flowers and fleamarkets.

something holland isn't short of. last weekend was a fleamarket frenzy of sorts. we hit two big markets, one on saturday (at my boyfriend's football team's stadium) and the other slightly hungover (at a favourite snuffel markt) on sunday. both were fruitful trips and my pocket was lighter by only a tidy 11 euros. we appear to have become magnets for west german pottery and with the prices just right, we've collected three over the past week. i remember admiring their colourful textures back in australia but the price, Larry, was definately not right. now i border the country where the beautiful vases are made, so they flourish happily at my local markets and thrift stores. my local flower markets have also provided me with a myriad of pastel beauties as of late and as spring is fast approaching, the incredible ranunculus, tulips and hyacinths are becoming a necessary weekly purchase. 

our third west german find of the week with a side serving of marimekko.

these guys are incredible.

powder pink carnations. filler flowers, yeah right.

i could dive right in.

a flemarket at the football stadium. the boy and i were both in heaven.

for 80c, these two were coming home with me.

as soon as the seller found out i was from queensland, he was bagging these babies up for a euro. bargain.

bright beauties.

a cute collection for 2 euros from the local thrift shop.

staffordshire potteries and pastel plates, come to me. 

perfect sunday behaviour.

my 9 euro treats. 

design perfection for a euro.

i think i took a photo every half an hour of these blooming beauties.

tulip perfection.

so affordable and so beautiful.

home.

we holiday in the spaces of our home. one of my favourite lines from a kylie johnson poem. my home has always been so important to me. whether it's lying in a bed under a mountain of vintage floral for longer than expected on a sunday morning, baking up some gluten free treats, catching up with my dearest over tea/skype or rearranging my newly discovered treasure...it's the simple happenings occurring within the walls of my home that make me happy. i spent today with my beautiful sister, just hanging out and baking, chatting, instagramming and sorting through my treasure. we ate too many friands and chatted the day away. soon i'll be looking for a new home, exactly when and where is still undecided. i often wonder where my heart will want to reside. does it even have to decide just yet? for now i'm hoping i'll be reincarnated as a dahlia, adoring my latest $9.50 opshop purchases, dreaming of time in holland and paris, baking up new treats, seeing deers in clouds, finding super cute baby clothes and slowly welcoming summer into my home. 

life lately.

life lately, or as i like to describe it....an excuse to show you pretty pictures and a couple of my latest oppy finds. it's one of my favourite things to blog about as there's no real direction and i can go off on a million different tangents and yet come together at the end with some sort of unified message. pretty much my life story. i'm tucking into a freshly baked friand as we speak, an impulse saturday afternoon bake off that has turned out deliciously well. they're one of my favourite things to bake, no icing, gluten free and very little sugar. i'll take the remaining 10 or so down to the coast tomorrow where i'll spend the afternoon sushi'ing, beaching and afternoon teaing with two of my favourites. i've got london on my mind and i'm feeling more motivated than usual. i'm adorning my $96 stretchy pants and walking home from work, infact, walking everywhere i can and loving it. i'm grabbing this burst of energy with both hands and am waiting with great anticipation for rachel castle's screenprinting class in late october. here i was complaining about the days crawling by and now i can barely work out what month we're in. it's the season of family birthdays and before i know it, i'll be whipping up yorkshire puddings to michael buble's christmas carols. the days are warm and at a perfect temperature, unlike what is expected come christmas. i've taken a vow to enjoy this last aussie summer, for i have been warned that i'll need some summer sunshine to cling on to whilst dressed to the nines in 17 layers and cradling a hot chocolate the size of my head. i tried on my winter coat the other day, it hasn't seen the light of day for a year and even though i was sweating at the time, i couldn't contain my excitement imagining it teamed with cute boots, skinny jeans and a floral scarf. of course not everyday will be that cute, i can see my trackies becoming a staple and socks? i hate socks...but i'm sure they'll soon become my best friend. i've lost count of how many tangents i've taken you on, but here we are, coming to a close and the message for this week? life is too unpredictable and short to not be lived exactly as you please. love your most important people and tell them so, as often as possible. love and friands for the week ahead.

spring and strawberries, my current favourite combo.

vintage floral treats picked up at the oppy today. delicious.

rifle paper co products never cease to inspire me. this one will house all of my textile design inspirations.

culling my beautiful crockery collection to make life lighter for the move. these babies made the cut of course.

the perfect kind of mail from my mama. she knows me too well.

walking through my neighbourhood this morning, stopping every 10 mins to snap my local delights.

falling deeper and deeper in love with my galleries. portrait of spain is rocking everyone's socks off at the moment.

treasure hunt.

you may have noticed that i've been a little quiet on the opshopping front lately. my instagram feed has been delivering eye candy of a different kind. there's a reasonable explanation for this, as i begin the planning of my move to the UK. saying it out loud sends shivers down my spine but also makes my heart beat faster in the best kind of way. i'm a girl of many ideas, constantly inspired and planning new life journeys. this one though, has been a long time coming and my recent visit just confirmed that europe is where i need to be. who knows for how long, but isn't life supposed to be a daring adventure? therefore, i have been cutting my spending at the opshops, selling a bunch of my vintage goodies and getting in the mindset to move early next year. so this weekend, i kinda broke the treasure hunting drought and managed to snag a few bargains. i can feel my design aesthetics changing, and this excites me. i look forward to the vintage collecting possibilities in amsterdam, the galleries in spain and the weekends away in paris. surely this is enough to make me want to curb my spending? you bet it is. the treats i have for you today are some gems i picked up whilst coasting with two of my favourite girlies in northern nsw. you'll be happy to know i have my priorities in order....i'll be selling my bed and most of my furniture before i go but holding onto my 70's egg chair, retro telephone table and vintage plant stand. the johnson crockery collecting has stalled, with me content with what i have now. big changes are underway and i couldn't be happier. have a good week lovelies, i'll be back with my holland blogpost, it's a goody.

my 20c beauties.

sunflower pot stand. an ode to my mama.

barkcloth cushion cover.

a cute turquoise nz pair.

robert & harper company brisbane jar.

a gorgeous documents folder ready for all the important info i need to take with me.

THE plant stand/light of my life/next project.

a little bit of tlc and she'll be shining.

a westminster geometric beauty, for mere cents i forgot about the missing teacup.

best.apron.ever. 'i'm a smart cookie.' the illustration is perfection!

my $7 beach dress.

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.