Snaps.

1. At the florists picking up a birthday bunch. 2. Ursula would be happy for Richard to work a nightshift forever if it meant someone was always in bed. 3. Peak Hour in Maraekakaho (har har). 4 & 5. When the lovely Morven from Antipodes saw on Instagram that I was taking part in a 10 day sugar cleanse, she offered to ship me a case of beautiful sparkling water. 6. Some custom bookmarks for favours and place settings at a fancy party (more on this to come!) 7. Babysitting. The sweetest. 8. New boots for winter, grey suede numbers that I have fallen in love with. 

A few recent iPhone snaps due to busyness and leaving my camera at a friends place for a couple of weeks. They're all taken with the VSCO Cam, an app I have been really loving using lately. The filters are really beautiful and the journal is full of inspiration and tutorials I'm super keen to try out. Happy Monday!

Monday, Monday: Day Late edition

image from the spring issue of kinfolk, found via old faithful shop and i believe the flowers are the genius of amy merrick. dream everything. 

Sorry this Monday, Monday post is a day late, although I guess it's kind of perfect when talking about feeling pulled between the two hemispheres. I've started my new job, which is great and just in the afternoons. However, this does mean learning to love getting up in the morning and getting back into a normal sleep routine now that Richard is working nights again.

Looking out my window this morning there is pretty much nothing springlike in the air, save for a few hardy geraniums. It was like magic, as soon as the calendar turned to March the leaves started to turn and our front yard is now a carpet of yellow. While Autumn is my favourite season, I can't help but swoon over all the pretty pastels and flowers the northern hemisphere is tempting me with at the moment. It's with each season change that I more truly realise we're in opposite land down here. Even though I am completely ready for the days to get cooler (and for some rain, we're in a drought down here), I can always be reeled back in my soft colours and giant ice creams.

Bits & Pieces

- Evie has done a fabulous (not a word I usually use, but it was the only one that fit in this occasion) round up of jungle inspired rooms and wallpaper inspired by the Beverly Hills Hotel and wishing for rain.
- I meant to post this ages ago but it kept slipping my mind: Some books I like that you might like, by Jessica Stanley. It's the motherload of books to read, and they're all by women. Some I've read, some I've been meaning to read (story of my life) and some totally new to me. I love getting good book recommendations so hopefully you'll find some gems in here, too! I love how she's categorised them, also.
- Pretty late to the game here, but I have no shame about wanting to add this album to my collection (iPhone).
- Tomorrow Is Not A Suitable Day For Doing Things.

Thank you to everyone who commented or sent messages in response to my last post. It's so good to know that we share these experiences, because I hope that it means we share the solutions, too.

Monday, Monday: Nina Simone

I'm a real rebel with a cause - Nina Simone

Nina Simone always manages to work her way back into my playlist every couple of weeks (or days, really). Her music has that perfect mix of rich texture, soul and groove to either cry or dance to. She was an incredible woman, often outspoken, stubborn and difficult. Or at least, being a woman who did whatever she wanted to do meant being labeled difficult. She's not often smiling in photos of her that I've seen, which makes this photo all the more intriguing but it always made me think about why it's unnerving or why I see her as so stern and a little scary in watching her performances. It made me think of this poster and how much being told to smile makes me insane. I love to smile and I love to laugh, and what's so beautiful about the photo of Nina Simone above is that it looks like such a geniune expression of emotion. She's not smiling because that's what female performers (or females performing) are meant to do. 

It's hard for me to pick a favourite Nina song, but this one came up when I was looking for quote inspiration recently and I can't get enough of it. Despite the songs being originally from Hair (which a Rolling Stone record guide described as what straight people thought the 60s were like) she totally kills this cover and manages to make it completely non-cheesy. Empowering, even. Hope this gets your week off to a chair dancing start!



Top image from here. I've been trying to find who shot this photoshoot originally but haven't had any luck. If you know, please let me know!

New

New shoes :: New hair-do :: New project :: New schedule makes for a sleepy husband :: New Blanket tutorial in the works :: New Bliss in a Teacup necklace (to be released in October, detail here). 

Happy Monday, folks.