My week...

H e l l o ! ! !

It's been a busy week here with lots of different stuff going on. 

I've decided to start a de-clutter, commencing with my wardrobe. Why? 

Because I have have not come to terms with never being a size 6 or 8 again! *sob* 

(Still holding out hope for a 10 or 12 though! LOL!)

I found this brand new Oroton bag in the back of my cupboard! Eeeek! Took it for an outing to Grand Designs on Sunday but I now like a longer strap to keep my hands free so onto eBay it went. Click HERE if you're interested!

Love this little Jonathan Adler tray in silver (and the gold version too). Wishing someone in Oz would stock it so I can avoid those exy US shipping charges.

The lovely people at Rolling Stone Landscapes have given me the faux lawn supplier's deets! Yay!

Click HERE for further info!

I was thrilled to receive my recently ordered West Elm cutlery after THIS fiasco. Um....x 2!

1800 # assistance quick to apologise and easy to to get on to, but after three lengthy conversations, still no promised return authorisation docs. Apparently I wasn't charged for the $600+ of merchandise (they were very grateful I rang!)... hopefully they can survive these teething problems and don't scoot back to the US prematurely!

Darling daughter # 1, S purchased a new laptop. Oh My! Techno loaded and pretty too at < $1K!

The BF's parents have returned from OS bearing gifts....too funny!

And oops! I wrote a little one where a zero should've been on the custom shaving cabinet drawings.

A half hour installation turned into a four hour re-make, then install. Lucky he loves me!

Needless to say the vanity waits for another day. Thank God the other crucial deets were correct. 

When glazed, the cabinetry will sit perfectly flush with the walls. Whew!

Oh, and although this isn't my pic above, Mum & bub whales gave my girlfriend J and I a very similar show at brecky! Love living in paradise!!!!

x KL 

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Bits 'n Bobs

I love the 'help yourself' drink canisters popping up everywhere. Of course the most stunning ones are only available in the U.S and cruelly, they are also the cheapest! I looked into shipping this one here and the postage was three times the item cost. Yikes! Little Kate Spade handbags (leopard one above) are more easy to justify purchasing, particularly when on sale. Yippee!

Hows your Christmas preparation going? I wrapped presents yesterday. Still have two people to purchase for. Dad and Daughter No. 2. They're hard this year. I'm still struggling with a lack of Christmas Spirit. Hope it finds me soon!

x KL 

Thank you for stopping by my blog. You are very welcome and encouraged to comment. I love receiving feedback! I also love watching a new pretty picture box added to my followers - would love you to join me so I can get to know you too!

My latest purchases; the good the bad and the spikey

I've been trying to avoid the shops during the school holidays because it's usually crazy this time of year as we live in a major tourist hot spot. I ventured out to get J some new school shoes and of course couldn't resist poking my nose into some favourite stores! I spotted this cute little spikey urchin at Seaweed & Sand for $14. So cute!

And this cotton Maxi and sandals at Witchery. The dress was heavily discounted. Yay!

I ordered this stunning candle from Barneys New York awhile ago and it finally arrived. The picture below is the one advertised on their online site. When I unwrapped the candle there was no black gift box, only some flimsy bubble wrap and a scattering of pink ooglies.

 

 The candle is more substantial in size than expected and the perfume is very over-powering. The most disappointing thing though is that the top edges of the glass insert holding the wax is smashed from not being secured within the silver housing during transit. It won't affect it's use but the packing was of a very low standard. No more candle buying from overseas for me. A quite expensive lesson!

 Those that read my blog regularly know how much I love shopping at Peters of Kensington Online. 

They have continued to offer a 'daily deal' since their January re-opening and I took advantage of  buying 4 (two in each style) of these Whitehill photo albums. They'll make terrific and affordable gifts for friends throughout the year.

 And I picked up three of these Universal Circa felt place mats to use as heat mats under hot dishes brought to the table. A bargain at $4.50!

 School holidays end here on Monday and I'm trying to get back into an earlier bedtime and morning wake-up routine. My big boy is starting Year Four and my eldest daughter has completed her University degree and is job hunting. Unbelievable how time flies! Hope you're having a great week,

x KL

Thank you for stopping by my blog. You are very welcome and encouraged to comment. I love receiving feedback! I also love watching a new pretty picture box added to my followers - would love you to join me so I can get to know you too!

The wish list expands, the travelers are home!

 How divine is this candle? It's by D.L. & Co. and I sooo love it! It's available from Barneys New York and thanks to international shipping broker Fiftyone this baby's winging her way to me. I found her on Sue's Christmas wish list from The Zhush. If you haven't heard of this blog site before then pop over for a real treat!

