l-o-v-e

 

 

 

When I saw you I fell in love, and you smiled because you knew.

 

- William Shakespeare

 

 

 

Day trippin'

 

Saturday was a day of road tripping.... We drove 3hrs to our friends engagement party and 3hrs back home. Seems like a lot, but..... A) it was a party for Seth and Penny and they are two of the kindest folk you'll ever meet and we love them dearly ANNNNNDDDD we got to see loads of other nearests and dearests including our godson Henry who we absolutely ADORE!! B) the drive was out to the Kaikoura coast and beyond and it is one of the most amazing scenic drives in New Zealand. Jed loves it as much as we do....

So darn awesome.

Unfortunately the famous Nins Bin crayfish trailer was closed so Guy had to go without. But he managed to sneak in a winter surf at Maungamanu, nothing quite as amazing as looking out to snow covered alps when you're surfing..... Ummmmm just to clarify, I have never done that myself but I'm sure there is nothing quite like it.... Where the mountains meet the sea, it's where I wanna be.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Treats for your earbuds

 

James Vincent Mcmorrow - Early in the morning

Daughter - The Wild Youth EP

Angus Stone - Broken Brights

The Lumineers - The Lumineers

Matt Corby - Into the flame EP

The Unfaithful Ways - Free Rein

 

 

As of lately and according to instagram

 

- My everyday blueberry smoothie

- Got my hair done by the wonderful Michelle, feeling lighter and brighter.

- Shortbread and visits with my nana. Love her.

- New bed linen, pretty much one of the best things.... Next to new jimjams

- A great 'lost in translation' find... "because professional, so wonderful" ha!!!

- Our dining room table turned ping pong arena. Fun times!

- A surpressie from Guy, ceramic origami elephant and a hilarioual hand made card based on the notebook

- twin chin shins

 

Xo

Washpen Magic

This right here is three very happy ladies (four, if you count me behind the camera) at the top of the most amazing walk. At this point I didn't know how much better it could get, but on the way down...Oh my! What a treat. I'm pretty sure we were being followed by fairies and other magic forest folk on the duration of this trek. 'Cause Washpen falls is just that kinda place.

It was a spontaneous suggestion from our friend Alice on Sunday morning that we head over to her family farm to do, what she always refers to as, 'the walk'. Keen for some leg stretching after a few generous tipples the night before, Cecil, Ju and I were in like three flynns (that's a lot of in) and off we went. As soon as we pulled up and I saw the beautiful old bedford van and the gorgeous little woolshed turned office/hq for the Washpen falls walk, I was blissing out on all of my surroundings. We caught up with Alice's fantastic folks, picked a daisy and then a walking stick (admittedly I grabbed a Cattle prod to begin with...turns out they are not walking sticks) and we started our little trek.

Well, 'the walk' turned out to be THE walk in my opinion, I was completely wow'ed by the whole thing. Not quite the little wander over paddocks I had imagined.... Not even a little bit.

 

 

One of the most incredible things about this walk is the ever changing landscape, we went from magic woodland, to rainforest, to highcountry, to bright green ravines. I even lay myself down to peer over the edge of the abseiling platform, kind of a big deal. I felt lightheaded and vomitus afterwards but it was worth it.

 

 

I hope my iPhone camera photos are doing it justice....It really was magic, afterwards I was all jacked up on Washpen falls, high on washies...or perhaps high on honey dew. So fun licking the honeydew off of the beech trees, well we collected it on our fingers first.... Except Cecil. Cecil licked the tree.

This walk is such a MUST DO! click here to head to the Washpen Falls website and start planning your springtime walkies.

Soot, the family sheep, says goodbye and thanks for coming.

 

To be looked at

I accidentally stumbled across my client Miranda's new business Ico Traders last night. I had seen a small ad in the back pages of Your home and garden mag, and pulled out the iPad for a looksy. I was completely in love with her products before I even realized that I knew the brains behind it all, beautiful vintage light shades cast from the original 1960's moulds and incredible wire furniture that would look amazing anywhere....I'm imagining the coromandel chair in my salon with a sheepskin rug thrown over it. Oh to have a big new house to fill with wonderful things!! 

Go and have a look at Ico Traders now if you haven't already!

 

 

An ode to Ginger

Prepare for canine photo bomb

As its been mentioned before, we love our dog Jed in all of his 'human eyes' ginger glory. He is our constant +1, we rarely go anywhere without him. Which I think is how it should be... I can't tell you how much of my time is taken up with worrying about dogs who are left alone for hours on end!!!

Now, I'm pretty sure Jed is completely fluent in English (forget doglish) and one of these days he's probably going to talk....no big deal. But this could lead to him becoming famous and anyone who knows him will be cool by association, so it will probably pay to be fully acquainted.

 

Awwwww. Jed loves a good snuggle and is always the little spoon. He actually sleeps on his own bed through the night but he starts and finishes with a spoon. We are big fans of the Saturday morning lie in with this ginger fur baby... You wont find this pup curled up at the foot of the bed....it is head on a pillow laying right beside us or not at all.

Ok, so there are countless morning snuggle photos.... I could have a blog solely dedicated to them but amittedly that would be a whole new low for me.

