Melbourne shopping madness + crazy transportation

As part of our weekend away, birthday girl Selina had organised a super stretch 1957 Chevy Belair as our transport for a day out shopping.

I couldn't believe how big, or rather, long it was!

L-R Lisa, Karen, Stephanie, Camilla and Kristina.

Everyone was really excited.

First stop was Essendon DFO where the girls went mad. Despite a huge array of shops and 3 hours browsing, I came away with only a cute pair of tights for my niece.

From there we went to Preston markets and seeing as we were in the area, stopped by the Elk store for a look. By this stage I had completely overheated in the back of the limo (ten excited women create a lot of hot air) and felt that sick I couldn't tolerate it anymore. They dropped me off home for a bit of a relax whilst they hit Brunswick street and came home with a big haul.

Rob the driver. I bet he was cringing at some of the stories he overheard that day :)

There's Selina the birthday girl

We had a blast. The reactions from other drivers and pedestrians were gold. People were waving at us and taking photos. They must have thought that someone special was in town. Correct!!

xx

Weekend fun in Melbourne

Waiting for the tram outside Ikea.

Hi friends, well not surprisingly I had a great time in Melbourne last weekend.

If you didn't know, I flew over there for a friend's 40th birthday celebrations. Most of us (including the birthday girl) live in Tasmania, so it was nice to get away.

Random but attractive house down the street.

My friend Stephanie and I arrived late morning on Friday and met up with the others at our lovely Edwardian guesthouse in Fitzroy.

We dropped off our bags and took everyone out to Ikea for a bit of a shop. I bought a few small bits and pieces that no doubt will pop up on the blog in the near future.

Our guest house

After that, Steph and I popped down to the South Bank DFO for a spot of shopping. We then met up with the other 9 of us and dropped by the Finders Keepers Market in the gorgeous Exhibition Building. It was fantastic, with around 120 stalls, music, a bar and food. We all made some great finds.

Not wishing to wait the 45 minutes for a taco from the van outside the market we walked up the street to a pub where we sat outside and enjoyed a lovely meal. Home to bed for all of us!

Lots of tram cables.

The accomodations were lovely, quite grand in fact and so I thought I might share some pics...

Funky wallpaper in one of the many bathrooms.

The lovely entrance. No, the phone didn't work.

Remnants of stained glass.

Looking down the stairs to the foyer. I loved that geometric white wire light fitting.

Loungeroom with 12 foot ceilings and lovely fireplace.

Funky kitchen with yellow pressed tin feature.

Dining room and below, the small but pretty courtyard.

It was really lovely, but boy, I'm glad I live in a one storey house!

Thanks for reading :)

xx

ps a couple more posts on my adventures to come :)

pps a big boo to Mr Blogger who has made the new format a big pain in the butt for me. I lost this whole post and had to start from scratch. It won't spell check for me and I'm just a tad over it!

Friday flower - agapanthus

For today's Friday Flowers I have a beautiful blue agapathus.

I bought these at the local Farmer's Market and they have kept so well. They're almost 2 weeks old and at only 50c a stem, that's great value!

I have photographed them from underneath as I was trying to avoid all the background kitchen clutter.

Wishing you a lovely weekend. I hope you have something fab planned!

xx

Friday flowers: a mixed bunch + bloggy friends

Oh my goodness, it looks like I might survive my first three days back at work!

I'm so glad it's Friday!

Bit of a mixed bunch this week. Above is the very beautiful Angel Face rose. Frilly and mauve, I just adore it. Adore it, I tell you! How beautiful against the old fence.

Now I know this isn't a flower, it's Friday Foliage :)

How lush does this manfern look? SO beautiful.

This pretty rose is called Jubilee Celebration. It's a David Austin and has the most beautiful colouring. I was really taken with this bunch as they were different to the usual blooms. More delicate with soft shading and a very obvious yellow stamen centre.

And to finish off with another bunch of bloomin' flowers, here we are at dinner Wednesday night...

You might have read that myself, Kerry and Jane had a little bloggy get together. We had so much fun!

The poor restaurant staff eventually kicked us out as they had to close, but not until we had our piccies taken.

Jane and I have been 'real life' friends as well as bloggy friends for a while now and it was the first time we both had met Kerry. What a lovely lady. We chatted for hours! Yay for bloggy catch-ups! So much fun!

Well, happy Friday to you all. Have a marvellous weekend.

Hugs, Sar xx

40 years ago today...

...I came into the world

(please note very impressive lamb chops sideburns on Dad).

Yes, it was the early seventies. Check out those groovy curtains. There's Puddles and Rebecca the poodles with me.

Sorry about the pic quality. Was in a rush this morning.

Wow, who'd have thought I'd ever be 40 years old?

Not me.

When you are a child, 40 seems so ancient. But now that I'm here, I don't feel very old. Strange how that works.

Here I am with one of my bestest buddies Zeta. We were born a day apart (me first), grew up a street apart and went to the same school. It's a long time between drinks for us as Zeta lives in London (currently) but when we do see each other, it's like a day hasn't passed. That's a good friendship if you ask me.

Well, Happy B'day to us!

xx

A pretty cuppa

This lovely Royal Albert 100 years celebration mug inspired by a 1930's pattern was a gift from one of my oldest and best of friends, Zeta. We've been friends for as long as I remember, born a day apart and grew up a street apart. Zeta and her soon-to-be husband Steve came to visit us and see Molly's Maison for the first time the other night.

We shared the most lovely French Champagne and I made dinner and the very naughty Malteser biscuits. Here is the recipe.

It was so great to see you Zete X