The Wild Wild West

Have you been living away from the place where you grew up?  

15 years ago I boarded a plane heading to the other side of Australia without looking back (my Mum tells me).  For the last 15 years I have been living in Melbourne but very soon I will be returning to the place where I was born - Perth. I'm extremely emotional about it and if I'm honest, I'm scared and feel like I'm disappearing away from everything I love. So to pick myself up and out of the sombre place I am in, I need to focus on some of the magic of the Wild Wild West. And the beaches are exactly that.  I have travelled a bit but nowhere in the world that I have been are the beaches as amazing as they are in Perth Western Australia....and I sound like I work for Tourism WA!

Home Wedding touches

It was one of my best friends weddings over the weekend. I was bridesmaid and for the ocassion also wedding cake maker and sign painter.  The wedding was at her parents home which has the most beautiful gardens which all looked picture perfect on the day.  

Here are some of the little touches which made it super sweet...

Wedding Bunting

Lanterns

Hand Made Signs

Cakes Made with Love

Little girls mermaid costumes

Years ago (literally) a friend and I went shopping and she bought a very large role of sequined acqua fabric for next to nothing which I became custodian of as the plan was for me to make mermaid tails for her girls and mine.  The role has been sitting in my sewing room guiltily ever since.....

So of course in the middle of moving house I came across the fabric, and with a bee in my bonnet, and about 2 and a half years later, I set to and finally made 4 little mermaid tails, two for her little girls and two for my three to share....

They look very cute with a leotard underneath and I made some sequined arm bands aswell to go with.....

Life at 40

Life at 40 (two days in) isn't actually too bad. In fact it's been pretty wonderful so far.

A week before my birthday my family flew in from Perth and Brisbane, (a complete surprise to me) and we had a very special weekend together which doesn't happen that often given our geography based issues. My husband had arranged for us to all stay in Southbank together and the adults had dinner at Gingerboy which was absolutely amazing. The food was divine and we all had too much wine, laughed until we hurt, and then woke up very happily with hangovers, which we cured with a scrumptious breakfast at a great little cafe in one of Melbourne city's hidden lane ways.  I love Melbourne.  I had the best zucchini and corn frittas with bacon and avocado salsa, washed down with a latte....mmmm!  And it was perfect (despite  being chilly and wet) because all of our children were with us (my girls loving being with their cousins) and it was raining but we were all snug and warm under canvas awnings with heaters.

And then..... (I'm so spoilt I can' t believe there is more), on my actual birth day, my husband, our children and I went to lunch at the Melba Brasserie, where we tasted a range of yummy things, and the kids pretty much just had everything coated in chocolate from the chocolate fountain. I then spent the afternoon in the day spa..... bliss.

But there's more. Yesterday one of my gorgeous friends baked me the most adorable and scrumptious strawberries and cream cake which we devoured in 2 seconds, with champagne! And not to mention my amazing overseas trip a few months ago...

I'm one very lucky 40 year old girl because I have such wonderful family and friends who have made me feel so very special and have eased me into being 40. So there it is.  I'm 40, there's no turning back, and it is actually pretty damn fine!

And here are my less than impressive photos.  I was having too much fun to think of proper pics, so all of these were snapped quickly on my iphone, but I am going to cherish them all the same..

Strawberries and Cream Cake made by MamaBear

Lunch at the Melba Brasserie

Dinner at Gingerboy

Breakfast in Melbourne's CBD hidden lane ways

A piece of Eltham History

We are now on the market! We are testing the market through Fletchers of Eltham in case you know of anyone who may be interested. I am very excited to see what the market says and to see if all of our hard work will pay off.  And here's the link to realestate.com:
http://www.realestate.com.au/property-house-vic-eltham-11116217.
And this is what the copy says:

"This elegant Victorian residence sits proudly amongst the gum trees and offers history combined with modern style.  “Killara” one of the oldest most well known properties in the area is now waiting for a new owner to fall in love with its charm and become part of the Eltham community.  Built in 1850 as the Port Melbourne Customs Office this building was transported by horse and carriage to its current location in 1920"

  

 

  

 

 

 

 

To market to market

This has been the busiest weekend as we get our house ready to go to market to see what it may fetch. 

We have cleaned and polished and rubbed and scrubbed the outside of our house to within an inch of its life, potted new plants, mulched, mowed, weeded, and we are now ready to fall into a heap. But we still have the inside of the house to go!

The house is looking the best it has ever looked.....

Peppa Pig Party

We LOVE Peppa Pig in our house, especially my baby. She turned 3 yesterday so we had a little Peppa Pig party to celebrate and asked a few of our friends to come 'jump in muddy puddles' with us. The cake was not at all as planned.  I wanted to do ruffles but they didn't want to come to this party so I had to come up with something else quick.  I had a lovely flower biscuit in the cupboard which someone had given us, so I modelled the cake around that instead.. And luckily we gave our baby a little Peppa and George so I was able to place them on top with it...

And that is all the birthdays in our house for the year.  And I've decided that next year I'm outsourcing.  I'd really like to be able to sit back and enjoy the little looks on my girls' faces and to be able to take it all in, more.  These special days go by so quick and I feel like I'm missing them somehow.  

But next year will come around and I will look into it and then balk at the cost of outsourcing to get awful party food which I won't want them to eat, and then probably do it all over again!