super lekker.

with only 3 weekends to play with whilst in europe i had to make sure my plans were pre-organised to make them as fun packed as possible. the first weekend would be my london weekend spent with family and my best friend, the second my extended weekend with my girls in paris and the third spent in beautiful holland. with my two best friends in europe, it was important for me to spend some valuable time with them, sharing in their daily lives and getting to know their friends and surroundings. never having been to holland but living through trudy’s beautiful photos, i was excited to get to know a place i’d heard so much about. of course i expected to see windmills, tulips, clogs, drink delicious beer, bike everywhere and meet handsome dutchmen…well, i can safely say that it delivered all that and more. i flew into amsterdam from copenhagen on thursday evening, making my way to rotterdam as soon as i had landed. i arrived at trudy & tom's just before 7 and it wasn’t long before we were chatting over a home cooked meal in their gorgeous central rotterdam apartment. before i knew it we were out cycling around town. designated cycle paths and the bike friendly atmosphere had me in bicycle heaven. here we were, cruising the streets of rotterdam at 9pm at night without a care in the world. friday morning saw me sleeping my copenhagen exhaustion away and then meeting trudy for a wander around her local opshop and late lunch at her favourite cutie pie café spot, picknik. it was a chilly but sunny rotterdam afternoon spent catching up over chicken & coriander curry soup and coffee. as this was the last leg of my europe adventure, i could feel the tiredness setting in. saturday morning saw the three of us wandering the local markets with coffees the size of our heads and saw me stumbling across vintage fabric heaven. a 2 euro retro teapot and several floral pillowcases later, i was slowly but surely falling in love with rotterdam. trudy and i wandered the local shops buying ridiculously cute stationary and gathering ingredients for a big chicken curry i’d be whipping up for our last dinner. a few beers, curry and some lounge room dancing later and we were heading out to meet some of their favourite dutchies. i was onto my second belgian beer (my new favourite) and i soon found myself surrounded by a group of gorgeous dutchies. my crappy attempts at the dutch language (except for lekker and dank je wel) were smiled at and soon i couldn't get enough of this captivating crowd. after what can only be described as an incredible night, i was cursed with the hangover from hell, so our amsterdam plans were pushed back to later in the afternoon. a mid morning brekkie date with trudy’s nearest and dearest dutchie brought girl talk over plates of eggs, bread, juice and coffee. we were soon on our way to amsterdam where i would fly back to london later that night. as soon as we arrived in amsterdam we made our way to the quaint canals and strolled through the decorative neighbourhoods. sadly at this point I was a slither of my former self with what would turn out to be the first stages of food poisoning. in my sorry state i was unable to really appreciate the beauty of the city, but knowing i will be heading back next year has me comforted that i will get to revisit and discover all it has to offer. i left a piece of my heart in rotterdam. my favourite souvenir of the trip? a little piece of someone else's.

the obsession for hagelslag has begun.

market wanderings.

rotterdam.

the two euro teapot.

amsterdam decor.

beautiful canals and bike culture of amsterdam.

hitching a ride.

houseboat heaven.

street art, rotterdam.

weekending.

