked from my gate to the end of the street. I tried to keep my pace steady with my friend, Sam. Nervousness and anticipation overwhelmed me as the blue car came into view. It was parked to one side of the street. With each step that I took towards it my heart started beating faster and faster. I tired to fix my eyes on something other than the car itself but my preoccupied mind would not let me do so.

I glanced at Sam and judging from her face it seemed that she was as nervous and anxious as I was.

"Oh My God, Oh My God", she cried.
"I know! Oh My God, I can't do this" I said laughing nervously.

Finally we reached the car. A mixture of dread and excitement formed inside of me. Sam shoved me in front of herself. My knees felt weak as I grabbed the handle. Before I could change my mind I pulled the door open and got inside the backseat of the car.

To my surprise, I was face to face with him. My heart stopped beating. This was NOT happening. I was not going to sit next to him all the way to his concert. I could not do this.

I gave him a sheepish smile and greeted him with a muffled "hi." Sam got in the car beside me shutting the door behind her.

He just had to open his mouth, didn't he? Gosh, his voice. I turned my head towards him as he introduced us to his two friends sitting in the front. The instant I met his gaze I turned away blushing.

I tried to calm down. To keep my hands from shaking I buried them in my lap. My heart started beating more rhythmically.

For the next ten minutes neither of us spoke a word except for his two friends who were constantly bickering about something I could care less of.

I guess at this point I should have started some sort of conversation. But then he spoke. A smile spread across his face.

Oh God I thought. Waves of emotions passed through me. My heart skipped a beat. Butterflies swarmed through my stomach as I turned to see his face which was five inches away from me. Oh crap I thought. My heart was pounding so loudly as I struggled for the right words to say. But before my face could give away anything I tore my eyes away from him. I let my hair fall forward to hide my cheeks which burned from blushing.

I couldn't comprehend what was happening. I tired to occupy my mind with other thoughts by talking to Sam. I knew she knew how I felt but being the reserved person I was, I still hadn't admitted it to her.

That was two and a half years ago. The first guy and the first time I ever fell in love with someone. Today, I feel like I fool. For giving someone so much of importance. For trusting someone more than anyone else. For believing every word he ever said to me. For falling in love with him.

-B

Black & Spiro Today

I haven't posted any pictures of the shop lately so here is a little corner in the shop today.  The chest of drawers is one of Stuart Membery's which we stock and the antique chair is one of 2 we have covered in our pink embroidered fabric.  There's lots of great things arriving which is always very exciting...especially the the things we bought in New York recently.  That little painting in the picture above {which looks much brighter in real life} came in today and it sold to the first ladies who saw it.  I think if it didn't sell it was on it's way home to my house!!

amount i thought i'd miss you...

9gag

someone like you

I heard that you're settled down,
That you found a girl and you're married now,
I heard that your dreams came true,
Guess she gave you things I didn't give to you,
Old friend, why are you so shy?
Ain't like you to hold back or hide from the light,

I hate to turn up out of the blue uninvited,
But I couldn't stay away, I couldn't fight it,
I had hoped you'd see my face,
And that you'd be reminded that for me it isn't over,

Never mind, I'll find someone like you,
I wish nothing but the best for you, too,
Don't forget me, I beg,
I remember you said,
"Sometimes it lasts in love,
But sometimes it hurts instead,"
Sometimes it lasts in love,
But sometimes it hurts instead, yeah,

You know how the time flies,
Only yesterday was the time of our lives,
We were born and raised in a summer haze,
Bound by the surprise of our glory days,

I hate to turn up out of the blue uninvited,
But I couldn't stay away, I couldn't fight it,
I had hoped you'd see my face,
And that you'd be reminded that for me it isn't over,

Never mind, I'll find someone like you,
I wish nothing but the best for you, too,
Don't forget me, I beg,
I remember you said,
"Sometimes it lasts in love,
But sometimes it hurts instead,"

Nothing compares,
No worries or cares,
Regrets and mistakes, they're memories made,
Who would have known how bittersweet this would taste?

Nevermind, I'll find someone like you,
I wish nothing but the best for you,
Don't forget me, I beg,
I remember you said,
"Sometimes it lasts in love,
But sometimes it hurts instead,"

Nevermind, I'll find someone like you,
I wish nothing but the best for you, too,
Don't forget me, I beg,
I remember you said,
"Sometimes it lasts in love,
But sometimes it hurts instead,"
Sometimes it lasts in love,
But sometimes it hurts instead.

