What a weekend

The contrast in my photos over the weekend represent the weather in Sydney at the moment more than anything else. This week I have had a day in a t-shirt, another in a knitted jumper and a day in a hooded raincoat. Crazy times. What's also crazy is the amount of good food consumed over the weekend. My husband's birthday fell on Wednesday, so the festival continued well in to Saturday and Sunday.

The sun appeared out of nowhere for a ferry ride in to the big smoke for dinner at quite possibly my favourite restaurant ever. I treated the birthday boy to Pendelino. If anyone out there is the keeper to their 'heirloom tomato and mozzarella salad' recipe, contact me immediately. I need it in my life all the time (apologies for the quick table shot too, the husband doesn't love to dine with the embarrasing blogger/restaurant critic in me).

The rainy night before we enjoyed dinner with friends (with good cheese and a cute table setting) at a lovely home up the road.

The sun was well and truly back on Sunday and to continue the birthday festivities we hosted a lunch with family (I use the word 'we' loosely - pictured above is actually my husband's cooking). I did look after the place settings - which were good old fashioned scratchies in an envelope. In case you are wondering, we all won zip. Happy Birthday my sweetheart. x

Wax Seals and Nail Polish

It's been way too long between posts, but there hasn't been too much to share lately. Things are sure to change with the very busy silly season fast approaching. Our letter box had a little party of it's own recently when this invitation arrived. I am counting down the sleeps until I board a plane to Noosa to attend what is sure to be a beautiful wedding. My cousin/best friend is marrying her sweetheart just after Christmas, and my photo doesn't do the invitation justice - everything from the wax seal, the woodgrain paper and the blind embossing makes it truly special to hold. To top it off, the bride designed it herself - see more loveliness over at Zed & Bee.

The things you do for the one you love...my husband loves cricket as much as I love guacamole, and today we found ourselves at Kingsgrove Sports Centre to buy his 'dream' cricket bat (it's his birthday on Wednesday).

A quick stop at El Loco for tacos on the way home made the long journey all worth it.

No flowers caught my eye during a visit at the local market (is anyone else seeing way too many Gerberas lately)? I settled on some very cute baby pineapples instead.

A visit with my grandma on Saturday, and she had dug out an old box of rubber stamps to give to me. I have a vague memory of them, although it seems my love of stamps is an old one...she told me it was the first thing I'd ask for on my visits when I was little.

I apologise in advance for this photo of my fingers. I'm no hand model, but I keep on looking at my little jaffas of fingernails. My sister and I were 'shellaced' today. I'm obsessed - call me shallow, but nail polish that doesn't chip makes me very happy.

Have a great week! Briar

Pink

The colour pink was in the air over the weekend at our place. New art arrived back from the framers on Saturday. With a tip off from this lovely blog, I couldn't resist the three flamingos from US Etsy artist United Thread.

The wire heart is from Spotlight.

While the camera was out taking in the hue, I thought I should snap a few other things. I'm loving the confetti lolly bag from Poppies for Grace and the cute boat picked up at Salvos.

We celebrated baby Sage's christening on Sunday and we gifted the baby girl with this cute box of soft cakes from here.

...And how adorable was her gift to us! A little terracotta pot of pineapple sage - perfect for cocktails in the sun. I hope you all had a lovely weekend.

- Briar

Lillivi, Benzy & Brada

There is a giant digital road sign set up on Princes Hwy, Tempe at the moment stating 'EXPECT DELAYS - IKEA OPENS NOV 3.' It was a bit of a treat to check out the new (very lovely and very empty) IKEA at a media preview event last night.

Tempe vs. Rhodes. Same, but different - she's a super huge one (if you are after some exercise, a stroll around this store will clock over 2km).

You will notice more styled 'set-ups' like the wedding reception above.

Hopefully these cute cacti get snapped up on Nov. 3 - the fluoro lights looked a bit painful for the little guys.

Assembly Service. Genius. I wonder how many marriages this concept has saved? Overall, the new IKEA is super impressive. I recommend checking it out - just maybe after Nov. 3 and the traffic delays.

- Briar