every so often, it's a breath of fresh air to be able to escape from the big smoke for a weekend away with your girlfriends. when ash's mum announced she'd be away in the usa for a month, we jumped at the offer of staying the weekend in her northern nsw beach house. i have always loved that part of town and have fond memories of visiting family near mullumbimby, walking belongil beach and ferreting through second hand treasures in bangalow. we set off down south on friday evening and arrived home just shy of 5pm today. a perfect amount of time away and the most perfect balance of treasure hunting, lunching and relaxing. murwillumbah and it's quaint opshops were first on the list on saturday morning that was followed shortly after by a couple of blissful hours treasure hunting in beautiful bangalow. it's not hard to understand why bangalow really is a little slice of new south wales heaven. a place i could easily set up home and open a little cake/textile shop...oh one day. it's dainty and decorative main street is full of delightful little cafes, gorgeous homewares and local art and design. to be honest, we were there for one thing and one thing only that day...heath's old wares. i fell in love with this gold mine around 2 years ago when mum and i travelled south to byron and veered off track. since then, it's been a secret supplier of inspiration to me and my love for the pre-loved object. everyone deserves a visit to this pocket of heaven, so i'm taking the chance to shout it from the blogland roof tops. take a large car, preferably a trailer, you won't be disappointed. a set designer/interior stylist/event planner/old knick knack lover's dream. just promise that you'll show me your finds. i snagged some treasure for a real steal, which i will be sharing with you tomorrow as the amount of eye candy you're about to endure is surely enough for one night. saturday night saw us dinnering with our favourite boys and sharing stories of europe over delicious local delicacies. this morning we slept in, spent a good hour spamming everyones instagram feeds with yesterday's treasure hunt and then drove our lazy sunday selves to coolangatta antiques. on boy did christmas come early. bouts of squealing could be heard from all corners of the place, when we would uncover what could only be described as a vintage gift from god. needless to say, this happened every 35.6 seconds. at one point i had an armful of treats, had misplaced my iphone amongst the retro fabrics and had my tight ass purse strings denying me of such decadent spending. reasonably sized piles of happiness were then taken to the counter after a few moments of clear headed decision making/putting half of my goodies back. lunch at currumbin, a frolick on the beach, love hearts drawn in the sand and afternoon tea at vintage espresso was THE perfect ending to a most delightful weekend. my two amigos @_ruby_ruth and @ashleighbourke were the perfect weekending companions. their instagram feeds will fill your lives with instant joy and loveliness, just like the last two days i spent with them.

first destination.

your standard driver, selfie taker & instagram threesome.

the signage was spectacular.

green hues in murwillumbah.

back in my opshopping groove.

the beautiful place.

fine & sunny stopoff.

tapestries galore next door.

selfies at heath's...

and a little bit of french kissing.

a treasure i can now tick off the wishlist.

jar heaven.

the crate queen.

my world.

stairway to heaven.

it was, thank you.

music to my ears.

perfection in garden furniture form.

follow me if you dare...

a perfect pair.

chasing the sun.

stairway to fabric heaven and i'm first in line.

this girl knows her treasure.

not a bad view.

perfect pear cake from VE, my happy place.

the fleas.

the last time i was in paris 7 years ago, it was all about the galleries, the patisseries and to put into practice the behaviour of a parisian flaneur that i’d spent the past year at uni year learning about. back then i wasn’t the secondhand treat lover that i am today, infact, i didn’t visit one secondhand shop or market during my 4 day jaunt. i was travelling alone so wandering the streets aimlessly into the night just wasn’t a sensible option. instead i spent my mornings wandering the arcades, afternoons at the louvre and my evenings watching bad french tv in my hotel room whilst devouring several (at least 3 at a time) pain du chocolat. this time however, my girls and i were dinnering late into the evening and rarely in bed before 1am. locals were still ordering dinner at 11pm and the nutella crepe stands were making a killing well into the early hours. i was falling more and more in love with paris the longer i spent walking her streets. my heart was put to the ultimate test when we decided to spend our saturday wandering one of the biggest flea markets in the world. les puces or ‘the fleas’ is an extensive array of vintage/pre-loved eye candy that only my dreams could have prepared me for. even though the majority of what i wanted (all of it, every single thing) was too big to come home with me, i fell in love, over and over and over again. i wasn’t disheartened, only inspired and delighted by what my eyes were uncovering. photo opportunity after photo opportunity had our creative juices flowing from the get go. i still look back at photos (most notably THIS chair) and fall in love. i’d be flicking through boxes of old postcards, love letters and family portraits whilst my girls were neck deep in vintage chanel, fashion magazines and lace. the variety of treasure was beyond incredible, i probably pinched myself about 20 times to prove i was really there. we were creating mental mood boards in our minds of future home displays and collections and eyeballing items that we’d mail home in a heartbeat if the budget permitted. there’s an incredible history and charm exuded by the treasure found at a french flea market that my local oppie can never compare to. covering a gigantic 7 hectares of land, this flea market requires patience, regular coffee stops and a camera. this time i learnt that paris is definitely a city for lovers…lovers of vintage treasure that is.

THE chair that all my dreams are made of.

market reflections.

more chair delights.

beautiful art.

retro colour.

german beauties.

elegant vintage chanel.

pretty tiles.

for the love of eames.

love letters.

pretty patterns.

suitcase rummaging.

perfect displays.

mirror love.

pick a number.

vintage dress heaven.