The photos above are from a little Instagram project I started doing - when I see a cute bike in my city, I take a photo and hashtag it with #bikesoflaunceston. There are some cute bikes about!

Things I've seen while riding my bike lately:
+ A yellow crested galah hanging upside down by it's toe on a gate in a residential area, dead. Macabre, I know! I rode past later and it had disappeared.
+ A dog in a car with it's head out the window, who, as the car turned in front of me, shook his head slowly at me with a serious face.
+ Two bikers out the front of the supermarket, one who I heard laugh and mutter something about the flowers on my bike basket as I approached, and as I passed by he said "Good morning! You look happy", to which I said "I am happy!" and kept riding.
+ A little girl riding along a street near my house, on several occasions, and we pass by each other and smile and ring our bells.
+ Several people cut me off or drive by me in a dangerous way or not give me right of way. That sucks.
+ A man walking with headphones in, singing along quietly in monotone.
+ A man walking with headphones in, silently rap-miming along to his music.
+ Two cats in a street near my house sitting side by side, looking deep in conversation.
+ Two little girls with a lemonade stand who gave me a cup of lemonade and some loom bands for free because I didn't have any change. The lemonade was awesome and they told me their very elaborate recipe!
+ Two ladies walking along the bridge really slowly. I rode behind them for quite some time without them noticing me (my bell is loud and obnoxious) and eventually they noticed me and moved to the side and apologised and told me I should have rang my bell at them, so I told them my bike bell was really loud and obnoxious and rang it for them and they agreed and we laughed.
+ A couple canoodling in the park quite enthusiastically.
+ A man walking along the main street flicking through wads and wads of cash (like, thousands).

Can you tell it's Autumn? Tasmania puts on a big show at the change of seasons. Autumn was the season I really fell in love with Tasmania. The air is crisp, you open your front door and everything smells like woodfire smoke, it's cold but not too cold, the trees are electric reds, oranges and yellows and you can't see your lawn any more because it's covered in layers of leaves. Last week C raked up all of the leaves in our yard and the very next day, it was ten times worse than before. I laughed.



I bought these shoes last week on impulse after seeing them in a shop for half price. They have a sizeable platform on them which is pretty fun. I used to wear Converse when I first started high school. My mum had an eBay addiction and would get me cheap pairs online. They looked pretty weird in a sea of skate shoes (anyone my age remember those white Etnies with the blue or pink E's on the side that my parents never would have forked out for in a million years?). I remember girls in my year making fun of my shoes, but I really liked them. I was obsessed with Harriet the Spy when I was a kid and she had a pair. Later on, I got a couple of pairs and would wear mismatched pairs with bright shoelaces. A few years into high school those girls who made fun of my Converse were wearing them too which I liked. They're so comfy, I put them on when I get up and don't take them off until I get into bed. They're not a colour I would usually wear, but they're making me pull things out of my wardrobe I haven't worn in a while, like this dress.

I've been meaning to share photos of Theo's space for some time, but each time I kept telling myself it wasn't right yet (I still really want a felt ball rug, haha). But I know if I wait any longer, I'll never do it, so here are some pictures of his little room - prepare to be overwhelmed with photographs!




Not surprisingly, Theo's room was the first room I set up after we moved in. He spends most of his time in here sleeping and we hang out in the lounge room with him a lot, but I have been meaning to take him in there to play more often. Theo is quite content to explore the contents of the room while I sit with a book or my phone on the couch but it is fun to get down and play too.




The room is quite dark usually and with the blinds lowered is almost completely blacked out which is excellent for helping him to get to sleep during the day. It doesn't make great light for taking photos though, so I apologise for the graininess. One of the books I read when I was pregnant said that a black-out curtain was their number 1 essential item for a baby - it does help!





Just about everything in this room has been bought secondhand. It was important to me to buy most things second hand, firstly because it suits my pocket, secondly because I like the items better than items I see new, and thirdly, if you can get baby items second hand instead of new, why not? The hyper-consumerist nature of baby items makes me cringe - it must be a very lucrative industry (a basic 'nappy bin' - essentially a bucket with a lid - costs $25, but a regular bucket, without a lid costs $1?). When I can remember, I'll try to mention what I paid for each item - I hope this might show that you don't have to spend a lot of money to create a fun, practical space for your child.




One of my favourite parts of the room would have to be the lockers, which I store bedding in. I bought them when I was about 20 weeks pregnant, repainted them and built shelves in them. They were pretty beaten up when I bought them (from a second hand store in my current suburb) - the bottom of them is a bit rusty and I keep them sitting on a rug to make sure they don't hurt the floorboards. They're also missing one side because somebody had replaced the original side with chipboard and then they sat outside at the second hand shop in the rain and of course, it got all water-logged and horrible. I enjoyed ripping off that chipboard very much! I have been meaning to fix the side and attach a piece of painted ply, but I'm not entirely sure how yet. I think I bartered the guy at the shop down to $60 but then had to pay $25 to get them delivered - I have seen them go for a lot more, so I guess I did okay. They're a bit impractical really because the doors don't open easily or without a great deal of noise and they store a relatively small amount. Thankfully this room has a built in wardrobe for practicality - there's a lot of junk in there! The cute cat embroidery hoop is by my friend Ella. The typewriter print is by Lola's Room and was a gift from Allana. The tiny food prints are by Pugly Pixel.