When I took this photo I had walked into our bedroom and Jed who knows he is not allowed toys or treats on our bed sat there with his little human eyes and looked from his chew bone to me, chew bone to me, me to chew bone. Without me saying anything he picked it up... Jumped off the bed put it down and jumped back up as if he'd never moved.

Now, I must stress.... Although we love our dog like crazy and consider him our first child (contrary to what people say, he will not be forgotten when human babies appear) we have and will not unless the real babies don't happen be dressing him up like a human. It creeps me out when I see dogs in outfits and lookin' like they wanna jump in front of the nearest car and put themselves out of their misery. Don't do it.... Unless its Halloween, then it's funny.

I will leave you with a quote from my sister,

"imagine his surprise when one day Jed catches a glimpse of his reflection in a pond and realizes that his whole body is covered in ginger hair and he is in fact NOT a human"

We will never speak of such a day again...,

Week of treats

So far this week is going stupendously... I was visited by the magic boot fairy and in case you were wondering, the boot fairy's name is Caroline Jones.  

This is how it all started.... my wonderful friend Caroline bought some gorgeous boots while she was here visiting from Wellington just over 18months ago from the now empty area that was High Street in Christchurch. They were from shoozies and were the most amazing soft leather and and such a good style. Alas, there was only one pair and seeing as she saw them first and her wallet was fatter on the day, i sat back and i admired her hooves and I quietly envied her purchase. Fast forward to a few weeks ago when Caroline was visiting once again. We got on to the subject of boots because we had both bought the exact same boots for this winter without knowing until we were standing next to each other in the same city. It prompted me to ask after my old friends and she replied that they were actually a little big and she'd never really worn them...

shut. the. front. door

Well with that conversation forgotten and Caroline being back in Wellington I was taken by complete surprise when I received a parcel in the mail containing THE BOOTS!!!! Happy day!!! I was so excited....I then recalled Caro asking for my address the week before and I hadn't even suspected anything. I was beyond elated with my new loves and next time I see Caroline I will lavish her with love and chocolate and more love and chocolate.

Boots meet reader, reader meet boots


 

My luck didn't stop there, one of my lovely clients who came to have her locks done on Tuesday gave me this gorgeous cowhide bag that I obsessed over on her last visit.... She had bought a similar one on her recent trip to Bali and she thought this one from redcurrent wasn't wearing so well. Gah!!!! Are you kidding! I looooove it!!! I also secretly love things a little munty...I've been known to take to some new boots, bags, jeans with the odd piece of sandpaper. I love how slouchy and boho it is and I am ashamed to say that I Iove the smell of leather that it has. I feel so lucky to have such wonderful clients....not just because Penny gave me a beautiful bag but because my clients are generally incredible folk that I love catching up with on their visits.

One of my instagram mateys suggested I go and buy a Lotto ticket after this wee run of luck.... It is supposed to come in 3's right???

Maybe it's contagious...... So here is a sprinkling of a little luck of the not very Irish but I still claim it.... Thanks great grandad.

 

Hairy situation

Yes, right now my mop is making me crazy, I think if I cut it all off I'd lose 5kg.

My hair is out of control huge. I have been reverting to my old ways of coloring and cutting it myself and it has tied me over for a substantial amount of time but now I am desperate to get a colour and cut from my lovely friend Michelle. Being a hairmagician myself, I am definitely a bad one for just sitting down and getting into the DIY but there is something sooooo delicious about relaxing and having it all done for you, it might have something to do with not getting chronic arm cramp but mainly because Michelle and her little salon Balayage Hair are awesome and I get to see my old partner in crime Becks.

Now I know my hair isn't horrible, in fact it is quite alright and is somewhat of a security blanket. It is crazy thick and coarse, my Nana has always said I could sew my buttons on with it and it has a natural kink to it, but good lord is it a mane..... Sometimes I see photos of myself and I think...

Yeti.

A very tall, very hairy creature.

This hair was the reason I started hairdressing, I wanted to know the inside tricks of mane taming. I'm going to share my personal tricks with y'all.... Pay close attention if you have CYHS (crazy yeti head syndrome)

I always wash my hair the day before an event... Wash the day of and I'm a crazy mofro

Use a sea salt spray and an oil on towel dried hair, I use Davines Oi and Davines wizards No.14 sea salt primer.

Let my hair dry naturally pulled into a loose top knot...also, sleep like this.

Go over natural curls with a curling tong to define

Carry my Davines Melu serum EVERYWHERE to tame the fro.Yep, I use a lot of Davines because it's the business and it's what I choose to stock in my little salon, LOVE all of their stuff.

Hint: whenever using a tong/wand always wrap the hair around the barrel away from your face, don't curl the very end of the hair around the barrel to get a more natural tousled look.

 

Annnnnnnnnnnd.... My new necklace, not taking it off for a while.

 

I am fancy pants'in

Hooray, my gift to myself arrived today! How sweet is this little tusk necklace by the fabulous Madame Fancy Pants, I'm seriously in love with it and we've only been together for a few short hours.

 

 

After stalking the website for quite some time I have found so many other goodies that I am keen to get my oversized mitts on...So much pretty stuff! I scored my little tusk off the once it website which has had some sweet deals lately. This wins though.

 

Go and have a look at all of the pretty things right this minute.