-Adele

My Wonderful Weekend

My plans for a weekend in the garden had to be slightly altered due to the weather.  However, despite the rain I did achieve some gardening goals.  I went to my favourite nursery at Wellington Point yesterday.  If I could put their garden surrounding their nursery onto a truck and deliver it to our house I'd be one happy girl.  I just love wandering around the little pathways through their beautiful established garden. 

My aunty and my grandma {the one I photographed here on the blog last week} dropped in for morning tea this morning.  Aunty Jane brought me these pretty roses from her garden.  I love garden roses.  They are my favourite.

As you can see I did go a little crazy at the nursery.  I love the mix of plants I chose.  I really want to add lots of different colours into our garden.

I can't believe our little Max turned 10 months old yesterday.  He is almost walking.  Time really flies...



This morning my brother Sam and my mum, Harry, Max and I went to the Chandler Markets.  I hadn't been before and was so excited by what they had.  I found some beautiful orchids and fresh flowers and a few little vintage surprises too.



Yesterday I collected this bundle of fresh lettuce, beans and tomatoes from our kitchen garden.  I placed them into a basket and took them down to my mum's house.  Today she and Sam made an amazing salad which you will probably find the recipe for over at Sams' Table this week. 

Weekends at home are my favourite.  I always feel so inspired and rested and ready to go back to work on a Monday when I have been pottering around the house all weekend.

she's broken / he's ok

unknown

lost love

pink

This could very easily be a yet another story of a breakup. It wasn't the first time my heart was broken and most certainly not the last. I spent the first couple of weeks so angry and hurt. Mostly at myself. For not telling Eric how I felt. Never telling him that I loved him with my whole heart. Also pissed at myself for loving him so much when it was clear he didn't feel the same. After those couple of weeks I fooled myself into thinking I looked forward to dating new people. Looked forward to butterflies & newness. Almost a month had gone by, I was doing fine, and then it happened. Or rather, it didn't happen. My period didn't come. Shit.

I don't know what I expected. I didn't want Eric back. Actually I did. But not because I was pregnant. So I would do it alone. In the few moments before I dropped the news on him, during polite conversation, I wished I could suspend time. If we weren't together, at least we could be friends. But then reality crashed in. I was prepared for anger, yes. But I wasn't prepared for the realization that the man I was in love with was a selfish jerk. That I'd been strung along much longer than I previously knew. I kept thinking that if he only knew how much I loved him he would know that I wouldn't get pregnant on purpose. Sometimes birth control really doesn't work. If he only knew that my ovaries have so many cysts, getting pregnant at all was a feat. That I would never intentionally ruin his life. Nor did I really think his life was ruined, after all I wasn't asking him for a single thing. Yet there I was. About to become a single mom for the second time. And I didn't want that. Not for me or my daughter. I don't want her thinking that its ok to get pregnant as a single mom. Twice. I went for my sonogram. Uterus is enlarged, could be nothing, could be bad. Ultimately I focus on the "could be bad" & decide its in my & my daughter's best interest to terminate.

This is where the real story of lost love begins. I felt it in my heart that I was making the wrong decision. Yet it was the only logical one. How can a mother choose one child over another in the name of being a good mom?! I regret my choice because yes money would be tight, I would be alone, my bear would be jealous. But I would undoubtedly love my baby's big brown eyes wholeheartedly no matter what. I already did. I want my baby back, but I can't undo things. I lost pure love through my own fault. I didn't just lose it. I killed it. Worst part is that sometimes when I'm crying, I just want her father's hugs.

-anonymous

Winter Formal Fun

Dakota Fanning dancing with some girl friends at her school's Winter Formal.

I'm in the garden...

If you're looking for me this weekend I will be in the garden...not looking quite as glamorous as the lady above!  I can't wait to get stuck into some planting...I'm thinking daisies...lots of daisies.

Have a great one.
x

image via party tights, photographer unknown             

i like you

Gemma Correll

Mismatched Cushions

I think everyone knows that I love mismatched cushions so when I spotted this image of Rachel Roy's lounge room in Olivia's photo files on her laptop today at work it stopped me in my tracks.  I love this. 

there is no easy way

I never thought I would be the one going for the easy way out.
Or maybe there is no easy way.
Or maybe the right way and the easiest way sometimes are the same.

I watched Notebook yesterday. Five times. Over and over and over again. I watched it all night, trying to figure my own life out. I felt like every word Noah said to young Allie (who was engaged to someone else) was directly spoken to me. So I focused on this ring of mine that I'm wearing and started to think. I tried to picture my life 30 years from now, 40 years from now. What's it look like?

