to market.

if you've been to paris, then it's more than likely you've wandered the enchanting alleys of les puces. on my first trip, i was too daunted to attempt them on my own so stuck to the safety of the dreamy arcades in opera. i still love perusing the old bookstores and photographing the decorative tiles that abound in the passages. last year i wandered les puces with my two best friends which was just magical. the treasure we unearthed was incredible, the majority too large or too expensive to come home with us but inspiration was at an all time high. this time around my sister and i spent a chilly but sunny saturday morning wandering, fossicking amongst and admiring the treasure that les puces had to offer. i have to admit that i was a little bewildered at just HOW expensive things had become. for the regal furniture dating back to the 17th century, it was a given, but a lot of the everyday retro finds stretched too far from my budget. this didn't stop the excessive photo-taking (when i was allowed to) and my heart must have exploded at least a hundred times at the colours and compositions presented before me. within the first half an hour, i had been fed at least half a year's worth of screen-printing and collage project ideas. a quick crepe fix and a few finds later...i was in heaven. having my sister in such close proximity and living in such an amazing city means a weekend wander around these incredible markets is now only at arm's length. oh the possibilities! 

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.

vintage heaven.

with a girls weekend planned in paris and a 4 day weekend in denmark and holland on the cards, i was only left with one weekend to play in london. arriving early thursday morning i soon got into the wandering mindset and set off to explore. the next few days would see me vintage clothes shopping in covent garden, wanting to spend far too many pounds in orla kiely, beginning a love affair with liberty, reuniting with my old love anthropologie, visiting vintage heaven that completely blew my mind, conversing over scones and devonshire tea, impressed by incredible looking brownie stacks at the borough markets and eating some of the freshest british strawberries, ever.

it wouldn't be fair to overload you with a million photos, because let's face it, that's what instagram is for....so i'm going to spend the rest of this post sharing my love for a little place called 'vintage heaven'. if you've got yourself a copy of 'spaces' (if you haven't, then please, your life will be richer for it) then you may just know where i'm talking about. my new favourite companion 'london style' describes VH as 'a hoarders paradise, where every possible surface is packed with vintage glass, china, cutlery, books, fabrics; you name it, if it's from the 1940's- 1960's, chances are you'll find it here'. as it's only open on weekends to coincide with the infamous columbia road flower markets, my best friend and i hit VH around 3.30pm on my first saturday in town. as soon as we turned the corner onto columbia road, a collective of secondhand homewares stacked neatly out front had my eyes popping. inside staffordshire potteries were nestled comfortably with meakin, above mounds of vintage floral fabric and decorative teapots. crockery was stacked in colours and even themes, this place soon became my most favourite place on earth. london style says 'it may be hard to take it all in, but it will be harder to leave without buying at least one thing', my thoughts exactly. i could only surrender to the beauty and let my eyes devour the delights stacked before me. it wasn't long before my name was being called to a mound of vintage linen. a large purple floral curtain grabbed my attention first up so as any vintage lover scrambling madly amongst layers of treasure would do, i bundled it under my arm at the speed of light to ensure it would be mine.

i could have easily bought everything i saw, but with a 20 kilo limit, a holiday budget and a little voice of reason, i behaved myself. half of me rejoiced in the thought that i would most probably be returning to london next year anyway. sneaky. a cake plate and vintage curtain piece later and i was sold. vintage shopping is hungry business so it was soon time for afternoon tea in a little nook ajoining the shop called 'cake hole'. vintage florals, kitchenware and crockery had overflowed into this cutie pie hole in the wall and for a few moments i was wishing it was mine. devonshire tea and scones were on the menu for us, after deliberating and drooling for several minutes over the incredible looking victoria sponge. chats over vintage china, milky tea and clotted cream ladened scones was an experience i know i'll still be talking about well into my late 80's. this little treasure with a big and beautiful vintage personality is somewhere i'll be heading back to as often as possible when my feet next land on london turf.

i was in love before i'd even entered.

scenes from inside. uh-maze-ing.

many, many stack-o-plates.

perfect combo.

the view from our afternoon tea possie.

there is nothing quite like a british scone.

hello.

the tapestry wall.

my curtain prize.

treasure.

a budget was set and promptly kept to. surprised? i still am. it's time to share some of the treasures that the coast unearthed for me yesterday. one or two of them will be gifts, perhaps a couple for sale and then the rest, the johnson, are mine to love. i was reminded just how happy these pre-loved goodies make me whilst neck deep in floral fabrics and up to my eyeballs in retro crockery. thank you to the grandmas whose life long collections are now treasured by a very grateful, freckle faced, rainbow cake baking young lady (me, if you were wondering.) sharing the love over at sophie's too. get on it gorgeous people.

pretty pansies.

there was squealing involved.

high pitched screaming ensued when discovering this gorgeous johnson family.

my new florals.

more mismatched j-love.

a set of quaint english metal placemats. perfect.

just when you thought the j-love had ended....

the quirkiest johnson piece i've discovered. cheese and wine night anyone?

westminster love.

pretty turquoise pyrex, enough said.

another apron for the collection? hell yeah!

a beautiful bessemer platter.

a villeroy & boch beauty. i literally bowed to this one.

this still makes me smile. the perfect little tea and cake platter. 50c? you bet.