My daughter and boyfriend have arrived safely home from their big Japanese adventure too. Yay!!! They appear not to be radioactive thank God! Their trip was far too short for their liking and they can't wait to return. So what do 22 year olds purchase as souveniers? Check out my daughter's stash in the picture above. They brought home two extra suitcases filled with plush toys, anime figurines, games and Japanese alcohol. Hilarious! (I must say though that Geisha Kitty is very cute!)

I'm off today to try to finish my Christmas shopping before school concludes for the year.
Wish me luck with finding the Holy Grail; a car parking spot!

x KL

Thank you for stopping by my blog. You are very welcome and encouraged to comment; I love receiving feedback! It helps me get to know you too!

Miscellaneous stuff...that includes shopping! LOL!

 

When I visited David Jones at Castle Hill on Monday I was like a child in a lolly shop! So much to look at and only a few hours to take it all in! This tree instantly had my attention and the tree skirt was nearly at the counter when I realised it was cream and not white. Boo Hoo!

 The fireplace joinery is finalised in the Avoca Beach project. The 'floating' concrete plinth makes more visual sense now. Such a shame it wasn't finished for the owners first visit. It will be a lovely Christmas surprise for them I'm sure!

 I took delivery of this glass sphere / doorstop from Crate & Barrel in the USA too. It was another discovery on Ms Moth's blog, Moth designs and she kindly told me where I may find it. I tried buying this direct as opposed to using a forwarding service. The price trebled due to shipping so I might revert to using MyUs although it's so hard to gauge. This is Sooooo heavy!!!! I also got these silver Marimekko gift tags with my order. They're divine! They also come in red and black as shown. 

x KL

Thank you for stopping by my blog. You are very welcome and encouraged to comment; I love receiving feedback! It helps me get to know you too!

US shopping...more success!

 Remember my Moth Design blog recommendation ? I became particularly enamoured with Erica's tiny glass bud vases and ceramic urchin votive. She displayed tiny clusters of them in many rooms throughout her home.

Moth Design - En suite cart

Moth Design - Main Bedroom bedside table; I loved those bud vases!

 I found that they were still available at Velocity Art & Design and used my trusty US forwarding service, MyUS to get them shipped here to Australia! Yippee!!! And here they are in Australia - simply perfect!

Above & Below: sweet little urchin vases

My new ceramic urchin votives from US store Velocity.

x KL

Water spouts & unexpected happiness!

These are some of the freakish water spouts we've seen in my 'backyard' this week. apparently there were 4 in total. What an amazing sight!

What else is amazing to me is that somebody was quick enough to snap these photographs. Skillfully too! I particularly love the one directly above taken by a very clever local at Wamberal.

I received this week my second shipment from the US using a postal forwarding service to save on delivery charges. This Dora-Maar Bowl from Johnathan Adler arrived safe and sound. I love her but have put her into storage for when the house is complete. I'm now addicted to US shopping, saving money and excitedly waiting for the postie! My hubby though disagrees with the 'saving bit' when I'm buying stuff I couldn't obtain or afford normally here in australia!

My other exciting purchase this week was a David Bromley throw. I don't know how I missed their release in april but when I heard about them I was quick to act. The one I chose was this one with Butterflies. I really love his nudes but I felt the throw medium didn't showcase the painting as well as this design. Can't wait for it to arrive! I had always known an original Bromley was beyond my financial means but this was very do-able! I'll hang it like an artwork on a wall!

good advice

Have you ever given good advice to someone else and then realised YOU need to take heed yourself!? My advice was:  "If you really LOVE it, obtain it, otherwise you might miss out and things you truely LOVE fit together always!"
I learnt the hard way, and here's my proof! after previously finding some 'I love' decor pieces (see previous entries), I put them on the very long 'wish list' to later find they were unavailable when i was ready for them. Heartbreaking!
I recently had a win -win though! I found these Johnathan Adler ceramic candles on an Australian website at an exorbitant price.... so onto the wish-list they went. But I kept thinking of them! Dreaming of them! and I knew i Had to have them! So I found their US source.(Gotta love Google!)
The Johnathon Adler store was so reasonably priced (way less than half) and as our dollar is so good I got Soooo very excited! Deep breath..... their shipping fees were four times the item cost! Back to wishing again!!! But wait! There's more!

OK..... The end is coming!!!! Long story short! LOL! I Found a US Carrier (you get a US address for internal shipping; $10 joining fee) who then forwards to you. I got my candles, saved lots of money and am now hooked. Waiting for my second shipment. Hooray!!!!