I saw this little purple number and its two matching arm chairs at a second hand store in my suburb and went home and spent several hours trying to justify buying them. Eventually I gave in - they set me back $100 and the guy delivered them for free which was great. One of the armchairs is in our bedroom (for, you know, throwing clothes on) and the other is in my studio nook at uni (for sitting drinking tea and playing on my phone). The gorgeous ice cream truck cushion was a gift from McKean Studio - love those guys! The sweet yellow coat was a gift from Marguerite.




Most of the prints on the walls were thrifted. Theo's favourites are the ones with the cats on them - he shrieks at them loudly. I think I probably paid a max of ten dollars for each print.




I bought the sideboard for $10 and it looked hideous - peeling faux-wood laminate. I primed it and gave it several coats of paint and it came up pretty well. The Dr Seuss themed bunting was a gift from my sister.





Holly gave me this cute hanging dog that she got when we went on our opshopping trip. I made the felt ball garland (remember when I wanted to make a felt ball rug?).




The tiny wooden houses in this photo are from my childhood home. I can remember playing with them when I was very small. The weasel drawing is by Megan McKean and was a gift (Weasel is an affectionate nickname I have for my husband).

I am a little obsessed with Gumtree (if you're not in Australia, it's a bit like Craig's List). I found Theo's cot on it and we picked it up from Hobart. The lady who we bought it from said that it had been in her family for some time and that the eldest person to use it was now in their fifties. She painted it and designed and applied the decals (based on Tasmanian flora). It comes with a change table that we sit on top of the cot which works really well. C's parents paid for the cot and I think it was about $150.



I love anything with tiny compartments. I found this little shelf at an opshop and spray painted it black and then collected tiny animals to go in it. I think I paid a dollar for it and probably a total of $5 on the animals.




A lady I work with gave me her children's huge collection of Dr Seuss books. I am so grateful - they're some of my favourite books and Dr Seuss' first name was Theo!

I am quite interested in aspects of the Montessori education approach and one recommendation is that things be down on the child's level, so that they can access them easily. Theo like to pull the books and toys off his bookshelf and play with them. When he is older might get him a bed that is closer to the ground that he can get in and out of by himself.

Our house has three bedrooms but one we use as an office, so when the time comes that we have another baby, we'll probably have he/she in our room with us for the first few months and then probably have the two children share a room. I hope that while they're small this will work okay, but later (pending that we're still in this house) one of them can use our studio (detached from the house) as a bedroom - I know when I was a teenager I would have loved it.

As he gets older I hope he'll start adding his own touches to his room. I can't wait to start giving him painting and drawing tools - then I'll add some of his artworks. At the moment he just loves to be in there playing with all the things!

I found these ridiculous shoes for $5 at an opshop a few months back and tried them on and they fit me near perfectly (if a little snug). I had kind of bought them to be what I like to call (and which my husband hates) 'ornamental shoes'. Impractical, but gorgeous. I have quite a lot of ornamental shoes. But I have in fact worn these shoes twice. I wore them to Evandale Markets last weekend and I am sure that if my husband and my friend Holly never hear the sound of them again it will be too soon (they have tiny little metal 'taps' on the toes and make a ridiculous sound when I walk). Anyway, I love them.



This dress and cardigan were my very first vintage purchases, about ten years ago. I bought them from Raymond Terrace Salvos when I was about fourteen and they're still some of my favourite vintage purchases. The dress came apart in places over the years from over-use but nothing a needle and thread couldn't fix. The teapot buttons on the cardigan were an addition by my teenage self. It is nice to think of my teenage self wearing this outfit around my tiny country home town.



I have to admit that I rarely buy new clothes for Theo. 80% of his wardrobe is thrifted and the other 20% are things people have given me or that my husband has bought (practical onesies and the like). It's not (just) that I'm cheap when it comes to these things, but moreover that I just never see anything I like in retail stores and I always see something I like when I go opshopping. This little blazer was an exception and it was heavily reduced in price and Theo is in dire need of Winter clothes. And I'll admit, it is nice to have some items that are new for a baby. I wade through a lot of pilly and stained baby onesies to find goodies. My vintage baby girl dress collection hit 40 items last week - my husband thinks I have a problem and is worried we may never have a girl baby to wear them - he is one of 3 boys!




Theo's top 4 teeth have all broken through now (phew!) and are coming down ever so slowly. It is so sweet when he smiles really big and I catch a glimpse of them and see what he'll look like with teeth. The middle top two are so far apart at the moment - an adorable little gap!



+ My outfit: all vintage except the tights from Sussan.
+ Theo's outfit: all vintage except blazer from Target.