It's the same story. Teenage girl meets teenage boy, for the first time they fall deeply, insanely and endlessly in love, they teach each other everything about love, they spend their summers beneath the trees, growing together in love. And then, after one year of happiness and joy this beautiful love story ends, because that's what happens with puppy love. Because something went wrong. Because they hurt each other. Because there were terrible actions and even more terrible words. Teenage girl and teenage boy are wounded, they're hurting. And they try to move on. Many letters are written, but never actually sent. Four years apart and not one word is said. Sometimes, they use to see each other in their new lives, but they don't even smile at each other. They are just like strangers passing by. Their eyes meet for a second or two, and there is so many hidden feelings and secrets in those moments that their hearts starts to beat faster, and then these moments are gone.

Five years later, teenage girl is a woman, teenage boy a man and their story is nowadays just bittersweet memories. They have never really forgotten each other, but they're too proud to tell. Then, she meets this other man, this perfect man, who loves her with all her heart. That man is her "Lon", he is just perfect in every way and he can give her a secure, loving and worshipful marriage, and she maybe won't die completely happy but she will die with a confidently smile on her face. He purpose, and she say yes. Engaged and happy, but something is missing. And that's when "Noah" comes back to her life. Or actually, she comes back to his. She just has this strong feeling that she has to meet him, she don't know what to tell him but she know she has to see him, she has to speak to him. So she finds him. She is so sure that he has moved on and forgot her, but by finding him she realize that he still loves her. As she loves him. As she always did. As she always will. They spend some days talking for hours, telling memories, crying, catching up, falling in love (deeply, insanely and endlessly) all over again. It feels like the years in between didn't even exist. Like they're just coming back to each other's arms again after a short break. Everything is exactly like before, like five years ago. His voice. His eyes. Nothing has changed.

And then, after some days living in the past, she returns to her future. To her fiancé.

And that's the whole story.
It's like Notebook, except it isn't. If this was a novel written by Nicholas Sparks, we all know where I would end up. But this isn't a movie. It isn't that predictable. Or easy. It's my life. And the people around me are not actors playing out their roles. They are real people, you know. My fiancé, my ex.

I love them both. I really do. Just like Allie loved them both.
I love them differently, though. But deep in my heart I know which one has the power over my love. I know which one is the one who can make me feel like the teenage girl going crazy.

"The only thing more unthinkable than leaving was staying;
and the only thing more impossible than staying is leaving."

I am Allie, except I'm not. I maybe didn't choose the right one. I didn't follow my heart. I go for the easy way, except there is no easy way. The only thing more impossible than staying, is leaving. I don't have the courage to destroy anything. To destroy it all. To figure it out. I just can't. So here's the deal. If you want something, go for it. Life really is too short to wait. Me? I waited too long, and now it's too late.

It's a Small World

It really is amazing how blogging brings together people from all over the world.  I have met some amazing people thanks to my blog and the kindness of strangers continues to surprise me. 

I think almost everyone in our blogging community knows about the artist Anne Harwell.  She is one kind lady.  A long time ago she painted my gilt chair in my lounge room which she calls Anna Spiro's Chair. She sells prints of it in her etsy store.  Last year I received a package in the mail from Anne and inside was the original painting of my chair which she sent to me as a gift.  That little painting now hangs on my cluster wall in our sitting room at home {as above} and I look at it all the time and remember her kindness. 

Another artist we all know and love is Patricia van Essche who I had the pleasure of meeting in person in New York earlier this year.  She too has painted a few of my vignettes in the past.  I am yet to frame the original of the Staffordshire dogs she painted of mine which she sent me a while ago.  I am planning on framing it soon and hanging it in my office at work.  I will post pictures once I have hung it as it is beautiful.

I really think these ladies are so kind and so generous and I would like to thank them for their paintings which I love so much.  You must check out their etsy stores here and here if you haven't already done so.  I'm sure you won't leave empty handed!

Party Time

Dakota Fanning at a party with friends.

Kit Kemp in Elle Decor

And if there wasn't enough excitement generated from my last post about the new April Elle Decor then I hope this creates some mad rushing to the newsagent activity!!!  Kit Kemp's divine townhouse has also been featured.  How exciting.  I remember seeing her beautiful home featured in one of our Australian magazines late last year but I didn't buy the issue as I saw it in a coffee shop when it was too late to buy the magazine.  I think it was Madison.  I particularly loved her pink and white wallpaper in her hallway but I can't see it featured in the slide show on Elle Decor's website.  I hope they have included it in their article as it was jaw-droppingly beautiful.  She really is one of my most favourite Decorators. 

images - simon upton photographer